Foreign Language Contenders with Bigger Dreams / Trailer for They'll Love Me / Hitler's Last SHOW

Good Thursday to all of you TFFers and film fans...


FOREIGN LANGUAGE CONTENDERS WITH BIGGER DREAMS

Anne Thompson penned a piece at Indiewire this week assessing the Oscar prospects of two films that are expected to be major players in the Best Foreign Language Film category.  She's talking about Alfonso Cuaron's Roma and Pawel Pawlikowski's Cold War both of which played TFF #45.

The two films seem locks for nominations in that category but Anne suggests they're both after bigger things as both Netflix with Roma and Amazon with Cold War are hoping that their respective films could be players for other nominations including Best Picture.

Roma already seems very likely to make the Oscar parade for Best Picture and probably direction, cinematography and editing as well.  It could well factor in the Best Original Screenplay category and perhaps even acting nominations for actress and supporting actress could be accessible.  I'm basing that assessment largely on the critical reception that Curaon's passion project has received as it has moved through Venice, where it won the Golden Lion, Telluride and Toronto.

Cold War seems like a longer stretch to me.  At this point I think it ends up with the single nomination for Best Foreign Film.

Both films have some baggage that may impede Oscar voters embracing them past the Foreign Language category.  The first thing, of course, is that they're not in English.  They're both black and white and both are from outlets that are viewed primarily as streaming services by many in the Academy and that, to some, is pejorative.

For more, take a look at Anne's article here.


TRAILER FOR THEY'LL LOVE ME WHEN I'M DEAD

Many of you saw They'll Love Me When I'm Dead, the companion documentary for The Other Side of the Wind at the fest a few weeks ago.  This week Netflix dropped a trailer for the Morgan Neville directed film as well as the above poster.

Here, from YouTube, is the trailer:

I've also linked a couple of stories that came out this week about the documentary from:

Indiewire

FirstShowing

HITLER'S LAST SHOW

So, during this year's festival, I was asked if I might be interested in participating in a small project.  I said "maybe" and ultimately this was the result.

The folks that dreamed this up wanted to create a Hitler Downfall parody about TFF.  I didn't even really know what that was but I do now.  

For the uninitiated, there is a program that allows people to create their own script for the titanic Hitler rant in Oliver Hirschbiegel's 2004 Oscar nominated (Best Foreign Film) Downfall.

The "film" was completed this week and here it is with a couple of notes.

1) It pokes fun at TFF but it's all done with love.  Believe me, the folks who put this together love the fest.

2) There's a tad bit of language that would likely earn it a PG-13 rating so if that's an issue, maybe don't watch.

3) I am to credit the film to "An Anonymous TFF Fan".

As a teaser, here's a screenshot of one of the captions:

The complete project is linked here.

That's a wrap for MTFB for this Thursday.  There will be more here on Monday.  Have a fine weekend!

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

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Redford's Retirement? / Awards Daily's Weekly View / Beale Trailer

Good Monday to everyone and all the ships at sea...


REDFORD'S RETIREMENT?

Robert Redford has been clear and upfront over the past couple of months that The Old Man and the Gun would be his last acting job in film but this past weekend, with the public premiere of the film occurring, the Oscar winning director was singing a slightly different tune.

Elizabeth Wagmeister writing for Variety, reports that Redford has backed off the definitive claim about the conclusion of his acting career.  The 82 year old star is quoted in the story as responding to questions about his retirement with "I should never have said that".  The story goes on to reveal that Redford feels that all the reaction to his announcement has detracted from the film itself.  To that end, he has dialed back on the "last film" rhetoric.

On the other hand, he certainly doesn't sound like he's got acting plans in his immediate future.

The article and video can be found here from Variety


AWARDS DAILY'S WEEKLY VIEW

I checked in to Sasha Stone's updated Oscar predictions which she which she posts each week as a "Predictions Friday" column.  This week, Sasha predicts many more categories than she has up to now.

Here are some Telluride-centric takeaways from her crystal ball:

She currently has Damien Chazelle's First Man leading the way for TFF films with 11 predicted nominations.  It also appears that, if Sasha were 100% correct, First Man would likely lead all nominees (she has Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born with between 8-10).

First Man nominations according to Stone: Best Picture, Direction, Actor, Supporting Actress, Editing, Cinematography, Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Original Score.  She also says that it could have a shot with Jason Clarke for Supporting Actor (listed in her "Contender" section for that category.  Frankly, that's a potential nomination that I'll probably be cheering on.

The Favourite has between 7-9 nominations largely depending on which actresses get categorized where and then how many of the triumvirate of Colman, Stone and Weisz  make the final Oscar lineup.  Stone is currently listing Colman as a "Contender" for Best Actress rather than a predicted nominee.  In addition to the women, Stone suggests noms for Best Picture, Cinematography, Original Screenplay, Production Design and Costumes.  Stone also lists director Yorgos Lanthimos in the "Contender" section.

Roma lands six nominations: Best Picture, Direction, Cinematography, Editing, Original Screenplay and Production Design.  It also is listed as contending for Best Actress and Supporting Actress.

Marielle Heller's Can You Ever Forgive Me? is listed for four nominations: Best Picture, Actress, Supporting Actor and Adapted Screenplay.  Heller is also listed as contending for Direction.

Four films would receive a single nomination: Boy Erased for Supporting Actress and three feature documentaries: Free Solo, Watergate and Reversing Roe.

Also noted, a predicted nomination for TFF#44 film First Reformed for Best Original Screenplay.

Among other films Stone lists among her "Contenders", the leader of the "outside looking in" club is Jason Reitman's The Front Runner which Stone lists with no nominations but as a contender for six: Best Picture, Actor, Supporting Actress, Direction, Cinematography and Adapted Screenplay.

Boy Erased is listed as a contender for Actor, Supporting Actor and Adapted Screenplay.

The Old Man and the Gun contends for Best Actor.

White Boy Rick contends for Best Actor.

Destroyer contends for Best Actress.

And TFF #44 First Reformed also contends for Best Picture and Best Actor.

Sasha's complete set of predictions are here.



BEALE TRAILER


Yeah, yeah...I know.  If Beale Street Could Talk didn't play The SHOW but I can't help myself, Barry Jenkins will always be a part of my Telluride-view.  So, here's the new trailer from Beale Street via YouTube and Movieclips:

That's a wrap for this Monday.  More to come on Thursday.

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

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