Telluride

The Race to Oscar

There is no such thing as an Oscar frontrunner before Labor Day, any more than you can wear white shoes after. There has been much noise this weekend at Telluride. For example, over at TheWrap the headline over Chris Williman’s festival update ran “’12 Years a Slave’ Stuns Telluride: Do We Have an Oscar Front-Runner?”

Too damn early!

There are contenders: “Blue Jasmine” is a contender. Cate Blanchett is a contender. I erred on this one already, writing in an interview for Yahoo Movies: “… the burdens of being an early Oscar frontrunner – again – this time for playing the title character of Woody Allen’s latest, ‘Blue Jasmine.'” But now I’m calling myself out. She is a contender. We haven’t yet seen Meryl Streep or Julia Roberts in “August: Osage County” or Sandra Bullock in “Gravity” or Judy Dench in “Philomena.”

Rule 1: No Oscar Frontrunners Before Labor Day.

I may extend this through Thanksgiving. What are your thoughts?

The movies of Danish Director Thomas Vinterberg (“The Celebration”) are like an empathetic yet unsparing novel — he sets his sights on an extended family or a community and he parses them with a surgeon’s precision. And through that closely observed human behavior, his movies become universal. Here, in what I’d call “We Need to Talk About Klara,” a reference to “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” a kindergartner accuses her teacher of exposing his willie. And the close-knit rural community unravels with accusations false and true. At its core, as the accused teacher, is the brilliant actor Mads Mikkelson, who is also in TIFF’s “A Royal Affair.” He won best actor honors at Cannes this year, and will be honored at Telluride along with Marion Cotillard for “Rust & Bone.” He’s a cross between Viggo Mortensen and Ciaran Hinds — intellectual, physical, sexy. I’m calling a best actor nomination for Mikkelson now.

Oscarologist Credo – Post 1

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