Summary of 2024 Telluride films

 —“Conclave” starring Ralph Fiennes (who should get the Oscar) John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini.  About the drama inside the Vatican after a pope passes away. Excellent film and it will get a lot of attention.

—“Social Studies” an outstanding documentary that will be shown in five parts on FX 9/27.  About the effect that social media have had on the younger generations. Mandatory viewing for anyone with a child in their life!!

—“ Will & Harper “ starring Will Ferrell and Harper Steele— be shown on Netflix9/27.  The Times on Sunday had an article about it. Outstanding documentary about the friendship between these two Saturday Night Live alums (she was the head writer ) after Harper transitions to being a woman. Poignant and funny.

—“ Emilia Perez” directed by Jacques Audiard who was the Director honored at the festival. About a drug cartel who decides to become a trans woman. ( yes, there were some themes at this festival!) This film was honored at Cannes and I am certain will get attention at the Academy Awards.

—“September 5” about the 1972 Munich Olympics and the terrorism inflicted on the Israeli athletes. An interesting reflection on the role that media play in reporting and shaping the actions that occur. 

—“ piano lesson” an adaptation of the August Wilson play. It involved at least four or five of the Denzel Washington family although he was not acting in it. I had mixed feelings about this one, but it might partly be because I was exhausted the day I saw it. 

—“ The Outrun” starts Saoirse Ronan as a recovering alcoholic. Very much a character study. She was outstanding. She was the actor who was honored at the festival and was delightful to see interviewed.

—“ Saturday night” about the chaotic hours leading up to the airing of the very first SNL show. I did not score this as highly as the other films, but it was amusing and worth seeing. 

 

—“ Better man” is about the British pop entertainer Robbie Williams.  A  very unusual production which I found enjoyable, but would not put it at the top of the list.

—-“Real Pain” Jesse Eisenberg & Kieran Culkin- something to watch but didn’t grab me. 

 

Monday Sept 2 Telluride

 Labor Day.  The last day. 

We skipped the first movie “Separated” because it was about the Trump policy on the border to separate children and parents and the effect it had  on families for years to come. Evidently it was well done, but I find that policy to be absolutely horrible and I didn’t need to see it.

“Conclave” was the second film to come to our venue.  It’s the film that I saw early and really liked so I decided to see it again! Everyone liked it, of course. I know it will get some Academy Award nominations.

Finally we saw “The piano lesson”— an adaptation of the August Wilson play.  It was very much a family project, with Denzel Washington’s son as the Director and co-writer and another son as the key actor. There were also two other smaller female parts played by people whose last names were Washington so I think they’re probably all involved. 

(Starring John David Washington & Director & co- author Malcom Washington ).

I thought the film was a little uneven, and I’m not sure it will be accessible to a very wide audience. I noticed it will be released soon, and it has a listing on IMDb. But  the film version could do things that the play could not do, e.g. locations and special effects.

We did not go to the last night show as we needed to get back to pack and prepare to leave in the morning. It was a good festival, but I did not see nearly as many as I usually do. But that’s OK. I really enjoyed the ones I did see.

Some of the films that were at the festival were not available to us, such as “Maria”—about Maria Callas and starring Angelina Jolie. I noticed in the Hollywood Reporter that it was extremely well received in Venice this week and I’m sure it will get wide distribution. Actually, I think that will be on Netflix,  so I will look for that. I’m not a big fan of her, but someone who saw it already said it was excellent —as was Jolie.

When I have a chance, I will make a summary list of all that I saw and my ratings.  

Au revoir Telluride!  

Sun Sept 1 Telluride

 Our day began with a tribute to Saoirse Ronan —-an actor I really appreciate.  She was present for the tribute and to introduce the film. We saw a selection of clips from many of her films e.g. “ Lady bird”, “Little Women”  “ Brooklyn”( my favorite).  She was then interviewed by an excellent interviewer and talked about the process of  preparing and creating a role.  Most interesting.

Following the tribute & interview we saw her new film, “The Outrun”.  It is based on a book which I think many people would very much enjoy.   She plays a young woman battling alcoholism. We follow her journey of self discovery and her family relationships. It was not depressing as it might sound. It was an interesting character study and her acting was superb. 

The next film at our theatre was “ the Apprentice “ about guess -who & his descent into corruption.  -I decided I  not need to spend a minute of my festival time hearing about this horrible excuse for a person so I skipped it. Rumor has it that Trump is trying to get it banned which actually speaks highly of the film. I just don’t need him in my life anymore than I’ve had to put up with so far.. So Pat and I went to lunch! The others who saw the film said it actually was quite good, but I have no regrets.

The next film we saw was called “Will & Harper”.  It follows Will Farrell & comedy writer Harper Steele on a road trip from New York to California. Harper has recently transitioned & wanted to visit places from his past, but was nervous doing so alone. The two of them got to know each other on Saturday Night Live & I have maintained a close friendship for 30 years. It was  Humorous, poignant & very worthwhile to see — I highly recommended.  

And the final film that I saw today was called « Saturday night »— a reenactment of the 3 hours leading up to the airing of the very first Saturday Night Live episode. The casting was incredible. That night had been absolutely chaotic and it was a miracle that it came off at all. But we all know how it turns out. The film actually ended at the very beginning of that program with the words, “welcome to New York at Saturday night.”

I have seen fewer films this year than ever. That is because I have chosen not to go to films that are quite disturbing. I gave myself permission to skip ones that I thought would be upsetting. And it seems there were more this year. Probably a reflection of the times we are living in.

But for the most part, I have really enjoyed every one I have seen! 

As always, please forgive typos, as I often am writing on the fly. And for some reason when I dictate it in inadvertently capitalizes at inappropriate places.