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[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Sophia Tolstoy Penkrat]


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Over Labor Day weekend, Michael Hoffman's "The Last Station" enjoyed an auspicious world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival.

At the heart of the soaring biopic is a conundrum: author Leo Tolstoy's (Christopher Plummer) struggle in the last years of his life to balance fame and fortune with a commitment to a life devoid of material possessions. Weighing in for privilege is Tolstoy's wife of 48 years (and 13 children) Sofya (Helen Mirren). Her opponent in the debate is proto-Communist Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti), head of the Tolstoyan movement, a quasi political cult, which advocates pacifism, social equality, vegetarianism, and celibacy. The referee in the pitched battle is Tolstoy's secretary, Valentin Bulgakov, (James McAvoy).

21 September, 2009 /
One of the truly great rock voices of all time agreed to be the closer opening day, Friday, September 18, of Steve Gumble's 16th annual Telluride Blues & Brews Festival. And why not be neighborly? The enduring gravel-throated super star, Joe Cocker, lives just up the road a piece in Crawford, Colorado.


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18 September, 2009 /
[click "Play" to listen to Jackie Greene on his music]


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Into the fame game? There's no shortage of legends at the 16th annual Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, 
this weekend, September 18 – 20: Joe Cocker, Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal to name drop three. Then there's the skinny, soft-spoken man-boy who bears an uncanny resemblance to another icon, who, on more than one occasion has also performed in Telluride. But at this point in Jackie Greene's meteoric career, any allusion to Bob Dylan is so much horse exhaust.
17 September, 2009 /

Aliensintheattic_200905151038 Juliejulia_200905051045 Telluride's Nugget Theatre is screening four movies in the week of September 8-24. The beginning of the week features "Julie and Julia" and "Aliens in the Attic" with a Saturday matinee showing of "Aliens in the Attic."

Starting Sunday, September 20 "The Time Traveler's Wife" is paired with "Julie and Julia" then a program change on Thursday, with two showings of "The Hurt Locker."

"Julie and Julia" is Nora Ephron's adaptation of two books, one the story of Julia Childs (Meryl Streep) and the other by Julie Powell (Amy Adams), who got a book contract by taking one year to cook every recipe in Julia Childs' famous Mastering the Art of French Cooking. (Rated PG-13 mostly for some profanity.)

17 September, 2009 /
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Following their visit to Telluride and total immersion in the Telluride Film Festival, four young Russian directors are heading for Boulder, Colorado, to present their work and meet fellow students at the University of Colorado before traveling on to New York for a screening at Tribeca Cinemas.

Natalya Govorina's "Sanatorium," was named Best Narrative Film at the 2008 Moscow Festival of Short Film.

16 September, 2009 /
[click "Pay" to hear Eileen's interview with Alvin Lee]

Lee Boys 2 The 16th annual Telluride Blues and Brews Festival takes place September 18- 20 on the Fred Shellman Memorial Stage in Telluride's Town Park.  The Lee Boys, out of Miami, have been given the revered opening spot for Sunday’s musical lineup.  Out to prove there is no resting on Sunday, The Lee Boys guarantee to have the soulful crowd on their feet within moments of hearing their sacred steel musical styling.  Rooted in gospel, The Lee Boys' music is infused with rhythm & blues, jazz, rock, funk, hip-hop and country as well as influences from the world music scene.

16 September, 2009 /
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Film is a window on the world. The Telluride Film Festival uses the medium to enhance participants worldview, one reason the directors require an artistic as well as a screen presence. In-depth Q & A sessions follow many of the screenings.  Free seminars in town parks  and "Conversations" at the courthouse feature celebrated guests talking about cinema, culture, and the culture of cinema. Programs such as City Lights and the Student Symposium offer high school and college students respectively a weekend of immersion in film and film discussion. Sunday at the Palm provides local teachers with curriculum ideas to incorporate monthly film selections into lesson plans.

In this context, From Russia with Love is not the second film in the James Bond series. From Russia with Love describes a partnership between the Telluride Film Festival and CEC ArtsLink to co-host a group of emerging filmmakers from Russia for a residency that brought them first to Telluride over the long Labor Day festival weekend. Last year, the young Russian directors screened their films at the Telluride Film Festival. This year they came as observers. (New projects will be screened in Boulder, Colorado and New York.) Participants were selected for their cinematic accomplishments in a competitive nomination process.

15 September, 2009 /

Telluride's SquidShow Theatre, in support of Black Bear Awareness Week, presents an original play by Sasha Cucciniello and Colin Sullivan:  "Bear It! – Bear Safety for the 21st Century." The FREE event is one night only,Tuesday, September 15, 8 p.m., Fly Me to the...

15 September, 2009 /

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Anne Thompson, George
Gittoes, Nicholas Cage,
and Jason Reitman
at Labor Day seminar

The Telluride Film Festival invented downsizing: for 36 years, the directors of the event have selected just 20 – 30 movies from among the hundreds submitted to them each year, which explains why the celluloid celebration appeals to discriminating cinephiles. Elitist? Unapologetically. This year as every year, the Telluride Film Festival shunned the usual suspects, going out on a limb to inspire and educate.

The Telluride Film Festival is also about making connections. Over the long Labor Day weekend, the tail end of moviedom's so-called popcorn season (Memorial Day – Labor Day), actors, directors, cinematographers, producers, distributers, and buffs chat like long lost friends on Main Street, the Gondola, and in lines, about what gladdened, saddened and maddened.

14 September, 2009 /