Basing this on all that we know so far, the fall festival circuit is really spreading the wealth of world premieres this year. It’s rather unusual and can either signify a lack of quality films or a new strategy from studios to skip certain fests, or both.
Venice: Bardo, Tar, White Noise, The Son, Blonde, Bones & All, The Eternal Daughter, The Whale, The Master Gardener, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Toronto: The Fabelmans, The Greatest Beer Run Ever, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Bros, The Good Nurse
Telluride: Women Talking, Empire of Light, The Wonder
New York: Til, She Said
Notice how Telluride has slimmer pickings than usual. They usually program a solid four or five major world premieres every year, but this year, from what we know so far, they just have Empire of Light, Women Talking and The Wonder.
They need a “Babylon” to make things truly noteworthy, but last I checked Damien Chazelle’s film was still skipping the fests.
So what else could possibly surprise as a world premiere?
I reported in June that Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” wouldn’t be ready until October. Let’s scratch that one off as well.
Michael Showalter’s “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies” has been peculiarly absent from all the festival announcements.
Maybe William Oldroyd’s “Eileen”? The film has test-screened and is more or less ready. Word of mouth is strong on this film …
Finally, there’s Kasi Lemmons’ “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” a Whitney Houston biopic that test-screened earlier in the year. Its late December release date signifies Sony’s confidence in this one, especially Naomi Ackie’s lead performance. Maybe this is the one going to T-ride.
This is what we do know is going to Telluride:
Tar (Field)
Bones and All (Guadagnino)
Bardo (Inarritu)
The Wonder (Leilo)
Empire of Light (Mendes)
Women Talking (Polley)
A Compassionate Spy (James)
My Name is Alfred Hitchcock (Mark Cousins)
Theater of Thought (Werner Herzog)
Aftersun (Charlotte Wells)
Godland (Hlynur Pálmason)
The US and the Holocaust (Ken Burns)
Sr. (Smith)
Good Night Oppy (White)
Holy Spider (Abbasi)
Armageddon Time (Gray)
One Fine Morning (Hansen-Løve)
Broker (Kore-eda)
Close (Dhont)
Living (Hermanus)
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)
It gives me no pleasure to report that this is one of the worst films of Schrader’s career. Wooden acting, Jack Huston and Sofia Boutella are badly miscast, the script is dull, the photography is flat; nothing works.