THE FRONT RUNNER

[jo]

Have you seen the trailer...maybe the question should be how often have you seen the trailer


Here's my not-so-objective ( almost! *grin* ) reaction to the trailer --



Wow -- it is not what I expected. It seems the film will focus on those tense and explosive few days before, during, and after the scandal hit! If I didn't know any better -- my first impression would be : Is this a thriller? Lol - all that throbbing, riveting, and tension-filled scenes! That explains why Hugh was always wearing a grim, unhappy, distracted, irritated look in the early images. On the other hand... there was only a glimpse of the charisma for which Hart was supposed to be known for when they backtracked to some early scenes in the campaign.


*The atmosphere is charged! Yet, the poster shows that it is going to be a satire, a political comedy between the candidate and the press who changed the course of his presidential ambitions!

*The cast is excellent and the trailer proves it - noted by so many!

*Even the music and sound design contribute to the atmosphere very well -- and maybe it is only me, it makes the movie sound more like the present!

*Sony is doing very well with the promo campaign --

**the trailer being shown right on the day that Telluride announces its lineup! Anne Thompson just wrote about Telluride being the crucible for the Oscar season forecasting! Not Venice or Toronto - but Telluride. She says no distributor will bring a movie to Telluride unless they are sure that it is going to generate the right kind of big buzz!

**now I understand why it is being released on November 7 but on a limited basis. They want to attract national attention because that would be the day after the midterm election. But they will expand the release to WIDE distribution during the Thanksgiving weekend -- where it is likely any positive buzz could be part of Thanksgiving Day celebration table discussions! Hopefully, it will be an excellent counterprogramming for whatever blockbuster movie is scheduled then.

**That poster is awfully GREAT!! Whimsical almost - definitely suggesting that behind all the tension-filled atmosphere, that the comedic aspect is going to be entertaining. A satire! A political comedy!

**And did you see how huge HUGH JACKMAN is billed over the title -- SONY is definitely cashing in on Hugh's more recent popularity surge due to Logan and Showman?!! And the first official step towards the Oscar campaign for HJ! My hunch


*What about Hugh's portrayal -- since the trailer focuses only on the tense days of the scandal -- we are seeing only the explosive side. Practically wearing only annoyed, grim, testy, somewhat nervous, fighting-mood stance - with face and body language!! But my favorite one from the trailer is the last scene, when the fallen hero tells his wife that something ominous and sad is going to happen. Hugh delivered that with an exquisite pause and a lowering of the voice! Almost provoking a tearful moment for the audience -- maybe for the loss of the opportunity to serve the country … or having the opposite effect ("Serves him right")

I am sure that his portrayal will be nuanced and show why the Senator was winning popularity polls then. We will likely see the charismatic side as well!


*Social media has been quite positive -- that people are interested to see it.


*The movie press is not cynical at all ( as sometimes they are when a movie is being hyped or buzzed before anything solid is presented) , some even more positive than others that this will be a march towards the Oscars!


*I think the relevance of the 30-year old tale is thought to be quaint by some compared to the current scene - but it is basically the desire to make the comparison that may draw people to the cinemas!


Hoping for the best! Waiting for Hugh to turn up at the Telluride world premiere and for early very positive buzz about the movie! Why ever not -- it is the only buzzed movie that deals with such a subject...and to put it into the context of current politics and culture -- that makes it even more interesting to view as a film!


Of course my whimsical wish is to see the good Senator from Colorado ( I am sure he has seen the movie) attend the premiere at Telluride ( nestled in the Colorado mountains) with Hugh Jackman and Jason Reitman



What are your thoughts about it? Do we share the same views or do you see something even more appealing about the dramatic unfolding of the scandal? Would love to exchange views


Jo

[jo]

And from the Colorado press itself --

theknow.denverpost.com/2018/08/30/robert-redford-hugh-jackman-emma-stone-among-stars-headed-years-telluride-film-festival/193962/

One of the globe’s most significant and singular film festivals begins today, and pass-holders for the 45th Telluride Film Festival will soon be in the throes of an obsessive movie love.

Some of what they’ll stand in long queues for are sure to be in the Oscar hunt come fall.

Over the last several years, Telluride has — along with the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival — become a harbinger. Others are (by box office standards) as rarefied as the air in the San Juan mountains. Telluride is an oddly down-to-earth yet heady affair: deeply thoughtful and, for those new to the altitude, a little dizzying.

Guests slated to attend this year’s installment (through Sept. 3) include:

*Robert Redford, who plays a robber to Casey Affleck’s cop in “The Old Man and the Gun.” Redford, 82, has said this his final film as an actor.

*Tribute recipient Emma Stone appears alongside Rachel Weisz in “The Favourite.” The tale of cousins vying for the affections of Britain’s Queen Anne is directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, the wildly eclectic filmmaker of “The Killing of a Sacred Dear” and “The Lobster.”

*Writer-director Alfonso Cuarón — also a fest honoree — returns to Telluride with “Roma,” his black-and-white drama about a family in Mexico City in 1970. The film’s title acknowledges the district where the Oscar-winning filmmaker of “Gravity” and “Children of Men” grew up.

*“La La Land” director Damien Chazelle returns, too, with “First Man,” a drama about astronaut Neil Armstrong, who went to the moon but shied away from star treatment.

*Actor-director Ralph Fiennes arrives with “The White Crow,” about Russian dancer Rudolph Nureyev, starring Russian dancer and acting newcomer Oleg Ivenko.

Others headed to the former mining town: Nicole Kidman, nearly unrecognizable as an undercover cop in Karyn Kusama’s “Destoyer”; Matt McConaughey as the father of a law-breaking teen circa 1984 Detroit in “White Boy Rick”; Laura Dern and Jack O’Connell in “Trial by Fire,” director Ed Zwick’s drama based on David Grann’s New Yorker piece about a Texas inmate put to death after exculpatory evidence was suppressed; and Melissa McCarthy as Lee Israel, the once successful biographer turned desperate literary forger, in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”




Still, the festival’s most unlikely star may well be a fallen Colorado political figure: Gary Hart — at least by way of Hugh Jackman. In “The Front Runner,” Jackman (Logan in a Marvel Multiverse far, far away from Telluride) portrays the U.S. senator who in 1987 appeared a shoe-in for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president and likely POTUS.

Director Jason Reitman brings journalist Matt Bai’s “All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid” — a deft cultural reckoning — to the big screen. Newspaper accounts alleging an affair between Hart and Donna Rice sunk his candidacy and bankrupted his political capital. The movie, due out in November, might seem an odd blast from scandals past if not for the fact that the nation appears ever stuck in the mud of what do we really know and when do we know it truly matters.

“Jackman is out of this world,” said Julie Huntsinger — co-director alongside fest co-founder Tom Luddy — by phone from her seasonal office in Telluride. “I feel like this could be the film, that if people give it attention and think about it, it could generate the most conversation because it hits on questions that reverberate for politicians but also for artists: What is the public’s right to know about your private life? What is a good candidate? What is a good person? Is fidelity an issue? What is hubris?

“There are so many big-ticket items we need to look at as a culture, as a country. It brought it all the way home that his life is not my business. His marriage is not my business. But questions of judgment are our business.”

In many ways, “The Front Runner” with its election scandal of a bygone era — given America’s breakneck amnesia — offers fest-goers Telluride’s version of the timely. Which tends to be more artistically resonant than it is doggedly topical.




Once a cinephile secret, Telluride has grown ever more popular: Passes are sold out within hours of going on sale in March. And Huntsinger has made peace with the ways the festival gets pulled into the awards-season blogosphere each fall. She gets it. And when the Oscar finally, famously, went to “Moonlight,” which premiered at the fest two years ago, she was there to give director Barry Jenkins, a longtime festival ringmaster, a celebratory hug.

Batting of course for the (sad) tale of a favorite son

But maybe the movie itself will uncover some facets of the persona and the surrounding events and give us a deeper understanding of what went on during those dramatic few days.


Jo

[jo]

In all of his almost 2 decades in Hollywood, this is the first time Hugh's name is emblazoned above the title and in a font size as big as the film title!

Of course, this will be the third part of a perfect acting trifecta for Hugh Jackman --

LOGAN
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN
THE FRONT RUNNER

http://instagram.com/p/BnIHGAUH6zk

Maybe a coincidence, too -- but there have been other occasions that are arguably as good as the current trifecta :


2012/13

LES MISERABLES
PRISONERS
DAYS OF FUTURE PAST


2006

HAPPY FEET?
THE PRESTIGE
THE FOUNTAIN

[jo]

Finally found the screening schedule(s) for THE FRONT RUNNER at Telluride Film Festival --


telluridecms-production.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/guides/45th-TFF-program-guide-final.pdf

H/Fri 9:45PM - P/Sat 12:45PM - G/Sun 9:15AM QnA - C/Mon 4PM 21 The Front Runner

Made possible by a donation from Warren & Becky Gottsegen With THANK YOU FOR SMOKING and UP IN THE AIR, writer-director Jason Reitman displayed a rare gift for weaving charged political and social themes into intelligent and entertaining comedy-dramas. His latest, written with Matt Bai and Jay Carson, takes on the 1988 tabloid scandal that derailed Gary Hart’s presidential campaign. Hugh Jackman is remarkably convincing as the senator who is perhaps too interested in ideas and policies to succeed in a changing media culture. Vera Farmiga is quietly heartbreaking as his wife; J.K. Simmons plays the campaign manager unable to persuade the candidate to turn himself into a TV commodity. The supporting cast of actor-comedians including Alex Karpovsky, Mike Judge and Kevin Pollak playing members of the Hart campaign and the journalists who brought him down are equally excellent. Rob Simonsen’s beautifully minimal, piano-only musical score is an additional treat.

–LG (U.S., 2018, 113m) In person: Jason Reitman, Hugh Jackman, Matt Bai, Jay Carson/b]

[jo]

Early foliage shows and a glimpse of THE FRONT RUNNER in New Hampshire, at Telluride By The Sea festival in 2018!


www.themusichall.org/events/the-front-runner/

The latest from writer-director Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking, Up In The Air), written with Matt Bai and Jay Carson, takes on the 1988 tabloid scandal that derailed Gary Hart’s presidential campaign. Hugh Jackman is remarkably convincing as the senator who is too interested in ideas to succeed in a changing media culture. Vera Farmiga is quietly heartbreaking as his wife; J.K. Simmons plays the campaign manager struggling to turn the candidate into a TV commodity. The supporting cast of actor-comedians includes Alex Karpovsky, Mike Judge, and Kevin Pollack.


2018 TELLURIDE BY THE SEA SCHEDULE

Friday, September 14

5:30pm: Queues begin on Chestnut St.
5:45-6:55pm: Live Music on Street: John Mayer Five
6pm: Doors open for Patron Passholders
7pm: Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Patron Pass Party at LaBelle Winery Shop following film


Saturday, September 15

9:30am: Featured Filmmakers (Loft Series): Frida (2002)
1pm: Border
4pm: Dogman
7:30pm: The Front Runner
Festival Party on Chestnut Street following film, with food provided by The Portsmouth Brewery


Sunday, September 16

9-10:30am: Patron Passholder Brunch at The District
10:30am: Featured Filmmakers (Loft Series): The Piano (1993)
1:15pm: Girl
4pm: The Favourite
7pm: Free Solo



ABOUT THE TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL
The Telluride Film Festival has been, for the last 44 years, a celebration of the art of film: honoring the great masters of the cinema, discovering the rare and unknown, bringing new works by the world’s greatest directors and the latest in American independent film to a small mountain town in Colorado. The New York Times called Telluride “the smallest, most original, and most stimulating of the major festivals,” while Entertainment Tonight simply said it was “the world’s best festival.”


ABOUT TELLURIDE BY THE SEA
The Music Hall and the Telluride Film Festival collaborate on an exclusive presentation of six new features, brought directly from their Colorado debuts. This unique and intimate Portsmouth event treats audience members from across the Northeast to an exclusive peek into the Telluride experience – packing one September weekend in Portsmouth with the latest international cinema, private parties, great music, delicious food, and inspired conversations with other cinephiles of all ages, tastes, and backgrounds. According to Patricia Lynch, executive director of The Music Hall, “Portsmouth is the perfect town for this perfect weekend. With its charming mix of history, salt air, and film lovers, Portsmouth buzzes when Telluride by the Sea arrives. The streets are filled with people stopping one another to talk about the films, the restaurants are jumping. It’s a moving party!”


Running Time: 1h 52m • USA • Courtesy of Sony Worldwide

[jo]

Excellent EW interview with Jason Reitman, director of THE FRONT RUNNER --

ew.com/movies/2018/08/31/jason-reitman-the-front-runner-hugh-jackman-gary-hart/

Movies
Why Jason Reitman wanted Hugh Jackman to play Gary Hart in The Front Runner



Maureen Lee Lenker

August 31, 2018 at 10:30 AM EDT
The Front Runner

11/07/18
performer
Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons
director
Jason Reitman


The title of The Front Runner isn’t a thinly veiled attempt to get ahead in the Oscar race — instead, it’s a reference to the film’s subject, Gary Hart, portrayed here by Hugh Jackman, who was the assumed front-runner for the Democratic ticket in the 1988 presidential election.

Based on Matt Bai’s book All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid, the movie takes a deep dive into Hart’s campaign and the swirl of events surrounding an alleged extramarital affair with model Donna Rice that quickly derailed it. For director Jason Reitman, the film takes place at a moment where “political journalism and gossip journalism drove into the same lane for the first time” — a moment he wants to ponder as possibly the source of what brought us to where we are today in a never-ending cycle of cable news and 24/7 coverage that conflates politics with celebrity.

The Front Runner is poised to be an awards contender, making its festival debut at Telluride and then Toronto in the coming weeks before its Nov. 21 release date. The first trailer dropped earlier this week, and it showcases Hart in crisis, as well as keen commitment to telling the story of the press and, as showcased in the first poster for the film, where things careened off the cliff.


For EW’s annual Fall Movie Preview issue, director Jason Reitman chatted with EW about what inspired him to make the film in a time when the relationship between politics and the press is particularly fraught, what classic films about politics influenced this new take, and why Hugh Jackman was his top choice to play Gary Hart.


ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This was based on the book All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid by Matt Bai. Were you very familiar with Gary Hart and his story before reading it?

JASON REITMAN: I had never heard of him. I was listening to an episode of RadioLab [an NPR show and podcast]. They did an episode on Gary Hart based on Matt Bai’s book and that was my introduction to the story. From there, I got a copy of the book. I finished reading the book on a plane and immediately wrote out four pages of notes on what the movie would be. It immediately appeared to me as a film.


What was so striking to you that made you immediately sit down and write that out?

Like many people, I’m living right now in 2018 wondering how we got here? In this story, I saw an opportunity to engage questions that I’m grappling with, that everybody’s grappling with, no matter who you are and what your positions are.


It seems like the film really delves into this moment where the press started to move from this more objective entity to tabloid personal interest reporting with a lot of personal bias injected – was that transition something you particularly wanted to study?

Matt Bai’s book did an amazing job of observing this moment where a collection of 12 different things happened. As a result, political journalism and gossip journalism drove into the same lane for the first time. I can only imagine how difficult it is to be a journalist right now in 2018, and these journalists confronted with this story in 1987 were confronted with a similar dilemma on how to cover it. We really look at the two different sides of how to approach a scandal as it’s happening — how so many people can be affected by one headline.


Did you get the chance to meet the real Gary Hart and interact with him at all?

I was really lucky. I got to meet Gary Hart, Donna Rice, and a lot of the people who were on the Hart campaign in ’88.


Did you meet him while you were still writing? Or later in the process?

This was a film that I never stopped writing. I wrote it with Matt Bai, who wrote the book on Hart, and Jay Carson, who was Hillary [Clinton’s] press secretary in ’08. We were constantly trying to make the world as rich as possible. It felt like world-building because we wanted the experience of the film to be like being dropped into the ’88 campaign. We were constantly writing details; constantly creating little appendix scenes for everyone on screen. Because of that I was reaching out to the original campaign team all the time looking for more detail.


Why did you feel Hugh was the right choice to play Gary? Do you think his being Australian and therefore slightly outside our political system meant he brought a different perspective or approach to the work?

Hugh is one of the most brilliant and lovely and hardworking actors alive. He’s someone I’ve wanted to work with basically since I became aware of him. He was clearly right for the part. He resembles Gary Hart, and he feels like a politician. What was exciting for me was the process of watching an actor who fearlessly dives into whatever he’s doing. I learned about Gary Hart and the Gary Hart story through Hugh Jackman. He had this notebook on set one day, it was like a three-inch thick notebook, and I said, “What is that?” And he said, “Oh that’s a book compiled by a researcher so I can learn more about Hart.” And I said, “Really? You’re going to read that whole thing?” He said, “This is book one of five.” When I saw it [all] stacked on a table, it was like a foot and a half worth of research. It was an insane amount of research. Whether it’s physicality or fighting or singing or dancing, whatever Hugh Jackman approaches, he does with an immeasurable amount of research and passion.


You often work with actors multiple times. Here, you have Vera Farmiga and J.K. Simmons to name just two people you’re re-teaming with. What keeps bringing you back?

With Vera Farmiga and J.K. Simmons, you have two of the finest actors and finest voices of our generation. I love what they do with their voices. I was excited to see how they would push, too, as actors. I think, with J.K. and Vera, it’s two of the best roles they’ve ever played. With J.K., this is my seventh movie directing. If you count the ones producing, it’s like 10 movies or something. He’s clearly my muse. [Laughs.]


Would you say this film shares that similar blend of serious subject matter with comedic tone that most of your films exhibit?

Yeah. There’s definitely a sense of humor running through The Front Runner. A big part of the film is capturing the everyday real life of being on a political campaign or working at a newspaper. There’s a whole lot of actors in the film. There’s kind of 20 main characters in this movie and many of them are comedic actors like Josh Brener and Alex Karpovsky and Tommy Dewey and Bill Burr and Kevin Pollak. They’re all guys who are known for being funny. In capturing the real life of their characters, there’s lots of humor.


Do you think the events of this film fundamentally altered or determined where we are now?

I don’t think I have an answer to that, frankly. I’m more interested in posing this question to the audience. I’ve always felt that movies work best when they serve as a mirror and we see ourselves in them, and I never want to tell the audience what to think. I hope they walk out of the film and delve into hours of conversation about what happened then and what happened now.


Setting aside the scandal that ended his career, in terms of political beliefs, who do you think in politics today is closest to Hart and his forward-thinking platform?

God, I don’t know. Gary Hart foresaw so much. He met Steve Jobs back in the garage. He foresaw the rise of terrorism in the Middle East. He understood the importance of computers and the economic line that would divide the people who knew how to use them and the ones who didn’t. He was smart on so many things. I don’t know who that person would be today. He was thinking 30 years ahead.


You’re a great movie lover and promoter of the film legacy – were there particular films that inspired your work here? Especially since the subject of politics and the press is a favorite Hollywood topic?

The template for this movie was Michael Ritchie’s The Candidate, the movie with Robert Redford. That’s a movie we studied on a weekly basis. I’m obsessed with it and Ritchie’s early work. It just put you in the moment like no other political movie I’ve ever watched. It felt hyper-real and funny and had all the accidental moments of real life that we were searching for in our film. We literally would have lunches at the office during pre-production where we would just put it up on the projector and we would sit there and we’d talk about how they accomplished certain things.

[jo]

Why did you feel Hugh was the right choice to play Gary? Do you think his being Australian and therefore slightly outside our political system meant he brought a different perspective or approach to the work?

Hugh is one of the most brilliant and lovely and hardworking actors alive. He’s someone I’ve wanted to work with basically since I became aware of him. He was clearly right for the part. He resembles Gary Hart, and he feels like a politician. What was exciting for me was the process of watching an actor who fearlessly dives into whatever he’s doing. I learned about Gary Hart and the Gary Hart story through Hugh Jackman. He had this notebook on set one day, it was like a three-inch thick notebook, and I said, “What is that?” And he said, “Oh that’s a book compiled by a researcher so I can learn more about Hart.” And I said, “Really? You’re going to read that whole thing?” He said, “This is book one of five.” When I saw it [all] stacked on a table, it was like a foot and a half worth of research. It was an insane amount of research. Whether it’s physicality or fighting or singing or dancing, whatever Hugh Jackman approaches, he does with an immeasurable amount of research and passion.

That is no exaggeration re his work habits. I remember reading about how he read LES MISERABLES twice ( ugh...that was over a thousand and so many pages of excellent character-writing but equally dire social commentaries from Victor Hugo). Plus he started singing the parts ( he obviously already studied the musical score) as he went through the book. That was my recollection.

And of course we knew that he was part of all the workshops of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, when he could have very well just stepped in for the final workshop.


Jo

[jo]

FilmSchoolRejects genearally presents itself as more scholarly in its blogs. Here they delve seriously on the significance of the first trailer of THE FRONT RUNNER.

filmschoolrejects.com/the-front-runner-trailer/

The trailer ends with a terrific little scene of Hart on the phone to his wife. The lighting is dark and moody, setting up the final line: “There’s gonna be a story tomorrow about me.”

My favorite part of the trailer, too!

[jo]

The movie press, film bloggers and film critics about to view THE FRONT RUNNER --

[jo]

Coming from the Head Honcho of Ain't It Cool News ( Harry has been excused of various incidents of sexual misconduct) -- this statement is absurd ( unless he is only trying to be funny) --

Check out his blog at AICN from the link above.

[jo]

More from Telluride --

http://instagram.com/p/BnLD2VdAtV5

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/BnK4FVrjFQx

[jo]

From co-founder and member of husband-and-wife producing team of BRON STUDIOS --

And from the official site of Bron Studios --

[jo]

Early comments --

Kristopher Tapley
@kristapley

It's wrangling with some stuff, so it's not this simple, but I almost think Trump would dig it? Press as the enemy, private life off limits, etc.
2:20 PM · Sep 1, 2018

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From a film blogger --

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Gregory Ellwood
@thegregorye

Still stewing on Front Runner but Jackman and ensemble are superb.
#Telluride
2:03 PM · Sep 1, 2018 from Colorado, USA

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From a filmmaker/cinematographer --

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/BnLHTaqFNfP

[jo]

It looks like THE FRONT RUNNER is generating real-life discussions among the movie press. Discussions about the other festival movies are all about artistry of filmmaking, entertainment value, historical references -- not really about how the current environment are relatable to the themes and treatments in those kind of movies.

I also wonder how objective they are in viewing the movie as I understand the film also traces the fall into tabloid journalism?


Interesting discussions --

Kristopher Tapley
@kristapley
7h

At times “The Front Runner” feels almost Altman-esque. Great use of old-school photography and dialogue mixing. Intriguing evolution for Reitman.

*********************************


Kristopher Tapley
@kristapley

It's wrangling with some stuff, so it's not this simple, but I almost think Trump would dig it? Press as the enemy, private life off limits, etc.
2:20 PM · Sep 1, 2018


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Matt Mustin
@mattmustin
6h

Replying to
@kristapley
That is not a selling point.


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Kristopher Tapley
@kristapley
6h

I'm not here to sell anything.


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Rebecca Keegan
@thatrebecca
6h

Replying to
@kristapley
Did you think the press came off as the enemy? I thought the reporters and editors seemed as conflicted and confused by the ground shifting under their feet as Hart’s staffers.



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Kristopher Tapley
@kristapley
6h

Like I said, it's not this simple. It's just where my head went.



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Rebecca Keegan
@thatrebecca
6h

Understandable. I think the film is more nuanced than the times we're in. But I guess that's sort of the point.


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Tomris Laffly

@tomilaffly
6h

Replying to
@kristapley
You're onto something interesting here.


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Matt Neglia

@nextbestpicture


Replying to
@kristapley
That’s...slightly concerning

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[jo]

Enjoying Colorado and its mountains

http://instagram.com/p/BnL_fJgj1ZF

[jo]

[hughmanity]

Always nice to see them together 

[jo]

LOL - a study in grey!

Who wore it better

Did they coordinate their outfits


On a more serious note -- hope they can reteam in a movie in the future!


Jo

[jo]

GoldDerby soaks up the atmosphere at TELLURIDE … and discovers THE FRONT RUNNER!

[hughmanity]

Encountering young SHOWMAN fans while at Telluride

http://instagram.com/p/BnM1_RsFCz-

[jo]

Fans for life

[jo]

GoldDerby finally discovers THE FRONT RUNNER!

www.goldderby.com/article/2018/telluride-film-festival-first-man-oscars-news-1483952073/

What do celebrated astronaut Neil Armstrong and disgraced former presidential candidate Gary Hart have in common? A lot, actually, at least as portrayed by Ryan Gosling and Hugh Jackman, respectively, in “First Man” and “The Front Runner.” These films from directors Damien Chazelle and Jason Reitman hardly look like two sides of the same coin on the surface, but they made for a hell of a double feature for those of us at the Telluride Film Festival who chose to spend the opening night Friday camped out at the Werner Herzog Cinema.

Basically, both the rocket man and the politician are emotionally constipated guys who resent the part of being a public figure that demands you parade your private life in front of the press. But Armstrong and Hart also have a hard time just even having a private life, too, at least when it comes to interacting with their long-suffering wives: their public reticence mirrors a private coolness, too, that’s hard to fathom. Other than that, the two of them don’t exactly follow similar trajectories: Gosling is quiet and terse on the way to blasting off to the moon and Jackman has plenty of explosive outbursts as he spirals ever downward amid a sex scandal. One goes from zero to hero, and the other … well, you know.


I feel like I made the right choice in choosing to see these two Friday at Telluride. “First Man” was a hot-as-rockets pick getting its North American premiere here after bowing in Venice just two days earlier. “The Front Runner,” meanwhile, had its world premiere as a Telluride late show after, well, flying more or less under the radar up till now. There may be things to love or not love about either movie, but there’s no doubting you’re in the hands of a bravura filmmaker in both instances. And watching Gosling and Jackman so expertly at work raises the eternal question: Is it harder to win an Oscar, or a nomination, when you’re playing somebody who spends basically an entire movie out of touch with himself? If you really love acting, watching somebody who hasn’t learned to love himself may be the greatest movie love of all...

In introducing “The Front Runner,” Jackman said, “It is a dream for me to be here. It’s my first time here at the festival. When I said to Jason [who previously premiered “Juno,” “Up in the Air” and “Labor Day” here], ‘Give me one sentence: What makes Telluride different from anywhere else?,’ he said, ‘People here love movies. That’s it. That’s all I have to say.'”

And we love them as fast as we can. It will all be over in a flash, so the press and everyone else have to make decisions wisely. The brevity of the three-and-a-half-day festival is unparalleled at any comparable gathering of the film intelligentsia. There was a great joke made right before “First Man” became the first film to officially show in the Herzog Cinema Friday night: “Welcome to the closing weekend of the 45th annual Telluride Film Festival!” quipped the venue’s emcee.

Hope the "Oscarlogorists" ( GoldDerby invented the word ) will now duly take note -- that there is an excellent resonant ( to current times) movie and excellent performances therein! Jeffrey Wells, included!


Jo

[carouselkathy]

John McCain requested that Gary Hart be one of his pallbearers today.