Oscar Update: Best Actress / Full Trailer for Your (Bee Gees) Broken Heart / Nomadland Odds and Ends / Never Gonna Snow Again Picked Up by Kino Lorber / Berlin Looming

OSCAR UPDATE: BEST ACTRESS

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Actress updated since I last posted this category on  Oct. 26th.  A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.

UPDATE: BEST ACTRESS

1) Frances McDormand/Nomdaland (2)

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

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

4) Carey Mulligan/Promising Young Woman (5)

5) Sophia Loren/The Life Ahead (9)

6) Kate Winslet/Ammonite (7)

7) Michelle Pfeiffer/French Exit (8)

8) Andra Day/The People (10)

9) Amy Adams/Hillbilly Elegy (6)

10) Meryl Streep/The Prom (-)

Others: Elizabeth Moss/Invisible Woman, Sienna Miller/ Wander Darkly

Hot: Vanessa Kirby, Sophia Loren, Andra Day, Meryl Streep

Not: Michelle Pfeiffer, Amy Adams

Notes:  Currently the top three candidates are bunched very tightly and are all looking like locks.  The rest of the filed for the final two nominations is also tightly bunched but way, way back of McDormand, Kirby and Davis.

FULL TRAILER FOR YOUR (BEE GEES) BROKEN HEART

HBO Max dropped a new full length trailer for the Frank Marshall documentary The Bee Gees: How Do You Mend a Broken Heart this past weekend.  This follows up a teaser that I had here back on Nov. 2nd.

Here's the look at the new 2 1/2 minute trailer from YouTube:

NOMADLAND ODDS AND ENDS

Chloe Zhao's Nomadland won a big honor this week within the craft of cinematography at the EnergaCamerimage Film Festival Golden Frog Award as well as FIPRESCI Jury Prize honors.  The fest honors the best in international cinematography each year.  Joker won the Golden Frog last year.

I have linked coverage of the full scope of the awards from Variety here.

Meanwhile, Tom Bruggemann, writing for Indiewire, had an interesting article up this week about how Searchlight has taken something of a traditionalist approach (if such a thing is even imaginable in the age of Covid-19) to the Awards campaign for Nomadland.

The film is thought to be strong contender for nominations for Picture, Director (Zhao), Actress (McDormand), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography and Film Editing with outside shots for Supporting Actress (Swankie) and Supporting Actor (Stratharin).

Here's Bruggemann's article.

NEVER GONNA SNOW AGAIN PICKED UP BY KINO LORBER

Polish feature, Never Gonna Snow Again, a selection for what would have been TFF #47 as well as Poland's submission for consideration for Best International Feature, has been acquired for North American distribution by Kino Lorber.

The film was a Venice premiere where it won the Premio Fondazione Fai Persona Lavoro Ambiente Award.  It was also screened as a pert of the BFI London Film Festival among others.

Never Gonna Snow Again was directed by Małgorzata Szumowska and co-directed by Michał Englert.  It is described by IMDb:

"Zhenia, a Russian-speaking immigrant from the East works as a masseur in Poland and becomes a guru-like figure in a wealthy gated community where his clients live."

I have linked the announcement of acquisition news here from Screen Daily.

BERLIN LOOMING

Organizers of the Berlin Film Festival have announced plans for a stripped down but still physical version of the fest.  Deadline reports that the festival is currently dated for Feb. 11-21, 2021.

From the Andreas Wideman/Deadline article:

"A festival spokesperson told us: “The Berlinale still plans to take place as a physical event in February. Press screenings and public screenings will take place, as always, in the cinemas, but access will be possible only with pre-booked tickets for allocated seats."

Berlin often is the premiere festival for a couple of films that ultimately become choices for Telluride.

The complete Deadline article is linked here.

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Oscar Update: Best Director / Ammonite News / The Climb Releases / MLK/FBI Trailer

 OSCAR UPDATE: BEST DIRECTOR

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 (1)

2) David Fincher/Mank (2)

3) Aaron Sorkin/The Trial of the Chicago 7 (4)

4) Regina King/One Night in Miami (7)

5) Florian Zeller/The Father (6)

6) Spike Lee/Da 5 Bloods (5)

7) Lee Isaac Chung/Minari (10)

8) Paul Greengrass/News of the World (3)

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

10)Shaka King/Judas and the Black Messiah (8)

Others: Christopher Nolan/Tenet

Hot: Regina King, Lee Isaac Chung

Not: Paul Greengrass, Shaka King, Francis Lee, Sophia Coppola

AMMONITE NEWS

An interview here with Ammonite star Saoirse Ronan. from ETonline.

Annabelle Gutterman separates fact from fiction about the characters and story of Ammonite for Tome.com.  That's linked here.

THE CLIMB RELEASES

From TFF #46. The Climb rose into theaters this past week.  Here's the trailer from YouTube:

 

Here's an interview from The Film Stage with directors Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin

MLK/FBI TRAILER

Here's the trailer for Sam Pollards' documentary MLK/FBI from YouTube

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Oscar Update: Best Picture / TFF and the Gotham Nominations / Waiting for Kurt

OSCAR UPDATE: BEST PICTURE 

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Picture updated since I last posted this category on  Oct. 19th.  A film's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) Nomadland (2)

2) Mank (3)

3) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

4) The Father (5)

5) One Night in Miami (6)

6) Minari (10)

7) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (9)

8) Da 5 Bloods (7)

9) News of the World (4)

10) Soul (-)

Hot: Minari, Ma Rainey, Soul

Not: News of the World, Judas and the Black Messiah, Ammonite, On the Rocks, Tenet

TFF AND THE GOTHAMS

Gotham Award nominations were announced this past week.  The Gothams are out of the gate as the first of 2020 end of year awards.  The Gothams aim to recognize independent films.  TFF #46 and #47 films were named to the list of nominees.

Kelly Reichardt's First Cow (TFF #46) led the field with four nominations: Best Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Joe Magaro) and Breakthrough Actor (Orion Lee).

TFF #46's The Assistant also was nominated for Best Feature.  

TFF #46's Beanpole was nominated for Best International Feature.

TFF #47's Nomadland had nominations for Best Feature and Best Actress (Frances McDormand).

Here's coverage of the complete list of nominations from Erik Anderson/Awards Watch.

WAITING FOR KURT

Some followers of MTFB know that I am a big fan of the late great Kurt Vonnegut.  One of the highlights of my life was to catch a lecture from here back in February of 2003 at Oklahoma City University.  I took a personal day to do it, which, if you know me, is such a rare occurrence.  Usually the only time I use personal days to miss school is for TFF.

Got to see the man talk with a couple of my former students which, if you saw Vonnegut's standard lecture at the time, turned out to be very cool.  The man asked the audience to remember a teacher from our past, so sitting with those "kids" was special.

All of that is to mention that it looks like the Robert B. Weide/Don Argott doc about Vonnegut will likely be released sometime next summer.  The doc has been four decades in the making.  The film has been acquired by IFC Films.  No specific date has been set as yet.

Here's the brand new teaser for the film via YouTube:

Rolling Stone highlighted the news this past week in the article linked here.

Also, if you're so inclined, here's the link to the Daily Oklahoman story about Vonnegut's lecture I attended back in 2003.

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Oscar Update: Best Original Screenplay / DOC NYC Shortlist Features TFF #47 Choices / All In Directors Talk Stacey Abrams and Last Week's Election

 OSCAR UPDATE: BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Original Screenplay updated since I last posted this category on  Oct. 12th.  A screenplay's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

2) Mank (2)

3) Minari (3)

4) Soul (4)

5) Promising Young Woman (8)

6) Judas and the Black Messiah (5)

7) Palm Springs (10)

8) Never Rarely Sometimes Always (6)

9) Da 5 Bloods (7)

10) Ammonite (9)

DOC NYC SHORTLIST FEATURES TFF #47 CHOICES

Indiewire's Anne Thompson reported this week on the 15 film shortlist for DOC NYC.  The fest itself opened yesterday with over 100 feature documentaries programmed.

Thompson points out the influence/predictive power of the fest writing:

"Historically, most of the DOC NYC short list titles overlap with the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the last nine years, DOC NYC has screened the documentary that went on to win the Academy Award, including “American Factory,” “Free Solo,” “Icarus,” “O.J.: Made in America,” “Amy,” “Citizenfour,” “20 Feet From Stardom,” “Searching for Sugar Man,” and “Undefeated.” The festival has screened 24 of the last 25 Oscar-nominated documentary features. In 2019, DOC NYC screened 13 of 15 titles that were named to the subsequent Academy Award Documentary Shortlist."

This year's shortlist includes TFF #47 selections Sam Pollard's MLK/FBI (IFC Films)  and Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw's The Truffle Hunters (Sony Pictures Classics).

The complete Indiewire article is linked here.

ALL IN DIRECTORS TALK STACEY ABRAMS AND LAST WEEK'S ELECTION

Eric Kohn of Indiewire published an interview earlier this week with the directors, Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortes, of All In: The Fight for Democracy, a documentary focused on the fight to protect voting rights spearheaded by former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.  Abrams is widely credited with what appears to be Joe Biden's win in that state.

The film was a selection of the 47th Telluride Film  Festival zand is currently in release on Amazon Prime.

That interview is linked here.

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Oscar Update: Adapted Screenplay / Coming Attractions?

 OSCAR UPDATE: ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Adapted Screenplay updated since I last posted this category on  Oct. 8th.  A screenplay's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) Nomadland (1)

2) One Night in Miami (3)

3) The Father (2)

4) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (5)

5) News of the World (4)

6) I'm Thinking of Ending Things (6)

7) Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (-)

8) First Cow (8)***

9) The Personal History of David Copperfield (-)

10) Hillbilly Elegy (7)

Others: The United States vs. Billie Holiday, French Exit, The White Tiger

***First Cow was a selection of TFF #46

COMING ATTRACTIONS?

Jordan Ruimy/World of Reel reported this week that Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig will collaborate again on a film project set up at Netflix.  Ruimy also reports that Adam Driver, who was Oscar nominated for Baumbach's Marriage Story has also been cast.  Ruimy further suggests that the film could be ready toward the end of 2021.

All of those factors suggest a possibility of inclusion for a run as a part of TFF #48.  Lots of connections over the years between these people, Netflix and T-ride.  Put it on your radar!

The World of Reel story in its entirety is linked here.

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Oscar Update: Best Supporting Actor / Oscar Experts: Erik Anderson-Awards Watch / Greece Picks Apples

 OSCAR UPDATE: BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Supporting Actor updated since I last posted this category on  Oct. 5th.  A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.

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

2) Chadwick Boseman/Da 5 Bloods (1)

3) Leslie Odom Jr./One Night in Miami (11)

4) Bill Murray/On the Rocks (8)

5) Mark Rylance/The Trial of the Chicago 7 (7)

6) David Stratharin/Nomadland (4)

7) Eddie Redmayne/The Trial of the Chicago 7 (9)

8) Daniel Kaluuya/Judas and the Black Messiah (-)

9) Frank Langella/The Trial of the Chicago 7 (10)

10) Charles Dance/Mank (-)

OSCAR EXPERTS PREDICT: ERIK ANDERSON-AWARDS WATCH

Erik Anderson of Awards Watch has this current take on the Oscars.  Here are the films that he views as the biggest players (TFF #47 films in Bold.

Mank (10): Best Picture, Director (Fincher), Supporting Actor (Dance), Supporting Actress (Seyfried), Original Screenplay, Film Editing, Cinematography, Production Design, Costumes, Score, Sound

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (8): Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Cohen), Supporting Actor (Rylance), Original Screenplay, Film Editing, Cinematography, Score, Song

News of the World (8): Best Picture, Actor (Hanks), Supporting Actress (Zengel), Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, Cinematography, Production Design, Sound

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (7): Best Picture, Director (Wolfe), Actor (Boseman). Actress (Davis), Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Makeup

Nomadland (6): Best Picture, Director (Zhao), Actress (McDormand), Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, Cinematography

The Father (6): Best Picture, Director (Zeller), Actor (Hopkins), Supporting Actress (Colman), Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing

Da 5 Bloods (5): Best Picture, Director (Lee), Actor (Lindo), Supporting Actor (Boseman), Score

Hillbilly Elegy (5): Best Picture, Director (Howard), Actress (Adams), Supporting Actress (Close), Makeup

Minari (5): Best Picture, Actor (Yeun), Supporting Actress (Yuh-jung), Original Screenplay, Score

One Night in Miami (4): Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Odom Jr.), Adapted Screenplay, Song

Ammonite (2): Actress (Winslet), Costumes

GREECE PICKS APPLES

Indiewire reports that Greece has officially selected Christos Nikou's Apples as its contestant for the Best International Feature Oscar.  The film was one of the 29 features announced by the Telluride Film Festival as being selected to its 47th edition.

The description of the film from IMDb:

"Amidst a worldwide pandemic that causes sudden amnesia, middle-aged Aris finds himself enrolled in a recovery program designed to help unclaimed patients build new identities."

The complete story of the selection is linked here from Indiewire.

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Oscar Update: Best Supporting Actress / TFF #47 Docs Short Listed / Bee Gees Doc Is Dated by HBO / Tidbits

 OSCAR UPDATE: BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Supporting Actress updated since I last posted this category on  Oct. 1st.  A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.

1) Olivia Colman/The Father (1)

2) Amanda Seyfried/Mank (2)

3) Glenn Close/Hillbilly Elegy (4)

4) Saoirse Ronan/Ammonite (3)

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

6) Ellen Burstyn/Pieces of a Woman (6)

7) Youn Yuh-jung/Minari (-)

8) Maria Bakalova/Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (-)

9) Lily Collins/Mank (-)

10) Meryl Streep/The Prom (7)

TFF #47 DOCS SHORT LISTED

The International Documentary Association announced their short list for their awards this past week and three films from the TFF #47 announced list made the cut:

Sam Pollard's MLK/FBI

Gianfranco Rosi's Notturno

Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw's The Truffle Hunters

According to Indiewire's Anne Thompson, the IDA will announce nominees on Nov. 24th and winners will be announced via a virtual ceremony at some point in January 2021.

Here's the link to the full story from Thompson/Indiewire.

BEE GEES DOC IS DATED BY HBO

Frank Marshall's documentary about the Bee Gees, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend Broken Heart, which was a TFF #47 selection has been scheduled by HBO and HBO Max.  Deadline reports that the film will drop on HBO on Dec. 12th at 8:00pm (EST) and that it will also be available to stream on HBO Max.

HBO also released a first trailer for the film this past week.  Here that is from YouTube:

The complete Deadline article is linked here.

TIDBITS

Among this Monday's "Tidbits"...

The Cannes Film Festival has announced three separate contingency plans for re-scheduling should Covid conditions in France require that they move off their currently scheduled (and traditional) dates in May (11-22).  Variety reports that Cannes organizers are eye-balling three different sets of dates in July and August.

The whole Variety story is here.

AND... Searchlight Films have grabbed a new film in development.  Currently titled Dust, the film has Clare Foy attached to star at the moment.  I include it into today's post for a couple of reasons:

1) Searchlight and Telluride have had a really good relationship over the years...sooo...maybe a future TFF selection.  and

2) The film is set in the dust bowl of 1930's Oklahoma.  Yea...that's right...the film is set 90 years ago in my backyard.  HELLO SEARCHLIGHT...Location shooting?  Call me.  Extras in the area: Give me a ring-a-ding.  Research co-ordination: Hello???  I mean Guymon, OK. is literally the heart/bullseye for the Dust Bowl.  My only actual IMDb entry is the special thanks for Ken Burns' The Dust Bowl.  The wife and I did some location scouting and co-ordination.

Here's the link to the story about the Searchlight acquisition of the film and some of the details from The Wrap.

And, by way of proof, the screenshot of my Dust Bowl credit from IMDb:

That's Monday...BTW...if you haven't already...vote tomorrow.

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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.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

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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.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

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