Jon Krakauer‘s “Into the Wild” “chronicled the real-life, way-off-grid adventures of Christopher McCandless, a middle-class college grad whose quest for ‘ultimate freedom’ ended in 1992 with starvation in the Alaskan wilderness. It seemed natural, if challenging, screen material — and in his fourth and by far best feature turn behind the camera, Sean Penn delivers a compelling, ambitious work that will satisfy most admirers of the book.” — from Dennis Harvey‘s 9.1 Variety review, bouncing off the Telluride Film Festival screening.

Starvation, yes, but also preceded or augmented by accidental poisoning from the eating of Eskimo potato seeds… no? Harvey is absolutely correct in saying this is Penn’s finest film. I’ll be posting my own reaction(s) a bit later in the week.

Why are we hearing next to nothing out of Telluride itself? You usually hear something from someone by the middle of the second day (i.e., Saturday). Last year it was all…what was the big buzz Telluride film last year? Something. Are people lulled, listless, blissed-out…what’s going on?