TheWrap: First Look: The Coen Brothers' 'True Grit' http://tinyurl.com/24khtaf http://myloc.me/cxtix

Biutiful just announced as Mexico's foreign language submission!

The Oscar Clearinghouse #1 for 2010

Well...

We're post-Telluride, post-Venice and post-Toronto...it's time!

Here's your first look at The Oscar Clearinghouse for 2010. The focus from now until Oscar night is to track what's hot and what's not and, most importantly, how the films from Telluride #37 are playing in the sweepstakes for Oscar success. We try to do that by combining and assessing the Oscar prognostication work done through traditional and internet media. As we start this year's analysis, we utilized the predictions already out there from the following:

Film Misery

Scott Feinberg

Gurus of Gold at Movie City News

The Envelope from the LA Times

InContention.com

Film Experience

We'll add others as the Oscar season picks up speed.

As always, Telluride films will be in CAPS and in BOLD.

Best Picture:

The second year for ten nominees and here are your leaders at this point: 1) The Social Network, 2) THE KING'S SPEECH, 3) 127 HOURS, 4) The Kids Are Allright, 5) Inception, 6) Toy Story 3, 7) ANOTHER YEAR, 8) True Grit, 9) The Fighter, 10) BLACK SWAN.

And the next five lurking are: Made in Dagenham, Hereafter, Fair Game, Winter's Bone and THE WAY BACK.

Comment: The separation between Social Network and King's Speech is negligible. I was a bit surprised that Rabbit Hole didn't get enough juice to be on the initial list of 15. I expect that will change. I was also a little surprised that Scorsese's Shutter Island got no mention.

Best Director: 1) David Fincher/The Social Network, 2) MIKE LEIGH/ANOTHER YEAR, 3) DANNY BOYLE/127 HOURS, 4) TOM HOOPER/THE KING'S SPEECH, 5) David O. Russell/The Fighter.

The next five (well six, actually): Christopher Nolan/Inception, Lisa Cholodenko/Kids Are Allright, DARREN ARONOFSKY/BLACK SWAN, The Coen Brothers/True Grit, John Cameron Mitchell/Rabbit Hole, PETER WEIR/THE WAY BACK.

Comment: The Social Network and The King's Speech may be neck and neck in the Best Picture category but Fincher has a commanding early lead on the field for Best Director. Personally, I suspect that we'll eventually see Nolan jump into the top 5 and Russell fall.

Best Actress: 1) Annette Bening/The Kids Are Allright, 2) NATALIE PORTMAN/BLACK SWAN, 3) LESLEY MANNVILLE/ANOTHER YEAR, 4) Nicole Kidman/Rabbit Hole, 5) Sally Hawkins/Made in Dagenham

The next five: Jennifer Lawrence/Winter's Bone, Anne Hathaway/Love and Other Drugs, Michelle Williams/Blue Valentine, Julianne Moore/The Kids Are Allright, Naomi Watts/Fair Game.

Comment: It seems that the "Kids Are Allright" folks have opted to place both Bening and Moore in the lead category. I don't know if that's honesty, reflecting the relative equal size of the roles or if they really think they've got a shot to land 2 Best Actress noms from the same film. Bening seems a lock as does Portman. The other three spots...up for grabs.

Best Actor: 1) COLIN FIRTH/THE KING'S SPEECH, 2) JAMES FRANCO/127 HOURS, 3) Robert Duvall/Get Low, 4) Jesse Eisenburg/The Social Network, 5) (tie) Jeff Bridges/True Grit and Mark Wahlberg/The Fighter.

The next four: Paul Giamatti/Barney's Version, JAVIER BARDEM/BIUTIFUL, Ryan Gosling/Blue Valentine, Sean Penn/Fair Game.

Comment: Firth is a solid first. Franco also seems a near lock. I'm a little surprised that Eisenberg is in the top 5...even though the hype for Social Network is huge.

Best Supporting Actress: 1) Melissa Leo/The Fighter, 2) HELENA BONHAM CARTER/THE KING'S SPEECH, 3) Melinda Richardson/Made in Dagenham, 4) Jacki Weaver/Animal Kingdom, 5) Dianne Weist/Rabbit Hole

The next five: Hailee Steinfeld/True Grit, Elle Fanning/Somewhere, Sissy Spacek/Get Low, Amy Adams/The Fighter, BARBARA HERSHEY/BLACK SWAN.

Comment: My surprise here is that there isn't any love for Marion Cotillard in Inception. She gets the best acting moments in what is one of the biggest films of the year and an almost certain best picture nominee. I would have thought that she might be the lone acting aspirant from that film...but nary a breath of that from any of our predictors. This may be the most competitive race of them all.

Best Supporting Actor: 1) Christian Bale/The Fighter, 2) GEOFFREY RUSH/THE KING'S SPEECH, 3) Mark Ruffalo/The Kids Are Allright, 4) Andrew Garfield/The Social Network, 5) Justin Timberlake/The Social Network

The next six: Bill Murray/Get Low, Sam Rockwell/Conviction, ED HARRIS/THE WAY BACK, Josh Brolin/True Grit, Dustin Hoffman/Barney's Version and VINCENT CASSEL/BLACK SWAN.

Comment: Like Supporting Actress, this is a very competitive category...at least right now. I think Rush is a lock despite sitting at #2 behind Bale...who I don't think IS a lock at this point. Social Network would pull off quite the coup if it can snag noms for both Garfield and Timberlake. Last note here...I'm campaigning for Colin Farrell from The Way Back!

Original Screenplay: 1) The Kids Are Allright, 2) ANOTHER YEAR, 3) THE KING'S SPEECH, 4) The Fighter, 5) Inception

The next five: Hereafter, THE ILLUSIONIST, Toy Story 3, BLACK SWAN, Blue Valentine

Comment: I'm wondering if The Illusionist is really an "original" script since it's a Tati script that was intended to be live action the Sylvain Chomet has made as an animated film.

Best Adapted Screenplay: 1) The Social Network, 2) Rabbit Hole, 3) Toy Story 3, 4) Winter's Bone, 5) Love and Other Drugs

The next six: 127 HOURS, THE WAY BACK, Miral, True Grit, The Town, How to Train Your Dragon.

Comment: If the heat continues to build for 127 Hours, it will likely slip up the ladder here.

AND THE NUMBERS:

If the nominees for the Big Eight categories were announced today and these prognosticators were 100% correct there would be:

6 Nominations each for The Social Network, The King's Speech and The Fighter.

4 apiece for Another Year, True Grit, 127 Hours and The Kids Are Allright

3 for Toy Story 3.

When combined with potential nominations the leader becomes True Grit with 7 noms and potentials. Social Network and King's Speech stay at 6 noms and are joined by: The Fighter, The Kids Are Allright and Black Swan each with a total of 6 noms or potentials. Others with 4 noms and/or potentials are: 127 Hours, Toy Story 3, and The Way Back.

As of this posting Telluride films account for 15 nominations and 11 potentials in these Big Eight categories. And of course there are a bunch more nominations to be had in the other categories as well as Foreign and Documentary. I think it's very likely that Telluride will have its largest Oscar presence in the three years I've been doing the blog.

Additionally, since this is the first edition of the Clearinghouse for this year, it's difficult to tell which films have momentum and which are losing momentum...that being said, I' ll take a stab: I am sensing that The Fighter is losing ground, Hereafter may never get off the ground in the Oscar derby and True Grit may be bigger than we all know at this point. Of course, that could all be wildly wrong.

I'll be back soon with an update.

Toronto Critic's Poll and TFF #37

Toronto critics have released their poll of what they thought was best at the TIFF. A good number of Telluride films made the list. You can find the poll at Indie wire at this link:

http://tinyurl.com/3yjz6ql

Notable on their top 12 list: 127 Hours, Black Swan, The King's Speech, Incendies and Another Year. Among docs the critics listed: Tabloid and Inside Job.

Lead Performances cited were: James Franco in 127 Hours, Natalie Portman in Black Swan and Colin Firth in The King's Speech.

Supporting Performances cited included: Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech and Vincent Cassel in Black Swan.

ThePlaylist: 'The King's Speech' Wins The People's Choice Award At TIFF http://dlvr.it/5Xf91

TFF #37 and Our Crystal Ball

We started this year's countdown and prognostications for TFF #37 back during the week of Mar. 16-23. At that time we listed a couple of dozen possibilities and really focused on 16 of those. Of those initial lists 5 ended up at Telluride: "127 Hours'" "Biutiful'" "Black Swan," "Never Let Me Go," and "Another Year". Some of them got bumped to 2011..."The Descendants," "The Tree of Life," "The Eagle (of the Ninth)." Some were released during the summer: "Chloe," and "Love Ranch." But we're feeling pretty good that we had 5 of Telluride's 24 features on our very first list of possibles.

Prior to Cannes in May, we further underlined "Biutiful" and"Another Year" and we added "Tamara Drewe" and "The Princess of Montpensier." Of course we also highlighted: "On Tour," "Fair Game," "You, My Joy," "Uncle Boonmee," "Blue Valentine," Godard's "Socialism," "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger," and Aurora." And we overlooked "Poetry," Of Gods and Men" and "Inside Job."

Post Cannes we got "Poetry" and "Of Gods and Men" into the conversation. And despite its non-inclusion at Cannes, we continued to speculate the Julian Schnabel"s "Miral" would be part of the Telluride lineup.

Late July we got "The Way Back" and "The King's Speech on our first speculative list and we began making the transition from speculation to reportage as we tracked down tidbits from various media...including the first hints beyond our own speculation that we might see "Never Let Me Go."

And by the time we got to the middle of August, with Jay A. Fernandez's Hollywood Reporter story, we were getting a really good bead on the TFF #37 playlist.

All in all we feel pretty smug about the quality of our guesswork and information gathering for this year. Of course, we didn't get it all exactly right...we missed some that we might have gotten and included things that never showed....Really, I'd like to know the behind the scenes story on Schnabel's "Miral" because I was 100% convinced we would see it.

Now, as we have for the past couple of years, we will morph this into a clearinghouse for Oscar info and speculation centered on the films that played at Telluride. We'll be up with our first real look at that sometime in the next ten days or so as the dust settles following Toronto's fest. But just as a quick overview...Telluride may have its largest Oscar presence ever this year..."The King's Speech," "Black Swan," "127 Hours," "Inside Job," and others could swell Telluride connected film Oscar nominations past a cumulative total of 30...which would be impressive indeed.

Thanks to those who actually read the blog in the run-up to T-ride this year. If the counts can be believed, the numbers were surprisingly large this year and it looks as if THIS BLOG IS NOW THE MOST REFERENCED BLOG CONCERNING THE TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL...which blows my mind. And that scares me a little.

Hope you continue to drop in over the next few months and then after the Oscars...next spring...we'll start it all up again (actually we've already begun speculation for TFF #38..."The Tree of Life" and Jason Reitman's Diablo Cody penned, "Young Adult").

Malick's "The Tree of Life" DID PLAY TELLURIDE...Sort of

So, it turns out that the most elusive film of the last year and a half DID PLAY in Telluride last week...to an incredibly limited audience.

Anne Thompson of Thompson On Hollywood at Indiewire reports this morning that there were two separate screenings of the Terrence Malick film that features Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. Here is the link to her story from this morning:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2010/09/13/waiting_for_malick_which_film_fest_will_debut_tree_of_life/#more

The screenings were apparently done separately for Sony Picture Classics and Fox Searchlight. As we reported last week, Fox bought the film from Apparition.

As we have mentioned, we sat with the Apparition folks at the Patron Brunch on Friday (Sept. 3) and they were very tight-lipped. We even suggested that they seemed sort of uptight...now we probably have a pretty good idea why.

So, what's it all mean? In the wake of the sale to Fox Search last week, there has already been a ton of speculation about the path "Tree" will take, but we'd estimate that 99% of it says its release will be in 2011...somewhere, somehow. I've seen mention of Sundance, Cannes and All the way to the fall fests and Venice next September. Or could it boomerang back to Telluride for TFF #38? We shall see.

Tree of Life

Quick note...The Hollywood Reporter and Awards Daily are reporting that Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn has been "acquired" by Fox Searchlight. Wonder if that deal was going down in Telluride last weekend...bet it was since all the players were there.

TFF 37 Post Mortem

Still recovering. It's a looooong drive back to the Oklahoma Panhandle from southwest Colorado.

We had a terrific time in Telluride. I got in 11 films...and , of course, didn't see everything I wanted to see. Still saw some great stuff...and a couple of films I wasn't all that impressed with.

Here's the rundown of the films and a couple of other notes...

"Black Swan"...Portman is terrific. There was a lot of Oscar speculation on her behalf during the weekend...and with good reason. Aronofsky is brash and bold. He's painting with big, broad strokes (no surprise there). The buzz seemed to be fairly strong and largely positive. For me, the film seemed like it was going through the motions for the first two acts...but then Aronofsky really starts playing with the Portman character in terms of reality/surreality...and it gets pretty interesting from that point on. There was also some speculation that it could get into the Best Picture race...but I don't know that it's going to play all that well with older members of the Academy...it's pretty violent and the lesbian sex scene between Portman and Mila Kunis could also curb some voters enthusiasm. ***

"127 Hours"...James Franco is fantastic as Aron Ralston and Danny Boyle is very creative in bringing a really static story to life and doing so in a way so that our attention is always commanded by the screen. Franco seems like a sure Oscar bet...the film was also getting good buzz as a possible Best Picture contender. I thought it was really good, but not great. Franco is very good and Boyle's direction is impressive. That being said, for me...it's no Slumdog and if I heard a knock on it this weekend it was about the gruesomeness of the arm amputation and that stylistically Boyle seemed to use too many of the same tricks that he employed in Slumdog. ***

"Never Let Me Go"...this seemed to be the most polarizing film of the weekend. People in line seemed to either love it or hate it. Oddly, I was somewhere in the middle which was frustrating, because it was pretty high on my list to see. It seemed to me that Romanek aimed for a cool detached telling of the story so as to underscore the control over the lives of the main characters and the inevitable conclusion of their existence. And while that's a valid choice, it also seemed to leach away much of a chance that the actors had many places to go. It also seems to me that that choice makes it a real challenge for the audience to care very much about what happens to these people. Finally, with the exception of Carey Mulligan, I don't think that Andrew Garfield or Keira Knightley have the chops or maturity to do this kind of subtlety and pull it off. And even Mulligan is forced to be pretty one note.**

"Biutiful"...here I seemed to be the odd man out...I'm a moderate fan of Inarritu's previous work. I liked Babel quite a lot. And I like Bardem quite a bit too...and I know that he co-won Best Actor at Cannes for this... but...this just didn't work for me (and I gather that the reviews were pretty split in Cannes). It seemed to me that his film hit every possible cliche in the display of Bardem's suffering till he dies. I thought it telegraphed almost every single plot development and that Bardem was awfully one note in his performance. But, hey, that's just me...most of the rest of the folks I had conversation with thought it was good and that Bardem was fantastic...**

"The King's Speech"...by now, I'm sure that you've heard that this was the biggest buzz coming out of the fest. And I hate to be a "me-tooer"...but this is a really, really good, maybe great film. Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush are stunningly good. Oscar noms for both are going to happen. Helena Bonham Carter also seems to be getting some attention for Supporting Actress...though it's not nearly as showy a role as the two male leads. Tom Hooper's direction is impressive. Expect noms for him and costuming as well as screenplay at a minimum...This is the film that has the heat that Juno, Slumdog and Up in the Air had coming out of Telluride each of the past few years.****

My second favorite film of the weekend was Mike Leigh's "Another Year." I've never been a huge Leigh fan, but this is a fine, fine piece of work. It looks at a year in the lives of an older couple and their orbit of friends and relatives. Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen are graceful and lovely as the couple at the center of the story. I understand that it got a really warm reception at Cannes and that a lot of the critic types were surprised it didn't win any prize...I'd like to think it has a shot at one of the ten Best Picture slots and director and screenplay nods as well. Everyone seems to think Lesley Manville will play for a Best Actress nom, although she might more properly be considered Supporting.***1/2

"The Way Back"...Peter Weir's story of a 4000 mile trek of a group escaping from a Soviet gulag in 1940. They walked out. It's stirring, well made, well acted...Beautiful and purportedly shot for only $29 million. Jim Sturgess is the lead and is good. Ed Harris is in support and is really good and Colin Farrell is fantastic. One of the best things he's ever done. After his little turn last year in "Crazy Heart" and this, I'm beginning to think he's turning into a pretty fine actor. Some Oscar buzz for this last weekend...but I think it got really squeezed out of the buzz because of all the hoopla for King's Speech, Black Swan and 127 Hours.***

"The Illusionist"...Sylvain Chomet's follow up to "The Triplets of Belleville"...beautifully done. It was delightful. Often a perfect example of words over rated as method of communication. It's clever, warm, funny and touching. ***1/2

"Tamara Drewe"...a lot of people on line really loved this comedy from Stephen Frears...I liked it, didn't love it. It's a mildly amusing sex comedy and nothing more. Bill Camp steals the movie from Gemma Arterton (as the title character) as an American writer struggling to finish his opus on Thomas Hardy.**1/2

"Tabloid"...Errol Morris' doc about...well...Joyce McKinney and her "love" for a young Mormon in the 1960's that led to charges of kidnapping and rape...her rape of the young man???? Truth IS stranger than fiction...repeatedly. And the film is hysterical in the bargain. Morris continually finds ways to make your jaw drop and to elicit uproarious laughter. Recommended!***

Finally from South Korea.."Poetry" This won the screenplay award at Cannes. It's too long and could use some judicious editing. Jeong-hee Yoon is lovely as the grandmother trying to find some beauty in her existence and dealing with and grandson that is less than stellar.**1/2

Additional notes:I was surprised that Julian Schnabel's "Miral" didn't show. I was sure it would. And people that are a lot smarter than I am about this stuff had said that it would.

I heard that Kelly Reichardt's "Meek's Cutoff" starring Michelle Williams just missed being a part of the festival lineup; that they just ran out of places to put stuff in the program. Too bad, I would have liked to have seen it since the early word is really positive and I really like Michelle Williams.

I also heard good things about "Inside Job'" "Incendies" and "Precious Life."

I'll do a comparative wrap-up of the success of this Blog's prognostications in the next couple of days. Just a quick note: It was pretty good this year!

And finally, I don't think it was 2007 (which, for me, is the measure of the quality of the fest...Juno, Into the Wild, Diving Bell, Persepolis, The Savages, Band's Visit and more)...but it certainly may have been the 2nd best overall of the five that I have attended.

Now, as we have for the past couple of years, this blog will morph into an awards season tracker for the films that played at TFF #37. From the early buzz, it seems that Telluride may play it's biggest role in Oscar night in many a year...maybe its biggest ever.

And as always...I can't wait till next year and TFF 38!

Leaving Telluride. #tff37 comes to an end. Sad face! Full report later this week. Love the fest, Love Telluride.

Mike Leigh's "Another Year" this morning was outstanding and Errol Morris' "Tabloid" this afternoon very engaging.

Here's what surprises me..."Miral" from Julian Schnabel does NOT make an appearance at #tff37. Would have bet serious money it would.

Option #1 (crazy internet rumor for #tff37) turned out to be the correct response to the "Brad Pitt is in town" story.

Option #1 (crazy internet rumor for #tff37) turned out to be the correct response to the "Brad Pitt is in town" story.

Firth and Rush Score Big

Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter in Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech"

"The King's Speech" lives up to the hype. Great performances from Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush. Tom Hooper directs with assurance. Oscar noms (plural) are a-gonna happen. Best of Fest...4 stars!!!!

Black Swan

Well, Darren Aronofsky and his star Natalie Portman have gone for the gusto opting to avoid subtlety and go full bore for frenetic craziness and by and large pull it off. 3 Stars!!!

The Illusionist

The Illusionist...yes! One of the best things I've seen at #Telluride Film. 3stars!!!

Biutiful...I've been an Inarritu fan...but Biutiful just doesn't work for me.

A Good Day

Danny Boyle, Aron Ralston and James Franco of "127 Hours"

Three films today and all of them good but not great.

Started the day with "Poetry" from Korean film director Lee Chang Dong. "Poetry" won the Best Screenplay award at this year's Cannes Film Festival. It features Jeong-hee Yoon as a grandmother dealing with a troubled grandson who also has decided to write poetry. She's quite good. But the film clocks in at nearly 2 and 1/2 hours and felt like it could use some judicious editing. 2 and 1/2 stars.

Then: Peter Weir's "The Way Back" featuring Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris and Colin Farrell as three very different captives in a WWII era Soviet gulag who escape and walk their way to freedom. Based on a true story, the film does credit to the real people who made the 4,000 mile walk from Siberia to India. Sturgess is solid as the focal point of the film but Ed Harris (as you might expect) is outstanding. Matching Harris note for note is Farrell in a very nearly great performance. Couple this with his small supporting role in last year's "Crazy Heart" and you're beginning to see an actor maturing into something special. 3 stars!

And the capper on the day: Danny Boyle's "127 Hours." How do you follow a film that took the world by storm and won 8 Oscars (as Slumdog did)??? You film the true story of hiker Aron Ralston who, in order to save his life, amputated his own arm so that he could escape from a canyon in Utah in which he was trapped. James Franco plays Ralston and is onscreen 99% of the time. He's fantastic. The Oscar buzz for him started today here in Colorado. "127 Hours" is graphic and harrowing and the best thing I've seen here in Telluride so far this year. 3 stars!!!But....

Tomorrow has 5 films scheduled that I'm planning to get to including Innaritu"s "Biutiful" with Javier Bardem (and Bardem is supposed to be great), Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan" which has just taken the Venice Film Fest by storm and may get some Oscar notice for Natalie Portman and Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush in Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech" which seems to be the film getting the best buzz here this year.

Then there's Monday which will start with Mike Leigh's "Another Year" and will also almost certainly include the sneak of Julian Schnabel's "Miral." And the Apparition people are still very tight lipped about anything concerning"Tree of Life." But I will say I haven't personally seen Mr. Pitt and haven't actually met someone who has seen him with their own eyeballs.

An hour and a half away from "127 Hours.". Early reactions seem pretty positive.

Peter Weir's "The Way Back" is a good not great film. Excellent acting all around. Sturgess, Harris, and Farrell all fine. Recommended!

Settling in for Peter Weir's "The Way Back.". Buzz for "King's Speech" coming out of the Chuck is really, really positive.

Poetry has some great moments and deft performances but needs an edit. Runs long. Maybe just my western aestetic getting in the way.

Starting the day with the Korean film "Poetry.". Was well received at Cannes. Also today; "127 Hours" and "The Way Back.". May also try to get "Inside Job"

Let It Go

The first two films are in for TFF #37 and neither one created much heat.

First of the evening was Stephen Frear's English Rom Com "Tamara Drewe." Some laughs. Serviceable performances...except for Bill Camp as the American writer focused on the work of Thomas Hardy. Camp is the standout performance here. 2 and 1/2 stars.

Next up: Mark Romanek's "Never Let Me Go" featuring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley. I've been intrigued about this film for some time...but...it just doesn't deliver. You can sense that Romanek is shooting for an understated emotional tone and a leisurely pace banking on a big emotional wallop/payoff at the end...problem is, that never happens. It's slow. It telegraphs the story. It doesn't engage and it just doesn't allow its cast to do much. 2 stars...

Not a surprise is the announcement tonight that the fest is sneaking Danny Boyle's "127 Hours" In attendance (as we surmised) Boyle, actor James Franco and climber/film subject Aron Ralston. "127 Hours" is scheduled twice tomorrow.

The Calm Before...

Taking the opportunity to rest after a late night last night and what will probably be another one tonight. Opted not to see Patron's Special Screening of "Chico and Rita" The plan, for now is to hit the Opening Night Feed on Colorado Ave. then get in Stephen Frears "Tamara Drewe" and Mark Romanek's "Never Let Me Go" tonight.

Tomorrow will probably include Peter Weir's "The Way Back." That will depend (as so much of the rest of the weekend will) on the TBAs...

And a quick shout out to two wonderful Kentuckians we met this morning Jim and Kay Park...lovely people and big film fans!

Brad Pitt rumor intensifies. Sat with Apparition Film head Bill Pohland at Brunch...Apparition folks "can't say" if Tree of Life will "sneak" here.

The King's Speech

Oscar baity film "The King's Speech" is showing at the SHOW as a part of the Colin Firth tribute. Indiewire's Eugene Hernandez is reporting that co-star and Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush will be attending as well....

Cool.

Tributes for TFF #37

Tributees this year: Colin Firth, Claudia Cardinale and Aussie director Peter Weir.

3 Hours Til Go Time

"Official" release of Telluride lineup is starting to be revealed. Kris Tapley of Incontention.com tweets:

From: @kristapleySent: Sep 2, 2010 12:34p
Confirmed for Telluride: The Way Back, Never Let Me Go, Biutiful, King's Speech, Illusionist, Carlos, Another Year, Tamara Drewe, Tabloid.

5 Hours and the Craziness Has Begun!

Telluride Today/Telluride News tweeting that Brad Pitt is in town for the festival...meaning one of three things:

1) Crazy internet rumor

2) He's just a fan like I am and wants to watch great film and is just there for that...or...

3) TFF #37 is pulling off the greatest coup in filmdom and will sneak Terrrence Malick's "The Tree of Life"

Even money on any of these three being correct!

The Bus Pulls Out in 28 Hours

Natalie Portman in "Black Swan and Jim Sturgess in "The Way Back."

We're very close to headin' west. Contacted all my Telluride peeps and started the process of loading the car. Buzzing with excitement!

The latest news is continuing references that both "Black Swan" and "The Way Back" will be part of the Telluride film program this weekend. YES...

So...as an academic exercise...let's ask the question, "WHO" will be at Telluride this weekend as opposed to what films...because, of course, I am hopelessly starstruck.

The following are some of the most anticipated films that have been bandied about as being on Telluride's list this year, their directors (who are almost always at Telluride for at least part of the weekend) and the main talent associated with the film (who may or may not be there...but it would be cool if they were).

"127 Hours" Dir: Danny Boyle. Talent: James Franco...note...wouldn't surprise me to see the actual hiker Aron Ralston there.

"Black Swan" Dir: Darren Aronofsky. Talent: Natalie Portman (Oscar Buzz?), Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel.

"Miral" Dir: Julian Schnabel. Talent: Frieda Pinto, Willem Dafoe.

"Never Let Me Go" Dir: Mark Romanek. Talent: Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley.

"The Way Back" Dir: Peter Weir. Talent: Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess.

"The King's Speech" Dir: Tom Hooper. Talent: Colin Firth (Osar Buzz), Geoffrey Rush (Oscar Buzz), Helena Bonham Carter

"Biutiful" Dir: Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu. Talent: Javier Bardem (Oscar Buzz) (and wouldn't it be cool if past TFF tributee and current Mrs. Bardem...Penelope Cruz...tagged along???)

"Another Year" Dir: Mike Leigh. Talent: Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville (Oscar Buzz).

"Tamara Drewe" Dir: Stephen Frears. Talent: Gemma Arterton

Makes your head swim a little, doesn't it? So....LOAD THE BUS..Ok, my Toyota...