Oscar Update: Costumes, Makeup and Hair and Visual Effects / Cannes Moving Back??? / Interviews with Hopkins and Pollard

OSCAR UPDATE: COSTUMES, MAKEUP AND HAIR AND VISUAL EFFECTS

Here's an update on three technical categories.  I last predicted these on February 15th.  Their position at that time is in parentheses.  Telluride #47 films are in Bold. 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

1) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1)

2) Emma (2)

3) Mank (3)

4) News of the World (4)

5) Mulan (5)

6) Promising Young Woman (9)

7) Ammonite (8)

8) Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (-)

9) The United States vs. Billie Holiday (6)

10) The Personal History of David Copperfield (7)

Other Possibles: The Glorias, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Hot: Promising Young Woman

Not: The United States vs. Billie Holiday, The Personal History of David Copperfield

BEST MAKEUP/HAIR

1) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1)

2) Hillbilly Elegy (2)

3) Birds of Prey (4)

4) Mank (3)

5) Emma (5)

6) Pinocchio (6)

7) One Night in Miami (8)

8) The Glorias (9)

9) Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (10)

10) The Little Things (7)

Hot: Birds of Prey

Not: The Little Things

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1) Tenet (1)

2) The Midnight Sky (2)

3) Mank (3)

4) Mulan (4)

5) Welcome to Chechnya (50

6) The One and Only Ivan (8)

7) Birds of Prey (6)

8) Soul (7)

9) Love and Monsters (9)

10) Bloodshot (10)

Hot: The One and Only Ivan

Not: Soul

CANNES MOVING BACK???

Earlier this week, Deadline's Tom Grater reported that the Cannes Film Festival, which looked to be headed to run in July (and perhaps even later as some rumors have it going into late summer) may be backtracking.

Grater reports that Cannes may plan a "pre-screening" event earlier than the planned July dates as a response to industry desires.  The Deadline story suggests the possible "pre-screening" would be:

"virtual and will be purely based around industry screenings, without a traditional physical market, and will feature market titles potentially alongside films from the festival selection"

Grater also writes that Cannes is getting pressure from sales agants and French distributors to do the earlier "pre-screenings".

The upshot is that we could be back to finding out at least some of the films Cannes has chosen for whatever version of the actual festival comes to pass and that could give us some Telluride clues.

The complete Deadline story is linked here.

INTERVIEWS WITH HOPKINS AND POLLARD

(photo via Sundance film Festival and Screen Daily)

Screen Daily published an interview this week with acting legend Anthony Hopkins.  Hopkins would have been one of the tribute recipients had a TFF #47 gone off last Labor Day.  

Hopkins role in The Father (the TFF and Sundance selection) has earned a good deal of Oscar speculation.

Here's the link to that interview.

Meanwhile, The Playlist posted an interview with director Sam Pollard whose documentary MLK/FBI, is on The Academy's Feature Documentary Shortlist.  MKL/FBI was also a TFF #47 selection.

That interview is linked here. 

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Oscar Update: Cinematography, Editing and the Music / The Oscar Inventory / Another Nomad / Latest Gurus: The Golden Globes

 OSCAR UPDATE: CINEMATOGRAPHY, EDITING AND THE MUSIC

Here are my updates predictions for these four categories.  As always, TFF films are in Bold.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (last predicted on Feb. 8th.  Previous predictions for a film are in parentheses.)

1) Nomadland (1)

2) Mank (2)

3) News of the World (3)

4) Tenet (4)

5) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (7)

6) Judas and the Black Messiah (5)

7) Minari (7)

8) One Night in Miami (8)

9) First Cow (6)

10) Da 5 Bloods (10)

Other Possibles: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Midnight Sky

Hot: The Trial of the Chicago 7

Not: Da 5 Bloods

BEST FILM EDITING (last predicted on Feb. 8th.  Previous predictions for a film are in parentheses.)

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

2) News of the World (4)

3) Nomadland (2)

4) Mank (3)

5) Tenet (3)

6) Sound of Metal (-)

7) The Father (6)

8) One Night in Miami (8)

9) Da 5 Bloods (7)

10) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (10)

Other Possibles: Judas and the Black Messiah, Minari

Hot: Sound of Metal, News of the World

Not: Judas and the Black Messiah, Tenet, Da 5 Bloods

ORIGINAL SCORE (last predicted on Feb. 8th.  Previous predictions for a film are in parentheses.)

1) Soul (1)

2) News of the World (2)

3) Mank (4)

4) The Midnight Sky (3)

5) Tenet (5)

6) Minari (6)

7) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (7)

8) Da 5 Bloods (8)

9) The Little Things (10)

10) Blizzard of Souls (-)

Other Possibles: Ammonite, The Invisible Man, The Life Ahead, Mulan, Jingle Jangle-A Christmas Journey

Hot: Blizzard of Souls

Not: Jingle Jangle

BEST ORIGINAL SONG (last predicted on Feb. 8th.  Previous predictions for a film are in parentheses.)

1) Speak Now/One Night in Miami (1)

2) Io Si (Seen)/The Life Ahead (2)

3) Fight for You/Judas and the Black Messiah (8)

4) Hear My Voice/The Trial of the Chicago 7 (5)

5) Husavik/Eurovision (6)

6) Turntables/All In: The Fight for Democracy (-)

7) Never Break/Giving Voice (-)

8) Wuhan Flu/Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (7)

9) See What You've Done/Belly of the Beast (-)

10) Rain Song/Minari (-)

Other Possibles: Green/Sound of Metal, Loyal Brave True/Mulan, Free/The One and Only Ivan, Show Me Your Soul/Mr. Soul, Make It Work/Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey

Hot: Fight for You/Judas and the Black Messiah, Turntables/All In:The Fight for Democracy

THE OSCAR INVENTORY

This is a look at the total predicted nominations that I have currently for the ten films MTFB has listed as Best Picture nominees as the announcement is just three weeks away (Mar. 15th).

Mank will lead all Best Picture nominees with a total of 13 predicted: Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Costumes, Makeup/Hair, Sound, Score, Song.

Three films will have seven nominations:

The Trial of the Chicago 7: Picture, Director, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Song.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom: Picture, Actor, Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Costumes, Makeup/Hair.

News of the World: Picture, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Sound, Costumes, Score.

Nomadland will land six nominations: Picture, Director, Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Cinelatography, Editing.

Sound of Metal will have five nominations: Picture, Actor, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Sound.

The four nomination club will include:

Minari: Picture, Director, Supporting Actress and Original Screenplay.

One Night in Miami: Picture, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Song

Promising Young Woman: Picture, Director, Actress, Original Screenplay,

Judas and the Black Messiah will land three nominations, the least of the films I have predicted for Best Picture: Picture, Supporting Actor, Song.

Other films with notable numbers of nominations per my predictions:

Tenet with 5: Cinematography, Editing, Visual Effects, Sound, Score.

The Father with 3: Actor, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay.

The Midnight Sky with 3: Sound, Visual Effects, Score.

Best bets among the above films to add a nomination not currently predicted:

The Father: Picture, Editing

Minari: Steven Yeun/Best Actor, Score

Tenet: Production Design

News of the World: Adapted Screenplay

One Night in Miami: Regina King/Best Director

Judas and the Black Messiah: Cinematography

Sound of Metal: Editing

ANOTHER NOMAD

Bob Wells (via Vulture)

We've seen and heard a lot from Nomadland star (and producer) Frances McDormand and director/writer Chloe Zhao but Vulture this week posted an interview with Nomad lifestyle guru Bob Wells.  Wells is featured prominently in the film and stars as himself.

Wells  hosts the annual Rubber Tramp Rendezvous and is well known for producing videos on YouTube extolling the R.V. lifestyle.

Here's the link to that interview.

LATEST GURUS: THE GOLDEN GLOBES

The latest Gurus of Gold post is up this afternoon and focuses on a number of categories from the Golden Globes.  The Globes are set to be handed out on Sunday evening amidst a controversy over its membership and pay to said to members.

I'll be the first to admit that I am no expert when it comes to the capriciousness of the Globes and who is going to win on Sunday night.  Heck, I barely think I can talk semi-intellgently about the Oscar race that I spend a lot of time and attention on.

Nevertheless, Ray Pride from Movie City News asked us to opine on the Globes and I and most of the other Gurus obliged.  Check out our predictions by using this link.

My big picks: Nomadland, Borat, Zhao, Mulligan, Boseman, Bakalova, Cohen.

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Oscar Update: Craft Categories / Berlin's Full Lineup Announced

 OSCAR UPDATE: CRAFT CATEGORIES

In today's post I update Oscar nomination predictions for Production Design as well as take first stabs at Costumes, Makeup/Hair, Sound and Visual Effects.  TFF films are in Bold.

PRODUCTION DESIGN 

My last prediction was on Jan. 28th.  A film's position from then is in parentheses.

1) Mank (1)

2) News of the World (3)

3) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (6)

4) The Personal History of David Copperfield (5)
5) Emma (4)

6) Tenet (7)

7) Mulan (2)

8) Midnight Sky (9)

9) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (8)

10) One Night in Miami (10)

Other Possibles: The Father, The Prom, First Cow

Hot: Ma Rainey

Not: Mulan

COSTUMES

1) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

2) Emma

3) Mank

4) News of the World

5) Mulan

6) The United States vs. Billie Holiday

7) The Personal History of David Copperfield

8) Ammonite

9) Promising Young Woman

10) The Trial of the Chicago 7

Other Possibles: Jingle Jangle, The Glorias

MAKEUP AND HAIR (already short listed to these 10 films)

1) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

2) Hillbilly Elegy

3) Mank

4) Birds of Prey

5) Emma

6) Pinocchio

7) The Little Things

8) One Night in Miami

9) The Glorias

10) Jingle Jangle

SOUND

1) Sound of Metal

2) Tenet

3) News of the World

4) Mank

5) The Midnight Sky

6) Soul

7) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

8) Da 5 Bloods

9) The Outpost

10) The Trail of the Chicago 7

VISUAL EFFECTS (already short listed to these three films)

1) Tenet

2) The Midnight Sky

3) Mank

4) Mulan

5) Welcome to Chechnya

6) Birds of Prey

7) Soul

8) The One and Only Ivan

9) Love and Monsters

10) Bloodshot

BERLIN'S FULL LINEUP ANNOUNCED

The Berlin International Film Festival has announced all of its lineup.  As frequent readers know, it iis very common for Telluride to program a film or two or three from the Berlin lineup.

Glancing at the films selected, a few caught my eye as suggesting the possibility of a Berlin play followed by a Labor Day bow in T-ride.

Xavier Beauvois' Drift Away

Daniel Bruhl's Next Door

Celine Sciamma's Petite Maman

Jim Cummings and P.J. McCabe's The Beta Test

Hong Sangsoo's Introduction

Berlin will be bifurcated with a protion of the fest happening in march and then a "Summer Special" scheduled in June.

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Oscar Update: Animated Feature, Cinematography, Editing, Score, Song /Gurus: The Second Batch / SAG Awards and TFF / BAFTA and Telluride

OSCAR UPDATE

In today's post I am updating nomination predictions in five categories.  The film's previous ranking is to the right in parentheses. TFF films are in Bold.

ANIMATED FEATURE

1) Soul (1)

2) Wolfwalkers (2)

3) Over the Moon (3)

4) Onward (4)

5) Earwig and the Witch (8)

6) A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (5)

7) The Croods: A New Age (9)

8) Trolls: World Tour (7)

9) The Willoughbys (6)

10) Demon Slayer (10)

Other Possibles: Lupin III

Hot: Earwig and the Witch, The Croods: A New Age

Not: The Willoughbys

CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) Nomadland (2)

2) Mank (1)

3) News of the World (3)

4) Tenet (4)

5) Judas and the Black Messiah (5)

6) Da 5 Bloods (8)

7) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (9)

8) Minari (6)

9) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (7)

10) First Cow (10)

Other Possibles: One Night in Miami, Midnight Sky, I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Hot: Da 5 Bloods, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Not: Minari, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

FILM EDITING

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

2) Nomadland (2)

3) Tenet (5)

4) News of theWorld (4)

5) Mank (3)

6) The Father (6)

7) Da 5 Bloods (9)

8) One Night in Miami (8)

9) Judas and the Black Messiah (10)

10) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (7)

Other Possibles: Promising Young Woman, Minari, Sound of Metal

Hot: Da 5 Bloods

Not: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

ORIGINAL SCORE

1) Soul (1)

2) News of the World (2)

3) Midnight Sky (4)

4) Mank (3)

5) Tenet (6)

6) Minari (5)

7) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (7)

8) Da 5 Bloods (8)

9) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (-)

10) The Little Things (9)

Other Possible: Hillbilly Elegy

Hot: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Not: Mank

ORIGINAL SONG

1) One Night in Miami/Speak Now (1)

2) The Life Ahead/Seen (2)

3) Over the Moon/Rocket to the Moon (3)

4) The Prom/Wear Your Crown (4)

5) The Trial of the Chicago 7/Hear My Voice (5)

6) Eurovision/Husavik (6)

7) Borat Subsequent Moviefilm/ Wuhan Flu (7)

8) Judas and the Black Messiah/Fight for You (10)

9) Trolls: World Tour/Just Sing (8)

10) Mank/If Only You Could Save Me (9)

Other Possibles: Miss Americana/Only the Young, Onward/Carried Me with You, 40 Year Old Version/Poverty Porn

Hot/Not: A really stable category right now.

GURUS: THE SECOND BATCH

The second wave of collective predictions from The Movie City News' Gurus of Gold was up just before the weekend.  Categories include: Best Picture, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Documentary and International Feature.

Check out the latest from my fellow Gurus here.

SAG AWARDS AND TFF

The Screen Actors Guild nominees were announced and TFF films produced three nominees;  Anthony Hopkins was nominated for Best actor and Olivia Colman for Best Supporting Actress fpr TFF #47 announced film The Father.  Hopkins would have been one of 2020's Tribute recipients had the fest been able to go on.  Frances McDormand was nominated for Best Actress for Nomadland.

All three actors are currently predicted to be Oscar nominees in their respective categories by MTFB.

Here's a link to the complete list of SAG nominees from Variety.

BAFTA LONG LISTS AND TELLURIDE

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) released their long lists of potential nominees for film this past week.  This is the first listing of films that could eventually be nominated for BAFTA awards.

Among the films named to the list were six from the TFF #7 and one from TFF #46.  In a bit of a surprise the most named TFF #47 film was Francis Lee's Ammonite with nine mentions followed by both Nomadland and The Father with eight.

Ammonite's long list mentions were for: Best British Film, Best Actress (Kate Winlset), Supporting Actress (Saoirse Ronan), Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Costumes, Makeup and Hair, Score and Production Design.

Nomaldland is listed for Best Film, Direction (Chloe Zhao), Actress (Frances McDormand), Supporting Actor (David Stratharin), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Films Editing and Sound.

The Father is listed for Best Film, Best British Film, Direction (Florian Zeller), Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Supporting Actress (Olivia Colman), Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing and Production Design.

Other TFF films making the long lists were:

The Truffle Hunters with two: Best Film in a Language Other than English and Best Documentary.

All In: The Fight for Democracy: Best Documentary

MLK/FBI: Best Documentary

And from TFF #46- The Assistant with three mentions: Best Direction (Kitty Green), Best Actress (Julia Garner) and Original Screenplay

The complete long lists are linked here from BAFTA's website.

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Oscar Updates: Director, Actress, Actor

 OSCAR UPDATES: DRIECTOR, ACTRESS, ACTOR

In this post, I catch up on my latest predictions and, for the first time this Oscar season, I include more than one category in a post.  As we get closer to the announcement nominations, it's time to accelerate predictions to begin to include categories beyond the major eight (picture, director, actress, actor, Supporting actress, supporting actor, adapted and original screenplays).  This week's posts (today's and Thursday's) will update the major eight categories and then next week I'll begin to add in some of the others.

BEST DIRECTOR

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

1) Chloe Zhao/Nomadland (1)

2) David Fincher/Mank (2)

3) Aaron Sorkin/The Trial of the Chicago 7 (3)

4) Regina King/One Night in Miami (5)

5) Lee Isaac Chung/Minari(4)

6) George C. Wolfe/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (6)

7) Paul Greengrass/News of the World (8)

8) Spike Lee/Da 5 Bloods (9)

9) Florian Zeller/The Father (7)

10) Shaka King/Judas and the Black Messiah (10)

Other Possibles: Emerald Fennell/Promising Young Woman, Darius Marder/Sound of Metal, Christopher Nolan/Tenet, Kelly Reichardt/First Cow (TFF #46)

Hot: Emerald Fennell/Promising Young Woman

Not: Florian Zeller/The Father

BEST ACTRESS

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

1) Frances McDormand/Nomadland (1)

2) Venessa Kirby/Pieces of a Woman (2)

3) Viola Davis/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (3)

4) Carey Mulligan/Promising Young Woman (4)

5) Andra Day/The United States vs. Billie Holiday (5)

6) Michelle Pfeiffer/French Exit (7)

7) Sidney Flanigan/Never Rarely Sometimes Always (-)

8) Kate Winslet/Ammonite (9)

9) Meryl Streep/The Prom (6)

10) Sophia Loren/The Life Ahead (8)

Other Possibles: Zendaya/Malcolm and Marie, Amy Adams/Hillbilly Elegy, Meryl Streep/Let Them Talk, Nicole Behaire/Miss Juneteenth

Hot: Sidney Flanigan/Never Rarely Sometimes Always, 

Not: Meryl Streep/The Prom, Sophia Loren/The Life Ahead

BEST ACTOR

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Actor updated since I last posted this category on  Dec. 28th.  A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.

1) Chadwick Boseman/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1)

2) Anthony Hopkins/The Father (2)

3) Riz Ahmed/Sound of Metal (3)

4) Delroy Londo/Da Five Bloods (4)

5) Steven Yeun/Minari (8)

6) Gary Oldman/Mank (5)

7) Tom Hanks/News of the World (6)

8) Kingsley Ben-Adir/One Night in Miami (7)

9) Ben Affleck/The Way Back (9)

10) LaKeith Stanfield/Judas and the Black Messiah (10)

Other Posssibles: Colin Firth/Supernova, John David Washington/Malcom and Marie

Hot: Steven Yeun/Minari

Not: Gary Oldman/Mank

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Oscar Update: Best Original Screenplay / NSFC Names Winners / Feinberg on Docs and International Features

OSCAR UPDATE: BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Original Screenplay updated since I last posted this category on  Dec. 10th.  A screenplay's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

2) Promising Young Woman (5)

3) Mank (2) 

4) Minari (3)

5) Soul (4)

6) Judas and the Black Messiah (6)

7) Never Rarely Sometimes Always (8)

8) Da 5 Bloods (7)

9) Sound of Metal (-)

10) Palm Springs (9)

Other Possibles: On the Rocks, the 40 Year old Version, Ammonite

Hot: Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal

Not: On the Rocks

Coming on Thursday...a new look at Best Picture.

NSFC NAMES WINNERS

The National Society of Film Critics met this past Saturday and decided on their superlatives for 2020.  TFF #47 selection Nomadland was the big winner as it grabbed four prizes including Best Picture.

Here's the list of winners or runners-up from TFF #47 OR TFF #46:

Best Picture: Winner: Nomadland, Runner-up: First Cow (TFF #46)

Best Direction: Winner: Chloe Zhao/Nomadland, 2nd Runner-up: Kelly Reichardt/First Cow (TFF #46)

Best Actress: Winner: Frances McDormand/Nomadland

Best Screenplay: Runner-up: Kelly Reichardt/First Cow (TFF #46)

Best Cinematography: Winner: Nomadland

Best Foreign Language Film: Runner-up: Beanpole (TFF #46)

Take a look at all of the winners and runners-up at Gold Derby using this link.

FEINBERG ON DOCS AND INTERNATIONAL FEATURES

The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg posted an article on Saturday focusing on the race for Oscar nominations in the Documentary Feature and International Feature categories.  Feinberg lists three TFF #47 films, one in both categories in the body of the article:

Docs:

All In: The Fight for Democracy

The Bee Gees: How Do You Men a Broken Heart

Notturno.

Feinberg also puts Notturno in the International Film category as well.

You can catch the rest of the article by clicking here.

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Oscar Update: Best Adapted Screenplay / Indiewire Lists: Top 50 of 2020 / Indiewire Listrs: Contenders for Best International Feature

OSCAR UPDATE: BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Adapted Screenplay updated since I last posted this category on  Dec. 7th.  A screenplay's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) Nomadland (1)

2) The Father (3)

3) One Night in Miami (2)

4) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (4)

5) News of the World (5)

6) First Cow (7)

7) I'm Thinking of Ending Things (6)

8) Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm (8)

9) The Mauritanian (-)

10) Pieces of a Woman (10)

Other Possibles: The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Midnight Sky, The White Tiger

Hot: The Mauritanian, First Cow

Not: Billie Holiday

I'll have a look at Original Screenplay on Monday.

INDIEWIRE LISTS: TOP 50 OF 2020

Indiewire posted its list of  the best 50 films of 2020 according to the 200+ critics they surveyed.  That story was posted on Jan. 5th.  Among the 50 films were five films from either TFF #46 or the TFF #47 list of films that would have played the fest.  Here's where those five films landed:

#27 Ammonite

#22 The Assistant

#6 Beanpole

#3 First Cow

#1 Nomadland

The complete listing of all 50 films is linked here.

INDIEWIRE LISTS: CONTENDERS FOR BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

Meanwhile, Indiewire's Anne Thompson published an updated selection of what she considers the frontrunners for the Best International Feature Oscar.  Among her frontrunners are three films that would have been screening in Telluride last Labor Day had the fest occurred. 

Thompson's list included:

Charlatan

Apples

Notturno.

The four other frontrunners she names include Another Round, I'm No Longer Here, Collective and My Little Sister.

Thompson's article can be found here.

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Oscar Update: Best Actor / Zhao on Nomadland / THR's 45 films from Oscar

 QSCAR UPDATE: BEST ACTOR

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Actor updated since I last posted this category on  Nov. 26th.  A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.

1) Chadwick Boseman/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1)

2) Anthony Hopkins/The Father (2)

3) Riz Ahmed/Sound of Metal (5)

4) Delroy Lindo/Da 5 Bloods (3)

5) Gary Oldman/Mank (4)

6) Tom Hanks/News of the World (6)

7) Kingsley Ben-Adir/One Night in Miami (8)

8) Steven Yeun/Minari (7)

9) Ben Affleck/The Way Back (9)

10) LaKeith Stanfield/Judas and the Black Messiah (-)

Other possibles: Colin Firth/Supernova, Mads Mikkelson/Another Round

Hot: Riz Ahmed/Sound of Metal, LaKeith Stanfield/Judas and the Black Messiah

Not: George Clooney/The Midnight Sky

Nest post: Best Supporting Actress update.

ZHAO ON NOMADLAND

From Down Under comes this interview with writer/director (producer and editor) Chloe Zhao about Nomadland.  The film seems to be the front runner for Best Picture with Zhao also looking like a nominee (and perhaps favorite to win) for Best Director as well as Best Adapted Screenplay.  She could also snag a fourth nomination for editing the film.

The interview here is from the Australian website News.com.au and writer Wenlai Ma.

The link is here.

THR'S 45 FILMS FOR OSCAR

The Hollywood Reporter's Tyler Coates has put together a list of 45 films that are suggested as the most likely to be influential in this year's Oscar competition.  Four TFF films (from #46 and #47) are among the list.  They are:

Ammonite

The Father

Frist Cow (from TFF #46)

Nomadland

Missing from the list, which surprised me some was TFF #46's The Assistant

The complete list of films from THR are linked here.

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Oscar Update: Best Actress / Capri Hollywood Honors Two TFF #47 Films / Where to Watch TFF #47 Films

OSCAR UPDATE: BEST ACTRESS

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Actress updated since I last posted this category on  Nov. 23rd.  A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.

1) Frances McDormand/Nomadland (1)

2) Vanessa Kirby/Pieces of a Woman (2)

3) Viola Davis/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom(3)

4) Carrie Mulligan/Promising Young Woman (4)

5) Andra Day/The United States vs. Billie Holiday (8)

6) Meryl Streep/The Prom (10)

7) Michelle Pfeiffer/French Exit (7)

8) Sophia Loren/The Life Ahead (5)

9) Kate Winslet/Ammonite (6)

10) Amy Adams/Hillbilly Elegy (9)

Other possibles: Meryl Streep/Let Them Talk, Carrie Coon/The Nest

Hot: Andra Day, Meryl Streep

Not: Sophia Loren, Amy Adams

 The next Oscar Update will focus on Best Actor.

CAPRI HOLLYWOOD HONORS TWO TFF #47 SELECTIONS

It was announced this week that Capri Hollywood-The International Film Festival will honor Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw's documentary The Truffle Hunters as well as  Gianfranco Rosi's Notturno.  The Hollywood Reporter ran the story on Dec. 19th.  Both films continue to maintain momentum for potential Oscar consideration

Capri Hollywood will be different this year.  Like many fests, it will be virtual this year.

The complete THR article is linked here.

WHERE TO WATCH TFF #47 FILMS

Telluride Film Festival organizers released information this past week about what platforms, festivals and websites would allow access to the films that were selected for the TFF #47 that might have been.  That list of what is available and where was published at tellurideinside.com

Information also includes theatrical release plans for many of the films on the TFF #47 list.

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The Playlist 100 and TFF #48? / Oscar Update: Best Picture / Acquisition News / BIFA Nominations Include TFF #47 Films / Ammonite: The Details of the True Story

THE PLAYLIST 100 AND TFF #48?

Each year around this time The Playlist maps out a list of its 100 most anticipated films for the following year. each year I try to cull some ides for what might be in the mix as possible choices for Telluride.  Last year's assessment ended up with me picking 12 films as possible for TFF #47.  That list ended up having two films that were on TFF's announced list of films for 2020: Nomadland and Mainstream. 

In my defense...Covid-19 happened.  Among the 12 films I named, five were Netflix films ( Mank, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The White Tiger and Midnight Sky) and who knew then that Netflix would opt not to festival any films.

Several have yet to be released and some of those actually will be on the list below of films for the 2021 edition of TFF Such as: Stillwater, Bergman Island, Nightmare Alley and Dune.

So, from the new list for 2021 maybe look out for a couple of these titles to make the TFF #48 schedule:

94) The Woman in the Window

90) Bigbug

88) The Mad Woman's Ball

86) The Last Duel

78) Land

76) The Electric Life of Louis Wain

59) The Velvet Underground

54) Stillwater***

50) The Eyes of Tammy Faye

47) The Card Counter

42) Babylon

36) Les Olympiades

17) Petite Maman

16) Annette

10) The Tragedy of Macbeth

8) Blonde

7) The Power of the Dog

6) Bergman Island***

4) Nightmare Alley***

3) The French Dispatch

*** Was on last year's list

The complete Playlist 100 is linked here.

OSCAR UPDATE: BEST PICTURE

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Picture updated since I last posted this category on  Nov. 16th.  A film's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold

1) Nomadland (1)

2) Mank (2)

3) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (3)

4) Minari (6)

5) One Night in Miami (5)

6) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (7)

7) The Father (4)

8) News of the World (9)

9) Da 5 Bloods (8)

10) Judas and the Black Messiah (-)

Possibles: Promising Young Woman, Soul, Sound of Metal

Hot: Minari, Judas and the Black Messiah

Not: The Father, Soul

ACQUISITION NEWS

A couple of TFF #47 listed films were acquired for North American release within the past week.  Agniezska Holland's Charlatan was picked up by Strand Releasing according to reporting from Variety.

Here is the link to the Variety story.

Meanwhile Gianfranco Rosi's Notturno (which is looking to land Oscar nominations for Best International Feature and Best Documentary) was acquired for North America by Neon's Super LTD.  That story came from The Hollywood Reporter.

Here is the link to the story from The Hollywood Reporter.

BIFA NOMINATIONS INCLUDE TFF #47 FILMS

The British Independent Film Association announced their nominees for outstanding work in Brit indy film this past week and Florian Zeller's The Father (and TFF #47 selection) did quite well with six nominations which included: Best British Independent Film, Best Director (Zeller) , Best Actor (Hopkins), Best Screenplay (Zeller and Hampton), Best Editing and Best Production Design.

In a bit of a surprise Olivia Colman was not nominated for Supporting Actress for The Father.

Other TFF #47 films were in the mix as well.

Ammonite was nominated for Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hair.

Nomadland and Notturno were both nominated in the Best International Independent Film category. 

Here's the complete rundown of all of the BIFA nominees from Variety.

AMMONITE: THE DETAILS OF THE TRUE STORY 

The Los Angeles Times' Mark Olsen took an in-depth look at the true story behind Francis Lee's Ammonite starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan.  The film is now available on premium video on demand in a number of outlets.

Here's the link to the story.

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Oscar Update: Best Original Screenplay / TFF and Top Films of 2020 Lists: Associated Press / Cuaron with Zhao

 OSCAR UPDATE: BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Original Screenplay updated since I last posted this category on  Nov. 12th.  A screenplay's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

2) Mank (2)

3) Minari (3)

4) Soul (4)

5) Promising Young Woman (5)

6) Judas and the Black Messiah (6)

7) Da 5 Bloods (9)

8) Never Rarely Sometimes Always (8)

9) Palm Springs (7)

10) On the Rocks (-)

Other possibles: The 40 Year Version, Sound of Metal, Ammonite

Hot: Da 5 Bloods, On the Rocks

Not: Ammonite, Palm Springs

TFF AND TOP FILMS OF 2020 LISTS: ASSOCIATED PRESS

As we approach the end of 2020 (come on Jan. 1st!), more and more outlets are naming their "Best Of" film lists for the year.  Today's list is from the Associated Press and as is the custom jere, we ask the question: "Which Telluride Films made the list?"

Here's the answer to that question from both of AP's film writers' Top 10 lists:

Lindsey Bahr:

#1 Nomadland (TFF #47)

Jake Coyle:

#1 First Cow (TFF #46)

 His Honorable Mentions include Nomadland from what would have been TFF's lineup.

Here's the link to the complete article.

CUARON WITH ZHAO

Photo from Pat Martin/Interviewmagazine.com

Interviewmagazine.com has a scintillating interview pairing posted at their website.  The interview features Oscar winning director Alfonso Cuaron interviewing almost certain future Oscar nominee Chloe Zhao, the director of Nomadland.

Both participants have been to Telluride.  Zhao with The Rider and this year...via a Drive In presentation in Los Angeles, Nomadland.  Cuaron too has made The SHOW with Gravity and Roma.

I'm pleased to pass along the link to the interview that was posted Dec. 3rd.

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