Telluride Film Festival

This weekend the Telluride Film Festival will grace the sidewalks, theatres, and streets of Telluride. It is a very exciting time in town because the films being shown at the festival are not released to the public and you never know who you might see in town. For festival goers, it's a great opportunity to see movie stars in a fairly relaxed environment. It's also a great time to meet movie entheausists and have the opportunity to meet some people who have made a living-in one way or another- in the Silver Screen. As far as star watching, there are several people to watch out for- Nicholas Cage will in town and speaking on Sunday at the Court House, Viggo Mortensen may be in town; he was rumored to be having breakfast with Nicholas Cage this morning at the New Sheridan. Viggo Mortensen played Aragorn in Lord of the Rings and played Frank Hopkins in Hildago. Last night, the free movie in Elk's Park was Hildago, which undoubtly sparked the rumors about Viggo Mortensen.

Tonight, the schedlued free show in Elk's Park will be A Man and A Woman. These movies will be shown outside. These movies are open to the public, pet friendly, and as you can see, you can even bring your own chair.

Also speaking at the Court House for free will be Helen Mirren Saturday at 2pm. For those of us who aren't up on our who's who, Helen Mirren starred in Calander Girls, The Queen, and played Nicholas Cage's mother in National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

Nicholas Cage's new film Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is scheduled to play Sunday at the Chuck Jones Cinema and the Galaxy theatre on Monday. Val Kilmer stars in this film with Nicholas Cage, so don't be surprised to see him roaming this small mountain town too.

As far as other movies to see An Education starring Emma Thompson is schedule to show on Friday at the Elk's theatre, Saturday and Sunday at the Palm, and on Sunday at the Galaxy. Novelist Nicholas Hornby adapted a memoir by Lynn Barber (a columnist from England) for the silver screen, so I'm sure it will make everyone's must see list.

The guest director is Alexander Payne. His current project is the HBO series "Hung" about an out-of luck school teacher who has an unusual after school job. Film Festivarians shouldn't be surprised to see any of the cast memebers in town.