An Underwhelming TIFF Makes the Best Picture Race Much Clearer

A fall festival boss had warned me a few weeks ago that we were likely to experience a lack of quality films “due pandemic disruptions.” She was right.

It’s not that, on-paper at least, there was an abundance of promising titles this fall, but, these last few weeks, a lot of films have underperformed critically at Venice, Telluride and Toronto. Those include (with Metacritic scores) “The Son (61),” “Bardo (51),” “Empire of Light (60),” “White Noise (67),” “Blonde (64),” “The Greatest Beer Run (NA),” and “The Whale (65).”

Of course, because it’s been such a weak fall slate, almost any of the above titles could potentially sneak into the Oscar conversation. For now, the major films that have actually been, almost, universally praised are “TAR,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Bones and All,” “The Fabelmans,” and “Glass Onion.”

The big indie/foreign titles seem to be “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” and “Saint Omer.” Slim pickings.

If there’s one movie that I missed but which I would have loved to have seen it’s Sebastian Lelio’s “The Wonder.” It screened this morning but I’m already out of town. Otherwise, I saw what I needed to see in Toronto and now it’s on to New York.

The 10 best films I saw at TIFF 2022 (although I’m stretching since, realistically, maybe five of these are above-average): “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “How to Blowup a Pipeline”, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”, “Saint Omer,” “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”, “The Inspection”, “All Quiet on the Western Front”, “The Fabelmans,” “Brother” and “The Good Nurse.”

This underwhelming fall festival means that “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Elvis,” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” have gained major momentum from what is shaping up to be a mediocre year for quality movies.

Best Picture (09.14.22)

1. The Fabelmans

2. Babylon

3. Everything Everywhere All At Once

4. Top Gun: Maverick

5. The Banshees of Inisherin

6. TÁR

7. Elvis

8. Empire of Light

9. Glass Onion

10. Avatar: The Way of Water

Now it’s on to the New York Film Festival where “Til” and “She Said” will screen. Then, it’s Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” a week or so later. Next week, David O. Russell’s “Amsterdam” will also be shown to press. James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” and Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon” seem to be the only major players being unveiled in December.

As for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” I’m still being told that Scorsese’s film could be a possibility. “It’s ready when it’s ready” seems to be the quote I keep getting. And that’s fine, but Apple currently has no big player in the Oscar race this year, unless you believe “Cha Cha Real Smooth” has a shot.