The Playlist’s Gregory Ellwood is wishing he had gone to Venice instead of Telluride this year, and I do have a similar vibe about booking Toronto instead of Venice.
Alas, that’s how it goes, it’s always a gamble when you have to choose between Toronto, Venice and Telluride. Some years TIFF gets the better lineup, other years it’s Venice or Telluride. That’s the game we play. Not many people, if any, do all three.
On-paper, at least, Venice is the winner this year. Again, on-paper. “White Noise,” which just screened at Venice, irked many by its absence from TIFF and Telluride, but reviews have turned out to be mixed and now there’s a better understanding why T-Ride passed on it. I’m sure that’ll be the case for other films skipping the fest.
We can complain all we want, but almost none of the this year’s crop of films, except for “TAR,” has the kind of buzz that makes it almost a guaranteed critical hit. There are minor, and some major, red flags all over “Bardo,” “Blonde,” “The Whale,” “The Son,” “Bones & All,” etc.
As it stands, there will just be three BIG world premieres at Telluride this year: Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking,” Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light” and Sebastian Lelio’s “The Wonder.” The full lineup will be announced tomorrow at noon ET. My predictions can be read here.