Monday, March 14, 2016

Opening the Cannes...Speculation / The Film Stage's 50 Top Films of the Decade (So Far)

Welcome to Monday...

OPENING THE CANNES...SPECULATION




Over the years of writing this blog I have made the repeated claim that we always need to pay attention to what the Cannes Film Festival selects for its various programs.  The connection between Cannes and Telluride runs deep every year so if you're serious about trying to get a handle on the films that could be featured over Labor Day weekend, the Cannes lineup is a great place t begin that meditation.  It's also wisest to focus on the films that are in Palme d'Or competition.  That's not to say that T-ride doesn't chose films that play in other programs at Cannes such as Un Certain Regard, Director's Fortnight, etc. but most of the films that crossover between the festivals are competition films.

Last year was unusual as it had the fewest films shared by the french fest and Telluride in many a year.  Only six films played both places. (Offsetting that was an increase in the number of films that played both Venice and Telluride- eight, which is way above the average).

Telluride and Cannes shared: Rams, Carol and Son of Saul from the Palme competition lineup as well as three films from Cannes' documentary section: Hitchcock/Truffaut, Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words and Sembene!

Here's a look at the crossover between the two fests in the period that I have been attending the complete TFF:

2014: Competition films: Two Days, One Night, Mommy, The Homesman, Mr. Turner, Foxcatcher, Wild Tales and Leviathan.  UCR film: Salt of the Earth and Red Army from Cannes' Special Screenings.  Total crossover: Nine films

2013: Competition: Blue is the Warmest Color (Palme d"Or winner), Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska, The Past.  UCR: Manuscripts Don't Burn, The Missing Picture, Out of Comp: All Is Lost, Director's Fortnight: Jodorowsky's Dune, International Critic's Week: The Lunchbox.  Total crossover: Nine films.

2012: Competition: Amour (Palme d'Or winner), Rust and Bone, Paradise: Love, The Hunt. Director's Fortnight: No, Midnight Madness: The Sapphires.  Special Screening: The Central Park Five.  Others: Final Cut, Me and Me Dad, Journal de France.  Total crossover: Ten films.

2011: Competition: Footnote, The Kid with a Bike, The Artist, Le Havre, We Need to Talk to Kevin. Total crossover: Five films.

2010: Competition: Of Gods and Men, Biutiful, Poetry, Another Year, The Prince of Montpensier.  Out of Competition: Carlos, Tamara Drewe.  Special Screening: Inside Job.  Total crossover: Eight films.

2009: Competition: The White Ribbon (Palme d'Or winner) Bright Star, Fish Tank, A Prophet and Vincere.  Total crossover: Five films.

2008: Competition: Gomorrah, Waltz with Bashir, UCR: Hunger, O'Horten, Tulpan.  Out of Competition: The Good, the Bad and the Weird.  Total crossover: Six films.

2007: Competition: 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (Palme d'Or winner) . The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Persepolis.  UCR: The Band's Visit, Terror's Advocate.  Total crossover: Five films.

So, over that space of time, the two film festivals average sharing 6-7 films each year with four of them being competition films.  So, you can see that knowing what plays at Cannes is really a very good list of films to begin working with if you're trying to figure out a possible Telluride lineup.

Consequently, speculation about the Cannes lineup from smart writers is where you should start your investigation.  The main Cannes announcement is expected to come sometime around Apr. 16-18 (there seems to be a bit of uncertainty about this).  We start this game with a list of 20 films from The Playlist that they suggest might be Cannes possibles.  That complete post is here:


Telluride prospects from this list include:

American Honey
Family Photos
La La Land
Loving
Personal Shopper
Salt and Fire
The Unknown Girl

You can catch some Cannes speculation from The Guardian in this podcast:



THE FILM STAGE'S 50 TOP FILMS OF THE DECADE (SO FAR)



The Film Stage posted this article this week with their evaluation of the 50 best films that have been released this decade.  It's fun.  Take a look at that list/article here:


Telluride films that make their list and their positions are:

48) The Turin Horse
39) Ida
33) Leviathan
30) Another Year
23) Shame
10) Inside Llewyn Davis
7) Amour
5) A Separation
2) Under the Skin


That's it for this Monday...come back for more on Thursday:

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