FilmColumbia 2018, which runs from Oct. 19-28, is sure to be one of the biggest years yet for the Chatham, NY-based film festival. Now in its 19th year, FilmColumbia is one of the premiere Upstate NY film fests and has shown a number of Academy Award nominees and winners. I’ve been attending since 2012 and have seen screenings of Oscar winners “Silver Linings Playbook”, “Dallas Buyers Club”, “The Imitation Game” and “Spotlight”, as well as nominees “Foxcatcher”, “Brooklyn”, “Jackie”, “Lion” and “Loving”.
Last year, I attended a personal record seven FilmColumbia screenings. They included showings of Oscar winners “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”, “I, Tonya” (a last-minute replacement for “The Current War”, which was cancelled due to the ongoing Harvey Weinstein/Weinstein Co. situation) and “Call Me By Your Name” – featuring a post-screening Q&A appearance by James Ivory, who would win the Adapted Screenplay Academy Award a few months later.
FilmColumbia’s annual Saturday Night Sneak is usually the first one to sell out, and that is the case once again this year. You don’t know what the movie is until the curtain opens. My guesses each year have been spot on, including last year’s selection – “Lady Bird”. But the kind folks at FilmColumbia have made it much more difficult for me to make a legitimate prediction this year. There is no MPAA rating or running time listed for whatever the Sneak may be.
I’ve narrowed it down to four choices, including “Boy Erased”, starring Lucas Hedges, Joel Egerton, Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman and “The Favourite” with Emma Stone, Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz. But I’m leaning towards either Hugh Jackman and Jason Reitman’s “The Front Runner” or “Green Book” with Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali.
But I’ve still got some time to make an official prediction. The Sneak is Saturday the 27th. Leading up to then, FilmColumbia will honor actor Brian Cox with a special tribute and gala (10/19 & 10/20) and show a number of awards season contenders. Just a few: “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (10/21), “Everybody Knows” (10/24), “A Private War” (10/25) and “Widows” (10/26).
For tickets and more info, visit crandelltheatre.org.