2. THE BURIAL
I am also excited to see Maggie Betts’ “The Burial,” based on Jonathan Harr’s extraordinary 1999 New Yorker article about funeral home owner Jeremiah O’Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones) whose business is rescued by Willie Gary (Jamie Foxx). When I was a litigator long ago, Willie Gary was well-known as a successful and unconventional lawyer. He was flashy and confident and I am looking forward to seeing him portrayed on the screen by Jamie Foxx in his almost Shakespearean fight against a corrupt funeral company. The cast also includes Alan Ruck, Jurnee Smollett and Bill Camp.
3. RUSTIN
After commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the March on Washington on our site, I could not be more excited for George C. Wolfe’s new biopic “Rustin“, about Bayard Rustin, the Civil Rights activist who organized it, played here by Emmy-winner Colman Domingo. Domingo’s performance was widely praised at the Venice Film Festival. The film will debut on Netflix on November 17th.
Read Sarah Knight Adamson’s coverage of the film from Telluride here.
4. ORIGIN
Receiving a Gala Presentation at TIFF this year is “Origin,” the latest eagerly awaited work from TIFF Ebert Director Award winner Ava DuVernay. Oscar-nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor stars as author Isabel Wilkerson, whose journey the film chronicles as she writes her essential book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. The film’s impressive ensemble includes Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Audra McDonald, Niece Nadh-Betts, Nick Offerman and Blair Underwood.
5. THE HOLDOVERS
Actor Paul Giamatti re-teams with his “Sideways” director Alexander Payne in “The Holdovers,” about the unlikely bond that forms between a hated teacher, a stranded student (Dominic Sessa) and a cook (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) who recently lost her son in Vietnam. The film will premiere in U.S. theaters on Friday, October 27th.
Read Sarah Knight Adamson’s coverage of the film from Telluride here.
6. HIS THREE DAUGHTERS
One of our recent Ebertfest guests, Azazel Jacobs, will premiere his latest film as a writer/director, “His Three Daughters,” starring the formidable trio of Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen and Steppenwolf’s Carrie Coon, who portray sisters who come together as a result of their ailing father’s health.