Top films Telluride 9/8/26

 These are my favorites

Elsinore

Wild horses  nine

Club kid

Tenzing

The debut 

Rose

Fatherland

Carl Sagan 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/feinberg-and-canfield-on-2026-telluride-film-festival-1236693493/

Telluride day 3 Sunday Sept 6

 Today began as yesterday did with another tribute-- this time to Sandra Huller. She was in the film that I saw Thursday called "fatherland", and we also saw her last year in "anatomy of a fall".  She has been getting a lot of work lately and a lot of  deserved acclaim. We saw a reel of clips from her films and then there was an interview with her. She's a very interesting person in person. At one point, the interviewer asked her about being in "zone of interest". That was a film about the family of the commandant of a concentration camp and how they lived their carefree normal life in very close proximity to the concentration camp. Sandra said that as a German, it was particularly difficult to be asked to play this part, but because of her respect for director, she took the role.I also got the impression that she felt it was a story that needed to be told.  

Her film that was shown today is called "Rose". It tells the story of a woman in the early 17th century Germany presenting as a man in soldiers clothing who arrives at a village with papers indicating s/he is heir to a Farm that has been left untended for many years. What unfolds is an incredible tale of her living as a man which ultimately leads to some very unfortunate outcomes.  The acting and cinematography and story were all very compelling. And it is a bit difficult at times.

The second film today was called " Tenzing".  It tells the story of the Serpa who accompanied the first western man ( Edmund Hillary ) to climb/ reach  Mount Everest in 1953. This project was evidently a great labor of love and the cast and director were present to give a Q&A discussion after it. This was an Apple production, so I'm pretty sure it will be on Apple TV. I highly recommend it. Starring Tom Hiddleston & Wilum De Foe  they were present along with the filmmaker for a discussion after the film. I'm really glad I stayed for that as it was Fascinating information about the filming  and the real life story of the people behind this expedition. 

The third film was called "the debut".  This is required viewing for any of my friends involved in theater in any way!  . Paul Giamatti portrays a dictatorial Director of a community theater and Julianne Moore is a mousy housewife who auditions although she's never done a play before. Jesse Eisenberg wrote/ directed it and was here to show it to us as well as the actors who introduced the film to us. Emma Stone was a producer, and she also was present at our screening. I know this will get wide release and it was hysterical on many many levels. Must see!  

The fourth film today was a documentary called "Carl Sagan: we are made of star stuff". It was a Nat Geo production so I am hopeful that It will be shown on that channel. Having watched the Cosmo series when it first was on television, I was very curious to see how I would view him and his work so many years later. Well, it was absolutely compelling and I Was so happy that I went to see it. The story focused on the life of Carl Sagan and was an excellent summary of all of his work. We also got a good look at his personal life and many people being interviewed for the film where his wife and several of his many children. This is really worthwhile and speaks to today in the sense that he  foretold a time in the future, when people ignored science in favor of following demagogues.  He warned of nuclear disaster and climate change too.  I think it's a must see film.  

Telluride day two Saturday, September 5

 Please forgive my terrible punctuation and any other goofs. As always I write these posts on the fly.  Not my best creative writing. 

We started the day with a tribute to John Malkovich and a screening of his new film called "wild horse nine." Whenever there's a tribute, they first show a reel of clips from many of their movies. This one was particularly entertaining. Then they do an interview with the honoraree.  John Malkovich is so such a unique personality.  Great fun, listening to his interview.  One moment he shared: He said while filming "being John Malkovich"  at one point the Director Spike Jonze said to him"John Malkovich wouldn't move like that."  🤪 

The film, "wild horse nine" was  super! His costar was Sam Rockwell. This was a buddy movie. It took place during 1973 when two CIA operatives were on Easter Island on a mission. There were so many twists and turns that it really keeps your interest &  the two of them were fabulous. Steve Buscemi had a supporting role. I highly recommend this to everyone!  And I look forward to seeing it again. I don't wanna give away the plot so I'm not going to say more. A memorable quote from the film" Do you ever get paranoid you're not being paranoid enough?" 

The second film was a tribute to director, Andrew Haigh who also directed "All of us strangers",lean on Pete ", and "45 years", all which were shown at Telluride.  Today he brought  his new film called a "long winter. " This was based on a novella, but it was set in the Rocky Mountains in the 1950s. A husband and wife and their two 20-year-old sons live an austere life in the Colorado mountains. The wife abandoned the family in an alcoholic fury and the family desperately search for her. The cinematography was outstanding and particularly appropriate for us as we sit watching in the Rocky Mountains. It's a very slow paced film, well-made, but not one that many people would be rushing to see.  

The third film was "burgundy," which you might guess was set in burgundy France. I'm sure you can guess the topic as well. 😉 It was in French and I got a kick out of that and the setting. There wasn't much of a plot. It really just showed different aspects of life in Burgundy and in particular the joie de vivre of the French people. My francophile friends will like it in particular. 

The fourth film was "Alpha gang" a Dystopian tale the description of which did not appeal to me at all, so I decided to pace myself and take the evening off..  There actually was even an additional film after that that went till midnight. Sorry, no thank you.  Three was enough today! 

Telluride day 1 9/4/26 Friday

 Officially for most festival pass holders the festival starts Friday evening. But for several of the last years, they have added a couple afternoon films at our theater/ venue. 

Today it was " the Story of documentary film." Or to put it another way, a documentary on documentaries.  🤪 The filmmaker is Mark Cousins. As we were waiting in line before the film, the film maker walked along the line and stopped and chatted with different people. So we talked to him for a minute and heard him tell some tales. The film altogether has many parts I think 12 altogether. Today they were showing two parts. We watched the first part and just got antsy so we decided not to watch the second part. It's really very interesting and all three of  us  will be interested in seeing it if it is streaming later. Michelle asked the filmmaker if it had been picked up yet and he said he's hoping it will be streaming but there's nothing definite yet.

In the evening we saw " Club kid" about a professional party boy who suddenly has to grow up When he finds out he is father to a 10 year-old boy he never knew about.  It was a " breakout hit" at Cannes.  And it was super well received here. I loved it! I hope it gets a wide release. The Writer, Director, star was Jordan Firstman. Extremely talented man .  He and the major cast were all present to introduce the film. 

The final film of the day was going to get me home too late and we have to get up really early tomorrow so I decided to skip it. Gotta pace myself.  

On a different topic, major construction is happening just outside our condo door. They are building a huge four seasons complex of luxury condos. A brochure about it says that the one bedroom starts at four mil.  Geeze.  A brochure was rather obscene. Anyway, the construction noise starts at 7 AM each day so we have not enjoyed that. Hoping they're off for the three-day weekend now.  

Telluride 9/3/26 pre festival

 Happy to be back here!  We arrived last night. Just three of us this year: Michelle, Julie and me. We have a different condo this time and it's beautiful! And it's close to our theater. Happiness is....

Our tradition today is to get our passes & program, & go to a nice lunch at the Sheridan hotel. Very yummy meal.  

 Then at 2:00 I went to an early screening of "Fatherland."' It's a very artsy film that my literary friends will especially enjoy.  It's set in Germany around 1948. It's the story of Thomas Mann, ( the actual famous German writer) who was being honored for his works. He had left Germany before the war & lived in the US but returned for this honor. Controversy surrounds his return to Germany as he had been very ( and rightfully) critical of his homeland. His daughter was played by Sandra Huller-- who is this year's recipient of the festival tribute. I remember her vividly from " anatomy of a fall" which we saw a few years ago here and which received a great deal of acclaim. We will see another film of hers here since she is being honored .  👏

Off to a nice start!  

NY May 21 Thursday last shows

 We had 3 days this week with temps in the 90s!  Today it's in the 60s and raining!  Fortunately we had clothes for both temps.

Well, it has been a fantastic week! We are down to the last day and the final two shows: "the annual Putnam County spelling bee" and "every brilliant thing".

Spelling bee is a revival, although I had never seen it before..  this audience was really young-- like school age. A lot of groups of kids probably from schools .  Not the blue haired crowd we saw at Wed matinee.  😆

Before the Show they choose four audience members to be contestants. They chose Dianne !!!! So just after the first song, they called the audience contestants up to the stage. When she was called upon to spell,  she had trouble hearing because she had set her hearing aids for an audience member and it was set to get the sound best facing forward.  But the person who gave the word  was off to her side and she didn't hear the word correctly. The word was ptomaine.  She actually knows how to spell it, but that wasn't what she heard so she misspelled it. She was fine with that though, because she could then go sit in the audience and watch the show. A couple of the contestants stayed on for quite awhile.  

The show had two well-known performers:Jon Cryer who most people know from Two and a Half Men and Kevin McHale who had been on Glee.  It was a very cute show and well executed.

And we looked forward to our final evening show with 1 actor: Daniel Radcliffe ( Harry Potter).  There was a great deal of audience participation, but unfortunately, we were not asked to participate. We had purchased tickets to sit on the stage, which was very cool except that he faced out to the audience more than I would've expected, and when his back was to us, it wasn't always easy to understand him. I actually think they did a rather poor job of mic-ing him.

But it was the most interesting theatrical experience Daniel did an amazing job. 

Thus ends our marathon of 11 shows!  Fantastic !  

Tomorrow, I will try to write a summary, indicating my favorites and recommendations to see or to skip.

I have an early flight so I need to go to bed. 😄💤

NY Wed. May 20, 2026

 We had breakfast at Juniors across the street.  It was amusing that three other people besides Dianne Celebrated birthdays at Junior's for breakfast. 

Wednesday is a 2 show  day.  Matinee was " Chess".  I was familiar with some of the music & the basic storyline but  had never seen it before. This is a revival, which by all reports has been greatly improved from the original. Cast included Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit& Nicholas Christopher ( fab voice). All 3 have outstanding resumes in theatre & their performances were strong. As we have noticed in other shows, lyrics are often very difficult to understand. which detracts from the experience. I don't think it's just old age and our hearing. . I think it's the style of delivery (and so much belting.) but the story was intriguing, especially because some of it was factual.

 I've noticed something in the musicals we have seen this time. They often have the ensemble on stage in the background, just sitting or standing while other action is taking place. Also the choreography has included a lot of the ensemble doing arms in unison (when they weren't dancing in a traditional way).  

We've seen some spectacular sets. Lots of neon being used this time. Certainly some wonderful use of  a video wall. But also some rather traditional looking sets. 

We had dinner at Sardi's.  It was quite full at an early dinner pre-theatre.  And shortly after we were seated, Richard Kind came and sat at the table next to us.  (I was able to sneak a picture. ) 

The evening show was " Proof" starting Ayo Edebiri ( who is in " the Bear" ) &  Don Cheadle ( both of whom are making a Broadway debut).  She was outstanding!  He was very good as well, but he had a much smaller supporting role.

Oddly, this show was overlooked by the Tony nominations. I don't know why.  

We said farewell to Jackie who is flying home in the morning after seeing 15 shows!  She had arrived here a couple days before us. So Dianne and I have our last two shows tomorrow.  😢

NY Tues May 19

 We started today in a very lazy way. Most relaxing. 

Jackie and I treated  Dianne to an early dinner at Chez Josephine because  tomorrow's her birthday.  Restaurant was opened by a son of Josephine Baker so it felt like we were in France.  And the background music included Edith Piaf.  Love it  

Our show tonight was the musical "operation mincemeat" A British show about an actual WWII operation by the Brits to fool Germany by leading them to think they would invade Sardinia when really Sicily was their goal. The show was ( like Titannique) very broad, often slapstick/ cheap tricks  humor that didn't grab any of the 3 of us. It also conveyed a British sense of humor, some of which was lost on us.Not a bad production --there were some good moments.  Tonight's cast included three out of the five member cast who were understudies. They actually did an excellent job performing. It's really the script that did not grab us. The plot  / premise is terrific, but the execution of the production wasn't my kind of humor. Additionally, each character switched into several different characters minute by minute, and you never knew exactly who they were at  any given time. Again, I was not the target audience. Neither were my two friends. 

After I wrote this, Dianne and I read the review of the show in the New York Times. Interestingly, the reviewer had many of the same criticisms that we had. We decided we should be reviewers😆

So at the top of my list for musicals is Schmigadoon by far.  I would see that again in a heartbeat. 

NY May 18 Monday

 No shows today so I met Greg for lunch. Went to the BEST  restaurant: " Robert" which is in the Museum of arts and design on Columbus Circle.  Everything in this small restaurant was a work of art. Art in the room design & on the walls.  Every bite was absolutely artfully delicious. Truly ranks in the top of the list of best food. I will absolutely try to get back there every time I'm in town. We then walked over to the NY library for the performing arts.  I got a library card and because I'm directing a production of Charlie Brown I now have access to watch a recording of the Broadway show. I will, however, have to have enough time to sit down and do that. I don't think I'll have time this trip. But maybe I need to come back in a couple months?...😉

For dinner Jackie reserved a place called the green room 42  ( " at this performance ") --a cabaret type show--where the entertainers are  B'way & off B'way performers (understudies, stand-bys etc) who sang a couple songs each.  They were excellent. Many of them understudy leading roles and have been able to go on for those roles.  Really good entertainment. And dinner was tasty too. So it's a good thing to do on an evening when there's no theater.

We're getting a lot of walking in. Tomorrow is supposed to be over 90° so I'm not sure that we'll want to walk much.   Crazy temperature, considering it's May in New York. 

PS    I am bummed out that I can't access my photos. Google does weird stuff and changes things and I haven't kept up. So I have pictures to post, but it's not letting me.😢

NY May 17 Sunday

 Another double header day. 

First up was "Giant" with John Lithgow. This told a story about author Roald Dahl and the controversy about an antisemitic statement he made publicly.  Also in the cast were Aya Cash & several British actors. The show originally  played in London, with pretty much the same cast  where it received tremendous acclaim. They then brought it to New York for its first showing here.   The acting was absolutely stellar.  The story was provocative.  We all loved it. Several of the cast members and the show itself have many Tony nominations.

In the evening was the satire of the movie Titanic-- "Titanique"which used the music of Celine Dion-- basically, a jukebox musical. As I know none of her music, I did not recognize most of the music ( and I am not a fan of her).   The audience was ecstatic, and their screaming and yelling and applauding constantly was pretty irritating to me. Clearly I was not at all the target audience for this show.  The pop culture references were lost on me. The show seemed cobbled together.   I will say that the leading lady ( Marla Mindell )  who satirized Céline Dion did an excellent job. Several of the voices were excellent. The cast also included Melissa Barrera who was in the film of  "In the Heights". The set was very interesting. And for me, the most interesting thing was that Jim Parsons played Rose's mother. But overall I'm not a fan of this show. I felt similarly about the musical we saw last fall--" Queen of Versailles" and it had a short run. This one I think will make more money by far because of the appeal to a target audience. I know I'm a snob when I say that the very broad humor appealed to a less urbane audience.   

NY May 16 Saturday

 Mornings are lazy in NY since we're up so late at night. We can ease into the day. Nice. 

The 3 of us will see most shows together but a few times we go separate ways. Matinee today I went alone to see the new "Rocky Horror Show",  directed by Sam Pinkerton who directed Oh Mary previously.  Knew it would be insane & it was.  It   was theatre from the moment I entered the door.  Dark, loud music, lights strung from every place possible, & theatre-goers with fun attire-- of course fishnet stockings & gloves, some outlandish outfits and interesting makeup.  Everyone was there for the same reason: to have fun! I just had such a grin on my face for the longest time. Cast was strong including Luke Evans, Andrew Durand & Rachel Dratch as narrator ( you know from SNL). ( tho' I wasn't in thrilled with Janet) .  Audience behaved pretty well and only participated appropriately e.g."Brad asshole. Janet slut." 🤣 fun times! 

I met up with the others for dinner then the 3 of us went to "Death of a Salesman"  with Laurie Metcalf , Nathan Lane & Christopher Abbott-- all of whom have Tony noms for their roles. So intense, so powerful..  imaginative & fascinating staging ;and  this play has held up so well. Lots of Tony possibilities here. I can't imagine seeing better dramatic  performances.( The review in The New York Times is a really interesting read).  

( I'm very tired so excuse my quick scribbles) 

NY May 15, 2025

 I arrived yesterday but just now I'm getting caught up on the blog. I made a very last-minute decision to take a very early flight yesterday morning so that I could see a show last night and I made it with about five minutes to spare.🤪 I took a 5 AM flight so I stayed at a hotel by the airport the night before but got very little sleep. I arrived at LaGuardia around 5 o'clock. Got to the hotel about 615 and was able to dump my bags and leave in time to get to the 7:00 show. But it was worth all of it!

 I met up with Jackie and we saw Schmigadoon which has swept the Tony nominations. It was over the top fantastic! I'm so happy I made the effort. There were so many references to every Broadway musical I've ever seen or done.  Some references were just a phrase of music. Sometimes it was a line Or a character being like one we knew in musicals. For example, there was a character like Billy Bigelow, in carousel. Sometimes a song would start with the same phrase of a familiar show tune like something from the music man and then the song became totally different and it was a different song, but it tricked you into thinking it was going to be a song you knew.  

I assume not everyone in the audience got all the same innuendos but certainly a sophisticated Broadway audience who loved musicals would have gotten the references. Absolutely Hysterical!  The audience was through the roof in their enthusiasm. In the cast was Ana Gasteyer ( SNL) . 

Last night I managed to sleep nearly 10 hours! So I felt quite normal today. Jackie went off to see a museum and Dianne  and I did a little shopping around Times Square. We met up with Jackie in time for dinner. The restaurant we thought we would go to ended up being closed and we didn't have time to search around so we went to Olive Garden. Actually, they had a small portion of eggplant Parmesan so I was a happy camper. Tonight Dianne and I went to a play that was a revival with new Tony nominations. It's called Becky Shaw. It was a dark comedy. The writing was hysterical. There were so many laugh out loud lines. But every character in the show was dysfunctional and they all pointed fingers at everybody else being dysfunctional, but usually did not recognize it in themselves. It was quite amusing, and I was shocked when it was intermission because it just seemed like 15 minutes to me. Same thing with the conclusion-- It was over too fast. The cast included Andrew Ball ( the Pitt) who was excellent.  

Tomorrow will be the first doubleheader.  We're off to a wonderful start!

😎

NY in May 2026

 Heading to NYC for 11 B'way shows!  May 14-22.

Thursday --Schmigadoon

Friday -- Becky Shaw

Saturday --Rocky horror  & Death of a salesman

Sunday --Giant &  Titanique

Monday   --the Green Room ( cabaret)

Tuesday  --Operation mincemeat

Wednesday  --Chess  & Proof

Thursday  --Spelling  bee & Every brilliant thing

Oct 26 NYC

 Our last day in the big apple. It's been a wonderful week. Our last Broadway show was the matinee of "just in time" with Jonathan Groff portraying and paying tribute to Bobby Darin. He was over the top fantastic.Not a play, but rather a series of songs with explanation of events in his life. Also, in the cast was Sarah Hyland who was on Modern Family. She has done more theatre than I had realized before. The venue was super-- the theatre in the square. We were sitting at the far end, right next to the stage. But it was a three-quarter audience.. this is such a super conclusion to a super week!

In the evening we saw a show with John Oliver & Seth Myers. There are 2500 seats in the Beacon theater and it was sold out!  They actually have added more nights because of the sellouts. Talk about a timely show. We expected it to be more of a conversation, but actually each of them just had a good long set of stand-up. They certainly made a few political comments, but it was a little different from what we expected. However They both were outstanding.

Sigh... The end of a really fun week.

( I still do not know why I am unable to post pictures. I have some fun pictures, but obviously they will have to wait.)

Oct 25 NY

 I started out the day with my back in spasm so fortunately, we didn't have anything scheduled until the afternoon show. Meds helped. 

 We had lunch in the hotel and then went to see a new show called Queen of Versailles, the story of Jackie Siegel, and the replica of Versailles  that she wanted built in Florida as their home. Kristin Chenoweth in the leading role. Our reaction overall was " meh."  Not bad... just not something to write home about. She was excellent though. Not sure how long this show will last. 

Next we had dinner at a French restaurant :Marseilles.  High quality food.  I had onion soup  --yum. 

Tonight's show was Buena Vista Social Club --about music in Cuba.  I loved the music.  The performers were super. I had high expectations of this show, and I was not disappointed.

Hard to believe just 1 more day here!  It's been an excellent week.  Theatre immersion therapy!  

Oct 24 Friday NY

 Started the day well as I Met Greg for brunch near Union Square.     We had a great conversation about theatre & I got some stories out of him about his dancing days. After brunch we walked thru the big farmers market at Union Square.  He then said he'd escort me to the drama bookshop where I wanted to get plays for us to read for the Players. We went via subway ( which I didn't want to do alone).  It was a really nice visit.  I always try to see him when I'm in town. Such a treat! 

At the bookshop I browsed many plays & musicals & ended up buying 20 for us to read.  So fun. 

Tonight our show was Death becomes her---quite an elaborately staged & costumed musical version based on the movie staring Megan Hilty.  A tour de force performance for the women especially. Very entertaining. 

Tomorrow & Sunday will be 2 shows a day.  Gotta rest up!

Oct 23 NYC

We woke up to great news:  the musicians union settled their contract & wont go on strike!  😅 whew!

Breakfast at Juniors then today's matinee. Off Broadway ( as Broadway doesn't have Thursday matinees. A tiny theatre a production sponsored by New Jersey repertory company and in partnership with the Susan Coleman breast cancer organization. The play was called "penpals " and was a two woman cast. They used scripts the entire time; it was truly readers theater. Each of them portrayed a woman who was a penpal starting in middle school until they were mature  adults. One woman lived in New York and the other in rural England. A lovely story of a friendship from afar. What was cool was that actors were Priscilla Lopez, an original performer in "a chorus line " and Pauletta Washington, the wife of Denzel!  It was really special to see them both.

Dinner  was at Sardi's-- always a  treat. 

Tonight's show was the Alicia Keyes musical "Hell's Kitchen ".  Outstanding choreography, music, and interesting  story. We were particularly tickled because Christopher Jackson was in it!  Besides playing his character and singing he played his own piano. Impressive!

Another super day! (I'm having trouble adding pix to blog so that will come later). 

Oct 22, 2025 NY

 This morning Dianne & I went to the Museum of Broadway.  Fantastic!'  So much to see I could've spent all day there!  I got ideas to consider for the Players!  

Our matinee today : Maybe Happy Ending which won the Tony for best musical & now I know why. Darren Criss originated the lead role but had left & was replaced by Andrew Barth Feldman whom we adored. Absolutely an original, clever and delightful show.  

We had dinner at  Junior's ( next to hotel) & tonight's show was Waiting for Godot starting Keanu Reeves & Alex Winter, who were of course superb. But ... I mean...Beckett... 🤪. I thought it would be more accessible seeing it as a mature adult rather than a student ...but not a lot more. But it was worth seeing for these actors. 

We're keeping fingers crossed that the musicians union does not go on strike while we're here. 🤞. They're still negotiating.  

So we're having a great time & look forward to lots more theatre!

Broadway Bound Oct.21,2025

 I'm heading to New York to see 8 + shows with Dianne & Jackie. They are: 

Maybe happy ending; waiting for Godot; Penpals; Hells kitchen; Death becomes her; queen of Versailles; Buena Vista Social Club; just in time; and an evening with John Oliver and Seth Meyers. 

Please forgive the punctuation as I dictate and I'm sorry capitals are not automatic.

Telluride ‘25 summary

 I saw 12 films total. As I compile this list, I realized how good many of them were. So I’ll categorize them as follows:

A list:

Hamnet;  it was just an accident ; blue moon; Tuner;

Jay Kelly;  A private life;  Lost in the jungle

B list:

Shifty; H is for Hawk;  if I had legs I’d kick you; Sentimental Value ; History of sound. Turns out they «  sentimental »  was Loved by many —so ignore my views  

Two films I missed and now want to see  (others in my group saw  them) were La Gracia and Springsteen. I definitely want to see La Gracia. It got lots of buzz.