Eating My Words

Well...

A second source is claiming that Werner Herzog's "Bad Lieutenant" with Nicolas Cage will bow at Teluride. Film-o-filia is reporting that this morning...which makes me think that I have been too hasty to write it off...

Let's move it to the "possibles" list, shall we?

Here's the Film-o-filia link:http://www.filmofilia.com/

And the IMDB link for "Bad Lieutenant": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1095217/

Will Nic Cage be in Telluride?

An Echo Chamber

Anne Thompson, writing in her blog "Thompson on Hollywood" for IndieWire.com is up with her Telluride guess list... and that of Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly...here's that link:http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2009/08/30/festival_watch_new_moon_pics/

Thompson and Willman's lists share "The White Ribbon," "The Road," "An Education," and "Up in the Air" before differing.

From both lists, I concur with all of Thompson's guesses and take issue only with one of Willman's. That disagreement is with "Bad Lieutenant". Willman includes it on his list and I never have. I've always thought it was unlikely and Werner Herzog (who is tied into the Festival) has another film I have mentioned in this post..."My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?"

My guess is that it's in and "Bad Lieutenant" is out...Of course, I could be completely wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

Documentary en francais?

Camille Rousselet...listed as festival manager for WIDE management tweets that the French/Belgian documentary "14-18 The Noise and the Fury" directed by Jean-Francois Delassus will play at Telluride.

The IMDB address is here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1323562/

Five Days Left...

A couple of quick notes this morning...nothing new to add definitively...just a new nugget or two.

Seems Sony Pictures Classics picked up the distribution for "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" two weeks ago which bumps it from my list of "Ain't gonna happen!" to "Well, at least it's possible." As I have noted in these posts before, SPC has had a good relationship with Telluride in the past.

Don't think that just because a film is on the Toronto list that it won't play at Telluride. Last year by my unofficial quick count 16 feature films played both places...For Venice, however, the incidence is much, much smaller.

A couple of other films to add to my last post that wouldn't utterly shock me to be at Telluride include Taylor Hackford directing his wife Helen Mirren in "Love Ranch" and Michael Moore's new documentary "Capitalism, A Love Story."

And finally a quick shout out to my new friend at "A Random Walk Through Film" at http://seattlefilmfest.blogspot.com/

He has been very kind to link to some of posts and pass info on...appreciate it and maybe we'll meet up in a few days...

More as it becomes available...

"The Road" to Telluride

Down to less than a week before the 36th Telluride Film Festival and this post seeks to sum up everything we have been able to track down, stumble across or just guess at.

Latest news: Podcast by Anne Thompson of IndieWire and Kristopher Tapley at Incontention.com at least implies that "An Educaton" may be at Telluride. This is the second film in a week that would NOT fall under the Telluride rules that I thought were in place in terms of whether films had played other places before Telluride..."Precious" being the other. But both Thompson and Tapley let slip early in the podcast that "An Education" is/could be on the play list. You can find their podcast at: http://incontention.com/?p=12596.

But the biggest news from the podcast is Anne Thompson's near certain assertion that John Hillcoat's "The Road" will be there. Viggo Mortensen stars in the adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel. This is a film that we originally thought would be released last year, but was moved to 2009.

Now on to the summary: Here are the films that someone somewhere has claimed will be at Telluride: "Bright Star, " Life During Wartime," "My Son My Son What Have Ye Done?," "Lebanon"and "The Road."

Films that someone has implied might be there: "Precious" and "An Education"...see caveat above and "Up in the Air (Tapley says he thinks it will follow the "Juno" path)."

Films I am flat just guessing will be there...but it's a good bet..."Amelia, " "Broken Promises," "Coco Before Chanel," and Mark Ruffalo's directorial debut "Sympathy for Delicious".

Films I am less confident of, but wouldn't be surprised if they were in Telluride: "Leaves of Grass," "Ondine," "Wild Grass," "The Damned United, " The White Ribbon, " "Get Low," "Brothers," "Un Prophete," and "Gentlemen Broncos".

And finally...Films I would love to show up in Telluride, but I don't think that there is much of a chance: "The Men Who Stare at Goats, " "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," "Nine," "The Informant," "A Serious Man," and "The Tree of Life."

Last note...Scorsese's "Shutter Island" and Julie Taymor's "The Tempest" have reportedly been bumped to release in 2010...

I will post again as information warrants over the next few days leading up to travelling time. I leave Thursday afternoon and plan to start the Telluride experience at the Patron Brunch on Friday morning. Hope to meet some of you there!

And maybe back on the list

I had pretty much written off "Precious/Push/Sapphire" since it played at Sundance this year and I had always thought that Telluride avoided scheduling films that had played in Utah....but...Kristopher Tapley writing yesterday for Incontention.com suggests that it could still end up in Telluride next week.

Tapley says: "Lee Daniels’s “Precious.” The film will play the Toronto, New York and Chicago fests, perhaps Telluride (that typically secretive line-up is begging to be revealed slowly in conversations around town)." You can find this and more at: http://incontention.com/

Tapley is well connected, so you have to give the concept some credence. "Precious" was originally on my list of three major guesses back in July along with "Amelia" and "Broken Promises".

Stay tuned!

10 Days and Counting

No real news tonight...nothing popping up that we have been able to discern in the last 48 hours.

Did get a note from Reilly Capps at the Telluride Daily Planet alerting us to a story he posted last week. In it he quotes Telluride Film Fest Co-Chair Gary Meyer any number of times characteristically declining comment on what may or may not be playing. Of note, however is Meyer's quote near the end of the article. He says, "“I will tell you that it’s going to be a fantastic festival and there are some real surprises.” Capps full article can be found at: http://www.telluridenews.com/articles/2009/08/19/news/doc4a8cd662dc40f505807691.txt

That is great news. Last year's fest was undeniably affected by the writer's strike and both Meyer and fellow Co-Chair Tom Luddy are to be commended for the festival that they put on last year in light of that.

With that note, however, it is worth commenting on what appears to be Meyer's enthusiasm about this year's lineup. When Meyer says "real surprises" I believe him and have a hard time waiting to see what they might be. It has me very excited to head to the San Juans!

Two Weeks

Two weeks away from the festival and...

Rumors have been floating for a couple of months (since the middle of June when it was announced as a selection for Toronto) that Jason Reitman's new film "Up in the Air" starring George Clooney would follow the path that his Juno did two years ago and be at Telluride.

As cool as that would be, there has been nothing more than rumor and speculation. Sites such as Hitfix and Filmcatcher have hinted at the possibility...but absolutely no one is being more definite than that.

Here's hoping it's included on the program. It's arrival is highly anticipated.

Lynch and Herzog???

Living In Cinema's Craig Kennedy speculates this evening that the digitally shot "My Son My Son, What Have Ye Done" may make an appearance at the Telluride fest. The film is produced by David Lynch and directed by Werner Herzog (who also co-wrote the script). Both of these film makers have a history with the festival...(Herzog and I rode the same yellow school bus to the Patron brunch two years ago...sort of freaked me out at the time).

The Film is said to be based on a true story about a murder that stems from a man's belief/obsession with Sophocles "Oedipus Rex."

The film stars: Willem Dafoe, Brad Dourif, best supporting actor Oscar nominee Michael Shannon and Oscar nominated Chloe Sivigny among others.

Life During Wartime

Variety hints last night that Todd Solondz new film "Life During Wartime" may be in line to play during the festival. The movie features Ally Sheedy, Paul "Pee Wee" Ruebens, Allison Janney, Ciaran Hinds and past Telluride 2005 tributee Charlote Rampling.

Another Film Surfaces

"Lebanon" an Israeli film set during the 1982 invasion by Israel into Lebanon is reported today in Yair Reveh's International Film Blog as appearing in the program in Telluride in 3 weeks.

Israeli film has had a good run at Telluride the last two years with"The Band's Visit" in 2007 and "Waltz with Bashir" last year. Makes me think that this will be another very good film.

The web address for the full article is: www.cinemascopian.com/2009/08/11/lebanon-in-new-york-toronto-telluride/

First Inkling

Anne Thompson writing in her blog has let slip that Jane Campion's "Bright Star" will be in Telluride this year. She makes the comment in a story that talks about the announcement of a new distributing company called "Apparition". You can find Thompson"s blog at http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/.

"Bright Star" can be found at imdb at www.imdb.com/title/tt0810784. The film is the story of poet John Keats and his romance with Fanny Brawne in the 19th century and features Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish in those roles.

This blog included "Bright Star" as a possible Telluride pic in our last post.

Appartion also has the distribution for Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn...Thompson does not say but implies that Malick's film will not be ready for Telluride presentation...but you never know.