MTFB Oscar Take: Updated Predix for Production Design, Costumes, Makeup/Hair, Sound and Visual Effects / Nominations: Satellite Awards and USC Scripter Award / Trailer for Riz Ahmed's Hamlet / Visitations: Jeremy Allen White, Jesse Buckley and Noah Baumbach

MTFB OSCAR TAKE: UPDATED PREDIX FOR PRODUCTION DESIGN, COSTUMES, MAKEUP/HAIR, SOUND AND VISUAL EFFECTS 

Today we update the final five feature categories with predictions for Production Design, Makeup/Hair, Costumes, Sound and Visual Effects. A film's previous ranking is to he right of the title in parentheses. All TFF #52 films are in Bold.    Here they are:

PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) Frankenstein (1)

2) Sinners (4)

3) Hamnet (2)

4) Wicked: For Good (3)

5) Marty Supreme (NR)

Others: Avatar: Fire and Ash, One Battle After Another and The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

COSTUME DESIGN

1) Frankenstein (2)

2) Wicked: For Good (1)

3) Sinners (3)

4) Hamnet (4)

5) One Battle After Another (NR)

Others: Hedda and Marty Supreme and Train Dreams.

MAKEUP AND HAIR

1) Frankenstein (1)

2) Wicked: For Good (2)

3) Sinners (4)

4) The Smashing Machine (3)

5) One Battle After Another (NR)

Others: Kokuho, The Ugly Stepsister and The Alto Knights.

SOUND DESIGN

1) Sinners (2)

2) F1 (1)

3) One Battle After Another (4)

4) Wicked: For Good (3)

5) Frankenstein (NR)

Others: Avatar: Fire and Ash, Sirat and Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere..

VISUAL EFFECTS

1) Avatar: Fire and Ash (1)

2) F1 (2)

3) Frankenstein (5)

4) Superman (4)

5) Sinners (NR)

Others: Wicked: For Good, Tron: Ares, Jurassic World Rebirth.

As of this morning's post if the MTFB Oscar Take is 100% accurate, Ten TFF films will earn 42 nominations on announcement morning-Jan. 22nd.  Hamnet will lead TFF films with 11 nominations.

Here's how that could shake out:

Hamnet (11): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Buckley). Supporting Actor (Mescal), Adapted Screenplay, Casting, Costumes, Cinematography, Editing, Original Score and Production Design.

Frankenstein (10): Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Elordi), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Original Score, Production Design, Costumes, Makeup/Hair, Sound and Visual Effects.

Sentimental Value (8): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Reinsve), Supporting Actress (Fanning and Lilleaas), Supporting Actor (Skarsgard), Original Screenplay and International Feature.

It Was Just an Accident (4): Best Picture, Direction, International Feature and Original Screenplay.

Jay Kelly (2): Best Picture and Original Screenplay.

The Secret Agent (2): Best Actor (Moura) and International Feature.

Bugonia (2): Best Actress (Stone) and Adapted Screenplay.

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

Cover-Up (1) Best Documentary.

Apocalypse in the Tropics (TFF #52) (1): Best Documentary.

One Battle After Another and Sinners are currently predicted to lead all nominees with 13 each.

NOMINATIONS

SATELLITE AWARDS

International Press Academy's nominees for the Satellite Awards for TFF films:

Hamnet (10): Best Picture/Drama, Direction, Actress/Drama (Buckley), Supporting Actor (Mescal), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Costumes and Score.

Frankenstein (10): Best Picture/Drama, Direction, Actor (Isaac), Supporting Actor (Elordi), Cinematography, Production Design, Costumes, Score, Makeup/Hair, Visual Effects.

Sentimental Value (8): Best Picture/Drama, Direction, Actress (Reinsve), Supporting Actress (Fanning and Lilleaas), Supporting Actor (Skarsgard), Original Screenplay and International Feature.

Bugonia (5): Best Picture/Comedy or Musical, Best Actor/Comedy or Musical (Plemons), Best Actress/Comedy or Musical (Stone), Adapted Screenplay and Makeup/Hair.

It Was Just an Accident (3): Best Direction, Original Screenplay and International Feature.

The Secret Agent (2): Best Actor/Comedy or Musical (Moura), International Feature.

Jay Kelly (2): Best Actor/Comedy or Musical (Clooney), Original Screenplay.

Nouvelle Vague (1): Best Picture/Comedy or Musical.

Blue Moon (1): Best Actor/Comedy or Musical (Hawke).

If I had Legs I'd Kick You (1): Best Actress/Comedy or Musical (Byrne).

Cover-Up (1): Best Documentary.

USC SCRIPTER AWARD NOMINATIONS:

Of the five nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay TFF #52 had two: Hamnet and Frankenstein.  The other three were: Train Dreams, One Battle After another and Peter Hujar's Day.

TRAILER FOR RIZ AHMED'S HAMLET:

VISITATIONS

Jeremy Allen White for Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere with Next Best Picture.

Jesse Buckley for Hamnet from CBS News Sunday Morning.

Noah Baumbach for Jay Kelly from The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter Podcast.

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MTFB Oscar Take: Second Predictions for International, Documentary and Animated Features and Casting / New York Film Critics Online Announce 2025 Nominees / Visitations

MTFB OSCAR TAKE: SECOND PREDICTIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL, DOCUMENTARY AND ANIMATED FEATURES AND CASTING

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

1) Sentimental Value (Norway) (1)

2) It Was Just an Accident (France) (2)

3) The Secret Agent (Brazil) (3)

4) No Other Choice (South Korea) (4)

5) Sirat (Spain) (NR)

Others: The Voice of hind Rajab, Left-Handed Girl (Taiwan) and 2000 Meters to Andriivka.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1) The Perfect Neighbor (1)

2) 2000 Meters to Andriivka (2)

3) Apocalypse in the Tropics (TFF #51) (3)

4) Cover-Up (5)

5) The Alabama Solution (4)

Others: Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, Orwell: 2+2=5,  and Come See Me in the Good Light.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

1) K-Pop Demon Hunters (1)

2) Zootopia 2 (3)

3) Arco (2)

4) Little Amelie or the Character of Rain (NR)

5) Elio (4)

Others: In Your Dreams, The Magnificent Life, Scarlet.

BEST CASTING

1) Sinners (2)

2) One Battle After Another (1)

3) Marty Supreme (3)

4) Hamnet (5)

5) Wicked: For Good (4)

Others: Jay Kelly, Wake Up Dead Man and Nouvelle Vague.

 NEW YORK CRITICS ONLINE ANNOUNCE 2025 NOMINEES

13 Telluride #52 films earned 41 nominations this past week from The New York Film Critics Online.  Hamnet and Sentimental lead the way for TFF films with each film grabbing 10 nominations.  Here's the list:

Hamnet (10): Best Picture, Direction, Screenplay, Actress, Supporting Actor (X2), Ensemble, Use of Music, Cinematography and Breakthrough Performance.

Sentimental Value (10): Best Picture, Direction, Screenplay, Actress, Supporting Actress (X2), Supporting Actor, Ensemble, Breakthrough Performance and International Feature.

It was Just an Accident (4): Best Picture, Direction, Ensemble and International Feature.

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (3): Best Picture, Screenplay and Actress.

Bugonia (3): Best Screenplay, Actress and Actor.

The Secret Agent (2): Best Actor and International Feature.

Frankenstein (2): Best Supporting Actor and Cinematography.

Pillion (2): Best Supporting Actor and Debut Director.

Blue Moon (1): Best Actor.

Jay Kelly (1): Best Supporting Actor.

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (1): Best Use of Music.

Urchin (1): Best Debut Director.

Cover-Up (1): Best Documentary.

VISITATIONS

The Making of Frankenstein from The Hollywood Reporter.

Noah Baumbach on Jay Kelly and More from The Hollywood Reporter.

The Jacobi Brothers on Hamnet from Awards Watch.

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MTFB Oscar Predictions #3: Best Pic, Direction, Lead Acting / European Film Awards Nominations and TFF / Visitations: Zhao, Baumbach, Linklater and Hawke

MTFB OSCAR PREDICTIONS #3: BEST PIC, DIRECTION, LEAD ACTING

MTFB begins its expansion of Oscar nomination predictions today by updating four categories.  I'll update the Supporting Acting and Screenplay categories on Monday and a week from today start to provide predictions in the other 13 feature film categories.

or today and Monday you can see the last predicted position of each film to the right of the title in parentheses.  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 (6)

7) Frankenstein (9)

8) It Was Just an Accident (7)

9) Jay Kelly (8)

10) Train Dreams (NR)

Others: Bugonia, Avatar: Fire and Ice, F1.

BEST DIRECTION

1) Paul Thomas Anderson/OBAA (1)

2) Chloe Zhao/Hamnet (2)

3) Ryan Coogler/Sinners (3)

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

5) Joachim Trier/Sentimental Value (4)

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 (5)

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

1) Timothee Chalamet/Marty Supreme (1)

2) Leonardo DiCaprio/OBAA (2)

3) Walter Moura/The Secret Agent (3)

4) Michael B. Jordan/Sinners (5)

5) Ethan Hawke/Blue Moon (4)

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

EUROPEAN FILM AWARD NOMINATIONS AND TFF

Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value led the first wave of European Film Awards nominations announced last Tuesday.  Here are the nominations for TFF films:

Sentimental Value: Best European Film, Director, Actress (Reinsve), Actor (Sarsgard), Screenwriter.

It Was Just an Accident: Best European Film, Director, Screenwriter.

La Grazia: Best European Actor (Servillo) and Screenwriter.

Bugonia: Best European Director.  

And from TFF #51: Riefenstahl: Best European Film and Documentary.

The complete rundown of EFA nominations is linked here.

VISITATIONS: ZHAO, BAUMBACH, LINKLATER AND HAWKE

Chloe Zhao on Hamnet (and more) from Vanity Fair.

Noah Baumbach on Jay Kelly from Film Comment.

Noah Baumbach and Ethan Hawke on Blue Moon from Deadline.

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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:

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New Baumbach Film Has a Date / Awards Watch's First Oscar Picks

NEW BAUMBACH FILM HAS A DATE

Noah Baumbach's latest film, Jay Kelly, has been dated for theatrical release by Netflix.  The film will be released into theaters on Nov. 14th.  Netflex will start streaming it on Dec. 5th. The film stars George Clooney and Adam Sandler. 

Several outlets reported on the announcement earlier this week with a couple making some noise about a possible play at Telluride.  Gregory Ellwood writing for The Playlist commented in his story that:

"It’s possible Netflix could hold “Kelly” to the New York Film Festival, but Clooney’s participation makes a Venice Film Festival bow much more likely. In theory, that means Telluride and TIFF screenings are up for discussion. Whatever the case, the streamer’s release strategy makes it clear they believe it’s a prime awards season contender."

Ellwood's complete story is here.

Additionally, Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel echoed the Telluride possibility writing:

“Jay Kelly” could very well have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September. It will certainly be hitting the fall fests, and that could include Toronto, Telluride and New York."

Ruimy's post is linked here.

The Telluride pedigree is impressive.  Baumbach has had a presence at Telluride having screened Margot at the Wedding (2007), Frances Ha (2012) and Marriage Story (2019) at TFF.

Clooney was in town in 2011 with Alexander Payne's The Descendants.  Sandler was in T-ride in 2019 with the Safdie Brothers' Uncut Gems.  And a couple of members of the supporting cast have had a presence at TFF including Laura Dern (Marriage Story, Trial by Fire and Wild) and Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha and Lady Bird).

Finally, it's Netflix project and they have been well represented at the fest since 2015.

AWARDS WATCH'S FIRST OSCAR PICKS

Erik Anderson who runs Awards Watch has had his first set of predictions for 2025 going up this week.  He's got four categories up so far: Picture, Direction, Actress and Actor.  There are a couple of reasons to look at what Erik has to say.  First, as with other early Oscar picks highlighted here on the blog, I'll run through his picks and post a list below of possible TFF #52 titles.  Secondly, Erik makes a couple of interesting observations about Telluride in his Best actress/Actor predictions.

First, possible TFF #52 films from Erik's Best Picture predictions (in his order of mention):

Bugonia/Lanthimos (Focus)

Jay Kelly/Baumbach (Netflix)

Marty Supreme/J. Safdie (A24)

After the Hunt/Guadagnino (Amazon MGM)

Die, My Love/Ramsay (TBD)

Deliver Me from Nowhere/S. Cooper (20th Century)

The Ballad of a Small Player/Berger (Netflix)

Frankenstein/Del Toro (Netflix)

Hamnet/Zhzo (Focus)

Is This Thing On?/B. Cooper (Searchlight)

Pressure/Maras (Focus)

Anemone/Day-Lewis (Focus)

Eleanor the Great/Johansson (SPC)

The History of Sound/Hermanus (Mubi)

The Mastermind/Reichardt (Mubi)

Rental Family/Hikari (Searchlight)

You can find Erik's full list of Best Picture and Direction predictions here.

Meanwhile in his piece on Best Actress/Actor predictions he makes a couple of interesting statements.  The first relates to Rental Family and Is This Thing On?  From the post:

"I’m also keeping an eye on two Searchlight Pictures men, recent winner Brendan Fraser in Rental Family and Will Arnett in Is This Thing On?, the latter of which just recently wrapped production under Bradley Cooper’s direction. A Telluride or Toronto debut feels likely for one or both, if they’re ready for this year."

Later in the same piece, he writes this concerning Hamnet:

"The Focus Features adaptation of the Maggie O’Farrell fictional story of Agnes, the wife of William Shakespeare, as she struggles to come to terms with the loss of her only son, the titular Hamnet, will likely find its debut at Venice or Telluride (possibly screening at both) and setting the stage for her."

Interesting, eh?

Here's the link to the complete set of Best Actress/Actor predictions.

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Checking the Distributors: Netflix / Best Films of 2024 So Far?

 CHECKING THE DISTRIBUTORS: NETFLIX

Netflix first showed up in the Telluride lineup in 2015 with Beasts of No nation and Winter on Fire.  Since then the streamer/producer has been a sturdy presence at TFF.  Here's their titles that have made an appearance at T-ride:

2015: Beasts of No Nation, Winter on Fire

2016: I Called Him Morgan, The Ivory Game, Into the Inferno

2017: First They Killed My Father, Wormwood

2018: Dovlatov, Girl, Reversing Roe, Roma, The Other Side of the Wind, They'll Love Me When I'm Dead

2019: Inside Bill's Brain, Marriage Story, Tell Me Who I Am, The Two Popes

2020: No announced films

2021: The Hand of God, The Lost Daughter, The Power of the Dog, Procession

2022: Bardo, Lady Chatterley's Lover, Sr., The Wonder

2023: El Conde, Nyad, Rustin

The Netflix run has included major Oscar players such as Roma, The Power of the Dog and Marriage Story.

This year the Netflix larder of films that feel TFF-like seems thinner than most recent years.

The most likely title to make it to TFF #51 is Jacques Audiard's Cannes award (the Jury Award and a collective Best Actress award for the four main players) winner Emilia Perez.  Audiard has been represented at Telluride in the past but its been awhile.  SHOW passholders saw A Prophet in 2009 and Rust and Bone in 2012. 

Also in play is Malcolm Washington's filmed adaptation of the August Wilson stage play The Piano Lesson starring Samuel l. Jackson and John David Washington.

And there's a very outside shot that Noah Baumbach's latest might be ready for screening and should that happen it would be something we'd have to take very seriously for TFF #51.  IMDb reports that the film has been in post-production since early May.  Not much is known as the plot has been kept under wraps but the cast is stacked with George Clooney, Laura Dern, Adam Sandler, Billy Crudup, Emily Mortimer (who co-wrote the screenplay) and Greta Gerwig.

Chances:

Emilia Perez 50%

The Piano Lesson 25%

Untitled Baumbach 10%...mostly because it's just not likely to be ready in time.

BEST FILMS OF 2024 SO FAR?

I was invited to participate in World of Reel's poll to determine the best films of the year as we mark the end of the first half of 2024.

Of interest, perhaps to TFF fans is that two of the top ten were TFF #50 films.  Alice Rohrwacher's La Chimera landed at #8 and Jeff Nichol's The Bikeriders was at #10 (Bikeriders was on my list of five films that I submitted).

At the top of the list is Denis Villenueve's Dune Part Two.

The entire list from World of Reel is here.

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Same Headline You've Seen Before / Toronto Weirdness / MTFB Shows Up Other Places / Indiewire's Screen Talk Talks Fall Fests / In Case You Missed It-POSTER! / More Marcel

SAME HEADLINE YOU'VE SEEN BEFORE

I have been refused journalist accreditation for TFF #49.  Again.  The last time I was accredited was 2018.  Regular readers have seen this before and my annual commentary.   I'm going to forgo that this year.  Suffice to say, I must really be persona non grata vis-a-vis the festival. 

TORONTO WEIRDNESS

The Toronto International Film Festival is being a bit cagey and unconventional this summer.  TIFF has already announced four World Premiere films that they have scheduled. Meaning they won't be at Telluride:

Green Onions: A Knives Out Mystery-which is the big get of the four announced films

Brother

Bros

On the Come Up

It nearly goes without saying that I haven't had any of these four titles on my watchlist/guess list for TFF #49.

I haven't yet heard when TIFF will drop an announcement with a big chunk of their slate.  History suggests that is likely on June 26th.  But with this new strategy of easing out a single title every few days...who knows?

MTFB SHOWS UP IN OTHER PLACES

Over the past few days a couple of outlets that you have seen mentioned here in the past have mentioned MTFB on their sites.  Both Sasha Stone at her Awards Daily site and Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel refenced and linked to yours truly as they both posted pieces that looked at Telluride and possible films that will play for TFF #49.

Here's the link to the Awards Daily post.

Here's the link to the World of Reel post.

Jordan also reports that Noah Baumbach's White Noise, which I had thought would be  slam dunk for TFF #49, seems to be off the table.  Jordan had previously reported that the film was shaky for fall fests and it appears that it has become even shakier. Check his story on that here.

INDIEWIRE'S SCREEN TALK TALKS FALL FESTS

Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson in this week's Indiewire's weekly Screen talk podcast spent a good amount of time discussing the looming fall fest landscape.  They talk about several films and fests.  Of interest to MTFB readers is that the mention Alejandro Inarritu's Bardo and James Gray's Armageddon specifically on the context of TFF #49.  

Both films currently sit on the latest incarnation of  MTFB's Ten Bets.  Bardo at # 6 and Armageddon time at #8.

Check out this edition of Screen Talk here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT-POSTER!

The TFF #49 poster drop happened last Thursday after my regular MTFB posting.  I added a special additional post later in the day on Thursday but of you didn't see that, here's that announcement again:

BERKELEY, CA - Telluride Film Festival (September 2-5, 2022) today presents its 2022 Festival poster, designed by Leanne Shapton.  

Leanne Shapton is a Canadian author, artist, graphic novelist and publisher living in New York City with her daughter. She is the art editor at The New York Review of Books and co-founder of J&L Books, a non-profit publisher specializing in art and photography. Shapton’s first work, Was She Pretty?, was a nominee for the Doug Wright Award in 2007. Her second book, Important Artifacts and Personal Property From the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion and Jewelry, was optioned by Plan B/Paramount in 2009 with Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman attached to star. Shapton’s book Swimming Studies won the 2012 National Book Critic’s Circle Award for autobiography and was long-listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2012. She is a fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

“I was delighted to be asked to make a poster for the 49th Festival. Some of my favorite artists have done one, and I think my favorite is by the incredible production designer Dean Tavoularis,” remarks Shapton. “I was in the middle of a book cover assignment when Julie Huntsinger asked, and leapt at the instruction to include the word SHOW. I love hand-painted letterforms and the strength single words can have and how they name, and so wrote out the word about twenty-five times in my favorite green.”

“If a breath of fresh air could be conveyed in an image, this is what Leanne has accomplished in our beautiful poster for TFF 49,” comments Festival executive director Julie Huntsinger. “Without even indicating that this was the hoped-for point of view, she delivered our sentiment for this year. Leanne has conjured an elegance that is neither fussy nor contrived, not unlike the very best films. We’re thrilled to introduce her gorgeous work to our SHOW community and the world.”

Posters are an annual tradition of the Festival, and Shapton joins a prestigious list of artists who have been selected by, and who have shared their talents with Telluride Film Festival. Past poster artists include Yann Legendre, Laurent Durieux, Christian Marclay, Dean Tavoularis, Ed Ruscha, John Mansfield, Julian Schnabel, Dottie Attie, Doug and Mike Starn, David Lance Goines, Chuck Jones, David Salle, Alexis Smith, Jim Dine, Seymour Chwast, Frederic Amat, Francesco Clemente, Dave McKean, Gary Larson, Chip Kidd, John Canemaker, Mark Stock, Laurie Anderson, William Wegman, Ralph Eggleston, Maira Kalman, Dave Eggers, Lance Rutter, Edwina White and Luke Dorman. 

49th Telluride Film Festival posters are available for purchase now on the TFF website at www.telluridefilmfestival.org.

MORE MARCEL

Entertainment Weekly

Deadline

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Another Bump / Babylon's Fate? / White Noise Rumors / Dardennes' Tori and Lokita Acquired

ANOTHER BUMP

Pardon the interruption.  MTFB didn't publish last Thursday as I was in the middle of a trip to NYC.  But I'm back (albeit later than normal) today.  Apologies to any and all that were waiting on on a Thursday post.  To be honest, this summer is crazy busy so don't be all that surprised if the Blog isn't as consistent as it usually is regarding the Monday/Thursday posting schedule.

BABYLON'S FATE?

Margot Robbie on the set of Babylon (per Fox)

Jordan Ruimy (World of Reel) is reporting that the highly anticipated Damien Chazelle film Babylon ,ay or may not be a festival player.  Ruimy says that Paramount hasn't yet decided on what path they want to take with the film which is set for a December release.  

Babylon has been high on the MTFB radar since it was announced as Chazelle was selected for Telluride twice over the last few years for La La Land in 2016 and First Man in 2018.

Babylon is described as a history of Hollywood as the film community makes the transition from silent films to talkies.  The film stars Margo Robbie and Brad Pitt.

The World of Reel post is here.

WHITE NOISE RUMORS

Another story from Jordan from the last week concerns rumors of a difficult shoot of another film that has been high on the MTFB anticipation and TFF expectation list: Noah Baumbach's White Noise.  Baumbach's Telluride pedigree has been solid with appearances for Margot at the Wedding (2007), Frances Ha (2012) and Marriage Story (2019).

Nevertheless, the Ruimy post suggests the film might be on shaky ground.  

IMDb has the film listed as being in post-production and expected as a 2022 release from Netflix with A24 also acting in a production capacity.

DARDENNES' TORI AND LOKITA ACQUIRED

Deadline reports that The Dardenne's Brothers' Tori and Lokita, which picked up a special 75th Anniversary prize at Cannes last month has been picked up for U.S. distribution by the combination of Janis and Sideshow.  That coupling was the same crew that brought Oscar winner Drive My Car to the U.S. (and Telluride) last year.

That acquisition surely keeps the Dardennes fellows on the TFF #49 watch list.

Anthony D'Alessandro reported the acquistion for Deadline.

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Oscar Update: Adapted Screenplay / Coming Attractions?

 OSCAR UPDATE: ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Adapted Screenplay updated since I last posted this category on  Oct. 8th.  A screenplay's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) Nomadland (1)

2) One Night in Miami (3)

3) The Father (2)

4) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (5)

5) News of the World (4)

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

7) Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (-)

8) First Cow (8)***

9) The Personal History of David Copperfield (-)

10) Hillbilly Elegy (7)

Others: The United States vs. Billie Holiday, French Exit, The White Tiger

***First Cow was a selection of TFF #46

COMING ATTRACTIONS?

Jordan Ruimy/World of Reel reported this week that Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig will collaborate again on a film project set up at Netflix.  Ruimy also reports that Adam Driver, who was Oscar nominated for Baumbach's Marriage Story has also been cast.  Ruimy further suggests that the film could be ready toward the end of 2021.

All of those factors suggest a possibility of inclusion for a run as a part of TFF #48.  Lots of connections over the years between these people, Netflix and T-ride.  Put it on your radar!

The World of Reel story in its entirety is linked here.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

TWITTER @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

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Oscar Predictions Update: Best Picture, Director, Screenplays / Latest Gurus of Gold / An MTFB First / Trailer for The Climb / Tapley Podcasts Baumbach

OSCAR PREDICTIONS UPDATE

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Picture, Director and Screenplays.  TFF #46 films are indicated in Bold.

BEST PICTURE (last updated 12/16)

1) Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (1)

2) The Irishman (2)

3) Parasite (3)

4) 1917 (4)

5) Marriage Story (5)

6) Jojo Rabbit (6)

7) Joker (7)

8) Ford v Ferrari (8)

9) Bombshell (-)

10) The Two Popes (9)

Other possibles: The Farewell, Little Women. Knives Out

BEST DIRECTION (last updated 12/9)

1) Quentin Tarantino/Once Upon a Time... (2)

2) Bong Joon-ho/Parasite (4)

3) Martin Scorsese/The Irishman (3)

4) Sam Mendes/1917 (1)

5) Noah Baumbach/Marriage Story (5)

6) Todd Phillips/Joker (-)

Other possibles: James Mangold/Ford v Ferrari, Taika Waititi/Jojo Rabbit, Fernando Merrielle's/The Two Popes

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY (last updated 12/9)

1) The Irishman (1)

2) Jojo Rabbit (3)

3) The Two Popes (2)

4) Little Women (5)

5) Joker (4)

6) A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (6)

Other possibles: Hustlers, Richard Jewell, Just Mercy, Dolemite Is My Name

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (last updated 12/9)

1) Marriage Story (1)

2) Once Upon a Time... (2)

3) Parasite (3)

4) The Farewell (4)

5) Knives Out (5)

6) Uncut Gems (6)

Other possibles: Bombshell, 1917, Pain and Glory, Ford v Ferrari

LATEST GURUS OF GOLD

Movie City News has posted its latest edition of the Gurus of Gold focused on the Big Eight categories of Best Picture, Direction, all four Acting categories as well as both screenplay categories.

Here's the link to the latest Gurus.

As mentioned here before, I'm serving my second year as a Guru.  Also included as Gurus this year are some Oscar predicting heavyweights:  Sasha Stone of Awards Daily, Dave Karger of Turner Classic Movies and IMDb, Peter Howell of The Toronto Star, Jeff Sneider of Collider, Gregory Ellwood of The Playlist and Mark Johnson of Awards Watch among others.

You might notice that my Guru picks and my own posted on the blog here today may not line up exactly...Why?  Time.  My Guru picks were sent in a few days ago, whereas I worked on the freshest picks for today's blog post yesterday and this morning.


AN MTFB FIRST

Well...what do you know?

I've been plugging away at this Blog thing since August of 2008.  Lots of cool things have happened as a result of this little experience but had a first this week.

I had an Oscar screener land in my email this week.   No...no...it's not Little Women or 1917...

It's a link for a short listed Oscar Short form Documentary film.  The film: Yo Seung-Jun's In the Absence.  The description included in the email describes the focus of the doc as follows:

"When the passenger ferry MV Sewol sank off the coast of South Korea in 2014, over three hundred people lost their lives, most of them schoolchildren. Years later, the victims’ families and survivors are still demanding justice from national authorities."

The short film's IMDb page is linked here.

According to accompanying material the film screened at DOC NYC and AFI Docs.

Oscar winner Laura Poitras (Citizen Four) is one of the Executive Producers of the film.

I plan to get it in over the holiday break.  I'll get back to you about it soon.


TRAILER FOR THE CLIMB

Sony Pictures Classics has released a trailer for low key buddy dramedy The Climb.  The film had a modest reception at Telluride.  It's set for release on Mar. 20th.  Here's the trailer from YouTube:

TAPLEY PODCASTS BAUMBACH

Kris Tapley has put together another of his series of podcasts for Netflix under the name of The Call Sheet.  The latest features an outing with Marriage Story director and scribe Noah Baumbach.

That podcast is linked here.

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

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Oscar Predictions Update: Best Picture and Acting / Insight and Interviews from This Week

OSCAR PREDICTIONS UPDATE: BEST PICTURE AND ACTING

Telluride films indicated in Bold.

BEST PICTURE

1) Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood (2)

2) The Irishman (1)

3) Parasite (4)

4) 1917 (3)

5) Marriage Story (5)

6) Jojo Rabbit (6)

7) Joker (8)

8) Ford v Ferrari (7)

9) The Two Popes (9)

10) The Farewell (10)

Other possibles: Little Women, Bombshell,  Knives Out, Uncut Gems

BEST ACTRESS

1) Renee Zellweger/Judy (1)

2) Scarlett Johansson/Marriage Story(3)

3) Charlize Theron/Bombshell (2)

4) Lupita Nyong'o/Us (-)

5) Cynthia Ervio/Harriet (4)

6) Awkwafina/The Farewell (6)

Other possibles: Saoirse Ronan/Little Women, Alfre Woodard/Clemency

BEST ACTOR

1) Adam Driver/Marriage Story (2)

2) Joaquin Phoenix/Joker (1)

3) Leonardo DiCaprio/Once Upon a Time (4)

4) Antonio Banderas/Pain and Glory (6)

5) Jonathan Pryce/The Two Popes (3)

6) Robert DeNiro/The Irishman (5)

Other possibilities: Christian Bale/Ford v Ferrari, Eddie Murphy/Dolemite Is My Name, Adam Sandler/Uncut Gems, Taron Egerton/Rocketman

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Laura Dern/Marriage Story (1)

2) Jennifer Lopez/Hustlers (2)

3) Margot Robbie/Bombshell (3)

4) Scarlett Johansson/Jojo Rabbit (6)

5) Zhao Shuzhen/The Farewell (4)

6) Kathy Bates/Richard Jewell (5)

Other possibles: Florence Pugh/Little Women, Nicole Kidman/Bombshell, Taylor Russell/Waves, Annette Bening/The Report

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Brad Pitt/Once Upon a Time (1)

2) Joe Pesci/The Irishman (3)

3) Al Pacino/The Irishman (2)

4) Tom Hanks/A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (4)

5) Anthony Hopkins/The Two Popes (5)

6) Song Kang ho/Parasite (-)

Other possibles: Jamie Foxx/Just Mercy, Willem Dafoe/The Lighthouse, Alan Alda/Marriage Story 

INSIGHT AND INTERVIEWS FROM THIS WEEK

Antonio Banderas with Anne Thompson/Indiewire

Renee Zellweger with Tim Stack/Entertainment Weekly

Anthony McCarten (writer-The Two Popes) with Dominic Patten/Deadline

Jimmo Yang (film editor/Parasite) with Mina Takla/Awards Watch

Noah Baumbach with Anne Thompson/Indiewire



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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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Oscar Predictions Update: Director and Screenplays / Interviews with Directors: Baumbach, Norton, Meirelles

OSCAR PREDICTION UPDATES: DIRECTOR AND SCREENPLAYS

Here are my most recent picks for Oscar nominations in the categories of Directing, and Adapted and Original Screenplay.  These categories were last posted on Nov. 18th.  I have indicated the last time I posted them as well as that film's position in that previous posting.  As always all films from TFF #46 are in Bold.

BEST DIRECTION

1) Quentin Tarantino/Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (2)
2) Bong Joon-ho/Parasite (1)
3) Martin Scorsese/The Irishman (3)
4) Sam Mendes/1917 (5)
5) Noah Baumbach/Marriage Story (4)
6) Taika Waititi/Jojo Rabbit (6)

Other possibles: Fernando Meirelles/The Two Popes, James Mangold/Ford v Ferrari, Todd Phillips/Joker, Clint Eastwood/Richard Jewell


ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) The Two Popes (3)
2) Jojo Rabbit (1)
3) The Irishman (2)
4) Joker (5)
5) Little Women (4)
6) Hustlers (-)

Other possibles; Richard Jewell, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Judy


ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Marriage Story (1)
2) Once Upon a Time... (2)
3) Parasite (3)
4) The Farewell (4)
5) 1917 (-)
6) Bombshell (5)

Other possibles: Dolemite Is My Name, Knives Out, Honey Boy




INTERVIEWS WITH DIRECTORS: NOAH BAUMBACH, EDWARD NORTON AND FERNANDO MEIRELLES

Noah Baumbach photo from Interview

Nadja Sayej talks with Edward Norton about Motherless Brooklyn.  Here's the link to that interview.


Pete Hammond talks to Norton in this interview for Deadline's Contender series.  That is linked here.


Gold Derby's Zach Laws talks to The Two Popes' director Fernando Merirelles.  That is linked here.



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

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