The Oscars and Telluride

 THE OSCARS AND TELLURIDE

For only the second time since 2008 the Oscar winner for Best Picture did not World Premiere or North American Premiere at the Telluride Film Festival as Sian Heder's CODA took the top prize last night.  Green Book also achieved that feat at the 2019 Oscars.

TFF #48 films that were honored last night were The Power of the Dog with Jane Campion's win for Best Direction, Belfast for Kenneth Branagh's Original Screenplay and King Richard for Will Smith as Best Actor.

Dune topped the night with six Oscars followed by CODA with three and The Eyes of Tammy Faye with two.

The winners:

Picture: CODA

Direction: Jane Campion/The Power of the Dog

Actress: Jessica Chastain/The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Actor: Will Smith/King Richard

Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose/West Side Story

Supporting Actor: Troy Kotsur/CODA

Original Screenplay: Kenneth Branagh/Belfast

Adapted Screenplay Sian Heder/CODA

Documentary: Summer of Soul

Animated Feature: Encanto

International Film: Drive My Car

Cinematography: Dune

Editing: Dune

Production Design: Dune

Original Score: Dune

Original Song: No Time to Die from No Time to Die

Costumes: Cruella

Visual Effects: Dune

Sound: Dune

Makeup/Hair: The Eye of Tammy Faye

Animated Short: The Windshield Wiper

Doc Short: The Queen of Basketball

Live Action Short: The Long Goodbye

I went 21/23 dropping on Animated Short and Best Picture,  I was too stubborn on The Power of the Dog in the face of the momentum that gathered for CODA.

And then there was the Will Smith/Chris Rock confrontation which will be the talk of this particular Oscars forever.  It will be interesting to see how that shakes out and if Smith's actions have an affect on his career going forward.

Coolest moments of the night for me: Campion's win...I actually got to speak with her briefly on the streets of Telluride and express my admiration for her work on The Power of the Dog.

Troy Kotsur's win.  I remember seeing CODA and remarking after it was over that he should be in the Oscar conversation.  For my money, of the four Oscar winning actors this year...it's easily the best performance.

Seeing Francis Ford Coppola, Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino on stage to intro the tribute to the 50th anniversary of The Godfather and be able to turn to the wife and say: I've been on set with one (DeNiro), shaken hands with one and say "thank you for your work" (Coppola) and seen one on stage in a live performance (Pacino-Merchant of Venice-Shakespeare in the Park in NYC in 2010).

More to come on Thursday...it's been a season...

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