Oscar Update: Best Actor / TFF #47 Films Score at Montclair / Concrete Cowboy Rides to Netflix / Odds and Ends: Chicago 7 and Midnight Sky

 OSCAR UPDATE: BEST ACTOR

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Actor updated since I last posted this category on  Sept. 24th.  A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.

1) Anthony Hopkins/The Father (1)

2) Chadwick Boseman/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (-)

3) Gary Oldman/Mank (2)

4) Delroy Lindo/Da 5 Bloods (4)

5) Tom Hanks/News of the World (3)

6) Riz Ahmed/The Sound of Metal (-)

7) Steven Yeun/Minari (-)

8) Ben Affleck/The Way Back (8)

9) Joaquin Phoenix/C'mon C'mon (7)

10) Colin Firth/Supernova (-)

Others: Bill Murray/On the Rocks, Daniel Kaluuya or LaKeith Stanfield/Judas and the Black Messiah.

TFF #47 FILMS SCORE AT MONTCLAIR

Chloe Zhao'e Nomadland and Mohammad Rasoulof's  There Is No Evil were awarded major prizes at the conclusion of the Montclair Film Festival.  The winners were announced Mnday at the conclusion of the ninth annual event.

Nomadland was named winner of the audience award for a fiction feature and There Is No Evil won the jury award for non-fiction feature.

Complete coverage of all of the winners from the Montclair fest can be found linked here from Variety.

CONCRETE COWBOY RIDES TO NETFLIX

Ricky Staub's Concrete Cowboy, a selection of the "would have been" 47th Telluride Film Festival, has been acquired by Netflix.  Concrete Cowboy stars Idris Elba and was screened as a part of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Variety reports that the film will be released by Netflix at some point in 2021.

The IMDb description of the film is as follows:

"A teenager discovers the world of urban horseback riding when he moves in with his estranged father in North Philadelphia."

The Variety story about the acquisition is linked here.

ODDS AND ENDS

Here are a few other tidbits that I found interesting...

1)The Hollywood Reporter reports that the entire cast of Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7 will be campaigned as Supporting Actors:  The link to the THR story is here.

For my money look at Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jeremy Strong, Mark Rylance and Frank Langella.

2) ShowBiz 411 reports that MGM has re-dated Leisl Tommy's Respect, which stars Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin, for August 13, 2021 which means two things.  First, the move bumps the film and Hudson out of this year's Oscar race and second...the August date guarantees that the film will NOT be a part of a TFF #48 (if that's what it's referenced as) lineup.  I had Hudson at #3 in the Best Actress predictions in last Monday's post.

Here's the ShowBiz 411 story.

3) Trailer drops for George Clooney's Midnight Sky from Netflix.  Here it is via YouTube:

The film is scheduled for release on Netflix on Dec. 23rd.

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Oscar Update: Best Actress / Oscar Experts Predict-Matt Neglia-Next Best Picture / New Trailer for Mank

 OSCAR UPDATE: BEST ACTRESS

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Actress updated since I last posted this category on  Sept. 24th.  A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.

1) Viola Davis/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2)

2) Frances McDormand/Nomadland (1)

3) Vanessa Kirby/Pieces of a Woman (4)

4) Jennifer Hudson/Respect (7)

5) Carey Mulligan/Promising Young Woman (8)

6) Amy Adams/Hillbilly Elegy (6)

7) Kate Winslet/Ammonite (3)

8) Michelle Pfeiffer/French Exit (5)

9) Sophia Loren/The Life Ahead (-)

10) Andra Day/The U.S. vs. Billie Holiday (10)

Others: Meryl Streep/The Prom, Rashida Jones/On the Rocks, Jessica Chastain/The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Elizabeth Moss/Shirley

OSCAR EXPERTS PREDICT/MATT NEGLIA-NEXT BEST PICTURE

Today we turn to Matt Neglia of Next Best Picture to get a sense of where he thinks the overall Oscar Race is as of late October of 2020.  Here's Matt's current view of the major players for Oscar 2021:

Among the films selected for what would have been TFF #47 Neglia predicts Oscar nominations as follows:

The Father (6): Picture, Director (Zeller), Actor (Hopkins), Supproting Actress (Colman), Adapted Screenplay and Film Editing.

Nomadland (5): Picture, Director (Ahao), Actress (McDormand), Adapted Screenplay and Cinematography.

Ammonite (1): Best Supporting Actress (Ronan)

All In: The Fight for Democracy (1): Documentary Feature

Other big players per Neglia:

Mank (12): Picture, Director (Fincher), Actor (Oldman), Supporting Actress (Seyfried), Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Costumes, Film Editing, Makeup/Hair, Production Design, Sound, Score.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (7): Picture, Supporting Actor (Rylance), Supporting Actor (Cohen), Original Screenplay, Film Editing, Production Design and Song.

News of the World (7): Picture, Director (Greengrass), Supporting Actress (Zengal), Cinematography, Production Design, Sound and Score.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (6): Picture, Actress (Davis), Actor (Boseman), Adapted Screenplay, Costume and Makeup/Hair.

Soul (4): Picture, Original Screenplay, Sound and Score.

Judas and the Black Messiah (4): Picture, Director (S. King), Supporting Actor (Kaluuya) and Film Editing.

One Night in Miami (4): Picture, Supporting Actor (Kingsley-Adir), Adapted Screenplay and Song.

Hillbilly Elegy (4): Actress (Adams), Supporting Actress (Close), Adapted Screenplay and Makeup/Hair.

Minari (2): Picture and Original Screenplay.

NEW TRAILER FOR MANK

Yes, I know, Mank was not an announced TFF #47 film but, as I have written here before...good sources have indicated to me that had TFF #47 gone forward as scheduled, Mank likely would have screened in Telluride.  So, with that note in mind...

Mank has a new trailer up this week and I thought I'd share it with you.  Here it is from YouTube:

Mank is set to debut in theaters in November and then will bow on Netflix on Dec. 4th.

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Oscar Update-Best Direction / Truffle Love Continues

 OSCAR UPDATE-BEST DIRECTION

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Direction updated since I last posted this category on  Sept. 21st.  A director's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) Chloe Zhao/Nomadland

2) David Fincher/Mank

3) Paul Greengrass/News of the World

4) Aaron Sorkin/The Trial of the Chicago 7

5) Spike Lee/Da 5 Bloods

6) Florian Zeller/The Father

7) Regina King/One Night in Miami

8) Shaun King/Judas and the Black Messiah

9) George C. Wolfe/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

10) Lee Chung/Minari

Other possibles: Christopher Nolan/Tenet, Francis Lee/Ammonite, Sophia Coppola/On the Rocks

TRUFFLE LOVE CONTINUES

The success, popularity and critical acclaim for The Truffle Hunters continues.  In addition to its selection for TFF #47, the documentary has now been featured as a part of  Sundance, Toronto, New York, Zurich, Hampton and Mill Valley Film Fests, among others.

This week, the film and its directors, Greg Kershaw and Michael Dweck were featured at Indiewire.  Carlos Aguilar wrote the story for the outlet.

Here's the link to the Indiewire article.

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Oscar Update: Best Picture / New Looks at Ammonite / Fireball Trailer and Poster / The Way I See It

OSCAR UPDATE: BEST PICTURE

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Picture updated since I last posted this category on  Sept. 17th.  A film's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (3)

2) Nomadland (1)

3) Mank (2)

4) News of the World (6)

5) The Father (11)

6) One Night in Miami (13)

7) Da 5 Bloods (5)

8) Judas and the Black Messiah (-)

9) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (14)

10) Minari (15)

Others: On the Rocks, Ammonite, Tenet

NEW LOOKS AT AMMONITE

Francis Lee's Ammonite (a TFF #47 pick) has both a new trailer and a new poster as the film heads toward its announced release date of Nov. 13th.  Here, from YouTube, is the latest trailer:

And here's a look at the latest poster for the film as well:

FIREBALL TRAILER AND POSTER

Here's a first trailer for Werner Herzog and Clive Oppenheimer's Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds:

And a poster too:

THE WAY I SEE IT

With its screening this past weekend on MSNBC, there was a good deal of news that was put forth about the documentary The Way I See It which focuses on the career of photographer Pete Souza who photographed both the Reagan and Obama White Houses.

The documentary originally screened last month in theaters.

Check out the following articles:

The Hollywood Reporter

Time.com

Variety

 

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Oscar Overview from Variety / Netflix Oscar Players' Release Dates

 OSCAR OVERVIEW FROM VARIETY

I took a long look at the comprehensive Oscar predictions from Clayton Davis at Variety this week and am filing this report about what looks to be the major players.  TFF #47 films in Bold.

Here are the leading contenders based on Davis' current predictions with the list of what he says they'll earn nominations for:

Mank-10 nominations: Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, Production Design, Cinematography, Costumes, Film Editing, Makeup/Hair.

The Trial of the Chicago 7-8 nominations: Picture, Director, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Film Editing, Sound, Score.

One Night in Miami-8 nominations: Picture, Director, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay,  Cinematography, Costumes, Film Editing, Song.

Nomadland-7 nominations: Picture, Director, Actress, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Film Editing.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom- 6 nominations: Picture, Actress, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay Production Design, Costume.

The Father- 5 nominations: Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay.

News of the World- 5 nominations: Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Score, Cinematography, Production Design.

Judas and the Black Messiah- 4 nominations: Picture, Actor, Original Screenplay, Film Editing.

Da 5 Bloods- 3 nominations: Picture, Actor, Score.

Minari- 3 nominations: Picture, Actor, Original Screenplay.

Check out all of Clayton's current predictions for Variety here.

NETFLIX OSCAR PLAYERS' RELEASE DATES

Indiewire posted a very useful article regrading what is known regarding Netflix's plans for releasing the huge body of film that is perceived as Oscar-y material.  I've parsed the article for release dates on the streaming platform (with Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods and Charlie Kaufman's I'm Thinking of Ending Things already there):

The Trial of the Chicago 7-Oct. 16

Rebecca-Oct. 21

The Life Ahead-Nov. 13

Mank-Dec. 4

The Prom-Dec. 11

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom-Dec. 18

Still undated: The Midnight Sky, The White Tiger and Pieces of a Woman. 

Hillbilly Elegy doesn't have a date listed in the Indiewire article BUT Netflix dropped a trailer for the film this week.  P.R. materials for the trailer say that it will release on the platform on Nov. 24.

That trailer is here:

Here's the link to the entire Indiewire story.

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Oscar 2021 First Attempt-Best Original Screenplay / TFF #47 Running Totals / Variety's Davis Looks at Documentary Oscar Chances / Indiewire Talks with Nomadland's Chloe Zhao

 OSCAR 2021 FIRST ATTEMPT-BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

MTFB continues its first pass at predicting Oscar nominees for 2020-21 in various major categories.  Today we're looking at Best Original Screenplay with, as always, a focus on those performances that were a part of the list of 29 films that TFF released that would have been screened as a part of TFF #47.  Performers designated with *** are in films that may not be released prior to the Feb, 28, 2021 Oscar eligibility deadline.   TFF#47 performers are in Bold:

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7

2) Mank

3) Minari

4) Soul

5) Judas and the Black Messiah

6) Never Rarely Sometimes Always

7) Da 5 Bloods

8) Promising Young Woman

9) Ammonite

10) Palm Springs

TFF #47 RUNNING TOTALS

Nomadland: Best Picture, Director (Zhao), Actress (McDormand), Supporting Actor (Stratharin), Adapted Screenplay. Total of 5 in these categories.

Ammonite: Best Picture, Actress (Winslet), Supporting Actress (Ronan).  Maybe: Director (F. Lee) Best Original Screenplay.  Total: 2.

The Father: Actor (Hopkins), Supporting Actress (Colman)., Adapted Screenplay Maybe: Best Picture, Director (Zeller).  Total: 3

VARIETY'S DAVIS LOOKS AT DOCUMENTARY OSCAR CHANCES

Newly minted Variety Oscarologist Clayton Davis is a busy man as he has Oscar nomination predictions up at the venerable website/publication for 19 categories at this early stage of the now elongated Oscar season. 

The most recent category addition to his Oscar analysis is for Best Documentary Feature.  Among his Top 20 are a number of titles that were on the TFF #47 "Would Have Played" list.  They are:

1) All In:The Fight for Democracy

8) MLK/FBI

9) The Truffle Hunters

12) The Way I See It

Take a look at Davis' complete list of possible Oscar candidates linked here.

INDIEWIRE TALKS WITH NOMADLAND'S CHLOE ZHAO

Recently, Indiewire chief critic Eric Kohn talked to director/writer Chloe Zhao whose Nomadland has made big waves over the last month.  The film won both the Golden Lion at Venice and the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Zhao talks about the process that she used in collaboration with star Frances McDormand in order to make one of the most critically lauded films of 2020.

Here's that interview/article from Indiewire.

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Oscar 2021 First Attempt-Best Adapted Screenplay / TFF #47 Running Totals / The Wrap Talks Truffles

 OSCAR 2021 FIRST ATTEMPT-BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

MTFB continues its first pass at predicting Oscar nominees for 2020-21 in various major categories.  Today we're looking at Best Adapted Screenplay with, as always, a focus on those performances that were a part of the list of 29 films that TFF released that would have been screened as a part of TFF #47.  Performers designated with *** are in films that may not be released prior to the Feb, 28, 2021 Oscar eligibility deadline.   TFF#47 performers are in Bold:

1) Nomadland

2) The Father

3) One Night in Miami

4) News of the World***

5) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

6) I'm Thinking of Ending Things

7) Hillbilly Elegy***

8) First Cow+++

9) The U.S. vs. Billie Holiday

10) French Exit

+++ First Cow was a TFF #46 selection.

TFF #47 RUNNING TOTALS

Here are the running totals of predicted nominations regarding TFF #47 films.  I'll add to this over the next week as I add the screenplay categories.

Nomadland: Best Picture, Director (Zhao), Actress (McDormand), Supporting Actor (Stratharin), Adapted Screenplay.

Ammonite: Best Picture, Actress (Winslet), Supporting Actress (Ronan).  Maybe: Director (F. Lee)

The Father: Actor (Hopkins), Supporting Actress (Colman)., Adapted Screenplay Maybe: Best Picture, Director (Zeller).

THE WRAP TALKS TRUFFLES

The Wrap's Steve Pond recently sat down with the co-directors of the documentary The Truffle Hunters.  Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw talked about their discovery of the world of men and dogs who are immersed in the unusual world of searching for one of nature's most rare gastronominc delicacies.  

The video and accompanying story are linked here from The Wrap.

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Oscar 2021 First Attempt-Best Supporting Actor / TFF Films Running Totals / Festival Posters for Nomadland

 OSCAR FIRST ATTEMPT 2021-BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

MTFB continues its first pass at predicting Oscar nominees for 2020-21 in various major categories.  Today we're looking at Best Supporting Actor with, as always, a focus on those performances that were a part of the list of 29 films that TFF released that would have been screened as a part of TFF #47.  Performers designated with *** are in films that may not be released prior to the Feb, 28, 2021 Oscar eligibility deadline.   TFF#47 performers are in Bold:

1) Chadwick Boseman/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

2) Sasha Baron Cohen/The Trial of the Chicago 7

3) Yahya Abdul-Mateen II/The Trial of the Chicago 7

4) David Strathairn/Nomadland

5) LaKeith Stanfield/Judas and the Black Messiah***

6) Kinglsey Ben-Adir/One Night in Miami

7) Mark Rylance/The Trail of the Chicago 7

8) Bill Murray/On the Rocks

9) Eddie Redmayne/The Trial of the Chicago 7

10) Frank Langella/The Trial of the Chicago 7

11) Leslie Odom Jr./One Night in Miami

TFF FILMS RUNNING TOTALS:

Beginning with today's post, here are the running totals of predicted nominations regarding TFF #47 films.  I'll add to this over the next week as I add the screenplay categories.

Nomadland: Best Picture, Director (Zhao), Actress (McDormand), Supporting Actor (Stratharin)

Ammonite: Best Picture, Actress (Winslet), Supporting Actress (Ronan).  Maybe: Director (F. Lee)

The Father: Actor (Hopkins), Supporting Actress (Colman).  Maybe: Best Picture, Director (Zeller)

FESTIVAL POSTERS FOR NOMADLAND

The Movie Waffler tweeted photos of posters that were created for each of Nomadland's festival appearances this past weekend including one created for the Telluride in L.A. drive-in screening of the film that took place on Sept. 11th:

The others are also cool:

For Venice:

For Toronto:

For New York:

 

The Movie Waffler website is linked here.
 

 

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Oscar 2021 First Attempt-Best Supporting Actress / Cannes Items / Truffles in The Netherlands

 OSCAR 2021 FIRST ATTEMPT-BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

MTFB continues its first pass at predicting Oscar nominees for 2020-21 in various major categories.  Today we're looking at Best Supporting Actress with, as always, a focus on those performances that were a part of the list of 29 films that TFF released that would have been screened as a part of TFF #47.  Performers designated with *** are in films that may not be released prior to the Feb, 28, 2021 Oscar eligibility deadline.   TFF#47 performers are in Bold:

1) Olivia Colman/The Father

2) Amanda Seyfried/Mank

3) Saoirse Ronan/Ammonite

4) Glenn Close/Hillbilly Elegy***

5) Helena Zengel/News of the World***

6) Ellen Burstyn/Pieces of a Woman

7) Meryl Streep/The Prom***

8) Audra McDonald/Respect

9) Mary J. Blige/Respect

10)Abagail Breslin/Stillwater***

CANNES ITEMS

Acouple of notes about the Cannes Film Fest that emerged over the past few days.

First, news that Cannes will be hosting a mini-fest.  Variety's Manori Ravidran reports that the fest will host a special event on Oct. 27-29 and will feature four films from their released official selections list.  Other events including a shorts program will also be included.

Fest Director Thierry Fremaux is quoted as saying:

 

“The films of the Official Selection are currently playing to cinemagoers in France, in Europe and throughout the world. It’s a great sign to see them making a stopover in Cannes, before we turn our attention to the 2021 season.”

Cannes has also announced that the fest's dates for 2021 will be May11-22.

The Variety article is linked here.

Meanwhile, it appears that my prediction that Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch will premiere at Cannes in 2021 may be coming true.  After Indiewire's Anne Thompson hinted at it last week and now both The Playlist and World of Reel are echoing Indiewire's story.

Here are links to The Playlist and the World of Reel spins on the original Indiewire reporting.

There was a good deal of speculation that The French Dispatch was, at one point, on the TFF #47 list of films.  Now, perhaps, we put it on the TFF #48(?) list.

TRUFFLES IN THE NETHERLANDS

Greg Kershaw and Michael Dweck's documentary The Truffle Hunters continues its run of inclusion in high profile film festivals.  The latest addition is to the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IFDA).  IFDA is set for Nov 18-29 in The Netherlands and will be a hybrid of physical and virtual events.

Variety has the story here.

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