Ford v Ferrari 2019
Opened the festival as the secret patron screening. A loud, old-fashioned true story from James Mangold, with Christian Bale getting the flashier of the two lead performances opposite Matt Damon.
The Big Picture · Discussion
The Best Movies at the Telluride Film Festival and the Triumphant Return of the Oscars Show | The Oscars Show
September 4, 2019/ 55 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean gets back from his first Telluride and walks Amanda through the festival's best-picture hopefuls. They also sort through the Venice and Toronto lineups still to come and start working out the Best Actor race.
33 films across 5 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
The Telluride Contenderspremieres and early best-picture buzz
The Two Popes 2019
A surprise best-picture contender: Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins as Pope Francis and Pope Benedict, playing mostly as a buddy comedy despite the subject matter.
Uncut Gems 2019
The Safdie brothers' loud, propulsive follow-up split the older Telluride crowd. Adam Sandler is fully committed as Howard Ratner, and Kevin Garnett turns in one of the great basketball-player performances.
Marriage Story 2019
The consensus movie of the festival going in and out, built around an Adam Driver performance both hosts expect to be a major awards factor.
Waves 2019
The movie Sean loved most at the festival, named alongside Marriage Story as one of the best things that played.
Judy 2019
A safe fit for a Renée Zellweger transformation performance, and she's already visibly running her campaign. The film itself landed as more mixed.
More From the Festival
Parasite 2019
Bong Joon Ho's follow-up, ahead of its October release: as good as advertised, and fully itself rather than smoothed out for a best-picture run.
First Cow 2019
Kelly Reichardt's quiet A24 drama about two men navigating a changing frontier society.
Diego Maradona 2019
One of the documentaries in the lineup. Amanda caught it; Sean skipped docs at the festival in favor of narrative screenings.
Motherless Brooklyn 2019
Edward Norton's long-gestating adaptation of Jonathan Lethem's novel. A rocky opening stretch gives way to a much stronger back half, though it strays far from the book's plot and period.
The Report 2019
Adam Driver's second Telluride title, a Sundance holdover about Daniel Jones's years-long investigation into the CIA torture program.
The Assistant 2019
A quiet dramatization of the Weinstein story told through the eyes of a studio assistant; it never names Harvey.
The Aeronauts 2019
Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne in a hot-air-balloon survival picture; word out of the festival was mixed.
Pain and Glory 2019
Pedro Almodóvar's film, one of the notable misses on Sean's schedule.
A Hidden Life 2019
Terrence Malick's three-hour-plus WWII drama; the runtime alone made it hard to fit into a packed festival day.
The Climb 2020
The one true word-of-mouth breakout, a cycling drama pitched as 'Sideways on bicycles,' from Sony Pictures Classics, and the one Sean regrets missing most.
Venice, From a Distance
Joker 2019
The movie of Venice by conversation volume, though that doesn't necessarily translate to Oscar votes.
The King 2019
Came out of Venice to weak reviews.
Wasp Network 2019
Olivier Assayas's film also came out of Venice to weak reviews.
Ad Astra 2019
James Gray's Brad Pitt vehicle got strong notices out of Venice. Sean calls it his most anticipated release of the year.
Stock Up Before Torontounseen, but trending up ahead of TIFF
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 2019
Marielle Heller's Mr. Rogers film. Tom Hanks plays Rogers, but the lead is really Matthew Rhys as the journalist whose life he affects.
Bombshell 2019
Jay Roach's Fox News drama, with Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie as the women who took on Roger Ailes.
Little Women 2019
Mentioned in passing; neither host has seen it yet.
The Irishman 2019
Premieres soon at the New York Film Festival, three and a half hours long, with Robert De Niro.
Cats 2019
The trailer had already become a punchline around the festival.
Jojo Rabbit 2019
Taika Waititi's 'anti-hate satire.' Early reactions are split between brilliant and not good.
Just Mercy 2019
Michael B. Jordan and Brie Larson in a drama about Bryan Stevenson.
Lucy in the Sky 2019
An astronaut drama with Natalie Portman and Jon Hamm.
1917 2019
Sam Mendes's WWI drama; not screening anywhere the hosts can get to yet.
Knives Out 2019
Rian Johnson's family murder mystery, playing TIFF.
Sorting Out Best Actor
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 2019
The likely vehicle for both Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt: DiCaprio for lead, with Pitt widely expected to campaign in supporting despite the near-even screen time.
Dark Waters 2019
Todd Haynes's Mark Ruffalo legal drama, still largely unseen and landing in a crowded late-November window.
Queen & Slim 2019
Daniel Kaluuya's next, still to come out of Toronto.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing Bohemian RhapsodyA Star Is BornIf Beale Street Could TalkGreen BookMoonlightThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, MissouriSpotlightMy Week with MarilynThe WifeFunny PeoplePunch-Drunk LoveRomaGood TimeViceBlack PantherArgoAvengers: EndgameStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV GirlsInside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates