MTFB Oscar take: Supporting Acting and Screenplays / Cover-up Trailer and Interview / 1.5 Mill

MTFB OSCAR TAKE: UPDATING SUPPORTING ACTING AND SCREENPLAYS

Before we head into the predictions for Oscar categories that haven't appeared in MTFB thus far this season; here are the updated predictions for the Supporting Acting and Screenplay categories.  TFF #52 films and performers are in Bold.  A film's previous ranking is to the right of the title in parentheses.

SUPPRORTING ACTRESS

1) Ariana Grande/Wicked: For Good (2)

2) Teyana Taylor/One Battle After Another (1)

3) Amy Madigan/Weapons (4)

4) Elle Fanning/Sentimental Value (3)

5) Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas/Sentimental Value (5)

Others: Regina Hall/One Battle After Another, Gwyneth Paltrow/Marty Supreme and Odessa A'Zion/Marty Supreme.

SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Stellan Skarsgard/Sentimental Value (1)

2) Sean Penn/One Battle After Another (2)

3) Paul Mescal/Hamnet (3)

4) Adam Sandler/Jay Kelly (4)

5) Benicio del Toro/One Battle After Another (5)

Others: Jacob Elordi/Frankenstein, DelRoy Lindo/Sinners and Jeremy Strong/Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Sinners (1)

2) Sentimental Value (2)

3) Marty Supreme (3)

4) Jay Kelly (4)

5) It Was Just an Accident (5)

Others: Is This Thing On?, The Secret Agent and Weapons.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Hamnet (1)

2) One Battle After Another (2)

3) Bugonia (4)

4) Train Dreams (5

5) Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (3)

Others: Frankenstein, No Other Choice and Wicked: For Good.

COVER-UP TRAILER AND INTERVIEW

Here's the official trailer for Laura Poitras' documentary about reporter Seymour Hersh.  from Netflix via YouTube:

Additionally, an interview from Variety with Poitras and co-director and Mark Obenhaus.

That is linked here.

1.5 MILL

I have usually been pretty diligent about noticing viewership milestones but in the craziness of the last three months I overlooked that MTFB had passed a fairly significant one.  according to the view tracker MTFB passed One and a half million views somewhere around Halloween.

As of this morning I have posted 2401 times.  2402 if you count this one.  That means an average of 634 views per post.  

The most viewed post is from Jan. 4, 2018.  It's about Film Guilds and the Oscar season and an interview from Variety with Saoirse Ronan and Greta Gerwig on Lady Bird. Over 2,750 views.

As always, thanks to all of you who follow my obsession.

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

MTFB Oscar Take: Where We're At / Looks at Jay Kelly

 MTFB OSCAR TAKE: WHERE WE'RE AT

I'm through the second wave of predictions for the 2026 Oscars and the eight " Above the Line" categories.  I'll start expanding the predictions with Thursday's post to eventually include all 24 categories (up from 23 as The Academy has added Best Casting as a new Oscar category for this year).

But before I go into the expanded set of predictions, here's a reminder of where MTFB has nominees predicted currently.  These predictions were posted between Nov. 3rd and Nov. 13th. TFF #52 films/performers are in Bold.

BEST PICTURE

1) One Battle After Another (1)

2) Hamnet (2)

3) Sinners (3)

4) Sentimental Value (4)

5) Marty Supreme (5)

6) Wicked: For Good (9)

7) It Was Just an Accident (8)

8) Jay Kelly (6)

9) Frankenstein (NR)

10) Bugonia (NR)

Others: Train Dreams, Avatar: Fire and Ice, The Secret Agent and A House of Dynamite.

Comment: Big moves up for Wicked: For Good, Frankenstein and Bugonia. Dropping for Jay Kelly and A House of Dynamite.  

BEST DIRECTION

1) Paul Thomas Anderson/OBAA (1)

2) Chloe Zhao/Hamnet (2)

3) Ryan Coogler/Sinners (3)

4) Joachim Trier/Sentimental Value (4)

5) Jafar Panahi/It Was Just an Accident (5)

Others: Josh Safdie/Marty Supreme, Noah Baumbach/Jay Kelly and Guillermo del Toro/Frankenstein.

BEST ACTRESS

1) Jesse Buckley/Hamnet (1)

2) Rene Reinsve/Sentimental Value (2)

3) Cynthia Enviro/Wicked: For Good (3)

4) Emma Stone/Bugonia (4)

5) Amanda Seyfried/The Testament of Ann Lee (NR)

Others: Kate Hudson/Song Sung Blue, Sidney Sweeney/Christy and Rose Byrne/If I Had Legs I'd Kick You.

1) Timothee Chalamet/Marty Supreme (2)

2) Leonardo Di Caprio/OBAA (1)

3) Walter Moura/The Secret Agent (3)

4) Ethan Hawke (NR)

5) Michael B. Jordan/Sinners (5)

Others: George Clooney/Jay Kelly, Joel Edgerton (Train Dreams), Jeremy Allen White (Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere.

SUPPRORTING ACTRESS

1) Teyana Taylor/One Battle After Another (1)

2) Ariana Grande/Wicked: For Good (2)

3) Elle Fanning/Sentimental Value (4)

4) Amy Madigan/Weapons (3)

5) Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas/Sentimental Value (5)

Others: Regina Hall/One Battle After Another, Gwyneth Paltrow/Marty Supreme and Hailee Steinfeld/Sinners.

SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Stellan Skarsgard/Sentimental Value (1)

2) Sean Penn/One Battle After Another (2)

3) Paul Mescal/Hamnet (3)

4) Adam Sandler/Jay Kelly (4)

5) Benicio del Toro/One Battle After Another (5)

Others: Jacob Elordi/Frankenstein, DelRoy Lindo/Sinners and Jeremy Strong/Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Sinners (1)

2) Sentimental Value (2)

3) Marty Supreme (3)

4) Jay Kelly (4)

5) It Was Just an Accident (5)

Others: A House of Dynamite, Weapon and Blue Moon.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Hamnet (2)

2) One Battle After Another (1)

3) Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (3)

4) Bugonia (4)

5) Train Dreams (5)

Others: Frankenstein, No Other Choice and Wicked: For Good.

COMMENT: Sentimental Value is predicted to earn seven nominations in these eight categories to lead the way.  Here's the breakdown of the 10 films MTFB has with possible Oscar nominations in the Big Eight categories:

Sentimental Value (7): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Reinsve), Supporting Actress (Fanning), Supporting Actress (Ibsdotter Lilleaas), Supporting Actor (Skarsgard), Original Screenplay.

Hamnet (5): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Buckley), Supporting Actor (Mescal), Adapted Screenplay.

Jay Kelly (3): Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Sandler), Original Screenplay.

Bugonia (3): Best Picture, Actress (Stone) and Adapted Screenplay.

It Was Just an Accident (2): Best Picture, Original Screenplay.

The Secret Agent (1): Best Actor (Moura).

Blue Moon (1): Best Actor (Hawke).

Other "possible" nominations:

Frankenstein: Best Direction, Supporting Actor (Elordi), Adapted Screenplay.

Jay Kelly: Best Direction, Actor (Clooney).

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere: Best Actor (White), Supporting Actor (Strong).

The Secret Agent: Best Picture.

If I Had Legs I's Kick You: Best Actress (Byrne).

Blue Moon: Best Original Screenplay.

Total MTFB predicted nominations from these eight categories for Telluride films: 22

Other "possible" nominations: 10.

LOOKS AT JAY KELLY

With its release coming in less than a month (Dec. 5th),  the P.R. is ramping up for Noah Baumbach's Jay Kelly starring George Clooney, Adam Sandler and Laura Dern.  Here's a taste of some of the promo that's in the air for the film.

Behind the Scenes with Clooney, Sandler and Baumbach from Netflix via YouTube.

Laura Dern and Adam Sandler with Awards Watch via YouTube.

 

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

MTFB Oscar Take Round Two: Supporting Acting / Hamnet Wins Another Audience Award

 MTFB OSCAR TAKE ROUND TWO: SUPPORTING ACTING

Sorry that I'm late this morning.  It was a long weekend.

MTFB continues its up date of  Oscar predictions with the Supporting Acting Categories.  These predictions will include the actors current ranking as well as its position from two weeks back.  TFF #52 films are in Bold.

SUPPRORTING ACTRESS

1) Teyana Taylor/One Battle After Another (1)

2) Ariana Grande/Wicked: For Good (2)

3) Elle Fanning/Sentimental Value (4)

4) Amy Madigan/Weapons (3)

5) Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas/Sentimental Value (5)

Others: Regina Hall/One Battle After Another, Gwyneth Paltrow/Marty Supreme and Hailee Steinfeld/Sinners.

Comment: This category is very stable at the moment.

SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Stellan Skarsgard/Sentimental Value (1)

2) Sean Penn/One Battle After Another (2)

3) Paul Mescal/Hamnet (3)

4) Adam Sandler/Jay Kelly (4)

5) Benicio del Toro/One Battle After Another (5)

Others: Jacob Elordi/Frankenstein, DelRoy Lindo/Sinners and Jeremy Strong/Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere.

Comment: Also a very stable category with the exception of Jacob Elordi jumping into the #6 spot.

HAMNET WINS ANOTHER AUDIENCE AWARD

Chloe Zhao's Hamnet won the Toronto Film Festival Audience Award in September and last week added that same accolade from the BFI London Film Festival.  Additionally the film tied with Rental Family for the Audience Award the Middleburg Film Fest.

Last week Gold Derby reported that Hamnet had slipped by One Battle After Another to become (by the slimmest of margins) their predicted favorite to win Best Picture.  As of this morning that was still holding true.

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

MTFB Oscar Predictions: Supporting Acting / New Poster for Pillion / Visitations: Scott Cooper

MTFB OSCAR PREDICTIONS: SUPPORTING ACTING

Today I am continuing my first wave of Oscar predictions for this year with the focus on the Supporting Acting categories.  All contenders from TFF #52 films are listed in Bold.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Teyana Taylor/One Battle After Another

2) Ariana Grande/Wicked: For Good

3) Amy Madigan/Weapons

4) Elle Fanning/Sentimental Value

5) Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas/Sentimental Value

Others: Regina Hall/One Battle After Another, Gwyneth Paltrow/Marty Supreme and Jennifer Lopez/Kiss of the Spider Woman.

SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Stellan Skarsgard/Sentimental Value

2) Sean Penn/One Battle After Another

3) Paul Mescal/Hamnet

4) Adam Sandler/Jay Kelly

5) Benicio del Toro/One Battle After Another

Others: Delroy Lindo/Sinners, Billy Crudup/Jay Kelly and Jeremy Strong/Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere.

NEW POSTER FOR PILLION

Fresh from A24, here's a new poster for Henry Lighton's Pillion:

VISITATIONS

The Next Best Picture Podcast interviews Scott Cooper for Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere.

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

Final Look at Oscar Experts Best Picture Predictions: Screen Rant / Best Picture Scoreboard / Interviews from The New York Film Festival (Jay Kelly and Sentimental Value) / Final Trailer for Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

 FINAL LOOK AT OSCAR EXPERTS BEST PICTURE PREDICTIONS: SCREEN RANT

 Here's a last look at what Oscar Experts are predicting for Best Picture,  These come from Screen Rant and were updated last Friday (TFF films are in Bold):

1) Hamnet

2) One Battle After Another

3) Sinners

4) Sentimental Value

5) Marty Supreme

6) A House of Dynamite

7) Wicked: For Good

8) The Secret Agent

9) Avatar: Fire and Ask

10) Jay Kelly

So Screen Rant has four TFF #52 films in the final ten for Best Picture which would tie for the record number of Telluride films nominated for BP in a single.

Stay tuned for my first jump into the prediction pool on Monday with my takes on Best Picture and Direction.

Here's the link to the Screen Rant prediction page.

BEST PICTURE SCORECARD

Let's update our chart of the all of the BP predictions we have gathered so far.  To this point with input from Gold Derby (GD), The Hollywood Reporter (THR), Variety (V),  Awards Watch (AW),  Awards Radar (AR), Next Best Picture (NBP), The Contending (TC) and Screen Rant (SC),  here's where TFF #52 films stand for BP predictions:

Hamnet (8): GD, THR, V, AW, AR, NBP, TC, SR

Sentimental Value (8): GD, THR, V, AW, AR, NBP, TC, SR

Jay Kelly (7): GD, THR, AW, AR, NBP, TC, SR

Bugonia (5): GD, THR, V, AR, TC

It Was Just Accident (5): GD, THR, AW, NBP, TC

The Secret Agent (4): THR, V, NBP, SR

Frankenstein (2): V, AW

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2): AW, AR

INTERVIEWS FROM THE NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL

From YouTube:

Noah Baumbach, George Clooney, Adam Sandler and Laura Dern for Jay Kelly.

Joachim Trier and Noah Baumbach for Sentimental Value and Jay Kelly.

FINAL TRAILER FOR SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE

Just ahead of its Oct. 24th release comes the final trailer for Scott Cooper's Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere. Here it is from You Tube:

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

Checking the Oscar Experts: Awards Radar / New Trailer for Del Toro's Frankenstein / Visitations: Clooney, Sandler and Hawke and More

CHECKING THE OSCAR EXPERTS: AWARDS RADAR

As the New York Film Festival passes its halfway point, we continue our series of check-ins of a variety of Oscar prognosticators on the Best Picture race with Joey Magidson of Awards Radar .  Magidson just updated his predictions last Wednesday.  Here's what he currently will be Best Picture nominated (TFF #52 films are Bold):

1) One Battle After Another

2) Hamnet

3) Sentimental Value

4) A House of Dynamite

5) Sinners

6) Jay Kelly

7) Bugonia

8) Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

9) Wicked: For Good

10) Avatar: Fire and Ash

So Magidson is currently predicting five TFF #52 films to pick up BP nominations which would be the most TFF BP noms in a single year.

Other TFF #52 films that are within striking distance per Magidson:

11) It Was Just an Accident

18) Frankenstein

19) Blue Moon

BEST PICTURE SCOREBOARD

To this point with input from Gold Derby (GD), The Hollywood Reporter (THR), Variety (V),  Awards Watch (AW) and Awards Radar (AR) here's where TFF #52 films stand for BP predictions.

Hamnet (5): GD, THR, V, AW, AR

Sentimental Value (5): GD, THR, V, AW, AR

Jay Kelly (4): GD, THR, AW, AR

Bugonia (4): GD, THR, V, AR

It Was Just Accident (3): GD, THR, AW

The Secret Agent (2): THR, V

Frankenstein (2): V, AW

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2): AW, AR

NEW TRAILER FOR DEL TORO'S FRANKENSTEIN

From YouTube:

VISITATIONS

Jay Kelly Q+A from the New York Film Festival with Clooney, Sandler, Dern, Baumbach and More

Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater for Blue Moon from The Making Of

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas for Sentimental Value from Pop Culture Confidential

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

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.



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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Oscar Predictions Update: Best Supporting Actress / Bong Joon Ho Talks Parasite / Marriage Story Has New Looks / Off the Radar... / Beanpole Teaser Appears / Adam Sandler Talks Uncut Gems

OSCAR PREDICTION UPDATE: BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

I last checked in on the Best Supporting Actress Oscar race on Sept. 25th.  Here's the new update for the category with the actor's previous position in parentheses.  Performances from TFF #46 films are in Bold.

1) Laura Dern/Marriage Story (1)

2) Jennifer Lopez/Hustlers (2)

3) Margot Robbie/Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood (3)

4) Margot Robbie/Bombshell (-)

5) Annette Bening/The Report (4)

Other Possibles: Thomasin McKenzie/Jojo Rabbit, Maggie Smith/Downton Abbey, Shuzhen Zhao/The Farewell, Scarlett Johansson/Jojo Rabbit

Notes: Nicole Kidman (Bombshell) and Taylor Russell (Waves) have, for the moment, waned over the last month or so.  The Margot Robbie double mention is likely to shake down to one or the other.  My guess going forward is that she's more likely to get a nomination for Bombshell.  We'll see.

BONG JOON HO TALKS PARASITE

My friend Tomris Laffly had a fantastic interview with Parasite director Bong Joon Ho at rogerebert.com this past week.  Parasite is, perhaps, the most talked about film that appeared at TFF #46.  It's a critical darling (Metacritic has it at 95).  The film was already hot after its Palme d"Or win at Cannes in May and the heat has steadily increased as it has moved through the fall fest season toward its eventual U.S. release this past week.

Here's the link to the interview.

MARRIAGE STORY HAS NEW LOOKS

Netflix unveiled a new trailer and a new poster for Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story recently.  Here's the new poster featuring the "Official Selection of the Telluride Film Festival" banner:

And here from YouTube is the new trailer for the film:

And a reminder here that I'm on the tank for a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Julie Hagerty and maybe a Supporting Actor nod for Ray Liotta.

OFF THE RADAR...

Not long ago we ran across the news that Alexander Payne was readying his next project to star Mads Mikkelsen.  As you might surmise, I immediately put it on my watch list as a possible, nee, probable  selection for TFF #47 owing to Payne's past with the fest.

Now, however, that seems to have gone away as Deadline reports that the project has fallen apart.  Mike Fleming revealed late this week that the Norwegian journalist upon which the project is based terminated his agreement to make the film.  The decision came with mere days left before the film was scheduled to begin filming.

The Deadline.com story is linked here.


BEANPOLE TEASER APPEARS

Russian entrant for the newly re-named Best International Oscar category, Kantemir Bugalov's Beanpole has an U.S. teaser.  Kino Lorber dropped that last week and I have it here for you via YouTube:

Demitra Kampakis has a lengthy interview with Bugalov at The Film Stage which you will find linked here.

ADAM SANDLER TALKS UNCUT GEMS

Leah Greenblatt/Entertainment Weekly talked to the star of the Safdie Brothers new film Uncut Gems which has Sandler some of the best reviews of his career after first screening at the Telluride Film Festival.

That article is linked here

Going to call this done for today.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Oscar Predictions Update: Best Actor / Oscar History and TFF: Best Supporting Actress / TFF Docs and Critic's Choice / New Teaser for Ford v. Ferrari

OSCAR PREDICTIONS UPDATE: BEST ACTOR

I last checked in on the Best Actor Oscar race on Sept. 19th.  Here's the new update for the category with the actor's previous position in parentheses.  Performances from TFF #46 films are in Bold.

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

Possibles: Robert DeNiro/The Irishman, Eddie Murphy/Dolemite is My Name, Adam Sandler/Uncut Gems.

Comment: Recency helps.  Buzz for Joaquin Phoenix's performance spiked with the film's release two weeks ago and he jumped from #4 to #2.  Meanwhile, Leonardo DiCaprio, whose film opened in July.  Robert DeNiro has also benefited from The Irishman finally being in front of some eyes with its acting as the opening night film for the New York Film Fest.

Truth is that Banderas, DeNiro and Murphy are in a virtual tie for that fifth spot.

I'll update Best director predictions on Monday.


OSCAR HISTORY AND TFF: BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Lupita Nyong'o in 12 Years a Slave

Here's the complete history of nominees and winners for the Best Supporting Actress category and the Telluride Film Festival:

1987-Ann Sothern/The Whales of August
1989- Brenda Fricker/My Left Foot-WINNER
1991- Diane Ladd/Rambling Rose
1993- Anna Paquin/The Piano-WINNER
1994- Dianne Wiest/Bullets Over Broadway, Jennifer Tilly/Bullets Over Broadway
1996- Jean-Marie Baptiste/Secrets and Lies
2000- Samantha Morton/Sweet and Lowdown
2004- Laura Linney/Kinsey
2005- Michelle Williams/Brokeback Mountain, Catherine Keener/Capote
2006- Adriana Barraza/Babel, Rinko Kikuchi/Babel
2007-  Cate Blanchett/I'm Not There
2008- Taraji P. Henson/The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (scenes screened)
2009- Anna Kendrick/Up in the Air, Vera Farmiga/Up in the Air
2010- Helena Bonham Carter/The King's Speech
2011- Berenice Bejo/The Artist, Janet McTeer/Albert Nobbs
2013- Lupita Nyong'o-12 Years a Slave-WINNER, June Squibb/Nebraska
2014- Emma Stone/Birdman, Laura Dern/Wild, Keira Knightley/The Imitation Game
2015- Rachel McAdams/Spotlight, Rooney Mara/Carol, Kate Winslet/Steve Jobs
2016- Michelle Williams/Manchester by the Sea, Naomie Harris/Moonlight
2017- Octavia Spencer/The Shape of Water, Laurie Metcalf/Lady Bird
2018- Emma Stone/The Favourite, Rachel Weisz-The Favourite, Marina de Tavira/Roma


Overall 35 nominations and three wins: Brenda Fricker/My Left Foot-1989, Anna Paquin/The Piano-1993, Lupita Nyong'o/12 Years a Slave-2013.


TFF DOCS AND THE CRITIC'S CHOICE

The Biggest Little Farm, which was featured last year at TFF #45 led all documentaries in total nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Association for their doc awards with a total of seven nominations including Best Documentary Feature.

This year's TFF docs were represented by The Kingmaker which earned four nominations.

The BFCA also announced that they would recognize Michael Apted's Up series of docs.  His latest entry in that series- 63 Up- was also featured this year at TFF #46.

The complete rundown is linked here from Indiewire.

The BFCA will present their awards for documentaries on Nov. 10th.


NEW TEASER FOR FORD V. FERRARI

Twentieth Century Fox gave us a new teaser for the film this week.  Check it here from YouTube:

Ford v. Ferrari opens on Nov. 15th.



That's today's MTFB.  More Monday.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Day Two Done...Day Three on the Way... / Sunday TBAs / And a Note...

DAY TWO DONE...

Got into Uncut Gems, The Report and Waves on Saturday...

My favorite film of the day turned out to be Uncut Gems...which shocks me a bit as I have never been a big Adam Sandler fan.  But credit due....Sandler is great in the Safdie Brothers film. 

The Report worked well enough for me.  It's a sturdy and competently made reveal of how willing the  U.S. was to torture in the wake of 9-11.

Waves is an earnest but overly long exploration of the potential destruction of a family.



DAY THREE ON THE WAY...

I know we're going to try to do Motherless Brooklyn on Sunday morning...and then Marriage Story on Sunday night.  Between the two...I don't know. 


SUNDAY TBAs

Sunday TBAs - September 1, 2019
Galaxy

• 10:15 PM: THE CLIMB, program number 27, Cinephile

Sheridan Opera House

• 10:00 PM: 63 UP, A, Cinephile

Nugget

• 4:15 PM: LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE with Q&A, E, Cinephile

• 9:45 PM: FIRST COW, 20, Cinephile

Masons

• 9:15 PM: STUDENT PRINTS with Q&A, 41, Cinephile

Pierre

• 9:30 PM: PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, 12, Cinephile

Noon Seminar, Elks Park FREE

Sponsored by Participant Media

Moderated by Annette Insdorf

What are the challenges of cinematic adaptation?

With Dan Friedkin, Philip Kaufman, Edward Norton, Barnabás Tóth


AND A NOTE...

Thanks to so many of you who have been kind enough to say a word or two to me in lines the last couple of days.  Also a special shout out to staff folk who follow this space.  You guys and gals are fantastic!  And via my brother...Hey Mercury!

See you around tomorrow!

Telluride and Oscar Part Seven: Best Adapted Screenplay / London Opening Film In Play? / A Couple of Tidbits: Uncut Gems and Just Mercy / Late Breaking: Venice Opener

Hi there...I'm on the road...headed to Oregon...



TELLURIDE AND OSCAR PART SEVEN: BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Here's Part Seven of the eight part series concerning the films of the Telluride Film Festival and the Academy Awards covering the last 14 years (that starts with 2015 which was the year before I began attending).  Today's category of concentration is Best Adapted Screenplay.  Listed below are all of the films nominated in that category since 2005 that played Telluride.  Winners are indicated with ***.

2005: Brokeback Mountain***, Capote
2006: Little Children
2007: There Will Be Blood (I count it as we saw footage in connection with the Daniel Day-Lewis tribute), The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
2008: Slumdog Millionaire***, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Same as There Will Be Blood only with a tribute to David Fincher)
2009: An Education, Up in the Air
2010: 127 Hours
2011: The Descendants***
2012: Argo***
2013: 12 Years a Slave***
2014: The Imitation Game***
2015: Carol, Room
2016: Moonlight***, Arrival
2017: No nominees
2018: Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Notes 19 nominations over the 14 years with a strong seven wins in that time period.

As best as can tell the first film from TFF with a nomination for Best adapted Screenplay was My Left Foot in 1989.

As a percentage of  wins to nominations this is the category that having a nomination from a TFF film gives the nominee the best chance of a win with 36.8% of TFF nominees winning the honor.  The next best category is Best Director with a 32.2% win ratio.  The worst: Best Supporting Actress with a 3.8% win ratio.


Next Tuesday...the last of the "Big Eight" categories: Best Original Screenplay.


LONDON OPENING FILM IN PLAY?

The BFI/London Film Festival announced its opening film will be Armando Ianucci's (Into the Loop, Veep) The Personal History of David Copperfield.  Why should we take note?  The film was announced as a European Premiere.  That means that the film will have screened at at least one other spot prior to its stint as the LFF opening film.

The European designation should mean that Venice is off the list as a possibility leaving Toronto, New York (barely as NYFF opens Sept. 28th while London will screen it on Oct. 2.

The European designation means the first screening in Europe will be at LFF.  It necessarily means that the "World" premiere happens somewhere else...and...as LFF doesn't label it an "International" premiere...that suggests that the film will have played within the country of its origin.

What I'm saying here is that divining this news in terms of a potential Telluride play comes down to how the film's country of origin in classified.  If it's a "U.S." production then this could mean that the film plays at Telluride.  If it's a Brit production... could mean a Toronto World Premiere.

And I am uncertain as to the film's nationality.

But...this could be in Telluride.

Here's the Deadline story about the London Film Fest opening night announcement.



COUPLE OF TIDBITS


Jeff Sneider of TheInSneider fame Tweeted this yesterday:

Sneider, who has been knocking about the movie biz for a good long time including writing for Variety, Ain't It Cool News and The Wrap is clearly suggesting that the Safdie Brothers Uncut Gems starring Adam Sandler is on the TFF #46 agenda.

The film is an A24 project and I did not assess it when I looked at A24's offerings back on July 1st.  At that time, I felt like A24's most probable film to play TFF was The Lighthouse.  That said, I believe that it's entirely possible that Uncut Gems could make it to Colorado.  Perhaps both films will.

In another tidbit, Just Mercy from director Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12) which had been announced with a release date in January 2020 now seems like it will be released on Dec. 25th according to The Hollywood Reporter.  That puts it into awards season play for Warner Brothers and suggests that it could pop up at one or more fall film fests.  The WB appears to be loaded with this as well as Joker, Motherless Brooklyn and The Goldfinch.

The film stars Michael B. Jordan, Brie Larson and Jamie Foxx and tells the  true story of an African American man accused of a murder he didn't commit.

LATE BREAKING: VENICE OPENER

The Venice Film Festival has chosen Hirokazu Kore-eda's The Truth as its opening film.  That probably raises the chances that it will play Telluride.  More tomorrow.

That'll do it for this Thursday...More to come tomorrow including the last Ten Bets before Toronto and Venice begin announcing.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG