MTFB/FAC Final Oscar Nomination Predictions / The FAC Oscar Nomination Breakdown / Final Oscar Predictions from Experts / Producers Guild Awards The Shape of Water / SAG-AFtra Likes Three Billboards

It's Monday and in less than 24 hours we will know the Oscar nominees for the 90th Edition of the awards...


MTFB/FAC FINAL OSCAR NOMINATION PREDICTIONS

Here they are...the final predictions for Oscar nominations.  Historically, The FAC is accurate 75%-80%.  It's also worth noting that in those categories where The FAC misses the sixth predicted nominee pops up  more than half of the time.

Nomination predictions are alphabetical.  "Others" are listed in the order of their probability of displacing one of the predicted nominees.

TFF #44 films are Bold.

BEST PICTURE

Call Me By Your Name

Dunkirk

The Florida Project

Get Out

Lady Bird

The Post

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Others: (in order of likelihood): Darkest Hour, I, Tonya, The Big Sick, Phantom Thread

BEST DIRECTION

Guillermo Del Toro/The Shape of Water
Greta Gerwig/Lady Bird
Martin McDonagh/Three Billboards
Christopher Nolan/Dunkirk
Jordan Peele/Get Out

Others: Steven Spielberg/The Post, Sean Baker/The Florida Project, Luca Guadagnino/Call Me By Your Name

BEST ACTRESS

Jessica Chastain/Molly's Game
Sally Hawkins/The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand/Three Billboards
Margot Robbie/I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan/Lady Bird

Others: Meryl Streep/The Post, Judi Dench/Victoria and Abdul, Michelle Williams/All the Money in the World

BEST ACTOR

Timothee Chalamet/Call Me By Your Name

Daniel Day-Lewis/Phantom Thread

James Franco/The Disaster Artist

Daniel Kaluuya/Get Out

Gary Oldman/Darkest Hour

Others: Denzel Washington/Roman Israel Esq., Tom Hanks/The Post, Jake Gyllenhaal/Stronger

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Mary J. Blige/Mudbound
Hong Chau/Downsizing
Holly Hunter/The Big Sick
Allison Janney/I, Tonya
Laurie Metcalf/Lady Bird

Others: Octavia Spencer/The Shape of Water, Tiffany Haddish/Girls Trip, Lesley Manville/Phantom Thread

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Willem Dafoe/The Florida Project

Armie Hammer/Call Me By Your Name

Woody Harrelson/Three Billboards

Richard Jenkins/The Shape of Water

Sam Rockwell/Three Billboards

Others: Christopher Plummer/All the Money in the World, Michael Stuhlbarg/Call Me By Your Name, Steve Carell/Battle of the Sexes

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Call Me By Your Name
The Disaster Artist
Molly's Game
Mudbound
Wonder

Others: Victoria and Abdul, The Last Jedi, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Big Sick
Get Out
Lady Bird
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards

Others: The Post, Phantom Thread, I, Tonya

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

A Fantastic Woman
Foxtrot
In the Fade
Loveless
The Square

Others; The Insult, The Wound, Felicitie


ANIMATED FEATURE

The Breadwinner
The Boss Baby
Coco
The Lego Batman Movie
Loving Vincent

Others: Ferdinand, Despicable Me 3, Cars 3

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Faces Places
Icarus
Jane
The Last Men in Aleppo
Strong Island

Others: City of Ghosts, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, Long Strange Trip


FILM EDITING

Baby Driver
Dunkirk
Get Out
Three Billboards
The Shape of Water

Others: The Post, I Tonya, Lady Bird

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Mudbound
The Shape of Water

Others:Three Billboards, The Post, Call Me By Your Name

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Beauty and the Beast
Darkest Hour
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Victoria and Abdul

Others: The Post,  I Tonya, The Greatest Showman

COSTUME DESIGN

Beauty and the Beast
Darkest Hour
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Victoria and Abdul

Others: The Post,  I Tonya, The Greatest Showman

MAKEUP AND HAIR

Darkest Hour
I, Tonya
Wonder

Others: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Bright, Ghosts in the Shell

ORIGINAL SCORE

Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Post
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water

Others: Victoria and Abdul, The Last Jedi, Three Billboards

ORIGINAL SONG

The Mystery of Love/Call Me By Your Name
Remember Me/ Coco
This Is Me/The Greatest Showman
Stand Up for Something/Marshall
Mighty River/Mudbound

Others: Evermore/Beauty and the Beast, It Ain't Fair/Detroit, Prayers for This World/Cries From Syria

VISUAL EFFECTS

Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Last Jedi
The Shape of Water
War for the Planet of the Apes

Others: Okja, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Valerian

SOUND EDITING

Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Last Jedi
The Shape of Water

Others: Wonder Woman, Coco, War for the Planet of the Apes

SOUND MIXING

Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Last Jedi
The Shape of Water

Others: Get Out, Wonder Woman, War for the Planet of the Apes

LIVE ACTION SHORT

Dekalb Elementary
Facing Mecca
Lost Face
Watu Wote
Witnesses

Others: My Nephew Emmett, The Silent Child, Eleven O'Clock


ANIMATED SHORT

Cradle
Dear Basketball
In a Heartbeat
Lou
Negative Space

Others: Revolting Rhymes, Life Smartphone, Fox and the Whale


DOCUMENTARY SHORT

116 Cameras
Alone-The New York Times
Edith and Eddie
Heroin(e)
Kayayo-The Living Shopping Baskets

Others: Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405, Ten Meter Tower, Traffic Stop


THE FAC OSCAR NOMINATION BREAKDOWN

If the FAC is 100% accurate tomorrow morning (and it will actually be between 70%-80% accurate if the past is prologue), here are some interesting notes:

TFF #44 films will collect 29 total nominations.

The Shape of Water will lead all nominees with 13: Best Picture, Direction, Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Film Editing, Cinematography, Production Design, Costumes, Original Score, Visual Effects, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing.  The film could tie La La Land's all time total of 14 or even go to 15 with additional nominations for Octavia Spencer (very possible) and/or Michael Shannon (unlikely).

Darkest Hour (6): Best Actor, Cinematography, Production Design, Costumes, Original Score, Makeup and Hair.  Don't go to sleep on Darkest Hour's Best Picture chances.  If the BP field extends past eight films, it could slip in.  Strong support in the craft categories and a strong vote from British Academy members could all create enough heat to propel it onto the list.

Lady Bird (5): Best Picture, Direction, Actress, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay.  If Lady Bird picks up a sixth nomination expect it to be for Film Editing (not likely) which could signal that it is still very solid contender for BP.  Tracy Letts has a way, way outside shot at Best Supporting Actor.

Other TFF #44 films The FAC says get nominated:

Hong Chau/Best Supporting Actress-Downsizing
Foreign Language Film nominees: A Fantastic Woman, Foxtrot, Loveless
Loving Vincent/Animated Feature
Faces Places/Documentary Feature
Heroin(e)/Documentary Short


Other films with four or more nominations:

Dunkirk-8
Three Billboards-7
Call Me By Your Name-5
Get Out-5
Blade Runner 2049-4
Mudbound-4
Phantom Thread-4


FINAL OSCAR PREDICTIONS FROM EXPERTS

Kristopher Tapley/Variety-In Contention

Tapley Predicts the following nominations for TFF #44 films

The Shape of Water (11)- Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Hawkins), Supporting Actor (Jenkins), Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Original Score, Production Design, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing.

Lady Bird (5)- Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Ronan), Supporting Actress (Metcalf), Original Screenplay

Darkest Hour (5)- Actor (Oldman), Cinematography, Makeup/Hair, Original Score, Production Design

Downsizing (1)- Supporting Actress (Chau)

Loving Vincent (1)- Animated Feature

A Fantastic Woman (1)- Foreign Language Film

The Insult (1)- Foreign Language Film

Loveless (1)- Foreign Language Film

Faces Places (1)- Documentary

Heroin(e) (1)- Documentary Short

Tapley's Telluride total = 28 nominations


Here's his complete set of final Oscar nomination predictions.

Sasha Stone/Awards Daily

The Shape of Water (12): Best Picture, Direction, Actress, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay. Film Editing, Cinematography,  Production Design, Costumes, Original Score, Visual Effects.

Lady Bird (5): Best Picture, Direction, Actress, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay

Darkest Hour (3): Actor, Cinematography, Makeup/Hair

Downsizing (1): Supporting Actress

A Fantastic Woman (1): Foreign Language Film

Foxtrot (1): Foreign Language Film

Loveless (1): Foreign Language Film

Loving Vincent (1): Animated Feature

Faces Places (1): Documentary Feature

Stone doesn't predict the Short Film categories.

Stone's total predictions for TFF #44 films: 26 nominations


Stone's complete "Predictions Friday" post is here.


Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit

The Shape of Water (14): Best Picture, Direction, Actress, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Production Design, Cinematography, Film Editing, Original Score, Costumes, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects.

Lady Bird (5): Best Picture, Direction, Actress, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay

Darkest Hour (4): Actor, Production Design, Cinematography, Makeup/Hair

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (1) Adapted Screenplay

A Fantastic Woman (1): Foreign Language Film

Foxtrot (1): Foreign Language Film

The Insult (1) Foreign Language Film

Loveless (1): Foreign Language Film

Loving Vincent (1): Animated Feature

Faces Places (1): Documentary Feature

Heroin(e) (1): Documentary Short

Davis' total predictions for TFF #44 films: 31.

Davis complete final predictions are here.

Scott Feinberg/Feinberg Forecast-The Hollywood Reporter

The Shape of Water (12):  Best Picture, Direction, Actress, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Production Design, Cinematography, Film Editing, Original Score, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing

Lady Bird (5): Best Picture, Direction, Actress, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay

Darkest Hour (7): Best Picture, Actor, Production Design, Cinematography, Makeup/Hair, Costumes, Original Score

A Fantastic Woman (1): Foreign Language Film

Foxtrot (1): Foreign Language Film

Loveless (1): Foreign Language Film

Loving Vincent (1): Animated Feature

Heroin(e) (1): Documentary Short

Feinberg's total predictions for TFF #44 films: 29.

Feinberg's complete final predictions are here.


Erik Anderson and The Gold Rush Gang/Awards Watch


The Shape of Water (13): Best Picture, Direction, Actress, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Production Design, Cinematography, Costumes, Film Editing, Original Score, Sound Sound Mixing, Visual Effects

Darkest Hour (6): Actor, Cinematography, Original Score, Production Design, Costumes, Makeup/Hair

Lady Bird (5): Best Picture, Direction, Actress, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay

A Fantastic Woman (1): Foreign Language Film

Foxtrot (1): Foreign Language Film

Loveless (1): Foreign Language Film

Loving Vincent (1): Animated Feature

Faces Places (1): Documentary Feature

Heroin(e) (1): Documentary Short

Anderson and crew predict a total of 30 nominations for TFF #44 films.

Their complete predictions are here.

THE PRODUCERS GUILD AWARDS THE SHAPE OF WATER

Ahead of its expected announcement as the leader in number of Oscar nominations tomorrow, The Producers Guild names Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water their Best Picture of the Year on Saturday night.

It's worth noting that The PGA has a preferential ballot like Oscar does.  It;s also worth noting that La La Land won the PGA and led all films in Oscar nominations last year and look how that turned out.

I have linked coverage and analysis from:

Awards Daily

Variety

Indiewire

SAG-AFTRA LIKES THREE BILLBOARDS

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri cleaned up at last night's SAG-AFTRA Awards claiming the Best Ensemble prize along with wins for Frances McDormand for Best Actress and Sam Rockwell for Best Supporting Actor.

Though the voting for Oscar nominations has been over for a few days, this turn of events along with The Shape of Water's win at the PGA on Saturday seems to indicate a two film race between Three Billboards and Shape for the Best Picture Oscar.

Many of the Oscar experts I follow, however are saying that both Get Out and Lady Bird aren't out of the race yet.

I have linked analysis from: 

Kristopher Tapley-Variety/In Contention

Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter

Pete Hammond-Deadline

That's it for this Monday.  I'll post Oscar nominees and a few thoughts tomorrow after the nominees are announced in a SPECIAL POST of Michael's Telluride Film Blog/The Film Awards Clearinghouse.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

The FAC Predicts Foreign, Animated, Doc and Shorts / The Film Stage Looks Forward to 2018 / Hope for The Other Side the Wind

Good Thursday film friends and a big shout out to any and all of you Sundancers as that film fest launches today.  What will be this year's Get Out, Mudbound or Call Me By Your Name?


THE FAC PREDICTS FOREIGN, ANIMATED, DOC AND SHORTS

There are just a few days left before the live reveal of all 24 categories of nominations for the Oscars for this year.  That is set to happen early on Tuesday morning, Jan. 23rd.  In my last post I updated a bunch of major categories and included predictions on a number of feature "under the line" categories.  Today, I complete the circle with predictions for the remaining six categories not covered on Monday.

As always, TFF #44 films are in Bold.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

1) Foxtrot
2) Loveless
3) A Fantastic Woman
4) The Square
5) In the Fade

Others: The Insult, The Wound and Felicite.

Comment: This could be the most Telluride-centric category of the bunch.  If The Insult could supplant The Square or In the Fade, TFF #44 films would be 4 of the 5 nominees.  Realistically, the only other category that might approach that is Best Supporting Actress and that assumes that Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water-possible) Hong Chau (Downsizing-possible) or Kristen Scott Thomas (Darkest Hour-unlikely) join all but certain nominees Allison Janney (I, Tonya) and Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird).

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

1) Coco
2) The Breadwinner
3) Loving Vincent
4) Lego Batman
5) The Boss Baby

Others: Despicable Me 3, Cars 3, Ferdinand


BEST DOCUMENTARY

1) Jane
2) Faces Places
3) Strong Island
4) Icarus
5) Last Men in Aleppo

Others: City of Ghosts, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, Long Strange Trip


LIVE ACTION SHORT

1) Dekalb Elementary
2) Facing Mecca
3) Watu Wote
4) Witnesses
5) Lost Face

Others: My Nephew Emmett, The Silent Child, The Eleven O'Clock

ANIMATED SHORT

1) Dear Basketball
2) Lou
3) Cradle
4) In a Heartbeat
5) Negative Space

Others: Revolting Rhymes, Life Smartphone, Fox and the Whale


DOCUMENTARY SHORT

1) Eddie and Edith
2) Heroin(e)
3) Kayayo-The Living Shopping Baskets
4) Alone-The New York Times
5) 116 Cameras

Others: Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405, Ten Meter Tower, Traffic Stop


Added to the predicted total from last Monday's post, if The FAC is 100% accurate (and it won't be), TFF #44 films will collectively earn 30 Oscar nominations on Tuesday.  The average for TFF #44 over the past several years is 27.

Last year, though was an all timer for TFF as TFF #43 films racked up a total of 42 nominations.


THE FILM STAGE LOOKS FORWARD TO 2018

The Film Stage published their list of 100 "Most Anticipated" films for 2018 last week and a number of titles that I believe have Telluride potential made their list.

For example:

#99-First Man
#95- Backseat (the Adam McKay Dick Cheney film starring Christian Bale)
#94- The Widow
#93- The Little Stranger
#79- Kursk
#77- At Eternity's Gate (does Julian Schnabel return to Telluride?)
#71-Mid-90's
#67- Where Is Anne Frank?
#61- The Death and Life of John F. Donovan
#52- Private Life
#50-Boy Erased
#48- Cold War
#46- The Sisters Brothers (does Audiard return to Telluride?)
#34- Sunset
#30- The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
#28- Peterloo
#27- The Women of Marwen
#26- Roma
#16- E-Book
#11- Everybody Knows (does Farhadi return to Telluride?)
#8- Widows (Steve McQueen...)
#4- Maya
#2- If Beale Street Could Talk

The complete Film Stage post is here.



HOPE FOR THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND

For months now, we have been anticipating the arrival of the restoration of Orson Welles unfinished final film The Other Side of the Wind.  We knew that the work to put it together had been continuing. 

The anticipation may finally have a payoff.  The Film Stage reports that a version of the film was screened this week.  The Film Stage tweeted that information last night (derived from a WellesNet.com tweet:

This increases the chances that we could see the film in eight months in the San Juans.  Fingers crossed.

Here's The Film Stage with additional information on the project.

That's your MTFB for today.  Come back on Monday for final Oscar nomination predictions!

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

SAG-Aftra Nominations and Ruminations / Lean on Pete Poster / A Closer Look at Loving Vincent / Focus on Loveless

Good Thursday everyone.


SAG-AFTRA NOMINATIONS AND RUMINATIONS

SAG-Aftra, the actors guild, named its 25 nominees for outstanding acting for 2017 on Tuesday.  Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri led the way with four nominations including one for Best Ensemble.

Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird was the TFF #44 front runner with three nominations: Best Ensemble, Lead Actress-Saoirse Ronan and Supporting Actress-Laurie Metcalf.

Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water gained two nominations: Lead Actress-Sally Hawkins and Supporting Actor-Richard Jenkins

Other TFF #44 films that earned a single nomination were Gary Oldman for Lead Actor in Darkest Hour, Steve Carell for Lead Actor in Battle of the Sexes and Hong Chau for Supporting Actress for Downsizing.

Other Ensemble nominees were: The Big Sick, Get Out and Mudbound.

Complete nominations and analysis are linked here:

Indiewire/Anne Thompson

Indiewire/Jenna Marotta

The Hollywood Reporter/Scott Feinberg

Vulture/Kyle Buchanan

The winners will be announced on January 21st.


LEAN ON PETE POSTER

World of Reel's Jordan Ruimy reports that Andrew Haigh's Lean on Pete has anew poster:

Lean on Pete features an awards worthy performance from young actor Charlie Plummer and is set for release in the U.S. on Mar. 30th.

Here's the story from World of Reel.


A CLOSER LOOK AT LOVING VINCENT

Indiewire's Tom Bruggemann posted a story this week at Indiewire that details the process that brought animated feature Loving Vincent to Telluride and the big screen this week.

The film is considered to be a serious contender for an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature. 

The film details the life of artist Vincent Van Gogh and does so in a film in which all of the frames that make up the film have been hand painted in Van Gogh's style.

That story is here..


FOCUS ON LOVELESS

Screen International's Tom Grater penned a profile this week on Russian film maker Andrey Zvyagintsev's Loveless. The film is Zvyagintsev's follow up to his 2014 Oscar nominated Leviathan.  Loveless is expected to be on the Foreign Language Oscar short list that will be announced soon.

Here's the link to that profile.




That's the Thursday edition of MTFB...more to come on Monday.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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COMMENT to the blog.

SPECIAL POST: GOLDEN GLOBE PREDICTIONS

GOLDEN GLOBE PREDICTIONS

Here's  a special post to Michael's Telluride Film Blog and the associated Film Awards Clearinghouse:  a round-up of Golden Globe nomination predictions for tomorrow morning.

The HFPA is set to announce their nominees for 2017's awards at 8:30am EST/5:30am PST- Monday morning.

I'll be posting a bit later tomorrow morning with the complete rundown of the actual nominees with particular attention, as you might expect, to the films that played as a part of TFF #44 (or #43 in a couple of possible cases).

I am passing along the picks from some of the best in the business.  All four of them think the TFF #44 films collectively will land nearly 20 nominations but there are some disagreements about how those 30 nominations will be spread.  Here they are:

SASHA STONE/AWARDS DAILY:

The Shape of Water (6): Best Picture-Drama, Actress-Drama (Hawkins), Supporting Actress (Spencer), Director, Screenplay, Score.

Lady Bird (5): Best Picture-Musical/Comedy, Actress-Musical/Comedy (Ronan), Supporting Actress (Metcalf), Director, Screenplay.

Darkest Hour (3): Best Picture-Drama, Actor-Drama (Oldman), Supporting Actor (Mendelsohn)

Downsizing (3): Best Picture-Musical/Comedy, Actor-Musical Comedy (Damon), Supporting Actress Chau).

Battle of the Sexes (2): Actress-Musical/Comedy (Stone), Actor-Musical/Comedy (Carell).

Loving Vincent: Animated Feature.

TOTAL NOMINATIONS FROM TFF #44-20

Stone does not include picks for Foreign Language Film or Song.

Her complete picks are here at Awards Daily.


KRISTOPHER TAPLEY/VARIETY-IN CONTENTION

The Shape of Water (7): Best Picture-Drama, Actress/Drama (Hawkins), Supporting Actress (Spencer), Supporting Actor (Jenkins), Director, Screenplay, Score.

Lady Bird (4): Best Picture-Musical/Comedy, Actress-Musical/Comedy (Ronan), Supporting Actress (Metcalf), Screenplay.

Hostiles (1): Actor/Drama (Bale)

Darkest Hour (1): Actor/Drama (Oldman)

Battle of the Sexes (1): Actress-Musical/Comedy (Stone)

Downsizing (1): Supporting Actress (Chau)

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (1): Song

Foreign Language Films (4): First They Killed My Father, A Fantastic Woman, The Insult, Loveless

TOTAL NOMINATIONS FROM TFF #44- 20

His complete picks are here from Variety.


ANNE THOMPSON/INDIEWIRE

The Shape of Water (6): Best Picture-Drama, Actress-Drama (Hawkins), Supporting Actress (Spencer), Director, Screenplay, Score.

Lady Bird (5): Best Picture-Musical/Comedy, Actress (Ronan), Supporting Actress (Metcalf), Director, Screenplay.

Darkest Hour (2): Actor-Drama (Oldman), Supporting Actor (Mendelsohn).

Battle of the Sexes (2): Actress-Musical/Comedy (Stone), Actor-Musical/Comedy (Carell)

Loving Vincent (1): Animated Feature

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (1): Song

Foreign Language Films (3): First They Killed My Father, A Fantastic Woman, Foxtrot


TOTAL NOMINATIONS FROM TFF #44- 20

Her complete predictions from Indiewire.



STEVE POND/THE WRAP

The Shape of Water (6): Best Picture-Drama, Actress-Drama (Hawkins), Supporting Actress (Spencer), Supporting Actor (Jenkins), Director, Score.

Darkest Hour (1): Actor-Drama (Oldman)

Lady Bird (5): Best Picture-Musical/Comedy, Actress-Musical Comedy (Ronan), Supporting Actress (Metcalf), Director, Screenplay.

Battle of the Sexes (2): Actress-Musical/Comedy (Stone), Actor-Musical/Comedy (Carell).

Loving Vincent (1): Animated Feature.

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (1): Song.

Foreign Language Films (3): First They Killed My Father, Foxtrot, A Fantastic Woman.


His complete predictions are here from The Wrap.


Things I am hoping for in the morning (some more realistic than others);

Harry Dean Stanton gets nominated for the non-Telluride film Lucky.

Richard Jenkins is nominated for Supporting Actor for The Shape of Water.

Greta Gerwig is nominated for Best Director for Lady Bird.

Tracy Letts is nominated for Supporting Actor for Lady Bird.

All five Foreign Language nominees are from TFF #44: First They Killed My Father, A Fantastic Woman, Foxtrot, The Insult and Loveless.


CHECK BACK TOMORROW MORNING FOR HOW IT ALL ACTUALLY GOES DOWN.

TFF #44 and The Critic's Choice / TFF #45 Anyone? / Deadline Talks To Lady Bird

Hello to everyone on this Thursday...


TFF #44 AND THE CRITIC'S CHOICE

The Broadcast Film Critics Association announced their nominations for end of the year superlatives in both film and television on Tuesday and TFF #44 film The Shape of Water lead all films with 14 nominations.  Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird was among a group of films with the second highest total of nominations with eight.

Here's the rundown of all 33 nominations received by films that played at Telluride in 2017:

The Shape of Water (14): Best Picture, Actress-Sally Hawkins, Supporting Actress-Octavia Spencer, Best Supporting Actor (Richard Jenkins), Direction, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Production Design, Film Editing, Costume Design, Makeup, Visual Effects, Score and Best SciFi/Horror Film.

Lady Bird (8): Best Picture, Actress-Saoirse Ronan, Supporting Actress-Laurie Metcalf, Ensemble, Direction, Actress in a Comedy-Ronan and Best Comedy Film

Darkest Hour (4): Best Picture, Actor-Gary Oldman, Makeup and Score

Battle of the Sexes (2) Best Actress in a Comedy(Emma Stone), Best Actor in a Comedy (Steve Carell)

Downsizing (1): Best Supporting Actress (Hong Chau)

Wonderstruck (1): Best Young Actor/Actress (Millicent Simmonds)

Loving Vincent (1): Best Animated Feature

A Fantastic Woman (1): Best Foreign Language Film

First They Killed My Father (1): Best Foreign Language Film

Other films that snagged eight nominations were: Call Me By Your Name, Dunkirk and The Post.  Blade Runner 2049 had seven nominations.

The announcements were something of a bounce back for The Shape of Water which had not gotten much love in earlier key announcements from the National Board of Review or the New York or Los Angeles film critics organizations.

I was also personally thrilled to see Richard Jenkins name among the Supporting Actor nominees for The Shape of Water as I have been stumping for his inclusion since the lights came up after the film screened in Telluride back over Labor Day weekend.

Sad, though, that my other awards choice, Harry Dean Stanton in the non-Telluride film Lucky, didn't land a nod for Best Actor.

The next big awards splash happens later today with the announcement of accolades from The American Film Institute.  Then, next Tuesday, Golden Globe nominations will be revealed.

The complete list of Critic's Choice nominations is here.

The Critic's Choice Awards will be handed out on Jan. 11th at 8:00om EST on The CW network.


TFF #45 ANYONE?

The Playlist has dropped the annual 100 Most Anticipated Films list.  That was posted on Tuesday.

I have made it a habit over the last several years to use that list as a starting point for serious TFF speculation for the upcoming year.  Sure, we're nine months away from Labor Day weekend 2018 and a lot can change between now and then but, hey, "why not take a shot?" says I.

Last year when the list came out I named 20 films that might make the TFF #44 program.  Of those 20, nine made The SHOW: A Fantastic Woman, Battle of the Sexes, Lady Bird, The Other Side of Hope, Lean on Pete, Downsizing, Loveless, The Shape of Water and Wonderstruck.  An additional film that I didn't name also made The SHOW: Darkest Hour.

In 2016, from the 100 films that The Playlist mentioned, seven made the TFF lineup: Neruda, Una, Things to Come, Moonlight, Manchester by the Sea, La La Land and Arrival (which was titled The Story of Your Life at the time).  The only film among them that I named: Neruda. 

In 2015 the list included: Carol, Beasts of No Nation, Black Mass, Suffragette and Spotlight which I included on my Telluride-possibles as well as Room, 45 Years and Steve Jobs which I did not list.

In 2014 the list included: The Lunchbox, Mommy, Tracks and Wild that I didn't name for TFF but did include three films that I did pick: Birdman, Foxcatcher and Mr. Turner.

So the averages suggest that the list below will contain 4-5 films that will actually make the TFF #45 lineup (unless I replicate the success I had for this year)  and the eight films total that are on the complete list of 100 films will make the T-ride program.

So...here are 20 films that appear on The Playlist's 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2018 that I think have the best shot at making it to the San Juans next Labor Day.

Initially, begin with five films that the post itself suggests could play Telluride:

#83-Mid-90's-Jonah Hill directs a coming of age comedy.  Key reason it plays: Distribution from A24.

#72-The Front Runner-The true story of the downfall of Presidential aspirant Gary Hart played by Hugh Jackman and directed Jason Reitman.  After running two hits through Telluride: Juno and Up in the Air, Reitman did not have Young Adult there and then did have the critical and commercial misfire Labor Day, Reitman is due for a return to his original form and consequently a return to T-ride.

#38-Untitled Noah Baumbach Project,  Baumbach had Margot at the Wedding at The SHOW in 2007 and the fantastic Frances Ha in 2012 (which may have helped lay the groundwork for Greta Gerwig's solo directing debut, Lady Bird) but hasn't been back since.  This might be the project that marks his return.

#25-First Man-The story of astronaut Neil Armstrong from director Damien Chazelle starring Ryan Gosling (two collaborators on last year's La La Land).  The high profile expected for this film plus the undeniable success of La La Land suggests that Chazelle would probably be up for a return to TFF.  The picture is from Universal, however, which hasn't exactly been a familiar player at the fest over the years.

#1- If Beale Street Could Talk-The Playlist's #1 most anticipated film is Barry Jenkins' followup to his Oscar winning and Telluride debuting Moonlight.  Just like The Playlist, I fully expect the film to bow at TFF #45.  The film is distributed by Annapurna which is getting into the portion of the business after having been a production firm until now.

In addition to these five films I have zeroed in on another 15 that could make an appearance at Telluride:

#76-Kursk
#75-Private Life
#71-Cold War
#52-E-Book
#40-Fahrenheit 451
#31-Peterloo
#22-The Other Side f the Wind
#21-The Death and Life of John F. Donovan
#19-Sunset
#17-The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
#13-Maya
#12-Everybody Knows
#11-The Sisters Brothers
#8-Widows
#3- Roma

 Let's see how many of these we actually do see when the TFF #45 schedule is unveiled on Aug. 30th.


DEADLINE TALKS TO LADY BIRD

As a part of their "Contender Series" videos, Deadline recently sat down with Greta Gerwig, Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf (all recognized with nominations from the BFCA this week) to talk about Lady Bird.  Here it is from YouTube:

That's it for today.  Come back for more on Monday.


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

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New Red Band Trailer for The Shape of Water / Lady Bird In the Spotlight / The Early FAC for Foreign and Animated

It's Monday, Nov. 13th and November continues apace...


NEW TRAILER FOR THE SHAPE OF WATER


We have a new and final trailer for Guillermo Del Toro's "adult fairy take" The Shape of Water.  Fair warning, it is a Red Band trailer...

The Shape of Water stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer and Michael Stuhlbarg.  It is set to open domestically on Dec. 8th.

Here's Indiewire's coverage of the trailers' release.



LADY BIRD IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The onslaught of publicity for Greta Gerwig's solo directing debut, Lady Bird, gained incredible momentum this week as a ton of film sources posted interviews and profiles with Gerwig and cast members including Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf.

Lady Bird continues to be a dark horse in as far as Oscar speculation goes.  Laurie Metcalf is generally agreed upon as a nearly certain nominee for Supporting Actress and possibly your winner (though Alison Janney is generally regarded as a co-front runner for her performance in I, Tonya).

Personally, I've been saying that Lady Bird could be a much more serious player for a couple of weeks now.  I'm thinking nominations for Metcalf, Ronan, Gerwig for Original Screenplay and Picture with Gerwig having an outside shot at Best Directing.

Just yesterday Sasha Stone of Awards Daily publically made the case I've been contemplating on her website.

Check out these posts from the past week:

Variety's Screening Series presented by Film Struck.

Indiewire's Kate Erbland with Saoirse Ronan.

The Hollywood Reporter's Mia Galuppo writing about Gerwig.

Indiewire's Jenna Marotta on Laurie Metcalf.

The Gold Derby talks with Gerwig and Ronan.


AN EARLY LOOK AT THE FAC FOR FOREIGN FILMS AND ANIMATED FEATURE

Here is the initial take of The Film Awards Clearinghouse for the Foreign Language Film  and Animated Feature categories.

As is my custom, TFF #44 films are Bold.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILMS

1) Loveless
2) First They Killed My Father
3) In the Fade
4) Foxtrot
5) A Fantastic Woman

Others: The Square, BPM, The Insult


ANIMATED FEATURE

1) Coco
2) The Breadwinner
3) Loving Vincent
4) The Lego Batman Movie
5) Ferdinand

Others; The Bass Baby, The Girl Without Hands, Cars 3


That's your wrap for this Monday.  More will appear here on Thursday...

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

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Reprising TFF #44 / Stone's Take on the Oscar Race / Shape of Water and Wonderstruck Views / Foreign Language Field Is Set

Welcome back from the weekend everyone...

REPRISING TFF #44

Was perusing Gary Meyer's Eat, Drink Films website over the weekend and discovered a fine wrap-up of this year's Telluride Film Festival from Risa Nye.  I have linked it here.

Risa hits many of the highlights of the weekend and specifically talks Downsizing, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, Darkest Hour, Lean on Pete, Lady Bird, Jamaica Man, The Rider, Hostiles, Love Cecil, An Inconvenient Sequel, Wonderstruck, The Cotton Club Encore and Battle of the Sexes.


STONE'S TAKE ON THE OSCAR RACE

Awards Daily's Sasha Stone updates her Oscar prediction every Friday so I thought I'd take a look at last Friday's list and sort of get a feel for where this year's Telluride crop might be headed.  I t should be noted that Stone doesn't list all 24 categories as yet but does mention 14 of them.

Currently she has Joe Wright's Darkest Hour and Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water leading the way with 10 nominations each.

She has Darkest Hour with:  Picture, Direction, Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Costumes and Makeup.

The Shape of Water would have these nominations: Picture, Direction, Actress, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor (Jenkins), Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Costumes and Makeup.

Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird would land three nominations: Picture, Supporting Actress and Original Screenplay.

Battle of the Sexes gets a nomination for Emma Stone for Best Actress.

Hostiles gets a nomination for Adapted Screenplay as does Wonderstruck.

Faces/Places gets nominated for Documentary Feature.

Loving Vincent gets a nom for Animated Feature.

She also lists "Contenders", films/performers that she doesn't currently list as nominees but which could get in. 

That potential exists for other nominations for:

The Shape of Water: Supporting Actor (Shannon)

Lady Bird: Direction, Actress

Battle of the Sexes: Picture, Direction

Hostiles: Picture

Wonderstruck: Picture, Direction

Downsizing: Picture, Direction, Actor, Supporting Actress

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool: Actress

The complete "Awards Daily Predictions Friday" post is here.
 

SHAPE OF WATER AND WONDERSTRUCK

We got a new "inside look" at Del Toro's The Shape of Water this weekend from SlashFilm.  The story and the video are both here.

Additionally, we also got a new clip from Todd Haynes Wonderstruck that runs just over four minutes.  The new clip is below from YouTube:

The Shape of Water opens on Dec. 8 and Wonderstruck opens on Oct. 20.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILED OS SET

The deadline has passed for the submission of films for consideration for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.  The Playlist reports that a record 92 nations submitted films for consideration.  

Among them are five films that played as a part of the TFF #44 lineup:

First They Killed My Father (Cambodia)

A Fantastic Woman (Chile)

Foxtrot (Israel)

The Insult (Lebanon)

Loveless (Russia)

The complete list and The Playlist story are here.

That's your MTFB for this Monday...more on Thursday.

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

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Monday's TBAs / Thoughts on Sunday's Screenings / Rate the films People / Tomorrow's Plan

MONDAY'S TBA'S

Monday TBAs

All TBAs on Monday are available to Cinephiles.

Palm         8:15 PM         Darkest Hour

Galaxy         9:00 AM         Hostiles

Galaxy       1:30 PM         Battle of the Sexes
Galaxy         4:45 PM         Lady Bird 

Herzog           7:45 PM         Battle of the Sexes 

CJC               4:30 PM         The Other Side of Hope
CJC               7:00 PM         Faces Places
SOH           1:00 PM         The Rider 

SOH             3:30 PM         Loveless
SOH             6:15 PM         Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
SOH             8:30 PM         The Shape of Water

Nugget         1:15 PM         Calling Cards
Nugget       7:00 PM         First They Killed My Father

Masons       9:15 AM       Land of the Free
Masons       1:00 PM         First Reformed
Masons       3:30 PM         The Venerable W.  FREE
Masons       5:45 PM         A Fantastic Woman
Masons         8:15 PM         Loving Vincent

Le Pierre     9:30 AM         Heroism of the Everyday: Heroin(e) + Long Shot FREE
Le Pierre       1:15 PM         Arthur Miller: Writer
Le Pierre     3:30 PM         Tesnota
Le Pierre       6:00 PM         Jamaica Man FREE
Le Pierre       7:45 PM         Love, Cecil

Backlot 9:00 AM         Hitler’s Hollywood FREE
Backlot 11:20 AM       That Summer FREE
Backlot 1:30 PM         Cinema Through the Eye of Magnum FREE
Backlot 2:50 PM         Filmworker FREE
Backlot 4:50 PM     Hitler’s Hollywood FREE

Monday Seminar
Noon, Town Park, All Passholders Welcome
Sponsored by Participant Media
Surreal times: Why, and in what ways, is cinema style evolving?
Moderated by Annette Insdorf
With panelists Todd Haynes, Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Chloé Zhao

THOUGHTS ON SUNDAY'S SCREENINGS

Guillermo Del Toro moved his  Q and A outdoors Sunday morning to extend its length.

The Shape of Water- Del Toro's images are breath taking.  I know a lot of the town is talking about this film tonight and they should be.  Personally, my reaction seems to be more muted than most.  I talked to a very experienced reviewer today for a good long while and he loved it. Heaps of praise to Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins.  I hope this man is in the convo for Supporting actor-great work here.

Battle of the Sexes- Played very, very well to the house.  I found myself reacting to the shots in the game/climax...even knowing the outcome.  Emma Stone and Steve Carell are in fine form.

Loving Vincent- Gorgeous as expected.  Script is relatively staid and that gets in the way.  Still, the process is mind-blowing.

RATE THE FILMS PEOPLE

As I finish this up late Sunday night it seems to me that the films earning the most buzz have been: Darkest Hour, Lady Bird, The Shape of Water, Battle of the Sexes and Hostiles.  I can't wait to see how the pros and the peeps respond.  So rate the films you saw on a 0-5 scale and send them to me.  You can do so using any of the contact methods listed below.

TOMORROW'S PLAN

Looks like I am probably at The Galaxy at 9:00 for Hostiles.  Then a quick visit to the picnic and likely closing TFF #44 after catching The Rider at 1:00 at the Opera House.  Then we'll almost certainly hit the road for home.

Say hello if you see me.


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

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Friday's Schedule for TFF #44 / MTFB Does Well...But Not Perfect / Random Thoughts

Welcome to TFF #44 Space Cadets...

I am piecing together a schedule for tomorrow based on what I am seeing on the TFF #44 App...which I am suggesting you get certainly until you can snag a hard copy of the program.


OPENING NIGHT FEED/COLORADO AVE.
5:30pm

By Venue for Friday, Sept. 1, 2017

PALM

6:30pm-Darkest Hour- Joe Wright, Gary Oldman and Ben Mendelsohn
9:30pm Lean on Pete-Andrew Haigh, Travis Fimmel

GALAXY

7:00pm-Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool-Paul McGuigan, Jamie Bell
9:45pm-Darkest Hour

CHUCK JONES

5:15pm-Great Expectations
8:00pm-Lady Bird-Greta Gerwig, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts
10:30pm-Downsizing-Alexander Payne, Hong Chau

WERNER HERZOG "THE ZOG"

11:00am-Wormwood-Errol Morris
4:45pm-The Cotton Club Encore-Francis Ford Coppola
8:45pm-Downsizing

SHERIDAN OPERA HOUSE

5:00pm-A Fantastic Woman-Sebastian Lelio, Daniela Vega
7:30pm-Arthur Miller:Writer-Rebecca Miller
10:00p,-Loveless-Andrey Zvyaginstev

THE NUGGET THEATRE

5:15pm-A Man of Integrity-Mohammed Rasoulof
8:00pm-The Rider-Chloe Zhao
10:15pm-Loving Vincent-Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman

MASONS HALL

5:30pm-Land of the Free-Camilla Magid
8:00pm-Titicut Follies
10:15pm-Tesnota-Kantemir Balagov

LE PIERRE

5:00pm-Hostages-Rezo Gigneishvili
7:45pm-The Other Side of Hope
10:15-Faces/Places-Rosalie Varda. JR

ABEL GANCE/ELKS PARK

8:30pm-The Rider


Personal note:  My schedule is likely to depend on what the patron screening is Friday afternoon.  It looks to me like the big gets tomorrow might be Darkest Hour and Downsizing or maybe Lean on Pete.   I'd also be really interested late in Loving Vincent or Faces/Places.  Depends.

More tomorrow and I will be tweeting some throughout the day.  My Twitter handle is @Gort2.


MTFB DOES WELL...BUT NOT PERFECT

If you were keeping Score (and I always do) the final Ten (25) Bets was 24 of 25.  my mistake was inadvertantly bumping AiWeiWei's Human Flow off the list and keeping Before We Vanish.  My mistake.

Seriously, I had Human Flow in the Bets for awhile and then just seemed to loose track of it.

Still, 96% isn't awful.


RANDOM THOUGHTS

Weird that we only have two tributes lined up this year.  One for Christian Bale/Hostiles and the other for Ed Lachman/Wonderstruck.  I suspect that the third tribute existed in some way but was derailed at the past minute.

Might have to be at The Abel Gance Sunday Night for Al Gore and An Inconvenient Sequel.

Thrilled Billie Jean King and Emma Stone will be in town for Battle of the Sexes.

Also pretty stoked that Richard Jenkins will be here with Guillermo Del Toro for The Shape of Water.


Come back for more here tomorrow...



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

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The 44th Telluride Film Festival Lineup Has Been Announced / Reminding Guillermo / Rate Those Movies Folks!

Welcome to Thursday...TFF #44  IS IN ONE DAY!!!

THE 44TH TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED

Here is the announced lineup for the 44th Telluride Film Festival:

·       ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER (d. Rebecca Miller, U.S., 2017)

·       BATTLE OF THE SEXES (d. Valerie Faris, Jonathan Dayton, U.S., 2017)

·       DARKEST HOUR (d. Joe Wright, U.K., 2017)

·       DOWNSIZING (d. Alexander Payne, U.S., 2017)

·       EATING ANIMALS (d. Christopher Quinn, U.S., 2017)

·       FACES PLACES (d. Agnes Varda, JR, France, 2017)

·       A FANTASTIC WOMAN (d. Sebastián Lelio, Chile-U.S.-Germany-Spain, 2017)

·       FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL (d. Paul McGuigan, U.K., 2017)

·       FIRST REFORMED (d. Paul Schrader, U.S., 2017)

·       FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER (d. Angelina Jolie, U.S.-Cambodia, 2017)

·       FOXTROT (d. Samuel Maoz, Israel, 2017)

·       HOSTAGES (d. Rezo Gigineishvili, Georgia-Russia-Poland, 2017)

·       HOSTILES (d. Scott Cooper, U.S., 2017)

·       HUMAN FLOW (d. Ai Weiwei, U.S.-Germany, 2017)

·       THE INSULT (d. Ziad Doueiri, France-Lebanon, 2017)

·       LADY BIRD (d. Greta Gerwig, U.S., 2017)

·       LAND OF THE FREE (d. Camilla Magid, Denmark-Finland, 2017)

·       LEAN ON PETE (d. Andrew Haigh, U.K.-U.S., 2017)

·       LOVELESS (d. Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia-France-Belgium-Germany, 2017)

·       LOVE, CECIL (d. Lisa Immordino Vreeland, U.S., 2017)

·       LOVING VINCENT (d. Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, U.K.-Poland, 2017)

·       A MAN OF INTEGRITY (d. Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran, 2017)

·       THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE (d. Aki Kaurismäki, Finland, 2017)

·       THE RIDER (d. Chloé Zhao, U.S., 2017)

·       THE SHAPE OF WATER (d. Guillermo del Toro, U.S., 2017)

·       TESNOTA (d. Kantemir Balagov, Russia, 2017)

·       THE VENERABLE W. (d. Barbet Schroeder, France-Switzerland, 2017)

·       THE VIETNAM WAR (d. Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, U.S., 2017)

·       WORMWOOD (d. Errol Morris, U.S., 2017)

·       WONDERSTRUCK (d. Todd Haynes, U.S., 2017)

REMINDING GUILLERMO

I posted the following on Monday and am re-posting today as I am still working on making this happen.  To be honest, I have had a couple of great leads that are still percolating but nothing has come to fruition yet.  So...if you missed it Monday...here it is again:

DEAR GUILLERMO...

This section of MTFB is going to be a little different than what you readers commonly see here but...

First, most everyone reading here knows that I have been very sure these past few weeks that Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water will be announced on Thursday as a part of the TFF #44 lineup.  I am very excited about the film but you know who's insane about it?

My wife.

Let me tell you why because it goes beyond the excitement about seeing GDT's new film in the incredible setting that is Telluride.

Some of you know that both my wife and I teach high school in a rural town (pop. 12,500)  in the Oklahoma Panhandle.  She's the art teacher here and damned good at what she does.  Especially in light of our current student body.

Please understand, that's not a slam about our kids but our situation is really unique.

In 1992 a massive pork processing facility opened in our community and to fill their workforce they have scoured the planet to find workers willing to re-locate.  That has meant a reliance on immigrants, refugees and others.

In the last 20 or so years our demographics have shifted from a majority Anglo population to one in which minority students are the majority.  Mostly kids from about every country south of the southern border of the U.S. but we're not exclusively Latin.  We have have significant student populations from Burma, S. Korea, Thailand, Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia and more.

Our school administration tells us we have somewhere between 25-30 languages spoken in our high school (enrollment is a shade under 900 kids grades 9-12).  Imagine that in a Podunk Oklahoma town.

Many of you also know that Del Toro had a harrowing childhood and turned to art as a kid to deal with that.  My wife sure does.  Del Toro's story and artwork have become an integral part of the curriculum in her classwork because...you know..it resonates with these kids...immigrant kids. They can relate to Del Toro's story because, for many of them, it's a lot like their stories.  Del Toro's body of film work plays a part too.  All these kids know Hellboy.

And, of course, because it's art, the language barrier is a much smaller problem in my wife's classroom than about anywhere else in the building.  For some of her students, it's the safest and most comfortable place they find themselves every day and that's not an exaggeration.  Some of her refugee kids spell out the terrors that they have lived through from refugee camps to predatory traffickers to hiding from death squads and civil war.

Needless to say, Guillermo has a more than special place in her heart.

So...I've never done this before in the nine years I've been writing this thing...but

If anyone knows anyone in the Del Toro camp (and I'm assuming here that he will make the trip with the film from Venice to Telluride), I'm asking for a favor.  You know what I'm going to say here...

A meeting between Kris and Guillermo would be...um...nice.  Well, she'd likely lose her mind at least a little bit.  She's already got a big honking copy of Guillermo's Cabinet of Curiosities and will be hauling it this weekend on the off chance that she might be able to get an autograph.  I'd like to make it a little less "chancy".

If anyone has some insight about making this happen, please contact me using any of the methods listed at the bottom of this post.

And Senor Del Toro, if YOU are reading this, hear my plea and reach out to me.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled blog post.

RATE THOSE MOVIES FOLKS

Don't forget, my friends, I want your ratings of the films you see next weekend.  Use a 0-5 scale with 0 being "putrid" and 5 being "best film since..."

I will publish The People's Telluride film ratings a week to ten days after the festival concludes.  Join in!

That's all for now.  More to come...

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

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