An Invite/New York Surprise/Coriolanus Poster/SPC at TFF/Inarritu's Next Gig

Good Morning America, How are ya?   Today's apologies to Arlo Guthrie.

The 38th Telluride Film Festival is 2 weeks and 1 day away...

AN INVITATION

You are invited to attend "The Guide to the Ride; The Flow of the SHOW" a brief discussion of Michael's Telluride Film Blog and the selections for the 38th Telluride Film Festival in Telluride on Friday, Sept. 2, 2011.   Location, timing and refreshment details are still being sorted through.  Watch the blog for more especially beginning with next Monday's blog post.

NEW YORK SURPRISE

The New York Film Festival will be featuring Alexander Payne's "The Descendants" as its closing night film.  That information was relayed by various sources yesterday.  The choice was a bit unexpected.  Most speculation had centered on "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and "The Iron Lady."

So what does the choice of "The Descendants" for NYFF tell us? 

First, rest assured, it DOES NOT MEAN that we won't see it in Colorado in two weeks.  It's going to be there (I have included the link below to Anne Thompson's "Thompson on Hollywood" post at IndieWire from yesterday and she flat says it's playing T-ride...and I've been saying it for some time). 

Second, I really think that it means that "Tinker" is now 50/50 for Telluride.  At this point it's the only game in town before it opens in Britain except for its Venice showing.  So I have a good vibe going on here.

Third, the overlap between TFF and NYFF may be very pronounced this year.  Look at the list of NYFF films and it is full of TFF possibles via the NYFF official website ( I have placed an *** by those films I've had on my Telluride radar).

The 49th New York Film Festival main slate:

Opening Night Gala Selection
CARNAGE
Director: Roman Polanski
Country: France/Germany/Poland

Centerpiece Gala Selection
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
Director: Simon Curtis
Country: UK

Special Gala Presentations
A DANGEROUS METHOD***
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: UK/Canada/Germany

THE SKIN I LIVE IN***
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Country: Spain

Closing Night Gala Selection
THE DESCENDANTS***
Director: Alexander Payne
Country: USA

4:44: LAST DAY ON EARTH
Director: Abel Ferrara
Country: USA

THE ARTIST***
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Country: France

CORPO CELESTE
Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Country: Italy/Switzerland/France

FOOTNOTE***
Director: Joseph Cedar
Country: Israel

GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD***
Director: Martin Scorsese
Country: USA

GOODBYE FIRST LOVE***
Director: Mia Hansen-Løve
Country: France/Germany

THE KID WITH A BIKE***
Director: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Country: Belgium/France

LE HAVRE***
Director: Aki Kaurismäki
Country: Finland/France/Germany

THE LONELIEST PLANET
Director: Julia Loktev
Country: USA/Germany

MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE***
Director: Sean Durkin
Country: USA

MELANCHOLIA
Director: Lars von Trier
Country: Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany/Italy

MISS BALA
Director: Gerardo Naranjo
Country: Mexico

ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA***
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Country: Turkey

PINA
Director: Wim Wenders
Country: Germany/France/UK

PLAY
Director: Ruben Östlund
Country: Sweden/France/Denmark

POLICEMAN
Director: Nadav Lapid
Country: Israel/France

A SEPARATION***
Director: Asghar Farhadi
Country: Iran

SHAME***
Director: Steve McQueen
Country: UK

SLEEPING SICKNESS
Director: Ulrich Köhler
Country: Germany/France/Netherlands

THE STUDENT
Director: Santiago Mitre
Country: Argentina

THIS IS NOT A FILM
Director: Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
Country: Iran

THE TURIN HORSE
Director: Béla Tarr and Agnes Hranitzky
Country: Hungary/France/Germany/Switzerland/USA

 

In 2010 Telluride and the NYFF shared these titles: Another Year, Carlos, Inside Job, Le Quattro Volte, Of Gods and Men and Poetry.

In 2009 they shared: Life During Wartime, Vincere, Room and a Half, Inferno and The White Ribbon.

So overlapping is going to occur and I think perhaps even more than has been the case the last two years.

The Anne Thompson post is here and it is extensive:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2011/08/17/george_clooneys_the_descendants_to_close_nyff_main_line-up_of_27_films/

CORIOLANUS HAS A NEW POSTER

I am really hoping that The Weinstein Company and TFF have agreed to include “Coriolanus” as a festival offering.  After watching the trailer I am amped to see the Ralph Fiennes directorial effort. 

TWC played at T-ride last year with “The King’s Speech.”  My hope is that they have more than one film in play this year.  I’m fairly confident that their “The Artist” will be in Colorado.  I’m also fairly confident that two TWC offerings won’t be: “The Iron Lady” and My Week with Marilyn.”  That leaves “Coriolanus” and Madonna’s “W.E.” as TWC films still in the Telluride mix.

The Hollywood Reporter had a new “Coriolanus” poster up yesterday and I pass that along to you here:

You can see the complete THR story here:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/risky-business/first-look-coriolanus-poster-featuring-224505
The Coriolanus IMDb page is here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1372686/


SPC AT TFF

Scene from "Footnote"

I have often noted that Sony pictures Classics has had a big presence at TFF for a while now.  Anne Thompson (mentioned above) has a good look at the SPC slate for the fall awards season here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2011/08/17/oscar_watch_sony_pictures_classics_boasts_strong_fall_line-up_midnight_in_p/

I think we can almost guarantee that "Footnote" will be in the San Juans in two weeks.  It will probably show up somewhere in next week's "Ten(+) Bets list.  Thompson also mentions "A Separation" in the SPC stable...TFF bound?  Maybe so.

INARRITU'S NEXT GIG

I'm always trying to keep my eyes open to the earliest possible inkling of films that seem to be potential Telluride selections in the future and I have a new one today via The Wrap which posted that Telluride fave Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is set to direct his next project.  Inarritu's "Babel"
 and "Biutiful" both played at Telluride so you have to figure that his next project will bear watching.  The film is entitled "The Revenant" and is based on a novel by Michael Punke.

Check the complete Wrap post at:
http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/babel-director-alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu-attached-wbs-revenant-exclusive-30191

Inarritu's IMDb page:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0327944/

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More on the morrow...