Venice and Telluride 2019: Marriage Story, Ad Astra, Ford v Ferrari, and Renee Zellweger Enter Oscar Race

Just a few short days into the fall film festival season, and we already have a slew of contenders that have emerged from the festival with loads of Oscar buzz behind them. First out of the gate was Marriage Story. I had been hearing lots of buzz, and lots of predictions for Noah Baumbach's latest Marriage Story. I however, had not included it in my predictions, because his films have historically not done well with Oscar voters. However, the buzz is so strong, with critics calling it his best work yet, and the two central performances, Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver are also getting raves. It looks like after twenty five years of making films, Noah Baumbach might finally have a real Oscar contender across multiple categories.

I had recently put Ad Astra into my Best Picture predictions. The buzz was strong, and since they decided to delay it to the fall, I felt like the studio knew it was going to be an awards contender. Well, the gamble has paid off. Oscar voters have found plenty of room for genre pieces in recent years, and almost always include a science fiction, horror, action, fantasy film in their nominees. It looks like Ad Astra will be this year's slot, with James Gray, the technical elements, and Brad Pitt's performance also looking to breakthrough.

Some are already calling Ford v. Ferrari a box office film, not an Oscar film. Of course the publication that is doing that is one of those that thinks that anything big, any blockbuster is not as worthy because it isn't an independent film. I think that the reviews are strong enough, the performances are being praised (particularly Bale), and I think that Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody set a perfect example of feel good crowdpleasers that can catch the eye of Oscar voters. This time around, the reviews, so far, have been much stronger for Ford v Ferrari than for either Bohemian Rhapsody or Green Book. Don't discount a film that makes people feel good and keeps them entertained. Especially one that is historical, a biopic, with Oscar-friendly cast and crew members.

Finally, while the film is getting mixed reviews, almost everyone is universal in the praise of Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland in the new biopic Judy. After mostly disappearing from the screen in recent years, Zellweger looks like she could have her comeback in 2019. There are reviewers who wish that the film matched her performance, but several have already declared her a likely Oscar nominee.

We still have a lot of new films premiering at Telluride and Venice, with Toronto and New York still on the horizon. Oscar season is officially in full swing!