Oscar 2015 Predictions: What Films Benefited from Telluride Film Festival Premiere?
With the Telluride Film Festival having concluded, a number of films confirmed their Oscar prospects.
The Telluride Film Festival is reknown for showcasing Oscar winner, including "12 Years a Slave," "Argo," "The Artist," "The King's Speech" and "Slumdog Millionaire." This year, three major films had its world premiere while other festival favorite premiered to formidable reactions and to Oscar buzz.
The festival opened with Jean-Marc Vallee's epic "Wild" and the movie scored rave reviews for Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern. Heading into the festival, pundits had Witherspoon as one of the top contenders for the Best Actress. It seems that after the premiere, Witherspoon could be back for a second Oscar this upcoming January. However, the movie seems like a dark horse for the Best Picture, as many complained it was too slow. Last year, Vallee's "Dallas Buyers Club" entered the race as a dark horse but ultimately scored a Best Picture nomination. As a result, it will depend on Fox Searchlight and how much campaigning the company does for the film.
The Weinstein Company entered the festival with the much-anticipated "The Imitation Game." Benedict Cumberbatch confirmed his status as a Best Actor front-runner as many critics raved about his complex portrayal of Alan Turing. Meanwhile, Keira Knightley obtained the best reviews of her career since "Atonement."
The picture itself was compared to "A Beautiful Mind," "The King's Speech," "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "Atonement." Critics cautioned that it would be a tough sell, but the Weinstein Company could be back in the race, especially since it launched "The King's Speech" and "The Artist" at the festival.
Jon Stewart's directorial debut, "Rosewater" had a standing ovation at the festival, but scored mixed reception. While Gael Garcia Bernal scored great reviews, the movie was criticized for its tone changes. Open Road is counting on the film being a huge Oscar contender, but with mixed reviews, it could end up being a dark horse.
"Foxcatcher" continued to build momentum after having won the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival. The movie had a sold-out screening, and critics and audiences raved about Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum. The three actors are being considered locks for the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories. The film is also being applauded but some pundits suggest it may be too dark for some members of the Academy. Still, many consider it one of the front-runners to win the Best Picture award, as well as the Best Director and screenwriting categories.
"Birdman" confirmed its status as a Best Picture contender after a packed screening. The film opened in Venice to universal praise and, at Telluride, pundits continued to praise it for its technical achievements.
Michael Keaton continued to get buzz for Best Actor while Emma Stone and Edward Norton are said to be great as supporting characters. The film is also being praised for its cinematography and for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's direction.
"Paradise Lost" gained some momentum for Benicio del Toro as Pablo Escobar. The film itself garnered positive reviews, but most critics said it was simply a compelling B-Movie. Interest in "99 Homes" continued to increase, especially after its successful Venice showing. However, the movie currently has no distributor, which is a bad sign if it wants to make it into the awards race.
Hilary Swank was honored at the festival for her work. During the ceremony, they showed her latest film "The Homesman" and pundits and audiences praised her work in the western. While the film, directed by Tommy Lee Jones, premiered to mixed results at Cannes, Swank is quickly gaining traction as a major contender for Best Actress especially after the tribute.
Xavier Dolan's screening for "Mommy" also went over well with audiences. The film premiered at Cannes as well and after Telluride it is now the front-runner to represent Canada for the foreign film category.
Other foreign films that made headlines at the festival were "Two Days, One Night" from Belgium and "Leviathan" from Russia. Both those films are front-runners to represent their countries at the Oscars.