‘Janet Planet’ Telluride Review: Annie Baker Arrives With An Auteur-Worthy Directorial Debut

It is never a normal “opening night” when it comes to the Toronto Film Festival which is offering numerous films including the much anticipated Hayao Miyizaki film The Boy And The Heron which is the key opening night gala, but there are others including two exceptional directorial debuts from celebrated veteran stars Kristin Scott Thomas and Patricia Arquette making it all a very memorable kickoff for TIFF on many fronts.

It was a heated match as to who would succeed Tom Brady as starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Amy Nicholson Ten years ago, the screenwriter Audrey Shulman whipped up a wacky plan to land a boyfriend: She’d barhop using a homemade cake as bait. “The cake was magic because it made me a magnet,” Shulman blogged at the time. “Suddenly every boy within spitting distance was looking at me, silently forming an action plan on how to come over.” She adapted her blog into a book, and her book into a movie, “Sitting in Bars With Cake,” that, with a decade of perspective, shifts focus from her romances to her roommate, who was diagnosed with cancer midway through the dating experiment.

For his feature directorial debut, Day of the Fight, Jack Huston has reteamed with his former Boardwalk Empire colleague Michael Pitt to tell the story a once celebrated boxer who takes a redemptive journey through his past and present on the day of his first bout since leaving prison.

TELLURIDE – We’re just gonna get the bad news out of the way first. There is perhaps no movie more personally – and emphasis on “personally” – disappointing at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival for this critic than Christos Nikou’s “Fingernails.” As a big fan of his exquisite 2020 debut, “Apples,” we were crossing our fingers that he’d avoid the dreaded sophomore slump.

TELLURIDE – At a festival full of gutsy films Daina O. Pusić’s directorial feature debut, “Tuesday,” may be the most visionary of them all.

TELLURIDE – Considering the success and adoration of the “Sideways,” it’s sort of surprising it took Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti this long to find another film to make together. Almost 20 years later, the director and actor have reteamed for “The Holdovers,” which debuted at this year’s Telluride Film Festival.

Carole Horst Actor Jack Huston makes his directorial debut with the drama “The Day of the Fight,” starring Michael Pitt, in Venice’s Horizons Extra. The black and white film, set in the early 1980s, follows Mikey (Pitt) through his day as he prepares for a comeback fight at Madison Square Garden that night. But Mikey is preparing for something much bigger, as the screenplay – written by Huston – delves into his past, his relationships and all the pain, sorrow and joy they bring.

TELLURIDE – Every year, almost without fail, there is an American hero, somehow lost to history, who finally gets their moment on the big screen. This year’s honoree is Bayard Rustin, a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement who was a primary organizer for the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic It’s almost cosmic, the way kids start out as nothing more than a twinkle in their mother’s eye. Then they’re born into heavenly little bodies, orbiting the adults who made them like tiny moons, until such time that they overcome their parents’ gravitational pull. So it is with “Janet Planet,” one of those intensely personal portraits of childhood that we’ve come to expect — and appreciate — from A24, the indie studio behind “Moonlight” and “Lady Bird” and “Aftersun” and “Eighth Grade” (the example this one most resembles).

TELLURIDE – Let the record show that Emerald Fennell is an utterly fearless filmmaker. I mean, we already knew that to an extent after her audacious debut, “Promising Young Woman,” but to say she’s taken that to another level with her latest extravagant concoction, “Saltburn,” is an understatement of epic proportions.

TELLURIDE- Despite a varied resume that includes art-house Sci-Fi, a classic coming-of-age tale, and a haunting drama on racial injustice, we weren’t sure Jeff Nichols had it in him to make a movie such as “The Bikeriders.” After its world premiere at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival, we’ll likely never doubt him again. Nichols has crafted a highly entertaining period piece on a legendary biker club that is at times sexy, funny, and filled with fisticuffs.

TELLURIDE – Let the record show that Emerald Fennell is an utterly fearless filmmaker. I mean, we already knew that to an extent after her audacious debut, “Promising Young Woman,” but to say she’s taken that to another level with her latest extravagant concoction, “Saltburn,” is an understatement of epic proportions.

TELLURIDE – There is quiet tension bubbling underneath Andrew Haigh’s latest endeavor. An often sublime drama that features a unique reunion between a son and his parents and a transformative, passionate romance.

Janette Manrara has found herself being flooded with messages from fans after they were left in awe of her latest family update. The dancer-turned-presenter shared the 'precious' moment her brother and sister got to meet their baby niece for the first time.

Not only a beautiful destination, the Telluride Film Festival is a cinephile’s paradise; a secluded city in the Colorado mountains that’s hard to get to and then rather exclusive, which is probably partly the draw and the reason so many filmmakers and actors adore Telluride. But it’s also a cinephile’s haven in terms of community, there’s a knowing togetherness, lack of hierarchy and you can easily be in line for a film with a random science teacher from Albuquerque who is also a massive film nerd as you could be next to legendary director Werner Herzog.

“It has a relationship to movies from the ’40s, like “Bringing Up Baby,” in terms of the banter and the rhythm of things and a lot of that era of filmmaking,” Meg Ryan told EW this week of her new rom-com, “Whatever Happens.” And yes, Ryan used to be the queen of rom-coms and knows a thing or two about the genre, but for this film, she makes her sophomore directorial follow-up, helming and starring in the movie.

Shakira is set to receive a major honor.

Shakira is set to receive the Video Vanguard Award at the 2023 MTV VMAs. The ceremony will take place on Tuesday, September 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Midsomer Murders viewers were quick to react as Holly Willoughby made her acting debut in the show. The presenter, who has just a week left of her lengthy summer break from This Morning, made an early return to the small screen on Sunday night (August 27) in the ITV drama series.