New Additions to the History Pages / TFF Top Ten for the 2010's / Oscar Predictions Updates: The Big Eight / Latest Interviews

NEW ADDITIONS TO THE HISTORY PAGES

The Telluride Film Festival history project got a new addition today.  Many of you know that I have been working for the past few months to unofficially document Telluride's impact on the Oscars since the fests inception in 1974.

I have included multiple posts over the past few months to that end and today have added that work its own page on this blog.

Want to know how many Oscar nominations 12 Years a Slave had?  You can find out on the new page.  How many nominations did TFF films have in total in 1998?  It's on the page.

Have fun and if you find an error...and don't be surprised when that happens...drop me a line and let me know.  I'll get it corrected post haste.



TFF TOP TEN FOR THE 2010'S

Over on Twitter, everyone is doing end of the decade Top Ten film lists, so, as you might expect, here's my twist: Top Ten Telluride Film Fest films of the 2010's. so if you have a Twitter account, hit me up with your #TFFTopTenofthe10's using this hashtag and pass this along.


My personal #TFFTopTenofthe10's list:

10) Lady Bird ('17)
9)   La La Land ('16)
8)   First Man ('18)
7)   Marriage Story ('19)
6)   Moonlight ('16)
5)   Son of Saul ('15)
4)   A Separation ('11)
3)   Birdman ('14)
2)   Inside Llewyn Davis ('13)
1)   12 Years a Slave ('13)

Late add is Steve McQueen's Shame at #3.  Adjust accordingly.

OSCAR PREDICTIONS UPDATED: THE BIG EIGHT (ONLY TWO WEEKS TO GO!)

Here's a look at my latest "Best Guesses" for Oscar nominations (to be announced on Jan. 13th).  I have listed the last date I predicted for each of these categories and the film's last position in parentheses.  As always, TFF #46 films are indicated in Bold.


BEST PICTURE (last updated Dec. 23rd)

1) Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (1)
2) The Irishman (2)
3) Parasite (3)
4) 1917 (4)
5) Marriage Story (5)
6) Jojo Rabbit (6)
7) Joker (7)
8) Ford v Ferrari (8)
9) The Two Popes (10)
10) Bombshell (9)

Other possibles: The Farewell, Little Women, Knives Out, Dolemite Is My Name
Notes: The top six films feel solid to me at this point.  I'm guessing nine films get nominated this year.


BEST DIRECTOR (last updated Dec. 23rd)

1) Quentin Tarantino/Once Upon a Time... (1)
2) Bong Joon-ho/Parasite (2)
3) Martin Scorsese/The Irishman (3)
4) Sam Mendes/1917 (4)
5) Noah Baumbach/Marriage Story (5)
6) Todd Phillips/Joker (6)

Other possibles: James Mangold/Ford v Ferrari, Taika Waititi/Jojo Rabbit, Fernando Meirelles/The Two Popes, Greta Gerwig/Little Women
Locks: Tarantino, Bong, Scorsese.  Near Lock:  Mendes


BEST ACTRESS (last updated Dec. 16th)

1) Renee Zellweger/Judy (1)
2) Scarlett Johansson/Marriage Story (2)
3) Charlize Theron/Bombshell (3)
4) Cynthia Erivo/Harriet (5)
5) Lupita Nyong'o/Us (4)
6) Awkwafina/The Farewell (6)

Other possibles: Saoirse Ronan/Little Women, Alfre Woodard/Clemency, Ana De Armas/Knives Out, Valerie Pachner/A Hidden Life
Locks: Zellweger, Johansson, Theron.  Near Locks: Erivo, Nyong'o


BEST ACTOR (last updated Dec. 16th)

1) Adam Driver/Marriage Story (1)
2) Joaquin Phoenix/Joker (2)
3) Leonardo DiCaprio/Once Upon a Time... (3)
4) Antonio Banderas/Pain and Glory (4)
5) Jonathan Pryce/The Two Popes (5)
6) Christian Bale/Ford v Ferrari (-)

Other possibles: Taron Egerton/Rocketman, Robert DeNiro/The Irishman, Eddie Murphy/Dolemite Is My Name, Adam Sandler/Uncut Gems
Locks: Driver, Phoenix, DiCaprio


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (last updated Dec. 16th)

1) Laura Dern/Marriage Story (1)
2) Jennifer Lopez/Hustlers (2)
3) Margot Robbie/Bombshell (3)
4) Scarlett Johansson/Jojo Rabbit (4)
5) Kathy Bates/Richard Jewell (6)
6) Zhao Shuzhen/The Farwell (5)

Other possibles: Florence Pugh/Little Women, Nicole Kidman/Bombshell, Annette Bening/The Report, Da'Vine Joy Randolph/Dolemite Is My Name
Locks: Dern, Lopez. Robbie


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (last updated Dec. 16th)

1) Brad Pitt/Once Upon a Time... (1)
2) Joe Pesci/The Irishman (2)
3) Al Pacino/The Irishman (3)
4) Tom Hanks/A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (4)
5) Anthony Hopkins/The Two Popes (5)
6) Alan Alda/Marriage Story (6)

Other possibles: Jamie Foxx/Just Mercy, Sam Rockwell/Richard Jewell, Song Kang-ho/Parasite, Willem Dafoe/The Lighthouse
Locks: Pitt, Pesci, Pacino.  Near Lock: Hanks


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY (last updated Dec. 23rd)

1) The Irishman (1)
2) Jojo Rabbit (2)
3) The Two Popes (3)
4) Little Women (4)
5) Joker (5)
6) Hustlers (-)

Other possibles: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Just Mercy, Richard Jewell, Dark Waters
Locks: Irishman, Jojo, Two Popes.  Near Locks: Little Women, Joker


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Marriage Story (1)
2) Once Upon a Time... (2)
3) Parasite (3)
4) The Farewell (4)
5) Knives Out (5)
6) 1917 (-)

Other possibles: Uncut Gems, Dolemite Is My Name, Bombshell, Ford v Ferrari
Locks: Marriage Story, Once Upon a Time..., Parasite.  Near Lock: The Farewell


LATEST INTERVIEWS GROUPED BY FILM:



THE TWO POPES

Indiewire Awards Spotlight with Jonathan Pryce and Anne Thompson

Deadline's Pete Hammond talks with screenwriter Anthony McCarten

Featurette focused on the look of The Two Popes from The Playlist

Time.com on the true story of The Two Popes


UNCUT GEMS

Screen Daily talks to the Josh and Benny Safdie about the decade it took to get Uncut Gems made

The Safdies also talking to The Film Stage


MARRIAGE STORY

Noah Baumbach talking to Indiewire

Baumbach with Variety's Marc Malkin about Adam Driver, drywall and Stephen Sondheim


PARASITE

Parasite actor Song Kang-ho with Indiewire's David Ehrlich about his career 


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

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Oscar Nomination Predictions Updates: Effects / Present for In the Absence / A Hidden Life / The Aeronauts

OSCAR NOMINATIONS PREDICTIONS UPDATED: EFFECTS

On this Boxing Day, I take a look at my latest assessment at the Oscar nomination chances for the categories of Visual Effects as well as Sound Editing and Sound Mixing.  I last assessed these categories on Nov. 25th.  As always, TFF #46 films are indicated with Bold.



 VISUAL EFFECTS

1) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2)
2) The Irishman (4)
3) The Lion King (1)
4) Avengers: Endgame (3)
5) 1917 (-)
6) Alita: Battle Angel (-)

Other possibles: Gemini Man, Cats, Captain Marvel


SOUND EDITING

1) 1917 (1)
2) Ford v Ferrari (2)
3) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (3)
4) Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (6)
5) Avengers: Endgame (5)
6) Joker (-)

Other possibles: Ad Astra, The Irishman, Toy Story 4


SOUND MIXING

1) 1917 (1)
2) Ford v Ferrari (3)
3) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2)
4) Once Upon a Time... (5)
5) Rocketman (6)
6) Ad Astra (4)

Other possibles: The Irishman, Avengers: Endgame, Toy Story 4



PRESENT FOR IN THE ABSENCE

 If you read the previous post, you know that I crowed about getting my first Oscar film screener.  That came last week from the producers of the Oscar short-listed Documentary Short Subject film  In the Absence.

The 29 minute film explores the sinking of a South Korean ferry boat in 2014 that cost the lives of nearly 300 people and seeks to reveal the choices among bureaucrats that contributed to the loss of life.

I found it harrowing and moving, and of course will now keep my fingers crossed that it moves from the short list to the list of nominated doc shorts that are announced on Jan. 13th.

The IMDb page for In the Absence is linked here.


A HIDDEN LIFE

Here's a link to Anne Thompson's (Indiewire) video interview with the two lead actors from Terrence Malick's  A Hidden Life: August Diehl and Valerie Pachner.

Click here.

A Hidden Life opened in limited release on Dec. 13th.


THE AERONAUTS

Gregory Ellwood of The Playlist sat down recently with Oscar nominee Felicity Jones who stars in Amazon Studios The Aeronauts for an interview.

That interview is linked here.

The Aeronauts bowed on Amazon Prime on Dec. 20th.

Oscar Predictions Update: Best Picture, Director, Screenplays / Latest Gurus of Gold / An MTFB First / Trailer for The Climb / Tapley Podcasts Baumbach

OSCAR PREDICTIONS UPDATE

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Picture, Director and Screenplays.  TFF #46 films are indicated in Bold.

BEST PICTURE (last updated 12/16)

1) Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (1)

2) The Irishman (2)

3) Parasite (3)

4) 1917 (4)

5) Marriage Story (5)

6) Jojo Rabbit (6)

7) Joker (7)

8) Ford v Ferrari (8)

9) Bombshell (-)

10) The Two Popes (9)

Other possibles: The Farewell, Little Women. Knives Out

BEST DIRECTION (last updated 12/9)

1) Quentin Tarantino/Once Upon a Time... (2)

2) Bong Joon-ho/Parasite (4)

3) Martin Scorsese/The Irishman (3)

4) Sam Mendes/1917 (1)

5) Noah Baumbach/Marriage Story (5)

6) Todd Phillips/Joker (-)

Other possibles: James Mangold/Ford v Ferrari, Taika Waititi/Jojo Rabbit, Fernando Merrielle's/The Two Popes

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY (last updated 12/9)

1) The Irishman (1)

2) Jojo Rabbit (3)

3) The Two Popes (2)

4) Little Women (5)

5) Joker (4)

6) A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (6)

Other possibles: Hustlers, Richard Jewell, Just Mercy, Dolemite Is My Name

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (last updated 12/9)

1) Marriage Story (1)

2) Once Upon a Time... (2)

3) Parasite (3)

4) The Farewell (4)

5) Knives Out (5)

6) Uncut Gems (6)

Other possibles: Bombshell, 1917, Pain and Glory, Ford v Ferrari

LATEST GURUS OF GOLD

Movie City News has posted its latest edition of the Gurus of Gold focused on the Big Eight categories of Best Picture, Direction, all four Acting categories as well as both screenplay categories.

Here's the link to the latest Gurus.

As mentioned here before, I'm serving my second year as a Guru.  Also included as Gurus this year are some Oscar predicting heavyweights:  Sasha Stone of Awards Daily, Dave Karger of Turner Classic Movies and IMDb, Peter Howell of The Toronto Star, Jeff Sneider of Collider, Gregory Ellwood of The Playlist and Mark Johnson of Awards Watch among others.

You might notice that my Guru picks and my own posted on the blog here today may not line up exactly...Why?  Time.  My Guru picks were sent in a few days ago, whereas I worked on the freshest picks for today's blog post yesterday and this morning.


AN MTFB FIRST

Well...what do you know?

I've been plugging away at this Blog thing since August of 2008.  Lots of cool things have happened as a result of this little experience but had a first this week.

I had an Oscar screener land in my email this week.   No...no...it's not Little Women or 1917...

It's a link for a short listed Oscar Short form Documentary film.  The film: Yo Seung-Jun's In the Absence.  The description included in the email describes the focus of the doc as follows:

"When the passenger ferry MV Sewol sank off the coast of South Korea in 2014, over three hundred people lost their lives, most of them schoolchildren. Years later, the victims’ families and survivors are still demanding justice from national authorities."

The short film's IMDb page is linked here.

According to accompanying material the film screened at DOC NYC and AFI Docs.

Oscar winner Laura Poitras (Citizen Four) is one of the Executive Producers of the film.

I plan to get it in over the holiday break.  I'll get back to you about it soon.


TRAILER FOR THE CLIMB

Sony Pictures Classics has released a trailer for low key buddy dramedy The Climb.  The film had a modest reception at Telluride.  It's set for release on Mar. 20th.  Here's the trailer from YouTube:

TAPLEY PODCASTS BAUMBACH

Kris Tapley has put together another of his series of podcasts for Netflix under the name of The Call Sheet.  The latest features an outing with Marriage Story director and scribe Noah Baumbach.

That podcast is linked here.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Oscar Short Lists / Oscar Prediction Updates: Costumes, Makeup/Hair, Original Song / Indiewire's 2019 Critics Poll

OSCAR SHORT LISTS

Earlier this week The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the short lists for nine of its Oscar categories.  I have listed all TFF #46 (and #45) films that have been named on those lists and are thereby still in contention for a possible win.  Here they are:


International Film: Beanpole, Pain and Glory, Parasite, Those Who Remained
Documentary Feature: The Biggest Little Farm (TFF #45)
Original Score: Ford v Ferrari, Marriage Story, Motherless Brooklyn, Pain and Glory
Original Song: Daily Battles from Motherless Brooklyn
Makeup/Hair: Judy
Documentary Short: Fire in Paradise

No TFF #46 films were named to the Oscar short lists in Visual Effects, Animated Shorts or Live Action Shorts.

Complete Short Lists are linked here from Gold Derby.



OSCAR PREDICTION UPDATES: COSTUMES, MAKEUP/HAIR, SONG

Here are updates for three Oscar categories.  These new predictions are updated to reflect The Academy's Short Lists that were announced Monday for Makeup/Hair and Original Song.  TFF #46 films are Bold.  These categories were last predicted on Nov. 21st.


COSTUMES

1) Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (1)
2) Dolemite Is My Name (2)
3) Little Women (3)
4) Rocketman (4)
5) Downton Abbey (5)
6) The Irishman (-)

Other possibles: Joker, Harriet, Judy


MAKEUP/HAIR

1) Bombshell (1)
2) Joker (4)
3) Rocketman (3)
4) Judy (5)
5) Once Upon a Time... (2)
6) Dolemite Is My Name (-)

Other possibles: Downton Abbey, 1917, Little Women


ORIGINAL SONG

1) Into the Unknown/Frozen II (1)
2) I'm Gonna Love Me Again/Rocketman (4)
3) Stand Up/Harriet (2)
4) Spirit/The Lion King (5)
5) I'm Standing with You/Breakthrough (-)
6) I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away/Toy Story 4 (-)

Other possibles: Speechless/Aladdin, Glasgow/Wild Rose, Letter to My Godfather/The Black Godfather


INDIEWIRE'S 2019 CRITICS POLL

Indiewire surveyed over 300 critics, blogger and industry types to compile a huge database and posted the collective responses on Monday this week.  Eric Kohn and crew provided those in  categories.

TFF #46 films that registered and their positions were:

Best Film

1) Parasite
3) Marriage Story
5) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
6) Pain and Glory
7) Uncut Gems
16) A Hidden Life

Best Director

1) Bong Joon-ho/Parasite
4) Celine Sciamma/Portrait of a Lady on Fire
5) Josh and Bennie Safdie/Uncut Gems
6) Noah Baumbach/Marriage Story
7) Pedro Almodovar/Pain and Glory
15) Terrence Malick/A Hidden Life
23) Trey Shults/Waves

Best Screenplay

1) Parasite
2) Marriage Story
7) Pain and Glory
8) Uncut Gems
10) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
16) The Two Popes
24) A Hidden Life


Best Actress

2) Scarlett Johansson/Marriage Story
4) Renee Zellweger/Judy
10) Adele Haenel/Portrait of a Lady on Fire
13) Naemi Merlant/Portrait of a Lady on Fire


Best Actor

1) Adam Driver/Marriage Story
2) Antonio Banderas/Pain and Glory
3) Adam Sandler/Uncut Gems
9) Sang Kang-ho/Parasite
13) Jonathan Pryce/The Two Popes
18) Christian Bale/Ford v Ferrari
22) August Diehl/A Hidden Life


Best Supporting Actress

1) Laura Dern/Marriage Story
7) Julia Fox/Uncut Gems
8) Annette Bening/The Report
10) Park So-dam/Parasite
11) Taylor Russell/Waves
13) Adele Haenel/Portrait of a Lady on Fire
15) ChoYao Jeong/Parasite
18) Penelope Cruz/Pain and Glory
22) Jeong-eun Lee/Parasite

Best Supporting Actor

5) Sang Kang-ho/Parasite
7) Alan Alda/Marriage Story
12) Sterling K. Brown/Waves
13) Ray Liotta/Marriage Story
14) Anthony Hopkins/The Two Popes
20) Asier Etxandia/Pain and Glory


Best Cinematography

3) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
5) Parasite
7) A Hidden Life
8) Uncut Gems
17) Pain and Glory
19) Waves
23) Marriage Story
24) Ford v Ferrari

Best Documentary

6) Varda by Agnes
7) Amazing Grace
10) Diego Maradona
18) The Kingmaker
19) Tell Me Who I Am
22) 63 Up
23) The Biggest Little farm (TFF #45)


Best Foreign Film

1) Parasite
2) Pain and Glory
3) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
19) Birds of Passage (TFF #45)
20) Beanpole


The complete Indiewire critics poll is linked here.



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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Oscar Predictions Update: Best Picture and Acting / Insight and Interviews from This Week

OSCAR PREDICTIONS UPDATE: BEST PICTURE AND ACTING

Telluride films indicated in Bold.

BEST PICTURE

1) Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood (2)

2) The Irishman (1)

3) Parasite (4)

4) 1917 (3)

5) Marriage Story (5)

6) Jojo Rabbit (6)

7) Joker (8)

8) Ford v Ferrari (7)

9) The Two Popes (9)

10) The Farewell (10)

Other possibles: Little Women, Bombshell,  Knives Out, Uncut Gems

BEST ACTRESS

1) Renee Zellweger/Judy (1)

2) Scarlett Johansson/Marriage Story(3)

3) Charlize Theron/Bombshell (2)

4) Lupita Nyong'o/Us (-)

5) Cynthia Ervio/Harriet (4)

6) Awkwafina/The Farewell (6)

Other possibles: Saoirse Ronan/Little Women, Alfre Woodard/Clemency

BEST ACTOR

1) Adam Driver/Marriage Story (2)

2) Joaquin Phoenix/Joker (1)

3) Leonardo DiCaprio/Once Upon a Time (4)

4) Antonio Banderas/Pain and Glory (6)

5) Jonathan Pryce/The Two Popes (3)

6) Robert DeNiro/The Irishman (5)

Other possibilities: Christian Bale/Ford v Ferrari, Eddie Murphy/Dolemite Is My Name, Adam Sandler/Uncut Gems, Taron Egerton/Rocketman

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Laura Dern/Marriage Story (1)

2) Jennifer Lopez/Hustlers (2)

3) Margot Robbie/Bombshell (3)

4) Scarlett Johansson/Jojo Rabbit (6)

5) Zhao Shuzhen/The Farewell (4)

6) Kathy Bates/Richard Jewell (5)

Other possibles: Florence Pugh/Little Women, Nicole Kidman/Bombshell, Taylor Russell/Waves, Annette Bening/The Report

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Brad Pitt/Once Upon a Time (1)

2) Joe Pesci/The Irishman (3)

3) Al Pacino/The Irishman (2)

4) Tom Hanks/A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (4)

5) Anthony Hopkins/The Two Popes (5)

6) Song Kang ho/Parasite (-)

Other possibles: Jamie Foxx/Just Mercy, Willem Dafoe/The Lighthouse, Alan Alda/Marriage Story 

INSIGHT AND INTERVIEWS FROM THIS WEEK

Antonio Banderas with Anne Thompson/Indiewire

Renee Zellweger with Tim Stack/Entertainment Weekly

Anthony McCarten (writer-The Two Popes) with Dominic Patten/Deadline

Jimmo Yang (film editor/Parasite) with Mina Takla/Awards Watch

Noah Baumbach with Anne Thompson/Indiewire



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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Updated Oscar Predictions: Cinematography, Score, Production Design / Clues from Critics / Guilds Begin Their Long March / New Gurus of Gold

UPDATED OSCAR PREDICTIONS: CINEMATOGRAPHY, ORIGINAL SCORE AND PRODUCTION DESIGN

TFF #46 films highlighted are Bold.


CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) 1917 (3)
2) Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (1)
3) The Irishman (2)
4) Joker (-)
5) Ford v Ferrari (-)
6) The Lighthouse (-)


Other possibles: A Hidden Life, The Two Popes, Little Women


ORIGINAL SCORE

1) 1917 (3)
2) Marriage Story (4)
3) Little Women (2)
4) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (1)
5) Joker (-)
6) Ford v Ferrari (5)

Other possibles: Jojo Rabbit, Portrait of a Lady on Fire


PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (1)
2) 1917 (-)
3) The Irishman (3)
4) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2)
5) Joker (-)
6) Parasite (-)

Other possibles: Jojo Rabbit, The Two Popes, Little Women



CLUES FROM CRITICS

The six critics lists that I pay most attention to this time of year have all reported in and if the past has anything to reveal about the Oscar best Picture race looking at those results; it's that your Best Picture winner is on that list somewhere but is not the top film on the list.

Here's what we saw the last couple of years from the collective look at NBR, AFI, the Golden Globes, The Critics Choice, the Los Angeles Critics and the New York Critics:

From 2017 (film followed by the organization(s) that awarded them...Oscar Best Pic Nominees are in Blue and the winner is Red)

10) The Disaster Artist (NBR, GG)
7) The Florida Project (NBR, BFCA, AFI)
7) The Big Sick (BFCA, AFI, SAG)
7) The Shape of Water (BFCA, GG, AFI)
4) The Post (NBR, BFCA, GG, AFI)
4) Dunkirk (NBR, BFCA, GG, AFI)
4) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (BFCA, GG, SAG, AFI)
2) Call Me By Your Name (NBR, LA, BFCA, GG, AFI)
2) Get Out (NBR, BFCA, GG, SAG, AFI)
1) Lady Bird (NBR, NY, BFCA, GG, SAG, AFI)

So it included TFF #44 films Lady Bird, and The Shape of Water.  It also included eventual Oscar Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. and nominees Lady Bird, Three Billboards, Dunkirk, The Post, Get Out, Call Me By Your Name and Dunkirk.  So, the top seven got in with the additions, of TFF #44 film Darkest Hour and also Phantom Thread.

Here are the results from 2018:

9) Six films tied here with two mentions each: Bohemian Rhapsody, Crazy Rich Asians, Eighth Grade, First Reformed, A Quiet Place and Vice.

7) Mary Poppins Returns (3): NBR, AFI, BFCA
7) The Favourite (3): GG, AFI, BFCA
4) If Beale Street Could Talk (4): NBR, GG, AFI, BFCA
4) Green Book (4): NBR (best picture), GG, AFI, BFCA
4) BlacKkKlansman (4): GG, AFI, SAG, BFCA
1) A Star Is Born (5): NBR, GG, AFI, SAG, BFCA
1) Roma (5): NBR, NY, LA, AFI (special citation), BFCA
1) Black Panther (5): NBR, GG, AFI, SAG, BFCA

With single mentions: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Can You Ever Forgive Me? and First Man.

So where are for 2019 (TFF #46 films in Green):

1) The Irishman (6) NBR, AFI, GG, CC, NY -runner-up, LA
2) 1917 (4) NBR, AFI, GG, CC
2) Jojo Rabbit (4) NBR, AFI, GG, CC
2) Marriage Story (4) NBR, AFI, GG, CC
2) Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (4) NBR, AFI, GG, CC
6) Joker (3) AFI, GG, CC
6) Knives Out (3) NBR, AFI, GG
6) Parasite (3) AFI-special citation, CC, LA
9) The Farewell (2) NBR, AFI
9) Ford v Ferrari (2) NBR, CC
9) Little Women (2) AFI, CC
9) Richard Jewell (2) NBR, AFI
9) Uncut Gems (2) NBR, CC

Single mentions for: Waves, The Two Popes, Rocketman, Dolemite Is My Name, Judy and A Hidden Life.


GUILDS BEGIN THEIR LONG MARCH

The Screen Actors Guild/AFTRA named their nominees for acting awards for the past year yesterday.  Nominees included these performers from TFF #46 films:

Marriage Story: Scarlett Johansson/Best Actress, Adam Driver/Best Actor, Laura Dern/Best Supporting Actress

Judy: Renee Zellweger/Best Actress

Ford v Ferrari: Christian Bale/Best Actor, Best Stunt Ensemble

Best Ensemble nominees included: Parasite

Jay Roach's Bombshell led all films with four nominations.  Charlize Theron for Leading Actress and both Margot Robbie and Nicole Kidman for Supporting Actress and a nomination for Best Ensemble.

The complete list of SAG/AFTRA nominees are linked here.


Meanwhile, the Art Directors Guild, the Cinema Audio Society and the Costume Designers Guild also have named their nominees.

James Mangold's Ford v Ferrari broke through with nods for Sound from the CAS as well as Period Production Design from the Art Directors Guild.

Parasite was nominated also by the ADG for Best Contemporary Production Design.

The complete list of nominees for the ADG is linked here.

Additionally, the Association of Cinema Editors (A.C.E.) announced their nominees for excellence in editing yesterday.  TFF #46 films included among those nominees were: Ford v Ferrari, Marriage Story and Parasite in the Drama category.  Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice was nominated in the feature documentary category.

The complete list of A.C.E. nominees is linked here


No TFF #46 film earned a Costume Design Guild nomination this year.  Those nominees can be viewed here.


NEW GURUS OF GOLD

Movie City News has a new updated set of predictions from The Gurus of Gold.  Categories that are included in this latest set of Guru guesses are Best Picture, Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Director, and Screenplays.

Here's the link to the latest Gurus of Gold.

TFF #46 that are predicted to get nominations according to the Gurus in these eight categories are:

Marriage Story: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Direction, Original Screenplay

Parasite: Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Original Screenplay

Ford v Ferrari: Best Picture

The Two Popes: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay

Judy: Best Actress

Pain and Glory: Best Actor



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Golden Globe Nominations / Critics Choice Nominations / Los Angeles Film Critics Announce / Oscar Predictions Update : Best Pic and More / Latest Gurus of Gold / Trailers for Beanpole and The Assistant

GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominees this morning for the best in film and television for 2019.  Here's how TFF #46 films fared:

Marriage Story (6): Best Picture/Drama, Best Actor/Adam Driver, Best Actress/Scarlett Johansson, Best Supporting Actress/Laura Dern, Screenplay, Score  (Note: Marriage Story led the filed with its six nominations.  The Irishman was next with five).

Parasite (3): Director, Foreign Film, Screenplay

Ford v Ferrari (1): Best Actor/Christian Bale

The Two Popes (4): Best Picture/ Drama, Best Actor/Jonathan Pryce, Best Supporting Actor/Anthony Hopkins, Screenplay

Pain and Glory (2): Best Actor/Antonio Banderas, Foreign Film

Portrait of a Lady on Fire: (1):Foreign Film

Judy (1): Best Actress/Renee Zellweger

The Report (1): Best Supporting Actress/Annette Bening

TFF #46 totaled 19 nominations.

The complete list of all nominees is linked here from The Hollywood Reporter.



CRITICS CHOICE NOMINATIONS

Martin Scorsese's The Irishman led all films with 14 Critics Choice nominations with Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood close behind with 12.  Those were announced yesterday.

Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story led the TFF #46 entries in nominations with eight tied with 1917 as the fourth most nominated film.  In all TFF #46 films earned 32 Critics Choice nominations.

Here's the breakdown of TFF #46 films nomination for Critics Choice Awards yesterday:

Marriage Story (8): Best Picture, Director/Noah Baumbach, Actress/Scarlett Johansson, Actor/Adam Driver, Laura Dern/Supporting Actress, Ensemble, Original Screenplay and Score.

Parasite (7): Best Picture, Best Foreign Film, Bong Joon-ho/Director, Ensemble, Original Screenplay, Editing and Production Design.

Ford v Ferrari (5): Best Picture, Best Action Picture, Cinematography, Editing and Visual Effects.

Uncut Gems (4):  Best Picture, The Safdie Brothers/Director, Actor/Adam Sandler, Editing

Pain and Glory (2): Best Foreign Film, Actor/Antonio Banderas

Judy (2): Actress/Renee Zellweger, Makeup

The Two Popes (2): Supporting Actor/Anthony Hopkins, Adapted Screenplay

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (1): Best Foreign Film

The Aeronauts (1): Visual Effects

The complete list of all nominees for the Critics Choice Awards for film and television are linked from their website here.


LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ANNOUNCE

Also announcing their "Best Of" for 2019 yesterday was the Laos Angeles Film Critics Association.  LAFCA traditionally names a winner in each category as well as a runner-up.  In this years voting T46 films were named the Best in seven categories and runners-up in five other instances.  Leading the way was Bong Joon-ho's Parasite which was named in five of the 12 spots.  Here's the breakdown by TFF #46 film:

Parasite: Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor Song Kan-ho and runner-up for Screenplay and Production Design.

Pedro Almodovar's Pain and Glory was named Best Foreign Film and its star Antonio Banderas was named Best Actor.

Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story was named a couple of times.  It was named Best Screenplay and Adam Driver was runner-up for Best Actor.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire was chosen as Best Cinematography and was also runner-up for Best Foreign Film.

The Safdie Brother's Uncut Gems was runner-up for Best Editing.

The complete list of winners from the LAFCA is linked here from their website.




UPDATED OSCAR PREDICTIONS

Updating my Oscar predictions for Best Picture, Director the Screenplay categories and Film Editing.

As always TFF #46 films are in Bold.

BEST PICTURE

1) The Irishman (2)
2) Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (1)
3) 1917 (3)
4) Parasite (4)
5) Marriage Story (5)
6) Jojo Rabbit (6)
7) Ford v Ferrari (9)
8) Joker (8)
9) The Two Popes (7)
10) The Farewell (10)

Other possibles: Dolemite Is My Name, Richard Jewell, Bombshell, Knives Out, Uncut Gems


BEST DIRECTOR

1) Sam Mendes/1917 (4)
2) Quentin Tarantino/Once Upon a Time... (1)
3) Martin Scorsese/The Irishman (3)
4) Bong Joon-ho/Parasite (2)
5) Noah Baumbach/Marriage Story (5)
6) James Mangold/Ford v Ferrari (-)

Other possibles: Taika Waititi/Jojo Rabbit, Fernando Meirelles/The Two Popes, Todd Phillips/Joker


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) The Irishman (3)
2) The Two Popes (1)
3) Jojo Rabbit (2)
4) Joker (4)
5) Little Women (5)
6) A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (-)

Other possibles: Hustlers, Just Mercy, Richard Jewell

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Marriage Story (1)
2) Once Upon a Time... (2)
3) Parasite (3)
4) The Farewell (4)
5) 1917 (5)
6) Knives Out (-)

Other Possibles: Uncut Gems, Honey Boy, Bombshell

BEST FILM EDITING

1) The Irishman (1)
2) Ford v Ferrari (2)
3) Once Upon a Time... (3)
4) Parasite (5)
5) Marriage Story (-)
6) 1917 (4)

Other possibles: The Two Popes, Jojo Rabbit, Joker


LATEST BEST PICTURE PREDICTIONS FROM THE GURUS OF GOLD

These were updated late last week and the newest Best Pic consensus is linked here.

I believe there will be a new Gurus this week with expanded predictions in a number of other categories.  Keep an eye on my Twitter account ( @Gort2 ) for when that goes up.



TRAILERS FROM BEANPOLE AND THE ASSISTANT


A couple of films that screened at Telluride that have had low level buzz since the fest both released trailers this week.

Foreign Film contender from Russia, Kantemir Bagalov's Beanpole had one.  Beanpole is set for release in the U.S. on Jan. 29th and is being distributed by Kino Lorber.  Here's that video from YouTube:

Also launching a trailer was Kitty Green's The Assistant.  That film will release on Jan. 31st and is distributed by Bleecker Street Media.  Here's that trailer also from YouTube:

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NBR and Telluride / AFI and Telluride / Gotham Award Winners: Marriage Story Wins Big / NY Critics and Telluride / And It's Never Too Early... / Updated Oscar Predictions: International, Documentary, Animated Features

NBR AND TELLURIDE

The National Board of Review released its choices for the best films in 2019 on Tuesday.  Martin Scorsese's The Irishman was named best film of the year.  NBR also includes superlatives in a number of lists and categories.  TFF #46 standout Parasite was named Best Foreign Language Film.

Among their Ten Best films of the year were these TFF #46 entrants:

Ford v Ferrari
Marriage Story
Uncut Gems
Waves

From the NBR list of the five Best Foreign Language Films:

Pain and Glory
Portrait of a Lady on Fire

And from their list of the Ten Best Independent Films:

A Hidden Life
Judy

Other individual awards from NBR for TFF #46 films/performances included:

Adam Sandler-Best Actor-Uncut Gems
Renee Zellweger-Best Actress-Judy
Uncut Gems-Best Original Screenplay


The complete rundown of the NBR's awards is linked here from Indiewire.


AFI AND TELLURIDE

In addition to the NBR announcement on Tuesday we also saw revealed the "Best of 2019" list from the American Film Institute.

In as far as far as TFF films are concerned, only Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story made the AFI Top Ten list.  AFI did name Bong Joon-ho's Parasite as a special award winner.


Here's the complete lowdown of AFI's lists from The Wrap.


GOTHAM AWARD WINNERS: MARRIAGE STORY WINS BIG

The Gotham Awards were passed out earlier this week and Noah Baumbach's TFF #46 film Marriage Story did very, very well.  It was named Best Feature, Best Screenplay and Adam Driver was named Best Actor.  The film was also named winner of the Gotham's Audience Award.

The other TFF #46 awarded film came for Taylor Russell as Breakthrough Performer for Waves.

The complete Gothams award list is linked here from Indiewire.


NEW YORK CRITICS AND TELLURIDE

The New York Film Critics Circle also announced their " Best of" for 2019 yesterday and the list of winners included these TFF #46 entrants:

Best Director: The Safdie Brothers/Uncut Gems
Best Actor: Antonio Banderas/Pain and Glory
Best Supporting Actress: Laura Dern/Marriage Story and Little Women
Best Cinematography: Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Best Foreign Language Film: Parasite
and Randy Newman was awarded a "Special Award" One has to think that, in part, he was being recognized for his work on the score for Marriage Story


The NYFCC named Martin Scorsese's The Irishman as the Best Film of the year.

You can see the entire list of NYFCC award winners from Indiewire by clicking here.


AND IT'S NEVER TOO EARLY...

The first big list of most anticipated films for 2020 is out from The Playlist.  That outlet posted its 100 Most Anticipated Films for 2020 on Tuesday and I have culled it for the dozen films that seem the most TFF #47 friendly...at least on the surface.

Largely these 12 films make my cut based on TFF history.  Here they are (in reverse order of their position on The Playlist list):

83) The White Tiger (d. Ramin Bahrani)
66) Mainstream (d. Gia Coppola)
64) Good Night Midnight (d. George Clooney)
59) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (d. George C. Wolfe)
55) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (d. Aaron Sorkin)
48) Stillwater (d. Tom McCarthy)
27) Nomadland (d. Chloe Zhao)
17) I'm Thinking of Ending Things (d. Charlie Kaufman)
16) Bergman Island (d. Mia Hansen-Love)
13) Nightmare Alley (d. Guillermo Del Toro)
9) Mank (d. David Fincher)
4) Dune (d. Denis Villnueve)

The Playlist's top anticipated film is Christopher Nolan's Tenet.

The complete list of 100 films plus some honorable mentions is linked here.


UPDATED OSCAR PREDICTIONS: INTERNATIONAL, DOCS, ANIMATED FEATURE

I'm updating my predictions today for three categories: International, Documentary and Animated Features.  Their last predicted position is indicated in parentheses;  TFF #46 films are Bold.

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

1) Parasite (1)
2) Pain and Glory (2)
3) Les Miserables (3)
4) Atlantics (4)
5) This Invisible Life (-)
6) Corpus Christi (-)

Other possibles: And Then They Danced, Monos, Beanpole

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1) American Factory (1)
2) Apollo 11 (2)
3) One Child Nation (3)
4) For Sama (-)
5) Honeyland (-)
6) The Biggest Little Farm (-) (TFF #45)

Other possibles: Sea of Shadows, Edge of Democracy, The Cave, The Kingmaker

ANIMATED FEATURE

1) Toy Story 4 (1)
2) Frozen II (2)
3) I Lost My Body (4)
4) The Missing Link (3)
5) How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (5)
6) Klaus (-)

Other possibles: Abominable, Funan


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NBR Happens Tomorrow / Oscar Predictions Update: Acting Categories / Film Makers Featured

NBR HAPPENS TOMORROW

The national Board of Review drops its list of best films of 2019 tomorrow.  Last year its choice for Best Film, Green Book, went on to Oscar glory winning the Best Picture Oscar.

Expect the organization to announce winners of a number of individual awards in addition to Best Film such as Best Direction, Leading and Supporting performances, adapted and original screenplays and others.  In addition expect a 10 Best list, a Ten Best Independent Films list, a Five Best Documentaries list and a Five Best Foreign Film list.

TFF #46 films that could make their way onto the NBR's various lists include:

The Aeronauts
Beanpole
The Climb
Diego Maradona
Ford v Ferrari
A Hidden Life
Judy
The Kingmaker
Marriage Story
Pain and Glory
Parasite
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
The Report
The Two Popes
Uncut Gems
Varda by Agnes
Waves

I'll have all the NBR/TFF breakdown on Thursday edition of MTFB.


OSCAR PREDICTIONS UPDATE: ACTING

Here's my latest batch of Oscar updates for the acting category nominations.  I last posted acting predictions on Nov. 21.  TFF #46 performances are Bold.

BEST ACTRESS

1) Renee Zellweger/Judy (1)
2) Charlize Theron/Bombshell (2)
3) Scarlett Johansson/Marriage Story (3)
4) Saoirse Ronan/Little Women (4)
5) Cynthia Erivo/Harriet (5)
6) Awkwafina/The Farewell (-)

Other possibles: Lupita Nyong'o/Us, Alfre Woodard/Clemency

BEST ACTOR

1) Joaquin Phoenix/Joker (2)
2) Adam Driver/Marriage Story (1)
3) Jonathan Pryce/The Two Popes (3)
4) Leonardo DiCaprio/Once Upon a Time...(4)
5) Robert DeNiro/The Irishman (-)
6) Antonio Banderas/Pain and Glory (5)

Other possibles: George MacKay/1917, Christian Bale/Ford v Ferrari, Eddie Murphy/Dolemite Is My Name, Taron Egerton/Rocketman, Paul Walter Hauser/Richard Jewell

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Laura Dern/Marriage Story (1)
2) Jennifer Lopez/Hustlers (2)
3) Margot Robbie/Bombshell (3)
4) Zhao Shuzhen/The Farewell (6)
5) Kathy Bates/Richard Jewell (-)
6) Scarlett Johansson/Jojo Rabbit (5)

Other possibles: Florence Pugh/Little Women, DaVine Joy Randolph/Dolemite Is My Name, Annette Bening/The Report, Maggie Smith/Downton Abbey

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Brad Pitt/Once Upon a Time... (1)
2) Al Pacino/The Irishman (2)
3) Joe Pesci/The Irishman (5)
4) Tom Hanks/A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (3)
5) Anthony Hopkins/The Two Popes (4)
6) Sam Rockwell/Richard Jewell (-)

Other possibles: Willem Dafoe/The Lighthouse, Wesley Snipes/Dolemite Is My Name, Alan Alda/Marriage Story, Shia LaBeouf/Honey Boy, Jamie Foxx/Just Mercy

Notes: The buzz surrounding Clint Eastwood's Richard Jewell (releasing Dec. 13) is lifting Kathy Bates, Sam Rockwell and Paul Walter Hauser into the acting conversations.   It will be interesting to see if that sustains over the next couple of weeks.

The same is true for young and virtually unknown George MacKay for his work in 1917.  The Sam Mendes film has huge buzz after some early screenings and has skyrocketed up a number of the charts from the Oscar experts for Best Picture.  Currently Awards Circuit has it at #1.   Awards Daily has it at #1 and Awards Watch has it at #4.


FILM MAKERS FEATURED

Annie Howard talks to The Two Popes Screen writer Anthony McCarten for The Hollywood Reporter here.

Anne Thompson of Indiewire talks to Adam Sandler and The Safdie Brothers about Uncut Gems here.

Joey Moser of Awards Daily talks with composer David Wingo about the music of Motherless Brooklyn.



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Oscar Predictions Update: Director and Screenplays / Interviews with Directors: Baumbach, Norton, Meirelles

OSCAR PREDICTION UPDATES: DIRECTOR AND SCREENPLAYS

Here are my most recent picks for Oscar nominations in the categories of Directing, and Adapted and Original Screenplay.  These categories were last posted on Nov. 18th.  I have indicated the last time I posted them as well as that film's position in that previous posting.  As always all films from TFF #46 are in Bold.

BEST DIRECTION

1) Quentin Tarantino/Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (2)
2) Bong Joon-ho/Parasite (1)
3) Martin Scorsese/The Irishman (3)
4) Sam Mendes/1917 (5)
5) Noah Baumbach/Marriage Story (4)
6) Taika Waititi/Jojo Rabbit (6)

Other possibles: Fernando Meirelles/The Two Popes, James Mangold/Ford v Ferrari, Todd Phillips/Joker, Clint Eastwood/Richard Jewell


ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) The Two Popes (3)
2) Jojo Rabbit (1)
3) The Irishman (2)
4) Joker (5)
5) Little Women (4)
6) Hustlers (-)

Other possibles; Richard Jewell, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Judy


ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Marriage Story (1)
2) Once Upon a Time... (2)
3) Parasite (3)
4) The Farewell (4)
5) 1917 (-)
6) Bombshell (5)

Other possibles: Dolemite Is My Name, Knives Out, Honey Boy




INTERVIEWS WITH DIRECTORS: NOAH BAUMBACH, EDWARD NORTON AND FERNANDO MEIRELLES

Noah Baumbach photo from Interview

Nadja Sayej talks with Edward Norton about Motherless Brooklyn.  Here's the link to that interview.


Pete Hammond talks to Norton in this interview for Deadline's Contender series.  That is linked here.


Gold Derby's Zach Laws talks to The Two Popes' director Fernando Merirelles.  That is linked here.



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