Oscar Update: Best Actor / TFF #47 Films Score at Montclair / Concrete Cowboy Rides to Netflix / Odds and Ends: Chicago 7 and Midnight Sky

 OSCAR UPDATE: BEST ACTOR

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Actor updated since I last posted this category on  Sept. 24th.  A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.

1) Anthony Hopkins/The Father (1)

2) Chadwick Boseman/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (-)

3) Gary Oldman/Mank (2)

4) Delroy Lindo/Da 5 Bloods (4)

5) Tom Hanks/News of the World (3)

6) Riz Ahmed/The Sound of Metal (-)

7) Steven Yeun/Minari (-)

8) Ben Affleck/The Way Back (8)

9) Joaquin Phoenix/C'mon C'mon (7)

10) Colin Firth/Supernova (-)

Others: Bill Murray/On the Rocks, Daniel Kaluuya or LaKeith Stanfield/Judas and the Black Messiah.

TFF #47 FILMS SCORE AT MONTCLAIR

Chloe Zhao'e Nomadland and Mohammad Rasoulof's  There Is No Evil were awarded major prizes at the conclusion of the Montclair Film Festival.  The winners were announced Mnday at the conclusion of the ninth annual event.

Nomadland was named winner of the audience award for a fiction feature and There Is No Evil won the jury award for non-fiction feature.

Complete coverage of all of the winners from the Montclair fest can be found linked here from Variety.

CONCRETE COWBOY RIDES TO NETFLIX

Ricky Staub's Concrete Cowboy, a selection of the "would have been" 47th Telluride Film Festival, has been acquired by Netflix.  Concrete Cowboy stars Idris Elba and was screened as a part of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Variety reports that the film will be released by Netflix at some point in 2021.

The IMDb description of the film is as follows:

"A teenager discovers the world of urban horseback riding when he moves in with his estranged father in North Philadelphia."

The Variety story about the acquisition is linked here.

ODDS AND ENDS

Here are a few other tidbits that I found interesting...

1)The Hollywood Reporter reports that the entire cast of Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7 will be campaigned as Supporting Actors:  The link to the THR story is here.

For my money look at Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jeremy Strong, Mark Rylance and Frank Langella.

2) ShowBiz 411 reports that MGM has re-dated Leisl Tommy's Respect, which stars Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin, for August 13, 2021 which means two things.  First, the move bumps the film and Hudson out of this year's Oscar race and second...the August date guarantees that the film will NOT be a part of a TFF #48 (if that's what it's referenced as) lineup.  I had Hudson at #3 in the Best Actress predictions in last Monday's post.

Here's the ShowBiz 411 story.

3) Trailer drops for George Clooney's Midnight Sky from Netflix.  Here it is via YouTube:

The film is scheduled for release on Netflix on Dec. 23rd.

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Oscar Update: Best Actress / Oscar Experts Predict-Matt Neglia-Next Best Picture / New Trailer for Mank

 OSCAR UPDATE: BEST ACTRESS

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Actress updated since I last posted this category on  Sept. 24th.  A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.

1) Viola Davis/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2)

2) Frances McDormand/Nomadland (1)

3) Vanessa Kirby/Pieces of a Woman (4)

4) Jennifer Hudson/Respect (7)

5) Carey Mulligan/Promising Young Woman (8)

6) Amy Adams/Hillbilly Elegy (6)

7) Kate Winslet/Ammonite (3)

8) Michelle Pfeiffer/French Exit (5)

9) Sophia Loren/The Life Ahead (-)

10) Andra Day/The U.S. vs. Billie Holiday (10)

Others: Meryl Streep/The Prom, Rashida Jones/On the Rocks, Jessica Chastain/The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Elizabeth Moss/Shirley

OSCAR EXPERTS PREDICT/MATT NEGLIA-NEXT BEST PICTURE

Today we turn to Matt Neglia of Next Best Picture to get a sense of where he thinks the overall Oscar Race is as of late October of 2020.  Here's Matt's current view of the major players for Oscar 2021:

Among the films selected for what would have been TFF #47 Neglia predicts Oscar nominations as follows:

The Father (6): Picture, Director (Zeller), Actor (Hopkins), Supproting Actress (Colman), Adapted Screenplay and Film Editing.

Nomadland (5): Picture, Director (Ahao), Actress (McDormand), Adapted Screenplay and Cinematography.

Ammonite (1): Best Supporting Actress (Ronan)

All In: The Fight for Democracy (1): Documentary Feature

Other big players per Neglia:

Mank (12): Picture, Director (Fincher), Actor (Oldman), Supporting Actress (Seyfried), Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Costumes, Film Editing, Makeup/Hair, Production Design, Sound, Score.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (7): Picture, Supporting Actor (Rylance), Supporting Actor (Cohen), Original Screenplay, Film Editing, Production Design and Song.

News of the World (7): Picture, Director (Greengrass), Supporting Actress (Zengal), Cinematography, Production Design, Sound and Score.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (6): Picture, Actress (Davis), Actor (Boseman), Adapted Screenplay, Costume and Makeup/Hair.

Soul (4): Picture, Original Screenplay, Sound and Score.

Judas and the Black Messiah (4): Picture, Director (S. King), Supporting Actor (Kaluuya) and Film Editing.

One Night in Miami (4): Picture, Supporting Actor (Kingsley-Adir), Adapted Screenplay and Song.

Hillbilly Elegy (4): Actress (Adams), Supporting Actress (Close), Adapted Screenplay and Makeup/Hair.

Minari (2): Picture and Original Screenplay.

NEW TRAILER FOR MANK

Yes, I know, Mank was not an announced TFF #47 film but, as I have written here before...good sources have indicated to me that had TFF #47 gone forward as scheduled, Mank likely would have screened in Telluride.  So, with that note in mind...

Mank has a new trailer up this week and I thought I'd share it with you.  Here it is from YouTube:

Mank is set to debut in theaters in November and then will bow on Netflix on Dec. 4th.

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Oscar Update-Best Direction / Truffle Love Continues

 OSCAR UPDATE-BEST DIRECTION

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Direction updated since I last posted this category on  Sept. 21st.  A director's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) Chloe Zhao/Nomadland

2) David Fincher/Mank

3) Paul Greengrass/News of the World

4) Aaron Sorkin/The Trial of the Chicago 7

5) Spike Lee/Da 5 Bloods

6) Florian Zeller/The Father

7) Regina King/One Night in Miami

8) Shaun King/Judas and the Black Messiah

9) George C. Wolfe/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

10) Lee Chung/Minari

Other possibles: Christopher Nolan/Tenet, Francis Lee/Ammonite, Sophia Coppola/On the Rocks

TRUFFLE LOVE CONTINUES

The success, popularity and critical acclaim for The Truffle Hunters continues.  In addition to its selection for TFF #47, the documentary has now been featured as a part of  Sundance, Toronto, New York, Zurich, Hampton and Mill Valley Film Fests, among others.

This week, the film and its directors, Greg Kershaw and Michael Dweck were featured at Indiewire.  Carlos Aguilar wrote the story for the outlet.

Here's the link to the Indiewire article.

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Oscar Update: Best Picture / New Looks at Ammonite / Fireball Trailer and Poster / The Way I See It

OSCAR UPDATE: BEST PICTURE

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Picture updated since I last posted this category on  Sept. 17th.  A film's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (3)

2) Nomadland (1)

3) Mank (2)

4) News of the World (6)

5) The Father (11)

6) One Night in Miami (13)

7) Da 5 Bloods (5)

8) Judas and the Black Messiah (-)

9) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (14)

10) Minari (15)

Others: On the Rocks, Ammonite, Tenet

NEW LOOKS AT AMMONITE

Francis Lee's Ammonite (a TFF #47 pick) has both a new trailer and a new poster as the film heads toward its announced release date of Nov. 13th.  Here, from YouTube, is the latest trailer:

And here's a look at the latest poster for the film as well:

FIREBALL TRAILER AND POSTER

Here's a first trailer for Werner Herzog and Clive Oppenheimer's Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds:

And a poster too:

THE WAY I SEE IT

With its screening this past weekend on MSNBC, there was a good deal of news that was put forth about the documentary The Way I See It which focuses on the career of photographer Pete Souza who photographed both the Reagan and Obama White Houses.

The documentary originally screened last month in theaters.

Check out the following articles:

The Hollywood Reporter

Time.com

Variety

 

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Oscar Overview from Variety / Netflix Oscar Players' Release Dates

 OSCAR OVERVIEW FROM VARIETY

I took a long look at the comprehensive Oscar predictions from Clayton Davis at Variety this week and am filing this report about what looks to be the major players.  TFF #47 films in Bold.

Here are the leading contenders based on Davis' current predictions with the list of what he says they'll earn nominations for:

Mank-10 nominations: Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, Production Design, Cinematography, Costumes, Film Editing, Makeup/Hair.

The Trial of the Chicago 7-8 nominations: Picture, Director, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Film Editing, Sound, Score.

One Night in Miami-8 nominations: Picture, Director, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay,  Cinematography, Costumes, Film Editing, Song.

Nomadland-7 nominations: Picture, Director, Actress, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Film Editing.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom- 6 nominations: Picture, Actress, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay Production Design, Costume.

The Father- 5 nominations: Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay.

News of the World- 5 nominations: Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Score, Cinematography, Production Design.

Judas and the Black Messiah- 4 nominations: Picture, Actor, Original Screenplay, Film Editing.

Da 5 Bloods- 3 nominations: Picture, Actor, Score.

Minari- 3 nominations: Picture, Actor, Original Screenplay.

Check out all of Clayton's current predictions for Variety here.

NETFLIX OSCAR PLAYERS' RELEASE DATES

Indiewire posted a very useful article regrading what is known regarding Netflix's plans for releasing the huge body of film that is perceived as Oscar-y material.  I've parsed the article for release dates on the streaming platform (with Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods and Charlie Kaufman's I'm Thinking of Ending Things already there):

The Trial of the Chicago 7-Oct. 16

Rebecca-Oct. 21

The Life Ahead-Nov. 13

Mank-Dec. 4

The Prom-Dec. 11

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom-Dec. 18

Still undated: The Midnight Sky, The White Tiger and Pieces of a Woman. 

Hillbilly Elegy doesn't have a date listed in the Indiewire article BUT Netflix dropped a trailer for the film this week.  P.R. materials for the trailer say that it will release on the platform on Nov. 24.

That trailer is here:

Here's the link to the entire Indiewire story.

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Oscar 2021 First Attempt-Best Original Screenplay / TFF #47 Running Totals / Variety's Davis Looks at Documentary Oscar Chances / Indiewire Talks with Nomadland's Chloe Zhao

 OSCAR 2021 FIRST ATTEMPT-BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

MTFB continues its first pass at predicting Oscar nominees for 2020-21 in various major categories.  Today we're looking at Best Original Screenplay with, as always, a focus on those performances that were a part of the list of 29 films that TFF released that would have been screened as a part of TFF #47.  Performers designated with *** are in films that may not be released prior to the Feb, 28, 2021 Oscar eligibility deadline.   TFF#47 performers are in Bold:

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7

2) Mank

3) Minari

4) Soul

5) Judas and the Black Messiah

6) Never Rarely Sometimes Always

7) Da 5 Bloods

8) Promising Young Woman

9) Ammonite

10) Palm Springs

TFF #47 RUNNING TOTALS

Nomadland: Best Picture, Director (Zhao), Actress (McDormand), Supporting Actor (Stratharin), Adapted Screenplay. Total of 5 in these categories.

Ammonite: Best Picture, Actress (Winslet), Supporting Actress (Ronan).  Maybe: Director (F. Lee) Best Original Screenplay.  Total: 2.

The Father: Actor (Hopkins), Supporting Actress (Colman)., Adapted Screenplay Maybe: Best Picture, Director (Zeller).  Total: 3

VARIETY'S DAVIS LOOKS AT DOCUMENTARY OSCAR CHANCES

Newly minted Variety Oscarologist Clayton Davis is a busy man as he has Oscar nomination predictions up at the venerable website/publication for 19 categories at this early stage of the now elongated Oscar season. 

The most recent category addition to his Oscar analysis is for Best Documentary Feature.  Among his Top 20 are a number of titles that were on the TFF #47 "Would Have Played" list.  They are:

1) All In:The Fight for Democracy

8) MLK/FBI

9) The Truffle Hunters

12) The Way I See It

Take a look at Davis' complete list of possible Oscar candidates linked here.

INDIEWIRE TALKS WITH NOMADLAND'S CHLOE ZHAO

Recently, Indiewire chief critic Eric Kohn talked to director/writer Chloe Zhao whose Nomadland has made big waves over the last month.  The film won both the Golden Lion at Venice and the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Zhao talks about the process that she used in collaboration with star Frances McDormand in order to make one of the most critically lauded films of 2020.

Here's that interview/article from Indiewire.

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Oscar 2021 First Attempt-Best Adapted Screenplay / TFF #47 Running Totals / The Wrap Talks Truffles

 OSCAR 2021 FIRST ATTEMPT-BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

MTFB continues its first pass at predicting Oscar nominees for 2020-21 in various major categories.  Today we're looking at Best Adapted Screenplay with, as always, a focus on those performances that were a part of the list of 29 films that TFF released that would have been screened as a part of TFF #47.  Performers designated with *** are in films that may not be released prior to the Feb, 28, 2021 Oscar eligibility deadline.   TFF#47 performers are in Bold:

1) Nomadland

2) The Father

3) One Night in Miami

4) News of the World***

5) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

6) I'm Thinking of Ending Things

7) Hillbilly Elegy***

8) First Cow+++

9) The U.S. vs. Billie Holiday

10) French Exit

+++ First Cow was a TFF #46 selection.

TFF #47 RUNNING TOTALS

Here are the running totals of predicted nominations regarding TFF #47 films.  I'll add to this over the next week as I add the screenplay categories.

Nomadland: Best Picture, Director (Zhao), Actress (McDormand), Supporting Actor (Stratharin), Adapted Screenplay.

Ammonite: Best Picture, Actress (Winslet), Supporting Actress (Ronan).  Maybe: Director (F. Lee)

The Father: Actor (Hopkins), Supporting Actress (Colman)., Adapted Screenplay Maybe: Best Picture, Director (Zeller).

THE WRAP TALKS TRUFFLES

The Wrap's Steve Pond recently sat down with the co-directors of the documentary The Truffle Hunters.  Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw talked about their discovery of the world of men and dogs who are immersed in the unusual world of searching for one of nature's most rare gastronominc delicacies.  

The video and accompanying story are linked here from The Wrap.

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Oscar 2021 First Attempt-Best Supporting Actor / TFF Films Running Totals / Festival Posters for Nomadland

 OSCAR FIRST ATTEMPT 2021-BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

MTFB continues its first pass at predicting Oscar nominees for 2020-21 in various major categories.  Today we're looking at Best Supporting Actor with, as always, a focus on those performances that were a part of the list of 29 films that TFF released that would have been screened as a part of TFF #47.  Performers designated with *** are in films that may not be released prior to the Feb, 28, 2021 Oscar eligibility deadline.   TFF#47 performers are in Bold:

1) Chadwick Boseman/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

2) Sasha Baron Cohen/The Trial of the Chicago 7

3) Yahya Abdul-Mateen II/The Trial of the Chicago 7

4) David Strathairn/Nomadland

5) LaKeith Stanfield/Judas and the Black Messiah***

6) Kinglsey Ben-Adir/One Night in Miami

7) Mark Rylance/The Trail of the Chicago 7

8) Bill Murray/On the Rocks

9) Eddie Redmayne/The Trial of the Chicago 7

10) Frank Langella/The Trial of the Chicago 7

11) Leslie Odom Jr./One Night in Miami

TFF FILMS RUNNING TOTALS:

Beginning with today's post, here are the running totals of predicted nominations regarding TFF #47 films.  I'll add to this over the next week as I add the screenplay categories.

Nomadland: Best Picture, Director (Zhao), Actress (McDormand), Supporting Actor (Stratharin)

Ammonite: Best Picture, Actress (Winslet), Supporting Actress (Ronan).  Maybe: Director (F. Lee)

The Father: Actor (Hopkins), Supporting Actress (Colman).  Maybe: Best Picture, Director (Zeller)

FESTIVAL POSTERS FOR NOMADLAND

The Movie Waffler tweeted photos of posters that were created for each of Nomadland's festival appearances this past weekend including one created for the Telluride in L.A. drive-in screening of the film that took place on Sept. 11th:

The others are also cool:

For Venice:

For Toronto:

For New York:

 

The Movie Waffler website is linked here.
 

 

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Oscar 2021 First Attempt-Best Supporting Actress / Cannes Items / Truffles in The Netherlands

 OSCAR 2021 FIRST ATTEMPT-BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

MTFB continues its first pass at predicting Oscar nominees for 2020-21 in various major categories.  Today we're looking at Best Supporting Actress with, as always, a focus on those performances that were a part of the list of 29 films that TFF released that would have been screened as a part of TFF #47.  Performers designated with *** are in films that may not be released prior to the Feb, 28, 2021 Oscar eligibility deadline.   TFF#47 performers are in Bold:

1) Olivia Colman/The Father

2) Amanda Seyfried/Mank

3) Saoirse Ronan/Ammonite

4) Glenn Close/Hillbilly Elegy***

5) Helena Zengel/News of the World***

6) Ellen Burstyn/Pieces of a Woman

7) Meryl Streep/The Prom***

8) Audra McDonald/Respect

9) Mary J. Blige/Respect

10)Abagail Breslin/Stillwater***

CANNES ITEMS

Acouple of notes about the Cannes Film Fest that emerged over the past few days.

First, news that Cannes will be hosting a mini-fest.  Variety's Manori Ravidran reports that the fest will host a special event on Oct. 27-29 and will feature four films from their released official selections list.  Other events including a shorts program will also be included.

Fest Director Thierry Fremaux is quoted as saying:

 

“The films of the Official Selection are currently playing to cinemagoers in France, in Europe and throughout the world. It’s a great sign to see them making a stopover in Cannes, before we turn our attention to the 2021 season.”

Cannes has also announced that the fest's dates for 2021 will be May11-22.

The Variety article is linked here.

Meanwhile, it appears that my prediction that Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch will premiere at Cannes in 2021 may be coming true.  After Indiewire's Anne Thompson hinted at it last week and now both The Playlist and World of Reel are echoing Indiewire's story.

Here are links to The Playlist and the World of Reel spins on the original Indiewire reporting.

There was a good deal of speculation that The French Dispatch was, at one point, on the TFF #47 list of films.  Now, perhaps, we put it on the TFF #48(?) list.

TRUFFLES IN THE NETHERLANDS

Greg Kershaw and Michael Dweck's documentary The Truffle Hunters continues its run of inclusion in high profile film festivals.  The latest addition is to the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IFDA).  IFDA is set for Nov 18-29 in The Netherlands and will be a hybrid of physical and virtual events.

Variety has the story here.

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Oscar 2020 First Attempt-Best Actor / Looks at The Way I See It and The Truffle Hunters /The Bee Gees Go to HBO

OSCAR 2020 FIRST ATTEMPT-BEST ACTOR

MTFB continues its first pass at predicting Oscar nominees for 2020-21 in various major categories.  Today we're looking at Best Actor with, as always, a focus on those performances that were a part of the list of 29 films that TFF released that would have been screened as a part of TFF #47.  Performers designated with *** are in films that may not be released prior to the Feb, 28, 2021 Oscar eligibility deadline.   TFF#47 performers are in Bold:

1) Anthony Hopkins/The Father

2) Gary Oldman/Mank

3) Tom Hanks/News of the World***

4) Delroy Lindo/Da 5 Bloods

5) Bill Murray/On the Rocks

6) Daniel Kaluuya/Judas and the Black Messiah***

7) Joaquin Phoenix/C'mon C'mon***

8) Ben Affleck/The Way Back

9) Matt Damon/Stillwater***

10) Michael Fassbender/Next Goal Wins***

LOOKS AT THE WAY I SEE IT AND THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS

This week we got new footage from two TFF #47 documentaries.  Initially, we were treated to the a first clip from Dawn Porter's The Way I See It which focuses on Pete Souza who spent time as the Chief Official White House photographer for Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.

Here's that clip from YouTube:

If you have trouble viewing this video, here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evHHCHocAqQ

Also, ahead of its play at the Zurich film festival, we have a new clip from Greg Kersahe and Michael Dweck's The Truffle Hunters.  Also from YouTube:

As with the above clip, if you have trouble viewing here's the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS1AWDp7ftE

THE BEE GEES GO TO HBO

We got word this week that Frank Marshall's documentary focusing on The Brothers Gibb has been acquired by HBO.  The Bees Gees: How Do You Mend a Broken Heart was announced as an official TFF #47 selection back at the end of July and now mxdwn.com reports that HBO Documentary Films now has plans to screen the doc on this fall on HBO Max and their flagship platform.

The mxdwn.com article form Sept. 26th is linked here.

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Oscar 2021 First Attempt-Best Actress / TIFF Critics' Survey and TFF #47 / Talking Truffles / And Finally...The Chicago 7? / Late Breaking

 OSCAR 2021-FIRST ATTEMPT-BEST ACTRESS

MTFB continues its first pass at predicting Oscar nominees for 2020-21 in various major categories.  Today we're looking at Best Actress with, as always, a focus on those performances that were a part of the list of 29 films that TFF released that would have been screened as a part of TFF #47.  Performers designated with *** are in films that may not be released prior to the Feb, 28, 2021 Oscar eligibility deadline.   TFF#47 performers are in Bold:

1) Frances McDormand/Nomadland

2) Viola Davis/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom***

3) Kate Winslet/Ammonite

4) Vanessa Kirby/Pieces of a Woman

5) Michelle Pfeiffer/French Exit

6) Amy Adams/Hillbilly Elegy***

7) Jennifer Hudson/Respect***

8) Carrie Mulligan/Promising Young Woman

9) Renee Zegler/West Side Story***

10) Angela Day/The U.S. vs. Billie Holiday

11) Jessica Chastain/The Eyes of Tammy Faye***

12) Rashida Jones/On the Rocks

TIFF CRITICS SURVEY AND TFF #47

As has been the habit of Indiewire for many year, that organization polled critics that "attended" the just concluded  Toronto International Film Festival and those results reflect some very nice notice of films that are a part of the TFF 2020 announced lineup.

Chloe Zhao's Nomadland...coming off of winning Toronto's People's Choice Award and the Golden Lion at Venice was named the best film by the poll.

The Best Documentary category saw plaudits for two TFF #47 selections as Michael Dweck and Greg Kershaw's The Truffle Hunters (see linked interview below) was named second best doc and Sam Pollard's MLK/FBI  was named third best doc.  76 Days, the on-the-ground report from Wuhan, China that focuses on the emergence of Covid-19.

Zhao was named Best Director by the survey and Nimadland also was chosen as third best screenplay.  FRances McDormand was runner-up in the Best Performance category.

All in all, a very good representation of TFF #47 films among the Indiewire accolades.

The complete Indiewire Critics' Survey results article is linked here.

TALKING TRUFFLES

One of the most talked about festival docs this season is undoubtedly The Truffle Hunters from directors Michael Dweck and Greg Kershaw.  The pair were recently (Sept. 19) highlighted by Point of View Magazine (POV).

That interview is linked here.

One other quick note (and humblebrag), through the kindness of an anonymous reader of the blog, I was fortunate enough to get a screener link to see The Truffle Hunters last weekend.  It's delightful, joyous, funny, poignant and beautiful to behold.  

AND FINALLY...THE CHICAGO 7?

Honestly, I wouldn't normally be writing about Aaron Sorkin's The Trail of the Chicago 7 much except in the context of the Oscar race since all Netflix films eschewed all of the festival circuit this time around.  But...

1) Early reactions from those who have seen an advanced screening seem to be over the moon and suggest that the film WILL BE a significant Oscar player.

2) World of Reel's Jordan Ruimy reports that the film is getting a theatrical release of some sort THIS WEEKEND...here's the link to Jordan's story.  And...

3) I have a good, reliable source telling me that had Telluride proceeded normally, that the film would have been a part of the The SHOW's lineup.

Cool, cool, cool.

LATE BREAKING

As I have been thinking for quite some time, Steven Spielberg's West Side Story will no longer be a  part of this year's Oscar conversation.   As The Hollywood Reporter published yesterday evening,  Warners has moved West Side Story all the way to Dec. 21, 2021.  Disney has also decided to move Black Widow to May of 2021.

The move means that WSS will not be eligible for this year's Oscars and could open the way for other remaining big films to move their release strategies as well.  

Other films that could follow West Side Story include:  News of the World, Stillwater, The French Dispatch, Dune, Hillbilly Elegy and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom among others.

The THR story is linked here.

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Nomadland Tops TIFF / Oscar 2021-First Attempt-Best Director / At the Drive-In

 NOMADLAND TOPS TIFF

TFF #47 selection Nomadland won the Toronto International Film Festival's People's Choice Award as that festival came to a conclusion over the weekend.  The film, directed and written by Chloe Zhao and starring two time Oscar winner Frances McDormand, has been a significant critical success as it was also this year's Golden Lion winner for the Venice Film Festival.

Past TIFF People's Choice Award winners have gone on to be serious players during Oscar season and often times have included films from The SHOW,  Here's a rundown of the past few years of TIFF People's winners and runners-up with TFF films in BOLD:

2007: Winner: Eastern Promises, RU: JUNO 

2008: Winner: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, RU: More Than a Game

2009: Winner: Precious, RU: Mao's Last Dancer

2010: Winner: THE KING'S SPEECH, RU: THE FIRST GRADER

2011: Winner: Where Do We Go now, RU: Starbuck

2012: Winner: Silver Linings Playbook, RU: ARGO

2013: Winner: 12 YEARS A SLAVE, RU: Philomena

2014: Winner: THE IMITATION GAME, RU: Learning to Drive

2015: Winner: ROOM, RU: Angry Indian Goddesses

2016: Winner: LA LA LAND, RU: Lion

2017: Winner: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, RU: I. Tonya

2018: Winner: Green Book, RU: If Beale Street Could Talk

2019: Winner: Jojo Rabbit, RU: MARRIAGE STORY

2020: Winner: NOMADLAND, RU: One Night in Miami

I have linked coverage of the TIFF awards here from Next Best Picture as well as The Hollywood News.

OSCAR 2021-FIRST ATTEMPT-BEST DIRECTOR

Last week, I started aiming this boat toward Oscar season with my first take on predicting films for Best Picture nominations.  Today we move to the Best Direction category with a reminder that it's a weird year and no one is entirely certain which films will actually screen before the deadline that The Academy moved to-Feb, 28, 2021.  Consequently, this first list will have some film's marked with an * meaning that, at least for the moment, I'm thinking that that film could have its release after Feb, 28th. TFF #47 films are in Bold

1) Chloe Zhao/Nomadland

2) David Fincher/Mank

3) Steven Spielberg/West Side Story*

4) Denis Villenueve/Dune*

5) Paul Greengrass/News of the World*

6) Spike Lee/Da 5 Bloods

7) Regina King/One Night in Miami

8) Christopher Nolan/Tenet

9) Aaron Sorkin/The Trial of the Chicago 7

10) Ron Howard/Hillbilly Elegy*

Other possibles: Francis Lee/Ammonite, Elizabeth Hittman/Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Florian Zeller/The Father, Wes ANderson/The French Dispatch*, Tom McCarthy/Stillwater*.

AT THE DRIVE-IN

As you almost certainly know, Telluride #47 appeared, much like Brigadoon, seemingly from out of nowhere to provide drive-in screening s recently of two of its 29 TFF #47 selections.

On Sept. 2nd, partnering with the Mill Valley Film Festival, Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortes' voting rights documentary: All In: The Fight for Democracy screened at the West Wind Solano Twin Drive-In in Concord, CA.  One of the patrons who attended is a friend of the blog and shared a photo or two of the evening:

Then on Sept. 11th, TFF screened Chloe Zhao's Nomadland turning the venerable Rose Bowl into a drive-in theater.  Director Zhao and star Frances McDormand were on hand.  Eagle-eyed friend of the blog, Jim Brooks forwarded a YouTube video that was posted by the film's distributor, Searchlight, on Sept. 14.  I have linked that here for your perusal:

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Oscar 2021-First Attempt at Best Picture / Trailer for The Father / Rosi Talks Notturno / McDormand's Side Hustle?

OSCAR 2021-FIRST ATTEMPT AT BEST PICTURE

Well...here we are.  Normally (and I am really tired of writing the word "normally") I'd be collating rating data from TFF attendees and industry professionals as we rated the films that had been screened at the 47th Telluride Film Festival.

Also, normally, I'd be gathering thoughts about making the turn into Oscar season for this space.  Traditionally, after TFF is done this space becomes a tracker, of sorts, for TFF films that become part of the Oscar conversation-and that's still going to be true.  It's just going to be different for a variety of reasons.

1) We have a list of TFF #47 films that none of us saw in Telluride.  That list, however, is going to count for my approach this year.  They are the TFF #47 films I'll be paying attention to.

2) It's a significantly longer Oscar season this time around.  The Academy added two months to the eligibility period as a response to the effects of Covid-19 on the film industry meaning that the window to screen a film so that it would be Oscar eligible went from Dec. 31 to Feb. 28.  It also moved the ceremony to the end of April.  There has been a bit of scuttlebutt that The Academy might further adjust their calendar but at the moment my expectation is that they'll stick with the current dates irrespective of any other considerations such as...

3) The release schedule is...um...fluid.  Frankly, I doubt that the "moveable feast" of what gets released when is over.  The big test case of releasing Christopher Nolan's Tenet to underwhelming box office in its first week and Warners decision to keep the box office numbers under wrap for its second week will probably mean more release date shuffling.  That makes Oscar eligibility for some big films a moving target.

So, I'm going to do the best I can here...but...wow...it's a challenge.

That said...here's my first stab at predicting the Best Picture Oscar for 2020 (and part of 21) with a couple of caveats and comments about the unique circumstances.  TFF #47 films are listed in Bold.

BEST PICTURE

1) Nomadland (Zhao)
2) Mank (Fincher)
3) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Sorkin)
4) West Side Story (Spielberg)
5) Da Five Bloods (S. Lee)
6) News of the World (Greengrass)
7) Ammonite (F. Lee)
8) The French Dispatch (Anderson)
9) Dune (Villeneuve)
10) Hillbilly Elegy (Howard)

That said...I believe fully 4-5 of these films may end up being moved out of the screening eligibility window: West Side Story, News of the World, The French Dispatch, Dune and maybe Hillbilly Elegy.

I can easily envision that any or all of these might hold off for a Cannes premiere or a summer 2021 release or even being held as long as November-December 2021.

So, I'm going list five more films that either have already fit into the new Oscar eligibility window or probably will:

11) The Father (Zeller)
12) Tenet (Nolan)
13) One Night in Miami (King)
14) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Wolfe)
15) Minari (Chung)


TRAILER FOR THE FATHER


From Sony Pictures Classics we have this new trailer for The Father starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman.  Both are getting serious Oscar buzz for their performances.  Here's the new trailer from YouTube:

ROSI TALKS NOTTURNO

Alex Ritman, writing for The Hollywood Reporter has a new interview with the director of the documentary Notturno.  Gianfranco Rosi's doc about the Middle East has been a choice of a number of film fests in addition to Telluride with inclusions by Toronto, Venice and New York as well.

Here's that interview from The Hollywood Reporter.


MC DORMAND'S SIDE HUSTLE?

Marta Balaga reports that Frances McDormand was so successful in creating her character for the upcoming Nomadland that a Target store in one of the Nebraska communities in which the film was shooting offered McDormand a job.

McDormand plays a character that becomes a "nomad" in America during the Great Recession.

Balaga's story was in Variety and is linked here.



MLK/FBI HAS DISTRIBUTION

Deadline reports that IFC Films has acquired Sam Pollard's MLK/FBI for U.S. distribution.  That story appeared on Tuesday.  Deadline additionally reported that IFC will release the film on Jan. 15, 2021.

The film focuses on the FBI's surveillance and harassment of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960's as the civil rights icon's influence grew.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

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