Evaluation in Two Modes / Switching Gears / Time to Rate the Films and More Gratitude

It's the Tuesday after Labor Day which means, sadly, that Telluride's 42nd Film Festival has drawn to a close.  I spent most of yesterday making the nine and a half hour drive back to the home base in Guymon, OK.  We arrived safe and sound around 7:45.  Hope you all had safe travels (or will have).


EVALUATION IN TWO MODES

First, MTFB and the 42nd Telluride lineup:  Not too bad.

The final Ten Bets last Wednesday morning was 19 for 20 with "Queen of the Desert" being the lone whiff.  Herzog is off making a film.

Could have gotten 20 for 20 had I been more confident in the possibility of Winter on Fire" or "Sherpa".  Nevertheless, 95% at the end is a good grade about anywhere.

However, this year was one of the least impressive from the initial Ten Bets list as it contained only four films that ultimately made the TFF #42 lineup:"Suffragette", "45 Years", "Carol" and "Son of Saul".  So, sometimes, I'm not as smart as I wish I was.

Also, in terms of evaluation, I wasn't shattered/stunned by anything I saw over the weekend but I did like quite a lot.  My list from top to bottom of what I saw :

1) "Black Mass
2) "Spotlight"
3) "Steve Jobs"
4) "Son of Saul"
5) Retour De Flamme (restorations)
6) "He Named Me Malala"
7) "Suffragette"
8) "Taxi"
9) "Carol"
10) "45 Years"

I regret that I didn't get in "Beasts of No Nation" (had to chose between it and "Son of Saul"), "Anomalisa" and "Room".  I also regret not getting in "Marguerite".  Had I been able to hang around Monday, would have gotten those in.


SWITCHING GEARS

Long time readers of Michael's Telluride Film Blog know that, now that the festival is done, the focus becomes an attempt to follow the ups and downs of the awards season and specifically what happens during these next few months with regard to the films that we saw these past few days.

Some early conclusions based upon the what was being said and written in as far as the Oscar season is concerned goes like this after Venice (though it's not finished yet) and Telluride:

Films with some serious Best Picture wind at their backs:

"Steve Jobs"
"Spotlight"
"Carol"
"Black Mass"

Also in the conversation:
"Suffragette"
"Room"
"Son of Saul"
"45 Years"

Acting considerations include

Best Actress:

Cate Blanchett/Carol
Rooney Mara/Carol (although most think that she'll be campaigned as Supporting)
Carey Mulligan/Suffragette
Brie Larson/Room ( I think I saw Ms. Larson playing darts at a pizza place on Colorado, Ave. on Sunday night)
Charlotte Rampling/45 Years

Best Actor:

Michael Fassbender/Steve Jobs
Johnny Depp/Black Mass
Idris Elba/Beasts (could go supporting)
Tom Courtenay/45 Years


Supporting Actress:

Kate Winslet/Steve Jobs
Anne-Marie Duff/Suffragette
Rachel McAdams/Spotlight


Supporting Actor:

Michael Keaton/Spotlight
Mark Ruffalo/Spotlight
Abraham Attah/Beasts
Joel Edgerton/Black Mass
Jacob Trembelay/Room
Seth Rogen/Steve Jobs


Director:

Danny Boyle/Steve Jobs
Tom McCarthy/Spotlight
Scott Cooper/Black Mass
Todd Haynes/Carol
Cary Fukunaga/Beasts
Lenny Abrahamson/Room
Sarah Gavron/Suffragette

My personal drumbeats are for Jeff Daniels in "Steve Jobs" and Peter Sarsgaard for "Black Mass" as Supporting Actor possibilities.


Additionally, there'll be additional considerations in many other categories (Costumes for "Carol" as an example).


Of course, there's till a lot to happen including Toronto, New York, AFI and big releases that include: "The Revenant", "The Hateful Eight", "Bridge of Spies", "In the Heart of the Sea", "By the Sea" and don't forget "The Danish Girl" which has already made a splash in Venice.

The next nearly six months will be about sorting all of this out.   Oscar happens on Feb. 28, 2016.


TIME TO RATE THE FILMS AND MORE GRATITUDE

Again, a big "Thank You" to all of you who read this experiment.  So many of you shared kind words with me during the Festival.  I'm always more than a little surprised at how many people seem to have looked at.  Also...

Note to Chris "Boom Boom" Schneider...Kurt will join me in class this morning.

Thanks to all....

I hope you made notes.

The Professionals have already started to send their ratings in and I hope to get those completely together, collated and published by the end of the week.  Perhaps Monday.

Meanwhile, YOU have a job to do, as well.  Now that the fest is in the books, I'm asking YOU to rate the films and send those ratings to me for The People's Telluride.  Please rate each film you saw on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being abysmal and 5 being perfection.  If you want to rate with half points (ex: 4.5) that's cool too.

Send ratings to the comment section of the blog OR

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to

Michael's Telluride Film Blog's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse/107846269309712