Scott Mantz, one of the happiest, smiling-est and most effusive film buffs and Will Rogers-like operators in the early-screening fraternity, has posted a “no” reaction to Jordan Peele‘s Nope.

Yesterday Nextbestpicture.com‘s Matt Neglia posted what seems to me like a reasonably savvy and comprehensive guess list of what the hot fall festivals may (and probably will to a large extent) be screening. I’ve heard this and that, and Neglia’s guesses seem pretty spot-on. Boldfaced HE = exceptional interest and unseen (and in some cases Cannes-viewed) approval.

Which projected festival are giving me the slight willies? Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling, for one. Aronofsky’s The Whale, for another.

Why isn’t Neglia projecting Blonde to play Telluride? Venice and Toronto but not Telluride? Doesn’t figure.

VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

The Banshees Of Inisherin (Dir. Martin McDonagh) – WORLD PREMIERE
Bardo (Dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu) – WORLD PREMIERE / HE
Blonde (Dir. Andrew Dominik) – WORLD PREMIERE / HE
Bones & All (Dir. Luca Guadagnino) – WORLD PREMIERE / HE
Don’t Worry Darling (Dir. Olivia Wilde) – WORLD PREMIERE
The Master Gardener (Dir. Paul Schrader) – WORLD PREMIERE / HE
Tár (Dir. Todd Field) – WORLD PREMIERE / HE
The Whale (Dir. Darren Aronofsky) – WORLD PREMIERE / HE

TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL

Aftersun (Dir. Charlotte Wells)
Armageddon Time (Dir. James Gray) / HE
Bardo (Dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu) / HE
Broker (Dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda)
Close (Dir. Lukas Dhont) / HE
Decision To Leave (Dir. Park Chan-wook)
EO (Dir. Jerzy Skolimowski)
Holy Spider (Dir. Ali Abbasi)
The Master Gardener (Dir. Paul Schrader) / HE
One Fine Morning (Dir. Mia Hansen-Løve)
The Pale Blue Eye (Dir. Scott Cooper) – WORLD PREMIERE / HE
See How They Run (Dir. Tom George) – WORLD PREMIERE
She Said (Dir. Maria Schrader) – WORLD PREMIERE / HE
Showing Up (Dir. Kelly Reichardt) / HE
The Son (Dir. Florian Zeller) – WORLD PREMIERE
Tár (Dir. Todd Field) / HE
Tori and Lokita (Dir. The Dardenne Brothers)
Triangle Of Sadness (Dir. Ruben Östlund) / HE
The Whale (Dir. Darren Aronofsky) / HE
Women Talking (Dir. Sarah Polley) – WORLD PREMIERE

[Tapped out this morning in comment thread for Harry Styles story]: “I’m standing up for straight X-factor male identity in the public eye. I’m standing up for normal boilerplate hetero guyness.”

“Normal”, that is, according to social gender standards of ten years ago. Today all bets are off, at least within urban Left and East Coast cultures.