Festival Circuit 2021

[DarkImbecile]

Thanks, NC! I’m definitely making room for the Baker and Anderson if they show up. Not getting Titane is easily my biggest disappointment of this festival year, while what I’ve heard of Bergman Island is making me a little wary of devoting a slot to it… but that so often depends on the vagaries of the schedule anyway, so we’ll see how it turns out.

[zedz]

Unfortunately our festival is running later this year because of COVID and the delayed international festivals, so I haven’t seen many new new films yet. I can highly recommend Mokri’s Careless Crime and Weerasethakul’s Memoria, though.

[DarkImbecile]

Telluride Lineup:

THE AUTOMAT (d. Lisa Hurwitz, U.S., 2021) In person: Lisa Hurwitz
BECOMING COUSTEAU (d. Liz Garbus, U.S., 2021) In person: Liz Garbus
BELFAST (d. Kenneth Branagh, U.K., 2021) In person: Kenneth Branagh, Jamie Dornan
BERGMAN ISLAND (d. Mia Hansen-Løve, France/Germany/Sweden, 2021) In person: Mia Hansen-Løve
BITTERBRUSH (d. Emelie Mahdavian, U.S., 2021) In person: Emelie Mahdavian, Colie Moline
C’MON C’MON (d. Mike Mills, U.S., 2021) In person: Mike Mills, Gaby Hoffman, Molly Webster
CITIZEN ASHE (d. Sam Pollard, Rex Miller, U.S./U.K., 2021) In person: Sam Pollard, Rex Miller
COW (d. Andrea Arnold, U.K., 2021) In person: Andrea Arnold
CYRANO (d. Joe Wright, U.K., 2021) In person: Joe Wright, Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Erica Schmidt, Bryce Dessner, Aaron Dessner
THE DUKE (d. Roger Michell, U.K., 2021) In person: Roger Michell, Helen Mirren
THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN (d. Will Sharpe, U.K., 2021) In person: Will Sharpe, Benedict Cumberbatch
ENCOUNTER (d. Michael Pearce, U.S., 2021) In person: Michael Pearce
FAUCI (d. John Hoffman, Janet Tobias, U.S., 2021) In person: John Hoffman, Janet Tobias, Steven Wakefield, Peter Staley
FLEE (d. Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Denmark, 2021) In person: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
HALLELUJAH: LEONARD COHEN, A JOURNEY, A SONG (d. Dayna Goldfine, Dan Geller, U.S., 2021) In person: Dan Geller, Dayna Goldfine, Sharon Robinson,
THE HAND OF GOD (d. Paolo Sorrentino, Italy, 2021) In person: Paolo Sorrentino, Teresa Saponangelo, Luisa Ranieri, Filippo Scotti
A HERO (d. Asghar Farhadi, Iran/France, 2021) In person: Asghar Farhadi
JULIA (d. Julie Cohen, Betsy West, U.S., 2021) In person: Julie Cohen, Betsy West
KING RICHARD (d. Reinaldo Marcus Green, U.S., 2021) In person: Reinaldo Marcus Green
THE LOST DAUGHTER (d. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Greece/U.S./U.K./Israel, 2021) In person: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, Ed Harris
MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON (d. Dean Fleischer-Camp, Jenny Slate, U.S, 2021) In person: Dean Fleischer-Camp, Jenny Slate
MUHAMMAD ALI (d. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon, U.S., 2021) In person: Sarah Burns, David McMahon, Rasheda Ali, Michael Bentt
NUCLEAR FAMILY (d. Ry Russo-Young, U.S., 2021) In person: Ry Russo-Young, Sandra Russo, Robin Young
PETITE MAMAN (d. Céline Sciamma, France, 2021) In person: Céline Sciamma
THE POWER OF THE DOG (d. Jane Campion, Australia/New Zealand, 2021) In person: Jane Campion, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons
PROCESSION (d. Robert Greene, U.S., 2021) In person: Robert Greene, Dan Laurine, Ed Gavagan, Mike Foreman, Michael Sandridge, Joe Eldred, Tom Viviano, Terrick Trobough
THE REAL CHARLIE CHAPLIN (d. James Spinney, Peter Middleton, U.S., 2021) In person: James Spinney, Peter Middleton
RED ROCKET (d. Sean Baker, U.S., 2021) In person: Sean Baker, Simon Rex, Bree Elrod, Ethan Darbone, Brittney Rodriguez, Suzanna Son
THE RESCUE (d. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, U.S./U.K., 2021) In person: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Mitch Torrel, Thanet Natisri
RIVER (d. Jennifer Peedom, Australia, 2021)
THE SAME STORM (d. Peter Hedges, U.S., 2021) In person: Peter Hedges, Noma Dumezweni, Mary-Louise Parker
SPEER GOES TO HOLLYWOOD (d. Vanessa Lapa, Israel/Austria/Germany, 2021) In person: Vanessa Lapa
SPENCER (d. Pablo Larraín, U.K./Germany/Chile, 2021) In person: Pablo Larraín, Kristen Stewart
TORN (d. Max Lowe, U.S., 2021) In person: Max Lowe, Conrad Anker, Jennifer Lowe-Anker, Isaac Lowe-Anker, Sam Lowe-Anker
UNCLENCHING THE FISTS (d. Kira Kovalenko, Russia, 2021) In person: Kira Kovalenko
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (d. Todd Haynes, U.S., 2021) In person: Todd Haynes, Ed Lachman

The 2021 Silver Medallion Awards, given to recognize an artist’s significant contribution to the world of cinema, will be presented to Oscar nominated actor Riz Ahmed (with ENCOUNTER), Oscar winning filmmaker Jane Campion (with THE POWER OF THE DOG), and Emmy Award-winning actor Peter Dinklage(with CYRANO). Tribute programs include a selection of clips, the presentation of the Silver Medallion, and a screening of the aforementioned films.

Barry Jenkins, this year’s Guest Director, serves as a key collaborator in the Festival’s programming decisions. He has curated the following special selections:

• WEST INDIES (d. Med Hondo, France/Mauritania/Algeria, 1979)
• CHOCOLAT (d. Claire Denis, France, 1988)
• LOOKING FOR LANGSTON (d. Isaac Julien, U.K., 1989)
• GARDEN (d. Ruthie Shatz, Adi Barash, Israel, 2003) In person: Adi Barash, Ruthie Shatz
• KAHLIL JOSEPH: SELECTED WORKS In person: Kahlil Joseph
• RUSSIAN ARK (d. Aleksandr Sokurov, Russia, 2003)

Additional film revival programs include THE APACHES OF ATHENS (d. Dimítrios Gaziadis, Greece, 1929), and FRAGMENT OF AN EMPIRE (d. Fridrikh Ermler, USSR, 1929), the latter of which will follow a presentation of the Special Medallion award to film scholar Annette Insdorf. The Special Medallion is given to celebrate a hero of cinema who preserves, honors and presents great movies.

Backlot, Telluride’s intimate screening room featuring behind-the-scenes movies and portraits of artists, musicians, and filmmakers will screen the following programs:

• ANDREI TARKOVSKY: A CINEMA PRAYER (d. Andrei Tarkovsky, Italy/Russia/Sweden, 2019)
• BERNSTEIN'S WALL (d. Douglas Tirola, U.S., 2021) In person: Douglas Tirola
• DARK FRAMES (d. Tom Thurman, U.S., 2021) In person: Tom Thurman
• EDNA (d. Eryk Rocha, Brazil, 2021) In person: Eryk Rocha
• JOYCE CAROL OATES: A BODY IN THE SERVICE OF MIND (d. Stig Björkman, Sweden, 2021)
• LAND OF GOLD (d. Peter Sellars, U.S., 2021) In person: Jon Else, Peter Sellars
• SONGS FOR DRELLA (d. Ed Lachman, U.S., 1990) In person: Ed Lachman
• STAY PRAYED UP (d. D.L. Anderson, Matt Durning, U.S., 2021) In person: D.L. Anderson, Matt Durning, Phil Cook, Lena Mae Perry
• THE STORY OF LOOKING (d. Mark Cousins, U.K., 2021)
• THREE MINUTES – A LENGTHENING (d. Bianca Stigter, Netherlands, U.K., 2021)
• THE VILLAGE DETECTIVE: A SONG CYCLE (d. Bill Morrison, U.S., 2021) In person: Bill Morrison

Special Screenings will play throughout the Festival including the short film LEAD ME HOME (d. Jon Shenk, Pedro Kos, U.S., 2021) with both filmmakers in person; a new cut of THE OUTSIDERS (d. Francis Ford Coppola, U.S., 1993) presented by Coppola and Matt Dillon; THE RAIN PEOPLE (d. Francis Ford Coppola, U.S., 1969) with Coppola in person; EL GRAN FELLOVE (d. Matt Dillon, U.S., 2020) presented by Dillon; and MISSISSIPPI MASALA (d. Mira Nair, U.S., 1991) with Nair in person.

Additional Festivities will take place throughout the Festival including THE TOUCH (d. Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 1971); a gallery of Laurie Anderson’s Covid-19 Zoom lectures entitled: SPENDING THE WAR WITHOUT YOU; and a Poster Signing with previously announced 2021 poster artist Luke Dorman of Meow Wolf.

[soundchaser]

This is definitely the first time The Touch has been described as a “festivity.”

[DarkImbecile]

Was able to confirm upon arriving in town for the festival that The French Dispatch will be playing Telluride as a sneak preview in addition to the listed titles above. There may not be cast and crew members in town as well, given its unofficial status, but if by chance I can get a photo of Jason Schwartzman in the wild, I’ll pass it on for avatar purposes to any members who may be interested in that sort of thing.

[swo17]

I'll send you a list of requested poses

[DarkImbecile]

I always forget how difficult the scheduling decisions can be here; I’m going to have to forgo the world premiere of Mills’ C’mon C’mon (which I’ll still see later but wanted to catch as early as possible) in order to make sure I see Sciamma’s Petit Maman tonight, which otherwise might not fit anywhere else.

The plan for today is to start with a pair of documentaries — Nuclear Family and the first 2.5-hour section of Muhammad Ali — and then catch the world premiere of Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast before wrapping up with the Sciamma.

As always, I’ll try to throw out some quick first impressions as I go, and since I’m not in the throes of a serious sinus infection like the last time I was here, I’ll hopefully be more successful.

[Persona]

THE POWER OF THE DOG doesn't quite seem to be a hundred percent slam dunk with the critics at Venice but it's doing pretty well.

THE HAND OF GOD is an interesting case of a movie that doesn't sound like it would be too polarizing and yet is getting an interesting mix of zealous raves and affable shrugs.

Pleasantly surprised by the generally positive reception to THE CARD COUNTER, which almost felt like it was all but set up to disappoint. Certainly seems like the trailer didn't really capture the movie's vibe.

[Finch]

Venice dispatch from Glenn Kenny for Roger Ebert.com

[DarkImbecile]

Rumors are that The Card Counter may also sneak in Telluride, so very excited to hear those reactions!

I found a lot of value in Ry Russo-Young’s Nuclear Family, an autobiographical documentary covering her lesbian parents and the legal and personal drama resulting from the confused, fractured relationship with the sperm donor who became a part of her life and then nearly dismantled it. A surprisingly rich trove of decades-old video is remarkably effective in bringing the audience along on a mirror version of her own complicated relationship with a man whose motives are offered enough ambiguity and empathy to keep him from lapsing into a villainous caricature, and Russo-Young’s willingness to confront the difficult contradictions that defined her youth lead to multiple emotionally wrenching moments. There are occasional moments where the artificiality of the documentary structure (and perhaps Russo-Young’s lack of polish as a documentarian — or, more generously, her inextricable intimacy with the subjects of her interview subjects) distracts from the film’s strengths, but the fundamentally arresting narrative — especially for a parent and/or someone with a complicated childhood relationship with a parent/important adult — and a powerful closing montage left me more than satisfied. It was also nice to see during the post-screening Q&A that her mothers’ vibrant personalities are just as evident offscreen as on! Should be available via HBO later this fall, and I’d be very interested to hear what certain members think of it, particularly twbb (for the psychological elements) and mfunk (for the film’s use of and departure from certain tropes of documentary structure and form).

Also caught the first two hours of Ken and Sarah Burns’ 7.5-hour Muhammad Ali, which makes excellent use of the voluminous material available on its subject to make a comprehensive biographical portrait of his early years feel appropriately propulsive and funny. I’m not a scholar of the man by any means, but there was plenty of material and detail here that was new to me, and the more familiar moments are accentuated with very solid commentary from contemporaneous figures, historians/journalists, and writers like Walter Mosley incisively putting well-known events into cultural and personal context. Nothing groundbreaking in terms of form or newly uncovered information (though Ali’s daughter Rasheda noted in the Q&A that she wasn’t aware of her grandfather’s history of abuse until she saw the finished product), but if the first portion is any indication, this will be an easy, worthwhile watch for anyone with even a passing interest in one of the most famous, charismatic public figures of the last 100 years.

Waiting for Belfast to start, I will note that attendance seems to be significantly down so far, which is likely a function of the recent explosion of Delta, the travel nightmares in multiple parts of the country, and the festival’s decision not to offer new pass sales this year. On the plus side, that makes it very likely those who are here can see anything they’re interested in, so…

[DarkImbecile]

I was very frustrated with Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, an autobiographical look at childhood in Belfast during the Troubles that failed to effectively pick a lane between either a highly subjective child’s perspective blending the culture he’s consuming with heightened, unreal events he can’t fully understand, or a more grounded, realist view of the same events. In wanting to wrench emotion and drama out of moments that also lean on unreality, Branagh undermines both elements. A lack of trust in the audience leads to unnecessary underlining of thematic points, caricatured villains, and an eye-rollingly on-the-nose late reveal. Some odd production design choices also distract from the films strengths, particularly a very strong central performance from Caitriona Balfe and solid support from Ciarán Hinds.

On the other end of the spectrum, Joe Wright’s musical adaptation of Cyrano (de Bergerac) is completely secure and consistent in being a big, broad, colorful musical built around big, broad performances from Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Ben Mendehlson, and Kelvin Harrison, Jr. Surprisingly sensual at times and buoyed by some truly great location shooting (including a climactic sequence on Mount Aetna) help make this much more successful than Wright’s attempts at straight drama, because the genre allows him to indulge in the bombast, heightened imagery, and (over)emoting he instinctively leans into without feeling at all tonally inconsistent or inappropriate. Cyrano ultimately isn't for me, but I could appreciate how well it is going to work for those (like my wife) who love this kind of film.

Celine Sciamma’s Petit Maman is a quiet, small story that still manages to be surprisingly dense with mystery and observations about mother-daughter relationships. The less said about its conceit the better, but suffice it to say that this follow-up to Portrait of a Lady on Fire doesn’t try to reach for that film’s resonant heights and instead veers off in an unexpected direction with the quiet assurance and deceptive depth made possible by Sciamma’s confident direction and writing.

Will be hopefully putting up some reactions to Mills’ C’mon C’mon, Sorrentino’s The Hand of God, The French Dispatch, and Farhadi’s A Hero later today.

[DarkImbecile]

From a virtuosic opening shot and gonzo first scene to a more muted, quiet conclusion, Pablo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God veers between provocation and contemplation, eroticism and familial warmth, surreality and autobiography in depicting adolescence in 1980s Naples. That tonal unpredictability and Daria D'Antonio’s consistently stellar cinematography made this a vivid experience that I was ultimately very happy with, even as I very much expect broader reaction to be very divided. One of the standouts of the festival for me so far, and I’m hoping that it gains Oscar traction as an International Film contender so that Netflix makes the effort to put it into theaters, where the remarkable visuals can really be appreciated.

Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero reminded me of Mohammad Rasoulof’s A Man of Integrity in the way it depicts a man slowly constricted by the particular contradictions, hypocrisies, and failings of both his own character and Iranian society more generally. However, where Rasoulof’s work of late is increasingly direct and specific in its criticisms of modern Iran, Farhadi here seems more interested in dissecting more universal failures of communication and specifically the sometimes dangerous temptation to reduce messy, complicated realities into simplistic narratives, both in the stories we tell about ourselves and those we want to hear about others. Once Farhadi’s protagonist tries to take advantage of just such a simplified narrative, his struggle to maintain it threatens to drown him in a torrent of half-truths and well-intentioned shortcuts.

I’ll try to record some of my (generally positive but somewhat reserved) thoughts on The French Dispatch in its thread tomorrow, in addition to quick capsule reactions to Michael Pearce’s Encounter, Pablo Larrain’s Spencer, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter, Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, and Sean Baker’s Red Rocket.

[Persona]

Thanks, DI!

[DarkImbecile]

Got frozen out of the North American premiere of Spencer this afternoon (despite giving myself a 90-minute cushion) for only the second time in my festival experience, so lost a slot but also got to enjoy an actual meal for the first time in three days, which turns out to have been a pleasant choice.

Earlier, I caught the tribute to Riz Ahmed and a screening of Michael Pearce’s Encounter, both of which were enjoyably rewarding. Ahmed appears to be a remarkably thoughtful and articulate advocate for pushing the boundaries of art and culture, and was generally likable to an extent that only made me more disappointed that he didn’t win an Oscar for Sound of Metal earlier this year.

Encounter, meanwhile, infuses echoes of Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Carpenter’s The Thing, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind into a story that veers away from the conventions of the genre to pursue something ultimately more affecting and compelling. Ahmed is very good, and Pearce demonstrates after his excellent Beast that he has the kind of mastery necessary to do complicated, large-scale stories with significant emotional stakes, while also carrying on a dialogue with his influences and social observations. The most “entertaining” film I’ve seen so far (if limited by its broader appeal to a tier below the Mills and Sorrentino offerings), capped by a killer (near) final shot, and another opportunity to enjoy one of the best actors in the world.

[Finch]

First reviews of Last Night in Solo have appeared: Indiewire's Nicholas Barber loved it; HR called it "wickedly entertaining"; Variety were mixed.

PS.: Add Glenn Kenny as another reviewer who liked the film a great deal (on Roger Ebert.com).

[DarkImbecile]

The Power of the Dog is exactly the kind of mature, deliberate drama you’d hope for from a master filmmaker at the top of her game: careful, precise, and surprising as it keeps a tight focus on four meticulously well-drawn central characters even as it revels in its stunning landscapes and the details and objects of the 1920s West. Benedict Cumberbatch gives far and away his best performance as a tightly braided rope of a man who lashes like a whip, doing damage without being easily visible. Jane Campion’s first feature in well over a decade would be noteworthy for nothing more than its sumptuous visuals, but I appreciated that the film maintains sophistication, patience, and restraint in its storytelling while still being broadly accessible to a surprising extent. One of the best films of the year and the festival, even if I wasn’t as surprised by it as The Lost Daughter or able to hold it as close to my heart as C’mon C’mon.

I’m still kind of uncertain where I will ultimately come down on Red Rocket, which was extremely engaging, often hilarious, and carried by Simon Rex’s remarkable performance. Maybe it’s the increasingly noticeable effects of the ever-compounding lack of sleep, but pinning down a qualitative evaluation of the movie distinct from how much I enjoyed the delirious experience of watching it in the moment — particularly with a seemingly receptive crowd, after hearing about walkouts in other screenings — is pretty difficult this morning. I can unequivocally say that anyone reading this should make the effort to see it, as no one else is making movies like Sean Baker, and this one in particular will be a unique experience, though also a uniquely divisive one. My festival partner was a little more torn on it than I am, and I think he takes issue with Baker’s often uneasy infusion of unreality into what otherwise appear to be very grounded, candidly observed films; I tend to lean the other way, appreciating the bits of magic sprinkled on the crappy doughnut of modern American lower-class life.

[DarkImbecile]

Every year I’ve gone to Telluride I insist (often to my friend’s chagrin) on seeing at least one Crushingly Depressing Eastern European Drama; previous titles in that informal series have included Zvyagintsev’s Loveless, Gigineishvili’s Hostages, Pawlikowski’s Cold War, and Balagov’s Beanpole. So maybe it’s the unconscious comparison to those very-good-to-great films that made Kira Kovalenko’s Unclenching the Fists feel less successful than I had been hoping (it won the Un Certain Regard award at Cannes this year). The depiction of a young woman trapped by her suffocating family in an economically struggling region of Russia still traumatized by the spillover from the Chechen wars, Kovalenko’s debut features some tremendous cinematographic flourishes and an intense central performance from Milana Aguzarova. Unfortunately, it also suffers from an overly emphasized and too-explicit metaphor for its protagonist’s plight, as well as being perhaps too withholding in letting the audience in on the roots of this family’s dynamics. While this wasn’t successful for me, Kovalenko appears likely to continue to be a presence on the international film scene, and I hope her follow-up builds on the strengths displayed here.

Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee, on the other hand, feels like a small miracle in the way it reveals its surprises, expanding the story of a young man’s journey as a refugee escaping the collapse of the government of his native Afghanistan twenty-five years ago into an even more meaningful and compelling search for acceptance and a true home. Clearly influenced by Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir, Flee shifts from rotoscope-esque 2D animation to a more abstracted and expressionist style at various points to great effect, and also powerfully incorporates news footage of the various global events in which the protagonist finds himself caught. It’s rare for a documentary to have a “twist” as moving as the one Poher Rasmussen pulls off late in the film, and his ability to so vividly depict his main subject with sensitivity and complexity is similarly noteworthy. Highly recommended.

[DarkImbecile]

Probably the last film I would have expected to see at this festival was Dean Fleischer-Camp’s Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, not least because I had never heard of the viral stop-motion internet video series featuring Jenny Slate as the voice of a young anthropomorphic shell with, you know, shoes on. After hearing very good word of mouth throughout the festival, we had an open slot last night and decided to give this a shot, and it is in fact remarkably sweet, funny, and poignant even if I didn’t seem to connect with it as much as so many others here have. Isabella Rossellini joins Slate in delivering warm, amusing voiceover work, and Fleischer-Camp keeps things moving along on a pleasantly brisk pace, which keeps the jokes and inventive animation coming but also kept the more emotional moments from landing as successfully for me as they seemed to for others. Worth checking out whether or not you had any connection to the original shorts, and I suspect several members here will find it rewarding.

I should be able to catch Spencer and Bergman Island today, and then close out the festival with our twentieth screening, West Indies, the 1979 Franco-Algerian anti-imperial musical satire.

[DarkImbecile]

I didn’t actively dislike Mia Hansen-Løve’s Bergman Island as it sounds like Never Cursed did, and I did appreciate on an intellectual level the ingenuity of its semi-autobiographical nesting doll structure as well as the performances (Vicky Krieps and Mia Wasikowska in particular). Unfortunately, I ultimately felt that this ends up in a place similar to that of The French Dispatch in that it felt like an exercise that struggles to justify itself beyond the cleverness of that exercise.

SpoilerShow

At one point, one of the side characters says (paraphrasing), “There’s more to the world outside your own asshole! Fuck Bergman!” The most interesting interpretation of Bergman Island is that it’s an extended dark joke centered around that line that Hansen-Løve is making at her own expense.

I’ve never seen anything quite like West Indies, Med Hondo’s 1979 Afro-Caribbean musical-dance satire of French colonialism. Veering from sometimes deliriously intense musical numbers to protracted ‘70s radical speechifying, the film’s sequences — non-chronologically spanning 400 years of the African slave trade, rebellions against colonial landowners, and the mid-20th century machinations of the French to manipulate local elections and encourage emigration out of the islands — are all set on an enormous recreation of a slave ship. As fascinating as that sounds — and West Indies is an absolutely unique cultural artifact — the repetition of the many long polemical speeches makes it more of a slog to actually sit through than if it was more tightly focused on the musical elements and the more successful satirical moments. Really curious if anyone else has seen this, and intent on checking out Soleil Ô soon to see if it more successfully carries out what Hondo is attempting here.

My final rankings for a very good 48th Telluride Film Festival, broken into tiers from Excellent to Mediocre/Flawed:

1.) Spencer (Larrain)
2.) C’mon C’mon (Mills)
3.) The Power of the Dog (Campion)

4.) The Lost Daughter (Gyllenhaal)
5.) The Hand of God (Sorrentino)

6.) Flee (Rasmussen)
7.) The Card Counter (Schrader)
8.) Red Rocket (Baker)
9.) Petit Maman (Sciamma)
10.) Encounter (Pearce)
11.) Nuclear Family (Russo-Young)
12.) Muhammad Ali (Part One) (Burns; Burns; McMahon)

13.) The French Dispatch (Anderson)
14.) A Hero (Farhadi)
15.) Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (Fleischer-Camp)
16.) Bergman Island (Hansen-Løve)
17.) Unclenching the Fists (Kovalenko)

18.) Cyrano (Wright)
19.) West Indies (Hondo)
20.) Belfast (Branagh)

Thanks to those who made suggestions and offered input about what to see this year, and to everyone for tolerating my spamming of this thread. Can’t wait for people to see these films and get to discuss and debate them over the coming months.

[domino harvey]

Soleil Ô was a sloppy, messy, and often amateurish New Wave riff that nevertheless contained several powerful moments and its incisive commentary ultimately carries it over the rough spots. Sounds like it may be more of the same for the later film

[therewillbeblus]

As always, thanks for the enthusiastic rundown and excellent writeups DI! Glad you were able to get back to your happy place and grasp the fruits of normalcy again

[DarkImbecile]

Thanks, twbb… can’t wait to hear your thoughts on Spencer and C’mon C’mon in particular.

As many here know firsthand, it’s always difficult to know whether festival reactions will hold up when they’re released into the real world. Watching something with a packed crowd under basically the best possible audio/visual circumstances and often having it introduced/discussed by charming, talented people selling you on the film can’t help but skew one’s reactions. Not that it helped Belfast much with me, I suppose, but it’s definitely inflated the margins of my initial opinion in the past (The Shape of Water, Marriage Story), and I’m already feeling like I may have been smoothing over Encounter’s rough edges a bit more than it deserved.

That said, I’m pretty confident that Larrain’s and Mills’ films are extremely worthy — if not of my level of adoration, at least thoughtful consideration and discussion.

[Pavel]

The Venice awards ceremony is happening now. Jane Campion is apparently back from Telluride so she's prob winning something

[Pavel]

Best Screenplay: Maggie Gyllenhaal for The Lost Daughter

[Pavel]

Special Jury Prize: Il Buco (The Hole)