The Composite Telluride / Goodbye Harry Dean / Toronto's Audience Award / Trailers for Film Stars and Faces Places / Post Fest Overviews

Welcome back from the weekend.  Hope you had a good one.

THE COMPOSITE TELLURIDE

Here it is for TFF #44.  The composite mash-up of ratings from both the People and the Professionals.  The Composite Telluride combines the ratings for films that came from both sets of Telluride attendees that I canvas immediately after the fest.

I began doing The Composite in 2013 and in each year the film that has finished at the top has gone on to win the Best Picture Oscar.

Here's a quick look at the top five Composite films for each year since I started:

In 2013 the top five composite films were:

1) 12 Years a Slave (9.25)
2) Tim's Vermeer (8.97)
3) Gravity (8.75)
4) Nebraska (8.38)
5) All is Lost (8.26)

In 2014 the top five were:

1) Birdman (9.18)
2) Foxcatcher (8.83)
3) The Imitation Game (8.79)
4) Wild Tales (8.43)
5) '71 (8.15)

In 2015 the top five were:

1) Spotlight (8.86)
2) Son of Saul (8.74)
3) Beasts of No Nation (8.62)
4) Steve Jobs (8.17)
5) Carol (8.13)

In 2016 the top five were:

1) Moonlight (9.19)
2) La La Land (8.91)
3) Manchester by the Sea (8.13)
4) Arrival (8.01)
5) Maudie (7.89)

And so, here are the results of this year's Composite Telluride (with their composite score and ratings position each had from The People and then The Pros):

1) The Shape of Water (8.72-2-1)
2) Lady Bird (8.58-1-5)
3) Faces Places (7.96-5-2)
4) Darkest Hour (7.90-3-8)
5) Hostiles (7.78-4-9)
6) The Rider (7.63-10-2)
7) Battle of the Sexes (7.62-6-7)
8) First Reformed (7.32-13-6)
9) Lean on Pete (7.16-7-12)
10) First They Killed My Father (7.05-15-10)
11) Loving Vincent (7.00-12-11)
12) Wonderstruck (6.68-10-13)
13) Downsizing (6.17-16-14)
14) Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (6.16-8-15)

There was some substantial disparity between The People and The Pros this year as no less than half of the films that were rated by enough members of both groups had a rank disparity of five spots or more.  The three most divisive films were The Rider and First Reformed which The Pros favored much more and also Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool which The People preferred considerably more than The Pros.

A couple of other notes...based on what past Telluride ratings have told us it looks to me like The Shape of Water, Lady Bird and Darkest Hour look like solid Best Picture nomination contenders.  Battle of the Sexes, as I said in my last post, might be in some serious jeopardy in as far as Best Picture is concerned.  I know some Oscar predictors think it's in good shape but these results suggest that it might be a stretch.

Additionally, the results also look grim for Best Picture chances for Wonderstruck, Downsizing, First They Killed My Father and Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool.

Finally, I have opined that TFF #44 seemed to me to have a bunch of good films but maybe didn't have a great film and , again, the ratings might provide some evidence for that as no film from 2017 cracked the all time (well since 2013) Telluride Composite ratings list.  This year's highest rated composite film, The Shape of Water and its 8.72 rating missed making the top ten by 2/100ths of a point.

So the top ten continue to be:

1) 12 Years a Slave (9.25) 2013
2) Moonlight (9.19) 2016
3) Birdman (9.18) 2014
4) Tim's Vermeer (8.97) 2013
5) La La Land (8.91) 2016
6) Spotlight (8.86) 2015
7) Foxcatcher (8.83) 2014
8) The Imitation Game (8.79) 2014
9) Gravity (8.75) 2013
10) Son of Saul (8.74) 2015


GOODBYE HARRY DEAN

Harry Dean Stanton was an "all timer".  A GOAT, if you will.  The long time character actor was in everything and great every time:

Partial list of films:

Cool Hand Luke
The Missouri Breaks
Straight Time
Alien
Escape from New York
Repo Man
Paris, Texas (TFF 1984)***
Red Dawn
Pretty in Pink
Wild at Heart
The Straight Story
The Green Mile
and coming on Sept. 29th...Lucky.

***TFF's old timeline that used to be on the official website said that Stanton was present in Telluride that weekend.  The official program from 1984 only lists Wim Wenders as being with the film.  If anyone out there knows for sure one way or the other, drop me a line.

Stanton died on Friday at the age of 91.

Just recently we saw him back in David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks: The Return on Showtime resurrecting the character that he had played in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.  It was a reminder of what an authentic and honest presence he was on screen.

Saturday, on Twitter, I suggested that I wanted to get the ball rolling on a Best Actor Oscar movement for Harry Dean's Lucky performance...and why not?

Most of my friends that are Oscarologists have suggested that the Best actor Oscar field isn't as over loaded this year and the critical response to Lucky from its festival screenings-beginning with South by Southwest back in March and has included a slew of domestic and international fests including: Nantucket, Indianapolis, Locarno, Melbourne, Helsinki and will soon include The Harry Dean Film fest as well as the BFI London Fest.

Variety's Joe Leydon writes: "Everything in his career, and his life,  has brought Harry Dean Stanton to his moment of triumph."

Indiewire's David Ehrlich said "Harry Dean Stanton gives a performance for the ages."

Brian Tallerico for RogerEbert.com wrote that Stanton is "giving one of the best performances of his remarkable career."

So...readers of MTFB...that's my drumbeat for Oscar for this year.  Harry Dean Stanton for Best Actor (OK, I'm also all about Richard Jenkins for Supporting Actor in The Shape of Water).

Here's the trailer:

Indiewire's retrospective of Stanton's best performances is here.

TORONTO'S AUDIENCE AWARD

The Toronto International Film Festival named its prize winners yesterday afternoon and it's a rare year in that there was almost no Telluride/Toronto crossover.  Faces Places won the Audience Award for Docs which is the only instance that I could find.  TIFF's feature award went to Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, First Runner-up was I, Tonya and Second Runner-up was Call Me By Your Name.

I had thought that either The Shape of Water or Lady Bird would/could take the award.

The win for Three Billboards may underscore how unsettled the awards landscape is even after the Telluride/Venice/Toronto triumvirate.

TRAILERS FOR FILM STARS AND FACES, PLACES

Take a look at trailers for Paul McGuigan's Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool starring Annette Bening and Jamie Bell:

as well as for Agnes Varda and JR's Faces Places:

POST FEST OVERVIEWS

In the afterglow of Telluride, Venice and Toronto, a number of film and Oscar pundits are beginning to get serious about what we've seen and what's still to be seen.

The Hollywood Reporter posted a piece this weekend assessing their "Best of the Fall Fests" which included this TFF #44 fare:

Battle of the Sexes
Downsizing
Foxtrot
Hostiles
Lady Bird
Lean on Pete
The Shape of Water


THR's complete listing is here.

Meanwhile, Sasha Stone at Awards Daily analyzes Best Actress Oscar prospects of a number of films from a post-T-ride/TIFF/Venice perspective.

Her top five include these TFF #44 players:

Best Actress: Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Emma Stone (Battle of the Sexes) and Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird).  She also suggests that Rosamund Pike might be a possibility for Hostiles.

Sasha's complete State of the Race article is here.



EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

The People's Telluride 2017 / Official Downsizing Trailer / Awards Daily Oscar Podcasts- All This and the Oscars Too-Have Begun / Foreign Language Oscar Candidates / Jolie's Film Gets an Oscar Run

Welcome back to MTFB for this Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017.

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

For the sixth consecutive Telluride Film Festival I have solicited film ratings from the readers of this space for the films they saw last week.  This year I had responses from more than 40 film patrons.  It has been said that TFF fans are some of the most discerning film goers on the world and I think that the results of this poll over the past few years bares that out.  Up until last year the film that finished as the #2 People's film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.  Moonlight upset that apple cart for 2016 by topping The People's chart (it edged out La La Land by 4/100ths of a point) and then winning Best Picture.

Here's your brief People's history of the top three films for each year:

2012:

1) Stories We Tell- 4.80
2) Argo- 4.75
3) The Attack- 4.70

2013:

1) Tim's Vermeer (4.67)
2) 12 Years a Slave (4.55)
3) Gravity (4.40)

2014:

1) The Imitation Game (4.73)
2) Birdman (4.46)
3) Wild Tales (4.23)

2015:

1) Room (4.47)
2) Spotlight (4.45)
3) Beasts of No Nation (4.35)

2016:

1) Moonlight (4.37)
2) La La Land (4.33)
3) Maudie (4.29)

And now, the 2017 People's Telluride results...16 films received enough responses to be included in the poll...

1) Lady Bird (4.38)
2) The Shape of Water (4.22)
3) Darkest Hour (4.04)
4) Hostiles (3.99)
5) Faces Places (3.71)
6) Battle of the Sexes (3.68)
7) Lean on  Pete (3.66)
8) Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (3.57)
9) The Other Side of Hope (3.45)
10) Wonderstruck (3.43)
11) The Rider (3.38)
12) Loving Vincent (3.37)
13) First Reformed (3.33)
14) A Fantastic Woman (3.32)
15) First They Killed My Father (3.27)
16) Downsizing (3.07)

The single most rated film was Darkest Hour which had 35 respondents rate it.

The Peeps response probably bodes well for Oscar chances for Lady Bird, The Shape of Water and Darkest Hour.  Battle of the Sexes may be in some trouble Oscar-wise.

I was struck at how The People reacted to big time films from big name film makers as Angelina Jolie's First They Killed My Father, Todd Haynes' Wonderstruck and Alexander Payne's Downsizing all finished in the bottom half of the list.

I'll have The Composite Telluride, the combination of The Peeps and The Pros in Monday's blog post.  I might note that The Composite may now be a better indicator of possible Oscar success than the stand alone People's ratings have been.


OFFICIAL DOWNSIZING TRAILER

After screening at Telluride Venice and Toronto Alexander Payne's Downsizing and Paramount released a trailer for the film this week.  Here it is from YouTube:

And a story about the trailer's release from Indiewire.



AWARDS DAILY OSCAR PODCASTS HAVE BEGUN

Sasha Stone has started recording and posting the Awards Daily Oscar Podcasts for the coming season.  The first two are up with yours truly making an appearance on the first one recorded in Telluride (and also a special appearance from both my wife, Kristy, and a guy named Guillermo Del Toro.  That podcast is here. 

I show up around the 19 minute mark and Del Toro follows right after.

The second podcast gets to the business of the season and was recorded after Telluride and features not only Stone but also Mark Johnson of Awards Circuit and Tomris Laffly who freelances for many publications including Film Journal and Film School Rejects.

That podcast is linked here.


FOREIGN LANGUAGE OSCAR SUBMISSIONS

Two TFF #44 films have already been named by their host countries for consideration for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.  Chile has submitted Sebastian Lelio's A Fantastic Woman and Lebanon has submitted Ziad Douieri's The Insult.

A number of other films have also been announced with many more scheduled to be named in the next couple of weeks.

Awards Watch has a very good article up that has an up to date list of films as well as a schedule for the rest of September for FLF Oscar submissions.

Check that article here.


ANGELINA JOLIE'S FILM GETS AN OSCAR QUALIFYING RUN

The Wrap reports that Netflix will open Angelina Jolie's First They Killed My Father will get a contemporaneous theatrical release in a number of U.S. cities this week coinciding with its availability on the streaming service.

The film will screen in Los Angeles and New York as well as eight other major markets on Friday.

The Wrap's story is here.


And that's going to do it for this Thursday.  Come back for Monday's post which will include the 2017 Composite Telluride Film Ratings that combine the ratings from both the people and the professionals.  I've been doing this since 2013 and the film that has topped the Composite Poll has won the Best Picture Oscar each year.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

The Professionals Telluride / It's Time for the Switch / Guillermo Wins Venice / Rate the FIlms of TFF #44

Good Monday to all...


THE PROFESSIONALS TELLURIDE

Here's is your 2017 installment of The Professionals view of the films that played the 44th Telluride Film Festival.  Ten industry journalists participated this year by rating each film they saw on a 0-5 scale.  They were:

Peter DeBruge/Variety
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Stephen Galloway/The Hollywood Reporter
Mark Johnson/Awards Circuit
Eric Kohn/Indiewire
Tomris Laffly/Film Journal
Christopher Schiller/ScriptMag.com
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Anne Thompson/Indiewire
Anonymous


15 films earned enough votes to make this year's poll of The Professionals.  The top rated film:  Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water with a 4.5 average.  Here's the complete list with their averaged rating:

1) The Shape of Water (4.5)
2) (Tie) Faces Places (4.25)
2) (Tie) Loveless (4.25)
2) (Tie) The Rider (4.25)
5) Lady Bird (4.20)
6) First Reformed (4.0)
7) Battle of the Sexes (3.95)
8) Darkest Hour (3.85)
9) Hostiles (3.79)
10) First They Killed My Father (3.78)
11) Loving Vincent (3.63)
12) Lean on Pete (3.50)
13) Wonderstruck (3.25)
14) Downsizing (3.10)
15) Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2.60)

Last year The Pros had Moonlight on top with a 4.87 average followed by La La Land at 4.58.
In 2015, the top film was Son of Saul at 4.44 with Anomalisa second with a 4.42.
In 2014, number one was Birdman at 4.72 and second was Foxcatcher at 4.63.
2013: 12 Years a Slave 4.70 and Blue is the Warmest Color 4.40
2012: Central Park Five 4.7 and Argo 4.5


I'll have The People's Telluride up on Thursday and the Composite Ratings of both Pros and Peeps next Monday.  Speaking of which...



IT'S TIME FOR THE SHIFT

Today marks the annual transition back to MTFBs "normal" publication schedule.  The blog will post twice a week, with rare exceptions, on Mondays and Thursdays.  Today also marks the turn toward this space becoming what I used to refer as The Film Awards Clearinghouse,  From now until Oscar night, I'll be focused most of the time on the awards prospects for the films that played as a part of the TFF #44 program.  You can always check here for the latest news about Oscar, Golden Globes, Critics awards as well as other precursors as we move through the awards season.


GUILLERMO WINS IN VENICE

The Venice Film Fest drew to a close this weekend and TFF #44 film The Shape of Water was named the best film in the competition section winning The Golden Lion.  Other TFF films got into the awards act as well in Italy with Foxtrot winning The Silver Lion.  Kamel El Basha won Best Actor for The Insult and Lean on Pete's Charlie Plummer was named best young actor.

Complete results of the awards at Venice are here from Alex Billington/FirstShowing.net.


That's a wrap for this Monday.  More to come on Thursday including The People's Telluride film ratings.  What did YOU think of the films that played?  YOU CAN STILL BE COUNTED BY RATING BEFORE 5:00PM TOMORROW.

 Send ratings in any of the following methids:


EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Acquisition News / Awards Daily Talks to MTFB / Vanity Fair's View / The People's Telluride- Rate Those Films-Deadline Looming

I can't believe its Friday.  Just a week ago we were embarking on TFF #44.  Now I have begun the countdown to TFF #45 and The Oscars...

ACQUISITION NEWS

Earlier this week Kino Lorber locked down two acquisitions of TFF #44 titles.  The independent specialty house will handle Film Worker and Hitler's Hollywood.  Incidentally, my brother saw both of these last weekend and really enjoyed them.

Meanwhile, Scott Cooper's Hostiles hasn't closed a distribution deal to my knowledge.  Variety's Kristopher Tapley reported during the fest that the film was getting some serious looks but it seems that no deal has been reached.  It's possible that both the producers and distributors are awaiting the films Toronto screenings and responses before moving to finalize an agreement.

The Tapley piece is linked here.

Meanwhile, coverage of the Kino Lorber deal is here from Screen International and here from Vimooz.



AWARDS DAILY TALKS TO MTFB

It certainly doesn't happen everyday but it did last weekend.  Sasha Stone of Awards Daily interviewed me and my wife Kristy for her podcast.  That podcast went up on her Awards Daily website yesterday.

It's a little surreal but then a lot of the Telluride experience is still surreal to me.

Here's the link to the podcast.

And speaking of podcasts, Clayton Davis, Mark Johnson and the crew at Awards Circuit have published their Circuit Breaker Podcast which features a Telluride breakdown as well.  You can find that here.

VANITY FAIR'S VIEW

Vanity Fair was all over Telluride last week and posted a gorgeous layout of photos that focused on the players and community of Telluride.  For example:

Angelina Jolie:

Billie Jean King and Emma Stone:

Barry Jenkins:

  

Check out the complete Vanity Fair shoot here.

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE-RATE THOSE FILMS-DEADLINE LOOMING

Don't forget to rate the films you saw last weekend.  Use a 0-5 scale and send them to me using any of the contact methods listed below.  The cutoff for voting is Tuesday, Sept. 12th.



EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Some Notes About TFF #44 and MTFB / My Film Ratings for Telluride 2017 / Critical Response to TFF #44 / Trailers for Hostiles and Lady Bird / Rate the TFF #44 Films

Welcome to Thursday...

SOME NOTES ABOUT TFF #44 AND MTFB

I wanted to share some thoughts regarding TFF #44 and MTFB:

1) 96%- I have already noted that the final Ten (25) Bets last week had 24 titles correctly.  I missed on the inclusion of Before We Vanish.  How'd that happen?  Here's the answer.  When the New York Fest announced the film absent a premiere status, I concluded that meant a Telluride play and, essentially bumped Ai WeiWei's Human Flow from my list.  My error?  I didn't check the Fantastic Fest lineup which does, as a matter of fact, include Before We Vanish.  Fantastic Fest will screen the film prior to its NYFF play which explains why NYFF didn't list it as a U.S. Premiere.

Always room for improvement.

2) I have also mentioned that 7 of the original Ten Bets made the TFF #44 lineup...a bit better than the average over the past six years of the Ten Bets style.  The average is 5.5 of the original Ten Bets.  Seven films is also a significant leap from last year's three films and 2015's four.

The first Ten Bets also included another two films that were listed as "possibles" that ended up making the lineup.

Additionally, the Ten Bets had seven films correct in each of the four weeks that I put up the bets prior to Toronto's first announcement.  The July 14th and 21st Ten Bets each had four films listed as additional possibilities prior to TIFF's initial announcement of films that began to give concrete clues to TFF films based on premiere status.

3) I always think it's fun to look back and see when I first began thinking a film might make the list.  Most of the time it's within the year of the fest.  For example, I first mentioned Joe Wright's Darkest Hour in March, 2017.

Sometimes, though, I track a film for years.  Three examples from this year:

I started tracking Alexander Payne's Downsizing in August of 2010.
Todd Haynes' Wonderstruck in Dec. 2016.
Dayton and Faris' Battle of the Sexes in June of 2014.


MY FILM RATINGS FOR TELLURIDE 2017

I felt going into this year's fest that there were a lot of good films and I was hoping to see that some of them were great.  As I have reflected on this past weekend's offerings I feel like that original take proved out.  Many good films but not one that really grabbed me like a Diving Bell and the Butterfly or 12 Years a Slave or Moonlight.

Still, plenty of good stuff, though, as you'll see below, I don't necessarily line up with some of the critical community.  Here are the ranks/ratings for the ten films I saw at TFF #44:

1) Darkest Hour-4-Give Gary Oldman the Oscar now and save some broadcast time.
2) Lady Bird-4- The more I reflected, the higher this film crept up my list.
3) Battle of the Sexes-3.5
4) Lean on Pete-3.5
5) The Shape of Water-3.5
6) Hostiles-3.5
7) Downsizing-3
8) Wonderstruck-3
9) Loving Vincent-2.5
10) Faces Places-2

I am busy collecting your ratings as well as those of The Pros and expect to have those soon...see below.


CRITICAL RESPONSE TO TELLURIDE 2017

The past few years Eric Kohn and Indiewire have also done a collection of critical responses to the Fest.  This year was no different as Eric asked four questions of a group of 15 critics and bloggers including some who are participating in the MTFB set of Professionals such as: Kohn himself, Indiewire's David Ehrlich and Anne Thompson, Variety's Peter DeBruge.  It's possible that a certain Telluride-centric blogger might also have been included in Indiewire's survey...

Kohn's questions and answers:

1) Best Film?  Tie between The Shape of Water and Lady Bird (I chose Darkest Hour as you can see above)
2) Best Performance? Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird (My vote: Oldman/Darkest Hour)
3) Best Documentary?  Faces Places (I abstained here as I only saw one doc-Faces Places and I was not as enthralled as many)
4) Best Director? Also a tie between Guillermo Del Toro for The Shape of Water and Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird (I opted for Gerwig).

The complete article can be found here from Indiewire.


TRAILERS FOR HOSTILES AND LADY BIRD

In the immediate aftermath of Telluride 2017 we got trailers for two of the most talked about titles.  Both Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird and Scott Cooper's Hostiles have trailers to tease any and all that didn't catch either film last weekend.  Both films are headed to Toronto.

Hostiles trailer via YouTube:

Lady Bird Trailer also via YouTube:

RATE THE TFF #44 FILMS

And I am reminding everyone again to get me your ratings for The People's Telluride.  I'm going to leave the polls open through Tuesday, Sept. 12th with a plan to post those a week from today.  My hope is that I have The Professionals up for Monday's post.  As always I will also do a combination poll as well as taking a look at 2017 films in the context of the films that have been rated through this process through the past several years.

But to make it work...I have to have your input through any of the contact methods listed here:


EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

TFF #44 Comes to a Close / Send Me Your Film Ratings

TFF #44 COMES TO A CLOSE

Reporting from the road home...

The 44th Telluride Film Festival came to a close last night.  I have to admit that I had a great time this weekend.

As I am headed home, I thought I'd share a few random thoughts

1) I have to thank the fest first for, again, accrediting me as a journalist.  That allowed some ease of access to films that was immeasurably useful.  The Fest doesn't have to do that but they have been kind enough to do so for a number of years now.

2) Thanks to so many of you that were kind enough to share that you do follow the blog.  It overwhelms me that anyone pays attention to what I write here but I'm glad that you do.  Also, there were a good number of faithful readers and new followers that I didn't get to run into and that makes me sad.  Keep in touch folks.

3) I really have to underscore my appreciation to all of you that responded to the appeal for my wife to meet Guillermo Del Toro.  I was stunned at how a number of people reached out with solid suggestions and sources to try to make that happen.  So many of you were rooting for us.  And thanks to Guillermo Del Toro himself who was beautifully gracious and warm when the moment did present itself.

4) I saw ten films during the weekend and liked most of them but I don't think I necessarily saw a great film.  Lots of good films though.  I'll have more on that later this week (Thursday).

Me and Oscar winner Barry Jenkins at The Palm 

5) The famous and beautiful...in addition to Del Toro I got to have a moment or two to renew my acquaintance with Oscar winner Barry Jenkins and spoke Saturday with the fantastic Richard Jenkins who I hope gets some notice from The Academy come Oscar time.

Rosamund Pike and Richard Jenkins at the Fox Searchlight Party Saturday night.

I also stood next to Rosamund Pike for a good long time Saturday night and restrained myself from injecting myself into her convo. But I kind of wanted to.

Telluride Film's Instagram from Sunday.  Lower right corner is me talking to the fab Sasha Stone of Awards Daily

6) Professional friends.  It was beyond fantastic to get a few moments to gab with friends that are true pros in the business of covering film.  They're people of been unfailingly kind and generous to me as I have tried to figure out what this blog is and should be.  Special shout outs to Sasha Stone/Awards Daily, Kris Tapley/Variety, Tomris Laffly/FSR and others, Mark Johnson/Awards Circuit.

7) Also thanks again to all the industry press pros that are taking part in this years Professional film ratings.  People that don't have to do that but who do.

8) Finally,a big thank you to my wife and brother who were my companions and shared the weekend with me.  They both made the logistics of the weekend much, much more manageable.

I'll have a nice post on Thursday that will focus on the critical reactions to the films that played TFF #44, my take on the ten films I saw and a rundown on MTFB's effectiveness for TFF#44.

WHILE YOU WAIT FOR THAT...DON'T FORGET TO SEND ME YOUR FILM RATINGS!!!

As I write this on Monday evening, I've already received the first 10-12 sets of ratings from readers. Remember use a 0-5 scale and you can get that info to me in any of the ways listed below.

More on Thursday...


EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Monday's TBAs / Thoughts on Sunday's Screenings / Rate the films People / Tomorrow's Plan

MONDAY'S TBA'S

Monday TBAs

All TBAs on Monday are available to Cinephiles.

Palm         8:15 PM         Darkest Hour

Galaxy         9:00 AM         Hostiles

Galaxy       1:30 PM         Battle of the Sexes
Galaxy         4:45 PM         Lady Bird 

Herzog           7:45 PM         Battle of the Sexes 

CJC               4:30 PM         The Other Side of Hope
CJC               7:00 PM         Faces Places
SOH           1:00 PM         The Rider 

SOH             3:30 PM         Loveless
SOH             6:15 PM         Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
SOH             8:30 PM         The Shape of Water

Nugget         1:15 PM         Calling Cards
Nugget       7:00 PM         First They Killed My Father

Masons       9:15 AM       Land of the Free
Masons       1:00 PM         First Reformed
Masons       3:30 PM         The Venerable W.  FREE
Masons       5:45 PM         A Fantastic Woman
Masons         8:15 PM         Loving Vincent

Le Pierre     9:30 AM         Heroism of the Everyday: Heroin(e) + Long Shot FREE
Le Pierre       1:15 PM         Arthur Miller: Writer
Le Pierre     3:30 PM         Tesnota
Le Pierre       6:00 PM         Jamaica Man FREE
Le Pierre       7:45 PM         Love, Cecil

Backlot 9:00 AM         Hitler’s Hollywood FREE
Backlot 11:20 AM       That Summer FREE
Backlot 1:30 PM         Cinema Through the Eye of Magnum FREE
Backlot 2:50 PM         Filmworker FREE
Backlot 4:50 PM     Hitler’s Hollywood FREE

Monday Seminar
Noon, Town Park, All Passholders Welcome
Sponsored by Participant Media
Surreal times: Why, and in what ways, is cinema style evolving?
Moderated by Annette Insdorf
With panelists Todd Haynes, Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Chloé Zhao

THOUGHTS ON SUNDAY'S SCREENINGS

Guillermo Del Toro moved his  Q and A outdoors Sunday morning to extend its length.

The Shape of Water- Del Toro's images are breath taking.  I know a lot of the town is talking about this film tonight and they should be.  Personally, my reaction seems to be more muted than most.  I talked to a very experienced reviewer today for a good long while and he loved it. Heaps of praise to Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins.  I hope this man is in the convo for Supporting actor-great work here.

Battle of the Sexes- Played very, very well to the house.  I found myself reacting to the shots in the game/climax...even knowing the outcome.  Emma Stone and Steve Carell are in fine form.

Loving Vincent- Gorgeous as expected.  Script is relatively staid and that gets in the way.  Still, the process is mind-blowing.

RATE THE FILMS PEOPLE

As I finish this up late Sunday night it seems to me that the films earning the most buzz have been: Darkest Hour, Lady Bird, The Shape of Water, Battle of the Sexes and Hostiles.  I can't wait to see how the pros and the peeps respond.  So rate the films you saw on a 0-5 scale and send them to me.  You can do so using any of the contact methods listed below.

TOMORROW'S PLAN

Looks like I am probably at The Galaxy at 9:00 for Hostiles.  Then a quick visit to the picnic and likely closing TFF #44 after catching The Rider at 1:00 at the Opera House.  Then we'll almost certainly hit the road for home.

Say hello if you see me.


EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Sunday's TBAs / Sometimes Dreams Come True / Sunday Planned Films /Sunday Plans / Notes from Saturday's Films

Good Sunday Ladies and Germs...the 44th Telluride Film Festival has moved past its half way point.  Hope it has been as good for you as it has been for me...

SUNDAY TBAs

Sunday TBAs

9:15am, Le Pierre, HOSTAGES with Q&A, 16 (program number), Cinephile

9:30am, Masons Hall Cinema, WORMWOOD, 21, Cinephile

4:15pm, Werner Herzog Theatre, BATTLE OF THE SEXES, 6, Cinephile

10:00pm, Nugget Theatre, A FANTASTIC WOMAN, 23, Cinephile

10:15pm, Le Pierre, STUDENT PRINTS WITH Q&A, 41, Cinephile

Noon, Elks Park, FREE
Sunday Seminar
How can movies be weapons of the spirit?
Moderated by Annette Insdorf
With panelists Paul Schrader, Ziad Doueiri, Mohammad Rasoulof

SOMETIMES DREAMS COME TRUE

Many of you folks who are faithful readers of this space know that I have been in dogged pursuit of trying to engineer a meeting this weekend between my wife and writer/director Guillermo Del Toro. Without flogging the whole story again, suffice it to say that my wife is an incredible woman and teacher within a set of circumstances that I thought might resonant with Del Toro.

To remind everyone, Guillermo is truly a personal hero to her and to her students.

So, I posted this week an explanation of her circumstance and my hope that she might be able to come face to face with Del Toro and express how important a place he had in her heart.

And so many MTFB followers responded with advice and solid, concrete steps to take to make a meeting happen this weekend during the festival including faithful reader Jack Wertzberger and others who prefer to keep anonymous.  I want to say thanks to you folks for your kindness and generosity in trying to make this happen.

And ultimately, it did happen on Saturday night thanks to the very generous invitation to MTFB from Fox Searchlight to attend their Telluride party.

We accepted and Senor Del Toro and many others were in attendance.  And let me mention that Guillermo Del Toro is a magnanimous individual.

As a matter of fact, Del Toro took this selfie:

The evening also included a Del Toro autograph f=of his book Cabinet of Curiosities.

Suffice it to say that Senor Del Toro could not have been any more gracious.

Finally, we plan to see The Shape of Water in the morning.  What a night!


SUNDAY PLANNED FILMS

The Shape of Water
Battle of the Sexes
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool or Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Loving Vincent


NOTES FROM SATURDAY'S FILMS

Lean on Pete: Charlie Plummer is fantastic in a film that seems especially evocative of a specific culture.  Steve Buscemi is also awesome.

Lady Bird: Greta Gerwig's directing debut is honest and sweet and true.  Saoirse Ronan, Lukas Hedges. Tracy Letts and Laurie Metcalf shine.

Wonderstruck: Seemed to me that the second act meandered and some threads introduced at the beginning got lost along the way.

Ate next to Alexander Payne's table at the restaurant.  we exchanged pleasantries.  Was cool.


That's your Saturday.  I'll be back for more as Sunday concludes.  For now, remember this...

Don't forget, my friends, I want your ratings of the films you see next weekend.  Use a 0-5 scale with 0 being "putrid" and 5 being "best film since..."

I will publish The People's Telluride film ratings a week to ten days after the festival concludes.  Join in!

That's all for now.  More tomorrow and on Wednesday I'll post a special edition of MTFB with the final "Bets" for TFF #44.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Saturday's TBAs / Quick Thoughts About Friday's Films

Here are the TBAs for Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017

Saturday TBAs

Masons Hall Cinema

3:00p, Land of the Free, 28 (program number), Cinephile

Le Pierre
3:30p, Arthur Miller: Writer, 19, Cinephile

Galaxy
4:15p, Lady Bird, 2

Masons Hall Cinema
7:30p, Great Expectations, 43, Cinephile

Galaxy
7:45p, Hostiles, 7a

Werner Herzog
10:00p, Loving Vincent, 15, Cinephile

Le Pierre
10:30pm, A Man of Integrity, 14, Cinephile

Masons Hall Cinema
10:30p, Faces Places, 17, Cinephile

Noon Seminar, Elks Park FREE
Sponsored by Participant Media
Moderated by Annette Insdorf
Is acting still the art, as Elia Kazan said, “of turning psychology into behavior”?
With Greta Gerwig, Tracy Letts and Gary Oldman






QUICK NOTES ON FRIDAY'S FILMS

DOWNSIZING:  Liked not loved.  Seems a little longish.  Hong Chau is fab

DARKEST HOUR: Gary Oldman is amazing as Winston Churchill.   Rest of the cast is solid but Oldman gives a performance for the ages.

FACES/PLACES: Um, a film that was lauded at Cannes...maybe too much Varda worship.

Today's likely films: Lean on Pete, Lady Bird and Wonderstruck...then see how we feel.

Saturday TBAs / Quick Notes on Friday's Films

Here are the TBAs for Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017

Saturday TBAs

Masons Hall Cinema

3:00p, Land of the Free, 28 (program number), Cinephile

Le Pierre
3:30p, Arthur Miller: Writer, 19, Cinephile

Galaxy
4:15p, Lady Bird, 2

Masons Hall Cinema
7:30p, Great Expectations, 43, Cinephile

Galaxy
7:45p, Hostiles, 7a

Werner Herzog
10:00p, Loving Vincent, 15, Cinephile

Le Pierre
10:30pm, A Man of Integrity, 14, Cinephile

Masons Hall Cinema
10:30p, Faces Places, 17, Cinephile

Noon Seminar, Elks Park FREE
Sponsored by Participant Media
Moderated by Annette Insdorf
Is acting still the art, as Elia Kazan said, “of turning psychology into behavior”?
With Greta Gerwig, Tracy Letts and Gary Oldman






QUICK NOTES ON FRIDAY'S FILMS

DOWNSIZING:  Liked not loved.  Seems a little longish.  Hong Chau is fab

DARKEST HOUR: Gary Oldman is amazing as Winston Churchill.   Rest of the cast is solid but Oldman gives a performance for the ages.

FACES/PLACES: Um, a film that was lauded at Cannes...maybe too much Varda worship.

Tomorrow's likely films: Lean on Pete, Lady Bird and Wonderstruck...then see how we feel.

Friday's Schedule for TFF #44 / MTFB Does Well...But Not Perfect / Random Thoughts

Welcome to TFF #44 Space Cadets...

I am piecing together a schedule for tomorrow based on what I am seeing on the TFF #44 App...which I am suggesting you get certainly until you can snag a hard copy of the program.


OPENING NIGHT FEED/COLORADO AVE.
5:30pm

By Venue for Friday, Sept. 1, 2017

PALM

6:30pm-Darkest Hour- Joe Wright, Gary Oldman and Ben Mendelsohn
9:30pm Lean on Pete-Andrew Haigh, Travis Fimmel

GALAXY

7:00pm-Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool-Paul McGuigan, Jamie Bell
9:45pm-Darkest Hour

CHUCK JONES

5:15pm-Great Expectations
8:00pm-Lady Bird-Greta Gerwig, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts
10:30pm-Downsizing-Alexander Payne, Hong Chau

WERNER HERZOG "THE ZOG"

11:00am-Wormwood-Errol Morris
4:45pm-The Cotton Club Encore-Francis Ford Coppola
8:45pm-Downsizing

SHERIDAN OPERA HOUSE

5:00pm-A Fantastic Woman-Sebastian Lelio, Daniela Vega
7:30pm-Arthur Miller:Writer-Rebecca Miller
10:00p,-Loveless-Andrey Zvyaginstev

THE NUGGET THEATRE

5:15pm-A Man of Integrity-Mohammed Rasoulof
8:00pm-The Rider-Chloe Zhao
10:15pm-Loving Vincent-Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman

MASONS HALL

5:30pm-Land of the Free-Camilla Magid
8:00pm-Titicut Follies
10:15pm-Tesnota-Kantemir Balagov

LE PIERRE

5:00pm-Hostages-Rezo Gigneishvili
7:45pm-The Other Side of Hope
10:15-Faces/Places-Rosalie Varda. JR

ABEL GANCE/ELKS PARK

8:30pm-The Rider


Personal note:  My schedule is likely to depend on what the patron screening is Friday afternoon.  It looks to me like the big gets tomorrow might be Darkest Hour and Downsizing or maybe Lean on Pete.   I'd also be really interested late in Loving Vincent or Faces/Places.  Depends.

More tomorrow and I will be tweeting some throughout the day.  My Twitter handle is @Gort2.


MTFB DOES WELL...BUT NOT PERFECT

If you were keeping Score (and I always do) the final Ten (25) Bets was 24 of 25.  my mistake was inadvertantly bumping AiWeiWei's Human Flow off the list and keeping Before We Vanish.  My mistake.

Seriously, I had Human Flow in the Bets for awhile and then just seemed to loose track of it.

Still, 96% isn't awful.


RANDOM THOUGHTS

Weird that we only have two tributes lined up this year.  One for Christian Bale/Hostiles and the other for Ed Lachman/Wonderstruck.  I suspect that the third tribute existed in some way but was derailed at the past minute.

Might have to be at The Abel Gance Sunday Night for Al Gore and An Inconvenient Sequel.

Thrilled Billie Jean King and Emma Stone will be in town for Battle of the Sexes.

Also pretty stoked that Richard Jenkins will be here with Guillermo Del Toro for The Shape of Water.


Come back for more here tomorrow...



EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

The 44th Telluride Film Festival Lineup Has Been Announced / Reminding Guillermo / Rate Those Movies Folks!

Welcome to Thursday...TFF #44  IS IN ONE DAY!!!

THE 44TH TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED

Here is the announced lineup for the 44th Telluride Film Festival:

·       ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER (d. Rebecca Miller, U.S., 2017)

·       BATTLE OF THE SEXES (d. Valerie Faris, Jonathan Dayton, U.S., 2017)

·       DARKEST HOUR (d. Joe Wright, U.K., 2017)

·       DOWNSIZING (d. Alexander Payne, U.S., 2017)

·       EATING ANIMALS (d. Christopher Quinn, U.S., 2017)

·       FACES PLACES (d. Agnes Varda, JR, France, 2017)

·       A FANTASTIC WOMAN (d. Sebastián Lelio, Chile-U.S.-Germany-Spain, 2017)

·       FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL (d. Paul McGuigan, U.K., 2017)

·       FIRST REFORMED (d. Paul Schrader, U.S., 2017)

·       FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER (d. Angelina Jolie, U.S.-Cambodia, 2017)

·       FOXTROT (d. Samuel Maoz, Israel, 2017)

·       HOSTAGES (d. Rezo Gigineishvili, Georgia-Russia-Poland, 2017)

·       HOSTILES (d. Scott Cooper, U.S., 2017)

·       HUMAN FLOW (d. Ai Weiwei, U.S.-Germany, 2017)

·       THE INSULT (d. Ziad Doueiri, France-Lebanon, 2017)

·       LADY BIRD (d. Greta Gerwig, U.S., 2017)

·       LAND OF THE FREE (d. Camilla Magid, Denmark-Finland, 2017)

·       LEAN ON PETE (d. Andrew Haigh, U.K.-U.S., 2017)

·       LOVELESS (d. Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia-France-Belgium-Germany, 2017)

·       LOVE, CECIL (d. Lisa Immordino Vreeland, U.S., 2017)

·       LOVING VINCENT (d. Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, U.K.-Poland, 2017)

·       A MAN OF INTEGRITY (d. Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran, 2017)

·       THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE (d. Aki Kaurismäki, Finland, 2017)

·       THE RIDER (d. Chloé Zhao, U.S., 2017)

·       THE SHAPE OF WATER (d. Guillermo del Toro, U.S., 2017)

·       TESNOTA (d. Kantemir Balagov, Russia, 2017)

·       THE VENERABLE W. (d. Barbet Schroeder, France-Switzerland, 2017)

·       THE VIETNAM WAR (d. Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, U.S., 2017)

·       WORMWOOD (d. Errol Morris, U.S., 2017)

·       WONDERSTRUCK (d. Todd Haynes, U.S., 2017)

REMINDING GUILLERMO

I posted the following on Monday and am re-posting today as I am still working on making this happen.  To be honest, I have had a couple of great leads that are still percolating but nothing has come to fruition yet.  So...if you missed it Monday...here it is again:

DEAR GUILLERMO...

This section of MTFB is going to be a little different than what you readers commonly see here but...

First, most everyone reading here knows that I have been very sure these past few weeks that Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water will be announced on Thursday as a part of the TFF #44 lineup.  I am very excited about the film but you know who's insane about it?

My wife.

Let me tell you why because it goes beyond the excitement about seeing GDT's new film in the incredible setting that is Telluride.

Some of you know that both my wife and I teach high school in a rural town (pop. 12,500)  in the Oklahoma Panhandle.  She's the art teacher here and damned good at what she does.  Especially in light of our current student body.

Please understand, that's not a slam about our kids but our situation is really unique.

In 1992 a massive pork processing facility opened in our community and to fill their workforce they have scoured the planet to find workers willing to re-locate.  That has meant a reliance on immigrants, refugees and others.

In the last 20 or so years our demographics have shifted from a majority Anglo population to one in which minority students are the majority.  Mostly kids from about every country south of the southern border of the U.S. but we're not exclusively Latin.  We have have significant student populations from Burma, S. Korea, Thailand, Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia and more.

Our school administration tells us we have somewhere between 25-30 languages spoken in our high school (enrollment is a shade under 900 kids grades 9-12).  Imagine that in a Podunk Oklahoma town.

Many of you also know that Del Toro had a harrowing childhood and turned to art as a kid to deal with that.  My wife sure does.  Del Toro's story and artwork have become an integral part of the curriculum in her classwork because...you know..it resonates with these kids...immigrant kids. They can relate to Del Toro's story because, for many of them, it's a lot like their stories.  Del Toro's body of film work plays a part too.  All these kids know Hellboy.

And, of course, because it's art, the language barrier is a much smaller problem in my wife's classroom than about anywhere else in the building.  For some of her students, it's the safest and most comfortable place they find themselves every day and that's not an exaggeration.  Some of her refugee kids spell out the terrors that they have lived through from refugee camps to predatory traffickers to hiding from death squads and civil war.

Needless to say, Guillermo has a more than special place in her heart.

So...I've never done this before in the nine years I've been writing this thing...but

If anyone knows anyone in the Del Toro camp (and I'm assuming here that he will make the trip with the film from Venice to Telluride), I'm asking for a favor.  You know what I'm going to say here...

A meeting between Kris and Guillermo would be...um...nice.  Well, she'd likely lose her mind at least a little bit.  She's already got a big honking copy of Guillermo's Cabinet of Curiosities and will be hauling it this weekend on the off chance that she might be able to get an autograph.  I'd like to make it a little less "chancy".

If anyone has some insight about making this happen, please contact me using any of the methods listed at the bottom of this post.

And Senor Del Toro, if YOU are reading this, hear my plea and reach out to me.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled blog post.

RATE THOSE MOVIES FOLKS

Don't forget, my friends, I want your ratings of the films you see next weekend.  Use a 0-5 scale with 0 being "putrid" and 5 being "best film since..."

I will publish The People's Telluride film ratings a week to ten days after the festival concludes.  Join in!

That's all for now.  More to come...

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG