As we in Vancouver prepare for the kick-off to the 30th annual Vancouver International Film Festival on September 28th, and as we await the commencement of the Toronto International Film Festival later in the week — considered by many to be the most prestigious North American film festival, and the Festival that officially kicks off Hollywood’s Oscar awards season — the 38th annual Telluride Film Festival wraps today, thus providing us with an opportunity to provide you with some insight into films you might look forward to, the Oscar bait you’ll come to read much about.
By far, our favourite Telluride correspondent proved to be Awards Daily’s Sasha Stone. Here’s her daily coverage of the Telluride Film Festival …

• Telluride, Day One: Sasha Stone traveled to Telluride for the first time, this year, and in the company of noted curmudgeon / Oscar Poker podcast co-host Jeffrey Wells, of Hollywood Elsewhere (VanRamblings’ favourite daily film read). Replete with gorgeous photography, Stone’s coverage this first day tends more to the travelogue than it does to the Telluride festival itself. But still … what gorgeous writing (and photos)!
• Telluride, Day Two: More great photos, more great writing, and more great idiosyncratic insight into Sasha’s experience of Telluride.
• Telluride, Day Three: Sasha wraps up Telluride, focusing on Glenn Close, and some of her pals who were also in attendance to cover the Festival. Of course, there are more great photos to simply get lost in.

But what of the many films which made their début at 2011 Telluride?

• The Descendants: Far and away the biggest hit at this year’s Telluride film festival, The Descendants was not only a critics’ consensus favourite, but deemed a surefire Oscar nominee. Here’s what the critics had to say: Sasha Stone writes “truthful, mature, transcendent, a major Oscar contender;” while veteran critic Todd McCarthy, now of The Hollywood Reporter, calls The Descendants, “A splendid comedy-drama about a father coping with his comatose wife and difficult daughters. Represents high points for both George Clooney and director Alexander Payne.” The LA Times says The Descendants makes waves; Peter Debruge of the industry trade mag, Variety, is near rapturous; The Playlist’s Michael Patterson in his at length review calls the film, “subtle, effective, quirky & wise.” Meanwhile, Hitfix simply concludes: “superb“.

Continue reading Telluride: An Early Insight Into the Upcoming Oscar Season →

With both the Venice and Telluride film festivals underway, the Toronto Film Festival set to begin next week, and our own homegrown 30th annual Vancouver International Film Festival only 4 short weeks away, cinéastes know that the ‘silly season’ for movies is over, and for those who love serious, heart-wrenching cinema, film nirvana is just around the corner.
Over the course of the month we hope to write about the upcoming films we at VanRamblings look forward to most, while later in the month we will publish our annual introductory column to the much-looked-forward-to Vancouver International Film Festival, followed by daily coverage of VIFF30.
For now, though, we present a trailer for winner of Cannes’ Best Director award, Nicholas Refn’s, new film, Drive, starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston and, as they say, a ‘cast of thousands’. The pulse-pounding Drive is set to open on Friday, Sept. 16th.

Click on the picture above to watch The Descendants movie trailer

The new film from Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways) is set to open December 16th. Starring George Clooney, and a largely unknown cast otherwise, The Descendants is the sort of film that cineastes most look forward to — a well-written, well-acted prestige drama, the sort of Oscar bait film that provides end-of-the-year counterpoint to the cinematic fluff that has flooded our cineplexes for the first eleven months of the year.
From time to time, VanRamblings will post trailers of worthy upcoming films we might all look forward to.
In the meantime, this week sees the release of the new film by Kelly Reichardt, Meek’s Cutoff (Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy) — starring Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Paul Dano, Will Patton, Shirley Henderson and Zoe Kazan — currently sitting at 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, about which the Washington Post’s Ann Hornaday writes, “a mesmerizing cinematic journey,” the consensus positive. Opens tomorrow at Tinseltown Cinemas.