Oscar Experts Update / Future Telluride? More Payne / Morris Off the Hook

Good Thursday Everyone...


OSCAR EXPERTS UPDATE

As Oscar Night continues to get closer, here's a snapshot of where a number of Oscar experts think the Best Picture race (and others) are right now.  I've linked a number of charts and podcasts from Gold Derby as well as the latest updated predictions form Kristopher Tapley of InContention at Variety.


http://www.goldderby.com/news/11694/oscar-predictions-best-picture-the-revenant-spotlight-the-big-short-13579086.html

http://www.goldderby.com/awardshows/experts/oscars-2015/best-picture.html

http://www.goldderby.com/news/11700/oscar-predictions-revenant-entertainment-381674925-story.html

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



The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announce their winners this weekend and that will be the next nugget of precursor information.



FUTURE TELLURIDE? MORE PAYNE

I have reported here previously that Telluride regular Alexander Payne was producing Wilson and that his next directing effort will be Downsizing with Matt Damon.  Both of those films could figure into future Telluride film lineups.  Noe comes word of another directing job that Payne will undertake for the same producers that were behind his Nebraska and Election.

The film is tentatively titled My Saga.  Reports are linked below:

http://www.thewrap.com/alexander-payne-to-direct-karl-ove-knausgaard-my-saga-for-nebraska-producers/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/alexander-payne-to-direct-road-trip-flick-my-saga-20160209

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/bona-fide-acquires-movie-rights-to-knausgaard-new-york-times-series-my-saga-for-alexander-payne-exclusive-20160209


MORRIS OFF THE HOOK

A few weeks ago I posted a story that Errol Morris was being sued by the subject of his 2010 documentary Tabloid.  Word this week is that the suit has been dismissed.  Here are the details from The Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/hollywood-docket-errol-morris-steven-863043



That'll do for Thursday.  A new FAC Oscar update will be coming your way on Monday.


Contact me at:

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to

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And Now...On with the Show (The Oscar Show, that is)... / Peering into the Future / Reaching Back to TFF #37...For Some Litigation

Welcome to the new week...Oscar's First Act has concluded with last Thursday's announcement of the nominees.  Now we move to Act Two which culminates on Feb. 28th.  This period of weeks between Oscar nomination announcement and the actual awards is always a sort pf odd limbo-esque time.  The race that has been in some motion, really since the conclusion of Labor Day weekend and Telluride's fest continues but in a much different fashion.

What has been a very broad affair including many, many films is now truncated to the nominees and  as a couple of the Big Time Oscar Pundits have said since Thursday, the campaigning continues but becomes less obvious and noisy.

At the same time, this space begins to turn, a least a little bit, to its post-Oscar (and primary purpose) which is the attempt to discern some of the films that might be on the program for TFF #43.

Today's post straddles the duality of Oscar and TFF prognostication and that's where we'll be for the next five and a half weeks...

We start with...


AND NOW...ON WITH THE SHOW (THE OSCAR SHOW, THAT IS)...

So here we are 96 hours, give or take, removed from the revealing of Oscar nominations.  Ridley Scott isn't nominated.  No actors of color made it into any of the 20 acting slots.  Lenny Abrahamson IS nominated.  These are among the most discussed topics for Oscar observers these past few days.  But, of course, the other question is...who/what is going to win in a few weeks?

Not surprisingly, there's non shortage of Oscarologists with their early predictions.  I have linked Kristopher Tapley/Variety-InContention, Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter, Sasha Stone/Awards Daily and (collectively) The Gurus of Gold from Movie City News and their early line on winners below.

Some observations from looking at all of their predictions:

Spotlight remains the favorite to win Best Picture but there is some serious thought that The Big Short, The Revenant and Mad Max:Fury Road are still playing.  Most believe that The Martian, Room, Bridge of Spies and Brooklyn are not likely Best Picture winners.

Prohibitive favorites seem to be (even this far out from the actual awards):

Leonardo DiCaprio/The Revenant for Best Actor
Brie Larson/Room for Best Actress
Sylvester Stallone/Creed for Best Supporting Actor
Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer/Spotlight for Original Screenplay
Adam McKay and Charles Randolph/The Big Short for Best Original Screenplay
Amy for Best Documentary
Son of Saul for Best Foreign Language Film
Inside Out for Best Animated Feature


These eight picks seem pretty solid already.  Some others seem very likely (Mad Max:Fury Road looks good for Film Editing and Production Design for example) but aren't what I would call locks. Of course, some categories seem very, very competitive: Original Score and Song for example.

The FAC will be periodically updating Oscar predictions as we move through these next few weeks. Check back here.  You might remember that, last year, The FAC hit 20 of 24 categories on Oscar night and 22 of 24 in 2014.

Here are your links to The Gurus, Tapley, Feinberg and Stone:

http://moviecitynews.com/2016/01/gurus-o-gold-nomination-day-part-1-of-2/

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

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/awards/predictions/oscars/2015/academy-awards-11416/

http://www.awardsdaily.com/


PEERING INTO THE FUTURE

One of the ways I get the ball rolling in earnestness about Telluride film speculation is to analyze the first of the year "Most Anticipated" film lists from a variety of outlets and look for titles that seem T-ride possible.  Today. I begin that process by looking at The Playlist's list of 100 films they're most excited about.  Among the titles they include are 20 that seem like they might SHOW up on Labor Day weekend.  Here they are with their position on The Playlist list (and an occasional comment):

#96 A United Kingdom
#95 True Crimes
#93 Trespass Against Us
#92 The Zookeeper's Wife
#89 Queen of Katme
#83 The Founder (the story of Ray Kroc and the development of McDonalds starring Michael Keaton)...It's high on my Telluride request list...
#74 Neruda
#62 The Promise
#61 Gold
#60 Comancheria
#51 HHHH
#45 Salt and Fire (Herzog returns to Telluride?)
#38 Personnel Shopper
#28 Passengers (this really isn't all that likely... save for the fact that its Morten Tyldum's directorial follow-up to The Imitation Game).
#23 American Honey
#19 The Unknown Girl
#18 It's Only the End of the World
#9 The Lost City of Z
#5 The Salesman (the latest from Iranian genius Asghar Farhadi.  After both A Separation and The Past playing Telluride, you have to believe that this is very likely.  It might start out at the #1 spot when I actually begin putting together a Telluride #43 list in June).
#3 War Machine (this lands on the list because it's in the hands of Netflix which made its debut at Telluride last year with Beasts of No Nation and Winter on Fire.  I think there's a decent shot that they'll be back).

So there are 20 films from The Playlist list.  If my past record at extrapolating from The Playlist is any indicator we can expect that five will make the Telluride lineup.  Last year's parsing of The Playlist 100 included these films that I wrote could play T-ride: Beasts of No Nation, Black Mass, Suffragette, Spotlight and Carol.  In 2014, with the same circumstances, I mentioned: Leviathan, Mr. Turner, Two Days One Night, Birdman and Foxcatcher.

Here's the link to The Playlist's complete hot 100 FOR 2016:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-100-most-anticipated-films-of-2016-20160104


Thursday, I'll take a look at The Film Stage's list of  100 2016 films.


REACHING BACK TO TFF #37...FOR SOME LITIGATION

Remember Tabloid?  Errol Morris' look at one time beauty queen Joyce McKinney?  It was one of my favorite films of TFF #37(2010).

Now, it looks like we may hear about it again some five years later as the subject of the documentary, Ms. McKinney has decided to sue Morris.

Her claim is that she was lied to and disparaged in the film.  Check out the story from The Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/errol-morris-heads-trial-irate-854823


That's a wrap for Monday...more to come on Thursday...


Contact me at:

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

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Posters!!!/Drive Trailer/Odds and Ends

Back home this morning from debate camp...great week, but glad to be at the homestead...

POSTERS!!!

Two quick poster notes this morning.  One about a poster that is just out for a possible Telluride film...the other a story about a poster for a TFF #37 film that didn't happen.

First, the poster that you CAN see..."Moneyball" directed by Bennet Miller and starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Philip Seymour Hoffman.  Thanks to Rope of Silicon we have a look...




It's really...um...green...

The link to the ROS story is here:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/poster-brad-pitts-moneyball-debuts

Moneyball's IMDb page:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210166/

The other poster tidbit comes from Roger Ebert who has an interesting story about the poster work for Errol Morris' documentary from last year's festival, "Tabloid."  This is the poster they DID NOT use:

Ebert has the explanation for it's exclusion here:
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/art-in-many-forms/the-poster-errol-morris-decide.html

Tabloid's IMDB page:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1704619/

DRIVE TRAILER

Several outlets yesterday with the release of a red band trailer for Nicolas Winding Refn's "Drive" that features Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan and, as a really bad guy, comedian Albert Brooks.  Brooks is already getting some significant Oscar buzz for a Supporting Actor nomination.  Check out the trailer by taking a look at this story from The Playlist at Indiewire. 
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/watch_take_the_phone_off_the_hook_the_red_band_trailer_for_drive

The trailer looks great.  "Drive" has some Telluride "markers."  It was at Cannes (Refn won Best Direction) and Carey Mulligan has made Telluride a second home for the past two Labor Days.   My excitement for it's possible inclusion at the Telluride Film Festival has steadily increased through this summer.

Drive's IMDb page:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780504/

Drive is being distributed by Film District which is also distributing two other possible Telluride films: "The Rum Diary" and "In the Land of Blood and Honey."


ODDS AND ENDS

---The Venice Film Festival is reportedly going to announce their lineup on July 28.  Clues?
---I'll be glad when Comic Con closes up shop...it has sucked the air out of reporting much of anything else film wise.
---This week I have added links to a number of the sites I reference frequently so you can get to them easily and peruse them yourself.

Have a great weekend everyone!

More Morris/More Banner/TFF#38 and Comic Con?

Hello from "Area 51"...Cameron Debate Camp concludes later today. 

MORE MORRIS

Joyce McKinney of Errol Morris' "Tabloid"

Errol Morris' quirky, funny, idiosyncratic and thoroughly entertaining documentary "Tabloid" has been rolling out the last week into theaters for public consumption.  I'd encourage everyone to see it.  It was a highlight of TFF#37 as far as I was concerned. 

Morris, as you might expect, has been a ubiquitous presence the last 10 days or so as he promotes the release of the film.  One of the lengthiest and best interviews he has given was captured by Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood at IndieWire. 

I have included the link to that interview here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2011/07/19/errol_morris_talks_tabloid/

"Tabloid's" IMDb page is here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1704619/

MORE BANNER

News this week about 2002 Oscar winning director Ron Howard lining up to direct an adaptation of Jon Krakauer's "Under the Banner of Heaven."  The screenplay is set to be penned by "Milk" 2009 Oscar winning scribe Dustin Lance Black.  The book details the true story of murder and mayhem in a Mormon community.

I have included links to two more stories about that announcement.  Interestingly, one of the links is to the Salt Lake Tribune's story that appeared earlier this week.

The Salt Lake Trib story is here:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsmoviecricket/52226162-66/church-lds-book-krakauer.html.csp

Also, here's a link to another story about the announcement from The Hollywood News:
http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2011/07/20/ron-howard-moves-from-dark-tower-to-banner-of-heaven/


COMIC CON AND TFF #38

Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan on the set of "Drive"

You don't often think about films being highlighted at Comic Con and the Telluride Film Festival in the same year but after yesterday that could happen.  Nicolas Winding Refn was on hand in San Diego to talk about "Drive."  "Drive" played at the Cannes Film Festival to generally good reviews which can be a precursor to an appearance at Telluride's festival. 

Admittedly, I think "Drive's" chances of being on the Telluride list are fairly low.  But the odds aren't absolutely non-existent.  So, as unusual as it would be for a film to be highlighted in both places it could happen.  "Drive" stars Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan (and she's another good indicator of a possible Telluride bow as she has been there the past two festivals with "An Education" in 2009 and "Never Let Me Go" in 2010).

The Playlist has the story of Refn's appearance at Comic Con.  Here's the link to that:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/comic-con_11_nicolas_winding_refn_says_getting_his_cast_together_for_drive/

"Drive's" IMDb page is here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780504/

Hugo Unleashed/On the Road/Descendants Date Change/Errol Talks Tabloid

Viggo Mortensen and Amy Adams are in Walter Salles "On the Road"...will that road lead them to Telluride?

Good Morning All.  I didn't go to Harry Potter's conclusion at midnight last night...does that make me a bad muggle?

HUGO-NOT CABRET ANYMORE-UNLEASHED

Martin Scorsese's much anticipated 3D children's story adaptation has been all over the internet the past 2-3 days.  There's the poster above and now, at iTunes, the first trailer.  As you might expect, the trailer is very impressive.

I have said on a number of occasions in this space that I feel like there's almost zero chance that this film is at Telluride.  But, Scorsese was represented there last year with his collaboration on "A Letter from Elia" so you can't completely close the door on the chance that it could be there.

Here's a link to Incontention.com's story about the trailer.  It includes the link to the iTunes trailer.
http://incontention.com/2011/07/14/hugo-trailer/

The "Hugo" IMDb page is here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970179/

ON THE ROAD

Kristen Stewart in a scene from "On the Road" via daemonmovies.com

One motion picture that I haven't spent much time on in this space that will be rolling around this fall season and that could be a Telluride possibility is the Walter Salles directed adaptation of the classic book by Jack Kerouac.  It stars Sam Riley and Garrett Hedlund and features a stunning list of actors in support including: Viggo Mortensen (2009 TFF Tributee), Kristen (Twilight) Stewart, Kirsten (Melancholia/Best Actress Cannes 2011) Dunst, Steve Buscemi, Amy Adams, and Terrence Howard.  Francis Ford Coppola is an Executive Producer. 

Film4 is one of four production companies listed as having a hand in the project.  Film4 has been involved with Telluride presentations of: "Never Let Me Go and "Another Year" (both TFF #37), "Slumdog Millionaire," "Hunger" and "Happy-Go-Lucky" (TFF #35).

In addition to "On the Road" Film4 has some connection to three other films that are Telluride possibilities:
"The Iron Lady," "Wuthering Heights" and "Shame."

Anne Thompson from Indiewire's Thompson on Hollywood has a story about Salles and his quest for authenticity for the picture and the form that the quest took.

You can read that story here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2011/07/14/on_the_road_director_walter_salles_quest_for_authenticity_road_trip_with_st/#.Th91f8PkEaU.email


NEW DESCENDANTS DATE

 I reported here in March that Alexander Payne's "The Descendants" had a December release date.  Now comes news that the roll out for the George Clooney starrer has had a change of strategy and will instead open earlier in limited release on Nov. 23 and then be "platformed."  A "platformed" release means that additional theaters will be added from week to week through December and perhaps into January 2012 as opposed to a mass release like you're seeing this weekend with the final Harry Potter movie in thousands of theaters simultaneously.

Brad Brevet at Rope of Silicon has the details here:
http://t.co/NT8Ewk8

"The Descendants" still remains as the #1 most likely film we'll see on the Telluride bill of fare this year.

ERROL TALKS TABLOID

All week long we've seen and heard about Errol Morris' new doc "Tabloid" which appeared at Telluride last year and was generally well received.  I liked it quite a lot.  Maybe the biggest laugh of last year's festival came during Tabloid's screening. 

The Playlist at Indiewire has an interview up with Morris as the film is set for release in selected cities today.  You can find that interview here:
http://t.co/jWiZRLN

Morris Makes a Movie/Schnabel on Miral/This Week's Ten Bets

Good Morning all.  Back from New Mexico and really hit in the face the last 24 hours with the fact that occasionally people read this space...gives one pause.

MORRIS MAKES A MOVIE

One of the highlights (at least for me) of last year's Telluride Film Festival was Errol Morris' "Tabloid".  The documentary is in the news lately as Morris makes the rounds and a trailer is out in preparation for it to be released.
In the flurry of activity has come a torrent of news about future projects from Morris and not necessarily from his position as an award winning documentarian.  The Playlist has isolated the latest Errol Morris plans in a couple of stories.  They report that Morris is involved in directing a project called "We Froze the First Man" that will feature actor Paul Rudd in the lead.  Steven Zaillian is producing and the script is to come from "Stranger than Fiction" scribe Zach Helm.
Morris has dabbled in non-documentary film work before and one could certainly say that he brings a lively approach to how he frames his documentary work.  The premise sounds humorous and I like Rudd a lot so I'll hope for the best.
The Playlist story is here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/paul_rudd_to_star_in_errol_morris_adaptation_of_we_froze_the_first_man/

Morris' other project  in the works would focus on biological weaponry.  Titled "The Demon in the Freezer," it is based on Richard Preston's book of the same name.  You can some detailed description of that project at The Playlist also at this link:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/exclusive_errol_morris_adapting_the_demon_in_the_freezer/

Finally, the link to the "Tabloid" trailer at IMDb is here:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi899914777/

SCHNABEL ON MIRAL

Yesterday I mentioned that Julian Schnabel and Johnny Depp were set to get together on a film project with Depp scheduled to star in a film that will explore Dante's Divine Comedy.  This comes in the midst of the DVD release of Schnabel's "Miral".  "Miral" stirred up a good deal of controversy last year and as I have said, I was fairly certain that we would see it in Telluride and was more than a little surprised that it was not on The SHOW's lineup.  I can't help but wonder if it got sidetracked as a consequence of the hoopla that it engendered and that's why we didn't see it (or maybe it was the lukewarm reviews).  Now Schnabel sits down with Jeff Otto of The Playlist and talks about the film.  That interview is here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/exclusive_director_julian_schnabel_discusses_blu-ray_dvd_release_of_miral/

I have to say that I loved Schnabel's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" when I saw it in Telluride in 2007 and have been waiting for the DVD release so that I could get a look at this film.

THIS WEEK'S TEN BETS

Last week's Ten Bets for Telluride List:

1) The Descendants

2) A Trip to the Moon
3) Young Adult
4) The Artist
5) The Kid with a Bike
6) Le Havre
7) Gazing Into the Abyss
8) Dark Horse
9) We Have to Talk About Kevin
10) Shame


This week's Ten Bets:
1) The Descendants
2) A Trip to the Moon
3) Young Adult
4) Gazing Into the Abyss
5) The Artist
6) Dark Horse
7) The Kid with a Bike
8) Shame
9) Le Havre
10) Coriolanus

Toronto Critic's Poll and TFF #37

Toronto critics have released their poll of what they thought was best at the TIFF. A good number of Telluride films made the list. You can find the poll at Indie wire at this link:

http://tinyurl.com/3yjz6ql

Notable on their top 12 list: 127 Hours, Black Swan, The King's Speech, Incendies and Another Year. Among docs the critics listed: Tabloid and Inside Job.

Lead Performances cited were: James Franco in 127 Hours, Natalie Portman in Black Swan and Colin Firth in The King's Speech.

Supporting Performances cited included: Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech and Vincent Cassel in Black Swan.

TFF 37 Post Mortem

Still recovering. It's a looooong drive back to the Oklahoma Panhandle from southwest Colorado.

We had a terrific time in Telluride. I got in 11 films...and , of course, didn't see everything I wanted to see. Still saw some great stuff...and a couple of films I wasn't all that impressed with.

Here's the rundown of the films and a couple of other notes...

"Black Swan"...Portman is terrific. There was a lot of Oscar speculation on her behalf during the weekend...and with good reason. Aronofsky is brash and bold. He's painting with big, broad strokes (no surprise there). The buzz seemed to be fairly strong and largely positive. For me, the film seemed like it was going through the motions for the first two acts...but then Aronofsky really starts playing with the Portman character in terms of reality/surreality...and it gets pretty interesting from that point on. There was also some speculation that it could get into the Best Picture race...but I don't know that it's going to play all that well with older members of the Academy...it's pretty violent and the lesbian sex scene between Portman and Mila Kunis could also curb some voters enthusiasm. ***

"127 Hours"...James Franco is fantastic as Aron Ralston and Danny Boyle is very creative in bringing a really static story to life and doing so in a way so that our attention is always commanded by the screen. Franco seems like a sure Oscar bet...the film was also getting good buzz as a possible Best Picture contender. I thought it was really good, but not great. Franco is very good and Boyle's direction is impressive. That being said, for me...it's no Slumdog and if I heard a knock on it this weekend it was about the gruesomeness of the arm amputation and that stylistically Boyle seemed to use too many of the same tricks that he employed in Slumdog. ***

"Never Let Me Go"...this seemed to be the most polarizing film of the weekend. People in line seemed to either love it or hate it. Oddly, I was somewhere in the middle which was frustrating, because it was pretty high on my list to see. It seemed to me that Romanek aimed for a cool detached telling of the story so as to underscore the control over the lives of the main characters and the inevitable conclusion of their existence. And while that's a valid choice, it also seemed to leach away much of a chance that the actors had many places to go. It also seems to me that that choice makes it a real challenge for the audience to care very much about what happens to these people. Finally, with the exception of Carey Mulligan, I don't think that Andrew Garfield or Keira Knightley have the chops or maturity to do this kind of subtlety and pull it off. And even Mulligan is forced to be pretty one note.**

"Biutiful"...here I seemed to be the odd man out...I'm a moderate fan of Inarritu's previous work. I liked Babel quite a lot. And I like Bardem quite a bit too...and I know that he co-won Best Actor at Cannes for this... but...this just didn't work for me (and I gather that the reviews were pretty split in Cannes). It seemed to me that his film hit every possible cliche in the display of Bardem's suffering till he dies. I thought it telegraphed almost every single plot development and that Bardem was awfully one note in his performance. But, hey, that's just me...most of the rest of the folks I had conversation with thought it was good and that Bardem was fantastic...**

"The King's Speech"...by now, I'm sure that you've heard that this was the biggest buzz coming out of the fest. And I hate to be a "me-tooer"...but this is a really, really good, maybe great film. Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush are stunningly good. Oscar noms for both are going to happen. Helena Bonham Carter also seems to be getting some attention for Supporting Actress...though it's not nearly as showy a role as the two male leads. Tom Hooper's direction is impressive. Expect noms for him and costuming as well as screenplay at a minimum...This is the film that has the heat that Juno, Slumdog and Up in the Air had coming out of Telluride each of the past few years.****

My second favorite film of the weekend was Mike Leigh's "Another Year." I've never been a huge Leigh fan, but this is a fine, fine piece of work. It looks at a year in the lives of an older couple and their orbit of friends and relatives. Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen are graceful and lovely as the couple at the center of the story. I understand that it got a really warm reception at Cannes and that a lot of the critic types were surprised it didn't win any prize...I'd like to think it has a shot at one of the ten Best Picture slots and director and screenplay nods as well. Everyone seems to think Lesley Manville will play for a Best Actress nom, although she might more properly be considered Supporting.***1/2

"The Way Back"...Peter Weir's story of a 4000 mile trek of a group escaping from a Soviet gulag in 1940. They walked out. It's stirring, well made, well acted...Beautiful and purportedly shot for only $29 million. Jim Sturgess is the lead and is good. Ed Harris is in support and is really good and Colin Farrell is fantastic. One of the best things he's ever done. After his little turn last year in "Crazy Heart" and this, I'm beginning to think he's turning into a pretty fine actor. Some Oscar buzz for this last weekend...but I think it got really squeezed out of the buzz because of all the hoopla for King's Speech, Black Swan and 127 Hours.***

"The Illusionist"...Sylvain Chomet's follow up to "The Triplets of Belleville"...beautifully done. It was delightful. Often a perfect example of words over rated as method of communication. It's clever, warm, funny and touching. ***1/2

"Tamara Drewe"...a lot of people on line really loved this comedy from Stephen Frears...I liked it, didn't love it. It's a mildly amusing sex comedy and nothing more. Bill Camp steals the movie from Gemma Arterton (as the title character) as an American writer struggling to finish his opus on Thomas Hardy.**1/2

"Tabloid"...Errol Morris' doc about...well...Joyce McKinney and her "love" for a young Mormon in the 1960's that led to charges of kidnapping and rape...her rape of the young man???? Truth IS stranger than fiction...repeatedly. And the film is hysterical in the bargain. Morris continually finds ways to make your jaw drop and to elicit uproarious laughter. Recommended!***

Finally from South Korea.."Poetry" This won the screenplay award at Cannes. It's too long and could use some judicious editing. Jeong-hee Yoon is lovely as the grandmother trying to find some beauty in her existence and dealing with and grandson that is less than stellar.**1/2

Additional notes:I was surprised that Julian Schnabel's "Miral" didn't show. I was sure it would. And people that are a lot smarter than I am about this stuff had said that it would.

I heard that Kelly Reichardt's "Meek's Cutoff" starring Michelle Williams just missed being a part of the festival lineup; that they just ran out of places to put stuff in the program. Too bad, I would have liked to have seen it since the early word is really positive and I really like Michelle Williams.

I also heard good things about "Inside Job'" "Incendies" and "Precious Life."

I'll do a comparative wrap-up of the success of this Blog's prognostications in the next couple of days. Just a quick note: It was pretty good this year!

And finally, I don't think it was 2007 (which, for me, is the measure of the quality of the fest...Juno, Into the Wild, Diving Bell, Persepolis, The Savages, Band's Visit and more)...but it certainly may have been the 2nd best overall of the five that I have attended.

Now, as we have for the past couple of years, this blog will morph into an awards season tracker for the films that played at TFF #37. From the early buzz, it seems that Telluride may play it's biggest role in Oscar night in many a year...maybe its biggest ever.

And as always...I can't wait till next year and TFF 38!

3 Hours Til Go Time

"Official" release of Telluride lineup is starting to be revealed. Kris Tapley of Incontention.com tweets:

From: @kristapleySent: Sep 2, 2010 12:34p
Confirmed for Telluride: The Way Back, Never Let Me Go, Biutiful, King's Speech, Illusionist, Carlos, Another Year, Tamara Drewe, Tabloid.