In just a day of screenings the Telluride Film Festival has shaped the awards-season narrative with some of the biggest fall titles being launched at the Colorado-based fest.
Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” has yet to screen at Telluride, but, after its triumphant Venice premiere, it seems like a done-deal that it will be the critical darling of 2019. That is, of course, until Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” screens at the New York Film Festival on September 27th … There are currently no other movies that have managed to garner the sheer unanimous buzz of Baumbach’s latest.
“Uncut Gems” from The Safdies was already covered in an earlier post. Adam Sandler’s performance is gaining good traction, but the film itself seems to be polarizing some. Regardless, raves from THR and Variety make this a clearcut winner, despite the feeling that it isn’t your token Telluride Oscar-bait.
Of course, Kelly Reichardt’s A24-produced “First Cow” is being praised by those that were lucky enough to see it last night at the Colorado mountains. The film is set for an early 2020 release and, given some of the reviews I have read thus far, it could very well be an early year highlight come next spring.
“Ford V Ferrari,” directed by James Mangold, is off to a more-than-decent start with reviews being, for the most part, positive [81 on Metacritic]. Christian Bale seems to be the one most singled out by critics for his performance as racecar driver Ken Miles, whereas Matt Damon is sidelined a little by some of these reviews.
“Judy” is exactly what we expected it to be, a by-the-books biopic of Judy Garland’s final days driven by an incredible lead performance courtesy of Renee Zelwegger [64 on Metacritic]. I will be catching this on Wednesday, the day before TIFF begins. Hollywood-Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells calls it “a servicable, mildly approvable portrait of a major talent in decline and disarray, but a lot some of it feels a bit slow and middling.”
“Waves” only has four reviews to its name [91 Metascore], but two of them are perfect scores from the trades. Will this become the surprise of the fall? A24 is behind it and I have not been shy in stating just how talented of a director Trey Edward Shults is (“Krisha”!). It won’t have its premiere at TIFF until very late in the fest’s second week, but will be screened for press on the third day of the festival, that is probably when I will catch it.
“Motherless Brooklyn” doesn’t have many reviews to its name. However, reactions have been fairly tame but mostly positive, with Variety’s Peter DeBruge’s saying “this ambitious film noir will make your brain hurt in not entirely unwelcome ways.” Todd McCarthy’s THR review is a little harsher calling Norton’s film “an ambitious muddle.”
“The Aeronauts” was screened for press as other bigger, more flashier titles were premiering at the same time around the fest. The muted response so far doesn’t say much about the quality of Tom Harper’s air balloon picture, but Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones seem to be garnering positive reactions for their performances.
I’m fairly sure I’ve covered all the “big” premieres. Right? The only Oscar-buzzed movies left to be screened at Telluride are Fernando Mereilles’ “The Two Popes” and, as mentioned before, Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story.”
Cory Finley, a talented filmmaker, has directed three films so far: "Thoroughbreds" (2017), "Bad Education” (2020), and "Landscape with Invisible Hand.”