THE FRONT RUNNER

[jo]

[jo]

The Hollywood Reporter notes the new trends of politics-infused movies coming to cinemas. Fortunately for THE FRONT RUNNER, it was released at Telluride and was the first one with this current theme for certain movies.

www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/how-trump-looms-large-fall-films-1139564/item/trump-fall-releases-american-dharma-1139553?utm_source=twitter&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral

In the "grab 'em by the p­­ussy" era, it's hard to imagine a time when a politician's sex life was off-limits. That time was right before Gary Hart's extramarital affair with Donna Rice became fodder for the press in 1988, derailing the Democrat's presidential campaign. Directed by Jason Reitman, Front Runner enjoys plenty of inside-the-Beltway cred given that it was written by Jay Carson (former press secretary for Hillary Clinton and the real-life inspiration for Ryan Gosling's character in The Ides of March) and veteran political reporter Matt Bai (Reitman also is a credited co-writer). Hugh Jackman stars as the fallen candidate in the Sony film, which opens Nov. 7. As for what Hart thinks, Bai says he hasn't seen it yet. "We always wanted him to feel respected by the process, and Jason reached out early to Sen. Hart and other people involved in the story and worked really hard to get their points of view and their memories and to have a sense of them as a director," says Bai. "But the movie shares so many different perspectives. It's not one perspective. So nobody saw the screenplay. I think we're all really curious to know what their reactions will be, but it's not something that we've really sought."

*You may want to check out the other films from the link.

*Either the interview was earlier-dated or Matt Bai has not been informed by Jason Reitman yet that Gary and Lee Hart have actually seen the movie, per report by GoldDerby.

Sept 4, 2018 14:19:00 GMT -5 jo said:

Gary and Lee Hart have seen the movie!

And they love Hugh Jackman's portrayal!


www.goldderby.com/article/2018/telluride-hugh-jackman-gary-hart-the-front-runner-oscar-news/

Telluride update: Hugh Jackman relives Gary Hart scandal in Jason Reitman’s ‘The Front Runner’

Chris Willman
Film
September 4, 2018 12:00PM


Hugh Jackman was last seen on screen in “The Greatest Showman,” but there’s no show business like political business. He moves on from P.T. Barnum to former senator Gary Hart in director Jason Reitman’s “The Front Runner,” which premiered over the weekend at the Telluride Film Festival, and which could give the actor his second Oscar nomination, after he vied for 2013’s “Les Miserables.”


Jackman comes off as such a warm character in real life — as he did in “Showman” — that you might spend half a second wondering: Can he go chilly enough to convincingly play a one-time presidential candidate who didn’t always seem like the model of transparency and mirth? And then you remember: Oh, right, he is the Wolverine — so whether he’s dealing with a sex scandal or retractable knives in his knuckles, he can play a guy with big, haunting secrets to hide.



Says Reitman, “One word you hear a lot about Gary Hart is ‘enigma,’ even from the people who are close to him. Here was this brilliant guy who was also clearly flawed and made human mistakes, but he’s a hard guy to penetrate. And as an actor, Hugh is someone who has so much warmth. His heart beats right out of his chest, and you feel it in his performances, whether he is the Greatest Showman or whether he’s Logan and he’s literally ripping arms off. And I’ve never seen him do anything like this, where he plays a closed box that’s just giving you these tiny windows to find a way in.”


I spoke with Reitman after one of the movie’s screenings in Telluride, a bucolic mountain setting that felt peacefully far away from the current turmoil of Washington, which the filmmaker seemed determined to bring us back to with his new drama, if only by proxy. “The Front Runner” was enjoying its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, but Reitman had just come from a very different screening… for no less an audience than Hart and his wife Lee, who have been married since 1958, even despite the revelation of an affair in 1987 that quickly put a kibosh on his lead as the presumptive Democratic candidate for the top office.

The film, based on a book by one of Reitman’s co-scripters, Matt Bai, is, as the director describes it, “a movie with a dozen points of view.” If one of those possible points of view is that the media were derelict in rushing to judgment with the scandal story, another possible takeaway is that Hart really was revealed as being too deceptive to be a credible candidate. (Not that that seems to have stopped anybody since.) So, given that this is hardly an authorized version of Hart’s personal story, what did the man himself think of the movie in this private screening?



Reitman hesitated when I pressed for details. “For so many reasons,” he said after a pause, “I do not want to speak for Gary and Lee Hart. They’re going to speak for themselves. But I can say that their response to the movie was positive, despite it being a film about the most difficult week of their lives.” Although Reitman won’t characterize how the couple reacted to the themes implicit in the portrayal of their lives, he said, “It’s funny, because their initial responses were all about filmmaking; they like how it was written. They love Hugh’s performance. Gary at one point said, ‘Do I really talk like that?’ and Lee Hart was like ‘Oh, yeah, that’s exactly how you speak, darling.’”



Telluride executive director Julie Huntsinger had touted the film to the press shortly before the premiere as Reitman’s most mature work: “There’s not a bit of snark in it — even though it’s very funny.” Reitman had in mind the knowing tone of one of his favorite movies, Michael Ritchie’s “The Candidate,” which starred Robert Redford as a Democratic front runner with no sense of direction, and was also, like this new movie, very much an ensemble piece full of one-liners from political operatives. When I told Reitman that I knew Ritchie a little bit and felt confident he would be proud of the extent to which this film is an homage, the filmmaker seemed visibly touched.


“When I met Matt and (third co-writer) Jay (Carson), one of the first things we did was watch ‘The Candidate’ together at my house. There was something so observational and perfect about that film in the way that it approached politics, and how the innocuous conversations were given just as much presence as the important conversations, and every character in that movie has a real life and is three-dimensional.”

The element of “The Front Runner” that will alternately either delight or aggravate a lot of viewers is how it gives everyone in the movie a hard time as the same time it deeply emphasizes with them. That lack of a singular message was very much intentional on Reitman’s part. If you want to see it as a broadside against the media who brought down a man who could have enacted great change in America, and that sex scandals shouldn’t matter now any more than they were allowed to in JFK’s and LBJ’s day, that’s certainly one way to read it. If you’re inclined to think that Hart brought it on himself, and that we’re past the point where private conduct doesn’t matter, that’s a legit reading, too.


The reporters at the Miami Herald who staked out Hart’s residence and spotted Donna Rice coming out aren’t portrayed in the noblest light. But, Reitman said, “I have a lot of empathy for journalists. I mean, it’s impossible not to right now; they’re getting the s— beaten out of them every single day. And I have a lot of empathy for the characters at the Washington Post and at the Herald in this movie who are, I think, genuinely trying to do the right thing. But it’s very hard to figure out what the right thing is sometimes.

“Candidates used to be selected in back rooms, and that power was handed over to the people that did not have all the information about 20 different candidates. It’s impossible to do the research, and it was the job of journalists to figure out who the hell these people were, so that the public would know. And (the editor at the Miami Herald) saw that as his mission. Whether or not he took that mission too far, I mean, that’s the real question. But also, that’s a newspaper that struggled with the question of whether they go to press immediately or hold off… They felt that thing that is now ever-present, which is how fast can you get to print? It used to be a question of days and now it’s a question of minutes. You see even in film reviews the way people are writing their film review on their phone as the credits are playing, because you just need to be the first person to hit the button.”


There are a few kings of Telluride — namely, Ken Burns, Werner Herzog and Errol Morris, festival favorites whose films always tend to premiere here first. Reitman seems to have joined their company as fellow royalty. “The Front Runner,” which will also play in Toronto, is Reitman’s fourth film to have its world premiere in Telluride, after the career-making “Juno,” “Up in the Air” and “Labor Day,” the first two of which got him Oscar-nommed.

“What’s cool about coming here is it’s this combination of filmmakers you’ve met but also film lovers you’ve met. As you now, it has more regulars than any other festival you go to. You go to Sundance, it’s so chaotic, and you’re not gonna run into the same group of people you saw every year. Here, it literally is a family reunion.

“I love this festival. Every filmmaker loves this festival. I’m not saying anything new there. But look, you work for however many years making a movie. Everybody who works on the film sacrifices elements of their life. And the first people you show it to matter. There’s something really nice being in a room full of people who actually love movies and they’re not there for the party or to be seen or to take some sort of photo. This is a town that is brimming with people who are like me, so those are the people I want to show my film to first.”

[jo]

We're getting used to seeing Hugh's profile in silhouette

It started with "Whooaaa!! Whooaaa!!!"

[jo]

At his charismatic best! Gary Hart in the movie!

http://instagram.com/p/BnW52y7HFCf

[jo]

From the link --

The Front Runner (Dir: Jason Reitman)


Hugh Jackman is an incredibly talented actor, yet I’m still hesitant he could ever make me believe that he isn’t Wolverine – now that would be a talent. For this reason, I can’t wait to see Jason Reitman’s political drama, The Front Runner. I have complete faith that Jackman will convince me he really is 1988 Democratic candidate Gary Hart, not that I know who that is. I know nothing of America’s political climate in the 80s and, interestingly, this period is highly regarded as the time when “politics went tabloid.”

The film also boasts an excellent ensemble cast in J.K. Simmons, Vera Farmiga, and rising star Kaitlyn Dever. Gary Hart went from America’s most loved to most hated in less than a week, when the Miami Herald exposed his affair with Donna Rice (Sara Paxton). Based on the book All the Truth is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid by Matt Bai, Reitman covers this fascinating story with a focus on the fallout for Hart and his family. In this hideous era where Trump and the White House consistently attempt to demonize the press, it will be interesting to see if The Front Runner takes a specific stance or side, or will it be just a human story of a man in the spotlight whose secrets are out? –Millicent Thomas

The European premiere of THE FRONT RUNNER as part of the London Film Festival will be held on October 14.

Btw, the closing gala presentation of the movie at the Vancouver Film Festival will be held on October 12.


Jo

[jo]

A round-up of forthcoming movies --

www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/tv/tv-guy/os-et-sp-s4-movies-2018-arts-season-preview-20180814-story.html

‘The Front Runner’
Release date: Nov. 21

Premise: The story of Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart’s downfall after an affair was exposed in 1988.
What to expect: Hugh Jackman plays Hart, and he will be the main reason to see the film. Jason Reitman (“Juno”) directs the political saga based on Matt Bai’s book “All the Truth Is Out.” The cast includes Vera Farmiga (as Hart’s wife), J.K. Simmons and Kevin Pollak.

[jo]

It's films and parties in TORONTO

variety.com/2018/film/news/tiff-2018-party-guide-toronto-film-festival-1202929157/

There are a lot of movies to see this year at the Toronto International Film Festival — 340, to be exact — but that doesn’t mean it has to be all screenings and no play.

From Thursday’s opening night party for Netflix’s “Outlaw King” to the third annual B.L.A.C.K Ball, as well as Julia Roberts celebrating her film “Ben Is Back” and her new Amazon Prime series “Homecoming,” the fest is packed with cocktail soirees, dinners, and late-night parties.

Schedule for September 8 (Saturday) --

Saturday, Sept. 8
“Widows” Cocktail Party: Variety and AT&T toast “Widows” with stars Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Daniel Kaluuya, and Brian Tyree Henry as well as director Steve McQueen and co-writer Gillian Flynn, Momofuku, 6 p.m.-8 p.m.

Artists for Peace and Justice Gala: Co-hosted by Ben Stiller, Jackson Browne, Maxwell and Susan Sarandon, honoring “Property Brothers” stars Drew Scott and Jonathan Scott, Windsor Arms Hotel, 6 p.m.

“Unbroken” Party: Post-screening party for doc about Olympic snowboarder Mark McMorris with performance by DJ Scratch Bastid, RBC House, 8 p.m.

Spotlight Initiative Awards: The Creative Coalition honors Maura Tierney, Olivia Munn, Dan Fogelman, and Mandy Patinkin, House of Aurora, 7:30 p.m.

Autograph Collection Hotels Garden Party: Maggie Gyllenhaal and the hotel group celebrate “A Room of One’s Own” with a performance by Martha Wainwright, Mongrel House, 7:30 p.m.

AT&T Film Selections Party: Deejay duo Chromeo plays with opening deejays Franki Chan and Them Jeans, DIRECTV House Presented by AT&T, 9 p.m.


“The Front Runner” Party: Hugh Jackman and director Jason Reitman celebrate after the premiere of their Gary Hart film, Soho House, 9 p.m.


“Ben is Back” Party: Julia Roberts and writer-director Peter Hedges celebrate, sponsored by Nespresso and Audi, the Chase, 9 p.m.

HFPA/InStyle Party: Easily TIFF’s most star-studded event, the party moves this year from the Windsor Arms to the Four Seasons Hotel, 10 p.m.

“Life Itself” Party: Amazon hosts, Montecito 10:30 p.m.
“The Sisters Brothers” Party: Diageo World Class hosts, Patria, 11:30 p.m.

Could this be the indicator of a movie's popularity depending on the attendance at the celebration parties

[jo]

Pinned tweet from Jason Reitman --

[jo]

Responding to Jason Reitman's abovementioned tweet --

SONY should be supportive of such a suggestion!

[jo]

It is also the pinned tweet on the Twitter account of SONY PICTURES --

[jo]

Is THE FRONT RUNNER actually opening WIDE on Election Day ( November 6 ) ?!!


Check out the November release schedule on Box Office Mojo --

www.boxofficemojo.com/schedule/?view=&release=&date=2018-11-02&showweeks=5&p=.htm



Although the report from DEADLINE ( which published the Exclusive report) says otherwise --

Sept 5, 2018 17:35:35 GMT -5 jo said:

SONY moves opening date of THE FRONT RUNNER to ELECTION DAY ( November 6) itself!

deadline.com/2018/09/election-day-hugh-jackman-gary-hart-movie-the-front-runner-opening-date-1202457848/

EXCLUSIVE: Take about stellar timing. Sony’s Jason Reitman-directed Gary Hart movie The Front Runner is now opening on Tuesday, Nov. 6, becoming the first movie ever to open on Election Day.

The move from the pic’s original release date of Wednesday Nov. 7 is in an effort to capitalize on the energy, momentum and passion surrounding Election Day in the current political climate. Following The Front Runner‘s Election day bow, the movie will expand on Nov. 16 and again on Nov. 21 in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. The Front Runner recently made its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival where it received rave reviews and awards season buzz. The pic will receive a special presentation play at TIFF on Saturday, Sept. 8.

[jo]

This report seems to support the WIDE release on November 6 ( " Opening in theaters"). Originally it was thought to open only in NYC and LA.

www.slashfilm.com/the-front-release-date-election-day/





And this is the twitter entry for SONY PICTURES -- please note that it is dated AUGUST 30, 2018. Had the decision to change Opening Date been made as early as then?

[jo]

EW is inconsistent -- its film critic Chris N gave it a C+ grade, but its Entertainment reporter Maureen LL recommends it as one of the must-see 10 trailers bound for TORONTO!

ew.com/movies/2018/09/06/toronto-international-film-festival-must-see-trailers/

Jason Reitman draws on Michael Ritchie’s The Candidate for inspiration in this true story of the 1988 Gary Hart presidential campaign and the alleged extramarital affair that derailed it. A look at the relationship between politicians and the press, as political journalism veered into tabloid-esque reporting for the first time, the film premiered at last weekend’s Telluride film festival and looks to continue racking up awards buzz, particularly for leading man Hugh Jackman with a Sept. 7 launch in Toronto.

[jo]

The Front Runner is one of the choices for press screenings today ( Sept 7) at TIFF --

The premiere is scheduled for Saturday, as well as the press conference/Q&A, and a party hosted by Hugh and Jason.

[jo]

The case of the APPLE watch appearing in 1988 in a publicity photo for THE FRONT RUNNER is enough of a cause celebre to merit a featured story on THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER


www.hollywoodreporter.com/rambling-reporter/how-an-apple-watch-cameo-front-runner-went-viral-1139483

[jo]

Did you follow the TIFF Press Conference? Not sure if they will upload the live stream later on. It was a little hard to follow because the topics were serious -- more serious than what I have seen in previous film press conference or media tour. It really goes back to how this saga is relevant to today.

But let me pick the short discussions that I could follow more intently.

*The people involved in THE FRONT RUNNER who were there included director Jason Reitman. Hugh Jackman, the other screenwriters ( Matt Bai, who also wrote the book that was the basis of the movie and Jay Carson, who worked with Hillary Clinton in the past) and Helen Eastabrook ( who I believe was one of the producers).

*Questions posed to Jason Reitman --

**Has the film been shown to Gary Hart? He said he took it to Denver so the Harts can watch it. He was asked the initial reaction of Gary Hart. He said he expected something else -- but this is what Gary Hart said immediately after seeing the movie : " Hugh is so good! He is such a good actor!"

**Jason said that he felt the movie is relevant today even if it happened from a distance from today.

**Jason said this movie is all about real people...but what is important and what's relevant today seems quite valid to what it was in the 80's

**When asked if the movie is true to facts -- Jason said that a movie is a movie ( hinting that making a story more cinematic, such as giving the characters proper dialogs, may change things to some extent) but that the ultimate goal was to give different perspectives of what happened.

**When asked if the results of the 2016 election changed the focus of the film ( of which a script was already underway long before) -- he said that the outcome made the movie more relevant today.

**Jason also said that whomever is elected will have his flaws as well, but that is not the intent of the film to focus on.

**He was kidded that they should have opened the movie the day before the midterm elections



*Questions posed to Hugh ( who wore a brick orange T-shirt beneath his suit) --

**He said the script pricked his interest because he wanted to work with Jason Reitman, the script itself, and his being a journalism major was another factor.

**When asked if he would consider running for office in Australia -- his answer is modest ( not interested) and a bit studied to the effect that it is a decision that will need the thinking of many, including family ( and I couldn't remember the rest).

**When asked if he has met Gary Hart - he said that he met him before they filmed the movie. He said that while many might consider Gary Hart as a bit of an enigma, he found him to be smart, sharp ( and there is another word from my notes which is enigmatic to my eyes now ). He said they do enjoy a friendship now. He also said that the good Senator shared with him what he would have done as his first 100-days-in-office plans had he been elected.

**When he was reminded how well The Greatest Showman turned out to be ( movie and soundtrack) - he was quite modest and he said that between Logan/Showman/Front Runner, he feels very blessed! He said that at home, Ava is no longer that impressed that the soundtrack may still be doing great guns!



The two co-screenwriters ( with Reitman) said that they wrote the scrip with a hopeful aim...and that the issue of a candidate's qualifications to hold office is important.

Hope my notes yielded the right impressions


Jo

[jo]

They have uploaded the earlier live stream --



My apologies in advance if I have misquoted or misunderstood some of the discussions -- I wrote my impressions from my hastily written notes and I have not had a chance to watch it again.

Jo

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/BneNdlmDOCd

[jo]

From the press conference --

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/BneS9pkFqg9dRjCwQLspaUvc0ogXeCfUqRPT3M0

[jo]

The Hollywood Reporter picked the most interesting questions at the press conference

www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hugh-jackman-has-no-political-aspirations-playing-gary-hart-front-runner-1141248



Also, the most interesting question at the press conference from other media seems to be the interest in Hugh Jackman's political aspirations, if any --

www.thestar.com/entertainment/tiff/2018/09/08/would-hugh-jackman-have-your-vote.html

[jo]

The more serious aspects of the discussions, as they relate to modern times -- Reuters report, as published by the NYTimes.

Sex, Politics, Media Converge in 'The Front Runner'
By Reuters
Sept. 8, 2018


TORONTO — "The Front Runner" tells the story of the fall 30 years ago of U.S. Senator Gary Hart over allegations of an affair, but the makers hope it also prompts an examination of what really matters in candidates running for high political office.

The movie, starring Hugh Jackman as the 1988 Democratic presidential contender, follows the brief period from Hart's announcement of his candidacy to the suspension of his campaign following a media frenzy over allegations of an extramarital affair with Donna Rice.

Hart, who met with Jackman during the film shoot, denied the allegations.

Former political correspondent Matt Bai, who wrote the book "All the Truth is Out" on which the film is based, said the public seems to care less about sexual scandals in politics than it did at the time.

But the movie looks at questions the media and the public still wrestle with, he noted.

"Do we assume that everybody's lying and everybody's fraudulent and it's our job to find out how?" Bai told a news conference on Saturday in Toronto, where the film is playing at the city's film festival.


"Or do we endeavor to provide the context that the character requires, what they've been their whole lives, their whole career?" he added. "We hope to leave asking each other and arguing about what it is that matters."

"This is a deeply human movie," said Jay Carson, one of the screenwriters. "The people who are involved in politics are human beings trying to make difficult decisions every single day. There are no black hats or white hats in our story. There's a lot of gray."



The movie, directed by Jason Reitman, also hones in on the women affected by the scandal: Rice, played by Sara Paxton; his wife Lee Hart, portrayed by Vera Farmiga; and Molly Ephraim's Irene Kelley, a young scheduler in Hart's campaign.
"'The Front Runner' is a movie that's also very interested in the emotional burden that's put on women during a scandal," Reitman said.

"Whether that's Donna Rice, a young, bright aspirational woman who had her life stolen from her ... or whether you're the one young woman working at the Washington Post or one young woman working on a campaign, and are forced to speak for your entire gender."

[jo]

At the formal premiere --

Hugh belies the usual belief on how 50-year olds ( almost) should look like!

He looks great!

[jo]

More --

http://instagram.com/p/Bne52r4Ab_v

[jo]