My college drama friend, Debbie, made a trip from Boston to Calif and said " Let's take a road trip" so of course we picked Ashland! 👏
We'll see 4 shows over the weekend:
UniSon
Off the Rails
Hannah and the Dread Gazebo
Beauty and the Beast.
I had seen two of them in July but am happy to see them again.
We drove up yesterday & return to San Jose on Monday. Staying at the Stratford Inn & got a suite so we each have our own space. Nice. This town sure is quieter in September than it was in July! 😊
( I also saw American in Paris last Wednesday in SF so this is a 5 show week! )
Jane
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
My rankings Telluride 2017
I'm on the flight home & have time to reflect on the festival overall. Sometimes friends ask me what I'd recommend, and that's really hard to do, because not everyone has the same taste in films. I'll try to tell why I rate a movie a certain way, so that might make it easier for someone to decide if they'd like it too.
My Very favorite:
Darkest Hour. absolutely everything about this one is great! Academy Award time
Wonderstruck A joy; transports you; wonder full!
Wormwood A great mystery to untangle; will be on Netflix
Super Liked:
Shape of Water. Wild ride; imaginative
Lady Bird. . Like Juno; fun!
Film Stars... Liverpool Super acting; based on real story
Loving Vincent. Visually stunning; interesting story
Battle of Sexes. Great Fun!
Recommend:
Hostiles Christian Bales
Lean on Pete. Very touching; excellent young actor
Cotton Club. Great cast! Great dancing! Gregory Hines!
Do not recommend:
First reformed
Other side of hope
( sorry I'm not underlining titles-- hard to do on IPad.
My Very favorite:
Darkest Hour. absolutely everything about this one is great! Academy Award time
Wonderstruck A joy; transports you; wonder full!
Wormwood A great mystery to untangle; will be on Netflix
Super Liked:
Shape of Water. Wild ride; imaginative
Lady Bird. . Like Juno; fun!
Film Stars... Liverpool Super acting; based on real story
Loving Vincent. Visually stunning; interesting story
Battle of Sexes. Great Fun!
Recommend:
Hostiles Christian Bales
Lean on Pete. Very touching; excellent young actor
Cotton Club. Great cast! Great dancing! Gregory Hines!
Do not recommend:
First reformed
Other side of hope
( sorry I'm not underlining titles-- hard to do on IPad.
Monday --last day of festival
We managed to get in 3 more films today for a total of 14
The most magical and lovely film of all began the day: Wonderstruck, based on the book. This is a must see, and if you know any children you must take them to see it. It's about a deaf girl who goes on a journey by herself in 1920s NYC. It's also the story of a boy in the 1970s who is parent less and also goes on a journey of his own. I don't want to give away the story but please know it's a charming and endearing story. A joy to watch. Can't wait to see it again.
The second film today was bizzare in a wonderful way-- the shape of water starring Sallie Hawkins, (who I adore) , Richard Jenkins and Michael Shannon. It's a fantasy, so you have to be in the right frame of mind, but if you're open to it, it's an unusual love story. Octavia Spenser plays a delightful supporting role.
The last show today we should have skipped--the other side of hope. The story line was a good idea-- about a Syrian refugee-- but it just isn't a good film.
I'll write up my ratings in another post when I have a chance. But overall it was an excellent group of movies!
Gotta sign off now.
Jane
The most magical and lovely film of all began the day: Wonderstruck, based on the book. This is a must see, and if you know any children you must take them to see it. It's about a deaf girl who goes on a journey by herself in 1920s NYC. It's also the story of a boy in the 1970s who is parent less and also goes on a journey of his own. I don't want to give away the story but please know it's a charming and endearing story. A joy to watch. Can't wait to see it again.
The second film today was bizzare in a wonderful way-- the shape of water starring Sallie Hawkins, (who I adore) , Richard Jenkins and Michael Shannon. It's a fantasy, so you have to be in the right frame of mind, but if you're open to it, it's an unusual love story. Octavia Spenser plays a delightful supporting role.
The last show today we should have skipped--the other side of hope. The story line was a good idea-- about a Syrian refugee-- but it just isn't a good film.
I'll write up my ratings in another post when I have a chance. But overall it was an excellent group of movies!
Gotta sign off now.
Jane
Sunday
I am always shocked when Sunday arrives. Can't believe we only have one more day after today.
What a great beginning to today! This was a tribute to Christian Bale, and first we got to meet him being interviewed by Leonard Maltin. Did you know he's British?! Who has ever heard him speak in his normal accent? He's always played Americans!
They first showed clips from about 10 of his movies which was really fun to watch. Then we saw his new film called Hostiles. It takes place in 1892 and Bale plays a military man charged with escorting Native Americans back to their homeland. Of course the trip across the country was fraught with serious challenges. Excellent acting. A western.
Lean On Pete
This is a story about a young teenager who is parent less and latches on to a man ( Steve Buscemi) who owns racehorses. The boy gets very attached to one horse: Pete. It's a Tender story, sometimes sad.
Loving Vincent is a magical film that blends animation & live action -- all painted in The Van Gough style by a team of 125 painters. Amazing! Anyone who's an art fan or studying art would appreciate the craftsmanship here. The filmmakers gave a talk about how they made it happen.
Battle of the Sexes tells the tale of Billie Jean King ( Emma Stone) going against Boby Riggs ( Steve Carrell) and the feminist battle of the day. Surprisingly both actors pulled off their roles & we forgot
Who they were. This was a good history lesson for younger folks who didn't live through it.
Wonderful day!
(Please forgive typos. I write these posts in a huge hurry! )
What a great beginning to today! This was a tribute to Christian Bale, and first we got to meet him being interviewed by Leonard Maltin. Did you know he's British?! Who has ever heard him speak in his normal accent? He's always played Americans!
They first showed clips from about 10 of his movies which was really fun to watch. Then we saw his new film called Hostiles. It takes place in 1892 and Bale plays a military man charged with escorting Native Americans back to their homeland. Of course the trip across the country was fraught with serious challenges. Excellent acting. A western.
Lean On Pete
This is a story about a young teenager who is parent less and latches on to a man ( Steve Buscemi) who owns racehorses. The boy gets very attached to one horse: Pete. It's a Tender story, sometimes sad.
Loving Vincent is a magical film that blends animation & live action -- all painted in The Van Gough style by a team of 125 painters. Amazing! Anyone who's an art fan or studying art would appreciate the craftsmanship here. The filmmakers gave a talk about how they made it happen.
Battle of the Sexes tells the tale of Billie Jean King ( Emma Stone) going against Boby Riggs ( Steve Carrell) and the feminist battle of the day. Surprisingly both actors pulled off their roles & we forgot
Who they were. This was a good history lesson for younger folks who didn't live through it.
Wonderful day!
(Please forgive typos. I write these posts in a huge hurry! )
Sunday, September 3, 2017
Day 2 Saturday September 2
We managed to see 4 more films today. A Fantastic Woman was set in Chile. It explore the relationship of a transgender woman and a much older man. It was quite poignant and tastefully done.
Second up was Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool. It told the story of a young British actor who met the very famous Gloria Graham a film star from the 40s. The two of them had a long-term affair which of course was complicated. Annette Benning starred and did a fantastic job. We think she is sure to get an Academy award nomination. I recommend this film
Angelina Jolie --who we saw from a distance -- brought a film to do with the abuses of Khmer rouge regime. We knew it was going to be very violent so we sat that one out and took a little break.
We regret that we didn't skip the next film however. It was called First Reformed. I thought because Ethan Hawke was in it, it would be pretty good. But it was very strange. Hawke was there to introduce it. Do not recommend.
We really looked forward to the late night movie which took us till after midnight. But it was well worth it. It's called Darkest Hour and starred Gary Oldman as Winston Churchhill at the time he took over as prime minister. The acting was of highest quality and we are pretty sure the film and the star will get a big nomination-- if not the Academy award. Wow!! Director & stars were here to introduce it. Wow!
There has been some rain but nothing to get in our way. I'm feeling fine about my decision to get this kind of film pass. While I do feel I'm missing out on some of the other festival experiences, there are advantages to this kind of pass. So I don't regret this decision. 😊
All for now,
Jane
Second up was Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool. It told the story of a young British actor who met the very famous Gloria Graham a film star from the 40s. The two of them had a long-term affair which of course was complicated. Annette Benning starred and did a fantastic job. We think she is sure to get an Academy award nomination. I recommend this film
Angelina Jolie --who we saw from a distance -- brought a film to do with the abuses of Khmer rouge regime. We knew it was going to be very violent so we sat that one out and took a little break.
We regret that we didn't skip the next film however. It was called First Reformed. I thought because Ethan Hawke was in it, it would be pretty good. But it was very strange. Hawke was there to introduce it. Do not recommend.
We really looked forward to the late night movie which took us till after midnight. But it was well worth it. It's called Darkest Hour and starred Gary Oldman as Winston Churchhill at the time he took over as prime minister. The acting was of highest quality and we are pretty sure the film and the star will get a big nomination-- if not the Academy award. Wow!! Director & stars were here to introduce it. Wow!
There has been some rain but nothing to get in our way. I'm feeling fine about my decision to get this kind of film pass. While I do feel I'm missing out on some of the other festival experiences, there are advantages to this kind of pass. So I don't regret this decision. 😊
All for now,
Jane
Film Festival Day 1 September 1
We were very happy to be able to start seeing movies this morning. First up: a very long Wormwood about a real man, Eric Olson, who searches for decades to learn about the death of his father who died in the 50s while a government scientist. You might remember the events. It will be on Netflix as a miniseries but the whole thing was shown here. . . Like Binge watching.
It's an Absolute must see!
Next The Cotton Club--a 1984 Coppola film that he restored and re edited. Coppola introduced it to us. Also present were Gregory Hines' brother & son.G Hines starred & choreographed. The
Cast of familiar faces was extensive. Fun.
Then we saw Lady Bird which we all loved starring Saoirse Ronan as a teen growing up in Sacramento. Had the feel of Juno. See it!
Finally was Downsizing with an incredible cast ( see yesterday's post) and director, Alexander Payne. However three of us decided to skip it & get some sleep. Reports the next day were not very positive, so we didn't regret the decision.
Off to a wonderful start!
Off to a wonderful start!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)