MTFB's Oscar Predictions-First Take / Saturday Night Features / Maria Official Trailer / Clip from The Outrun / Interviews and Profiles

 MTFB's OSCAR PREDICTIONS-FIRST TAKE

It's time!  As we end September here are my first predictions for Oscar nominations for the 97th Academy Awards.  I'll start off with predicting the eight "Above the Line" categories first.  I'll keep updating those from now until the day before the nomination announcement-Friday, Jan. 17th.  I'll also add other categories along the way as we get closer and ultimately will have all the categories predicted before nomination day.  As always TFF films are indicated in Bold.  Films are listed in order of their likelihood of nomination.

BEST PICTURE

1) Anora

2) Emilia Perez

3) Conclave 

4) The Brutalist

5) Dune II

6) Sing Sing

7) Gladiator II

8) Blitz

9) Saturday Night

10) September 5

Other Possibilities: A Real Pain, A Complete Unknown, The Room Next Door.

BEST DIRECTION

1) Jacques Audiard/Emilia Perez

2) Sean Baker/Anora

3) Edward Berger/Conclave

4) Brady Corbet/The Brutalist

5) Denis Villenueve/Dune II

Others: Ridley Scott/Gladiator II, Steve McQueen/Blitz, Pedro Almodovar/The Room Next Door.

BEST ACTRESS

1) Mikey Madison/Anora

2) Angelina Jolie/Maria

3) Karla Sofia Gascon/Emilia Perez

4) Nicole Kidman/Babygirl

5) Saoirse Ronan/The Outrun

Others: Amy Adams/Nightbitch, Tilda Swinton/The Room Next Door, Fernanda Torres/I'm Still Here.

BEST ACTOR

1) Ralph Fiennes/Conclave

2) Colman Domingo/Sing Sing

3) Adrien Brody/The Brutalist

4) Timothee Chalamet/A Complete Unknown

5) Daniel Craig/Queer

Others: Sebastian Stan/The Apprentice, Paul Mescal/Gladiator II, John David Washington/The Piano Lesson.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Zoe Saldana/Emilia Perez

2) Danielle Deadwyler/The Piano Lesson

3) Isabella Rossellini/Conclave

4) Saoirse Ronan/Blitz

5) Selena Gomez/Emilia Perez

Others: Felicity Jones/The Brutalist, Lady Gaga/Joker: Folie a Deux, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor/Nickel Boys.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Kieran Culkin/A Real Pain

2) Denzel Washington/Gladiator II

3) Clarence Maclin/Sing Sing

4) Stanley Tucci/Conclave

5) Guy Pearce/The Brutalist

Others: Jeremy Strong/The Apprentice, Samuel L. Jackson/The Piano Lesson, John Magaro/September 5.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Conclave

2) Sing Sing

3) Dune II

4) Nickel Boys

5) The Piano Lesson

Others: Hit Man, Inside Out 2, I'm Still Here.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Anora

2) Saturday Night

3) The Brutalist

4) A Real Pain

5) Emilia Perez

Others: September 5, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Blitz

If I'm 100% accurate this is how nominations breakdown for TFF #51 films in these eight categories:

Emilia Perez (6 noms): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Gascon), Supporting Actress (Saldana), Supporting Actress (Gomez), Original Screenplay.

Conclave (6 noms): Best Picture, Direction, Actor (Fiennes), Supporting Actress (Rossellini), Supporting Actor (Tucci), Adapted Screenplay.

Anora (4 noms): BestPicture, Direction, Actress (Madison), Original Screenplay.

The Piano Lesson (2 noms and 2 maybes)  Nominations: Supporting Actress (Deadwyler), Adapted Screenplay.  Other possibilities: Actor (Washington), Supporting Actor (Jackson).

A Real Pain (2 noms and 1 maybe):  Nominations: Supporting Actor (Culkin), Original Screenplay.  Maybe: Best Picture.

Saturday Night (2 noms): Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay.

September 5 (1 nom and 2 maybes):  Nomination: Best Picture.  Maybes: Supporting Actor (Magaro), Original Screenplay.

Nickel Boys ( 1 nom and 1 maybe): nomination: Adapted Screenplay.  Maybe: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.

The Outrun (1 nom); Best Actress (Ronan).

Maria (1 nom): Best Actress (Jolie).

The Apprentice (2 maybes): Best Actor (Stan), Supporting Actor (Strong).

Overall, these 11 films account for 26 nominations and another 8 possible nominations in these eight categories.

SATURDAY NIGHT FEATURES

Jason Reitman from Deadline.

Jason Reitman from Reel Blend.

Jason Reitman from Forbes.

Cory Michael Smith from Vanity Fair.

MARIA OFFICIAL TRAILER 

From YouTube:

CLIP FROM THE OUTRUN

From YouTube:

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

RaMell Ross for Nickel Boys from Vulture.

Embeth Davitz for Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight for IndieWire.

Will Ferrell and Harper Steele for Will and Harper from Entertainment Weekly.

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Best Picture Preview / Disclaimer Trailer / Trailer and Poster for A Real Pain / Character Posters for Emilia Perez / Interviews and Profiles: Isabella Rossellini and Edward Berger

BEST PICTURE PREVIEW

I'm right on the cusp of MTFB's first set of Oscar nomination predictions.  Those are coming Monday and will include the Big Eight categories: Picture, Direction, all four acting categories and both screenplay categories.  Today, as a teaser,  I thought I'd run down what feel like the chances for Telluride-specific Best Picture possibilities.

PROBABLE BP NOMINEES:

Anora

Emilia Perez

Conclave

POSSIBLE BP NOMINEES:  

Saturday Night

September 5

MAYBE THEY GET IN:

A Real Pain

The Piano Lesson

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Nickel Boys

WAY OUTSIDE SHOTS:

Maria

The Apprentice

AND MY PERSONAL APPEAL:

Zarawski v. Texas

DISCLAIMER TRAILER

Apple TV+ has released a trailer for the Cate Blanchett starring, Alfonso Cuaron directed Disclaimer.  The seven part series will premiere Oct.  11th.  Here's the trailer from YouTube:

TRAILER AND POSTER FOR A REAL PAIN

CHARACTER POSTERS FOR EMILIA PEREZ

From Netflix this week, character posters for Karla Sofia Gascon, Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez as their character's from Jacques Audiard's audacious Emilia Perez:

Gason:

Saldana:

Gomez:

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES:

Isabella Rossellini and Edward Berger for Conclave from Collider via X.

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TFF and Oscar / New Posters for Anora and Zurawski v. Texas / Interviews and Profiles: Will Farrell, Jason Reitman, Mikey Madison, Sean Baker and More

TFF AND OSCAR

As we turn the corner after The SHOW to what films from The SHOW will make an impact on the awards season, I thought it would behoove us to look back at the history of the fest and its Oscar players.  So I went back to 2009, the year that the new expanded list of nominees came into effect so that there were more than five Best Picture nominees each year.

One of the reasons I decided to do that is that early Oscar BP lists are indicating that 2024 might be a record year for films that played Telluride.  Since 2009 the largest number of TFF films nominated for Best Picture in a single year is four and that has happened twice.  This year, at least as the early predictions are showing, TFF #51 almost certainly will be the third time that four films from the best will be nominated.  But, there is a reasonable chance that there will be five films among the ten that get the noms.

Here's the history of TFF Best Picture nominees since 2009 (* indicates Best Picture winner):

2009 (2)- An Education, Up in the Air

2010 (3)- The King's Speech*, Black Swan, 127 Hours

2011 (2)- The Artist*, The Descendants

2012 (2)- Argo*, Amour

2013 (3)- 12 Years a Slave*, Gravity, Nebraska

2014 (2)- Birdman*, The Imitation Game

2015 (2)- Spotlight*, Room

2016 (4)- Moonlight*, Arrival, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea

2017 (3)- The Shape of Water*, Darkest Hour, Lady Bird

2018 (2)- The Favourite, Roma

2019 (3)- Parasite*, Ford v. Ferrari, Marriage Story

2020 (2)- Nomadland*, The Father (if TFF had happened these films would have played)

2021 (3)- Belfast, King Richard, The Power of the Dog

2022 (2)- TAR, Women Talking

2023 (4)- Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers, Poor Things, The Zone of Interest

2024- ?????

That's a total of 39 Best Picture nominees over the 15 years for an average of 2.6 per year with 10 winners.  Will the 2024 race be the first wherein Telluride has five nominees?  

NEW POSTERS

International Poster for Anora:

Zurawski v. Texas poster:

PROFILES AND INTERVIEWS

Sean Baker and Mikey Madison for Anora from Entertainment Weekly.

Sean Baker for Anora from The Hollywood Reporter.

Will Farrell and Harper Steele for Will and Harper from The Hollywood Reporter.

How Jason Reitman found the cast for Saturday Night from The Hollywood Reporter.

AND...

The Telluride History 1996-Present page has been updated for 2024 including Films, Guests, Tributes and Guest Director information.  Also, the collection of Ratings from The Professionals, The People and the Composites have been updated with 2024 included.

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The Composite Telluride / September 5 Goes to Paramount / Official Trailer for Will and Harper

 THE COMPOSITE TELLURIDE

Here's my annual final step of computation that has become an MTFB tradition.  It's The Composite Telluride ratings in which I add the average from The People and The Professionals to provide one more glimpse of how The SHOW's films were perceived.   

To begin, here's the history of The Composite Telluride with the film's combined rating at the right followed by its position on each of the two lists in brackets.

1) Anora 8.97 [3-1]

2) Emilia Perez 8.38 [5-3]

3) September 5 8.28 [7--2]

4) Conclave 8.17 [4-5]

5) Saturday Night 7.88 [9-4]

6) Maria 7.11 [11-9]

7) Nickel Boys 7.03 [16-6]

8) Piece by Piece 7.00 [14-7]

9) The Friend 6.76 [12-10]

10) The Piano Lesson 6.75 [15-8]

11) The End 5.17 [18-11]

Anora replaces The Power of the Dog on the All Time Top Ten Composite Ratings list.  That looks like this now:

1) (TIE) 12 Years a Slave (9.25) 2013 (Won Best Picture)

1) (TIE) Argo (9.25) 2012 (Won Best Picture)

3) Roma (9.20) 2018 (Won Best Foreign Language Film)

4) Moonlight (9.19) 2016 (Won Best Picture)

5) Birdman (9.18) 2014 (Won Best Picture)

6) Parasite (9.11) 2019 (Won Best Picture)

7) Stories We Tell (9.10) 2012

8) Poor Things (9.04) 2023

9) (TIE) Tim's Vermeer (8.97) 2013

9) (TIE) Anora (8.97) 2024

SEPTEMBER 5 GOES TO PARAMOUNT

Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter reports that September 5 will be distributed by Paramount.  The film will have a [platformed release beginning Nov. 27th and then expanding into other theaters in December.

Feinberg writes in his article:

"Interest among distributors reached a crescendo after the film premiered at — and blew the roof off of — the recent Venice and Telluride film festivals, generating comparisons to past best picture Oscar winners Argo and Spotlight." 

September 5 landed with a solid 4.20 rating in MTFB's People's Poll and a 4.08 from the Professionals ending up as a surprise #2 from them.  As you can see above the film had a composite rating of 8.28 that put it at #3 on the composite chart ahead of such possible Oscar contenders such as Conclave, Saturday Night, Nickel Boys and The Piano Lesson.

Here's the story from The Hollywood Reporter.

OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR WILL AND HARPER

From YouTube:

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The People's Telluride / Toronto's People's Choice Award and TFF #51 / Early Oscar Picks from Experts-THR / New International Trailer for Anora / Reitman on Saturday Night / Behind the Scenes on Memoir of a Snail / Not a Blurb...But...

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

Well, here it is.  The 2024 edition of MTFB's People's Telluride Poll.  I'll address the parameters that guided the poll below but I suspect you want to get right to the results...

1) Zawurski v. Texas 4.64

2) Will and Harper 4.47

3) Anora 4.44

4) Conclave 4.34

5) Emilia Perez 4.30

6) A Real Pain 4.28

7) September 5 4.20

8) Memoir of a Snail 4.03

9) Saturday Night 4.02

10) The Outrun 3.74

11) Maria 3.68

12) The Apprentice 3.55

13) The Friend 3.51

14) Piece by Piece 3.40

15) The Piano Lesson 3.29

16) Nickel Boys 3.26

17) Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight 3.16

18) The End 2.52

TFF #51 had a record response with more votes from The People than ever before.  To make the list a film had to have been seen by at least 25% of the respondents to the poll.  A 1 to 5 scale was used.  I added all ratings up for each film and those that met the threshold then divided the total ratings points by the number of people who had responded with ratings for that film.  That provided the average rating for each film above on the 5 point scale.

For fun the top five most "seen" films among the folks who responded with votes for the poll where:

1) Saturday Night which was seen by 82.4% of respondents.  The rest of the top five were:

2) Conclave 74.3%

3) Anora 71.6%

4) September 5  and Nickel Boys at 50% 

I really thought as the numbers were coming in that Anora was going to take the top spot.

Zuwarski's 4.64 will move it to #6 on the all time list of The People's Telluride.  That will also keep Will & Harper from moving onto the top ten as its 4.47 average will just be outside the top ten behind The Two Popes and Poor Things tied for the 9-10 spots now with a 4.51 average.  Will & Harper's 4.47 ties them with Roma and Room now at the 11-13 spots.

And a personal note, I want to thank so many of you that offered thoughts in response to my Sept. 3rd post and the questions that it posed.  It was, as they say, affirming.  I mean really affirming.  Thanks TFF peeps!

TORONTO'S PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD AND TFF

Yesterday Mike Flanagan's The Life of Chuck surprisingly (at least to me) won the Toronto International Film Festival's People's Choice Award.  Runner-up Jacques Audiard's Emilia Perez which rated #3 on the TFF #51 Pro's Poll and #5 above for the People. 

Second Runner-up was Sean Baker's Anora which you can see from this post and my previous post topped this year's TFF Pro's poll and was third on the just published People's Poll.

Josh Greenbaum's documentary, which played really well at Telluride (again, as you can see above) finished second in the voting for TIFF's People's Choice of Docs.  Landing ahead of it was Tragically Hip: no Time for Rehearsal.

Here's the complete rundown of results from Toronto as reported by Deadline.

EARLY OSCAR PICKS FROM EXPERTS

The Hollywood Reporter's Awards executive Editor Scott Feinberg opens the 2024-25 Oscar season predicting these nominations for TFF #51 films (Scott is making predictions in the Big Eight categories as well as Animated, Documentary and International Features).

Emilia Perez (7): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Gascon), Supporting Actress-2 (Saldana, Gomez), Original Screenplay, International Film.

Conclave (6): Best Picture, Direction, Actor (Fiennes), Supporting Actor (Tucci), Supporting Actress (Rossellini), Adapted Screenplay.

Anora (4): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Madison), Original Screenplay.

September 5 (4): Best Picture, Actor (Sarsgaard), Supporting Actor (Magaro), Original Screenplay.

Saturday Night (2): Best Picture, Original Screenplay.

A Real Pain (2): Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Culkin).

Piece by Piece (2): Best Picture, Animated Feature.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig (2): Best Direction, International Feature.

The Apprentice (2): Best Actor (Stan), Supporting Actor (Strong).

The Piano Lesson (2): Best Actor (Washington), Supporting Actress (Deadwyler).

Maria (1): Best Actress (Jolie).

Nickel Boys (1) Best Adapted Screenplay.

No Other Land (1): Best Documentary.

Hollywood Gate (1) : Best Documentary (from TFF #50).

That's 36 projected nominations for TFF #51 films in theses 11 categories.

Here's Feinberg's complete list of projected nominees from The Hollywood Reporter.

NEW  (INTERNATIONAL) TRAILER FOR ANORA

From YouTube:

REITMAN ON SATURDAY NIGHT

IndieWire's Kate Erbland talks to writer/director Jason Reitman about TFF #51 world premiering film Saturday Night.  Here's the link.

BEHIND THE SCENES OF MEMOIR OF A SNAIL

MTFB friend Alex Billington at his site FirstShowing.net has linked five mini-behind-the scenes featurettes from Adam Elliots' delightful and moving Memoir of a Snail.  Variety has it currently #3 on its Animated Feature Oscar nominations predictions and The Hollywood Reporter has it a #10.

Alex has them all collected at his site here.

NOT A BLURB...BUT...

I have long dreamed of the day when my publicly posted response to a film gets blurbed in a trailer or a TV ad...and, of course that hasn't happened...yet.

Back in 2011 I freelanced for The Playlist and reviewed three films at TFF #38 and filed reviews for The Descendants, Albert Nobbs and Butter.  I had nice things to say about The Descendants and Albert Nobbs (Butter not so much) and thought that might be the moment.  It was not.

Since then I know it's unlikely as to tag a blurb with "of Michael's Telluride Film Blog" seems smallish.  But you know...maybe someday.  I've certainly been highlighted by other sites and blogs regarding that meat and bones of what the blog does.

But I did get a little closer as I found with Gold Derby's roundup of Jason Retiman's Saturday Night I find myself included as "more reactions".  Evidence below:

Sooooo...inching closer?

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The Professional's Telluride / The People's Telluride-Last Call / Trailers / Interviews and Profiles

THE PROFESSIONAL'S TELLURIDE

Here we go...ratings from The Professionals of the films from TFF #51.  Some standards:   industry professionals agreed to rate the films they at TFF #51 on a 1-5 scale.  The pros are a mix of critics, awards experts and other industry insiders.  To make the list this year a film had to be rated by at least half of the Pros.

Here's this year's list of Pros:

Erik Anderson/Awards Watch

J. Don Birnam-Jorge T/SplashReport.com

Christina Jeurling Birro/Pop Culture Confidential

Clayton Davis/Variety

David Ehrlich/Indiewire

Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter

Marshall Flores/Awards Daily

Mark Johnson/Good as Gold

Dave Karger/Turner Classic Movies

Joey Magidson/Awards Radar

Ryan McQuade/Awards Watch

Will Mavity/Next Best Picture

Clarence Moye/Awards Daily

Matt Neglia/Next Best Picture

Christopher Schiller/ScriptMag.com

Sasha Stone/Awards Daily

Anonymous

And here are the results for the 2024 edition of The SHOW:

1) Anora 4.53

2) September 5 4.08

3) Emilia Perez 4.07

4) Saturday Night 3.86

5) Conclave 3.83

6) Nickel Boys 3.77

7) Piece by Piece 3.60

8) The Piano Lesson 3.46

9) Maria 3.43

10) The Friend 3.25

11) The End 2.65

Congratulations to Sean Baker and Anora for topping the TFF Pro's Poll for 2024.  Anora's 4.53 rating supplants Argo and The Shape of Water on the all time Professional's list in a tie with Poor Things for the 9th and 10th spots:

And after TFF #51, the new updates all time Top Tens *well...since 2012:

The Professionals All Time Top Ten:

1) Moonlight (4.87) (16) (Won Best Picture)

2) Parasite (4.75) (19) (Won Best Picture)

3) Roma (4.73) (18) (Nominated Best Picture)

4) Birdman (4.72) (14) (Won Best Picture)

5) 12 Years a Slave (4.70-tie) (13) (Won Best Picture)

6) Central Park Five (4.70-tie) (12)

7) Foxcatcher (4.63) (14)

8) La La Land (4.58) (16) (Nominated Best Picture)

9) Poor Things (4.53) (23) (Nominated Best Picture)

9) Anora (4.53) (24)

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE-LAST CALL

Here's your FINALCALL to get in your ratings for TFF #51 films.  The scale is 1 to 5.  The deadline is tomorrow at 5:00 pm PDT|.  The People's results will be Monday's regularly scheduled post.  Right now the battle for the top spot is a slugfest.  Your ratings could tip the scale in favor of the films you loved best!

Email ratings to mpgort@gmail.com

TRAILERS

NEW FOR SATURDAY NIGHT (language)

THE APPRENTICE

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Selena Gomez on Emilia Perez from Variety on X

Conclave director Edward Berger from Deadline

Pharrell Williams on Piece by Piece from The Hollywood Reporter

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Remember to Rate / TFF #51 and Oscar / Interviews and Profiles / Trailer for Blink

REMEMBER TO RATE

We're closing in the deadline for you folks to get your ratings of the films you saw at TFF #51 to me. 

The DUE DATE for ratings is SEPT. 13TH.

EMAIL YOUR RATINGS TO: mpgort@gmail.com

I'm planning on posting The People's  results on Monday, Sept.16.

please rate the films you saw on a 1 to 5 scale with 1 being awful and 5 being super!  Decimals are fine.

TFF #51 AND OSCAR

Long time MTFB readers know that now that the fest is over, I will now spend a bunch of time over the next six months focused on the Oscar (and other awards) prospects of the films that screened at Telluride.  That will include my own set of Oscar nomination and winner predictions which will start in a few weeks..

So, to kick that off, here are the current Oscar nomination predictions for TFF #51 films from Variety's Clayton Davis:

Emilia Perez (11): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Gascon), Supporting Actress (Saldana), Original Screenplay, Editing, Makeup/Hair, Score. Song (x2), International.

Saturday Night (9): Best Picture, Direction, Supporting Actor (LaBelle), Original Screenplay, Production Design, Editing, Makeup/Hair, Sound, Score.

Conclave (6): Best Picture, Actor (Fiennes), Supporting Actor (Tucci), Supporting Actress (Rossellini), Adapted Screenplay, Score.

Anora (5): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Madison), Original Screenplay, Editing.

The Piano Lesson (3): Best Picture, Supporting Actress (Deadwyler), Adapted Screenplay.

Maria (4): Best Actress (Jolie), Cinematography, Costumes, Makeup/Hair.

A Real Pain (2): Best Supporting Actor (Culkin), Original Screenplay.

Piece by Piece (2): Best Animated Film, Song.

The Outrun (1): Best Actress (Ronan).

Memoir of a Snail (1): Best Animated Film.

Nickel Boys (1): Best Cinematography.

Will and Harper (1): Best Documentary.

All We Imagine as Light (1): Best International Feature.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig (1): Best International Feature.

Total of 44 nominations predicted for 14 films.

Here's the link to all of Davis' predictions.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Sean Baker on Anora with Backstage.

Jeremy Strong, Sebastian Stan and Ali Abassi for The Apprentice with The Hollywood Reporter.

Featurette Behind the Scenes of Saturday Night from The Contending.

First Looks at The End from The Playlist.

TRAILER FOR BLINK

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The People's Telluride / Statistical Re-hash / What I Saw / Now What?

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

Well Friends...

It is time.  If you haven't already sent in your ratings for TFF #51 films that you saw, now's the time.  A reminder about the process.  Email me a list of the films you saw and rate each on a 1 to 5 scale.  1 means it was very bad, 5 means you thought it was terrific.  Decimals are fine.

The DUE DATE for ratings is SEPT. 13TH.

EMAIL YOUR RATINGS TO: mpgort@gmail.com

I'm planning on posting The People's  results on Monday, Sept.16.

STATISTICAL RE-HASH

TFF 2024 was a reasonably good year for MTFB.  From the final "bets" that were posted on Wednesday last week, after the addition of The Apprentice as a sneak, MTFB was 25 of 25 for films playing TFF #51.  Additionally, five of the films listed as "other possibilities" made the lineup as well.

From the original "Ten Bets" posted back on June 20th, seven films made the lineup: Anora, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Emilia Perez, Bird, Maria, The End and Conclave.  Also from the list of "Other Possibilities" in that post were: The Piano Lesson and Nickel Boys.

Also, MTFB wasn't too bad at the Tribute speculation.  I'd been talking about the Saoirse Ronan/Outrun possibility for months.  Managed to guess the Thelma Schoonmaker notion based on the pre-fest screening of After Hours at Elk's Park and Jacques Audiard had been on my really short list of possible directors that could be tributed.

WHAT I SAW

Ultimately I saw seven films.  It's an uncommonly small number for me at the fest but long "standing in line" times were necessary to avoid the risk of being shutout.  I was commonly in line three hours before the posted screening time.  As I result I made all seven I chose to see but that drastically reduced the number of films I could see.

If anything rivaled line conversation about the films it was the convo about accessibility.

My films in the order I saw them:

Conclave:  Liked it quite a bit  Good performances across the board. 3.75/5

Nickel Boys: I have been seeing the critics responding enthusiastically...me...not so much.  I respect the notion of inventive film making but, for me, Ross's choices often got in the way rather than enhancing the story he was telling. 3/5

Zuwarski v. Texas: This was the pick of the fest for me.  Powerful.  Seek it out. 5/5

Saturday Night:  Jason Reitman hits it out of the park.  Funny and Frenetic. 4.5/5

Emilia Perez: Terrific;  Super performances from the lead cast.  Inventive in a way that worked from my perspective. 4/5

September 5:  Excellent telling of the sports reporters at the 1972 Munich Olympics who had to turn into news reporters. 4/5

Memoir of a Snail:  Also outstanding. 4/5

What I missed that I would have liked to gotten in:

Anora

Carville: winning Is Everything, Stupid

Casa Bonita Mi Amor

The End

Maria

The Outrun

The Piano Lesson

Piece by Piece

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Will & Harper

NOW WHAT?

Well, collate the ratings from The People and The Pros and report back on those.  Also, collate both sets of ratings into The Composite Telluride.  I'll have all of that done and posted over the 10-14 days.

I'll also turn the attention of MTFB to the Oscar/Awards prospects of the films that played this past weekend.  As a part of that I'll soon begin posting my own predictions for Oscar glory.  Oscar nominations will be announced on Jan. 17th and the ceremony itself will be Mar. 2nd.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

That's a Wrap TFF #51 /The People's Telluride

THAT'S A WRAP TFF #51

Welp, my 18th TFF is in the books.  Fewer movies than usual owing to challenges both logistic and emotional.  

Not enough time to share with old friends but joyous about some of the new friends made.

Largely for me, the films I did get to see were good to great and you can't complain about that.  

For a number of years I have been blessed with meeting and conversing with so many of you that read this thing.  This year, however, it seemed that the sheer number of folks who read the blog was massive.  At one point this weekend I turned to my wife and said that I think almost everyone that's here in town has read the blog.

To all of you that took the time to speak to me this weekend know that I am humbled and gratified that you find this space useful.

For long time readers, you know that MTFB now shifts into awards season mode.  The next six months is about what occurs in the race to the Academy Awards and how Telluride films figure into the various races.

Thanks to all of you who follow...now rate the TFF #51 films for The People's Telluride (directions below).

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE-12TH EDITION

For the 12th year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

Report your ratings to: mpgort@gmail.com 

The deadline for this year to turn in your ratings will be Sept. 15th.

I'll compile all of your responses and post those a few days after the festival.

Finally, I need some feedback.   I often get some negative vibes from the fest.  This space is, you might say, not embraced by the organization. Should MTFB continue?  does in enhance or detract from your festival experience?  Drop my a thought along with your ratings if you're so inclined.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

TFF #51 Day Four

 TFF #51 DAY FOUR

Not going to get into details but it was a troubling day today.

Caught Emilia Perez...still processing...but the women were all great.

Tomorrow...going to figure that out in the morning.

TBAs for Monday by Venue:

Palm: 4:00 The Apprentice 7:00 Saturday Night

Galaxy: 1: 30 A Real Pain

Herzog: 7:00 Anora

Masons: 7:15: The Seed of the Sacred Fig

La Pierre: 1:00 Nobu 6:45 Blink

Backlot: 3:30 Her Name Was Moviola 5:15 The Swallow

TFF #51 Day Three

TFF #51 Day Three

Had a great second day in Telluride.  I only caught two films today but they were both very rewarding experiences.  The sheer number of Patrons, Sponsors, Guests, Show Ringers and such has made it necessary for someone with a Festival level pass to be very early in line to be sure that I could get in for films that I really wanted to see.

Patience was rewarded today with screenings of Zuwarski v. Texas which was one of the most emotionally powerful films I have ever seen in my 18 years of coming to this fest.  If this isn't in the final five for the Best Documentary Oscar it would be a huge insult to the notion of justice.

Second film was the World Premiere of Jason Reitman's Saturday Night; a film that follows the 90+ minutes that leads up to the premiere episode of the legendary show 50 years ago.  It's funny, frenetic and in its own way, also emotionally powerful especially to a kid of the 70's.  Gabriel LaBelle as SNL creator Lorne Michaels is the glue that holds the film together.  The ensemble cast, faced with the daunting task of re-creating comedy legends like George Carlin, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Dan Akroyd and Chevy Chase manage a miracle and make them real rather than caricatures.

TBA for 9/1:

The lone TBA for Sunday is at 12:30 at the Chuck and is a screening of The Apprentice with Q+A.

My plan for Sunday starts with Anora at The Zog.  Then I have a social function at 1:00pm.  Following that a number of films are in play including: The Piano Lesson, The Outrun, Will and Harper, Carville, The End, Maria and Bird. 

Have a Super Sunday people!