Thursday, April 28, 2022

More Titles for Cannes / Netflix Adds Inarritu

MORE TITLES FOR CANNES




Since my last post a week ago the Cannes Film Fest has added the remaining titles for its 95th edition, named a Palme d'Or jury and an Un Certain Regard opening night film.  Despite all of the new selections I ma hard pressed to put my finger on a single film that is suggestive of a leap from France to Colorado in early September.

After the initial round of films were announced I landed on these as the most likely unseen candidates to add to the tradition of films doing the Cannes-Telluride tango:

The Stars at Noon
Tori and Lokita
Close
Armageddon Time
Broker
RMN
Showing Up


Upon further reflection I might add:

Armageddon Time
Holy Spider
Moonage Daydream




NETFLIX ADDS INARRITU




Multiple outlets reported yesterday that Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths has been acquired for distribution by Netflix.  Most readers of this space know that I have had Bardo on a number of preliminary lists for a slot at TFF #49 for quite some time based on Inarritu's extensive relationship with the festival for many years dating back to Babel in 2006.

The acquisition by Netflix only adds to the likelihood as the streaming giant has become a major player at Telluride over the last several years with films such as The Power of the Dog,  Marriage Story and Roma all flying the Netflix banner at Telluride.

It seems likely enough that Ioncinema reported the story and included this comment:

"...expected to wrap by fall for what should be a Venice Film Festival premiere (plus Telluride), the Netflix folks are getting into the Iñárritu business landing the rights to revised title BARDO, Chronicle of a Handful of Truths."

In addition to the Ioncinema story, the acquisition was reported by:









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Monday, April 25, 2022

On Hiatus

 ON HIATUS


Michael's Telluride Film Blog is on hiatus.  No post today.  MTFB will return on Thursday, April 28th.


Thursday, April 21, 2022

Trailer for Hirokazu Kore-eda's Broker / Nathaniel Rogers April Foolish Oscar Predix and TFF #49

TRAILER FOR HIROKAZU KORE-EDA'S TRAILER




Playing Cannes in a few weeks is the latest film from Hirokazu Kore-eda.  Broker is described my IMDb as:

"Boxes that are left out for people to anonymously drop off their unwanted babies."

Seriously...that's what IMDb actually says.  I have seen the film titled "Baby Broker" which gives, perhaps, a little more insight into the film.

Kore-eda played TFF in 2018 with Shoplifters.  Now, with his latest film playing Cannes and competing for the Palme d'Or, we could see his return to Telluride.

Here's the recently released trailer ahead of its screening at Cannes:


Additionally, news about the film and trailer are linked here from The Film Stage.



NATHANIEL ROGERS APRIL FOOLISH PREDIX AND TFF #49




Nathaniel Rogers who runs The Film Experience Blog has up his initial 2022-23 Best Picture Oscar contenders and here's what films are on it (and "in contention") that could make noise at TFF #49:

Killers of the Flower Moon
The Son
White Noise
Babylon
Poor Things
Armageddon Time
Empire of Light
Rustin
The Killer
Women Talking

And among the films listed also are:

Red, White and Water
Showing Up
The Stars at Noon
The Whale
Cassandro
Golda
Crimes of the Future
Tar
Blonde
Shirley
The Wonder
Pinocchio
Chevalier
Next Goal Wins
Carmen
Asteroid City
Bardo





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Monday, April 18, 2022

Hansen-Love in Play / Look for Tuesday / Pics from Cannes-Telluride Possibilities

HANSEN-LOVE IN PLAY




World of Reel reports that Mia Hansen -Love's One Fine Morning will play as a part of the Director's Fortnight that runs alongside the Cannes Film Festival (May 17-28).  The film is definitely of note as Hansen-Love has long been a favorite of Telluride programmers.   Hansen-Love fare that has screened at Telluride includes Bergman Island, Things to Come and Goodbye First Love.  You have to figure that there is a high likelihood that this new film makes the jump from Cannes to Telluride.



LOOK FOR TUESDAY




Friend of MTFB and general film genius Jason Osiason has dug up a great TFF #49 potential.  He has tracked the film Tuesday and its director Daina Oniunas-Pusic.  Oniunas-Pusic has had two shorts make the Telluride program: 2015's The Beast and 2016's Rhonna and Donna.

The film is described as a "drama-fantasy" and features Julia Louis-Dreyfus of Veep/Seinfeld/SNL fame.  The fil also comes from A24 which also lends some credence to the notion that a Telluride play is a possibility.



PICS FROM CANNES/TELLURIDE POSSIBILITIES

Along with last week's announcement of Cannes titles for 2022 were photos from a number of the films. Of course, I have targeted some of those titles as TFF #49 possibilities and so pass on some of the pics that were released last week:

George Miller's Three Thousand Years of Longing:





The Dardennes Brothers Tori and Lokita



Arnaud Desplain's Brother and Sister




More to come...




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Thursday, April 14, 2022

Cannes Reveals the 75th Lineup / Mark Johnson Is as Good as Gold / Stay Prayed Up Has a Date

CANNES REVEALS THE 75TH LINEUP




Very early this morning the lineup for the 75th Cannes Film Festival was revealed in France.  Why does this matter to us?  The Cannes/Telluride connection has been deep and lengthy and so parsing Cannes announcements for films that eventually could make an appearance at TFF later in the year is an interesting and, at times, illuminating.

Over the last 10 TFF's here are the numbers of films that have crossed-over from France to Colorado;

2021: 6
2020: 3
2019: 8
2018: 7
2017: 8
2016: 7
2015: 6
2014: 9
2013: 10
2012: 10

As you can see, the connection has diminished somewhat especially the last couple of fests but that may be a Covid caused aberration.  The average over the decade- 7.5 films shared per year.

And some of the titles that have screened at Cannes first and then TFF since 2011:

The Artist
Rust and Bone
Amour
Nebraska
Inside Llewyn Davis
All Is Lost
Blue Is the Warmest Colour
Foxcatcher
Son of Saul
Carol
Toni Erdmann
Cold War
Parasite

Cannes films that I speculated might play both fests from last year were Bergman Island, Cow, The French Dispatch, A Hero, Red Rocket, The Velvet Underground.

With that all said as a prelude, here are the announced titles for Cannes #95:

Opening Night

“Z,” Michel Hazanavicius

Competition

“Holy Spider,” Ali Abbasi
“Les Amandiers,” Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
“Crimes of the Future,” David Cronenberg
“The Stars at Noon,” Claire Denis
“Frere et Soeur,” Arnaud Desplechin
“Tori and Lokita,” Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
“Close,” Lukas Dhont
“Armageddon Time,” James Gray
“Broker,” Hirokazu Kore-eda
“Nostalgia,” Mario Martone
“R.M.N.,” Cristian Mungiu
“Triangle of Sadness,” Ruben Ostlund
“Decisions to Leave,” Park Chan-Wook
“Showing Up,” Kelly Reichardt
“Leila’s Brothers,” Saeed Roustayi
“Boy from Heaven,” Tarik Saleh
“Tchaikovsky’s Wife,” Kirill Serebrennikov
“Hi-Han (Eo),” Jerzy Skolimowski



Un Certain Regard

“Les Pires,” Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret
“Burning Days,” Emin Alper
“Metronom,” Alexandru Belc
“Retour a Seoul,” Davy Chou
“Sick of Myself,” Kristoffer Borgli
“Domingo y La Niebla,” Ariel Escalante Meza
“Plan 75,” Hayakawa Chie
“Beast,” Riley Keough and Gina Gammell
“Corsage,” Marie Kreutzer
“Butterfly Vision,” Maksym Nakonechnyi
“Volada Land,” Hlynur Palmason
“Rodeo,” Lola Quivoron
“Joyland,” Saim Sadiq
“The Stranger,” Thomas M. Wright
“The Silent Twins,” Agnieszka Smoczynska

Cannes Premiere

“Outside Night,” Marco Bellocchio
“Nos Frangins,” Rachid Bouchareb
“Irma Vep,” Olivier Assayas (Series)
“Dodo,” Panos H. Koutras

Special Screenings

“The Natural History of Destruction,” Sergei Loznitsa
“Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind,” Ethan Coen
“All That Breathes,” Shaunak Sen

Midnight Screenings

“Moonage Daydream,” Brett Morgen
“Smoking Makes You Cough,” Quentin Dupieux
“Hunt,” Lee Jung-Jae

Out of Competition

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Joseph Kosinski
“Elvis,” Baz Luhrmann
“Three Thousand Years of Longing,” George Miller
“November,” Cédric Jimenez
“Masquerade,” Nicolas Bedos

What could come from these selections to Telluride?  Here's a list:


The Stars at Noon
Tori and Lokita
Close
Armageddon Time
Broker
RMN
Showing Up

Those are all Palme competition titles.  Among the other sections I'm not immediately seeing anything that jumps out as a TFF potential.  As a couple of wishes...George Miller's Three Thousand Years of Longing and Ethan Coen's Jerry Lee Lewis documentary which likely has been the surprise film that has had people guessing the last few days.  That film may well be a project that IMDb has had listed as being under the direction of music man and frequent Coen collaborator, T. Bone Burnett- who, with both Coen brothers, was a Tribute recipient at Telluride in 2013.  Inside Llewyn Davis screened at TFF that year after having premiered at Cannes.

Reportedly there will be more films announced in the days ahead.




MARK JOHNSON IS AS GOOD AS GOLD





My Telluride buddy, Mark Johnson, runs the Oscar prediction outfit Good as Gold that's housed at Awards Daily.  Mark, as you might expect, has put up his early, early Oscar predictions for next year and, as I am wont to do, I have culled his Best Picture predictions for potential TFF #49 titles.  From the 10 he has as his predicted BP nominees:

Killers of the Flower Moon (mostly because I want to will into a TFF slot...and make the final cut as a background player)
Babylon
White Noise
Empire of Light
Women Talking
Poor Things
Bones and All

and among the films that Mark lists as "On the Radar":

The Whale
Armageddon Time
Bardo
The Son
Asteroid City
Rustin


STAY PRAYED UP HAS A DATE




Deadline, among others, reports that Greenwich Entertainment has taken the North American rights to the gospel documentary Stay Prayed Up.  The film was screened at Telluride last Labor Day weekend as a part of TFF #48.  The film has been dated for a June 17th release.

More details can be gleaned here from the Deadline post written by Matt Grobar.



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Monday, April 11, 2022

Lynch at Cannes? / A Couple of More Cannes Predictions

 LYNCH AT CANNES?



Lots of speculation within the last month or so, that David Lynch might launch a new film in May.  Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel (among others) has been among those that have suggested that a "surprise" inclusion will be a Lynch film.

Ruimy has posted a couple of times about the possibility.  Here's his March 10th post.  He wrote about it again last week.  Here's his April 8th post on the matter.

Over the years there has been a strong relationship between Cannes and Telluride with many films having premiered at the French festival and then screening three and half months later in southwest Colorado.

Which, of course, raises the question: Does Lynch return to Telluride?  Lynch has a history at the fest with Blue Velvet in 1986, a 1989 presentation of Twin Peaks and a Tribute to him in 1999 with a screening of The Straight Story.

We could know on Thursday if the film even exists and if it play Cannes when the the bulk of its lineup is announced.  which leads to...


 A COUPLE OF MORE CANNES PREDICTIONS 







From Ioncinema and Screen Daily come these titles that could be announced Thursday that seem to me to have potential as films that also might then screen as a part of The SHOW:

Armageddon Time
Asteroid City
Bardo
Bones and All
Broker
Crimes of the Future
R.M.N.
Showing Up
The Son
Tori and Lokita
The Whale
Women Talking

Look at the complete lists from both outlets at these links:





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Thursday, April 7, 2022

More Marcel News

MORE MARCEL NEWS

Distributor A24 has released a trailer for TFF #48 hit Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.  The film has also been dated for a June 24th release.  

Additionally Marcel will screen as a part of the San Francisco International Film Festival on April 22nd after having been screened recently at South by Southwest and the Seattle Film Festival.  The screening will also include a Tribute Conversation with Marcel's voice and co-creator Jenny Slate.  Information about he screening and conversation is linked here from SFFilm.

Marcel the Shell topped MTFB's annual survey of film writing professionals besting both The Power of the Dog and Belfast.

Here is the new trailer via YouTube:




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Monday, April 4, 2022

Beginning the New Cycle / Petite Maman Has a Trailer for the U.S./ More Killers for Ya / World of Reel Survey: The Best of the '70's

BEGINNING THE NEW CYCLE




Oscars #94 are in the book and so it's time to get serious about potential titles for TFF# 49.  To that end, I'm parsing this week's post from Indiewire that names their 50 hoped for films for the Cannes Film Fest, which as many MTFB readers know, is often the starting line for films that make The SHOW.  So...here are films from the Indiewire list that seem to me to be Telluride potentials:

Armageddon Time/James Gray
Broker/Hirokazu Kore-eda
Close/Lukas Dhont
Crimes of the Future/David Cronenberg
Holy Spider/Ali Abbasi
One Fine Morning/Mia Hansen-Love
RMN/Cristian Mungiu
She Said/Maria Schrader
Showing Up/Kelly Reichardt
The Son/Florian Zeller
Sparta/Ulrich Seidel
Tori and Lokita/The Dardennes Brothers
The Way of the Wind/Terrence Malick
The Whale/Darren Aronofsky
Women Talking/Sarah Polley




PETITE MAMAN HAS A TRAILER FOR THE U.S.




Celine Sciamma's critically acclaimed Petite Maman, which was a part of the TFF #48 lineup, has a U.S. trailer as of this week.  The film's poster can be seen above and the film drops in the U.S. on April 22nd.

Here's the trailer:





MORE KILLERS FOR YA




Word from The Tulsa World (after a heads up from Jordan Ruimy's World of Reel) that Martin Scorsese will be returning to Oklahoma in May to shoot additional footage for Killers of the Flower Moon.

As close readers of MTFB know, I was a background player for KOTFM in August.  Reading between the lines of the Tulsa World story, it doesn't seem likely that I'll be called back for the new scenes.


Of course it is my great hope that Killers plays Telluride this year.  I will volunteer to be present as a "cast member" for each of its screenings at The SHOW.  A friend of mine who also worked the film gifted me with a cast/crew baseball cap this week.  You might see me sporting it on Labor Day weekend.


WORLD OF REEL SURVEY THE BEST OF THE 70'S




Speaking of Ruimy's World of Reel, he posted a survey of folk about the best films of the 1970's on Mar. 31.  

Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather topped the list.

 Somewhat unbelievably, I was included in the survey.  Others that were also counted included:

David Ansen/Newsweek
Peter DeBruge/Variety
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Peter Howell/The Toronto Star
Larry Karaszewski/Screenwriter, The People vs. Larry Flynt
Dave Karger/Turner Classic Movies
Eric Kohn/Indiewire
Todd McCarthy/Deadline
Daniel Waters/Screenwriter, Heathers


The 15 films I submitted (and where they ended up in the overall)

Taxi Driver (3)
The Godfather (1)
The Godfather Part II (4)
Apocalypse Now (6)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (24)
Nashville (7)
Jaws (5)
The Last Picture Show (25)
Deliverance (-)
American Graffiti (34)
Chinatown (2)
Dog Day Afternoon (15)
Network (10)
All the Presidents Men (9)
All That Jazz (28)





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Thursday, March 31, 2022

2022 Post-Oscars / Oscars 2023-The 95th / Possible Venice Choices

2022 POST-OSCARS 





Well, the 94th Oscar ceremony is in the books.

TFF #48 films end up with three Oscar wins with Jane Campion winning Best Direction, and the only Oscar out of 12 nominations, for The Power of the Dog.  Sir Kenneth Branagh won his first Oscar for Original Screenplay for Belfast.  It's only win out of seven nominations.  The third win was Will Smith's for Best Actor for King Richard.  

As I mentioned on Monday, in terms of prediction accuracy I went 21 of 23.  That might be my best year for predictions ever.  That said, lots of people did very well.  Over at Awards Daily there were reportedly 28 different folks tied for the top spot in their annual Oscar prediction contest with a 22/23 rate of success.

On Sunday, part of my final predictions post included a segment called "Ten Categories That Will Determine Your Oscar Pool."  It was a list of the 10 categories that seemed to me the most likely places where the category was competitive and an upset could occur.  Didn't miss a one except Best Picture and I was on the under side of that with my Power of the Dog prediction. As it turned out the biggest "surprise" came in Animated Short when The Windshield Wiper surprised perceived frontrunners Robin Robin and Bestia.

The three wins for Telluride films was the smallest haul for films that played The SHOW since 2009 when no TFF film won any Oscar (out of 16 nominations).


OSCAR 2023-THE 95TH




Wasting no time, Oscar predicting website Next Best Picture had a post up on Tuesday with a list of films that will/could be released in 2022 that they think might be in the Oscar race for this next season.  As usual, I have parsed it for possible films that we might see over Labor Day weekend.  Here's that list of films with their directors.

Asteroid City/Wes Anderson
Armageddon Time/James Gray
Babylon/Damien Chazelle
Bardo/Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
The Killer/David Fincher
Killers of the Flower Moon/Martin Scorsese
Next Goal Wins/Taika Waititi
Poor Things/Yorgos Lanthimos
The Son/Florian Zeller
Tar/Todd Field
White Noise/Noah Baumbach
Women Talking/Sarah Polley
  
From NBP's "Other Contenders" list:

Barbie/Greta Gerwig
Bones and All/Luca Guadagnino
Broker/Hirokazu Kore-eda



POSSIBLE VENICE CHOICES






Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel posted yesterday reporting that Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Bardo will premiere at Venice.  The Venice/Telluride one-two  has intensified over the past few years.  Consequently, the potential of a Venice bow doesn't guarantee that Inarritu makes the trip, but it sure doesn't diminish the chances wither.  Other films that Ruimy mentions as Venice possibilities: Damien Chazelle's Babylon, Noah Baumbach's White Noise and Paul Schrader's The Master Gardener.



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Monday, March 28, 2022

The Oscars and Telluride

 THE OSCARS AND TELLURIDE



For only the second time since 2008 the Oscar winner for Best Picture did not World Premiere or North American Premiere at the Telluride Film Festival as Sian Heder's CODA took the top prize last night.  Green Book also achieved that feat at the 2019 Oscars.

TFF #48 films that were honored last night were The Power of the Dog with Jane Campion's win for Best Direction, Belfast for Kenneth Branagh's Original Screenplay and King Richard for Will Smith as Best Actor.

Dune topped the night with six Oscars followed by CODA with three and The Eyes of Tammy Faye with two.


The winners:

Picture: CODA
Direction: Jane Campion/The Power of the Dog
Actress: Jessica Chastain/The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Actor: Will Smith/King Richard
Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose/West Side Story
Supporting Actor: Troy Kotsur/CODA
Original Screenplay: Kenneth Branagh/Belfast
Adapted Screenplay Sian Heder/CODA
Documentary: Summer of Soul
Animated Feature: Encanto
International Film: Drive My Car
Cinematography: Dune
Editing: Dune
Production Design: Dune
Original Score: Dune
Original Song: No Time to Die from No Time to Die
Costumes: Cruella
Visual Effects: Dune
Sound: Dune
Makeup/Hair: The Eye of Tammy Faye
Animated Short: The Windshield Wiper
Doc Short: The Queen of Basketball
Live Action Short: The Long Goodbye

I went 21/23 dropping on Animated Short and Best Picture,  I was too stubborn on The Power of the Dog in the face of the momentum that gathered for CODA.

And then there was the Will Smith/Chris Rock confrontation which will be the talk of this particular Oscars forever.  It will be interesting to see how that shakes out and if Smith's actions have an affect on his career going forward.



Coolest moments of the night for me: Campion's win...I actually got to speak with her briefly on the streets of Telluride and express my admiration for her work on The Power of the Dog.

Troy Kotsur's win.  I remember seeing CODA and remarking after it was over that he should be in the Oscar conversation.  For my money, of the four Oscar winning actors this year...it's easily the best performance.

Seeing Francis Ford Coppola, Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino on stage to intro the tribute to the 50th anniversary of The Godfather and be able to turn to the wife and say: I've been on set with one (DeNiro), shaken hands with one and say "thank you for your work" (Coppola) and seen one on stage in a live performance (Pacino-Merchant of Venice-Shakespeare in the Park in NYC in 2010).

More to come on Thursday...it's been a season...



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Sunday, March 27, 2022

Final Oscar Winner Predictions/ Ten Categories That Will Determine Your Oscar Pool / Final Oscar Predictions from the Experts

FINAL OSCAR WINNER PREDICTIONS 


BEST PICTURE

1) The Power of the Dog
2) CODA
3) Belfast
4) King Richard
5) West Side Story
6) Dune
7) Licorice Pizza
8) Don't Look Up
9) Drive My Car
10) Nightmare Alley

Comment: Most of the Oscarologists are saying CODA wins in a close race.  I's sticking with The Power of the Dog mostly because my TFF metric that has been right (The Composite Telluride Ratings).


BEST DIRECTION

1) Jane Campion/The Power of the Dog
2) Kenneth Branagh/Belfast
3) Steven Spielberg/West Side Story
4) Licorice Pizza/Paul Thomas Anderson
5) Ryusuke Hamaguchi/Drive My Car


BEST ACTRESS

1) Jessica Chastain/The Eyes of Tammy Faye
2) Penelope Cruz/Parallel
3) Nicole Kidman/Being the Ricardos
4) Kristen Stewart/Spencer
5) Olivia Colman/The Lost Daughter

Comment: Chastain seems to have slight edge but the move to Cruz as a possible winner this last week has been palpable.


BEST ACTOR

1) Will Smith/King Richard
2) Benedict Cumberbatch/The Power of the Dog
3) Andrew Garfield/tick, tick...BOOM
4) Denzel Washington/The Tragedy of Macbeth
5) Javier Bardem/Being the Ricardos


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Ariana DeBose/West Side Story
2) Kirsten Dunst/The Power of the Dog
3) Aunjanue Ellis/King Richard
4) Jesse Buckley/The Lost Daughter
5) Judi Dench/Belfast


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Troy Kotsur/CODA
2) Kodi Smit-McPhee/The Power of the Dog
3) Ciaran Hinds/Belfast
4) Jesse Plemons/The Power of the Dog
5) J.K. Simmons/Being the Ricardos


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Belfast
2) Licorice Pizza
3) Don't Look Up
4) The Worst Person in the World
5) King Richard


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) CODA
2) The Power of the Dog
3) The Lost Daughter
4) Drive My Car
5) Dune.


BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1) Summer of Soul
2) Flee
3) Attica
4) Ascension
5) Writing with Fire


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

1) Encanto
2) The Mitchells vs. the Machines
3) Luca
4) Flee
5) Raya and the Last Dragon


BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

1) Drive My Car
2) The Worst Person in the World
3) Flee
4) The Hand of God
5) Luana: A Yak in the Classroom


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) Dune
2) The Power of the Dog
3) The Tragedy of Macbeth
4) Nightmare Alley
5) West Side Story


BEST EDITING

1) Dune
2) King Richard
3) The Power of the Dog
4) Don't Look Up
5) tick, tick...BOOM


BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) Dune
2) Nightmare Alley
3) West Side Story
4) The Power of the Dog
5) The Tragedy of Macbeth


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

1) Dune
2) The Power of the Dog
3) Encanto
4) Don't Look Up
5) Parallel Mothers


BEST ORIGINAL SONG

1) No Time to Die/No Time to Die
2) Dos Oruguitas/Encanto
3) Be Alive/King Richard
4) Down to Joy/Belfast
5) Somehow You Do/Four Good Days


BEST COSTUMES

1) Cruella
2) Dune
3) Nightmare Alley
4) West Side Story
5) Cyrano


BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1) Dune
2) Spiderman: No Way Home
3) No Time to Die
4) Shang Chi
5) Free Guy


BEST SOUND

1) Dune
2) No Time to Die
3) West Side Story
4) The Power of the Dog
5) Belfast


BEST MAKEUP/HAIR

1) The Eyes of Tammy Faye
2) Cruella
3) Dune
4) Coming 2 America
5) House of Gucci


BEST ANIMATED SHORT

1) Robin Robin
2) Bestia
3) The Windshield Wiper
3) Affairs of the Art
5) Boxballet


BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

1) The Queen of Basketball
2) Audible
3) Three Songs for Benezir
4) When We Were Bullies
5) Lead Me Home


BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

1) The Long Goodbye
2) Al Kachuu-Take and Run
3) The Dress
4) Please Hold
5) On My Mind


TEN CATEGORIES THAT WILL DETERMINE YOUR OSCAR POOL

The ten categories with enough mystery/uncertainty that will determine your Oscar pool winners tonight:

Best Picture:  Experts say CODA in a squeaker over The Power of the Dog with a whisper or two that Belfast could still upset on a preferential ballot.

Best Actress: One of the most fluid categories of the year.  Remember when Kristen Stewart was supposedly a "lock"?  The experts are leaning toward Jessica Chastain for The Eyes of Tammy Faye but within the last week there has been a real move toward Penelope Cruz.

Best Original Screenplay:  Belfast seems to be out front but don't be surprised if Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza comes out of the envelope.

Best Adapted Screenplay:  A barn burner between CODA and The Poser of the Dog...just like Best Picture.  The Lost Picture as surprise is not totally out of the question.

Best Score: Likely Hans Zimmer wins his second Oscar for Dune but it could be The Power of the Dog or even Encanto.

Best Editing: Another probable Dune win though King Richard's win at the Editing Guild (A.C.E. Eddies) could suggest a different outcome.

Best Cinematography:  Dune leads but "The Dog" is nipping at its heals.

And, as always, the Shorts categories likely will have a big influence on who wins your Oscar pool.  In Live Action Short The Long Goodbye seems like the only near lock in any of the three categories.  In the Short Doc category The Queen of Basketball and Audible seem to be in a tight race much like Robin Robin and Bestia in Animated Short.


FINAL OSCAR PREDICTIONS FROM THE EXPERTS










Thursday, March 24, 2022

MTFB Oscar Take: Facing the Music and Other Categories / Focus Features Chief Says Oscar Surprise Will Happen

 MTFB OSCAR TAKE: FACING THE MUSIC AND OTHER CATEGORIES



Here's your latest update of feature Oscar winners in the categories of Score, Song, Costume, Visual Effects, Sound and Makeup/Hair.  The last predictions for these categories was posted on Mar. 14th.  As always, TFF #48 films are Bold.


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE




1) Dune
2) The Power of the Dog
3) Encanto
4) Don't Look Up
5) Parallel Mothers


BEST ORIGINAL SONG

1) No Time to Die/No Time to Die
2) Dos Oruguitas/Encanto
3) Be Alive/King Richard
4) Down to Joy/Belfast
5) Somehow You Do/Four Good Days


BEST COSTUMES




1) Cruella
2) Dune
3) Nightmare Alley
4) West Side Story
5) Cyrano


BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1) Dune
2) Spiderman: No Way Home
3) No Time to Die
4) Shang Chi
5) Free Guy


BEST SOUND

1) Dune
2) No Time to Die
3) West Side Story
4) The Power of the Dog
5) Belfast


BEST MAKEUP/HAIR

1) The Eyes of Tammy Faye
2) Cruella
3) Dune
4) Coming 2 America
5) House of Gucci


Final Oscar predictions for MTFB Oscar Takes will appear on Sunday and will include predictions in all 23 categories.

As I post this on Thursday morning TFF #48 films look good for Oscar wins in Best Direction/Jane Campion-The Power of the Dog and Best Actor/Will Smith-King Richard.  In the "possible" category are Belfast for Best Picture and Original Screenplay; The Power of the Dog for Best Picture,  Adapted Screenplay, Original Score and Cinematography and King Richard for Best Editing.


FOCUS FEATURES CHIEF SAYS OSCAR SURPIRSE WILL HAPPEN 





Scott Feinberg at The Hollywood Reporter has an interview with Focus Features head Peter Kujawski who insists the Oscar race could still see its film's name, Kenneth Branagh's Belfast, on the card that is pulled from the Best Picture envelope on Sunday night.

Kujawski is quoted as saying: “There is gonna be a real surprise.”

Kujawski thinks the preferential ballot will work in Belfast's favor.


 

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Monday, March 21, 2022

MTFB Oscar Take: Cinematography, Editing and More / Interview: Ciaran Hinds / Another Glowing Review for Marcel

MTFB OSCAR TAKE: CINEMATOGRAPHY, EDITING AND MORE




Pardon the threadbare nature of today's post.  I can now reveal that I just got back to the home base late last night after a five day jaunt to Los Angeles to visit family and to act as the officiant at a former student's wedding:   Shout out Heather and Kyle!!!

Here's your updated Oscar predictions for winners in these six categories today.  These six categories were last posted on March 10th.  TFF #48 Films are Bold.

 
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE







1) Summer of Soul
2) Flee
3) Attica
4) Ascension
5) Writing with Fire


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

1) Encanto
2) The Mitchells vs. the Machines
3) Luca
4) Flee
5) Raya and the Last Dragon


BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

1) Drive My Car
2) The Worst Person in the World
3) Flee
4) The Hand of God
5) Luana: A Yak in the Classroom


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY







1) The Power of the Dog
2) Dune
3) The Tragedy of Macbeth
4) Nightmare Alley
5) West Side Story

Note: Dune won the American Society of Cinematographers Award late on Sunday.


BEST EDITING

1) Dune
2) King Richard
3) The Power of the Dog
4) Don't Look Up
5) tick, tick...BOOM

Note: Following its guild win from the American Cinema Editors, King Richard moves up to #2.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) Dune
2) Nightmare Alley
3) West Side Story
4) The Power of the Dog
5) The Tragedy of Macbeth


INTERVIEW: CIARAN HINDS







ANOTHER GLOWING MARCEL REVIEW




From South by Southwest, here's another very good review of TFF #48 sensation Marcel the Shell with Shoes On from Awards Watch's Ryan Quade that was posted this past weekend.



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Thursday, March 17, 2022

MTFB Oscar Take: The Big 8 / Marcel's Second Bow / Interview

MTFB OSCAR TAKE: THE BIG 8


BEST PICTURE





1) The Power of the Dog
2) Belfast
3) CODA
4) King Richard
5) West Side Story
6) Dune
7) Licorice Pizza
8) Don't Look Up
9) Drive My Car
10) Nightmare Alley



BEST DIRECTION

1) Jane Campion/The Power of the Dog
2) Kenneth Branagh/Belfast
3) Steven Spielberg/West Side Story
4) Licorice Pizza/Paul Thomas Anderson
5) Ryusuke Hamaguchi/Drive My Car


BEST ACTRESS




1) Jessica Chastain/The Eyes of Tammy Faye
2) Kristen Stewart/Spencer
3) Nicole Kidman/Being the Ricardos
4) Olivia Colman/The Lost Daughter
5) Penelope Cruz/Parallel Mothers



BEST ACTOR


1) Will Smith/King Richard
2) Benedict Cumberbatch/The Power of the Dog
3) Andrew Garfield/tick, tick...BOOM
4) Denzel Washington/The Tragedy of Macbeth
5) Javier Bardem/Being the Ricardos


1) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS




1) Ariana DeBose/West Side Story
2) Kirsten Dunst/The Power of the Dog
3) Aunjanue Ellis/King Richard
4) Jesse Buckley/The Lost Daughter
5) Judi Dench/Belfast


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Troy Kotsur/CODA
2) Kodi Smit-McPhee/The Power of the Dog
3) Ciaran Hinds/Belfast
4) Jesse Plemons/The Power of the Dog
5) J.K. Simmons/Being the Ricardos


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Belfast
2) Licorice Pizza
3) Don't Look Up
4) The Worst Person in the World
5) King Richard


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) The Power of the Dog
2) The Lost Daughter
3) CODA
4) Drive My Car
5) Dune

 MARCEL'S SECOND BOW




Telluride sensation Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, which was at the top of the 2021 Telluride Professionals ratings, has made its second festival bow at South by Southwest this past week.  In as far as what I have seen coming out of Austin, audiences there seem to have been as seduced by the mollusk as viewers at The SHOW over Labor Day weekend.





INTERVIEW

An interview with potential Oscar winning editor Pamela Martin on King Richard from Indiwire.


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