MTFB Oscar Update: Screenplays / Cinema Eye Honors Awards Nominees / Interviews and Profiles: Rustin, The Holdovers, Saltburn, Poor Things and More

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: SCREENPLAYS

Here's your Oscar Update for today's post.  This is a check on predicted nominees for the Screenplay categories.  They were last posted here on Nov. 6th.  Previous positions on the MTFB Oscar Update Chart are listed to the right in parentheses.  As always TFF films are Bold.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) The Holdovers (2)

2) Barbie (1)

3) Past Lives (3)

4) Maestro (5)

5) Anatomy of a Fall (4)

Alternates: May December, Air, Saltburn.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Oppenheimer (1)

2) Poor Things (3)

3) American Fiction (4)

4) Killers of the Flower Moon (2)

5) All of Us Strangers (5)

Alternates: The Zone of Interest, The Color Purple and Dumb Money. 

Coming Thursday, I'll update Best Picture and Direction.

If my current predictions for the Big Eight categories are 100% correct here's where TFF films stand for Oscar nominations.

Poor Things is predicted for six nominations: Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Stone), Supporting Actor (Ruffalo), Supporting Actor (Dafoe) and Adapted Screenplay.

The Holdovers is predicted for four nominations with another two possible: Best Picture, Actor (Giamatti), Supporting Actress (Randolph) and Original Screenplay.  Also possible: Direction and Supporting Actor (Sessa).

Anatomy of a Fall is predicted for two nominations with another couple of possibilities: Best Picture and Original Screenplay.  Also possible: Actress (Huller) and Direction.

The Zone of Interest is predicted for two nominations and another possibility: Best Picture and Direction with an Adapted Screenplay nomination possible.

Nyad is predicted for two nominations: Best Actress (Bening) and Supporting Actress (Foster).

All of Us Strangers is predicted for one nomination with another two possibles: Best Adapted Screenplay and the the other chances are Best Picture and Best Actor.

Rustin is predicted for one nomination for Best Actor (Domingo).

Saltburn isn't predicted for any nominations ...yet but could crack Best Picture, Actor and Original Screenplay.

Total nominations  and other possibilities for these eight TFF film in the Big Eight Oscar Categories: 18 nominations and another 10 possibilities.

CINEMA EYE HONORS AWARDS NOMINEES

The Cinema Eye Honors Awards nominees were announced this week.  The organization awards prizes for excellence in documentary filmmaking.  This year eight TFF films have garnered a total of 18 nominations.  Leading the way for TFF films are Matthew Heineman's American Symphony and Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp's Bobi Wine: The People's President (from TFF #49) with four nominations each.

According to Next Best Picture, here's what TFF films are nominated for:

*American Symphony (4): Best Production, Score, Audience Choice Prize and "Unforgettable".

*Bobi Wine: The People's President (4):  Best Production, Outstanding Debut, Audience Choice Prize and "Unforgettable".

*Anselm (3): Best Direction, Cinematography and Score.

*Beyond Utopia (2): Best Production, Audience Choice Prize.

*The Pigeon Tunnel (2): Best Score and "Unforgettable".

*The Mission (1): Best Visual Design.

*They Shot the Piano Player (1): Best Visual Design.

Orlando: My Political Biography (1): Outstanding Debut.

The Cinema Eye Awards will be announced on Jan. 24th.

INETRVIEWS AND PROFILES: RUSTIN,THE HOLDOVERS, SALTBURN AND MORE

RUSTIN:

Colman Domingo from Awards Watch.

Director George C. Wolfe from Awards Radar.

Screenwriter Julian Breece from Awards Radar.

Screenwriter Julian Breece from Awards Daily.

THE HOLDOVERS

Da'Vine Joy Randolph from Vanity Fair.

Da'Vine Joy Randolph from Variety.

Alexander Payne from A. Frame.

SALTBURN

Jacob Elordi, Barry Keoghan and Emerald Fennell from Variety.

Rosamund Pike from Awards Watch.

Emerald Fennell from Awards Watch.

Composer Anthony Willis from Gold Derby. 

NYAD

Annette Bening and Jodie Foster from Awards Daily.

POOR THINGS

Cinematographer Robbie Ryan from Variety.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (TWITTER): @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

BLUE SKY: https://bsky.app/profile/gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

Oscar Update: Supporting Acting / Trailers: Werner Herzog-Radical Dreamer / Interviews and Profiles: Payne, Haigh and More

OSCAR UPDATE: SUPPORTING ACTING

Here's MTFB's first Oscar Update for the Supporting Acting categories since the original set of predictions On Sept. 25th.  As usual TFF #50 films are in Bold.  A film's previous position on the MTFB Oscar chart is listed in parentheses.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Da'Vine Joy Randoplh/The Holdovers (1)

2) Emily Blunt/Oppenheimer (2)

3) Jodie Foster/Nyad (3)

4) Danielle Brooks/The Color Purple (5)

5) Julianne Moore/May December (4)

Alternates: America Ferrera/Barbie, Rosamund Pike/Saltburn, Viola Davis/Air and Taraji P. Henson/The Color Purple

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Robert Downey, Jr./Oppenheimer (1)

2) Ryan Gosling/Barbie (3)

3) Robert DeNiro/Killers of the Flower Moon (4)

4) Mark Ruffalo/Poor Things (2)

5) Willem Dafoe/Poor Things (5)

Alternates: Charles Melton/May December, Dominic Sessa/The Holdovers, Sterling K. Brown/American Fiction.

 

I'll update the screenplay categories next week.

TRAILERS: WERNER HERZOG-RADICAL DREAMER

From Shout Studios we have the U.S. trailer for TFF #49 entrant Werner Herzog-Radical Dreamer.  The documentary is set for release on Dec. 5th.  Here's the trailer from YouTube:  

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES: PAYNE, HAIGH AND MORE

Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi on the set of Free Solo

Alexander Payne on The Holdovers from The Los Angeles Times.

Alexander Payne on The Holdovers from Uproxx.

Andrew Haigh on All of Us Strangers from Indiewire.

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin on Nyad from Indiewire.

Ilker Catak on The Teachers' Lounge from Awards Radar.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (TWITTER): @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

BLUE SKY: https://bsky.app/profile/gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

Byron Allen Gets Friendly With Hostiles / The Stanton Oscar Express Making Headway? / New Poster for Film Stars / First Reformed Added to NYFF

Welcome to the first Thursday in October...


BYRON ALLEN GETS FRIENDLY WITH HOSTILES

After having premiered at Telluride and playing Toronto and being announced as the opening film for the Rome Film Fest, Scott Cooper's Hostiles has finally gained distribution.

The news was revealed Tuesday that Byron Allen's fledgling Entertainment Studios.  Reports suggested that plans for the film will include an Oscar qualifying release before the end of the year and a wider release in January.

Those plans mean that Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike are probably both part of the awards conversation for acting honors and that the film could be a player in the Best Picture, Direction and Screenplay categories as well.

The film was received in a generally positive way at both Telluride and Toronto especially Bale for his portrayal of a 19th century U.S. Army Captain charged with escorting a Native American Chief (Wes Studi) to Montana from New Mexico.  The film  currently has a 67 on Rotten Tomatoes and a 63 from Metacritic.

Further coverage is here from:

Variety

Indiewire



THE STANTON OSCAR EXPRESS MAKING HEADWAY?


FOr those that have been following along, the Harry Dean Stanton for Best Actor Oscar campaign may have gotten a boost this week as Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporters chief awards writer, included Stanton in his latest Feinberg Forecast,

Feinberg, doing an update of FF at the halfway mark of the New York Film Festival lists HDS as a "New" entrant on the race as a part pf a group he labels as "Major Threats".  That puts the late Stanton in Feinberg's top 12 for Oscar Best Actor.

The complete and updated version of The Feinberg Forecast is here



.NEW POSTER FOR FILM STARS


Paul McGuigan's Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool starring Annette Bening as film star Gloria Grahame and Jamie Bell has a new poster as it moves towards its Dec. 29th limited release date in the U.S..  The film is under the umbrella of Sony Pictures Classics. and in addition to having premiered at Telluride played Toronto and will play London, Mill Valley and Middleburg.

Check the new poster:

Also take a look at the story from The Express (UK).


FIRST REFORMED ADDED TO NYFF

A24 announced earlier this week that Paul Schrader's First Reformed has been added to the lineup of the on-going New York Film Festival.  The film played Telluride, Venice and Toronto.  The film stars Ethan Hawke and Amanda Seyfried.

It is scheduled to screen tomorrow evening at 6:00pm in Alice Tully Hall.  A release date has not yet been set.

Here's the rundown from NYFF.

TFF #44 Comes to a Close / Send Me Your Film Ratings

TFF #44 COMES TO A CLOSE

Reporting from the road home...

The 44th Telluride Film Festival came to a close last night.  I have to admit that I had a great time this weekend.

As I am headed home, I thought I'd share a few random thoughts

1) I have to thank the fest first for, again, accrediting me as a journalist.  That allowed some ease of access to films that was immeasurably useful.  The Fest doesn't have to do that but they have been kind enough to do so for a number of years now.

2) Thanks to so many of you that were kind enough to share that you do follow the blog.  It overwhelms me that anyone pays attention to what I write here but I'm glad that you do.  Also, there were a good number of faithful readers and new followers that I didn't get to run into and that makes me sad.  Keep in touch folks.

3) I really have to underscore my appreciation to all of you that responded to the appeal for my wife to meet Guillermo Del Toro.  I was stunned at how a number of people reached out with solid suggestions and sources to try to make that happen.  So many of you were rooting for us.  And thanks to Guillermo Del Toro himself who was beautifully gracious and warm when the moment did present itself.

4) I saw ten films during the weekend and liked most of them but I don't think I necessarily saw a great film.  Lots of good films though.  I'll have more on that later this week (Thursday).

Me and Oscar winner Barry Jenkins at The Palm 

5) The famous and beautiful...in addition to Del Toro I got to have a moment or two to renew my acquaintance with Oscar winner Barry Jenkins and spoke Saturday with the fantastic Richard Jenkins who I hope gets some notice from The Academy come Oscar time.

Rosamund Pike and Richard Jenkins at the Fox Searchlight Party Saturday night.

I also stood next to Rosamund Pike for a good long time Saturday night and restrained myself from injecting myself into her convo. But I kind of wanted to.

Telluride Film's Instagram from Sunday.  Lower right corner is me talking to the fab Sasha Stone of Awards Daily

6) Professional friends.  It was beyond fantastic to get a few moments to gab with friends that are true pros in the business of covering film.  They're people of been unfailingly kind and generous to me as I have tried to figure out what this blog is and should be.  Special shout outs to Sasha Stone/Awards Daily, Kris Tapley/Variety, Tomris Laffly/FSR and others, Mark Johnson/Awards Circuit.

7) Also thanks again to all the industry press pros that are taking part in this years Professional film ratings.  People that don't have to do that but who do.

8) Finally,a big thank you to my wife and brother who were my companions and shared the weekend with me.  They both made the logistics of the weekend much, much more manageable.

I'll have a nice post on Thursday that will focus on the critical reactions to the films that played TFF #44, my take on the ten films I saw and a rundown on MTFB's effectiveness for TFF#44.

WHILE YOU WAIT FOR THAT...DON'T FORGET TO SEND ME YOUR FILM RATINGS!!!

As I write this on Monday evening, I've already received the first 10-12 sets of ratings from readers. Remember use a 0-5 scale and you can get that info to me in any of the ways listed below.

More on Thursday...


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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Wells Seconds the La La Land Notion / United Kingdom to Open BFI Fest / Moving Dates

Good Tuesday.  Summer officially started yesterday.  It felt like it here in the Oklahoma Panhandle and we were not remotely the hottest place in the country.  Air conditioning..thank you.


WELLS SECONDS THE LA LA LAND NOTION

I wrote yesterday that the over-the-weekend announcement that Damien Chazelle's musical-La La Land as the opening film for the Venice Film Festival actually may boost its profile in as far as a play at Telluride is concerned.

I noted that 3 of the last six Venice openers have also made the trek to T-ride (Birdman, Gravity and Black Swan).

That notion got some support yesterday in a late afternoon post from Jeff Wells/Hollywood Elsewhere.  Wells, writing about what he perceives, at least at this point, a somewhat lackluster Oscar slate of films,  mentioned the Chazelle film and connected it to both Venice and Telluride.  It's the only mention of Telluride in the article.

Take a look at Wells' complete post here:

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2016/06/concerns-about-weak-tea/



UNITED KINGDOM WILL OPEN BFI  FEST

Still via The Hollywood Reporter

It was announced in Great Britain earlier today-Amma Asante's A United Kingdom will open the British Film Institute's Film Fest.  This is notable for a couple of reasons. 1) The opener the last two years has made its first showing at Telluride: Suffragette last year and The Imitation Game in 2014.  Additionally, the story from The Hollywood Reporter characterizes the screening as the film's European Premiere which probably signals a play at either Telluride. Toronto or both.

The film stars David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike.  Oyelowo plays the King of Bechauanaland whose marriage to a white woman in 1947 resulted in fierce opposition from Britain and  South Africa.

Here's the link to the THR story:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/london-festival-open-united-kingdom-904889



MOVING DATES

photo via Screen Rant

News yesterday that some films that have been floating in and around my Telluride consciousness have been announced with shifts in release dates.  Most notably Warners' move up of to Ben Affleck's Live by Night to Jan. 13, 2017.  There is a good deal of speculation that it will likely get a limited run at the end of 2016 to qualify for Oscar consideration.  What had been a film that I thought might be a 2017 T-ride consideration now appears to be off the radar for 2016 as well.  Seems to me to be a very late debut for a film that would have to be ready to screen at T-ride almost four months before.  It's not impossible, but it's probably not making it to the San Juans.

Also, we learned that The Zookeeper's Wife from director Niki Caro has now been dated for Mar. 31, 2017 which truly takes it out of consideration for Telluride both this year and next.

I have linked a number of posts about the shift in dates:

http://theplaylist.net/jessica-chastain-vehicle-zookeepers-wife-will-skip-awards-season-lego-movie-sequel-delayed-20160620/

http://collider.com/ben-affleck-live-by-night-release-date-change/

http://deadline.com/2016/06/lego-movie-live-by-night-bastards-geostorm-warner-bros-release-dates-shifted-1201774989/

http://screenrant.com/live-by-night-ben-affleck-release-date-2017/

Contact MTFB at:

mpgort@gmail.com

OR on Twitter @Gort2

OR check out Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse-107846269309712/

OR leave a comment...