Obsessing about the Telluride Film Festival and the film awards season since 2008!
"The best Telluride predictor I know."
-Sasha Stone, Awards Daily
"The best blog out there for predicting what will be going to Telluride."-Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
"The Nostradamus of Telluride"
-Tim Appelo, Movies for Grownups
Guy Lodge of HitFix posted an article this week about the lineup of films that Sony Pictures Classics has set to play at Cannes next month. They have several films in play. Titles: "Foxcatcher", "Mr. Turner", "Coming Home", "Whiplash" and "Red Army". Lodge includes this couple of sentences near the end of the post which sounds like I might have written it for this space:
"So, a strong start for Sony Classics -- and we don't even know what else they might acquire at the festival. Expect most of these titles to surface again in Telluride, where the studio has a strong history of taking their showcase titles, and beyond. "
The opening of the Cannes Festival is less than three weeks away now (May 17), and Jake Howell and Movie City News have begun their annual countdown and synopses for the films in competition. Howell has already highlighted "The Homesman", "The Captive" and "Foxcatcher". I have linked to all three of those stories below and will try to snag the rest of them for future posts. Additionally, watch my Twitter feed as I will retweet the links when Jake and MCN tweet them.
The troubled, and I mean Troubled...film "Jane Got a Gun" has undergone another shift. The film's release has been pushed back to 2015. The film has had changes in director and cast members as well. Check the story at The Hollywood Reporter:
If you're in OKC the rest of this week stop by the OKC Festival of the Arts and check out my wife's booth, 34D. You'll find her along with some astonishing artwork. I'll be there Friday night through the end of the fest on Sunday evening.
"FOXCATCHER" TRAILER
I've been waiting to see this for a long time and I think the trailer looks great. From Awards Daily, here's the trailer linked from that post by Ryan Adams:
From Rope of Silicon post earlier this week a number of new images and the French poster from The Dardennes Brothers Cannes competition entry "Two Days, "One Night" featuring Marion Cotillard.
Danny Boyle and Leo DiCaprio appear to be headed to a project together and although there's no guarantee that we'd see that end result in Telluride, Boyle has had good luck with "Slumdog Millionaire" in 2008 and "127 Hours" in 2010 both at the Festival. To that end, it would definitely be a possibility. The two are reported to be close to a deal to shoot a Steve Jobs biopic. The story below:
Cannes doesn't start for another month but Sony Pictures Classics is already making acquisition news about one of the films set to lay the Croisette. The documentary, "The Red Army" which is about the Russian Olympic Hockey team, has been snagged by the U.S. specialty house. Makes me think it's a real possibility for Labor Day weekend. An additional note, the film was executive produced by Werner Herzog...which is another indicator that it could make the SHOW.
Maybe we have an Olympics themed TFF #41 with this and "Foxcatcher"...
Just prior to and in addition to the announcement of the main lineup of films for this year's 67th edition of the Cannes Film Fest we saw a slew of those films release trailers/teasers in conjunction with their inclusion. I have linked a number of those films/trailers and posts that went with them as well...
***THE HOMESMAN
Tommy Lee Jones second directorial effort features Jones, Hilary Swank and Meryl Streep in a story about set in the American west in the 19th century. Swank rescues Jones on the condition that he help her transport three mentally challenged women through dangerous territory to relative safety in Iowa. This post with the trailer comes from HitFix:
David Cronenberg reportedly skewers Hollywood in what has been termed a "dark comedy". "Dark" sounds right for Cronenberg...but comedy?...We'll see. The trailer is from this post from FirstShowing.net:
Jean Pierre and Luc Dardennes feature Marion Cotillard in this working class story about a woman trying to convince her co-workers to give up their bonuses to save her job. In handicapping Cannes films for Telluride...this is very near the top of the "Most likely" list. The trailer and story from this post from Rope of Silicon:
The long awaited Bennett Miller film focused on the weird story of Jon DuPont and the U.S. Olympic wrestling team. Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum star. Telluride chances? 50/50. The trailer and post from Awards Daily:
Michel Hazanavicius' remake of a Fred Zinnemann film from the late 40's and it stars his wife Berenice Bejo. Haznavicius' "The Artist" made the trip from Cannes to Telluride in 2011. Makes you think that "The Search" could do the same thing. The trailer and story from The Playlist:
They're filming away...Justin Kurzel's new version of "MacBeth" starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard. The Mail Online put up a story this week about the film and it included some stills as well. Is ita Telluride film? Maybe...hope so...
Here's the official lineup from the 67th Cannes Film Festival via The Playlist:
Official Competition:
"Captives" (Canada) dir. Atom Egoyan
"Foxcatcher" (U.S.A.) dir. Bennett Miller
"Goodbye To Language" (France) dir. Jean-Luc Godard
"The Homesman" (U.S.A./France) dir. Tommy Lee Jones
"Jimmy's Hall" (U.K) dir. Ken Loach
"Leviathan" (Russia) dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev
"Maps To The Stars" (Canada) dir. David Cronenberg
"The Marvel" (Italy) dir. Alice Rohrwacher
"Mommy" (Canada) dir. Xavier Dolan
"Mr. Turner" (U.K) dir. Mike Leigh
"Saint Laurent" (France) dir. Bertrand Bonello
"The Search" (France) dir. Michel Hazavanicius
"Sils Maria" (France) dir. Olivier Assayas
"Still The Water" (Japan) dir. Naomi Kawase
"Timbuktu" dir. Abderrahmane Sissako
"Two Days One Night" (Belgium) dir. Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardennes
"Wild Tales" (Argentina) dir. Damian Szifron
"Winter Sleep" (Turkey) dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Opening
Film:
"Grace Of Monaco" (U.S.A./France) dir. Olivier Dahan
Out Of Competition:
"Coming Home" (China) dir. Zhang Yimou
"How To Train Your Dragon 2" (U.S.A.) dir. Dean DeBlois
Un Certain Regard:
"Amour Fou" (dir. Jessica Hausner)
"Bird People" (dir. Pascale Ferran)
"The Blue Room" (dir. Mathieu Amalric
"Charlie's Country" (dir. Rolf De Heer)
"Eleanor Rigby" (dir. Ned Benson)
"Fantasia" (dir. Wang Chao)
"A Girl At My Door" (dir. July Jung)
"Harcheck mi Headro" (dir. Keren Yedaya)
"Jauja" (dir. Lisandro Alonso)
"Lost River" (dir. Ryan Gosling)
"The Misunderstood" (dir. Asia Argento)
"Party Girl" (dir. Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger and Samuel Theis)
"Run" (dir. Philippe Lacote)
"Salt Of The Earth" (dir. Wim Wenders & Juliano Ribeiro Salgado)
"Snow In Paradise" (dir. Andrew Hulme)
"Titli" (dir. Kanu Behl)
"Tourist" (dir. Ruben Ostlund)
"Unhappy Youth" (dir. Jaime Rosales)
"Xenia" (dir. Panos Koutras)
Midnight Screenings:
"The Rover" (dir. David Michod)
"The Salvation" (dir. Kristian Levring)
"The Target" (dir. Chang)
Special Screenings:
"Bridges Of Sarajevo" (anthology film)
"Caricaturists: Fantasies Of Democracy" (dir. Stephanie Valloatto)
"Eau Argentee" (dir. Mohammed Ossana)
"Les Gens Du Monde" (dir. Yves Yeuland)
"Maidan" (dir. Sergei Loznitsa)
"Red Army" (dir. Polsky Gabe)
Of immediate interest to Telluride watchers in the competition category are:
"Foxcatcher"
"Maps to the Stars"
"Mr. Turner"
"The Search"
"(Clouds of) Sils Maria"
"Two Days, One Night"
Trailer for Tommy Lee Jones Cannes Competition Selection "The Homesman"
Out of competition titles that may also have some Telluride potential:
"Coming Home"
"Charlie's Country"
"Salt of the Earth"
As expected, Inarritu's "Birdman" and Anderson's "Inherent Vice" were both not announced this morning.
Cannes head honcho Thierry Fremaux is quoted as saying that other titles could be named later.
Other titles will almost certainly come into Telluride consideration as Cannes approaches and then as the films unspool on the Croisette.
COULD "INHERENT VICE" COME TO TELLURIDE
If you read this blog with any frequency, you know that I have not been a big believer that Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice" is likely to appear as a part of the Telluride lineup this Labor Day weekend. Lately, though, even I have had to admit that there has been some buzz that it's a possibility. With last week's murmuring that it won't play Cannes, I've been seeing/hearing Telluride as an option with some frequency. There was Jeff Wells' Hollywood Elsewhere blurb to that effect earlier in the week and now The Irish Times has opined in that direction as well reporting on Wednesday that "Most everyone has it (Inherent Vice) marked down for Telluride or Venice in the autumn."
It went out Tuesday...the annual call for entries came forth from the Telluride Film Festival. I have included the official word from my email Inbox and Shannon Mitchell:
41st TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES CALL FOR ENTRIES
April 15, 2014
BERKELEY, CA – Telluride Film Festival (August 29 – September 1, 2014), presented by National Film Preserve, Ltd. announces its Call for Entries in all categories including student, short and feature length films.
Submission period begins April 15, 2014. Film Entry Form is available for download at www.telluridefilmfestival.org.
Shorts and student film submissions must be received no later than 5:00 pm, July 1, 2014. Feature film submissions must be received no later than 5:00 pm, July 15, 2014. All submissions must have been completed after July 15, 2013 and no works in progress will be accepted. Feature-length films (60 minutes or longer) will only be considered if they are to have their first North American screening at Telluride Film Festival. Final program determinations will be made by August 1, 2014. No early or late entries will be accepted.
Professional and amateur filmmakers working in all aesthetic disciplines and genres including narrative, documentary, animation and experimental are welcome.
Each year Telluride Film Festival plays host to an average of 25 feature films and 25 shorts and student films. Films selected to screen at Telluride Film Festival will be shown out-of-competition. TFF is not a competitive festival.
Less than a week before the announcement of the lineup for the Cannes Film Fest, Fox Searchlight has revealed that they will release Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Birdman" on October 17. Multiple source reported the news on Friday night/Saturday morning. In the midst of that reporting was a good deal of disagreement about whether the film is ready for a Cannes debut. Some reports indicated that the film will not be ready for the Croisette (late May/early June is mentioned as the likely time frame for the film to be finished by Deadline.com). I tend to fall into that camp, though there were a number of sources that suggested that they still believed that the dark comedy would show up on the Cannes list.
Ultimately, there was also a good bit of speculation that the film is very possible for a Telluride bow...including this line from Kris Tapley's report:
"...I certainly expect it to do at least Telluride..." and Tapley also writes that Inarritu has been, "...a big fan of (Telluride) since his first trip there."
I told Inarritu last fall in T-ride when I saw him just before the first ever screening of "12 Years a Slave" (also from Fox Searchlight) that I was in hopes that "Birdman" would be playing this year's fest. He just smiled.
Here are links to any number of posts focusing on "Birdman's" release date:
Jeff Wells/Hollywood Elsewhere published this weekend that Paul Thomas Anderson's highly anticipated "Inherent Vice" is also unlikely to be announced on Thursday as a part of the Cannes lineup. Wells claims, however, that its more likely to do fall festivals and he specifically mentions "Telluride/Venice and Toronto. I'm STILL keeping my anticipation to a minimum but it still raises the films Telluride profile from the "Near zero chance" category to at least a "low possibility".
MARK COUSINS IS THE NEW MR. PEABODY (WELL, SO IS KEN BURNS)
Over the past couple of Telluride Film Fests, Mark Cousins has become a familiar face around town. He presented "The Story of Children in Film" last year and previously had presented "The Story of Film". The latter earned TCM and Mr. Cousins a Peabody Award this past week.
Congratulations to him and Turner Classic Movies and the Telluride programmers as well for providing we film goers the opportunity to see what has been hailed as a high quality production.
Ken Burns "The Central Park Five" (PBS?Florentine Films) was also named a Peabody recipient. CP5 also appeared at TFF #39.
Other programs named Peabody winners this year included: "Breaking Bad", "The Bridge", "House of Cards", "Key and Peele", "Orange is the New Black" and "How to Survive a Plague". You can find the complete list of Peabody winners here:
With the death of Mickey Rooney this week, Chaz Ebert tweeted a link to a piece that her husband roger had done about Mr. Rooney at the 2005 Telluride Fest. Rooney was tributed that year and Ebert did the Q & A. Here's the link to the piece Roger wrote made all the more moving because they're both gone now...
The 67th Cannes Film Fest announcement of the bulk of its lineup is a week from today. As a public service, here's a link to IndieWire's 40 film Cannes wish list:
"Birdman"
"Clouds of Sils Maria"
"Coming Home"
"Eden"
"Everything Will Be Fine"
"Far From the Madding Crowd"
"Foxcatcher"
"The Imitation Game"
"Inherent Vice"
"Maps to the Stars"
"A Most Violent Year"
"Mr. Turner"
"A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence"
"Rosewater"
"The Search"
"Squirrel to the Nuts"
"Suite Francaise"
"Two Days One Night"
"While We're Young"
News late last night that film legend Mickey Rooney has died at 93. At the zenith of his career, he was the most popular male film star on the planet. I was lucky enough to catch him as the title character in a national tour of "The Wizard of Oz" in Phoenix in 1999. I'll also always remember his outstanding turn as "Bill" in the made for TV film of the same name for which he deservedly won an Emmy. Rest in Peace Mr. R...
VARIETY'S CRITICS TALK CANNES
Variety posted a slightly different speculation piece about films for the Cannes film fest toward the end of the week. They had each of their three film critics to take a stab at naming five Cannes possibilities. The post gives a little more insight as to what films are bring perceived as the most likely Cannes players and by extension, some films that certainly have the best chance of catching the eye of Telluride programmers who will be in France next month.
The post begins by suggesting that Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher" and David Cronenberg's "Maps to the Stars" are already "shoo-ins".
By critic, here are the films the Variety fellows name;
Peter DeBruge: "Inherent Vice", "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence", "Serena", "Tourist" and "Two Days, One Night". Of the DeBruge list, "Two Days" is your best Telluride bet and maybe the only one from DeBruge's list.
Justin Chang: "The Assassin", "Eden", "Leviafan", "Mr. Turner", "Winter Sleep". The best bet for T-ride on Chang's list: "Mr. Turner".
Scott Foundas: "Birdman", "Phoenix", "Queen and Country", "The Rover", "Welcome to New York" Telluride's most likely choice here is "Birdman"
Cannes announces their official lineup on April 17.
MORE "RUDDERLESS" DETAILS
I happily reported in this space on Thursday that William H. Macy's "Rudderless" had closed a distribution deal with Paramount and Samuel Goldwyn Films. The Hollywood Reporter added other distribution details to the stories I had linked from Variety and from Deadline.com in a story posted Thursday evening. That post is here:
Regular readers here know that I have been tracking the development of the William H. Macy directed, Casey Twenter & Jeff Robison scripted "Rudderless" for almost four years. For those that don't know, Telluride served as the catalyst for my communicating with and ultimately meeting Mr. Twenter. In the last year the film went before the cameras as Macy's feature film directing debut and was subsequently the closing night film for the Sundance Film Festival.
Now, the latest development is that the Oklahoma based film has a distributor. Word came yesterday that Paramount/Samuel Goldwyn Films have picked up "Rudderless" and plan a fall release. The specific date has yet to be announced.
I have links to the story from Variety and Deadline.com here:
The film centers on a father grieving after the death of his son and the son's music that the father discovers and embraces.
Stay tuned for the announcement concerning a release date.
"PALO ALTO" TRAILERS
"Palo Alto's" original trailer
I will admit that I did not see Gia Coppola's "Palo Alto" at the festival last fall. Further, it's not high on my "to see" list. However, I will be forever grateful that the film exists and was on the T-ride 40th anniversary program as it afforded me the opportunity to meet and talk with Gia's grandfather Francis Ford Coppola.
News now that the film has a new theatrical trailer and a poster.
Here are links to posts/stories with the new trailer included:
Rumors continue to swirl around that Zhang Yimou's "Coming Home" is headed to the 67th Cannes Film Festival. Those fires were stoke earlier this week from Awards Daily's Sasha Stone:
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