Counting Down / The People's Telluride #14 / Indiewire Points to Possible Double Oscar Nominees / This and That

COUNTING DOWN

As I post this on Monday morning ( August 24th) the reality of TFF #53 is now down to 10 days.  As with most years, the anticipation is what dominates now.  Most of the detective work is complete.  Oh, sure, they'll be some continued scuttlebutt to pass a long but in the last two weeks before the fest, additional information is hard to come by.  So now, it's about the wait.

The Patterson's will be pulling on Wednesday morning next week.  Some years ago we began to give ourselves a two day window to drive.  Breaking the journey into a two day affair gives us a bit of time to acclimate before the fest cranks up on Friday.  

It's a special year in 2026 as my grandson will be joining us.  He says he's very excited.  

So...the wait... 

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE-14TH EDITION

For the 14th 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 to: mpgort@gmail.com 

The deadline for this year to turn in your ratings will be Sept. 15th.

I'll compile all of your responses and post those a few days after the festival.

INDIEWIRE TALKS POSSIBLE DOUBLE OSCAR NOMINEES FOR THIS YEAR

Anne Thompson at Indiewire had a piece up on which actors might have a shot at getting more than one acting Oscar nomination for this year.  The article includes some folks who might be in Telluride next week.  

Here's the rundown from her list of possibilities who probably have films at TFF #53 (listed in the order that Thompson addresses them in the post):

Sandra Huller:  MTFB thinks Huller will have two films at Telluride: Fatherland and Rose.  She also has her roles in Project Hail Mary and Digger that could merit some Oscar conversation.

Penelope Cruz: We think Cruz's La Bola Negra will be at TFF #53.  Cruz also has roles in The Invite and Bunker.

Willem Dafoe: His Tenzing is probable for Telluride.  He also is in Werewolf and Late Fame. 

Other outside shots mentioned by Thompson include Anne Hathaway who could still potentially be at Telluride with Verity and Robert Pattinson if Primetime makes a late run from Venice to T-ride.

The complete rundown is linked here.

https://www.indiewire.com/awards/predictions/oscars-2027-double-nominees-sandra-huller-robert-pattinson-brad-pitt-1235211354/

THIS AND THAT...

***Netflix has made it official that Saturn Returns will not be a 2026 release.  That all but closes the door on any Telluride appearance.

***Tenzing will have a limited theatrical release on Oct. 9th.

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SAG and DGA Nominees and TFF / MTFB Oscar Update: Screenplays and More / Interviews and Profiles

SAG AND DGA NOMINEES AND TFF

The Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild of America announced their nominees for excellence in film in 2023 yesterday.  Four TFF films received nominations from SAG for acting excellence totaling seven nominations:

The Holdovers: Paul Giamatti-Lead Actor, Da'Vine Joy Randolph-Supporting Actress.

Poor Things: Emma Stone-Lead Actress and Willem Dafoe-Supporting Actor

Nyad: Annette Bening-Lead Actress and Jodie Foster-Supporting Actress

Rustin: Colman Domingo-Lead Actor

I was surprised that Mark Ruffalo was not nominated for Poor Things and that PT also missed for Best Ensemble.

Meanwhile, the Directors' Guild also announced their five nominees yesterday and two TFFers made the list of five names.  Alexander Payne for The Holdovers and Yorgos Lanthimos for Poor Things were each nominated.  They were joined Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon), Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer) and Greta Gerwig (Barbie).

The Sag Awards will be presented on Feb. 24th and the DGA will announce their winners on Feb. 10th.

The Producers Guils announces their nominees tomorrow.

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: SCREENPLAYS AND MORE

Today I'm updating the Screenplay, International Feature, Documentary Feature, Cinematography and Editing categories.  As usual TFF #50 films are in Bold.  A film's previous position on the MTFB Oscar chart is listed in parentheses.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) The Holdovers (1)

2) Past Lives (3)

3) Anatomy of a Fall (4)

4) May December (5)

5) Maestro (-)

Alternates: Air, Saltburn, The Iron Claw.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Oppenheimer (1)

2) Poor Things (3)

3) American Fiction (2)

4) Barbie (-)

5) Killers of the Flower Moon (4)

Alternates: All of Us Strangers, The Zone of Interest, and Are You There God, It's Me Margaret. 

BEST DOCUMENTARY 

1) American Symphony (1)

2) 20 Days in Mariupol (2)

3) Beyond Utopia (3)

4) Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (4)

5) Four Daughters (5)

Alternates: The Eternal Memory, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project and Stamped from the Beginning.

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

1) The Zone of Interest (1)

2) Society of the Snow (3)

3) The Taste of Things (2)

4) The Teachers' Lounge (4)

5) Fallen Leaves (5)

Alternates: Perfect Days, 20 Days in Mariupol and Totem.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) Oppenheimer (1)

2) Killers of the Flower Moon (2)

3) Poor Things (3)

4) Maestro (4)

5) The Zone of Interest (5)

Alternates: Saltburn, Barbie and The Color Purple.

FILM EDITING

1) Oppenheimer (1)

2) Poor Things (3)

3) Killers of the Flower Moon (2)

4) Barbie (4)

5) The Holdovers (-)

Alternates: Maestro, Anatomy of a Fall and Air.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Jodie Foster and Annette Bening for Nyad from Netflix via YouTube.

Annette Bening for Nyad from Awards Watch.

Behind the Scenes for The Zone of Interest from The Hollywood Reporter.

Behind the Scenes for All of Us Strangers from FirstShowing.net.

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MTFB Oscar Update: Best Picture and Direction / The Bikeriders Riding to a New Home / Trailers and Clips: The Teachers' Lounge, Poor Things and Saltburn / Interviews and Profiles: Giamatti, Dafoe, Domingo, Mescal and More

 OSCAR UPDATE: BEST PICTURE AND DIRECTION

Here's MTFB's  Oscar Update.  Today I'm updating the Best Picture and Direction categories.  The last prediction for these two categories were posted on Nov. 9th.  As usual TFF #50 films are in Bold.  A film's previous position on the MTFB Oscar chart is listed in parentheses.

BEST PICTURE

1) Oppenheimer (1)

2) Killers of the Flower Moon (2)

3) Barbie (3)

4) Poor Things (4)

5) The Holdovers (6)

6) American Fiction (5)

7) Maestro (7)

8) The Color Purple (-)

9) Past Lives (8)

10) The Zone of Interest (10)

Alternates:  Anatomy of a Fall, Air, May December

BEST DIRECTION

1) Christopher Nolan/Oppenheimer (1)

2) Martin Scorsese/Killer of the Flower Moon (2)

3) Greta Gerwig/Barbie (3)

4) Yorgos Lanthimos/Poor Things (4)

5) Jonathan Glazer/The Zone of Interest (5)

Alternates: Alexander Payne/The Holdovers, Cord Jefferson/American Fiction and Bradley Cooper/Maestro.

THE BIKERIDERS RIDING TO A NEW HOME

Variety and other outlets reported that New Regency and Disney/20th Century were looking for a partner to distribute Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders.  The film was originally set for a Dec. 1st release but was removed from the release calendar in the midst of the Actors' and Writers' strikes.

We have word from yesterday afternoon that Focus Features has snagged North American distribution rights and plans to release the film in 2024.  The Hollywood Reporter, among other outlets, reported the deal.

The film stars Austin Butler, Tom Hardy and Jodie Comer.

TRAILERS AND CLIPS: THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE, POOR THINGS AND SALTBURN

U.S. TRAILER FOR THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE

NEW U.K. TRAILER FOR POOR THINGS

CLIP FROM SALTBURN VIA INDIEWIRE

https://twitter.com/IndieWire/status/1726993876555284600

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES: GIAMATTI, DAFOE, DOMINGO AND MORE

POOR THINGS

Writer/Director Yorgos Lanthimos for Poor Things from Entertainment Weekly.

Willem Dafoe for Poor Things from Gold Derby.

RUSTIN

Colman Domingo and screenwriter Julian Breece for Rustin from Next Best Picture.

THE HOLDOVERS

Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers from The Playlist.

Actress Da'Vine Joy Randolph for The Holdovers fromVulture.

Actor Dominic Sessa for The Holdovers from Gold Derby.

Producer Mark Johnson for The Holdovers from Awards Daily.

Cinematographer Eigil Bryld for The Holdovers from Awards Radar.

ALL OF US STRANGERS

Paul Mescal for All of Us Strangers from Awards Watch.

Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal from Entertainment Weekly.

Writer/Director Andrew Haigh for All of Us Strangers from The Playlist.

Andrew Haigh for All of Us Strangers from Awards Watch.

SALTBURN

Barry Keoghan and Emerald Fennell for Saltburn from TheRinger.com

Writer/Director Emerald Fennell for Saltburn from Entertainment Weekly.

Emerald Fennell from SlashFilm.

NYAD

Annette Bening and Jodie Foster for Nyad from Awards Radar.

THE ZONE OF INTEREST AND ANATOMY OF A FALL

Sander Huller for both films from Awards Watch.

FALLEN LEAVES

Actors Alma Poysti and Jussi Vantanen for Fallen Leaves from Next Best Picture.

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Oscar Update: Supporting Acting / DOC NYC Announces Short Lists / Totem Trailer / Interviews and Profiles: Domingo, Payne, Dafoe and More

OSCAR UPDATE: SUPPORTING ACTING

Here's your Oscar Update for today's post.  This is a check on predicted nominees for the Supporting Acting categories.  They were last posted here on Oct. 30th.  Previous positions on the MTFB Oscar Update is listed to the right in parentheses.  As always TFF films are Bold.

 BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

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

2) Emily Blunt/Oppenheimer (2)

3) Jodie Foster/Nyad (3)

4) Danielle Brooks/The Color Purple (4)

5) Julianne Moore/May December (5)

Alternates: Taraji P. Henson/The Color Purple, Penelope Cruz/Ferrari and America Ferrera/Barbie

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

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

2) Ryan Gosling/Barbie (2)

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

4) Mark Ruffalo/Poor Things (4)

5) Willem Dafoe/Poor Things (5)

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

I'll have updated Screenplay predictions in Monday's post.

DOC NYC ANNOUNCES SHORT LISTS

DOC NYC has announced three lists of documentaries for inclusion in its fest.  The choices are often seen as being predictive of eventual Oscar nominations.  The fest concludes today. These are the TFF films included on the various lists:

Documentary Feature:

American Symphony

Bobi Wine: The People's President

The Pigeon Tunnel

Shorts:

The Last Repair Shop

Winner's Circle:

Beyond Utopia

The complete lists are linked here from Variety.

TOTEM TRAILER

From Janus Films we saw the release this week of the official U.S. trailer for Totem, Mexico's selection for consideration for the International Film Oscar.  Here it is from YouTube:

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES:

Colman Domingo for Rustin from Awards Radar.

George C. Wolfe for Rustin from The Hollywood reporter's Awards Chatter Podcast.

Willem Dafoe for Poor Things from The Hollywood Reporter.

Alexander Payne for The Holdovers from Filmmakermagazine.com.

Errol Morris for The Pigeon Tunnel from Pop Culture Confidential.

Christos Nikou for Fingernails from The Academy Conversations via YouTube.

Cinematographer Lukasz Zal for The Zone of Interest from The Hollywood Reporter.

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

OSCAR UPDATE: SUPPORTING ACTING

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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

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

2) Emily Blunt/Oppenheimer (2)

3) Jodie Foster/Nyad (3)

4) Danielle Brooks/The Color Purple (5)

5) Julianne Moore/May December (4)

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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

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

2) Ryan Gosling/Barbie (3)

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

4) Mark Ruffalo/Poor Things (2)

5) Willem Dafoe/Poor Things (5)

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

 

I'll update the screenplay categories next week.

TRAILERS: WERNER HERZOG-RADICAL DREAMER

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

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES: PAYNE, HAIGH AND MORE

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

Alexander Payne on The Holdovers from The Los Angeles Times.

Alexander Payne on The Holdovers from Uproxx.

Andrew Haigh on All of Us Strangers from Indiewire.

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin on Nyad from Indiewire.

Ilker Catak on The Teachers' Lounge from Awards Radar.

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A Couple of Outside Shots / New Del Toro May Have DiCaprio / Fienne's The White Crow Opens This Weekend

Good Thursday morning to all...

A COUPLE OF OUTSIDE SHOTS

Looks these last few days at two films that I have avoided including as TFF #46 possibilities are Ang Lee's Gemini Man and Robert Eggers The Lighthouse.

However, we got the first trailer for Gemini Man this week (from YouTube):

And Ang Lee has, though not for awhile, had a presence at Telluride and the film is set for release on Oct. 11th.  Paramount has it under its wing and has occasionally landed at TFF (the last time in 2017 with Downsizing and An Inconvenient Sequel).

Also, here's the story on Gemini Man from Indiewire

Also, we got the first still from Robert Eggers The Lighthouse.  It's from A24 which has been involved at Telluride quite a bit over the last five years or so.  Here's the still via Indiewire:

The Lighthouse was announced as one of the competition films in the Cannes sidebar section Director's Fortnight.  Sometimes films from DF make their way to T-ride.

I have linked this story about The Lighthouse from Indiewire.

NEW DEL TORO MAY HAVE DI CAPRIO

(Photo via Rob Latour/Shutterstock/Variety)

Word is buzzing that Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio may sign on to an emerging Guillermo Del Toro project currently titled Nightmare Alley.  The film would be a remake of a 1947 film starring Tyrone Power.

Del Toro's play at TFF 44 with The Shape of Water and its win for Best Picture means we'd be wise to keep an eye on its development.

Variety has the details linked here.

FIENNES' THE WHITE CROW OPENS THIS WEEKEND

Sony Pictures Classics reminded us yesterday that the Ralph Fiennes directed film about the life of Rudolf Nuryev, which played TFF #45, opens in New York and Los Angeles this weekend.  The reminder came in the form of an email with a great poster for the film.

Here's a look at the poster:

The White Crow will expand to other parts of the country in the coming weeks.

That's your MTFB for this Thursday.  Thanks for playing.  More will be on its way to you on Monday!

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