Oscar Winners Predix #7: Picture, Director and Lead Acting Categories / Last Gurus of Gold for This Season / New Cousins Project-Could It Play TFF #48?

 OSCAR WINNERS PREDIX #7- PICTURE, DIRECTOR, LEAD ACTING CATEGORIES

Here's my next to last attempt to predict this year's Academy Awards winners.  THE FINAL MTFB OSCAR PICKS will go up on Sunday morning.  As always, TFF participants are indicated in Bold.

BEST PICTURE

1) Nomadland

2) The Trial of the Chicago 7

3) Promising Young Woman

4) Minari

5) Judas and the Black Messiah

6) Mank

7) Sound of Metal

8) The Father

BEST DIRECTION

1) Chloe Zhao/Nomadland

2) Emerald Ferrell/Promising Young Woman

3) David Fincher/Mank

4) Lee Issac Chung/Minari

5) Thomas Vinterberg/Another Round

BEST ACTRESS

1) Carey Mulligan/Promising Young Woman

2) Viola Davis/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

3) Andra Day/The United States vs. Billie Holiday

4) Frances McDormand/Nomadland

5) Vanessa Kirby/Pieces of a Woman

BEST ACTOR

1) Chadwick Boseman/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

2) Anthony Hopkins/The Father

3) Riz Ahmed/Sound of Metal

4) Steven Yeun/Minari

5) Gary Oldman/Mank

LAST GURUS OF GOLD FOR THIS SEASON 

The last Gurus of gold for this Oscar season is expected to drop at Movie City News in the next day or two.  You can expect to see collected takes from all of the Gurus for all 23 Oscar categories including the Short Film categories.

Other Gurus include Sasha Stone of Awards Daily, Peter Howell of the Toronto Star, Gregory Ellwood of The Playlist, Dave Karger of Turner Classic Movies and Steve Pond of The Wrap among others.

Bit of a Disclaimer: My predictions you see for the Gurus could have changed by Sunday morning!

NEW COUSINS PROJECT-COULD IT PLAY TFF #48?

Variety has a new interview out with film maker Mark Cousins that's focused on his new film The Story of Looking.  The article reveals that the film will be screened as a work in progress at the Swedish Visions du Real Festival.

The screening suggests that the new project could and likely will be available come Labor Day weekend.  Cousins has had an extensive track record at Telluride over the last several years with screenings of The Story of Film: An Odyssey, A Story of Children and Film and What Is This Film Called Love?

So, don't be surprised when the Telluride #48 lineup is announced if it includes The Story of Looking. 

The complete Variety article is linked here.

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Oscar Predix #6: Screenplays and Shorts / The Gurus Update / Cannes Commits and Late Breaking News from Cannes/ The Truffle Hunters Collect More Hardware

OSCAR PREDIX #6: SCREENPLAYS AND SHORTS

I'm back predicting the winners of this year's Oscars with less than a week left until the awards are passed out.  Today I am updating the Screenplay and Shorts categories.  As always TFF #47 film are in Bold.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Promising Young Woman

2) The Trial of the Chicago 7

3) Minari

4) Judas and the Black Messiah

5) Sound of Metal

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Nomadland

2) The Father

3) Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

4) One Night in Miami

5) The White Tiger

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

1) If Anything Happens I Love You

2) Burrow

3) Genuis Loci

4) Opera

5) Yes-People

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

1) A Concerto Is a Conversation

2) A Love Song for Latasha

3) Colette

4) Do Not Split

5) Hunger Ward

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

1) Two Distant People

2) Feeling Through

3) The Present

4) The Letter Room

5) White Eye

I'll have another set of predictions on Thursday and then a special Sunday morning edition of  MTFB with final predictions for this long, long Oscar season.

THE GURUS UPDATE

The newest Gurus of Gold is up at Movie City News.  We were tasked this week with predicting Best Picture as well as picking three upsets that would make us happy...not that would necessarily actually win.

You can find the latest Gurus of Gold predictions linked here.

CANNES COMMMITS

Lots of outlets were reporting this week that Cannes International Film Festival Director Thierry Fremaux is adamantly claiming that the fest will take place July 6-17 and will be a live not virtual event.

Variety was the first source that I could find that was talking about the commitment to the date back on April 8th.  The article also says the effort to schedule the world premiere of Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch for Cannes has been ongoing.  

Subsequently, I have discovered further news stories that are bolder about the fest's plans.  Rappler.com reporting that:

“We are sure that Cannes will take place in July,” declared Thierry Fremaux, director of Cannes Film Festival in our recent video conversation.

Thierry vowed that the world’s most prestigious film festival, which he has led since 2004, will go live, in-person from July 6 to 17 this year."

Fremaux is also quoted as having lined about The French Dispatch as well as Paul Verhoeven's Benedetta for the French fest:

“Regarding films, I, of course, won’t tell you any title except the films that we all know were already selected from last year, including by Wes Anderson (The French Dispatch) and Paul Verhoeven (Benedetta). They will be back in the official selection.”

Fremaux is also quoted as saying that he expects to announce the lineup in late May or early June.

Should Cannes actually take place in July, the fall film fests, including Telluride would largely be unaffected.  For TFF that probably means that the sharing of what is an on average of eight or so films with Cannes could still be likely.

The complete article from Rappler.com is linked here.

LATE BREAKING NEWS FROM CANNES...

Variety is reporting this morning that the 74th Cannes Film Festival will open with Leos Carax's Annette starring Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver.  Variety reports the film will screen on July 7th and will play in competition.

From Variety.

Here's the trailer that dropped with the announcement from YouTube:

THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS COLLECT MORE HARDWARE

Fresh off their DGA for Best Direction of a Feature Documentary on April 10th,  The Truffle Hunters directors Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw won the American Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography for a Documentary this past weekend.

The Truffle Hunters was a selection of TFF #47.

Mank won Best Cinematography for a Feature Film beating out Nomadland in a bit of a surprise.

Indiewire has the coverage of the ASC wards here.

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Oscar Winners Predix #5: Picture, Supporting Acting and More / Play Along

 OSCAR WINNERS PREDICITONS #5: PICTURE, SUPPROTING ACTOR AND MORE

I'm back predicting the winners of this year's Oscars with ten days left until the awards are passed out.  Today I am updating the supporting acting categories as well as predicting the winners for Costume Design, Makeup/Hair and Visual Effects for the first time since nominations were announced.  As always TFF #47 film are in Bold.

BEST PICTURE

1) Nomadland

2) The Trial of the Chicago 7

3) Promising Young Woman

4) Minari

5) Judas and the Black Messiah

6) Mank

7) Sound of Metal

8) The Father

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Yuh-Jung Youn/Minari

2) Maria Bakalova/Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

3) Glenn Close/Hillbilly Elegy

4) Olivia Colman/The Father

5) Amanda Seyfried/Mank

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Daniel Kaluuya/Judas and the Black Messiah

2) Sacha Baron Cohen/The Trial of the Chicago 7

3) Leslie Odom, Jr./One Night in Miaimi

4) Paul Raci/Sound of Metal

5) LaKeith Stanfield?Judas and the Black Messiah

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

1) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

2) Emma

3) Mulan

4) Mank

5) Pinocchio

BEST MAKEUP/HAIR

1) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

2) Hillbilly Elegy

3) Emma

4) Mank

5) Pinocchio

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1) Tenet

2) The Midnight Sky

3) Mulan

4) The One and Only Ivan

5) Love and Monsters

PLAY ALONG

Oscar voters get ballots and can start voting today.  In that spirit, Awards Daily has announced its annual Oscar predicting contest.  You can play along with everyone from amateurs to experts to the members of the Academy.  Heck, you can lift my predictions if you want to!

The link to get in on the fun is here.

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Oscar Winners Predix #3: Picture and More / Mainstream Trailer / More Cannes Date Speculation

 OSCAR WINNERS PREDIX #3: PICTURE AND MORE

I'm back predicting the winners of this year's Oscars with 17 days left until the awards are passed out.  Today I am updating Best Picture and Director categories as well as predicting the winners for Cinematography, Film Editing and Production Design for the first time since nominations were announced.  As always TFF #47 film are in Bold.

BEST PICTURE

1) Nomadland

2) Promising Young Woman

3) The Trial of the Chicago 7

4) Minari

5) Judas and the Black Messiah

6) Mank

7) Sound of Metal

8) The Father

BEST DIRECTOR

1) Chloe Zhao/Nomadland

2) Emerald Fennell/Promising Young Woman

3) David Fincher/Mank

4) Lee Isaac Chung/Minari

5) Thomas Vinterberg/Another Round

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) Nomadland

2) Mank

3) News of the world

4) The Trial of the Chicago 7

5) Judas and the Black Messiah

BEST FILM EDITING

1) Sound of Metal

2) The Trial of the Chicago 7

3) Nomadland

4) Promising Young Woman

5) The Father

    BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) Mank

2) News of the World

3) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

4) The Father

5) Tenet

MAINSTREAM TRAILER 

Goa Coppola's Mainstream was to have been a film that would have screened ata TFF #47 had it happened.  The film stars Andrew Garfield and Maya Hawke and has been dated for release on May 7th.  IFC, which is distributing the film, dropped a new trailer for the film earlier this week.  That trailer is here via YouTube:

MORE CANNES DATE SPECULATION

Roger Friedman's ShowBiz411 wrote yesterday that:

"I’ve already reported that the Film Festival has been eyeing a move to October. No one would be against that. It would put the festival in closer proximity to Oscar buzz."

That continues to fan the flames of the possibility of a Cannes fall festival that could turn the entire film fest season on its ear.

The complete Friedman article is linked here.

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Oscar Winners Predix: Animated, Doc, International / The Cannes-nundrum

OSCAR WINNERS PREDIX: ANIMATED FEATURE, DOCUMENATRY FEATURE, INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

Predicting the winners for the 93rd Academy Awards.  

ANIMATED FEATURE

1) Soul

2) Wolkwalkers

3) Onward

4) Over the Moon

5) Farmageddon: A Shaun the Sheep Movie

DOCUMENATRY FEATURE

1) My Octopus Teacher

2) Time

3) Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution

4) Collective

5) The Mole Agent

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

1) Another Round

2) Quo Vadis, Aida

3) Collective

4) The Man Who Sold His Skin

5) Better Days

Comments: Most years Telluride is represented in both the International and Documentary categories and on occasion TFF films pop up in the Animated feature category as well.  But that's not the case in this year of Covid.

As a matter of fact you have to go all the way back to 2004 for the last time that a TFF film wasn't nominated in at least one of the categories.

Both Soul and Another Round appear to be prohibitive favorites in their respective categories.  Meanwhile, the Doc category remains one of the most competitive and tight races as we count down the last three weeks before the winners are announced on April 25th.

In Thursday's post, I'll predict winners for Cinematography, Editing, Production Design and I'll update the Best Picture and Best Director categories.

THE CANNES-NUNDRUM

So I've written a good deal about the up-in-the-air 2021 Cannes Film Festival.  Those who are regular readers of this space know that Cannes selections often provide fertile ground for films that will eventually also screen at Telluride.  Eight films in 2019 played at Cannes before screening at Telluride over Labor Day weekend.

But the Cannes-nundrum this year is that Cannes is on the move.  Normally by this time we'd be deep into trying to discern what films would be Cannes selections for clues as to what 6-10 of them would end up in Telluride.  In 2019 Cannes named its list of films on April 18th.  But with Cannes saying they're fest will run in July (and rumors that it could be put off until October), what Cannes and/or Telluride watchers are left with is a world where too many uncertainties make predicting films that will play one or the other or both is ridiculously difficult.\

Take Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch.  It is widely assumed that the film will...probably...debut at Cannes.  But that talk has been around since before  Cannes 2020 was canceled because of the pandemic.  It was assumed, at least for awhile, that the film would simply move to Cannes 2021.  Even when Cannes organizers began pointing toward a possible delay until July, it seemed probable that Cannes would be the destination.  

Now add in that The French Dispatch along the way had a release date in mid-September.  That and Searchlight as a distributor made it a tempting film to predict for Telluride.  But The French Dispatch has no official release date as of now.  The Cannes uncertainty is likely the cause.  If the French fest ultimately ends up in October the fall film fest lineup of Telluride, Venice, Toronto and New York all would be impacted.

My guess, and it's just a guess, is that The French Dispatch goes wherever and however Cannes goes.  So if your any of those fall fests that have been thinking they could get Wes Anderson and crew for their fest-an October Cannes likely means that's not going to happen.

What other films could have to make that calculation?

Take a look at Jordan Ruimy's list of Cannes possibles (he updated it as recently as Mar. 28th):

Directors set to have new films ready by Cannes include 

”Soggy Bottom” (Paul Thomas Anderson)

”The French Dispatch” (Wes Anderson) 

”Annette” (Leos Carax) 

”Macbeth” (Joel Coen) 

”The Way of the Wind” (Terrence Malick)

”Ahed’s Knee” (Nadav Lapid) 

”Blonde” (Andrew Dominik)

”Memoria” (Apichatpong Weerasethakul) 

”Benedetta” (Paul Verhoeven) 

”Blossoms” (Wong Kar-wai)

”The Power of the Dog” (Jane Campion)

”Tromperie” (Arnaud Desplechin)

”Bergman Island” (Mia Hansen-Løve)

”Chocobar” (Lucrecia Martel)

”Les Olympiades” (Jacques Audiard) 

”The Souvenir Part II” (Joanna Hogg)

”Tre Piani” (Nanni Moretti) 

”Triangle of Sadness” (Ruben Ostlund) 

”The Hand of God” (Paolo Sorrentino)

"Mektoub: Canto Duo" (Abdelatif Kechiche)

“Benediction” (Terrence Davies)

“The Green Knight” (David Lowery)

“Italian Studies” (Adam Leon)

“Algerien Par Accident” (Karim Aïnouz)

“Last Night in Soho” (Edgar Wright)

“The Northman” (Robert Eggers)

“After Yang” (Kogonada)

“Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon” (Ana Lily Amirpour)

I'd imagine that for a good number of these directors, playing Cannes in October and not having an appearance at any of the fall fests prior to Cannes would be just fine (I expect Cannes will insist on world premieres regardless of the date they ultimately land on).

But a number of these folks have played Telluride and often as a pairing with either Cannes or Venice:

PTA, Malick, Coen, Campion, Hansen-Love, Audiard, Kechiche, Lowery.  What do they do and how will those choices affect Telluride and other festivals?  It's a puzzle I haven't begun to solve.

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Oscar Update: Six Categories / Guild Love for Nomadland, The Truffle Hunters and More / MTFB''s Final Oscar Nom Predix on Sunday!

OSCAR UPDATE: SIX CATEGORIES

NOTE: FINAL OSCAR NOMINATION PREDICTIONS FROM MTFB WILL DROP ON SUNDAY WITH OSCAR NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED MONDAY MORNING.

I am updating Oscar nomination predictions with days left until the nominees are announced.  As usual, you'll see the last position of the film/performer in parentheses and when the category was last predicted.  TFF films are in Bold.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE (last predicited Feb. 22nd)

1) Crip Camp; a Disability Revolution (1)

2) Time (2)

3) Collective (3)

4) Dick Johnson Is Dead (4)

5) All In: The Fight for Democracy (8)

6) The Truffle Hunters (7)

7) Boys State (5)

8) Welcome to Chechnya (6)

9) My Octopus Teacher (-)

10) Gunda (-)

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE (last predicted Feb. 22nd)

1) Another Round (1)

2) Quo Vadis, Aida (4)

3) Two of Us (3)

4) Collective (2)

5) La Llorona (5)

6) I'm No Longer Here (7)

7) A Sun (6)

8) Night of the Kings (9)

9) Dear Comrades (8)

10) Sun Children (10)

CINEMATOGRAPHY (last predicted Feb. 25th)

1) Nomadland (1)

2) Mank (2)

3) News of the World (3)

4) Tenet (4)

5) Minari (7)

6) Judas and the Black Messiah (6)

7) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (5)

8) First Cow (9)

9) One Night in Miami (8)

10) I'm Thinking of Ending Things (-)

EDITING (last predicted Feb. 25th)

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

2) Nomadland (3)

3) Mank (4)

4) News of the World (2)

5) Tenet (5)

6) Sound of Metal (6)

7) The Father (7)

8) Promising Young Woman (-)

9) One Night in Miami (8)

10) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (10)

ORIGINAL SCORE (last predicted on Feb. 25th)

1)  Soul (1)

2) News of the World (2)

3) Mank (3)

4) The Midnight Sky (4)

5) Tenet (5)

6) Minari (6)

7) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (7)

8) Da 5 Bloods (8)

9) The Little Things (9)

10) Blizzard of Souls (10)

ORIGINAL SONG

1) Io Si/The Life Ahead (2)

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

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

4) Husavik/Eurovision Song Contest (5)

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

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

7) Wuhan Flu/Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (8)

8) Never Break/Giving Voice (7)

9) Rain Song/Minari (9)

10) See What You've Done/Belly of the Beast (10)

GUILD LOVE FOR NOMADLAND AND THE TRUFFLE HUNERS (AND MORE)

Both the Directors Guild and the Producers Guild announced their nominees earlier this week and TFF #47 selection Nomadland and Chloe Zhao was named on both lists.  

Additionally, other TFF #47 films were also haled by the DGA.  Florian Zeller was nominated for Best Frist Feature for The Father and Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw were nominated for Best Direction of a Feature Documentary.

The Truffle Hunters also was PGA nominated as well.  

The American Society of Cinematographers also named its nominees this week which included Nomadland in its Feature film lineup, The Truffle Hunters and another TFF #47 selection, Gianfranco Rosi's Notturno for Documentary Cinematography.

Coverage is here:

DGA from Variety 

PGA Features from Entertainment Weekly

PGA Docs from Variety

ASC from Awards Daily

REMINDER AGAIN....MTFB'S FINAL OSCAR NOMINATION PREDICTIONS WILL BE HERE ON SUNDAY

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Oscar Update: The Big Eight and The Shorts / The Critics Choice Awards / A Buffet of Truffles / Latest Gurus of Gold

 OSACR UPDATE: THE BIG EIGHT AND THE SHORTS

Here I am updating Oscar nomination predictions with a week left until the nominees are announced.  As usual, you'll see the last position of the film/performer in parentheses and when the category was last predicted.  TFF films are in Bold.

BEST PICTURE (last predicted Mar. 1st)

1) Nomadland (2)

2) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

3) Minari (3)

4) Promising Young Woman (5)

5) Mank (4)

6) One Night in Miami (6)

7) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (7)

8) News of the World (9)

9) Sound of Metal (8)

10) The Father (-)

Other Possibles: Da 5 Bloods, Judas and the Black Messiah

BEST DIRECTOR (Last predicted Feb. 22)

1) Chloe Zhao/Nomadland (1)

2) David Fincher/Mank (2)

3) Emerald Fennell/Promising Young Woman (3)

4) Aaron Sorkin/The Trial of the Chicago 7 (4)

5) Lee Isaac Chung/Minari (5)

6) Regina King/One Night in Miami (6)

7) Spike Lee/Da 5 Bloods (7)

8) Paul Greengrass/News of the World (9)

9) Florian Zeller/The Father (8)

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

Other Possibles: Darius Marder/Sound of Metal, George C. Wolfe/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

BEST ACTRESS (Last predicted on Feb. 11th)

1) Carey Mulligan/Promising Young Woman (1)

2) Frances McDormand/Nomadland (2)

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

4) Andra Day/The united States vs. Billie Holiday (6)

5) Vanessa Kirby/Pieces of a Woman (4)

6) Sophia Loren/The Life Ahead (7)

7) Amy Adams/Hillbilly Elegy (9)

8) Zendaya/Malcolm and Marie (5)

9) Sidney Flanigan/Never Rarely Sometimes Always (8)

10) Michelle Pfeiffer/French Exit (-)

Other Possibles: Meryl Streep/The Prom, Nichole Behaire/Miss Juneteenth

BEST ACTOR (Last predicted Feb. 11th)

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

2) Anthony Hopkins/The Father (2)

3) Riz Ahmed/Sound of Metal (3)

4) Gary Oldman/Mank (5)

5) Steven Yeun/Minari (6)

6) Delroy Lindo/Da 5Bloods (4)

7) Tahar Rahim/The Mauritanian (10)

8) Tom Hanks/News of the World (8)

9) Ben Affleck/The Way Back (7)

10) Mads Mikkelsen/Another Round (-)

Other Possibles: Kingsley Ben-Adir/One Night in Miami, John David Washington/Malcolm and Marie

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (Last predicted Feb. 18th)

1) Glenn Close/Hillbilly Elegy (1)

2) Yuh-jung Youn/Minari (2)

3) Olivia Colman/The Father (3)

4) Maria Bakalova/Borat Subsequent Movie Film (5)

5) Amanda Seyfried/Mank (4)

6) Jodie Foster/The Mauritanian (8)

7) Helena Zengel/News of the World (7)

8) Ellen Burstyn/Pieces of a Woman (6)

9) Dominique Fishback/Judas and the Black Messiah (9)

10) Saoirse Ronan/Ammonite (-)

Other Possibles: Olivia Cooke/Sound of Metal, Talia Ryder/Never rarely Sometimes Always

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (Last predicted Feb. 18th)

1) Daniel Kaluuya/Judas and the Black Messiah (1)

2) Sacha Baron Cohen/The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2)

3) Leslie Odom, Jr./One Night in Miami (3)

4) Chadwick Boseman/Da 5 Bloods (4)

5) Paul Raci/Sound of Metal (4)

6) Jared Leto/The Little Things (8)

7) David Strathairn/Nomadland (7)

8) Bill Murray/On the Rocks (6)

9) Stanley Tucci/Supernova (-)

10) Bo Burnham/Promising Young Woman (-)

Other Possibles: Frank Langella/The Trail of the Chicago 7, Mark Rylance/The Trial of the Chicago7, Glynn Turman/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (Last predicted Feb. 18th)

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

2) Promising Young Woman (2)

3) Minari (3)

4) Mank (4)

5) Sound of  Metal (5)

6) Never Rarely Sometimes Always (7)

7) Judas and the Black Messiah (8)

8) Soul (9)

9) Da 5 Bloods (6)

10) Palm Springs (10)

Other Possibles: On the Rocks, The 40 Year Old Version

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY (Last predicted Feb. 18th)

1) Nomadland (1)

2) One Night in Miami (2)

3) The Father (4)

4) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (3)

5) News of the World (6)

6) First Cow (5)

7) Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (8)

8) The White Tiger (-)

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

10) Emma (9)

Other Possibles: The Mauritanian, Pieces of a Woman

BEST ANIMATED SHORT (First prediction)

1) If Anything Happens I Love You

2) Out

3) Burrow

4) Kapaemahu

5) The Snail and the Whale

6) Opera

7) To Gerard

8) Genius Loci

9) Yes-People

10) Traces

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT (First prediction)

1) A Love Song for Latasha

2) Hysterical Girl 

3) A Concerto Is a Conversation

4) Colette 

5) What would Sophia Loren Do?

6) Hunger Ward

7) Abortion Helpline

8) Speed Cubers

9) Do Not Split

10) Call Center Blues

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT (First prediction)

1) The Human Voice

2) Two Distant Strangers

3) The Letter Room

4) Feeling Through

5) Da Yie

6) The Present

7) White Eye

8) The Kicksled

9) The van

10) Bittu

THE CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS

The Critics Choice Awards were held last night.  TFF films were nominated for a dozen of them.

Nomadland (6): Best Picture, Director, Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography and Editing

The Father (4): Best Actor, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay and Editing

First Cow (2): Adapted Screenplay and Cinematography

Nomadland was the evening's big winner with four awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography.  The Father and First Cow did not secure any trophy from the occasion.

Acting winners were: Carey Mulligan-Best Actress/Promising Young Woman, Chadwick Boseman-Best Actor/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Maria Bakalova/Supporting Actress/Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Daniel Kaluuya-Supporting Actor/Judas and the Black Messiah, Alan Kim/Young Actor/Minari and The Trial of the Chicago 7 won for Best Ensemble.

The BFCA spread the wealth with only four films winning more than one of the prizes: Nomandlan-4, Ma Rainey's-3, Promising Young Woman-2 and Minari-2.

Complete coverage is here from Indiewire.

A  BUFFET OF TRUFFLES

As Oscar nomination voting is ongoing, TFF #47 documentary selection, The Truffle Hunters continues to have a high profile.  There were three separate interviews posted this week that I came across with the film's directors Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw.

The film is definitely in Oscar contention for Best Feature Documentary (and maybe ought to also be in the conversation for cinematography).  Fully eight of Gold Derby's 24 experts are currently predicting it to be nominated.

I have linked all three of the interviews with Dweck and Kershaw below:

From National Public Radio

From Salon.com

From MoveableFeast.com 

LATEST GURUS FOCUSES ON THE BIG EIGHT

The latest Gurus of Gold forecast focuses on the Big Eight categories. Picture, Director, the the acting and Screenplay categories.  in an interesting twist, we were asked to name just the top two contenders in all but the Best Picture category.  

Take a look at the new charts. They were posted on Friday.  As you may note, my latest Best Picture forecast from above has Nomadland back in the lead.  The race between it and Chicago 7 is tight and fluid.  Enough so that in the space of 72 hours, my prediction has changed.

Here's the link to the latest from we Gurus.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

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

OSCAR UPDATE: COSTUMES, MAKEUP AND HAIR AND VISUAL EFFECTS

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

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

1) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1)

2) Emma (2)

3) Mank (3)

4) News of the World (4)

5) Mulan (5)

6) Promising Young Woman (9)

7) Ammonite (8)

8) Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (-)

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

10) The Personal History of David Copperfield (7)

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

Hot: Promising Young Woman

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

BEST MAKEUP/HAIR

1) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1)

2) Hillbilly Elegy (2)

3) Birds of Prey (4)

4) Mank (3)

5) Emma (5)

6) Pinocchio (6)

7) One Night in Miami (8)

8) The Glorias (9)

9) Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (10)

10) The Little Things (7)

Hot: Birds of Prey

Not: The Little Things

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1) Tenet (1)

2) The Midnight Sky (2)

3) Mank (3)

4) Mulan (4)

5) Welcome to Chechnya (50

6) The One and Only Ivan (8)

7) Birds of Prey (6)

8) Soul (7)

9) Love and Monsters (9)

10) Bloodshot (10)

Hot: The One and Only Ivan

Not: Soul

CANNES MOVING BACK???

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

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

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

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

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

The complete Deadline story is linked here.

INTERVIEWS WITH HOPKINS AND POLLARD

(photo via Sundance film Festival and Screen Daily)

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

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

Here's the link to that interview.

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

That interview is linked here. 

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We Have Info! (And a Poster) / Nomadland Leads Golden Globes Winners / Oscar Update: Picture and More

WE HAVE INFO! (AND A POSTER)

News dropped on Friday about TFF #48.  It'll be an extra day long; five days as was planned for last year's fest.  The last five day long fest was in 2013 as a part of the celebration of the 40th Telluride Film Festival.

We also found out that no new passes are currently being sold.  There is a waitlist for all pass levels as so many of us rolled our passes from last year over for TFF 48.

Here's the release from the festival:

Telluride Film Festival today announced its dates for the 48th Telluride Film Festival. The event will take place September 2 - 6, 2021, with an added day to the weekend-long event. Festival organizers are optimistic that by September, when the vaccination process will then be long underway, and by taking all necessary safety precautions including the extra day, an in-person event will likely be possible.

 “We are beyond excited to announce our dates,” said Telluride Film Festival executive director Julie Huntsinger. “Our position within the festival calendar gives us hope that we will be able to hold the festival this year. We are guided by science and are continuously evaluating the global pandemic in relation to health, travel and live events. Time will tell, but in the meantime, we are busy planning for and putting together an incredible program.” 

 There are currently no new pass sales available to the public at this time.

 Huntsinger explains, “As a result of the Festival’s 2020 cancellation, the majority of passholders requested to roll over their passes to 2021. Without knowing theater capacity restrictions, the small number of passes left are being held back out of an abundance of caution.” 

 A waitlist is being compiled on a first come, first served basis. More information may be found on the Festival website.

 “We would like to take this moment to thank everyone for their continued support of Telluride Film Festival. There have been some truly remarkable souls who went above and beyond throughout the past twelve months,” said Huntsinger. “It has been a difficult year for everyone, and we hope to welcome back our audience to the beautiful mountains of Telluride to do what we do best: celebrate the art of film.” 

In addition, the festival unveiled the poster for TFF #48 from Meow Wolf artist Luke Dorman.  You can see the poster above.

Here's the text of the release announcing the poster:

Telluride Film Festival (September 2- 6, 2021) today presents its 2021 Festival poster, designed by Meow Wolf’s Luke Dorman. 

 Luke Dorman is the Lead Graphic Designer at Meow Wolf, a Santa Fe-based arts and entertainment company that creates immersive, interactive experiences. Luke's current focus is on design for Meow Wolf Denver, a permanent 4-story immersive experience opening in late 2021. Over the past 15 years, Luke has maintained a creative practice that straddles fine art, graphic design, and illustration. His contemporary and experimental approach to design work has led him to be recognized by Print, Communication Arts, the Society for Typographic Arts, GDUSA, among others. Prior to joining Meow Wolf, Luke worked in design education and carries his passion for teaching, mentorship and community building into his work today. 

 Dorman began his design for the poster by drawing a large assortment of shapes that functioned as a library from which he could pull forms, and then let the work develop as he moved things around on the computer. All the shapes for the poster were inspired by classic movie theater marquees and film equipment. As he started thinking what configurations he could make, a film projector seemed to make the most sense: something recognizable but also something that would give him freedom to play around with. He wanted to do something wild, colorful and celebratory because it felt like a good fit with the spirit of the Festival, and also because he felt like we are all ready for a healthy dose of “positive vibes” right now.

 Dorman said, “Oddly enough, my first encounter with Meow Wolf was actually when they submitted work to a micro-cinema film festival that I used to run, and they won the top prize. So, in some ways, this isn’t the first collision of Meow Wolf and the film world that I’ve been a part of.” 

 He goes on to say, “Of course, I jumped at the chance to represent Meow Wolf as the poster artist for the 48thTelluride Film Festival. It’s a true honor to be able to work on behalf of these two beacons of creative innovation and expression. But it’s also sort of twice as much pressure working as part of the legacy of all the great artists who have contributed to Telluride Film Festival posters and all the great artists who make up Meow Wolf.”

 Meow Wolf was recognized in Fast Company's 2020 list of The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies. It is a Santa Fe-based arts and entertainment company that creates immersive, interactive experiences to transport audiences of all ages into fantastic realms of story and exploration. The company's first location in Santa Fe opened in 2016 and showcases the THEA Award-winning, international sensation, House Of Eternal Return, where two million visitors have now discovered a multidimensional mystery house with secret passages, portals to magical worlds, and surreal, maximalist and mesmerizing art exhibits. In 2019, Meow Wolf expanded beyond Santa Fe and opened Kaleidoscape, the world’s first artist-driven ride at Elitch Gardens in Denver. Meow Wolf recently opened their second permanent installation, Omega Mart, at AREA15 in Las Vegas and their third permanent installation in Denver slated to open in late 2021. Meow Wolf is proud to be the only certified B-Corporation in the themed entertainment industry, with a team dedicated to social impact and building a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

 “We are HUGE fans of Meow Wolf, and Luke Dorman,” said Telluride Film Festival executive director Julie Huntsinger. “His poster is a gorgeous piece of art - for both the short and long term. It’s the perfect escape from pandemic life, right this minute. With its happy, vibrant colors and design, it creates a glorious fantasy refuge. And it will bring joy and inspiration long into the future. We’re delighted to celebrate art and film, in full color, together again in the mountains of Colorado this September.”

 Posters are an annual tradition of the Festival, and Dorman 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 and Edwina White. 

 48th Telluride Film Festival posters are available for purchase now on the TFF website at www.telluridefilmfestival.org.

 I have linked coverage of the announcement from:

Variety

Indiewire

Deadline

NOMADLAND LEADS GOLDEN GLOBES WINNERS

Irrespective of the controversy surrounding the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the Golden Globes, that awards show went off last night and Globes were handed out.  

TFF films were nominated for eight Golden Globes and Nomadland won Best Picture/Drama and Best Director.

Nomadland was nominated for four: Best Picture Drama, Director, Actress and Screenplay

The Father was nominated for four: Best Picture Drama, Actor, Actress and Screenplay

Here are the Globe winners for film:

Best Film Drama: Nomadland

Best Film Musical or Comedy: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm  

Best Actress/Drama: Andra Day/The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Best Actress/Musical or Comedy: Rosamund Pike/I Care A Lot

Best Actor/Drama: Chadwick Boseman/Ma Rainey's Back Bottom

Best Actor/Musical or Comedy: Sacha Baron Cohen/Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Best Supporting Actress: Jodie Foster/The Mauritanian

Best Supporting Actor: Daniel Kaluuya/Judas and the Black Messiah

Best Direction: Chloe Zhao/Nomadland 

Best Screenplay: The Trial of the Chicago 7 

Best Original Song: Io Si (Seen)/The Life Ahead

Best Original Score: Soul

Best Animated Film: Soul 

Best Foreign Language Film: Minari

OSCAR UPDATE: PICTURE AND MORE

Two weeks left until Oscar nominations are announced...

BEST PICTURE

My last prediction for this category was on Feb. 22nd.  The film's previous position is indicated in parentheses.  TFF films are Bold.

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

2) Nomadland (2)

3) Minari (3)

4) Mank (4)

5) Promising Young Woman (5)

6) One Night in Miami (6)

7) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (7)

8) Sound of Metal (8)

9) News of the World (9)

10) Judas and the Black Messiah (10)

Other Possibles: The Father, Da 5 Bloods

Hot: No changes

Not: No changes

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

My last prediction for this category was on Feb. 8th.  The film's previous position is indicated in parentheses.

1) Soul (1)

2) Wolfwalkers (2)

3) Over the Moon (3)

4) Onward (4)

5) Croods: The New Age (7)

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

7) Earwig and the Witch (5)

8) The Willoughbys (9)

9) Trolls: World Tour (8)

10) Demon Slayer (10)

Other Possibles: Lupin, Bombay Rose, On-Gaku, Calamity

Hot: Croods: The New Age

Not: Earwig and the Witch

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

My last prediction for this category was on Feb. 15th.  The film's previous position is indicated in parentheses.

1) Mank (1)

2) News of the World (2)

3) Tenet (6)

4) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (3)

5) Emma (5)

6) The Midnight Sky (8)

7) The Personal History of David Copperfield (4)

8) Mulan (7)

9) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (9)

10) One Night in Miami (10)

Other Possibles: Judas and the Black Messiah, First Cow, Jingle-Jangle: A Christmas Journey

Hot: Tenet, The Midnight Sky

Not: The Personal History of David Copperfield

BEST SOUND

My last prediction for this category was on Feb. 15th.  The film's previous position is indicated in parentheses.

1) Sound of Metal (1)

2) Tenet (2)

3) Mank (4)

4) News of the World (3)

5) The Midnight Sky (5)

6) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (7)

7) Soul (6)

8) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (10)

9) Da 5 Bloods (8)

10) The Outpost (9)

Other Possibles: Greyhound, Nomadland, The Prom, The Invisible Man

Hot: The Trial of the Chicago 7

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

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