ESSENTIAL INDUSTRY and AWARD NEWS, compiled by REBECCA KEEGAN
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Giddy-up! It's Tuesday, and I'm driving home from Telluride through the set of a John Ford movie.
Hello from Colorado, where we're debriefing on the glorious Telluride Film Festival, clucking our tongues at the weakest Labor Day box office in years, and hoping tonight's premiere of American Horror Story: Cult doesn't trigger election night P.T.S.D.
BACK TO SEA LEVEL
The "Hollywood types," as my local gondola mate called us, have mostly left the mountains after a packed weekend of film-going. As far as I'm concerned, this was the strongest Telluride lineup in years, dense with a mix of serious cinema and crowd-pleasing rides. V.F.'s critic Richard Lawson took stock of it all from an Oscar-handicapping standpoint, finding worthy performances from Gary Oldman,Annette Bening, and Emma Stone likely to earn awards-season love. Richard also made a compelling case for taking Guillermo del Toro's monster romance, The Shape of Water, seriously with his review of the film. Del Toro, who flew in straight from Venice, was easily this fest's M.V.P., settling in for impromptu outdoor Q&As with audiences around town all weekend. I spoke with the Mexican-American director about the politics of his film, a fantastical rebuke to the "Make America Great Again" credo. "For the world, this has been going on politically for a year and a half, but for me as a Mexican it's been going on for decades," del Toro told me in our interview. "Each time I would cross customs and immigration for me it's like Midnight Express." I also spent some time with Oldman and his Darkest Hour director, Joe Wright, and learned that the actor had major doubts about accepting the role that many believe will earn him his first (long overdue) Oscar. "Never mention Churchill's name to me," Oldman told me he told his reps, believing he was ill suited to play the heavy-set prime minister. "I don't want to hear it."
I never catch all the films I want to see at Telluride, and this year the one that got away was Chloé Zhao'sThe Rider—the heartland portrait that was easily the subject of the best gondola buzz I heard all weekend. The day after Telluride ends is always a little like the day after Christmas; I'm exhausted, wistful, and eyeing all my new toys. One way I'm managing the grief this year is by paging through V.F.'s gorgeous Telluride portrait gallery, shot by photographer Justin Bishop and edited by photo editor Chiara Marinai. 'Til next year!
By Paul Best/Getty Images.
GREAT GRETA
V.F.'s Katey Rich writes:
Not every debut director gets to premiere their film at the fall's most prestigious film festivals, but not every debut director is Greta Gerwig—who hasn't just built up a stellar list of performances in films like 20th Century Women and Damsels in Distress, but also co-wrote two of her best films, Frances Ha and Mistress America. So what does it look like when Gerwig steps entirely behind the camera? Take a look in the first trailer for Lady Bird, which debuted to warm reviews over the weekend at Telluride and will play at the Toronto Film Festival before opening in theaters November 10. Saoirse Ronan stars as what is, by all accounts, a character heavily inspired by Gerwig herself—a Sacramento teenager with big ambitions and a lot of pretensions about them. Watch the trailer here.
THE HORROR, THE HORROR!
V.F.'s Laura Bradley writes:
On Tuesday night, American Horror Story fans will finally get to see the election-themed season they've long been waiting for. In its seventh year, A.H.S. does indeed find new ways to terrify its viewers—most distinctly, through politics. Unfortunately, this season's abundant fascination with politics and P.C. culture also undercuts some of its best ideas. Judging from the season's first three episodes, Ryan Murphy's interpretation of the political situation that gave us President Donald Trump is more cynical than thoughtful; in this world, scared liberals are hysterical while Trump supporters are downright evil. But at least his cast has, as usual, brought their A game—especially supporting players including Cheyenne Jackson and A.H.S. newcomers Billy Eichner and Billie Lourd. Hopefully the season will back off politics as its story unfolds, but so far there is little reason to suspect it will.
LABORING OVER TICKET SALES
V.F.'s Yohana Desta writes:
While the rest of the country was reveling in the elongated bliss of Labor Day weekend, Hollywood insiders were nervously watching box-office results weakly trickle in day by day. Over the four-day period, it's estimated that the weekend box office will tally up in the $95 million to $100 million range, per Deadline, which is the lowest since the 1998 box office, which made $98.3 million in the same time frame. This is largely due to the fact that there were no wide releases last weekend. The rest of the pickings were quite slim; vigilant cinema-goers had the option of watching the beleaguered drama Tulip Fever, a re-release of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or The Hitman's Bodyguard, and they largely chose to stay home instead. It's looking like this summer will end with $3.84 billion, the lowest figure since 2006. Thankfully, things will pick up again this weekend, when the long-simmering remake of It scares its way into theaters.
PRETTY MCFLY
V.F.'s Hillary Busis writes:
Attention, all '80s pop-culture enthusiasts: get ready to mark September 26 in your Trapper Keepers. That's when the movie collectible behemoth Prop Store is set to auction off a tantalizing treasure trove of totally awesome items including the costume Arnold Schwarzenegger wore in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, a hand-painted portrait of Tony Montana and his lovely wife Elvira (that would be Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer) featured in Scarface, a miniature model of the Millennium Falcon seen in Blade Runner (two geeky wonders for the price of one!), and, perhaps most excitingly, the self-lacing shoes worn by one Marty McFly, a.k.a. Michael J. Fox, in Back to the Future Part II. Those lucky enough to be in London during the next few weeks can see these and other marvels on display at the B.F.I. IMAX in Waterloo; the rest of us will have to pore over the catalog from home, preferably while listening to Duran Duran and Tears for Fears.
That's the news for this sunny day in Colorado. What are you seeing out there? Send tips, comments, and your favorite Grand Canyon hikes to Rebecca_Keegan@condenast.com. Follow me on Twitter @thatrebecca.
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