Over the weekend the 40th annual Telluride Film Festival saw major Oscar contenders emerge.
The festivities began on Thursday when Jason Reitman's anticipated film "Labor Day," starring Kate Winslet, had its world premiere. The movie opened to mixed a reception. Eric Kohn of Indiewire gave the movie at B+. "'Labor Day' manages to avoid grand gestures to a large degree because of its cast. Both Winslet and Brolin initially come across as noticeably stilted, but with time their restraint speaks volumes about the sadness haunting both characters," wrote Kohn. However, Chris Willman of the Playlist gave it a C: "A full-immersion exercise in the old-fashioned women's weepie that skews far closer to Nicholas Sparks' brand of contrivance than Diablo Cody territory." While the film was not completely praised, Winslet was still regarded as an Oscar contender for Best Actress.
Another film that received mixed reactions was "Under Her Skin" with Scarlet Johansson, which also premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Ralph Fienne's "The Invisible Women" was met with praise, but Oscar prognosticators cautioned that the film will most likely not play well with Oscar voters.
However, Telluride did see some films emerge as front runners at the Oscars. One of the biggest standouts was Steve McQueen's highly anticipated "12 Years a Slave." Todd McCarthy of the Hollywood Reporter wrote, "A strong, involving, at times overstated telling of an extraordinary life story." Meanwhile, Eric Kohn of Indiewire gave the movie an A+ and wrote, "a particularly noteworthy advancement in McQueen's already impressive filmography that funnels the cerebral formalism of his earlier features into a deeply involving survival narrative."
Scott Feinberg, one of the top Oscar prognosticators, already predicted that McQueen's film will easily get nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor.
Another film that surprised at the festival was "Prisoners" starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. The film scored rave reviews with Scott Foundas of Variety writing, "A spellbinding, sensationally effective thriller with a complex moral center that marks a grand-slam English-lingo debut for the gifted Quebecois director Denis Villeneuve."
Other films that continued to receive warm receptions and Oscar buzz included the Cannes winner "Inside Llewyn Davis," the Venice opener "Gravity," Palm d'Or winner "Blue is the Warmest Colour" and "Nebraska."
Telluride is known for launching a number of Best Picture nominees and winners. It saw the premieres of "Argo," "The King's Speech," "The Descendants," "Slumdog Millionaire," "Juno," "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote" and "The Last King of Scotland."
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