In Contention

Tag: Take This Waltz

  • OFF THE CARPET: Fall fests look to boost early Oscar hopes

    On a warm Saturday afternoon in Telluride last year, I sat in the crowded Chuck Jones Cinema and felt the warmth in the room as Tom Hooper’s “The King’s Speech” screened for its first audience of the year. Six months later, at the end of a road with plenty of twists and turns, the film’s producers held aloft the Oscar for Best Picture.

    In 2008, Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire,” after previewing in Telluride, screened on the very same day as Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” at the Toronto International Film Festival. Six and 18 months later respectfully, same results. In 2007, Joel and Ethan Coen’s “No Country for Old Men” started its victory march at Cannes before moving into autumn fests. In 2004, Paul Haggis’s “Crash” bowed for Toronto audiences before a summer 2005 release and an eventual Oscar win.

    The obvious connection here is the festival circuit, particularly the fall festival circuit, which has become a significant launching ground for awards contenders in the last half-decade. And starting in two days with Guy’s Venice coverage, the 2011 fall festival season — and the awards potential it is sure to bring with it — officially kicks off around these parts.

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  • Toronto updates lineup, plus ‘Take This Waltz’ teaser

    The vast Toronto Film Festival lineup is a still-growing beast, but today it swelled to 125 titles with the addition of a cluster of homegrown Canadian titles, including two films — Mary Harron’s “The Moth Diaries” and Jean-Marc Vallée’s “Cafe de Flore” — that will debut at Venice a few days earlier. Most exciting, however, is the world premiere of “Keyhole”: avant-garde auteur Guy Maddin’s first dramatic feature in several years reunites him with former muse Isabella Rossellini, while Jason Patric (hey, remember him?) takes the lead.

    Steve Pond has the list of new Canadian additions, while you can check out the full lineup (thus far) at the festival site.

    Speaking of all thing Canadian, by the way, a couple of readers have asked for a space to air opinions on the teaser scene (I’m not sure why some are calling it a trailer) recently released for the TIFF-booked “Take This Waltz,” the Michelle Williams-Seth Rogen romantic drama from Oscar-nominated actress-turned-filmmaker Sarah Polley. I thought the spot too isolated and inconsequential to merit much discussion, but the force is strong — check it out after the jump, if you’re so inclined, and share your thoughts.

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  • Telluride guessing game

    (UPDATED: 8/29)

    Now that the Toronto and Venice line-ups have been unveiled (though we have a few more Toronto announcements to come), I figured I’d take a few stabs at sussing out the Telluride crop this year. I haven’t been a good journalist and called around or anything. Just spinning my wheels.

    One studio that always has a big presence at Telluride is Sony Pictures Classics, and this year, honchos Michael Barker and Tom Bernard have a full plate once again. Of that stable, David Cronenberg’s “A Dangerous Method” is hitting both Venice and Toronto. It’s very possible, then, that it will kick things off in the Rockies.

    Roman Polanski’s “Carnage,” meanwhile, was announced as a Venice play this morning. It would be easy enough for the team to bring the film there and not worry about getting the filmmaker in town (seeing as he can’t legally step foot in the country), saving his press run for Venice. (7/28 UPDATE: The film has been set for New York fest, so it seems unlikely we’ll see it in Telluride.)

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