Telluride Film Festival Rundown 2018

[Ezee E]

For those who don't know, I am one of the Assistant Managers of a theater at the Telluride Film Festival. They pay me, they house me, they feed me, and I get a pass.

For as long as this occurs, I will go every single year to this slice of movie heaven. Telluride is a small town nested inside the San Juan Mountain range of Colorado. It takes six hours to drive there from Denver, and when I say it's nested, it truly is enveloped by mountains. It's one of the prettiest towns I've seen. As it is, there's no corporations in the town either. No Starbucks, no McDonald's... Okay, maybe a Patagonia store, but that's as far as it goes.

The other appeal of this festival, compared to say AFI Fest or Sundance is that the directors and actors are very accessible. There are no red carpet showings, everything is too compact to take vehicles, and the press has to pay for their passes like anyone else. From my theater to the city, there's a 12-minute gondola ride in which you could easily be matched up with Gael Garcia Bernal or Nic Cage.

This year, no different. I got to speak with Laura Dern about gondolas, Casey Affleck about a documentary, and Emma Stone sat a row behind me in Roma. My mom got a picture with Nicole Kidman that will likely take down the family portrait in her house.

ANd of course, the movies. The idea is that each movie at Telluride is a US Premiere. The movies aren't technically announced until the festival starts, although if you pay attention to Toronto/New York/Venice announcements, you can get a good idea of what will play there. Bloggers/press/passholders tend to try and hit the big movies first so they can garner the first clicks about First Man, The Favourite and others. This year, I took a mix of the "biggies" and went after a few smaller movies in the venues thinking that I may not have the opportunity to see them later.

This festival CAN be seen on a bargain if you can't afford the expensive passes. There's free movies in the park each night, panels and conversations that can be seen for free (and the sights are great), there's a reasonable Late Show Pass that can get four movies, and a few selections that are free after all passholders are set in. If you ever have questions about the festival, let me know.

I posted plenty of pictures on my social media, so feel free to take a look at that if you want.

Coming up next are the movies I saw.

[Ezee E]

BORDER - Ali Abbasi
*** 1/2
The logline made this out to be something I wasn't too interested in. If it weren't for a staff screening, I may not have even seen this at all. But instead, it was one of my favorites of the festival. What starts off as a somewhat insulting movie to a Swedish TSA agent, opens up into a weird, sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes funny, and very odd love story. Highly recommend this one.

DESTROYER - Karyn Kusuma
***
Nicole Kidman's always been one to pick neat directors to work with, and isn't afraid to take a darker role. This might be her darkest yet, as a detective looking to get back to the people that ruined her life when someone returns to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles has never looked more apocalyptic. No sandy beaches from Santa Monica or manicured lawns of Beverly Hills. This Los Angeles is hot, dirty, and brutal. For those who like film noir, this is right down your alley as the movie takes multiple timelines of Kidman as an undercover cop, and the detective. Some scenes do not work or feel very familiar, but other times it's as good as any cop thriller that we enjoyed in the 90's.

WHITE BOY RICK - Yann Damange
** 1/2
Yann Damange's '71 was one of my favorites of Telluride from a few years ago. He returns with White Boy Rick which takes the Destroyer-approach, but in the city of Detroit during the 80's. Terribly cold and no nature to be seen. Unfortunately, this takes too many of the approaches that we've all seen before in drug dealer stories. The only thing that separates it is that Matthew Mcconaughey isn't a squeaky-clean father himself, and is always enjoyable on screen.

The Favourite - Yorgos Lanthimos
*** (edited from original ** 1/2 idea)
Costume dramas typically send me straight to sleep. Yorgos' sense of humor and eye kept me alert the entire time, but I didn't feel there was anything that made this especially special for any reason. The dynamic between the three actresses (all VERY well played by the way) is certainly worth watching, although I don't think it quite knows how to end properly.

Rachel Weisz is my favorite out of the three.

There's some great cinematography in this, and Yorgos gets away from the robotic Kubrick dialog.

FREE SOLO - Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
***
Free Soloing is rockclimbing without any rope. INsane. So is Alex Hannold as we watch him go through injuries, his love life, and a climb on one of the more challenging mountains for even rock climbers that use rope. You can imagine some of the shots that would make people squirm here.

Second half to come...

[kuehnepips]

I'll go see The Favourite as soon as it shows up anywhere near me

[Ezee E]

GHOST FLEET -
*** 1/2
Film festivals mean no sleep. You'll get back to your place at 1 AM or so. Talk movies for another hour. Then wake up at 7 AM to get in a line. Ghost Fleet, a documentary on Patima and her crew that have rescued over four thousand people from enslavement in the Thai Fishing Industry, kept me engaged the entire morning. It's frightening that this practice can still exist, and seeing accounts from former slaves that are too embarassed to go back home is even more scary.

The movie avoids trying to point fingers at companies, and instead focuses on the people. The rescuers, those who were enslaved, and the families that are missing their members.

I'm describing the movie here because it's a small movie that was easily overlooked with the stars of the fest. Patima and her heroics deserves to be up there with the biggest celebrities of the festival. Thankfully, she was one of the finalists for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.

Probably will be my favorite documentary of the year.


COLD WAR -
*** 1/2 (formerly ***)
Pawel Pawlikowski may be one of the most overlooked directors when it comes to the best of the 2000s. Between Ida, My Summer of Love, and now Cold War, he's directed three great movies, and two of which have some of the best cinematography of the past decade. Cold War being the second of the two, and a wonderful performance by Joanna Kulig. People may rave about Lady Gaga as the best "singer" of the 2018 movies, but Kulig should be right in there. A love story that's not meant to be, over the span of three decades, crossed with a change in politics, music, and landscapes... This one's not to be missed on the big screen. It's lovely to watch.

CAN YOU FORGIVE ME -
**
Film festivals are susceptible to overhype. Especially in the case of "first viewings" in which critics, more so bloggers, get to have the first words on a movie. They get good seats, possibly an invite to a party with the stars afterwards, and be able to set the beginning of a narrative for awards season.

I think this movie may be a good example. Something that could easily be a AMC or TNT movie features two relatively good performances from Melissa McCarthy (her first advertised dramatic performance) and an even better Richard E Grant who plays an atypical older gay friend that provides some humor to the story. I'm pretty mystified by the love that came up for this. You can predict each beat as it comes along. I suppose there's nothing inherently bad about the movie, but can't foresee any reason why someone would watch a second time.

Sorry about the delays. I'll post the remaining movies tomorrow.

[Lazlo]

I was there too! Apologies for not trying to meet up, though it's entirely likely you scanned my pass at the Monday showing of The Front Runner at Chuck Jones, based on your Instagram post. Was my first time there and I couldn't be more in love with the place and the festival. I had a great time and major props to you and all the other staff and volunteers. Far and away one of the coolest things I've ever done.

Here's what I saw and how I rated them:

Friday:
Roma w/ the Cuarón tribute - 9.5
Destroyer - 5

Saturday:
Boy Erased - 9.5
First Man with Chazelle Q&A - 9.5 (favorite film of the fest)
Free Solo - 9

Sunday:
The Favourite with Lanthimos and Stone Q&A - 9.5
Shoplifters - 8
White Boy Rick with Demange and McConaughey Q&A (by far the best Q&A we saw) - 9.5
Border - 6

Monday:
Cold War - 9
Discussion panel with Alfonso Cuarón and Joel Edgerton (got to shake hands with both of them, so cool)
The Front Runner - 6
Dogman - 8

I'm already calculating how soon it'll be financially responsible for me to go back. Would definitely be every year if I could.

[Ezee E]

I was definitely at the Monday screening and clicked you into the building! You could always go for the Cinephelia pass or Late Show/Ticket Buyer it too if you want cheaper options.

[Ezee E]

ROMA - Alfonso Cuaron
*** 1/2

Let me first comment, that I got to sit one row in front of Emma Stone in this movie. She had an entire crew of friends and publicists with her, so definitely not a time to intrude, but pretty cool to see her, and she also sat through the entire Q&A afterwards, which is a rarity for celebrities to do. She is also very pretty in person.

Brag aside, this is something that's going to improve over time with more watches. I feel like Cuaron is close to a master of being able to tell an excellent story first and foremost, and also tell a broader story in the art direction and through other things going on around the main characters. This is prevalent throughout Children of Men and Y Tu Mama Tambien. This is just a joy to watch, as it's grandiose story telling in a setting that doesn't get the treatment. It takes its time to set up the characters, the setting, and its themes. It's also quite a joy to watch on the big screen.

I really want to see this again. It made me cry. I had sunscreen in my face, so to be honest, it made me bawl, in a twenty-minute or so stretch that I don't want to spoil. This will be something to discuss.

PETERLOO - Mike Leigh
**

Mike Leigh's biggest setpiece might be within one of his most boring, overlong movies yet. And that's a shame. He crafts a pretty Gangs of New York-like riot that lasts for about half an hour, and is quite something to see, but it takes two hours of political British talk to get there. ANd the politics certainly aren't that appeasing to watch, and certainly not the Mike Leigh humor of old. Could it have been because it was shown at 10 PM after a very long day? Perhaps... But, I have no interest to try it again.

FISTFUL OF DIRT - Sebastian Silva
*** 1/2

My last movie of Telluride was certainly my favorite for about 90% of the way through. Silva has had a problem with ending his movies, and it occurs here again. It's so unfortunate because I was absolutely in love with this De Sica/Fellini-esque fairy tale of Puerto Rico's aftermath of Hurricane Maria, and the families trying to survive with little to no power/food/gasoline. I say fairy tale, because this movie has mermaids. Yes, mermaids. They're given a serious approach here, and despite the 9 AM start time on my final day, I was fully engaged with this.

This director has an absolute masterpiece in his career coming. I can feel it. Meanwhile, this is still a joy to watch, despite the very end.

[Henry Gale]

ROMA - Alfonso Cuaron
*** 1/2

Let me first comment, that I got to sit one row in front of Emma Stone in this movie. She had an entire crew of friends and publicists with her, so definitely not a time to intrude, but pretty cool to see her, and she also sat through the entire Q&A afterwards, which is a rarity for celebrities to do. She is also very pretty in person.

Brag aside, this is something that's going to improve over time with more watches. I feel like Cuaron is close to a master of being able to tell an excellent story first and foremost, and also tell a broader story in the art direction and through other things going on around the main characters. This is prevalent throughout Children of Men and Y Tu Mama Tambien. This is just a joy to watch, as it's grandiose story telling in a setting that doesn't get the treatment. It takes its time to set up the characters, the setting, and its themes. It's also quite a joy to watch on the big screen.

I really want to see this again. It made me cry. I had sunscreen in my face, so to be honest, it made me bawl, in a twenty-minute or so stretch that I don't want to spoil. This will be something to discuss.

There is absolutely a point where the floodgates opened for me and didn't calm until well into the credits. And even now when I think about some of its images and words, I feel myself welling up all over again.

It's a profoundly moving experience. Can't urge people to go for the (bound to be limited) theatrical experience of it enough.