Thursday, August 14, 2014

New York Announces Main Slate: What It Tells Us/Reese Is Busy/"Fury" Is Playing Some Festival

Hello on a Thursday...


The legend, Lauren Bacall


Today's sadness is the passing of 89 year old legend Lauren Bacall...you know how to whistle, don't you?

NEW YORK ANNOUNCES MAIN SLATE: WHAT OT TELLS US



The New York Film Festival announced its main slate of films yesterday and we can read their choices and the designations of their premiere status and come to some conclusions...most of which we had already come to.  "New York Premiere" status seems to be the key designation and it essentially confirms "Birdman", "Foxcatcher" (after a brief bit of confusion yesterday about the way the NYFF folks listed its premiere status-the email that was sent to the media listed it as a NY Premiere but for a few minutes, the fest's website listed it as a U.S. premiere.  That was corrected quickly.), "Mr. Turner" and "Two Days, One Night".

There were a couple of "New York premieres" that still seem doubtful for Telluride: "Listen Up Phillip" played Sundance, so that explains its status.  Alian Resnais "Life of Reilly" is also listed as a NY Premiere but is closing the Montreal fest on Sept. 1...seems like a close shave...but also a possible Telluride play.

Another "NY Premiere" that seems to now have Telluride potential is "71" starring Jack O'Connell (who will also be starring this Oscar season in Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken" and who was in last year's TFF selection "Starred Up".  I had mentioned the possibility of "71" a couple of times.  I said on July 8th that "I could see it popping up as a part of the TFF #41 program".  I also mentioned it way back in February as I was evaluating what had transpired at the Berlin Festival.


Finally, there's Jean Luc Godard's "Goodbye to Language 3D" that New York chose today (it played at Cannes) and is listed as a "NY Premiere".  Seems like it could be headed to Telluride as well.


Here's the complete main slate from the NYFF email today:

The 52nd New York Film Festival Main Slate

Opening Night Gala Selection
GONE GIRL
Director: David Fincher

Centerpiece Gala Selection
INHERENT VICE
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Closing Night Gala Selection
BIRDMAN OR THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE 
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu

BELOVED SISTERS (Die geliebten Schwestern)
Director: Dominik Graf

THE BLUE ROOM (La chambre bleue)
Director: Mathieu Amalric

CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA
Director: Olivier Assayas

EDEN
Director: Mia Hansen-Løve

FOXCATCHER
Director: Bennett Miller

GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE (Adieu au langage)
Director: Jean-Luc Godard

HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT
Directors: Josh & Benny Safdie

HILL OF FREEDOM (Jayuui Eondeok)
Director: Hong Sang-soo

HORSE MONEY (Cavalo Dinheiro)
Director: Pedro Costa

JAUJA
Director: Lisandro Alonso

LIFE OF RILEY (Aimer, boire et chanter)
Director: Alain Resnais

LISTEN UP PHILIP
Director: Alex Ross Perry

MAPS TO THE STARS
Director: David Cronenberg

MISUNDERSTOOD (Incompresa)
Director: Asia Argento

MR. TURNER
Director: Mike Leigh

PASOLINI
Director: Abel Ferrara

THE PRINCESS OF FRANCE (La Princesa de Francia)
Director: Matías Piñeiro

SAINT LAURENT
Director: Bertrand Bonello

LA SAPIENZA
Director: Eugène Green

71
Director: Yann Demange

TALES OF THE GRIM SLEEPER
Director: Nick Broomfield

TIMBUKTU
Director: Abderrahmane Sissako

TIME OUT OF MIND
Director: Oren Moverman

TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT (Deux jours, une nuit)
Directors: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne

TWO SHOTS FIRED (Dos Disparos)
Director: Martín Rejtman

WHIPLASH
Director: Damien Chazelle

THE WONDERS (Le meraviglie)
Director: Alice Rohrwacher



Finally, notice the absence of the absent.  By that I mean that the entirety of the list that I published  Tuesday as being MIA from Toronto are also MIA for New York.  That list again is:

"Unbroken"
"Big Eyes"
"Fury"
"Interstellar"
"Trash"
"Slow West"
"Suffragette"
"Kill the Messenger"
"St. Vincent"
"Winter Sleep"

Meanwhile, in Anne Thompson's story about the NYFF announcement, she adds fuel to the notion that "The Homesman" could also play Telluride.  Check her story here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/new-york-film-festival-slate-of-30-cherry-picks-world-fests-20140813

New York also tells us that some things that we have thought might be potential Telluride choices will not be. For example, Mathieu Amalric's "The Blue Room", Alice's Rohrwacher's "The Wonders" and Bertrand Bonello's "Saint Laurent".

Finally, there are still nascent whisperings that Sony Pictures Classics Sundance presentation "Whiplash" has a chance to play Telluride.  Would be cool with me.

REESE IS BUSY



We're pretty sure that Jean Marc Vallee's "Wild" starring Reese Witherspoon is going to play at The SHOW.  I've been saying that I think that there is a real possibility that she gets one of the three tributes. She could also end up Oscar nominated thrice this season...yup...three times.  "How?" you ask.  Think of her as a producer as well as an actress.  HitFix/InContention's Kristopher Tapley explains:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/how-reese-witherspoon-could-end-up-with-three-oscar-nominations-this-year


FURY IS PLAYING SOME FESTIVAL


Brad Pitt and "Fury" will assault London


The London Film Festival has announced that David Ayers "Fury" will close that festival on Oct. 19.  That's the first announced/scheduled fest date for the film starring Brad Pitt.

I had reported yesterday that Kristopher Tapley had reported that he has been told that "Telluride and Toronto was never in the cards" but any number of other film news outfits still think it's a possibility.

There was some flurry of speculation on social media yesterday that the London announcement signaled that "Fury" might still be in the cards for either Telluride or Toronto or both especially with the note in the announcement that London would be its "European Premiere".

Of course, Sony moved its domestic release date up to Oct. 17th earlier this week so the "European Premiere" designation doesn't really provide any tea leaf to read.

Overall, I still think it's rather unlikely for The SHOW.

Here are stories about the selection from The Hollywood Reporter and Variety:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/brad-pitt-bringing-his-fury-725502

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/brad-pitt-starrer-fury-to-close-london-film-festival-1201282744/


More tomorrow...including an updated "Ten Bets" list...

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

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