TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL 2019
THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY
I LOVED THESE FILMS. THEY MADE MY DAY.
FORD V FERRARI
WOW. Thrilling racing scenes and a great story with a dollop of what it really takes to build a Formula One race car make this a totally satisfying movie experience. Henry Ford II’s car company is on a downward spiral when in walks an audacious good ol’ boy and former winner of the Formula One race at Le Monde named Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon – charming yet steely). Shelby cajoles Ford into agreeing to build a race car to challenge Ferrari, the year-after-year winner. Shelby enlists a madcap, eccentric, brilliant race car driver, Ken Miles (Christian Bale – in an extraordinary performance) to build, and then drive the car. This award-worthy cast has everything, including a supercilious bad guy “suit” from Ford (Josh Lucas) and the best, most understanding wife ever Caitriona Balfe (Outlander).JUDY
Renee Zellweger IS Judy Garland in an Academy Award worthy performance about her last years in London as she struggles with alcoholism and a spur of the moment marriage to an opportunistic cad. The flash backs to her Wizard of Oz experience (today it would be called child abuse) and her abiding love for her two children humanize what is the tragic life of a world-famous star who, before she died of an overdose, overcame many obstacles to live life to the fullest.LYREBIRD
An intriguing film - based on a true story - about the effort to retrieve the stolen masterpieces confiscated by the Nazis during World War II. A former Dutch resistance fighter (Claes Bang) arrests an eccentric art dealer and failed painter, Han van Meegeren (brilliantly played by Guy Pearce). So begins the mystery central to the film: did Van Meegeren sell a real or a fake Vermeer to Hermann Goring the infamous Nazi?MARRIAGE STORY
A riveting story of the dissolution of a marriage expertly directed by Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale, Frances Ha) with compelling performances by Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. Once a loving couple, both adore their young son and try hard to protect him as their marriage slowly dissolves. Their attempts to remain civil to one another during their separation implode after each hires an attorney to represent them. With Laura Dern, Ray Liotta and Alan Alda as their lawyers the story takes a nasty, (funny), tragic and sad turn. A classic in the making in the mold of Kramer v Kramer.TELL ME WHO I AM
At age 18, a boy in England had a motorcycle accident and is in a coma. When he wakes up he has no memory of friends, his family or any of the events surrounds his life growing up. The only person he remembers is his identical twin brother and he trust him to fill in the blanks. But, instead of the awful truth, his brother spins a fantasy about what life was like during those 18 years. As adults, a dark reality emerges. This is a shattering, well told mystery.THE REPORT
Based on a true story about the Senate Intelligence Committee’s 4+ yearlong battle to investigate and write a report after 9/11 on the CIA’s torture program (misleadingly re-branded “enhanced interrogation). The dogged – and often frustrated - staffer is played by Adam Driver, with Annette Benning as a steely Senator Dianne Feinstein. Both performances are pitch perfect. This is bound to be a classic in the mold of All the President’s Men and is certainly award-worthy. A thoughtful, insightful look into how the democracy really works. Be prepared to have your blood pressure rise.THE AERONAUTS
Based on a true story from 1862, two adventurers (Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne) hop on a hot air balloon to set a record for ascending into the atmosphere higher than anyone has to date in order to gather weather data and in doing so establish the discipline of meteorology. Sounds easy, hmmm? The special effects and stunts are amazing. The film is like the film Gravity with the relative “comfort” of a space ship replaced by the dizzying experience of ascending earth in a hot air balloon.THE TWO POPES
Jonathan Pryce IS Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina and Anthony Hopkins IS his perfect foil as Pope Benedict XVI. Awards are bound to be heaped on this film and it’s two stars. In 2012, fed up with the Catholic church’s unrelenting conservatism, all Cardinal Bergoglio wants to do is resign, but he has to obtain the Pope’s permission to do so. Meanwhile, Benedict, beleaguered by the Church’s financial and sex scandals is considering the unheard-of step of resigning as Pope. Thus begins a “conversation” between two men who seemingly have nothing in common. Captivating.FROM JUST OK, IT WON’T HURT YOU, TO ???
A HIDDEN LIFE
Based on the true story of an Austrian farmer who chooses to be a conscientious objector during World War II, despite the incredible hardship this poses on his wife and two young daughters. As one would expect in a film by Terrence Mallick (Days of Heaven), the cinematography is gorgeous … AND the story moves at a snail’s pace. Our “hero’s” martyrdom is hard to watch. The question posed by the film is “What good is spiritual sacrifice that has no direct impact on the evil it is resisting?”.MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN
Edward Norton, Bruce Willis (briefly), Bobby Cannavale, Leslie Mann, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Cherry Jones take a trip on the noir side to tell a tale of real estate crime, murder and betrayal in New York City during the 50s. All the performances are good, but the story gets tangled up in itself and it’s hard to like/understand/care about the characters. Norton directs this adaptation of a prize-winning novel of the same name and stars as an intrepid investigator with Tourette’s Syndrome.PAIN AND GLORY
Expect Antonio Banderas to receive an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of an aging filmmaker mulling over his past triumphs and contemplating a comeback. While his performance was good, I just didn’t care about his character and had to wait patiently for the movie to end. Penelope Cruz plays his mother In flashbacks when he was a child growing up very poor in Spain,THE CLIMB
Based on a short film by the two filmmakers/stars that gained lots of attention at Sundance, this film starts out funny and engaging. Unfortunately, like an Alka-Seltzer tablet, it dissolves rather quickly. Weird is the word that comes to mind, but there are parts that do pull at your heart strings.
SO MAYBE THE ACTING WAS GOOD
OR THE FILMMAKING SLICK, BUT … ICK
For the first time ever, none of the films this year “earned” this
category. Yea!
THE BAD & UGLY
None of the films lived down to this category. Double yea!
