Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The Ides In August/Dark Horse/Warren's New Movie/Full Herzog/Fall Fest Wish List

George Clooney and Ryan Gosling on the set of "The Ides of March" (thanks to: mentalfloss.com)


A lot of focus on the Venice Film Festival in the last 24 hours

"THE IDES OF MARCH" TO OPEN VENICE

Multiple sources have reported that George Clooney's "The Ides of March" will open the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 31.  I have included links to couple of those posts:

Incontention.com http://incontention.com/2011/06/20/clooneys-ides-of-march-to-open-venice-fest/#more-39996
and the Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/george_clooneys_ides_of_march_will_open_venice_film_festival/

So what does this mean?  Well, it doesn't take "Ides" out of the Telluride conversation.  Last Year the Venice Fest was opened by a little film called "Black Swan" that ended up sneaking in Telluride with Darren Aronofsky present.  So, it's not a killer.  BUT it does reduce the odds of other films that are likely to be at Venice also being at Telluride.  As we have noted, the overlap between these two festivals is usually pretty small.  Other films that are on my Telluride watch list that have been getting a lot of heat as probable Venice entrants are: "Carnage," "A Dangerous Method," "Wuthering Heights," "Shame," "Faust," "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," and "The Descendants" (though I'm still really confident that "Descendants" will be a part of the Telluride program).  The Playlist also put together their list of films that they think are Venice-likely last month.  Here's the link to that:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/polanskis_carnage_cronenbergs_a_dangerous_method_set_for_premieres_at_venic/

Included on their list is the first mention I have seen of Todd Solondz's new film "Dark Horse" featuring Justin Bartha, Selma Blair, Donna Murphy, Christopher Walken and Mia Farrow.  Solondz goes on our Telluride watch list as a result.  He has had a significant presence at Telluride for a number of years including a presentation of "Life During Wartime" in 2009 that skipped from Venice to Telluride without Solondz accompanying the film.  It was one of my favorites of that festival.

WARREN BACK IN THE GAME...
Warren Beatty is ready to get back into the director's chair (and writing and producing and starring).  And almost nothing is known about the project.  It wasn't but a few weeks ago that there was some buzz that Beatty was contemplating a "Dick Tracy" sequel but I haven't found anyone who thinks that this is that.  The Playlist speculates that it is an original comedy.
 http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/the_wanderer_returns_warren_beatty_planning_new_comedy_for_paramount/

Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere thinks it may focus on Howard Hughes:
http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2011/06/mulholland_proj.php

Guess we'll wait and see...

WERNER HERZOG'S FULL TITLE IS...

I mentioned the last day or two that I think that it's a good possibility that we'll see some of Herzog's Death Row documentary at Telluride.  IMDB still had its title listed as "Death Row."  But we know that the title has been undergoing a change.  The Playlist at Indiewire now says we have a complete title. It is: "Gazing Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life."  Thats' a mouthful.  The post is here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/werner_herzogs_prison_doc_now_titled_gazing_into_the_abyss_a_tale_of_death/

FALL FESTIVAL WISH LIST

Indiewire has a list of 50 films that they'd like to see/think will be at one, two or three of the triumvirate of film festivals that includes Telluride (and Venice and Toronto).  You can view it here:
http://www.indiewire.com/article/fall_festival_wish_list_50_films_to_hope_for_in_toronto_venice_and_tellurid/

Usual suspects on their list (not already listed above in the Clooney portion of this post) are: "Albert Nobbs," "Chicken with Plums," "The Congress," "Gazing Into the Abyss," "The Iron Lady," "Moneyball," "My Week with Marilyn," "Shame," and "Young Adult."

Interestingly the article includes occasional predix for both specific films for either Venice or Toronto..but not once does it venture to guess a film for Telluride save for one mention (and hold onto your hats), Madonna's directorial debut "W.E."   Variety has reported that it has been submitted to Venice.  Hey, It's a Weinstein Company deal, Abbie Cornish is in it ("Bright Star in Telluride in 2009) so, you know, it's not impossible. 

I'm not sure how I feel about the notion of running into The Material Girl at The New Sheridan...  

"W.E's" IMDB page is here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1536048/

Final note:  How weird is it that I have a post that includes Warren Beatty and Madonna???

No comments: