Mr. Rooney's FInal Bow/Variety's Critics Talk Cannes/More "Rudderless" Details

Good Monday to all...

MR. ROONEY'S FINAL BOW

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"

The complete post is here:

http://variety.com/2014/film/international/cannes-wishlist-15-movies-our-critics-hope-to-see-at-this-years-festival-1201151330/


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:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/william-h-macys-rudderless-nabbed-693440


More on Thursday...