End of the Year Looks: Son of Saul / 45 Years / Suffragette / Beasts of No Nation / Spotlight / 10 Films That Could be Telluride Bound

Good Monday everyone...

As we come to the close of 2105. I have included a number of posts/articles about TFF #42 films that continue to make their mark and be a part of the end of the year awards conversations:

SON OF SAUL

http://www.thewrap.com/son-of-saul-director-talks-revisiting-holocaust-hell-for-new-take-on-genre-exclusive-video/

http://puls.ly/RWc8zg#http://moviemezzanine.com/laszlo-nemes-and-geza-rohrig-on-son-of-saul/


45 YEARS

http://www.wsj.com/articles/45-years-marriage-under-the-ice-1449764341


SUFFRAGETTE

http://www.thewrap.com/carey-mulligan-on-getting-suffragette-right-we-didnt-want-it-to-feel-like-a-costume-drama-exclusive-video/


BEASTS OF NO NATION

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yk6VP2rBe0&feature=youtu.be&a


SPOTLIGHT

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/how-open-road-ceo-tom-ortenberg-shepherded-spotlight-to-oscar-frontrunner-20151223


TEN FILMS THAT COULD BE FUTURE TELLURIDE-BOUND

I am constantly scouring the interwebs for films that are in development or announced that might end up being Telluride choices.  The details that catch my interest can be varied but include a heavy emphasis on directors and distributors.  With that in mind, here are ten films culled over the last six months or so that could be a part of Telluride's  lineup over the next two or three years.  (Of course, NONE of these could end up there as well).   In no particular order:

1) "Werk Ohne Autor" from Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-lives-of-others-director-florian-henckel-von-donnersmarck-to-helm-drama-werk-ohne-autor-20151215

2) "The Salesman" from Asghar Farhadi:

http://thefilmstage.com/news/details-emerge-on-asghar-farhadis-iran-set-drama-the-salesman-as-first-cast-members-are-set/

3) "Distant Vision" from Francis Ford Coppola:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/francis-ford-coppola-explains-his-847610

http://thefilmstage.com/news/francis-ford-coppola-reveals-title-of-and-new-plans-for-next-feature/

4) "Wonderstruck" from Todd Haynes:

http://www.thewrap.com/julianne-moore-todd-haynes-wonderstruck-amazon-studios/

http://edit.hollywoodreporter.com/news/julianne-moore-reteam-todd-haynes-840629

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/julianne-moore-re-teams-with-todd-haynes-for-wonderstruck-20151116

http://thefilmstage.com/news/julianne-moore-reteams-with-todd-haynes-for-wonderstruck-watch-30-minute-carol-talk-with-cate-blanchett/

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/julianne-moore-todd-haynes-wonderstruck-1201641627/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/julianne-moore-reteams-with-todd-haynes-for-wonderstruck-20151116


5) "Sunset" from Laszlo Nemes:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/son-of-saul-director-laszlo-nemes-to-helm-pre-wwi-thriller-sunset-20151130


6) The next Michael Haneke/ "Happy End" project (since there will be no "Flashmob"):

http://thefilmstage.com/news/isabelle-huppert-to-reteam-with-michael-haneke/


7) "Porno" from Danny Boyle:

http://www.movienewsguide.com/danny-boyle-returns-trainspotting-sequel-porno-original-cast-returning/91614

8) "The Sisters Brothers" from Jacques Audiard:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/john-c-reilly-to-star-in-a-prophet-director-jacques-audiards-english-language-western-the-sisters-brothers-20150824

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/palme-dor-winner-jacques-audiard-817151


9) "Neruda" from Pablo Larrain:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-look-gael-garcia-bernal-in-pablo-larrains-noir-ish-cat-and-mouse-drama-neruda-20150724


10) "Comancheria" from David Mackenzie:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/starred-up-director-david-mackenzie-now-shooting-comancheria-with-chris-pine-ben-foster-and-jeff-bridges-20150804


That'll do for Monday...come back on Thursday for the final MTFB for the year!

Contact me at:

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to


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Gurus of Gold and Others Updated Oscar Forecasts / Critical Take on 2015 Gets Deeper / Lots About "Spotlight"

Good Christmas Eve and Thursday morning...


GURUS OF GOLD AND OTHERS UPDATED OSCAR FORECASTS

Move City News has an updated chart this morning for six major categories.  TFF films lay out like this in their latest tally of Oscar experts:

Best Picture:

#1 "Spotlight"
#3 "Carol"
#8 "Room"
#12 "Steve Jobs"

Best Director

#2 Tom McCarthy/"Spotlight"
#4 Todd Haynes/"Carol"
#7 Lenny Abrahamson/"Room"


Best Actress:

#1 Brie Larson/"Room"
#3 Cate Blanchett/"Carol"
#5 Charlotte Rampling/"45 Years"
#6 Carey Mulligan/"Suffragette"

Best Actor:

#3 Michael Fassbender/"Steve Jobs"
#6 Johnny Depp/"Black Mass"


Best Supporting Actress:

#1 Rooney Mara/"Carol"
#3 Kate Winslet/"Steve Jobs"
#6 Rachel McAdams/"Spotlight"

Best Supporting Actor:

#3 Idris Elba/"Beasts of No Nation"
#4 Michael Keaton/"Spotlight"
#5 Mark Ruffalo/"Spotlight"
#7 Michael Shannon/"99 Homes" (TFF #41)
#8 Jacob Tremblay/"Room"


The Gurus indicate 14 Oscar nominations for Telluride films on these six categories with another seven possibles/trade-offs.

The complete Gurus can be found here:

http://moviecitynews.com/2015/12/gurus-o-gold-you-better-vote-good-for-goodness-sake/

Meanwhile, The Five Star Flicks Blog has continued its project of gathering data from many Oscar prognostication sources and crunching those numbers for the Best Picture race in a different manner. Their cumulative chart has the following for BP:

#1 "Spotlight"
#4 "Room"
#6 "Carol"
#12 "Steve Jobs"
#16 "Beasts of No Nation"


That complete chart is here:

http://fivestarflicks.blogspot.com/2015/12/state-of-race-best-picture-as-of-122315.html


CRITICAL TAKE ON 2015

Metacritic continues to gather data from Critics' year end top ten lists (they're up over 160 lists so far) and here's where Telluride films rank (within their top twenty):

#2 "Carol"
#3 "Spotlight"
#8 "Son of Saul" (tie)
#8 "Anomalisa" (tie)
#10 "45 Years"
#14 "Room"
#16 "The Look of Silence" (TFF #41)


That's an incredibly impressive seven films on the cumulative top twenty from TFF.

The complete Metacritic list is here:

http://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critics-list-the-top-10-movies-of-2015


LOTS ON "SPOTLIGHT"

Somewhat tenaciously and against the odds, "Spotlight" has continued to seem like a quiet Oscar front runner for many weeks now.  As such, it continues to be spotlighted, if you'll pardon the expression, in a number of outlets in a number of ways.  Here is a sampling of some of then latest including discussions from its producer, director, actors and musical director:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/how-open-road-ceo-tom-ortenberg-shepherded-spotlight-to-oscar-frontrunner-20151223

http://thefilmstage.com/news/morricone-talks-the-hateful-eight-thomas-mccarthy-analyzes-spotlight-45-years-tangerine-talks-and-more/

http://www.thewrap.com/spotlight-director-tom-mccarthy-talks-researching-disturbing-church-scandal-video/

http://www.thewrap.com/spotlight-star-michael-keaton-talks-actors-journalists-and-their-egos/

http://www.thewrap.com/how-mark-ruffalo-learned-to-play-an-excitable-journalist-in-spotlight-video/

http://www.thewrap.com/spotlight-star-rachel-mcadams-talks-learning-to-listen-like-a-journalist-exclusive-video/

http://www.awardsdaily.com/2015/12/23/interview-howard-shore-talks-composing-spotlight/


That's it for Thursday.  For all those that celebrate Christmas...I hope your tomorrow is fantastic. MTFB will return Monday with more...

Contact me at:

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to


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Updated FAC for Oscars Four Major Categories / American Film Institute's Top Ten Films for 2015 / The Latest Gurus of Gold

Welcome to Thursday...

As promised, here is your update of four major Oscar categories:

THE UPDATED FILM AWARDS CLEARINGHOUSE/MAJOR FOUR CATEGORIES

Many of the professionals listed below will often write that precursors like the Golden Globes and SAG nominations as well as critical top tens don't really move the needle as far as Oscar voters go. And yet...as you look at these categories that are updated from their last post from about three weeks ago...the number crunching of their thinking tells a different story.

"Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Trumbo's" Bryan Cranston have jumped into serious contention precisely because of the announcement of year end accolades from the various precursors.  "Joy" has dropped like a stone after spending the past several months comfortably regarded as a serious contender in a number of categories.

"The Martian" continues to be regarded well but I have serious concerns that the main categories will accommodate it and "Mad Max".

For the purpose of The FAC I gather data from the publicly posted predictions of the following:

Erik Anderson/Awards Watch
Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Peter Knegt/Indiewire
Joey Magidson/Hollywood News
Nathaniel Rogers/Film Experience
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Kristopher Tapley/Variety-InContention
Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood

TFF #42 films are in Bold.

The positions that these possible nominees had in our last look at these categories is indicated in parenthesis.



BEST PICTURE

1) Spotlight (1)
2) The Martian (3)
3) The Revenant (2)
4) Room (4)
5) Brooklyn (6)
6) Carol (10)
7) Mad Max: Fury Road (NR)
8) The Big Short (12)


9) Bridge of Spies (5)
10) Inside Out (9)
11) Steve Jobs (8)
12) The Hateful Eight (11)

Hot: Carol, Mad Max:Fury Road, The Big Short
Not: Bridge of Spies, Steve Jobs, Joy

Comment:  "Fury Road" is red hot and "Joy" is dead as can be as it dropped completely off the chart.  Not one of these experts thinks it will get a Best Picture nomination.  It's fall from grace makes me a little dizzy.  "Spotlight" nailed a perfect score from these Oscarologists.

BEST DIRECTOR

1) Tom McCarthy/Spotlight (1)
2) Ridley Scott/The Martian (3)
3) Alejandro Inarritu/The Revenant (2)
4) George Miller/Mad Max:Fury Road (7)
5) Todd Haynes/Carol (8)

6) Steven Spielberg/Bridge of Spies (4)
7) Lenny Abrahamson/Room (5)
8) Quentin Tarantino/The Hateful Eight (10)
9) John Crowley/Brooklyn (NR)
10) Adam McKay/The Big Short (NR)

Hot: Miller, Haynes, Tarantino, Crowley, McKay
Not: Spielberg, Abrahamson, Boyle, Russell

Comment: The upward trajectory for Haynes and Miller reveal that they are thought to be serious Best Picture contenders as well.

BEST ACTRESS

1) Brie Larson/Room (1)
2) Saorise Ronan/Brooklyn (3)
3) Cate Blanchett/Carol (4)
4) Charlotte Rampling/45 Years (5)
5) Jennifer Lawrence/Joy (2)

6) Rooney Mara/Carol (NR)
7) Carey Mulligan/Suffragette (6)
8) Lily Tomlin/Grandma (8)
9) Helen Mirren/Woman in Gold (NR)
10) Sarah Silverman/I Smile Back (NR)

Hot: Mara, Mirren, Silverman
Not: Lawrence, Danner, Smith, Blanchett (Truth)

Comment:  Nothing better illustrates the fall of "Joy" than Jennifer Lawrence's drop to the #5 spot and fighting to stay on as a likely nominee.  She's still way out front of Rooney Mara (whose presence here indicates a potential rejection of the decision to campaign her in the Supporting category) but the drop over the last three weeks has been precipitous.

BEST ACTOR

1) Leonardo DiCaprio/The Revenant (1)
2) Michael Fassbender/Steve Jobs (2)
3) Eddie Redmayne/The Danish Girl (3)
4) Matt Damon/The Martian (5)
5) Bryan Cranston/Trumbo (NR)

6) Johnny Depp/Black Mass (4)
7) Will Smith/Concussion (7)
8) Ian McKellen/Mr. Holmes (9)
9) Michael Caine/Youth (6)
10) Steve Carell/The Big Short (10)

Hot: Cranston
Not: Depp, Caine, Hanks

Comment: Bryan Cranston's jump into contention has been stratospheric.  I still have serious reservations about Damon making the top five.

If these predictions are 100% accurate, then films/performers from Telluride will earn nine nominations in these four categories with an additional five possibilities.


I'll update the Supporting Acting and Screenplay Oscar predictions in Monday's edition of MTFB/FAC.


AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTES'S TOP TEN FILMS

The AFI announced their list of the Ten Best films of 2015 yesterday and three Telluride Film Fest films made the grade: "Carol", "Room" and "Spotlight".  Other films making the AFI Top Ten included:

"The Big Short"
"Bridge of Spies"
"Inside Out"
"Mad Max:Fury Road"
"The Martian"
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
"Straight Outta Compton"

Left out: "The Revenant", "Joy", "Creed", "Steve Jobs", "Black Mass" and "The Hateful Eight".

Last year the AFI list included 11 films:

"American Sniper"
"Birdman"
"Boyhood"
"Foxcatcher"
"The Imitation Game"
"Interstellar"
"Into the Woods"
"Nightcrawler"
"Selma"
"Unbroken"
"Whiplash"


I've included links to this coverage of the AFI announcement:

https://variety.com/2015/film/in-contention/afi-awards-honorees-star-wars-mr-robot-1201662848/

http://www.awardsdaily.com/2015/12/16/avi-top-ten-2015/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/star-wars-force-awakens-lands-849517



THE LATEST GURUS OF GOLD

Movie City News was up yesterday with an updated posting for the Gurus of Gold.  Their list of Best Picture cumulative predictions has TFF films as follows:

"Spotlight" #1
"Carol" #3
"Room" #8
"Steve Jobs" #11
"Beasts of No Nation" #17

The complete Gurus update is here:

http://moviecitynews.com/2015/12/gurus-o-gold-what-underdogs-are-still-barking/

Additionally, Sasha Stone at Awards Daily broke down the implications of the latest from the Gurus in this post yesterday:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/2015/12/16/at-last-a-consensus-emerges-in-the-best-picture-race/#


That'll do for now.  I'll post anew on Monday...

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mpgort@gmail.com OR

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The Cumulative FAC Recap (at This Point) / Oscar Matters: Podcasting Oscar / Interviews and Profiles: "Carol", "Suffragette", "Son of Saul", "Room", "Steve Jobs" and "Spotlight"

Welcome to Monday and here's hoping that everyone had a safe and joyful Thanksgiving holiday...

THE CUMULATIVE FAC RECAP (AT THIS POINT)

Over the past two weeks or so, I have posted the third update for the "Big Eight" Oscar categories (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actress and Actor and Adapted and Original Screenplays) as well as four additional categories (Film Editing, Cinematography, Documentary Feature and Foreign Language Film).  I haven't yet tackled the other dozen categories that Oscar will reward in February (Animated Feature, Original Song and Score, Production Design, Costumes, Makeup/Hair, Visual Effects, Sound Mixing and Editing, and the Shorts: Live Action, Animation and Documentary).  Those will come later as we get closer to nomination time (Jan. 14).

As we find ourselves on the cusp of end-of-the-year lists of the best in film making (The National Board of Review announces their top films tomorrow while the New York Film Critics Circle announces on Wednesday, The Los Angeles critics announce this coming weekend), I thought it'd be useful to collect all twelve of the categories that have been posted here in the last two weeks in one post.  So here they are:

For the purpose of The FAC I gather data from the publicly posted predictions of the following:

Erik Anderson/Awards Watch
Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Peter Knegt/Indiewire
Joey Magidson/Hollywood News
Nathaniel Rogers/Film Experience
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Kristopher Tapley/Variety-InContention
Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood

TFF #42 films are in Bold.

The positions that these possible nominees had in our last look at these categories is indicated in parenthesis.


BEST PICTURE

"Spotlight" trailer via YouTube

1) Spotlight (1)
2) The Revenant (3)
3) The Martian (12)
4) Room (5)
5) Bridge of Spies (6)
6) Brooklyn (4)
7) Joy (7)
8) Steve Jobs (2)

9) Inside Out (11)
10) Carol (10)
11) The Hateful Eight (9)
12) The Big Short (NR)

Hot: "The Martian", "Inside Out", "The Big Short"
Cold: "Brooklyn", Steve Jobs", "The Hateful Eight" and "The Danish Girl" which dropped off the list entirely.
Comment:  "The Martian" change and the "Steve Jobs" box office debacle have really shaken this race up.  I'm not so sure that "Jobs" is completely out of this as Fassbender still has a lot of Best Actor support (see below).  At this point, I could see any of the top four films taking the big prize...and yes, I'm including "Room" in that assessment.  People really love the film and its strength is reflected in Lenny Abrahamson's climb in the director's race and Brie Larson's support in the Best Actress race.  Remember too, that it won the Toronto audience award and finished in the top spot in my collection of viewers' ratings for The People's Telluride.


BEST DIRECTION

"Room" trailer via YouTube

1) Tom McCarthy/Spotlight (1)
2) Alejandro Inarritu/The Revenant (3)
3) Ridley Scott/The Martian (7)
4) Steven Spielberg/Bridge of Spies (5)
5) Lenny Abrahamson/Room (NR)

6) David O. Russell/Joy (4)
7) George Miller/Mad Max: Fury Road (10)
8) Todd Haynes/Carol (8)
9) Danny Boyle/Steve Jobs (2)
10) Quentin Tarantino/The Hateful Eight (6)

Hot: Scott, Abrahamson and Miller.
Cold: Russell, Boyle and Tom Hooper (Danish Girl)
Comment:Danny Boyle's fall also underscores the drop in prospects for "Steve Jobs" as Abrahamson's ascendance emphasizes the popularity of "Room".  Also, "The Danish Girl" is taking a hit in both Picture and Directing categories.  Eddie Redmayne still seems to be competitive in the Best Actor category (see below).


BEST ACTRESS

"Carol" trailer via YouTube

1) Brie Larson/Room (1)
2) Jennifer Lawrence/Joy (2)
3) Saorise Ronan/Brooklyn (3)
4) Cate Blanchett/Carol (4)
5) Charlotte Rampling/45 Years (6)

6) Carey Mulligan/Suffragette (5)
7) Blythe Danner/I'll See You in My Dreams (10)
8) Lily Tomlin/Grandma (7)
9) Maggie Smith/The Lady in the Van (9)
10) Cate Blanchett/Truth (8)

Hot: Danner
Cold: Blanchett in "Truth"
Comment: A remarkably steady category.  Larson is the closest thing to a lock in any of the four major categories in a year where "locks" have been few and far between.


BEST ACTOR

"Steve Jobs" trailer via YouTube

1) Leonardo DiCaprio/The Revenant (3)
2) Michael Fassbender/Steve Jobs (1)
3) Eddie Redmayne/The Danish Girl (2)
4) Johnny Depp/Black Mass (4)
5) Matt Damon/The Martian (6)

6) Michael Caine/Youth (5)
7) Will Smith/Concussion (8)
8) Tom Hanks/Bridge of Spies (7)
9) Ian McKellen/Mr. Holmes (9)
10) Steve Carell/The Big Short (10)


Hot: DiCaprio
Cold:  No one really.
Comment:  Both Fassbender and Redmayne stay in the thick of the race despite their films having suffered some serious doubts in the Picture and Directing categories.  The same could be said for Johnny Depp.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Alicia Vikander/The Danish Girl (1)
2) Rooney Mara/Carol (2)
3) Kate Winslet/Steve Jobs (3)
4) Jane Fonda/Youth (5)
5) Jennifer Jason Leigh/The Hateful Eight (4)

6) Elizabeth Banks/Love and Mercy (7)
7) Rachel McAdams/Spotlight (6)
8) Joan Allen/Room (8)
9) Julie Walters/Brooklyn (9)
10) Jessica Chastain/The Martian (NR)

Hot: Chastain
Not: Kristen Stewart/Clouds of Sils Maria
Comment: Chastain's jump onto the list might signal the strength of "The Martian" while the resilience of Vikander suggests that my theory that "Danish Girl" is weak may be completely off. Additionally, Winslet stays steady, so "Steve Jobs" may not be as weak as a lot of people have been thinking.  Finally, Rooney Mara's Indie Spirit nomination in the lead category might signal that she could move out of this category come Oscar nomination morning.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Mark Ruffalo/Spotlight (3)
2) Michael Keaton/Spotlight (1)
3) Mark Rylance/Bridge of Spies (4)
4) Tom Hardy/The Revenant (2)
5) Jacob Tremblay/Room (6)

6) Paul Dano/Love and Mercy
7) Bencio Del Toro/Sicario (8)
8) Sylvester Stallone/Creed (NR)
9) Idris Elba/Beasts of No Nation (5)
10) Harvey Keitel/Youth (10)

Hot: Ruffalo and Stallone
Not: Hardy, Elba and Joel Edgerton/Black Mass-who dropped off the top ten.
Comment:  The big story here is there serious emergence of Stallone as a player in the category.  As I write this on Thanksgiving morning, "Creed" is reportedly opened to banging box office and the reviews have been good.  Lookout for Stallone!

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Steve Jobs (1)
2) Room (3)
3) Brooklyn (2)
4) The Martian (7)
5) The Revenant (4)

6) Anomalisa (6)
7) Carol (5)
8) The Big Short (9)
9) The Danish Girl (8)
10) 45 Years (NR)

Hot: "The Martian" and "45 Years"
Not: "Carol" and "Beats of No Nation"
Comment: "Beasts falls out of the top ten.  It'll be interesting to see if it gets a boost from its Indy Spirit nominations (see below)


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Spotlight (1)
2) Inside Out (2)
3) The Hateful Eight (4)
4) Bridge of Spies (5)
5) Joy (3)

6) Youth (6)
7) Sicario (7)
8) Love and Mercy (9)
9) Son of Saul (8)
10) Trainwreck (NR)

Hot: "Trainwreck"
Not: "Joy" and "Suffragette" which drops way off the top ten list.
Comment:"Spotlight" in this category is the only leader in any of the dozen categories that The FAC has looked at over these past three months since Telluride concluded to hit a perfect score.


BEST FILM EDITING

1) The Revenant
2) Spotlight
3) Mad Max: Fury Road
4) Bridge of Spies
5) Steve Jobs

6) The Martian
7) Joy
8) Sicario
9) The Hateful Eight
10) Jurassic Park

Comment: The category that has become semi-mythical in terms of its pairing with the eventual Best Picture winner seems to be among the top six films here.  Though, any of these ten could get in.


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) The Revenant
2) Sicario
3) Mad Max; Fury Road
4) Carol
5) Bridge of Spies

6) The Hateful Eight
7) The Martian
8) In the Heart of the Sea
9) The Danish Girl
10) Son of Saul

Comment:  The five nominees probably come from the top seven listed here.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

1) Son of Saul
2) Labyrinth of Lies
3) Mustang
4) Second Mother
5) The Assassin

6) Rams
7) Viva
8) Goodnight Mommy
9) The Club
10) A Pigeon Sat on a Branch...

Comment:  This category is largely believed to be about narrowing the field down to the four films that eventually lose to "Son of Saul".  In a year where most categories are still fairly unpredictable, "Saul" might be the surest bet for Oscar of any film in any category.


BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1) Amy
2) The Look of Silence (TFF #41)
3) Going Clear
4) Best of Enemies
5) The Hunting Ground

6) Where Do We Invade Next?
7) He Named Me Malala
8) Listen to Me Marlon
9) Miss Simone
10) Cartel Land


Comment: Reflecting the sense that I got at Telluride this year, there's only one TFF #42 documentary that seems to have a shot this year and "Malala" is playing from behind.  TFF #41's "Look of Silence" looks solid.

If The FAC is 100% on the money, TFF #42 films would earn 22 nominations from these 12 categories with another 15 possibilities.

Since I started doing The FAC, Telluride films average 27 nominations each year.  This year looks like it should end up with about that number of nominations.


OSCAR MATTERS: PODCASTING OSCARS

Here are links to the most popular and influential podcasts that focus on the Oscar Race including Oscar Poker with Sasha Stone ans Jeffrey Wells (Awards Daily and Hollywood Elsewhere), Screen Talk with Anne Thompson and Eric Kohn (Thompson on Hollywood and Indiewire), Awards Chatter with Scott Feinberg (The Hollywood Reporter), Erik Anderson (Awards Watch) and Oscar Predictions Smackdown with Tom O'Neill (Gold Derby) and Sasha Stone as his guest:

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2015/11/begins-with-anger-ends-with-acceptance/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/screen-talk-spirit-awards-surprises-whither-inarritus-the-revenant-20151125

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/awards-chatter-podcast-benicio-del-844097

http://awardswatch.com/podcasts/oscar-podcast-31-nbr-and-nyfcc-predix-plus-the-revenant-and-joy-finally-screen/

http://www.goldderby.com/news/10968/oscar-prediction-revenant-leonardo-dicaprio-leo-danish-girl-618372594.html


OSCAR MATTERS: THE PUNDITS' LATEST

Here's the latest in Oscar prognostications for the best in the business both individually and collectively:

Individuals: Sasha Stone/Awards Daily, Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter, Kristopher Tapley/Variety's InContention:


http://www.awardsdaily.com/2015/11/27/predictions-friday-creed-lands/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/awards/predictions/oscars/2015/academy-awards-112515/

http://variety.com/2015/film/in-contention/oscar-predictions-oscars-academy-awards-1201600870/

And collectively from The Gurus of Gold and Gold Derby:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/2015/11/27/gurus-goldderby-check-in-thanksgiving-edition/

http://moviecitynews.com/2015/11/gurus-o-gold-14-weeks-to-oscar/

http://moviecitynews.com/2015/11/gurus-o-gold-the-picture-the-men-the-turkey-day-reccomendation/

http://www.goldderby.com/odds/experts/300/



INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES: "CAROL", "SUFFRAGETTE", "SON OF SAUL", "ROOM", "STEVE JOBS" AND "SPOTLIGHT"


"CAROL"

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/cate-blanchett-on-why-carol-is-not-your-average-love-story-20151119

http://www.indiewire.com/article/todd-haynes-explains-the-cinematic-influences-that-impacted-his-carol-20151123

http://www.fandango.com/carol_184244/movieoverview

http://www.indiewire.com/article/watch-rooney-mara-and-cate-blanchett-forbidden-romance-blossoms-in-these-carol-clips-20151123

https://amp.twimg.com/v/c4bb3e9d-0133-4b7f-8c84-0994f96d33a6


'SUFFRAGETTE"

http://www.hitfix.com/the-dartboard/check-out-an-exclusive-featurette-featuring-carey-mulligan-in-suffragette

http://variety.com/video/suffragette-carey-mulligan-watch/

http://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2015/11/suffragette-star-carey-mulligan-talks-about-film-womens-rights/


'SON OF SAUL"

http://deadline.com/2015/11/son-of-saul-laszlo-nemes-geza-rohrig-the-contenders-video-1201637711/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/how-son-saul-defied-dangers-838149

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/how-son-saul-defied-dangers-838149


"ROOM"

http://www.awardscircuit.com/2015/11/16/interview-brie-larson-discusses-emotional-power-room/


"STEVE JOBS"

http://thefilmstage.com/news/criterions-february-line-up-roger-deakins-jonathan-rosenbaum-danny-boyle-talks-and-more/


"SPOTLIGHT"

http://thefilmstage.com/news/watch-extensive-talks-with-the-real-life-journalists-behind-spotlight-and-the-cast/



That'll do for this Monday.  Come back for more Telluride-centric awards coverage on Thursday...


Contact me at:

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to

Michael's Telluride Film Blog's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse/107846269309712

The FAC and Other Oscar Categories / Oscar Matters: Pods / Focus On: "Spotlight", "Suffragette" and "Black Mass"

It's Thursday.

THE FAC LOOKS AT SOME OTHER OSCAR CATEGORIES

As we hit the mid-point of November, we're edging ever closer to the releases of a slew of year end critic's Ten Best lists.  December is rife with those and that's just around the corner.  They act as a constant reminder that the race for Oscar is about to get really serious.

Consequently, I thought I'd take the time today to run the numbers on a four Oscar categories that we haven't considered here at the FAC thus far for this season.  So today we look at Film Editing, Cinematography, Foreign Language Film and Documentary Feature.


For the purpose of The FAC I gather data from the publicly posted predictions of the following:

Erik Anderson/Awards Watch
Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Peter Knegt/Indiewire
Joey Magidson/Hollywood News
Nathaniel Rogers/Film Experience
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Kristopher Tapley/Variety-InContention
Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood

TFF #42 films are in Bold.


BEST FILM EDITING

1) The Revenant
2) Spotlight
3) Mad Max: Fury Road
4) Bridge of Spies
5) Steve Jobs

6) The Martian
7) Joy
8) Sicario
9) The Hateful Eight
10) Jurassic Park

Comment: The category that has become semi-mythical in terms of its pairing with the eventual Best Picture winner seems to be among the top six films here.  Though, any of these ten could get in.


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) The Revenant
2) Sicario
3) Mad Max; Fury Road
4) Carol
5) Bridge of Spies

6) The Hateful Eight
7) The Martian
8) In the Heart of the Sea
9) The Danish Girl
10) Son of Saul

Comment:  The five nominees probably come from the top seven listed here.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

1) Son of Saul
2) Labyrinth of Lies
3) Mustang
4) Second Mother
5) The Assassin

6) Rams
7) Viva
8) Goodnight Mommy
9) The Club
10) A Pigeon Sat on a Branch...

Comment:  This category is largely believed to be about narrowing the field down to the four films that eventually lose to "Son of Saul".  In a year where most categories are still fairly unpredictable, "Saul" might be the surest bet for Oscar of any film in any category.


BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1) Amy
2) The Look of Silence (TFF #41)
3) Going Clear
4) Best of Enemies
5) The Hunting Ground

6) Where Do We Invade Next?
7) He Named Me Malala
8) Listen to Me Marlon
9) Miss Simone
10) Cartel Land


Comment: Reflecting the sense that I got at Telluride this year, there's only one TFF #42 documentary that seems to have a shot this year and "Malala" is playing from behind.  TFF #41's "Look of Silence" looks solid.

If The FAC is 100% on the money, TFF #42 films earn another five nominations from these four categories with another four possibilities.


OSCAR MATTERS: PODS

Continuing our Thursday theme focused on the latest Oscar info, here are links to Oscar Poker with hosts Sasha Stone of Awards Daily and Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere and with special guest Erik Anderson of Awards Watch:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/podcasts/oscarpoker/episode115.mp3

and Awards Chatter featuring The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/awards-chatter-podcast-michael-moore-838623


And here's a handy overview of over thirty films culled by the staff at Variety that they believe have the largest Oscar potential.  The list includes Telluride #42 films: "Anomalisa", "Beasts of No Nation", "Black Mass", "Carol", "45 Years", "Room", "Son of Saul", "Spotlight", "Steve Jobs" and "Suffragette".  Here's the link to the complete list:


http://variety.com/gallery/best-pictures-oscar-contenders-2015/


FOCUS ON: "SPOTLIGHT", "SUFFRAGETTE" AND "BLACK MASS"

This section includes interviews from "Suffragette" director Sarah Gavron, "Black Mass' star Johnny Depp and "Spotlight" director Tom McCarthy.  There's also a link to a dissection of "Spotlight" from Uproxx:


Sarah Gavron:

http://theyoungfolks.com/review/sarah-gavron-interview-suffragette/66460

Johnny Depp:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/afi-fest-johnny-depp-talks-black-mass-auditioning-for-the-coen-brothers-working-with-scott-cooper-more-20151109

Tom McCarthy:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/telluride-director-tom-mccarthy-puts-spotlight-on-sexually-predatory-catholic-priests-20150908

"Spotlight" feature:

http://uproxx.com/movies/2015/11/spotlight-inside-story/


That's the Thursday edition of MTFB/FAC.  Come back on Monday for more and have a great weekend...

Contact me at:

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to

Michael's Telluride Film Blog's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse/107846269309712

"Anomalisa" Trailer / Abi Morgan and "Suffragette" / "Spotlight" in the T.V. Spotlight / Oscar Matters: The Gurus Speak and Oscar Poker

Good Thursday to All...

"ANOMALISA" TRAILER

A lot of fanfare occurred this week with the release of a trailer for Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson's stop motion animated "Anomalisa" which was a big hit among the Professionals at Telluride according to their responses to my informal survey posted last month.  Check the trailer here and a number of stories that announced its release below:

"Anomalisa" trailer via YouTube

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/anomalisa-trailer-charlie-kaufman-1201631571/

http://www.indiewire.com/article/watch-anomalisa-trailer-introduces-charlie-kaufman-weird-and-wonderful-stop-motion-world-20151102

http://thefilmstage.com/trailer/charlie-kaufman-returns-with-first-trailer-for-anomalisa/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-trailer-for-charlie-kaufmans-stop-motion-animated-film-anomalisa-20151102

ABI MORGAN AND "SUFFRAGETTE"

"Suffragette" scribe Abi Morgan talks to Word and Film about the film:

http://www.wordandfilm.com/2015/11/mavericks-movement-a-qa-with-suffragette-writer-abi-morgan/

"SPOTLIGHT" IN THE T.V. SPOTLIGHT

"Spotlight" from director/writer Tom McCarthy dropped a 30 second television spot this week.  The film opens Friday.  Check the exclusive online posting of the T.V. spot at Indiewire here:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/watch-exclusive-spotlight-tv-spot-teases-one-of-the-years-best-films-20151029

OSCAR MATTERS: THE GURUS SPEAK

Movie City News has their first installment of The Gurus of Gold posted for the 2015-16 Oscar campaign.  The first pass includes Best Picture, Director and all four Acting categories.  Of interest to Telluride aficionados might be the following about TFF #42 films from the various categories:

Best Picture: "Spotlight" at #1 (barely edging "The Martian"), "Room" at #3, "Steve Jobs" at #8 and "Carol" at #9.  "Son of Saul" is at the #13 spot and "Beasts of No Nation' and "45 Years" each had a vote from the Gurus.

Best Direction: McCarthy/"Spotlight" #1, Haynes/"Carol" #7, Boyle/"Jobs" #8, Abrahamson/"Room" #9 and Nemes/"Saul" #10

Best Actress: Larson/"Room" #1, Blanchett/"Carol" #3, Mulligan/"Suffragette" #5, Rampling/"45 Years" #7.

Best Actor: Fassbender/"Jobs" #1, Depp/"Black Mass" #6.  Geza Rohrig from "Son of Saul" gets a vote.

Best Supporting Actress: Mara/"Carol" #1, Winslet/"Jobs" #3, Allen/"Room" #6, McAdams/"Spotlight" #8.  Juliette Nicholson from "Black Mass" gets a vote.

Best Supporting Actor: Keaton/"Spotlight" #2, Ruffalo/"Spotlight" #3, Elba/"Beasts" #5, Tremblay/"Room" #8 and Edgerton/"Black Mass #10.

If the Gurus are 100% accurate (and there are nine Best Picture nominations) then Telluride 2015 films will earn 14 nominations from these five categories.

The complete Gurus of Gold can be found here:

http://moviecitynews.com/2015/11/gurus-o-gold-in-the-starting-gate/

OSCAR MATTERS: OSCAR POKER

And Sasha Stone/Awards Daily and Jeffrey Wells/Hollywood Elsewhere are up with their latest edition of their podcast "Oscar Poker".  Here's the link to that:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/podcasts/oscarpoker/episode114.mp3

That's all for Thursday...and actually ON Thursday this week (unlike last week).  Have an excellent weekend and come back to see what I've got on Monday...

Contact me at:

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to

Michael's Telluride Film Blog's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse/107846269309712