The Auteurs Daily: Wrapping Telluride 09

 

"It was a solid if not stellar year at Telluride," writes Anne Thompson at indieWIRE. "Co-directors Tom Luddy and Gary Meyer perservered through the crazy economy by cutting back their budget (due to sponsor fall-offs) without sacrificing their high programming standards."

She looks back over the lineup (more here), sorts through several of the films' stories so far and weighs their prospects for the coming awards season. For Alex Billington at FirstShowing, "there doesn't seem to be the same amount of Oscar buzz coming out of Telluride this year than there was last year. But then again, I didn't walk out of Slumdog thinking it would win Best Picture." That doesn't mean he didn't have a blast. He simply agrees with Jay Fernandez, who's written in the Hollywood Reporter that "no one film seemed to capture the weekend's collective enthusiasm."

So far, I've posted entries rounding up reviews of The Road, Life During Wartime, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?, Red Riding, Up in the Air and The Last Station. There may be more.

For now, though, I want to take note of this entry from Jay Fernandez: "The second sneak preview of the Telluride Film Festival, the indie-turned-studio horror pic Paranormal Activity, unspooled in perfect conditions late Saturday: outdoors, in the dense darkness of midnight under pouring rain. And the audience, which stuck it out under makeshift ponchos and umbrellas, were primed for the experience.... I walked back to my hotel looking over my shoulder every few steps."

Waking Sleeping Beauty is heading to Toronto and Alex Billington absolutely raves: "I don't mean I just liked it a lot, I completely and thoroughly fell in love with it." What's this documentary about? John Horn has background in the Los Angeles Times: "Most everyone who follows the movie business knows that between 1984 and 1994 the Walt Disney Co relaunched its animation business and rode the success of movies such as The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast to establish a creative and financial monopoly.... While can't-miss Pixar Animation Studios is clearly the prevailing creative and commercial leader in animation these days, what Disney accomplished in that 10-year span is perhaps even more remarkable, particularly given the division's preceding slump."

Meantime, Kristopher Tapley has a quick roundup at In Contention on An Education, Bright Star and London River, while, at Cinematical, Eugene Novikov reviews The White Ribbon and Coco Before Chanel.

Back to business for a moment, and to indieWIRE: Eugene Hernandez was amazed to see the Sony Pictures Classics and IFC Films camps, "rather fierce competitors every other week of the year," dining together one evening. He takes a look at both the rivalry and the current truce.

Update, 9/9: IndieWIRE's Eugene Hernandez looks back on a long weekend of classics and premieres. More from Andy Lauer.

Update, 9/11: The LA Weekly's Scott Foundas posts a roundup - and an all-round good read.

Update, 9/15: Jason Klorfein looks back at Slant.

Update, 9/19: Timothy Sun's big wrap-up for Not Coming to a Theater Near You has more on the revivals than most of these roundups.

Updates, 9/20: At Movie Morlocks, keelsetter looks back on three films Alexander Payne screened as part of his Forgotten Hollywood program.

Brandon Colvin looks back on a conversation with Michael Haneke.