Sundance Selects Possibles/Scorsese's TFF Entry?/Fassbender's Western/RIP Paul Mazursky

Good Wednesday Everyone.  I'm writing this morning from Niagara Falls, NY.  Saw the falls yesterday...fantastic.  Headed to Vermont this morning in route to the Berkshires for a weekend of art sales there.


SUNDANCE SELECTS TELLURIDE POSSIBLES

Only a player in distribution for just a few years, Sundance Selects has been present at the Telluride Film Festival for the last four fests at various levels of involvement.

2010: The Princess of Montpensier, Tabloid
2011: The Forgiveness of Blood, The Kid with a Bike, Goodbye First Love and Into the Abyss
2012: The Central Park Five, Everyday

2013: Blue is the Warmest Color

So you can expect one or possibly two of their films to make the grade Labor Day weekend.  Currently Sundance Selects has two Cannes films that could be programmed at Telluride:  Mathieu Amalric's "The Blue Room" and the almost 100% lock that is the Dardennes Brothers' "Two Days, One Night" with Marion Cotillard.

I'm at the point, and have been for a long time, that "Two Days" is a virtual TFF #41 certainty.  Amalric's "Blue Room" is a "could be" that I'd estimate at a 30% chance of making the T-ride program.


SCORSESE'S TFF ENTRY?

Photo via Variety

Martin Scorsese has had several projects over the years at Telluride.  Of late, he's had his documentary work (that which he's produced)  programmed: "George Harrison: Living in the Material World" in 2011.  Variety reported about his latest project "The 50 Year Argument" which focuses on The New York Review of Books.  The doc is scheduled for an October debut on HBO so I can certainly see it making the grade with a Telluride run.  Take a look at the Variety story here:

http://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/film-review-the-50-year-argument-1201254846/

Here's its IMDb page as well:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3510820/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_8


FASSBENDER'S WESTERN

"Slow West" photo from Thompson on Hollywood

I have made several mentions of Justin Kurzel's "MacBeth" starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard.  I've even suggested that we could have a Cotillard "Twofer" along with "Two Days, One Night".  But Fassbender could be a "Twofer" on his own as well.  Fassbender stars in "Slow West" along with Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road).  Anne Thompson posted a look at the new film and a hint at the outset that it's a likely going to show at either Telluride or Toronto.  Look at Anne's story here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/first-look-michael-fassbender-in-frontier-western-slow-west-20140629

Anne points out in the article that the film is produced by the team that was behind "A King's Speech", "Shame" and "Tracks".  It's got both See Saw films and Film4 behind it and both have had a good past relationship with Telluride.  All this leads me to believe that I need to really think about "Slow West" as a very real possibility.

RIP PAUL MAZURSKY

Writer-Director and actor Paul Mazusky died yesterday.  He was 84.  He directed "An Unmarried Woman", "Harry and Tonto" and "Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice" among others.  He earned five Oscar nominations over his career.  I've included a Mazursky remembrance from HitFix:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/unmarried-woman-director-paul-mazursky-dies-at-84

ANd here is his IMDb entry:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005196/?ref_=nv_sr_1


More on Thursday...

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