Culture

[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Sarah Klein]

GoodMotherCardscreen Forget to make a brunch reservation on this special day and you wind up in the Seventh Circle of Hell. In Telluride, as in the best of all possible worlds, Mother's Day would be everyday. The Hallmark Card model of the holiday is a set-up, a guilt trip, that should, I believe, go the way of the Hummer.

Truth be told no matter how many saccharine cards, roses, truffles, heart necklaces, or brunches we buy, we can never ever pay off that eternal debt we owe the woman who packs our lunches, bandages our boo-boos, soothes our bruised egos, cuddles and encourages us through thick and thin, believes in us no matter what. The best of the breed inspires success without ever pushing an agenda. They teach, but don't preach, the requirement for a straight spine and strong moral fiber. They are smart, loving, resourceful, and charming. And, they do this with no guarantee of a quid pro quo.

Telluride's Nugget Theatre is showing "Sunshine Cleaning" at 6:30 and 8:30 pm Friday, May 8 thru Sunday, May 10, then at 7:30 Monday through Thursday, May 14.Amy Adams and Emily Blunt are sisters who get into a rather unusual business: cleaning up the premises...

43 The Telluride Public School's production of Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods" is being performed May 7-9 at 6:30 pm, and a 1:30 matinee, Sunday, May 10 at the Michael D. Palm Theatre.

The play is directed by Angela Watkins with musical direction by Dr. David Lingle.

Stateofplay_smallposter Telluride's Nugget Theatre is showing two movies for the week of May 1 - 7: "State of Play" and "Monsters vs. Aliens."       

Monstersvsaliens_smallposter "Monsters" is an animated film from Dreamworks, pitting Earth-based monsters, mostly freaks of science, against invading aliens from Space. It's a fun way to spend an hour and a half.

"State of Play" boasts a strong cast including Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe, and Rachel McAdams. The political thriller concerns a congressman investigating a private security company (can you spell "Blackwater?"), some unexplained deaths, and some tough investigative newspaper reporting. (Rated "PG-13" for profanity and violence)

Trio Solisti is the founding ensemble of the Telluride Musicfest, this year June 25 – July 5, and featuring world renowned composer Philip Glass as Composer-in-Residence.  "Telluride Inside...

BERKELEY, CA – Telluride Film Festival (September 4-7, 2009), presented by National Film Preserve, Ltd.  announces its call for entries.Student film submissions must be received no later than 5:00 pm, July 1, 2009. Short and Feature film submissions must be received no later than 5:00...

Telluride's Nugget Theatre is showing "I Love You, Man" (Rated R, Language, sexual situations), Friday, April 17 through Thursday, April 23. Nightly at 7:30 pm, except Thursday, April 23 at 6:00 pm. There is a Telluride Film Festival presentation of "The Wrestler" at 8:30...

Telluride local Mark Berenson will be performing at the Wilkinson Public Library in a free concert Wednesday, April 15 at 6:00 pm. Mark's performance is another in an ongoing series of public events in the program room hosted by Scott Doser, Program Director at...

[click "Play" button to listen to Susan's conversation with film MC Seth Cagin]

Telluride Film Festival and Wilkinson Public Library: Chabrol's "Les Bonnes Femmes"

Les Bonnes Though less famous than sidekicks Godard and Truffaut, Claude Chabrol may be the most prolific of the French New Wave directors, having averaged almost one film a year since 1958.

"Les Bonnes Femmes" is early Chabrol. The film is a biting social drama with a Hitchcockian ending that presages the director's reputation as a master of mystery thrillers . (Chabrol co-authored with colleague Eric Rohmer a book on their film idol/mentor Alfred Hitchcock.)

"Femmes" covers three days in the lives of four Parisian shopgirls doing their best to escape their likely fate: marital ennui and tedious work lives. One is a party girl; another a mouse ready to sacrifice her hazy identity to secure a mate; an aspiring singer so insecure she hides her ambitions from her hanging buddies; and a day-dreamer yearning for a Prince Charming to rescue her from a vacant existence.

Bottom line: "Femmes" is a valentine to working class women  – written with a poison pen