We've been tinkering with the idea of a weekly or bi-weekly column where we hear some film talk from readers beyond just the comments section. So let's kick that off. Here's Kris Mascarenas to talk Telluride which just wrapped... - Editor
Long time reader, first time writer here reporting on Telluride Film Festival which wrapped up on Monday. It was my second time at the festival, the first being in 2015 when Carol, Room, and Spotlight all premiered. For the uninitiated, Telluride is located in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. There is one road in and out of town and the moment you arrive, you can feel how truly special this town is. It is a low-key festival with no paparazzi, and if you are lucky you can run into actors and directors while waiting in line for your morning coffee.
I was on hand opening night for Judy but first there was a tribute to Renee Zellweger, and clips of her movie played (Chicago, Cold Mountain, Nurse Betty, and inexplicably... Miss Potter) before she was awarded the Silver Medallion...
There was a quick Q&A where she admitted she was in complete denial while playing Judy Garland for her upcoming movie. You can't sense the denial once the movie starts. She owns it, especially during the musical scenes, never allowing herself to go full camp. This is the definition of a comeback vehicle and I won't be surprised if she receives a fourth Oscar nomination and fourth Golden Globe win. The movie on the other hand doesn’t match her performance. It slightly goes into her history with MGM and her drug use, along with her last marriage to Mickey Deans (Finn Wittrock, doing what he can) but those are only fillers for the Zellweger show.
Kris at Telluride, second time!
Waves, written and directed by Trey Edward Shults (Krisha) is about an eighteen-year-old black man Tyler (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), living in Miami. He is a star wrestler with a loving girlfriend (Alexa Demie of Euphoria fame) and strong-willed parents, both played terrifically by Sterling K. Brown and Renee Elise Goldsberry. Describing any more of the plot would go into spoiler territory so I will just say there is an event that occurs which affects him along with his family and the way they deal with the ramifications. I can easily say that the first hour and half of the movie is fantastic. The acting, the writing, the directing all invite you into this world and I ate it all up. However, there is another hour left of the movie and when Lucas Hedges shows up as the boyfriend of Tyler’s sister, Emily, I started to worry it was going into white savior territory. There are two movies here and I am not sure Shults succeeds in merging both into one final piece. You cannot deny that he's become quite a confident filmmaker, though. Cannot wait to see what he does next.
Parasite lived up to its promise as the winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes. It is an outstanding piece of filmmaking. By luck, Kim Ki-woo (Woo-sik Choi) finds himself as a tutor to the daughter of a wealthy Park family. Through a series of comedic scenes, he is able to get jobs for his parents along with his sister. They think they have it made, until one rainy night they discover a secret in the household. This is a Bong Joon Ho (Snowpiercer, Okja) movie through and through -- what could be considered a comedy in the first half, turns quickly into a horror movie, commenting on class, family, and ambition.
I do not know much about car-racing so my enthusiasm for seeing Ford v Ferrari was not too high. That said, it is a competent piece of filmmaking from James Mangold withd two good performances from Christian Bale and Matt Damon. Clocking in a little over two and a half hours, it tells the story of Carrol Shelby and Ken Miles as they represented Ford in the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1966. This is a paint by the numbers biopic including typical roles of supportive wife, cute kid, and evil businessman played by Caitriona Balfe, Noah Jupe, and Josh Lucas respectively. The real star of this movie is the sound and you felt the Werner Herzog theater shake as the cars raced around the track. I jokingly told one of my friends it was a male grunting friendship movie. But I will admit that when the credits rolled, I was moved and would mildly recommend it.
The last movie I saw at the festival was the hardest to get a seat to: Marriage Story. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson star as Charlie and Nicole, a couple in the process of separating. She moves to California to become a TV star while he stays in New York to direct the Broadway premiere of his play. They try to handle the proceedings amicably, but things quickly take a turn as false promises, regrets, and betrayals bubble up to the surface. The movie was surprisingly both funny and heartbreaking and the stars are in top form. There is a ten-minute scene between the two of them that will rip your heart out. I can imagine it being shown in acting classes for years to come. Laura Dern has a terrific supporting turn as Nicole’s attorney and delivers two powerful monologues that would make Renata Klein proud. This movie will be a welcome relief to those who suffered through the action-packed summer and will be talked about all the way to the Dolby Theater in February.
The Q&A after "Marriage Story"If you'd like to be featured on "Reader Writes" or do a "Reader Spotlight" of some sort, feel free to contact us here at the blog. We don't always respond quickly but we'd love to feature more readers at the site.