Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Who Gets a Tribute?/EW Looks at "99 Homes"/Alexander Payne in the News: "Nebraska" in Color and "Sideways" Tenth

Good Wednesday everyone...


WHO GETS A TRIBUTE?



I was noodling around the rising suspicion that Tommy Lee Jones "The Homesman" will be screened in just over three weeks in Telluride and as I was doing that, it struck me that a TLJ tribute in coordination with that film.  I can see it pretty clearly.  Maybe co-star and two time Oscar winner Hilary Swank attends as well. Makes a lot of sense to me.

And that got me to thinking seriously about other tribute possibilities.

Pete Hammond suggested a couple of weeks ago that Telluride might be dangling the tribute carrot in front of Chris Nolan in a play to get "Interstellar" on board.  I've never thought it was a big likelihood and recent buzz is that no fest may have the film on its lineup.

I have suggested Nicole Kidman as a tribute possible in conjunction with the almost certain play of "Queen of the Desert".

I have also mentioned a Juliette Binoche tribute should Olivier Assasyas "Clouds of Sils Maria" be a T-ride selection.

Some weeks back, I mentioned a Michael Keaton tribute as a possibility with the screening of "Birdman", although that does seem a little far fetched.

How about Tim Burton if Telluride gets "Big Eyes"...yeah. that would make some sense.

Those seem the best bets to me for tributes, at least for the moment.  Got any ideas?  Comment and let me know.

EW LOOKS AT "99 HOMES"


"99 Homes" with Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon via Entertainment Weekly


Entertainment Weekly was up yesterday with a first photo from Ramin Bahrani's "99 Homes" as you can see above.  The film is scheduled to play the Venice fest in competition and I think, given its premiere status vis-a-vis Toronto that it's very likely to play Telluride as well.  Bahrani was at T-ride in 2012 with "At Any Price" with star Dennis Quaid in attendance as well.  "at Any Price" didn't exactly set the world on fire scoring a 60 rating at Metacritic and earning a reported $379,000 domestically.

"99 Homes" focuses on the U.S. housing crisis as Garfield plays a man who gets in over his head and ends up working with Michael Shannon who plays an unscrupulous realtor.

Stories are included here from Entertainment Weekly and The Playlist:

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/08/05/andrew-garfield-michael-shannon-99-homes/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/venice-first-look-michael-shannon-andrew-garfield-in-ramin-bahranis-99-homes-20140805


Couple of stray thoughts: "Spiderman vs. General Zod".

And one wonders if Garfield, who attended the fest 2010 with "Never Let Me Go" might return and if he does, if it's possible that his current significant other, Ms. Emma Stone, might be there as well as she's co-starring in Alejandro Inarritu's "Birdman".


ALEXANDER PAYNE IN THE NEWS: "NEBRASKA" IN COLOR



Past TFF Guest Director and frequent attendee, Alexander Payne popped up in  my Twitter feed a couple of times yesterday.  First came the news that his Oscar nominated "Nebraska", which was one of my favorite films at the 40th Telluride last year, will look a little different when it's aired on EpixHD TV.  They will air the color version which Payne shot for overseas screening but who was reportedly hopeful that U.S. audiences would never see it that way.

Guess some of us will now.

Thompson on Hollywood has the story here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/color-version-of-nebraska-to-show-on-epix-that-alexander-payne-hoped-would-never-be-seen-20140805


PAYNE IN NEWS 2: "SIDEWAYS" TENTH



Payne and his star from "Sideways" Paul Giamatti celebrated the tenth anniversary of the film this past weekend.  "Sideways" was very close to having been a Telluride choice back in 2004 and that near miss is what ultimately led to Payne's stint as TFF Guest Director in 2009.  After that, Payne has been hooked.  I really expect that he'll be in town in three weeks in some capacity, perhaps just hanging with girlfriend Laura Dern...are they still a couple?   (I think so.)  Dern has a couple of films in which she appears that are probably on the Telluride Billl of Fare: "99 Homes" and "Wild"...

Anyway, Payne and Giamatti used the occasion of the Oscar winning film's anniversary to fund raise for a good cause and highlight the wine that was at the heart of the film.

Check the story from The Hollywood Reporter here:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sideways-10th-anniversary-celebrated-at-723322


More on Thursday...

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well we know the world premiere of Wild is happening in Telluride, is it inconceivable to think a tribute for Reese Witherspoon since she will more than likely attend the premiere?

Michael Patterson said...

You're right. I think Reese Witherspoon is a real candidate for a tribute. Would also give Alexander Payne-who directed her in "Election" another reason to be in T-ride.