Early Predicitons from Oscar Experts-Matt Neglia of Next Best Picture / Fatherland Trailer

EARLY PREDICTIONS FROM OSCAR EXPERTS-MATT NEGLIA OF NEXT BEST PICTURE

MTFB continues the transition of this spece fromTelluride lineup specualtion to Oscar speculation.  I've been culling Oscar picks from a variety of sources to give readers a taste of where the opening weeks of Oscar season commences.  Today we look at the latest predicitions from Matt Neglia of Next Best Picture.  Here are the TFF #53 films Neglia is predicited for nominations:

La Bola Negra (12): Best Picture, Internationl Feature, Direction, Adapted Screenplay, Casting, Cinematography, Costumes, Editing, Production Design, Score, Song and Sound.

The Debut (5): Best Picture, Actress (Moore), Supporting Actor (Giaigatti), Original Screenplay, Song.

Wild Horse Nine (5): Best Picture, Actor (Malkovich), Supporting Actoe (Rockwell), Original Screenplay, Casting.

Fjord (2): Best International Feature, Original Screenplay.

Rose (2): Best Actress (Huller), Maekeup and Hair.

Tender Loving Care (1): Oeirinal Screeplay.

Neglia has 12 TFF #53 nominated with a combined total of 33 nominations.

You Can See Everything (1): Best Documentary.

Once Upon a Time in Harlem (1): Best Documentary.

Rearsal for a Revolution (1): Best Documentary.

Minotaur (1): Best International Feature.

Fatherland (1): Cinematography.

Neglia's complete predictions are linked here.

https://predictions.nextbestpicture.com/oscars?nu=655756da85df4c0efaa10bd2

FATHERLAND TRAILER

From YouTube:

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Oscar Experts Early Predictions: Awards Watch

 OSCAR EXPERTS EARLY PREDICITONS: AWARDS WATCH

MTFB continues to look at the opening set of Oscar predictions from various Oscarologists.  Today's look is from Erik Anderson's Awards Watch.  Here's what he has to say about TFF #53 films and Oscar nominations:

La Bola Negra (15): Best Picture, International Feature, Direction, Supporting Actor (Guitarricadelafuente), Supporting Actress (Cruz), Adapted Screenplay, Casting, Editing, Cinematography, Costumes, Production Design, Score, Song (x2) and Sound.

Wild Horse Nine (8): Best Picture, Direction, Actor (Malkovich), Supporting Actor (Rockwell), Original Screenplay, Casting, Editing, Score.

Fjord (7): Best Picture, Direction, International Feature, Actor (Stan), Actress (Reinsve), Original Screenplay, Casing.

The Debut (5): Best Picture, Actress (Moore), Supporting Actor (Giamatti), Original Screenplay, Song.

Elsinore (4): Best Picture, Actor (Scott), Supporting Actress (Colman), Editing.

Fatherland (2): Best International Feature, Cinematography.

Rose (1): Best Actress (Huller).

Club Kid (1): Best Original Screenplay.

Tender Loving Care (1): Best Original Screenplay.

You Can See Everything (1): Best Editing.

Once Upon a Time in Harlem (1): Best Documentary.

Rehearsals for a Revolution (1): Best Documentary.

Minotaur (1): Best International Feature.

That's 13 TFF #53 films with a predicted total of 48 nominations.

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Oscar Experts Early Predictions: Awards Radar / Elsinore Trailer / Rose Trailer

OSCAR EXPERTS EARLY PREDICTIONS: AWARDS RADAR

MTFB continues to look at the opening set of Oscar predictions from various Oscarologists.  Today's look is from Joey Magidson's Awards Radar.

La Bola Negra (10): Best Picture, International Feature, Direction, Adapted Screenplay, Casting, Cinematography, Costumes, Editing, Sound and Song. 

Wild Horse Nine (9): Best Picture, Direction, Actor (Malkovich), Supporting Actor (Rockwell), Original Screenplay, Casting, Cinematography, Editing, Score.

The Debut (5): Best Picture, Actress (Moore), Supporting Actor (Giamatti), Original Screenplay, Song.

Fjord (4): Best Picture, International Feature, Actor (Stan), Actress (Reinsve).

Club Kid (2): Best Picture, Original Screenplay.

Rose (2): Best International Feature, Actress (Huller).

You Can See Everything (2): Best Picture, Best Documentary.

Tender Loving Care (2): Best Supporting Actress (O'Flynn), Original Screenplay.

Elsinore (1): Best Actor (Scott).

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York (1): Best Actor (Turturro).

Liberation (1): Best Actress (Coon).

Fatherland (1): Best International Feature.

Awards Radar has 12 TFF #53 films earning a total of 39 nominations.

ELSINORE TRAILER

Released on Sept. 9th from YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzopCeFAWF0&t=2s

ROSE TRAILER

Also released on Sept. 29th from YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrmkNoxS6t4

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Turning the Page / Oscar Experts Early Picks: Variety / New Teaser for The Only Living Pickpocket in New York / New Poster for A Long Winter / Visitations: Oppenheim on You Can See Everything

TURNING THE PAGE

We've made the run of post-festival ratings with the reportage of results from my annual poll of the People, the Professionals and then the Composite of both together.  It looks like several films that screened at TFF #53 have the potential for Oscar success.  So, as has become the custom here at MTFB, we turn the page to what happens now in awards season to the films that made up the TFF #53 lineup.

GOLD DERBY'S EARLY LINE

Here's where Gold Derby experts have the Best Picture are at as an opening salvo on Oscar Season.

For quick reference here the ten movies that GD experts place as getting a Best Picture nomination (TFF #53 films are in Bold):

1) The Odyssey

2) Wild Horse Nine

3) Project Hail Mary

4) La Bola Negra

5) The Debut

6) The Invite

7) Dune: Part Three

8) Fjord

9) Digger

10) I Play Rocky

Three other TFF #53 films are in the Gold Derby Top 20 for Best Picture:

12) Elsinore

15) Club Kid

19)  Fatherland

OSCAR EXPERTS EARLY PICKS: VARIETY

I'm going to run through about half-a-dozen or so Oscar experts and their early predictions focusing on what they're saying vis-a-vis TFF #53 films.  We start with Clayton Davis of Variety.  Here's every TFF #53 film he predicts as nominees for the 21 feature categories:

Leading the way from the Davis predictions is La Bola Negra with 11 predicted nominations:

La Bola Negra (11): Best Picture, International Feature, Direction, Supporting Actress (Cruz), Adapted Screenplay, Production Design. Cinematography, Costumes, Editing, Sound, Score.

Wild Horse Nine (6): Best Picture, Direction, Actor (Malkovich), Supporting Actor (Rockwell), Original Screenplay, Editing.

The Debut (5): Best Picture, Actress (Moore), Supporting Actor (Giamatti), Original Screenplay, Song.

Tender Loving Care (3): Best Actress (Bailey), Supporting Actress (O'Flynn), Original Screenplay.

Elsinore (2): Best Actor (Scott), Casting

You Can See Everything (1): Best Picture.

The Only Living Pickpocker in New York (1): Best Actor (Tutturro).

Fatherland (1): Best Actress (Huller),

Club Kid (1): Best Original Screenplay.

Everest: The Other Side (1): Best Documentary.

Fjord (1): Best International Feature.

Minotaur (1) Best International Feature.

A total of 12 TFF #53 films would earn 34 Oscar nominations per the predictions from Davis.

You'll find all of Clayton's early predix here.

https://variety.com/lists/2027-oscars-predictions/best-picture-11/

NEW TEASER FOR THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK

From YouTube:

NEW POSTER FOR A LONG WINTER

VISITATIONS

Lance Oppenheim on You Can See Everything...and Other Projects.

https://theplaylist.net/lance-oppenheim-primetime-robert-pattinson-you-can-see-everything-nathan-fielder-interview-20260925/?

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The Composite Telluride for 2026 / Trailers for Wild Horse Nine and You Can See Everything

THE COMPOSITE TELLURIDE FOR 2026 

We cap off the run of posts that highlight the way people rated the films at Telluride today with what I call The Composite Telluride in which I add up a film's ratings from both The People and the Pros.  

This year nine films had enough responses from both groups to make this list.  There are seven films that made one list but didn't make The Composite because they failed to get enough people to see them from one group or the other.  Those were You Can See Everything which didn't make the People's list and Rose, Tenzing, Liberation, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, Fatherland and Alpha Gang which weren't seen by enough Pros.

So, here's the Composite.  Each title is listed with it's composite rating (on a scale of 10) and its positions on the Pro list then the Peoples list.

1) Wild Horse Nine 9.05 [2-2]

2) La Bola Negra 8.64 [6-1]

3) Club Kid 8.57 [4-4]

4) The Debut 8.29 [5-6]

5) Fjord 8.23 [3-8]

6) Elsinore 8.16 [8-3]

7) Tender Loving Care 7.22 [7-12]

8) Ink 7.16 [9-11]

9) A Long Winter 5.99 [10-14]

Another note to pass along are the films that were seen most frequently...indicating the initial interest, or lack thereof, for a particular film.

These were the hottest films using that metric (according to the People's Poll):

1) The Debut with 83.7% of respondents having seen it.

2) Wild Horse Nine 84.1%

3) Elsinore 81.0%

4) Ink 77.8%

5) La Bola Negra (Tie) 61.9%

5) Club Kid (Tie) 61.9%

And for some historical perspective:

You Can See Everything will move to the top of the list for ratings by The Professionals.  Its 4.83 rating average will top Moonlight by .01 of a point.  Moonlight had a 4.82.

Wild Horse Nine will become the #10 all-time rated by the Professionals with its 4.62 jumping ahead of La La Land.

La Bola Negra becomes the #8 all time highest rated film for The People's Poll with its 4.56.

Wild Horse Nine also becomes the #9 rated film on the all time Composite list with its 9.05.

La Bola Negra becomes the #25 rated film on the all time Composite list with its 8.64.

TRAILERS FOR WILD HORSE NINE AND YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHNG

WILD HORSE NINE from YouTube:

And a new poster as well:

 

YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING from You Tube:

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The People's Telluride-2026 / La Bola Negra Captures Toronto's People's Choice Award / Once Upon a Time in Harlem Honored

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE-2026

Here's my compilation of film ratings from TFF attendees for TFF #53.  Respondents were asked to rate each film they saw on a 1-5 scale with 1 being not-so-good and 5 being "way good".  Over 60 attendees responded to the poll.  The traditional requirement for inclusion is that a film had to have been seen by a third of the respondents.  15 films met that criteria.  Here they are in order of their average rating:

1) La Bola Negra 4.56

2) Wild Horse Nine 4.43

3) Elsinore 4.42

4) Rose 4.39

5) Club Kid 4.34

6) The Debut 4.17

7) Tenzing 3.98

8) Fjord 3.93

9) Liberation 3.65

10) The Only Living Pickpocket in New York 3.54

11) Ink 3.49

12) Tender Loving Care 3.40

13) Fatherland 3.28

14) A Long Winter 2.99

15) Alpha Gang 2.72

A point for consideration.  Despite the overwhelming critical reception from the Professionals, the "super-secret" TBA of You Can See Everything didn't have enough reported ratings from the People to qualify for inclusion here.  There were a mere 10 respondents that included the film.  It is, however, worth mentioning that all 10 ratings were a 5.  

Altogether, in the 14 years I have been polling at Telluride, I've not seen the kind of overwhelmingly positive reception for a film as what occurred here.

Coming on Thursday...The Composite Telluride.

YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING TRAILER

You Can See Everything is set to be released, according to distributor A24, sometime on October 16th.,

Here is a teaser for the film from YouTube:

LA BOLA NEGRA CAPTURES TORONTO'S PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD

Telluride films do pretty, pretty good in Toronto as La Bola Negra wins The People's Choice Award and Elsinore wins TIFF's Best International Film People's Choice. 

I Play Rocky was the First Runner-Up for the People's Choice Feature award and Being Heumann was Second Runner-up.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM HONORED 

The documentary Once Upon a Time in Harlem was named as this year's winner of the Lavine-Burns  Prize for Film from the Library of Congress.  Here's the poster:

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The Professional's Telluride / Minotaur Trailer / Rehearsals for a Revolution Trailer

 THE PROFESSIONALS TELLURIDE

They're back.  It's time to reveal the results of MTFB's annual poll of film industry professionals who agreed to rate the films on a 1-5 scale and allow me then to collate and average those scores.  The Pros are a mix of critics, awards experts and other industry insiders.  To make the list this year a film had to be rated by at least half of the Pros.  That threshold allowed ten films to make the list.

The Pros:

Erik Anderson/Awards Watch

Josh Bis/Seattle Film Critics Society and TheSunBreak.com

Christina Jeurling Birro/Pop Culture Confidential

Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter

Mark Johnson/The Awards Alchemist

Dave Karger/Turner Classic Movies

Scott Kernan/Awards Daily

Joey Magidson/Awards Radar

Ryan McQuade/Awards Watch

Will Mavity/Next Best Picture

Matt Neglia/Next Best Picture

Christopher Schiller/Freelance, former columnist ScriptMag.com

Anne Thompson/Indiewire

Chris Willman/Variety

Anonymous

And the results are:

1) You Can See Everything 4.83

2) Wild Horse 9 4.62

3) Fjord 4.30

4) Club Kid 4.23

5) The Debut 4.12

6) La Bola Negra 4.08

7) Tender Loving Care 3.82

8) Elsinore 3.74

9) Ink 3.67

10) A Long Winter 3.00

I had intuitively thought that 2026 might be a banner year for the number of films with an average rating of 4.0 or above.  2026 had six of them as you can see above, but as  I looked back to all of the polls since I started doing them in 2012, I discovered that five TFFs had produced more: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2019 with 2013 and 2015 being the top years each having eight films that reached the 4.0+ threshold.

Another note, You Can See Everything-the "super-secret" screening-was a huge hit with the professionals.  The 4.83 rating is going to put it in the Top Ten All Time Pro's Ratings.  The Huntsinger gambit here was a tremendous success.

Now, for The People's Telluride...on Monday!

MINOTAUR TRAILER

From YouTube:

REHEARSALS FOR A REVOLUTION TRAILER

From YouTube:

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Deadline for Rating Films / Trailers and Teasers: Ink, Fatherland and Tenzing / Visitations: Huntsinger and Boyle

DEADLINE FOR RATING FILMS

We're down to it.  The final deadline to rate the films you saw at the 53rd Telluride Film Festival is tomorrow at 5:00pm PDT. 

As a reminder:  Report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

Report your ratings to: mpgort@gmail.com 

The deadline for this year to turn in your ratings will be Sept. 15th.

TRAILERS AND TEASERS

Via YouTube:

INK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eokBqEFiVHs

FATHERLAND

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52zHLYf25M0

TENZING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNjFIz5qlUM

VISITATIONS

Gold Derby with Julie Huntisinger on the Super Secret TBA

https://www.goldderby.com/film/2026/telluride-film-festival-julie-huntsinger-post-mortem-interview/

Indiewire with Danny Boyle on Ink

https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/danny-boyle-interview-ink-1235215117/

More on Thursday...including the results of The Professionals Telluride Film Poll for TFF #53.

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TFF #53 In the Books / Rate Those Films!

TFF #53 IN THE BOOKS

Here's your regularly scheduled post for a Thursday from MTFB with TFF #53 still pretty close in the rear view mirror.

***Overall thanks go to Larry and Mitzi Mallard who jumped in and upgraded our accommodations for the fest.  When in Telluride...stay at The River Club.

***Thanks to all you readers of MTFB.  There were a bunch of you and you were all so kind and particularly welcoming to my grandson who was making his first trip to TFF,    You're the reason...

***It seemed like the general conclusion was that TFF #53 was a very strong fest.  I suspect that The People's Poll and The MTFB Pro Poll will likely bare that out.  We'll see over the next ten days or so.

***How'd I do?  MTFB went 25 for 25 on the Final Bets with an additional three films making the lineup that I had listed as "possibilities".  Not bad for a rube from Oklahoma.

***I got really Shakespearian with my two favorite films being Elsinore and Into the Breach.  If Andrew Scott doesn't win the Best Actor Oscar this year, I will have words with someone.  Harsh, scathing words.

***I was shut out for a film at Telluride for the first time ever this year.  It felt like the "shut out discourse' was louder than ever this year, but that could have been that, having experienced it, I was more sensitive to it.

RATE THOSE FILMS!

I reminded folks while standing in lines this past weekend to rate the films for the MTFB People's Poll.  A reminder for how that works:

Report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

Report your ratings to: mpgort@gmail.com 

The deadline for this year to turn in your ratings will be Sept. 15th.

I'll have more in Monday's regular post...but for now...still exhausted!

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TFF #53...Comes to a Close...So Rate Those Films

TFF #53...COMES TO A CLOSE...SO RATE THOSE FILMS

The 53rd edition of the Telluride Film Festival is in the midst of its last round of films for the weekend unspooling right now.

Was really a better than average festival for the Pattersons despite being shut out of a film for the first time ever. 

Big thanks to The River Club who became our last minute home for the fest.  It was lovely and the staff was terrific.

Thanks to all of you readers who said such kind words to me this weekend.  It brings an honest smile to my face that so many of you find this space interesting.  Now...RATE THOSE FILMS!

DIRECTIONS:

For the 14th year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

Report your ratings to: mpgort@gmail.com 

The deadline for this year to turn in your ratings will be Sept. 15th.

TBAs and More for Monday, Sept. 7th 2026

 Monday TBAs 9/7

Werner Herzog Theater

4:15pm: CLUB KID (122m)

7:00pm: INK (116m)

Sheridan Opera House

5:30pm: BURGUNDY (88m)

7:15pm: THE LIBERATION (124m)

The Marvin

1:30pm: ROSE (94m)

3:45pm: THE ROW (89m)

6:30pm: AVEDON (104m)

Masons Cinema Hall:

3:00pm: ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM (100m)

5:15pm: THE MAN I LOVE (97m)

7:15pm: THE DISCIPLE (105m)

Le Pierre:

3:45pm: PETE TOWNSHEND: BEHIND BLUE EYES (102m)

6:00pm: THE UNKNOWN (141m)

Backlot: (All films free)

1:15pm: MAVERICK (120m)

3:30pm: HOUSE OF CRITICISM (83m)

5:15pm: NATURAL STATE (87m)

_____

Noon Seminar Town Park

Moderated by Annette Insdorf

Sponsored by Apple Original Films

Where Have All the Heroes Gone: Is traditional heroism absent from new independent films? 

Guy Nattiv (THE LIBERATION), Cristian Mungiu (FJORD), Jennifer Peedom (TENZING)

Posted on September 07, 2026

TBAs Tomorrow at The Herzog

TBA'S TOMORROW AT THE HERZOG

6:15  Mystery TBA revealed at Showtime,  174 min.

10:15 Wild Horse Nine

TBA tomorrow is The Only Living Pickpocket in New York.

TBA tomorrow is The Only Living Pickpocket in New York. 

TFF #53 LINEUP DROPS

 Per Variety, the TFF #53 lineup:

Tributes

• Andrew Haigh (writer, director)
• Sandra Hüller (actress)
• John Malkovich (actor)

Main Program (The Show)

• “Act 3” (U.S. distribution TBA) — dir. Christine Molloy & Joe Lawlor
• “Alpha Gang” (U.S. distribution TBA) — dir. David Zellner & Nathan Zellner — World Premiere
• “Avedon” (Netflix) — dir. Ron Howard — World Premiere
• “Beau Geste” (Rialto Pictures, 1926 restoration) — dir. Herbert Brenon
• “Begotten” (World Artists Home Video) — dir. E. Elias Merhige
• “Bucking Fastard” (U.S. distribution TBA) — dir. Werner Herzog
• “The Buffalo Miracle” and “Witt v. Air Force” — dir. Ben Proudfoot
• “Burgundy” (U.S. distribution TBA) — dir. Michael Dweck & Gregory Kershaw
• “Carl Sagan: We Are Made of Star Stuff” (U.S. distribution TBA) — dir. Nanette Burstein
• “Club Kid” (A24) — dir. Jordan Firstman
• “The Debut” (A24) — dir. Jesse Eisenberg — World Premiere
• “The Disciple” (Netflix) — dir. Joanna Natasegar — World Premiere
• “Elsinore” (Focus Features) — dir. Simon Stone — World Premiere
• “Everest: The Other Side” (National Geographic Films) — dir. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin
• “Fatherland” (Mubi) — dir. Paweł Pawlikowski
• “Fjord” (Neon) — dir. Cristian Mungiu
• “Gentle Monster” (Netflix) — dir. Marie Kreutzer
• “The Idiot(s)” (The Match Factory) — dir. Małgorzata Szumowska & Michał Englert — World Premiere
• “In Love Rendered” — dir. Liz Garbus
• “Ink” (Netflix) — dir. Danny Boyle
• “La Bola Negra” (Netflix) — dir. Javier Calvo & Javier Ambrossi
• “The Liberation” (Bleecker Street) — dir. Guy Nattiv — World Premiere
• “A Long Winter” (Mubi) — dir. Andrew Haigh — World Premiere
• “Making Marie Antoinette” (Mubi) — dir. Eleanor Coppola
• “The Man I Love” (U.S. distribution TBA) — dir. Ira Sachs
• “Minotaur” (Mubi) — dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev
• “My Undesirable Friends: Part II — Exile” (Mubi) — dir. Julia Loktev — World Premiere
• “Once Upon a Time in Harlem” (Neon) — dir. William Greaves & David Greaves
• “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” (Sony Pictures Classics) — dir. Noah Segan
• “Pete Townshend: Behind Blue Eyes” (U.S. distribution TBA) — dir. Frank Marshall, Nigel Sinclair & Cassidy Hartmann
• “Rehearsals for a Revolution” (Mongrel Media) — dir. Pegah Ahangarani
• “The Revolution Against Death” — dir. Joshua Oppenheimer
• “Roger Corman at 100” (U.S. distribution TBA)
• “Rose” (Mubi) — dir. Markus Schleinzer
• “The Row” (U.S. distribution TBA) — dir. Bryan Fogel
• “A Song for the Snow Lion” (U.S. distribution TBA) — dir. Pawo Choyning Dorji
• “Stories of Resilience” (U.S. distribution TBA) — dir. Sarah Gavron, Wafa Mustafa & Waad Al-Kateab, Bill Morrison
• “The Story of Documentary Film” (U.S. distribution TBA) — dir. Mark Cousins
• “Sumo: Spirit Weighs Nothing” (ESPN Films) — dir. Erik Shirai
• “Tender Loving Care” (Bleecker Street) — dir. Mike Leigh — World Premiere
• “Tenzing” (Apple Original Films) — dir. Jennifer Peedom — World Premiere
• “The Unknown” (U.S. distribution TBA) — dir. Arthur Harari
• “Wild Horse Nine” (Searchlight Pictures) — dir. Martin McDonagh

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Final Bets for TFF #53 / The People's Telluride

Well, here we are on the cusp of another Telluride Film Festival and as promised hare is a look at my final "bets" to play TFF #53.  As a reminder of where we've been here:

The original Ten Bets from back in June (with what I think is playing designated with***):

***The Black Ball

***Bucking Fastard

Coward-NOPE

***The Debut

***Fatherland

***A Long Winter

***Minotaur

Paper Tiger-NOPE

The Story of Documentary Film-MAYBE

Yellow Letters-MAYBE

AND HERE'S THE FINAL PREDICITION

1) Elsinore

2) The Debut

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) Bucking Fastard

6) Wild Horse Nine

7) Fatherland

8) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

9) A Long Winter

10) Everest: The Other Side

11) Minotaur

12) Fjord

13) Tender Loving Care

14) Gentle Monster

15) Rose

16) The Man I Love

17)The Alpha Gang

18) My Undesirable Friends Part II

19) Rehearsal for a Revolution

20) The Only Living Pickpocket in New York

21) Tenzing

22) The Idiots

23) The Liberation

24) Making Marie Antoinette

25) One More Time

Other possibilities: 

 

Ancient History

The Basics of Philosophy

Burgundy

Diamond

Primetime

Sense and Sensibility

The Story of Documentary Film

The Unknown

Yellow Letters

I'll post the announced schedule tomorrow morning when it's released.

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE-14TH EDITION

For the 14th year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

Report your ratings to: mpgort@gmail.com 

The deadline for this year to turn in your ratings will be Sept. 15th.

Time to Rock 'n Roll...see you in The Ride!

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New Venue for TFF #53 / Huntsinger on TFF #53 for Variety / EW Talks with McDonagh about Wild Horse Nine / Variety with Mike Leigh / First Looks at Ink

NEW VENUE FOR TFF #53

Maybe the biggest TFF news of last week was that there will be a new venue for the fest to use.  It will be located in Mountain Village.  No word that I'm aware of in terms of the number of seats but you should help to replace the seats we've been missing from the lack of The Nugget while it undergoes renovation.

Here's the flyer announcing the new venue....that appears to be named "The Marvin":

HUNTSINGER ON TFF #53 FOR VARIETY

Variety's Chief Awards Editor Clayton Davis sat down with TFF Executive Director Julie Huntsinger recently to talk all things TFF.  

Key takeaways:

Huntsinger says TBAs are part of the plan again this year including:

"...one is going to be a true TBA — you won’t know what it is until you walk into the cinema."

That's very exciting.

She also says that Digger and Dune 3 are still in post-production...

Here's the link to the entire interview.

https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/telluride-julie-huntsinger-tba-film-dune-digger-1236843331/

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY TALKS WITH MARTIN MC DONAGH ABOUT WILD HORSE NINE

We're pretty sure Martin McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine will be announced on Thursday as a part of the TFF #53 lineup.  I'm certainly hoping that we've read the tea leaves correctly.

Entertainment Weekly has a nice interview with McDonagh about the film which you can find linked here.

https://ew.com/martin-mcdonagh-previews-wild-horse-nine-sam-rockwell-john-malkovich-old-married-couple-12064030

VARIETY WITH MIKE LEIGH...IS TENDER LOVING CARE HIS LAST FILM?

Variety's Clayton Davis also talked to filmmaker Mike Leigh about his new film Tender Loving Care which we also think is Telluride bound.  It may be Leigh's final film.  Davis writes:

"Bleecker Street is funding “Tender Loving Care,” Leigh’s sweet, funny study of two social workers, their family and the people they look after. It’s the lowest-budgeted feature of Leigh’s career, and, he says with some reluctance, almost certainly his final film."

You can find the rest of the interview linked here.

https://variety.com/2026/film/features/mike-leigh-tender-loving-care-final-film-harvey-weinstein-oscars-1236841786/

FIRST LOOKS AT INK

Vanity Fair posted some first look photos from Vanity Fair from Danny Boyle's Ink.  It's in my top five to try and catch at the fest.  Here's a glimpse:

Check out the entire article from Vanity Fair with interview comments from Boyle and other photos.

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Twenty (Plus) Bets for TFF #53-Vol. 11 / Tribute Clues from Telluride / Other Outlets Talk Telluride / This and That: Wild Horse Nine and Ink / This and That

TWENTY (PLUS) BETS FOR TFF #53- VOL. 11

As I write today's post, we are a week away from the lineup announcement.  The easy work is done with Toronto, New York and Venice all revealing information from which we can infer probable films playing in Telluride.  We're now in a phase where the sleuthing comes down to scraps of information online or from behind the scenes.  In some ways it's the most fun.

Anyway, we're a week away and this is the next to last update before The SHOW kicks off next week.  Reviewing last week's 20+ Bets:

1) Elsinore

2) The Debut

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) Bucking Fastard

6) Wild Horse Nine

7) Fatherland

8) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

9) A Long Winter

10) The Alpha Gang

11) Fjord

12) Minotaur

13) Everest: The Other Side

14) Tender Loving Care

15) Gentle Monster

16) Rose

17) The Man I Love

18) My Undesirable Friends Part II

19) Rehearsal for a Revolution

20) The Unknown

21) Tenzing

22) The Idiots

23) The Liberation

24) Making Marie Antoinette

25) One More Time

Other possibilities: 

 

Ancient History

The Basics of Philosophy

Burgundy

Diamond

Primetime

The Story of Documentary Film

Yellow Letters

And here is this week's updated Bets:

1) Elsinore

2) The Debut

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) Bucking Fastard

6) Wild Horse Nine

7) Fatherland

8) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

9) A Long Winter

10) Everest: The Other Side

11) Minotaur

12) Fjord

13) Tender Loving Care

14) Gentle Monster

15) Rose

16) The Man I Love

17)The Alpha Gang

18) My Undesirable Friends Part II

19) Rehearsal for a Revolution

20) The Unknown

21) Tenzing

22) The Idiots

23) The Liberation

24) Making Marie Antoinette

25) One More Time

Other possibilities: 

 

Ancient History

The Basics of Philosophy

Burgundy

Diamond

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York

Primetime

Sense and Sensibility

The Story of Documentary Film

Yellow Letters

I'll have one FINAL BETS post a week from today.

TRIBUTE CLUES FROM TELLURIDE

One of the ways that often give clues about what direction Tributes might be going has traditionally been to look at films scheduled for free in Elks Park prior to the start of the fest.  Earlier this morning the flyer for the free screening s is up:

It's difficult to see here, but Wednesday night is a screening of Project Hail Mary and Thursday is Being John Malkovich.  Draw your own conclusions,,,

OTHER OUTLETS TALK TELLURIDE

A number of film-centric websites are opining re: TFF #53's films.  Links to some of those are here:

Awards Radar

The Contending's Top Ten Tuesday

Next Best Picture

Awards Watch

The Contending Podcast

THIS AND THAT

***TFF executive Director Julie Huntsinger on this year's festival from Variety

***An interview with WH9's writer Director Martin McDonagh is linked here from Entertainment Weekly

***First looks at Ink from Vanity Fair

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Counting Down / The People's Telluride #14 / Indiewire Points to Possible Double Oscar Nominees / This and That

COUNTING DOWN

As I post this on Monday morning ( August 24th) the reality of TFF #53 is now down to 10 days.  As with most years, the anticipation is what dominates now.  Most of the detective work is complete.  Oh, sure, they'll be some continued scuttlebutt to pass a long but in the last two weeks before the fest, additional information is hard to come by.  So now, it's about the wait.

The Patterson's will be pulling on Wednesday morning next week.  Some years ago we began to give ourselves a two day window to drive.  Breaking the journey into a two day affair gives us a bit of time to acclimate before the fest cranks up on Friday.  

It's a special year in 2026 as my grandson will be joining us.  He says he's very excited.  

So...the wait... 

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE-14TH EDITION

For the 14th year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

Report your ratings to: mpgort@gmail.com 

The deadline for this year to turn in your ratings will be Sept. 15th.

I'll compile all of your responses and post those a few days after the festival.

INDIEWIRE TALKS POSSIBLE DOUBLE OSCAR NOMINEES FOR THIS YEAR

Anne Thompson at Indiewire had a piece up on which actors might have a shot at getting more than one acting Oscar nomination for this year.  The article includes some folks who might be in Telluride next week.  

Here's the rundown from her list of possibilities who probably have films at TFF #53 (listed in the order that Thompson addresses them in the post):

Sandra Huller:  MTFB thinks Huller will have two films at Telluride: Fatherland and Rose.  She also has her roles in Project Hail Mary and Digger that could merit some Oscar conversation.

Penelope Cruz: We think Cruz's La Bola Negra will be at TFF #53.  Cruz also has roles in The Invite and Bunker.

Willem Dafoe: His Tenzing is probable for Telluride.  He also is in Werewolf and Late Fame. 

Other outside shots mentioned by Thompson include Anne Hathaway who could still potentially be at Telluride with Verity and Robert Pattinson if Primetime makes a late run from Venice to T-ride.

The complete rundown is linked here.

https://www.indiewire.com/awards/predictions/oscars-2027-double-nominees-sandra-huller-robert-pattinson-brad-pitt-1235211354/

THIS AND THAT...

***Netflix has made it official that Saturn Returns will not be a 2026 release.  That all but closes the door on any Telluride appearance.

***Tenzing will have a limited theatrical release on Oct. 9th.

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Twenty (Plus) Bets for TFF #53-Vol. 10 / Talking Tributes / Club Kid Trailer and Poster / Digger to Bow in London

TWENTY (PLUS) BETS FOR TFF #53

Last week's 20 Bets:

 1) Elsinore

2) The Debut

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

6) A Long Winter

7) Fjord

8) Minotaur

9) Everest: The Other Side

10) Tender Loving Care

11) Gentle Monster

12) Wild Horse Nine

13) Fatherland

14) Rose

15) The Man I Love

16) My Undesirable Friends Part II

17) Rehearsal for a Revolution

18) The Unknown

19) Bucking Fastard

20) Tenzing

21) Alpha Gang

22) The Idiots

23) The Liberation

24) Making Marie Antoinette

25) One More Time

Other possibilities: 

 

Ancient History

The Basics of Philosophy

Burgundy

Diamond

Primetime

Sense and Sensibility

The Story of Documentary Film

Yellow Letters

And here's your update with just two weeks left to The SHOW:

1) Elsinore

2) The Debut

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) Bucking Fastard

6) Wild Horse Nine

7) Fatherland

8) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

9) A Long Winter

10) The Alpha Gang

11) Fjord

12) Minotaur

13) Everest: The Other Side

14) Tender Loving Care

15) Gentle Monster

16) Rose

17) The Man I Love

18) My Undesirable Friends Part II

19) Rehearsal for a Revolution

20) The Unknown

21) Tenzing

22) The Idiots

23) The Liberation

24) Making Marie Antoinette

25) One More Time

Other possibilities: 

 

Ancient History

The Basics of Philosophy

Burgundy

Diamond

Primetime

The Story of Documentary Film

Yellow Letters

TALKING TRIBUTES

We're so close to TFF #53 so it seems like a good time to speculate about TFF Tributes.  The fest traditionally choses 3 individuals for this special honor each year.  That can and has varied from time to time but three is the most common.

Past tribute recipients that could possibly be in Telluride include:

Cate Blanchett

Danny Boyle

Kem Burns

Mark Cousins

Penelope Cruz

Catherine Denueve

Werner Herzog

Mike Leigh

Rooney Mara

Paul Schrader

The list of potential recipients this year is lengthy:

Jimmy Chin/Everest: The Other Side

Olivia Colman/Elsinore

Willem Dafoe/Tenzing

Jesse Eisenberg/The Debut

Paul Giamatti/The Debut

Andrew Haigh/A Long Winter

Sandra Huller/Fatherland and Rose

Vicky Kreips/The Idiot(s)

John Malkovich/Wild Horse Nine

Martin McDonagh/Wild Horse Nine

Julianne Moore /The Debut

Cristian Mungiu/Fjord

Gut Pearce/Ink

Renate Reinsve/Fjord

Sam Rockwell/Wild Horse Nine

Ira Sachs/The Man I Love

Andrew Scott/Elsinore

Lea Seydoux/The Unknown, Alpha Gang and Gentle Monster

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi/Everest:The Other Side

Andrey Zvyagnistaev/Minotaur

And. of course, all of these could be wrong.

CLUB KID TRAILER AND POSTER REVEALED

Sitting this week at #4 on the list of MTFB's Bets is Club Kid.  The film was a sensation at Cannes in May and I'll try to catch it at TFF.  Here are a trailer (warning...language) and poster for the film:

From YouTube and A24:

And the new poster:

DIGGER TO BOW IN LONDON

For those that have been thinking that Alejandro Inarritu's Digger starring Tom Cruise might still be a viable choice as a "Sneak Preview" for Telluride despite repeated reports that the film was bypassing the fall film circuit...here's another blow to that hypothesis.  Warners announce Tuesday that the film will World Premiere in London as a Royal Film Performance.

The announcement is big on making sure everyone knows it's a World Premiere.

That feels pretty definitive to me.

Could it still "sneak" at Telluride?  Sure, it's possible but I'd put those chances right now at about 5%.

Here's the official announcement from Warner Bros.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260818741409/en/Warner-Bros.-Pictures-Legendary-Pictures-and-The-Film-and-TV-Charity-Announce-the-Royal-Film-Performance-of-DIGGER?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=email_this&utm_source=email

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