Telluride 2013
THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY
really, really good/great films. They made my day:
All Is Lost
I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy a film with no dialogue set in the
middle of the Indian Ocean, but having just seen the tribute to Robert
Redford (what an inspiring yet down-to-earth man!) I hoped his latest film
would live up to it’s hype. It did. This is a totally engrossing story by
the director of Margin Call (if you haven’t yet seen this movie, add it to
your Netflix list now). A lone sailor becomes lost at sea after his
sailboat is mortally wounded by an errant metal container. His struggle,
despite overwhelming odds, to survive kept me on the edge of my seat.
Academy Award nominations are sure to follow.
Labor Day
Jason Reitman (Juno, Up In the Air) does a masterful job directing Kate
Winslet a depressed single mom of a 12 year old boy who becomes the
ultimately willing captive of an escaped prisoner (Josh Brolin). There are
many twists and turns and I don’t want to spoil it for you … just see this
film. Academy Award nominations are sure to follow.
The Lunchbox
India. Totally unique and simply fantastic. Try to find this film and see
it. Every day thousands of lunch boxes are delivered from homes and
restaurants to office workers in Mumbai. A lonely young wife in a troubled
relationship cooks her heart out for her husband but it mistakenly is
delivered to a widowed, dour accountant, Irrfan Khan (The namesake, Life of
Pi, Slumdog Millionaire). The two start writing notes back and forth … the
rest is magic. Academy Award nominations should follow.
Nebraska
Alexander Payne (The Descendants) has done it again. This is a thoroughly
engrossing, often times funny film about a broke, bitter, alcoholic - Bruce
Dern, winner of best actor at Cannes – who believes he’s won a mail order
sweepstakes contest. Knowing it is a fool’s errand, his youngest son (Will
Forte who is terrific), reluctantly agrees to drive his father
cross-country to collect this prize. Filmed in black and white. Academy
Award nominations are sure to follow.
The Past
The Iranian writer-director, Asghar Farhadi, of the Academy Award winning A
Separation explores how different cultural backgrounds can create life
altering misunderstandings. An Iranian returns to Paris to finalize his
divorce from Berenice Bejo, (best actress at Cannes for The Artist). He
agrees to stay with her and her new boy boyfriend Tahr Rahim (A Prophet).
What follows is a wrenchingly emotional mystery, which even after the film
credits roll you will be asking “What happened?”. I highly recommend this
film. Academy Award nominations are sure to follow.
Prisoners
Take a kidnapping, throw in irate and slightly crazy fathers (Hugh Jackman
and Terrence Howard), beside-themselves moms (Viola Davis and Maria Bello)
and some truly weird neighbors (Paul Dana and Melissa Leo) and tie it up
with a mesmerizing and methodical cop (Jake Gyllenhaal) and what do you
get? A nail-biter, something waaaay more complex and scary than a police
procedural and lots and lots of things to talk about after the credits
roll. Academy Award nominations are sure to follow.
Tim’s Vermeer
Perhaps my favorite film at the festival. Tim is an inventor. He wonders if
he can use 17
th century technology to duplicate Vermeer’s almost
photographic-looking paintings. His journey to “paint a Vermeer” is
riveting. I know this sounds boring, but trust me, this is a fascinating
film you will never forget. I hope, hope, hope an Academy Award nomination
is in the offing.
Tracks
Quoting from the program “In 1977 Robyn Davidson set out on a solo trek,
taking four camels and a dog 1700 miles across the vast Australian desert
towards the Indian Ocean”. Starring Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre, Albert
Nobbs) this is a stunning film. Fascinating, gorgeous, thrilling and
triumphant. Academy Award nominations are sure to follow.
12 Years a Slave
In the North in the 1800s a free middle-class black man with a happy family
and a talent for the violin is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the
South. Based on a true story. What follows is horrifying and unspeakably
violent. Chiwetel Ejiofor is superb but doesn’t come close to Michael
Fassbender’s evil which is so convincing it practically drips off the
screen. This is a fascinating, well done film, but isn’t in my opinion,
equal to the hype it is receiving. Academy Award nominations are sure to
follow.
“the line” gave these films lots of positive buzz:
Blue is the Warmest Color
France. Much discussed for it’s vivid lesbian love scene, and despite a
running time of 3 hours, most had positive things to say about this film. A
high school senior is taught the how-tos of lovemaking by a slightly older
woman. Academy Award nominations are sure to follow.
Gravity
A space odyssey like no other with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.
Academy Award nominations are sure to follow.
the acting was fine, the cinematography lovely blah, blah, however …
Inside Llewyn Davis
Having seen the tribute to the Coen brothers and T. Bone Burnett I was
looking forward to seeing their lfilm … and was disappointed. While the
lead actor was impressive, the story fell flat – a struggling musician in
the 60s who isn’t a very nice guy ambles around trying to make something
happen for himself. No surprise, he can’t make it work. Kind of a downer
when the only thing you can think to say about the movie is “the cat bit
was kind of funny … “
The Invisible Woman
Based on fact, this period drama about an 18 year old actress who falls for
a much older Charles Dickens could/should have been terrific. With Felicity
Jones (one of my personal favorites), her mother played by Kristin Scott
Thomas, Ralph Fiennes as Dickens and gorgeously shot, this film
nevertheless just felt inauthentic and dull. I never bought the love affair
nor particularly cared about the characters. And I wanted to …
disappointing …
Before the Winter Chill
France. The wonderful Kristin Scott-Thomas is a dispirited housewife of a
surgeon who works too much. When the husband meets a strange young woman
their world slowly begins to unravel as mysterious things start to happen
to the couple. This film starts strong but was - in the end -
disappointing.
Fifi Howls from Happiness
Iran. A not particularly well-done documentary about an Iranian artist.
Very marginally interesting. Skip it.
Gloria
Chile. A 58 year old spends her nights drinking, dancing and having graphic
sex with random men. Apparently she’s trying to defy the conventions of
aging. She meets a guy who, much to her dismay, is an uninteresting wimp.
No happy ending here. Definitely skip it.
Palo Alto
Teenage angst coupled with the requisite sex, drugs, booze and suicide
played predictably by Emma Roberts and her friends. Oh, and of course
there’s an affair with James Franco, her much older soccer coach.
The Unknown Known
The most remarkably disappointing documentary ever. When I saw that the
documentarian Errol Morris (Fog of War an insightful and important
documentary about McNamara and Vietnam) had a new film about Donald
Rumsfeld I was really looking forward to seeing it. In retrospect It was so
bad that I wished I had joined the (many) audience members who walked out.
“Omg, they spend time and money on that?!” the really ugly:
Under the Skin
There is absolutely NOTHING positive I can say about this alien flick.
Because it stars Scarlett Johanssen I suppose some may be fooled/tricked
into seeing it. Don’t! It is terrible.
Sadourni’s Butterflies
Argentina. Hands down, the worse film I’ve ever experienced. Avoid this at
all costs. Yuck.
