At the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado this past holiday weekend, the big news was that a real life skunk had somehow got into a theatre towards the end of a screening of Jacques Tati's 1967 masterpiece "Playtime" and was scurrying around under the seats.
The festival itself though proved a winner. A good dozen high profile arthouse and foreign films premiered with the trade and online buzz positive overall to pretty much everything. Whilst one or two films delivered mixed reactions (most notably the Nicole Kidman-starring Diane Arbus biopic "Fur"), there was no outright negative fallout on any of the titles - yet no real definitive standout either short of one foreign film.
<strong>The Lives of Others</strong>
It was this German film that received the biggest buzz by far according to various columnists. Set during the last days of the East German Secret Police in 1989, it follows a Stasi agent eavesdropping on a playwright and his actress wife.
Reviews: Hollywood Elsewhere
Little Children The Todd Field drama received some excellent reviews. Others are more mixed, but even they remain relatively positive. Actresses Phyllis Somerville and Kate Winslet are being consistently praised for their work. Reviews: EmmanuelLevy.com, Cinematical, Movie City News, Film Blather, Risky Biz, Variety, Screen Daily
Babel Despite some calls that the film runs a bit long, the reaction for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's ensemble feature matched the positive Cannes reception and looks to be a serious awards contender. Reviews: Film Blather Venus An enthusiastic reaction to the film which is being dubbed as a critics friendly crowd pleaser. Most notably Peter O'Toole's performance is being singled out more than any other at the festival as having a chance for awards glory. Reviews: Screen Daily
The Last King of Scotland The Idi Amin biopic received very good reactions for the film itself, though some reviewers are mixed. All though seem to be labelling Whitaker's performance as the late Ugandan dictator as a shoe-in for a Best Actor nomination. Reviews: The Hollywood Reporter, Screen Daily, Cinematical
Infamous That other Truman Capote biopic is also getting great reaction, described as a warmer and more intimate version of the story told in "Capote". In many ways its only limit is people's memories of "Capote", though others aren't clicking with the film's structure. Performances by Toby Jones and Daniel Craig are also being singled out. Reviews: Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Screen Daily, Emmanuel Levy
Catch a Fire Phil Noyce's apartheid-set drama received solid buzz, most notably for Derek Luke's performance.
Ghosts of Cite Soleil The as yet undistributed film about a French relief worker amongst the inner sanctum of the vicious gangs who rule the Haitian slum drew a lot of interest from buyers.
The Namesake Mira Nair's film is consistently being hailed as her best work yet. Reviews: Rediff
