Obsessing about the Telluride Film Festival and the film awards season since 2008!
"The best blog out there for predicting what will be going to Telluride."-Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
"The Nostradamus of Telluride"
-Tim Appelo, Movies for Grownups
I last checked in on the Best Supporting Actress Oscar race on Sept. 25th. Here's the new update for the category with the actor's previous position in parentheses. Performances from TFF #46 films are in Bold.
1) Laura Dern/Marriage Story (1)
2) Jennifer Lopez/Hustlers (2)
3) Margot Robbie/Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood (3)
Notes: Nicole Kidman (Bombshell) and Taylor Russell (Waves) have, for the moment, waned over the last month or so. The Margot Robbie double mention is likely to shake down to one or the other. My guess going forward is that she's more likely to get a nomination for Bombshell. We'll see.
BONG JOON HO TALKS PARASITE
My friend Tomris Laffly had a fantastic interview with Parasite director Bong Joon Ho at rogerebert.com this past week. Parasite is, perhaps, the most talked about film that appeared at TFF #46. It's a critical darling (Metacritic has it at 95). The film was already hot after its Palme d"Or win at Cannes in May and the heat has steadily increased as it has moved through the fall fest season toward its eventual U.S. release this past week.
Netflix unveiled a new trailer and a new poster for Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story recently. Here's the new poster featuring the "Official Selection of the Telluride Film Festival" banner:
And here from YouTube is the new trailer for the film:
And a reminder here that I'm on the tank for a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Julie Hagerty and maybe a Supporting Actor nod for Ray Liotta.
OFF THE RADAR...
Not long ago we ran across the news that Alexander Payne was readying his next project to star Mads Mikkelsen. As you might surmise, I immediately put it on my watch list as a possible, nee, probable selection for TFF #47 owing to Payne's past with the fest.
Now, however, that seems to have gone away as Deadline reports that the project has fallen apart. Mike Fleming revealed late this week that the Norwegian journalist upon which the project is based terminated his agreement to make the film. The decision came with mere days left before the film was scheduled to begin filming.
Russian entrant for the newly re-named Best International Oscar category, Kantemir Bugalov's Beanpole has an U.S. teaser. Kino Lorber dropped that last week and I have it here for you via YouTube:
Demitra Kampakis has a lengthy interview with Bugalov at The Film Stage which you will find linked here.
ADAM SANDLER TALKS UNCUT GEMS
Leah Greenblatt/Entertainment Weekly talked to the star of the Safdie Brothers new film Uncut Gems which has Sandler some of the best reviews of his career after first screening at the Telluride Film Festival.
OSCAR PREDICTIONS: DIRECTION AND SUPPORTING ACTORS
Here's the next installment of my initial Oscar nomination predictions for this year. Today's focus is on Best Direction and the Supporting Acting categories. Films from TFF #46 are indicated in Bold.
BEST DIRECTION
1) Quentin Tarantino/Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood 2) Bong Joon Ho/Parasite 3) Noah Baumbach/Marriage Story
4) Sam Mendes/1917
5) Martin Scorsese/The Irishman
Other Possibles: Lulu Wang/The Farewell, James Mangold/Ford v. Ferrari, Greta Gerwig/Little Women, Fernando Meirelles/The Two Popes, Marielle Heller/A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Taika Waititi/Jojo Rabbit
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1) Laura Dern/Marriage Story
2) Jennifer Lopez/Hustlers
3) Margot Robbie/Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood 4) Annette Bening/The Report
5) Shuzen Zhao/The Farewell
Other Possibles: Nicole Kidman/Bombshell, Taylor Russell/Waves, Scarlett Johansson/Jojo Rabbit
SUPPORTING ACTOR
1) Brad Pitt/Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood
2) Tom Hanks/A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 3) Anthony Hopkins/The Two Popes
4) Al Pacino/The Irishman
5) Willem Dafoe/The Lighthouse
Other Possibles: Alan Alda/Marriage Story, Christian Bale/Ford v. Ferrari, John Lithgow/Bombshell, Sterling K. Brown/Waves
OSCAR AND TFF HISTORY PART SEVEN: 2010-2014
My review of the history between The Academy Awards and the Telluride Film Festival continues today with the nominees and winners for the 21 feature categories of the Oscars from 2010-2014. The total number of nominations and winners for each year are listed for that year in parentheses.
2010 (31/5)
The King's Speech- Picture-WON, Actor-Colin Firth-WON, Director-Tom Hooper-WON, Original Screenplay-WON, Supporting Actor-Geoffrey Rush, Supporting Actress-Helena Bonham Carter, Cinematography, Film Editing, Score, Costume, Art Direction, Sound Mixing
127 Hours- Picture, Actor-James Franco, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, Score, Song
Black Swan- Actress-Natalie Portman-WON, Picture, Director-Darren Aronofsky, Cinematography, Film Editing
Inside Job-Documentary-WON
Biutiful- Actor-Javier Bardem
Another Year-Original Screenplay
Incendies- Foreign Language
Chico and Rita-Animated
The Illusionist- Animated
The Way Back-Makeup
2011 (23/7)
The Artist- Picture-WON, Actor-Jean Dujardin-WON, Director-Michel Hazanazvicius-WON, Score-WON, Costume-WON, Supporting Actress-Berenice Bejo, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Film Editing, Art Direction
The Descendants- Adapted Screenplay-WON, Picture, Actor-George Clooney, Director-Alexander Payne, Film Editing
A Separation- Foreign Language-WON, Original Screenplay
Albert Nobbs- Actress-Glenn Close, Supporting Actress-Janet McTeer, Makeup
Included here are interviews from the last couple of weeks from folks that were involved in films that played as a part of the 46th Telluride Film Festival:
We git a trailer for the Safdie Brothers' Uncut Gems yesterday featuring Adam Sandler in a performance that is generating some Oscar buzz. Here's the trailer from YouTube:
Uncut Gems opens on Dec. 25th.
TRAILER FOR 63 UP
Michael Apted's on-going project of following a group of people that he first had contact with back in 1964 continued at TFF #46. Apted has re-visited that group every seven years since then.
This year's version is titled 63 Up and it has a trailer that was released earlier this month.
Here that is from YouTube:
That's your MTFB for this Thursday. I'll be back after the weekend with more.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com
After ten days and some 70 responses, The People's Telluride for TFF #46 is complete. Those responding were asked to rate the films they saw on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being "not so good" and 5 being"OMG! This film is fantastic!"
Before the big reveal, here's some Peoples Telluride history...
The first Peoples Telluride was posted on Sept. 10, 2012. The top ten films from that year's fest from the populist perspective were:
1) Stories We Tell- 4.80
2) Argo- 4.75
3) The Attack- 4.70
4) The Act of Killing-4.41
5) Wadjda-4.2
6) Amour 4.17
7) Barbara- 4.17
8) The Sapphires-4.11
9) Frances Ha-4.07
10) (Tie)The Hunt and Baraka - 4.00
In subsequent years the top ten were:
2013:
1) Tim's Vermeer (4.67)
2) 12 Years a Slave (4.55)
3) Gravity (4.40)
4) The Lunchbox (4.25)
5) Inside Llewyn Davis (4.15)
6) Nebraska (4.08)
7) All is Lost (4.06)
8) The Wind Rises (4.0)
9) Ida (4.0)
10) The Past (3.81)
2014:
1) The Imitation Game (4.73)
2) Birdman (4.46)
3) Wild Tales (4.23)
4) Foxcatcher (4.20)
5) Merchants of Doubt (4.04)
6) '71 (3.90)
7) Red Army (3.63)
8) Wild (Tie 3.50)
8) Escobar: Paradise Lost (Tie 3.50)
8) Mommy (Tie 3.50)
2015:
1) Room (4.47)
2) Spotlight (4.45)
3) Beasts of No Nation (4.35)
4) Ixcanul (4.31)
5) Son of Saul (4.30)
6) Marguerite (4.23)
7) Black Mass (4.13)
8) Carol (4.02)
9) Rams (3.98)
10) Steve Jobs (3.86)
2016:
1) Moonlight (4.37)
2) La La Land (4.33)
3) Maudie (4.29)
4) The Eagle Huntress (4.21)
5) Manchester by the Sea (4.18)
6) Arrival (4.13)
7) Bright Lights (3.90)
8) Frantz (3.89)
9) Toni Erdmann (3.80)
10) Sully (3.79)
2017:
1) Lady Bird (4.38)
2) The Shape of Water (4.22)
3) Darkest Hour (4.04)
4) Hostiles (3.99)
5) Faces Places (3.71)
6) Battle of the Sexes (3.68)
7) Lean on Pete (3.66)
8) Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (3.57)
9) The Other Side of Hope (3.45)
10) Wonderstruck (3.43)
And from last year:
1) Roma (4.47)
2) First Man (4.34)
3) Shoplifters (4.29)
4) Boy Erased (4.23)
5) Free Solo (4.19)
6) Cold War (4.02)
7) White Boy Rick (3.88)
8) Can You Ever Forgive Me? (3.81)
9) The Favourite (3.76)
10) The Front Runner (3.69)
The Peoples collective yen best films since I began the poll in 2012 have been:
1) Stories We Tell (4.80) (12)
2) Argo (4.75) (12)
3) The Imitation Game (4.73) (14)
4) The Attack (4.70) (12)
5) Tim's Vermeer (4.67) (13)
6) 12 Years a Slave (4.55) (13)
7) Room (4.47) (15) and Roma (4.47) (18) TIE
9) Birdman (4.46) (14)
10) Spotlight (4.45) (15)
AND NOW...THE 2019 PEOPLES TELLURIDE
16 films had sufficient responses from The People to make the 2019 list:
1) The Two Popes (4.51)
2) Parasite (4.36)
3) Ford v. Ferrari (4.35)
4) Marriage Story (4.14)
5) Pain and Glory (3.81-Tie)
5) A Hidden Life (3.81-Tie)
7) Judy (3.80)
8) The Aeronauts (3.67)
9) The Report (3.66)
10) Motherless Brooklyn (3.64)
11) Lyrebird (3.62)
12) Waves (3.61)
13) Inside Bill's Brain (3.39)
14) Uncut Gems (3.22)
15) The Climb (3.07)
16) First Cow (3.02)
The 4.51 rating for Fernando Meirelles' The Two Popes means it lands in The Peoples Telluride all time top ten (well since I started the thing in 2012) at the #7 spot. It will displace Spotlight which will drop to #11.
The new All Time Peoples Top Ten now is:
1) Stories We Tell (4.80) (12)
2) Argo (4.75) (12)-Won Best Picture
3) The Imitation Game (4.73) (14) Nominated Best Picture
4) The Attack (4.70) (12)
5) Tim's Vermeer (4.67) (13)
6) 12 Years a Slave (4.55) (13) Won Best Picture
7) The Two Popes (4.51) (19)
8) Roma (4.47) (15) TIE Nominated Best Picture
8) Room (4.47) (18) TIE Nominated Best Picture
10) Birdman (4.46) (14) Won Best Picture
Also...here's were Best Picture Oscar nominees from Telluride have landed on the Peoples list for each year since it was started in 2012:
2012: Argo-4.75 (Winner) #2, Amour-4.17 #6
2013: 12 Years a Slave-4.55 #2 (Winner), Gravity-4.40 #3, Nebraska-4.08 #6
2014: Birdman-4.46 (Winner) #2, The Imitation Game-4.73 #1
2015: Spotlight-4.45 (Winner) #2, Room-4.47 #1
2016: Moonlight-4.37 #1 (Winner), La La Land 4.33 #2, Manchester by the Sea-4.18 #5, Arrival-4.13 #6
2017: The Shape of Water-4.22 #2 (Winner), Lady Bird-4.38 #1, Darkest Hour-4.04 #3
2018: Roma-4.47 #1, The Favourite-3.76 #9
The COMPOSITE TELLURIDE (slamming The Pros and The Peeps together) will be coming your way on Monday!
TFF OSCAR HISTORY PROJECT PART THREE
Here's the continuation of my project to chart every Oscar nominee in the 21 feature categories that played at the Telluride Film Festival since the first TFF in 1974. As I move forward with this I will be posting in five year increments.
So today we move to the first half of the 90's. The number of nominations and wins are indicated in parentheses for each year.
1990 (10/2)
-Cyrano de Bergerac- Costumes- WON, Foreign Language, Actor- Gerard Depardieu, Art Direction, Makeup
-Reversal of Fortune- Actor- Jeremy Irons- WON, Director- Barbet Schroeder, Adapted Screenplay
-The Nasty Girl- Foreign Language
-Ju Dou- Foreign Language
1991 (4)
-Rambling Rose- Actress-Laura Dern, Supporting Actress-Diane Ladd
-Oxen- Foreign Language
-Raise the Red Lantern- Foreign Language
-Wild by Law- Documentary
1993 (12/3)
-The Piano- Actress-Holly Hunter-WON, Supporting Actress-Anna Paquin-WON, Original Screenplay-WON, Picture, Director-Jane Campion, Film Editing, Cinematography, Costumes
-Three Colors: Blue- Director-Krzysztof Kielowski, Original Screenplay
-Farewell My Concubine- Foreign Language, Cinematography
1994 (11/3)
-Bullets Over Broadway- Supporting Actress-Dianne Wiest-WON, Supporting Actress- Jennifer Tilly, Supporting Actor- Chazz Palminteri, Director-Woody Allen, Original Screenplay, Costumes, Art/Set Direction
-Ed Wood- Supporting Actor-Martin Landau-WON, Makeup-WON
-Dust of Life- Foreign Language Film
-Strawberry and Chocolate-Foreign Language
FIRST OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE
Here from Neon is the official trailer for Celine Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire from YouTube:
Portrait is set for U.S. release on Dec. 6th.
THANKS
And finally, for today, big gratitude to some of my industry type friends who not only participated in this year's Professional Telluride but who also pumped its posting this past Monday. Specifically Sasha Stone and her sight Awards Daily who included much of it on there on Monday. That's linked here.
Also, Jordan Ruimy had the results up at World Reel on Tuesday.
And Tweets and Re-Tweets Monday came from: Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit, Marshall Flores/Awards Daily, Chris Willman/Variety, Matt Neglia/Next Best Picture and Erik Anderson/Awards Watch.
That's the blog for today. More to come on Monday...including the 2019 COMPOSITE TELLURIDE.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com
Welcome to Monday and the return here at MTFB to the traditional twice a week publishing schedule.
THE PROFESSIONALS TELLURIDE
Here it is. One week after the last day of the 46th Telluride Film Festival I have for you The Professionals Telluride. This year's ratings averages for many of the films that played last week.
This year's professionals include a total of 18 pros who attended the festival and represent broad spectrum of views regarding the film industry. It includes critics, bloggers and others who are part of the biz.
Here's the list of this year's pros:
Erik Anderson/Awards Watch
J. Don Birnam-Jorge T/SplashReport.com
Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Marshall Flores/Awards Daily
Mark Johnson/Awards Circuit
Gary Kramer/Salon
Scott Menzel/We Live Entertainment
Kenny Miles/We Live Entertainment
Matt Neglia/Next Best Picture
Eugene Novikov/Rotten Tomatoes
John Rhodes/Screencraft
Christopher Schiller/ScriptMag.com
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Anne Thompson/Indiewire
Chris Willman/Variety
Anonymous
Huge thanks to these very busy pros who graciously took the time to supply me with their ratings of the films that they saw last week at TFF #46.
Here's the rundown of the Professionals ratings for each year since I started polling the Pros in 2012.
2018:
1) Roma (4.73)
2) First Man (4.17)
3) Cold War (4.14-tie)
3) Free Solo (4.14-tie)
5) Can You Ever Forgive Me ? (4.11)
6) The Favourite (3.90)
7) Watergate (3.60)
8) Border (3.50)
9) Destroyer (3.25)
10) Boy Erased (3.20)
11) The Old Man and the Gun (3.17)
12) White Boy Rick (3.06)
13) The Front Runner (3.05)
2017:
1) The Shape of Water (4.5)
2) (Tie) Faces Places (4.25)
2) (Tie) Loveless (4.25)
2) (Tie) The Rider (4.25)
5) Lady Bird (4.20)
6) First Reformed (4.0)
7) Battle of the Sexes (3.95)
8) Darkest Hour (3.85)
9) Hostiles (3.79)
10) First They Killed My Father (3.78)
11) Loving Vincent (3.63)
12) Lean on Pete (3.50)
13) Wonderstruck (3.25)
14) Downsizing (3.10)
15) Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2.60)
2016:
1) Moonlight (4.82)
2) La La Land (4.58)
3) Things to Come (4.20)
4) Manchester by the Sea (3.95)
5) Into the Inferno (3.92)
6) Sully (3.89)
7) Arrival (3.88)
8) Toni Erdmann (3.85)
9) Maudie (3.60)
10) Una (3.44)
11) California Typewriter (3.25)
12) Neruda (3.00)
13) Bleed for This (2.71)
14) Wakefield (2.67)
15) Norman (2.67)
2015:
1) Son of Saul (4.44)
2) Anomalisa (4.42)
3) Spotlight (4.41)
4) Steve Jobs (4.31)
5) Beasts of No Nation (4.27)
6) Carol (4.11)
7) 45 Years (4.06)
8) Taxi (4.00)
9) Black Mass (3.85)
10) Time to Choose (3.57)
11) Room (3.50)
12) Suffragette (3.49)
13) He Named Me Malala (2.83)
2014:
1)Birdman (4.72)
2)Foxcatcher (4.63)
3)’71 (4.25)
4)Wild Tales (4.20)
5)Leviathan (4.17)
6)Mr. Turner (4.10)
7)The Imitation Game (4.06)
8)Mommy (3.92)
9)Two Days, One Night (3.90)
10)The Homesman (3.80)
11)Red Army (3.67)
12)Madame Bovary (3.30)
13)Wild (3.21)
14) Rosewater (3.06)
2013:
1) 12 Years a Slave (4.7)
2) Blue is the Warmest Color (4.4)
3) Gravity (4.35)
4) Tim's Vermeer (4.3)
5) Nebraska (4.3)
6) All is Lost (4.2)
7) Inside Llewyn Davis (4.1)
8) Starred Up (4.0)
9) The Past (3.9)
10) Labor Day (3.6)
11) Bethlehem (3.6)
12) Prisoners (3.5)
13) The Lunchbox (3.5)
14) Salinger (3.3)
15) The Unknown Known (3.3)
16) Palo Alto (3.2)
17) Tracks (3.2)
18) Under the Skin (3.1)
18) (tie) The Wind Rises (3.1)
20) The Invisible Woman (3.0)
2012:
1) Central Park Five-4.7
2) Argo-4.5
3) Stories We Tell- 4.3
4) The Sapphires 4.25
5) (Tie) Frances Ha and The Attack- 4.2
7) Rust and Bone- 4.0
8) The Iceman- 3.8
9) At Any Price- 3.7
10) (Tie) Amour and Baraka- 3.5
12) No- 3.4
14) (Tie) Hyde Park on Hudson and The Gatekeepers 3.0
15) Everyday- 2.8
And the all time TFF Top Ten prior to the films of TFF #46 according to the industry pros since starting this in 2012:
1) Moonlight (4.87) (16)
2) Roma (4.73) (18)
3) Birdman (4.72) (14)
4) 12 Years a Slave (4.70-tie) (13)
4) Central Park Five (4.70-tie) (12)
6) Foxcatcher (4.63) (14)
7) La La Land (4.58) (16)
8) Argo (4.50-tie) (12)
8) The Shape of Water (4.50-tie) (17)
10) Son of Saul (4.44) (15)
15 films earned enough responses from the Pros to make it onto the list for this year.
And now...drumroll please...This year's Professionals Telluride (with averaged rating in parenthesis):
1) Parasite (4.75)
2) The Two Popes (4.42)
3) Marriage Story (4.40)
4) Waves (4.29)
5) A Hidden Life (4.20)
6) Portrait of a Lady on Fire (4.17)
7) Ford v. Ferrari (4.11)
8) The Report (3.87)
9) Pain and Glory (3.83)
10) Uncut Gems (3.78)
11) Motherless Brooklyn (3.58)
12) The Climb (3.50)
13) Judy (3.13)
14) The Aeronauts (3.08)
15) The Assistant (2.75)
Parasite's 4.75 moves it to the #2 spot on the Top Ten films to play Telluride among the Pros since I started collecting these responses in 2o12. The new All Time Top Ten:
1) Moonlight (4.87) (16)
2) Parasite (4.75) (19)
3) Roma (4.73) (18)
4) Birdman (4.72) (14)
5) 12 Years a Slave (4.70-tie) (13)
6) Central Park Five (4.70-tie) (12)
7) Foxcatcher (4.63) (14)
8) La La Land (4.58) (16)
9) Argo (4.50-tie) (12)
9) The Shape of Water (4.50-tie) (17)
10) Son of Saul (4.44) (15)
And finally...because MTFB is about to change its focus to the Oscar prospects for this year's crop of films from TFF... Here's where Oscar nominees for Best Picture from TFF have landed each year according to The Professionals:
2012: Argo-4.50 (Winner) #2, Amour-3.50 #10
2013: 12 Years a Slave-4.70 #1 (Winner), Gravity-4.35 #3, Nebraska-4.30 #5
2014: Birdman-4.72 (Winner) #1, The Imitation Game-4.06 #7
2015: Spotlight-4.41 (Winner) #3, Room-3.50 #11
2016: Moonlight-4.82 #1 (Winner), La La Land 4.48 #2, Manchester by the Sea-3.95 #4, Arrival-3.88 #7
2017: The Shape of Water-4.50 #1 (Winner), Lady Bird-4.20 #5, Darkest Hour-3.85 #8
2018: Roma-4.74 #1, The Favourite-3.90 #6
THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE IS COMING ON THURSDAY...YOUR RATING DEADLINE IS TOMORROW EVENING.
OSCAR AND TFF: A HISTORY PROJECT PART TWO
Picking up where I left off last week...here's the continuation of my project to chart every Oscar nominee in the 21 feature categories that played at the Telluride Film Festival since the first TFF in 1974. As I move forward with this I will be posting in five year increments.
So today we move to the latter half of the 80's. The number of nominations and wins are indicated in parentheses for each year.
1985 (2)
Colonel Redl- Foreign Language
The Journey of Natty Gann- Costumes
1986 (3)
Blue Velvet- Director-David Lynch
The Decline of the American Empire- Foreign Language
My Secret Little Village- Foreign Language
1987 (4/1)
Babette's Feast-Foreign Language- WON (first win for Best Foreign Film from TFF)
Au Revoir Les Enfants- Foreign Language, Original Screenplay
The Whales of August- Supporting Actress-Ann Sothern
1988 (2)
Salaam Bombay- Foreign Language
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown- Foreign Language
1989 (6/2)
My Left Foot- Actor-Daniel Day Lewis-WON (first Best Actor win from TFF) , Supporting Actress- Brenda Fricker-WON (first win for Best Supporting Actress from TFF) , Picture, Director-Jim Sheridan, Adapted Screenplay
Cinema Paradiso-Foreign Language-WON
Super Chief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren- Documentary (First TFF with multiple Oscar wins)
On Thursday, I'll have the TFF Oscar history from 1990-1994.
TRAILERS AND SUCH FROM TFF #46 FILMS
Since last Thursday's post we have seen the emergence of a trailer as well as a behind-the-scene featurette and a clip from TFF #46 films. Here they are:
TRAILER FOR WAVES
FEATURETTE FOR JUDY
CLIP FROM BILLIE
The word is that we can also expect a new trailer for Ford v. Ferrari very soon.
RE-THINKING THIS PROJECT
Now that TFF #46 is in the rear view...
This year's experience at TFF was different for a variety of reasons not the least of which was the decision by the Festival to deny my annual request to be accredited as a journalist. I had been granted that status for eight years running and it became particularly useful in 2017 and 2018 as my pass status changed from the Patron Pass that had been a gift from former students who also hosted us in Telluride.
As you all know, that Patron Pass was a Golden Ticket. When that situation changed in 2017 (and, in fairness, I had known that would be the case for a number of years) the journalist credential became very important. It doesn't afford quite the same ease of access as a Patron Pass but it gets close.
I don't know why the request was denied but I have a couple of pretty good guesses. At the top of the list are posts that may not have been well received by the fest folks. And, of course, I have no doubt that the fest does not care for the central organizing principle of the blog...sussing out the possible films that will make the lineup before they're announced each year.
The festival explained in the email that denied the press credential that I was welcome to apply for the journalist accreditation again next year, but there is no guarantee that I get approved. And I fully understand and acknowledge that the fest has every right to accredit who gets the credential and who doesn't. I get that.
Further, I get how whiny this sounds. Privileged and whiny. For the vast majority of folks who attend with the Festival, Acme or Cinephile passes or who stand by in the individual ticket sales lines...this must seem, and understandably so, like just so much unearned grumpiness.
Yea...I get that too.
And yet, the whining continues...
I did eight films this year. My average has been 11.
Other considerations...
As all of you know...Festival level passes are pricey (and required for anyone requesting journalist status) and lodging in Telluride is, let's say... a challenge both in terms of cost and availability. Many of you know that my real gig is teaching at a public high school in Oklahoma...so you probably have a reasonable notion of my annual income.
Then there's the time and miles. It's a lot.
I will say that it is heartening to speak to readers on line and around town. I honestly don't know how many people read the thing but it seems like a bunch. I also am pleased at the number of times one of the journalists (you know, the accredited ones) that come into town to cover the fest pass along the value that they place on the blog via email, Twitter or in person at the fest. I have often wondered at what level, if any, the blog gets read by Guests of the fest. I know that it happens at least a little bit because of a couple of past experiences.
As I've said on a number of occasions, when I first started this thing, I really didn't know if anyone would ever read it and, even if they did, whether anyone would take it seriously.
I just know that I felt untethered and lost last week and I'm not sure what I do to change that between now and next Labor Day or, more accurately, between now and when passes go on sale.
I have heard and seen in print this effort described as a "passion project" and it has been but the passion took a hit this year and I'm not sure where that lands me over the next few months.
Bottom line...maybe nothing changes...maybe it all changes. At this point it's all up in the air (Jason Reitman/George Clooney TFF #36 reference).
Thanks for letting me ramble.
That's today's MTFB. More to come on Thursday including THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE. Your deadline to rate TFF #46 films is tomorrow evening!
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com
The time has come...to all of you with an interest, for you followers of this space to express your collective evaluation of the films that made an appearance at the Telluride Film Festival. As most of you know, I'd like you to rate the films you saw this past weekend on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being "Not So Good" and 5 being "Glorious!"
As a matter of fact, I have several that came in overnight. The ratings are afoot!
You can deliver your ratings using any of the contact methods listed below.
The cutoff date for submission for The People's Telluride is one week from today...so get those ratings in by Tuesday, Sept. 10th.
HOME AGAIN
As has become my custom, I jetted out of Telluride right after stopping by TFF's Labor Day picnic. The drive back home runs right at 10 hours with stops along the way for this and that. We also add the hour back that we gained with the move from Central to Mountain time...so it was a long day and a late night. I'm a little fried this early morning.
This year's fest was a little different for me. Mt pass situation was different due to the change in media status. I knew that would mean I'd get to fewer films and that was the case. Most years I average 10-11 films, this year I got in eight (in the order I saw them):
The Aeronauts
The Climb
Uncut Gems
The Report
Waves
Motherless Brooklyn
Marriage Story
Parasite
Regrets that I didn't catch Ford v. Ferrari, The Two Popes or A Hidden Life but I'll get them in.
By the end of the weekend, it seemed to me that two films were dominating the buzz and it will interesting to see if The People's Telluride bears out what I was hearing.
Thanks to everyone who was kind enough to say a word or two to me in lines throughout the weekend. It's always gratifying to hear that this thing is valued by TFF attendees.
THE PROFESSIONALS TELLURIDE
Coming soon. The Pros have already started sending me their ratings so be looking for their collective response soon. Additionally, as I've been doing for some time now, the third part of the TFF ratings triad will come with The Composite Telluride when I combine the ratings for both groups.
That'll do for this early Tuesday...more on Thursday!
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com
Got into Uncut Gems, The Report and Waves on Saturday...
My favorite film of the day turned out to be Uncut Gems...which shocks me a bit as I have never been a big Adam Sandler fan. But credit due....Sandler is great in the Safdie Brothers film.
The Report worked well enough for me. It's a sturdy and competently made reveal of how willing the U.S. was to torture in the wake of 9-11.
Waves is an earnest but overly long exploration of the potential destruction of a family.
DAY THREE ON THE WAY...
I know we're going to try to do Motherless Brooklyn on Sunday morning...and then Marriage Story on Sunday night. Between the two...I don't know.
SUNDAY TBAs
Sunday TBAs - September 1, 2019
Galaxy
• 10:15 PM: THE CLIMB, program number 27, Cinephile
Sheridan Opera House
• 10:00 PM: 63 UP, A, Cinephile
Nugget
• 4:15 PM: LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE with Q&A, E, Cinephile
• 9:45 PM: FIRST COW, 20, Cinephile
Masons
• 9:15 PM: STUDENT PRINTS with Q&A, 41, Cinephile
Pierre
• 9:30 PM: PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, 12, Cinephile
Noon Seminar, Elks Park FREE
Sponsored by Participant Media
Moderated by Annette Insdorf
What are the challenges of cinematic adaptation?
With Dan Friedkin, Philip Kaufman, Edward Norton, Barnabás Tóth
AND A NOTE...
Thanks to so many of you who have been kind enough to say a word or two to me in lines the last couple of days. Also a special shout out to staff folk who follow this space. You guys and gals are fantastic! And via my brother...Hey Mercury!
The Aeronauts...generally very good, very entertaining. The action set pieces are stunning and extremely well executed. I'd recommend it the rest of this weekend.
The Climb...starts strong then loses its way.
Day Two...Saturday
TBA's
Galaxy
• 10:30 PM: JUDY, program number 1a, Cinephile
Herzog
• 10:30 PM: PARASITE, 24, Cinephile
SOH
• 3:30 PM: SOROS with Q&A, D, Cinephile
Masons
• 8:30 PM: THE GIFT: THE JOURNEY OF JOHNNY CASH with Q&A, F, Cinephile
• 10:30 PM: GREAT EXPECTATIONS with Q&A, 43, Cinephile
Noon Seminar, Elks Park FREE
Sponsored by Participant Media
Moderated by Annette Insdorf
How do portraits of the artist present layers of performance?
With Antonio Banderas, Willem Dafoe, Guy Pearce, and Jonathan Pryce.
MY DAY TWO...
Netflix Docs Brunch
Then, probably Uncut Gems
Possibly The Report
In addition to that...not sure.
TRAILER FOR THE TWO POPES
NEW RUMOR
Twitter last night...David Poland suggesting:
A) There will be a surprise screening
B) It will be Armando Iannucci's The Personal History of David Copperfield
Here it is...the final list of 25 films/programs that I expect to play the 46th Telluride Film Festival. The actual announcement should come sometime tomorrow morning and, of course, I'll have it here for you before I take off for the San Juans myself. I expect to be in T-ride around 10 MDT tomorrow night. In alphabetical order...Here we go...
1) The Aeronauts
2) Beanpole
3) The Climb
4) Country Music
5) Family Romance LLC
6) First Cow
7) Ford v Ferrari
8) A Hidden Life
9) Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates
10) Judy
11) The Kingmaker
12) Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
13) Lyrebird
14) Marriage Story
15) Motherless Brooklyn
16) Pain and Glory
17) Parasite
18) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
19) The Report
20) The Truth
21) The Two Popes
22 ) Uncut Gems
23) Varda by Agnes
24) Verdict
25) Waves
Other Possibles: The Assistant, The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash, Dark Waters, Little Women, The Good Liar, Nomadland, Ad Astra, Molly, Matthias and Maxime, 1917, Bombshell, Wasp Network, Chicuarotes, No One Left Behind, Gemini Man, Mr. Jones, Antlers.
TRIBUTE CLUES
I got a number of anonymous tips over the past few days which told me that the pre-fest screenings in Elks Park have been revealed in Telluride. As many of you know, those films usually offer clues about who is probably being tributed at The SHOW. The two key films are Bridget Jones' Diary and Star Wars:The Last Jedi. The informative flyer also confirms that there will be some screening of Ken Burns' Country Music documentary will take place this weekend as well.
The free screenings suggest that two of your tributes this year will go to Renee Zellweger- who's Judy is sure to be screening and also Adam Driver who has both Marriage Story and The Report set to be part of The SHOW.
As to the third probable tribute...I have heard on background conflicting suggestions about that and consequently don't have a good enough handle on it to make any bold prediction.
LATE BREAKING... It appears the third tribute is for Philip Kaufman according to the Telluride Daily Planet:
Also note the "Special Screening" on Saturday night.
SOOOO....WHAT DO I WANT TO SEE?
The Aeronauts
Ford v. Ferrari
The Climb
Parasite
The Report
Motherless Brooklyn
Marriage Story
A Hidden Life
Waves
The Two Popes
Full lineup revealed tomorrow morning and I'll have it here.
THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE
For the eighth consecutive year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride. All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".
Report your ratings with any of the following contact methods:
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com
Here's the next to last wagers about films that I believe are likely to make an appearance next week at the 46th Telluride Film Festival. First, though, a reminder of what I had last week:
10) The Aeronauts
9) Ford v. Ferrari
8) The Two Popes
7) Judy
6) Pain and Glory
5) Uncut Gems
4) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
3) Motherless Brooklyn
2) Marriage Story
1) Parasite
Bonus Bets:
Bonus 1) Varda by Agnes
Bonus 2) First Cow
Bonus 3) A Hidden Life
Bonus 4) The Report
Bonus 5) The Kingmaker
Bonus 6) The Climb
Bonus 7) Waves
Bonus 8) Lyrebird
Bonus 9) Verdict
The Truth and Beanpole drop out of the Bonus Bets as Toronto lists them both as North American premieres...but...I can tell you that there is some background noise that one or both might still be mis-identified in terms of that premiere status and that there is still some outside possibility that either one of them could still screen at Telluride.
And the remaining list of other possibles gets smaller:
Family Romance LLC, Country Music, Little Women, The Good Liar, Untitled Todd Haynes Project (Dry Run/Dark Water), Nomadland, Ad Astra, Molly, Matthias and Maxime, 1917.
Now, here is this week's latest Ten (20) Bets. This week in alphabetical order:
The Aeronauts
1) The Aeronauts
2) Beanpole
3) The Climb
4) Country Music
5) Family Romance LLC
6) First Cow
Ford v. Ferrari
7) Ford v Ferrari
8) A Hidden Life
9) Judy
10) The Kingmaker
11) Lyrebird
12) Marriage Story
13) Motherless Brooklyn
14) Pain and Glory
15) Parasite
16) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
17) The Report
The Two Popes
18) The Two Popes
19 ) Uncut Gems
20) Varda by Agnes
Other possibilities that could land at T-ride:
Waves, Verdict, Little Women, The Good Liar, Untitled Todd Haynes Project (Dry Run/Dark Water), Nomadland, Ad Astra, Molly, Matthias and Maxime, 1917, Bombshell, Wasp Network, Chicuarotes, No One Left Behind, Mr. Jones.
The final Bets for TFF #46 will be posted Wednesday morning!
MORE TRAILERS FOR FILMS PLAYING TFF #46
From YouTube, new trailers for Motherless Brooklyn and The Report:
MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN
THE REPORT
MR. JONES...STILL IN THE CONVO
Variety reported yesterday that Agnieszka Holland's Mr. Jones has been acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films for U.S. distribution. The film premiered originally in competition at the Berlin Festival in February and has played an additional half dozen international festivals since that time.
Since it has yet played in the U.S. nor has it been announced for Toronto... and considering that Holland has had a Telluride presence in the past (In Darkness, Burning Bush), Mr. Jones could still show up next Thursday when the TFF #46 lineup is released.
Mr. Jones is described at IMDb as being about:
"A Welsh journalist breaks the news in the western media of the famine in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s."
The film is scheduled for its non-festival debut in Poland on Oct. 25th.
For the eighth consecutive year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride. All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".
Report your ratings with any of the following contact methods:
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com
New York announced its Main Slate lineup on Tuesday and I had the ramifications up on Twitter fairly quickly and a Late Breaking post here on the blog by late Tuesday afternoon. By way of reminder, here's what I had Tuesday afternoon from NYFF:
New York Film Fest announcement seems to confirm or point to these films as Telluride players:
Marriage Story
Motherless Brooklyn
Beanpole
First Cow
Pain and Glory
Parasite
Portrait of a Woman on Fire
Varda by Agnes
And it seems the only NYFF World Premiere is The Irishman.
Full disclosure...my tweet on Tuesday regarding Telluride films suggested or confirmed included The Whistlers. On Twitter it was pointed out to me by @BobertHarris that The Whistlers will U.S. Premiere will be at Fantastic Fest. That would explain the lack of premiere designation in the NYFF announcement. My apologies.
The above list reflects that realization.
The biggest info regarding films that now appear likely for Telluride were the inclusion of Varda by Agnes, First Cow and Beanpole.
Films that had been seriously on my TFF #46 radar that now seem certain to not be at Telluride are: Atlantics, Synonyms, Bacurau, The Traitor, Wasp Network and Young Ahmed. So...three up and six down.
Meanwhile, Toronto announced its ten film platform lineup with nine of the ten films listed as World Premieres thus ruling them all out. Martin Eden, the only film listed as an International Premiere underlines the NYFF announcement which had ruled it out for Telluride.
Honestly, the only Platform film that TIFF announced that I had thought might show at The SHOW was Sarah Gavron's Rocks.
So, that's what we learned on Tuesday from other fest announcements.
WORLD OF REEL AND HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE ADD TO THE STACK
Between Jordan Ruimy's latest Telluride spec post (yesterday) and Jeff Welles posting about it yesterday as well, it looks like we can probably add Terrence Malick's latest film, A Hidden Life to our list of Telluride probables. Wells says that he "was in fact told that it will screen at Telluride". That's a big get as far as I'm concerned.
Additionally, both Ruimy and Wells suggest that Scott Burns The Report is a real possibility. I'm thinking it's likely.
I can reveal that The Report was the film I was referencing in my post last Tuesday under the heading "Trafficking in Rumor".
Honestly, between the New York, Toronto announcements and Wells and Ruimy...the last couple of days have been a gold mine of useful information. Seems like the next thing we should hear is the actual schedule from Venice which I expect any day now.
In addition to the detective work the last couple of days it has been a hell of a good time having responses from people guessing what the "Trafficking in Rumor" film might be.
Several readers dropped me a note in a variety of ways...Twitter, email note to Facebook with questions and guesses. Far and away the leading guess was Little Women.
Noop.
The clues that actually pointed to The Report were that it's "curiously related" to a film that we're "very sure" is playing the fest...which is, ironically Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story...as Adam Driver stars in both films. The other clue was that I had mentioned the film earlier...see the note above about my Sundance suggestion back on Jan. 31st.
Again, the buzz is that Little Women is not likely to play any fest prior to its Dec. 25th premiere date. That said, if you'd like to re-visit my fantasy scenario for the Greta Gerwig film, that was in my post from last Monday.
Here's the current Ten Bets with Bonus Bets:
10) The Aeronauts
9) Ford v. Ferrari
8) The Two Popes
7) Pain and Glory
6) Uncut Gems
5) Judy
4) Motherless Brooklyn
3) Marriage Story
2) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
1) Parasite
"Bonus Bets":
Bonus 1) The Truth
Bonus 2) Varda by Agnes
Bonus 3) First Cow
Bonus 4) Family Romance LLC
Bonus 5) Country Music
Got a new Ten Bets plus Bonus Bets coming tomorrow!
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com
