Labor Day, Sept 5, 2022 Last Day of Festival

 Wow, the last day already!  

1. A Tribute to Mark Cousins, filmmaker, and screening of “ My Name is Alfred Hitchcock.”  I hadn’t known Mark Cousins but in the tribute to him we saw clips from some films and heard him interviewed, I gained respect for him and his work.  Today’s documentary film was a chronicle of Hitchcock films with voice over by an actor  sounding just like Hitchcock.  It was really like an Intro to Film class.  I loved it!

2. “Empire of Light” by Sam Mendes stars Olivia Colman and Colin Firth was probably the favorite of all of us!  How happy I was to see this one at the end of the festival!  This one will get a lot of attention & awards.  Highly recommend.  

3. “A Compassionate Spy” told the story of Ted Hall, a 19 year old Harvard grad physicist on the Manhattan project who took it upon himself to give atomic secrets to the Soviets.  Interviews with him before he died in the 90s, and with his wife & daughters more recently tried to shed light on his motivations, but it was difficult to justify what he did.  Pretty powerful. Sorry we had to end on this note, but overall today was very interesting.  

Next year will be the 50th anniversary of the festival, so they will add 1 more day to the festival.

Signing off from Telluride 2022.

Sunday Sept 4, 2022. Telluride

1. “Tar”

 Our day began with a tribute to Cate Blanchett as well as an interview with her, clips of moments from past movies and a screening of her new film, “Tar.”  In it she plays the first female conductor of the Berlin symphony orchestra.  She has achieved this level of success with a tenacious and difficult personality and along the way made some bad choices resulting in scandals and a fall from grace.  I loved this one and can’t wait to see it again.  Highly recommend.

2. “If these walls could sing” is a documentary film by Mary McCartney, daughter of Paul. The program says, this is a “ joyful celebration of the Abbey Rd. Studios which examines how the independent space has nurtured some of the most celebrated and influential recordings in classical, rock” and other genres. She interviewed musicians (obviously her dad and Ringo) but also Elton John, and others, and showed clips from recording sessions or recordings in their raw form.  Mary McCartney was present & did a Q & A after the screening.  I really enjoyed it & highly recommend it to music fans.  I think it will be shown on Disney + because Disney + was credited.  

3. “Armageddon Time” followed a 13 year old boy growing up in NY in 1980.  His grandfather, Anthony Hopkins, was a big influence on him, and after his grandfather died, the boy realized he needed to give up some bad childish behaviors and grow up.  It’s a poignant movie and I recommend it.  The boy did an excellent job.  Anne Hathaway phoned in her role as the mother.  

So I only saw 3 today because I was pacing myself.  In the past I would have made it to 4-5 today.  C’est la vie.  But today redeemed this festival, in my eyes because these were excellent movies today. 

Saturday Sept. 3. Telluride

 A few words not about film. I was assuming most people would wear a mask indoors.  Wrong.  The 4 of us did.  But is seems less than 1/4 did.  My reaction: good thing there wasn’t a pandemic in Colorado (duh).  The weather is fantastic.  Low ~50; high in 70s.  I’m feeling 95% back to normal.  Happy.  Please forgive typos in my posts  as I am often writing on the fly. 

As always, there are films we miss.  But we don’t feel too bad if they are ones we will have access to at home.  Best example here is Ken Burns’ “The U.S. and the Holocaust.”  It’s scheduled to air in September on PBS, so we can see it soon.  

Today’s lineup:

1. “Women Talking” which I saw Thursday but the others saw today.  That allowed me to have a leisurely morning. I was glad the others also liked this one. 

2. “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths.”  Written/directed  and by  AlejandroGonzalez Inarritu (sorry I can’t insert the correct accent marks in his name).  He’s the director of “Birdman, Babel, The Revenant, all films we saw here previously.  He’s a Mexican and this is the first film he’s set in Mexico for many years.  Focus is on a journalist who after a long absence, returns to his hometown, Mexico City but finds he is torn between 2 worlds. (Clearly autobiographical to me, as Innaritu now resides in L.A.).  So a lot of people didn’t like this one but I did.  It was very long, sometimes just a string of metaphors, but I found it imaginative and thought-provoking.  I liked it.

3. “Bones and All”  The program notes say: that this film “puts the American movie myth of the tragic young couple-on-the-run through astonishing changes.”  Cast includes Timothy Chalamet, Taylor Russell, Mark Rylance, Chloe Sevigny.  So——- the program didn’t tell us that several of the characters were cannibals.  OMG!!!  I lasted about 15 minutes and walked out.  Turns out that was really the right thing to do.  It got much worse.  SKIP this one!! Unless horror is your genre.

4. “Broker” is a South Korean film by Hirokazu Kore-eda.  The story is about 2 lovable con men who steal abandoned newborns to sell to adoptive parents.  The story focuses on one mother who gives up her baby and the complex backstory.  The film-makers & actors were those involved in “Parasite” which of course won best picture Academy Award.  It was excruciatingly slow paced.  Painful at times.  But the story was interesting and it was a good film.  

So, just 3 today.  Could have seen more but I am pacing myself.  

Overall we feel this year is not as good ( so far ) compared to previously.  Two more full days to go.  

Friday Sept 2 TFF (Telluride Film Festival)

 Today is the official beginning of the festival.  Typically, regular pass holders (not including the Patrons) have 1-2 films offered today.  This year we could have actually seen 4 films, but I will likely only see 2 of them. 

We saw  the French film “One Fine Morning”, written & directed by Mia Hanson-Love.  Made in France, the story focuses on a woman, actor Lea Seydoux, who’s tending to her father who is experiencing a disease with declining cognitive function.  A chance meeting with an old friend leads to a passionate romance ( as only the French can convey) and gives her support when she most needs it.  I enjoyed hearing the French and scenes in France.  It’s the 2nd film I saw & both with women writers/directors.  Brava!  My Francophile friends will like this one.

Next we saw an Irish film called “The Wonder” set in Ireland around 1865, not long after the famine.  An 11 year old girl seemingly has survived for 4 months without eating.  So a group of men from the village formed a committee who summoned a nurse (Florence Pugh) from England to come observe the girl for 2 weeks to see if indeed she wasn’t  eating or figure out how she is surviving.  

Well,what ensues is a clever mystery that gradually feeds clues to the viewers.  It’s very much a character study and it generates lots of discussion after.  

These were 2 movies that grabbed me, so I need to unwind & get some sleep now!

Thurs Sept 1, 2022 in Telluride

 The 4 of us are well settled in our condo and I’m trying hard to acclimate to the altitude.  Today we had a leisurely pace before the race begins.  This afternoon I was invited to a “sneak” screening of one of the films: “Women Talking” written & directed by Sarah Polley starring Frances McDormand (also a producer) and Rooney Mara.  The program says this:

“In a hayloft on a prairie far away some Mennonite women gather to conspire.  They have choices—just like us; they could stay and fight , or they can leave…(as) they need to outlast the abuse they endure from men.”

  The film takes us through the debating and soul searching of a group of women unaccustomed to making decisions.  I appreciated watching & listening to their process.  

We’ll see 1-2 films tomorrow then 3 days of back-to-back movies.  I’m delighted that the festival will pay tribute to Cate Blanchett so we’ll see her, clips from her films, and see a new film of hers.  

(Pre) Telluride Film Festival 2022 (8/26/22)

 Yippee!  It’s that time of year! Fortunately the same group will be meeting up again in Colorado on Aug.30th,  in advance of the festival: Michelle, Pat, Julie & me. We have the same condo as last year which is fantastic because it’s about a 2 minute walk to our venue.  There are many venues where films are shown, but we have the kind of pass that gives us access to the one theatre where we can see whatever films they send there. The benefit is we’re in one place and don’t have to run around from place to place.  The downside is we can’t pick the films, and it’s possible to miss some being shown elsewhere  that we wanted to see. We also don’t see as many interviews and actors/directors/writers  as we would with other passes. But we have found the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.  And for me, having recently gotten over Covid, I’m glad we have a short walk to movies!

We had a happy surprise when we flew back home out of Montrose last year: Southwest suddenly had a presence.  We always have had to fly on United.  Now for the 4 of us, with a gizillion SW points, that meant we could fly FREE this year! 😀

My first year going to the festival with Michelle was 2002—I can’t believe this means it’s my 19th year!! (Not 20 because they didn’t have the 2020 festival).  I figure if I see 13 films per festival on average, times 19 years, I will have seen 247 new, yet-unreleased films at Telluride! Whew!

The first film I’ll see will be a sneak peek on Thursday, Sept 1st.  I’m in the legacy circle, so I’m invited to this screening in advance of the festival, which officially starts Sept 2 and goes until Labor Day, 9/5.  Most likely I’ll post my first entry on 9/2.  As always, we won’t find out what films we’ll see until we get there.  Programs come out on 9/2.  

Can’t wait! 

Jane