CinemaCon Reveals Some TFF Potential / Leigh's Peterloo Will Be on the Trail / No Cannes Screening But New Stills: Quixote / Payne Talks Downsizing Challenges

Good Monday Film Fans...


CINEMACON REVEALS SOME TFF POTENTIAL

The annual Las Vegas Show and Tell known as CinemaCon has opened and closed.  The event ran from Apr. 23-26 at Caesar's Palace in Sin City.  The event which traditionally focused on showcasing films that are expected or hoped to be big summer releases has also edged into offering glimpses of fall prestige releases.

That was certainly the case this year as a number of films that are already being buzzed about as potential awards contenders were featured.  That means we TFF fans probably ought to pay some attention to what was teased and the reactions that those teases evoked.

Variety posted a handy-dandy and comprehensive listing of films that showed up last week ands rated their assessment of the reactions from CinemaCon attendees.

The "hottest" film according to Variety that has been on my Telluride-radar is Damian Chazelle's First Man starring Ryan Gosling as American hero Neil Armstrong.  Variety has it as its third "hottest" title of the films teased in Vegas.  I have a comment about the films that Variety had as the two hottest below.

Other TFF possibles and their relative "hotness" position according to Variety:

Boy Erased at #7
Mary Queen of Scots at #9
Beautiful Boy at #20


The Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was listed at #2 and I still doubt that it's a likely Telluride fit but Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born re-make with Lady Gaga  was listed at #1 and I think I am going to have to start seriously thinking about it as a possible TFF inclusion.  I've resisted that up until now largely because I was reluctant to believe that there would be much excitement about a film on its fourth time around.  The buzz was already strong, however,  leading up to the CinemaCon presentation and with the strong reaction there...I'm beginning to think that I can't just reject the possibility of a San Juan play out of hand.

Warners has the distribution rights and over the last few years with Argo (12), Prisoners and Gravity (13), Black Mass (15) and Sully (16) their presence has been felt.   SO...maybe A Star Is Born (#4)...

Here is a smattering of coverage from CinemaCon focused on possible TFF films:

Indiewire on Beautiful Boy

Indiewire on Widows

Indiewire on First Man



LEIGH'S PETERLOO WILL BE ON THE TRAIL

Many (including myself) thought Mike Leigh's Peterloo would be on the list of Palme d'Or competition films.  It was a bit of a surprise when that didn't happen.

Deadline reports this week, though, that the film "will be making a play at the fall film festivals".  Past that there are no specific details but considering Leigh's lengthy history with Telluride, you still have to think that a play at The SHOW is likely one of the"fall festivals: where the film could land.

The complete Deadline post is here.


 NO CANNES SCREENING BUT NEW STILLS: QUIXOTE

SlashFilm (/Film) posted a story this week that, again , lays out the latest legal bump in the road of a Cannes screening of Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.  The story itself doesn't truly break any new ground or provide new legal details or nuance but it does include ten new photos from the film.

I've posted a couple of them here and you can take a look at all of them linked at /Film's story.

PAYNE TALKS DOWNSIZING CHALLENGES

Photo from Indiewire

It's no secret that Alexander Payne's Downsizing had a rocky release both commercially (IMDb says it was a $68 million budget and a $39 million global gross) and critically...his lowest Metacritic score of all of the seven feature films he has directed at a 63).

Payne, who has become a staple figure at Telluride since his inclusion as Guest Director in 2009, spoke recently to Dick Cavett at a presentation during the just concluded Tribeca Film Festival.  Michael Nordine of Indiewire covered the conversation.

You can peruse the Indiewire story here.

Payne was recently announced to direct The Burial.  The film is based on a true story about corporate corruption in the funeral industry from a script from Golden Globe and  nominated and Tony Award winning writer Doug Wright (Quills, I Am My Own Wife).

That's a wrap for this last Monday in April.  More to come on Thursday.

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Not So Fast Don / Welles Doc to Play Cannes / Chloe Zhao Talks The Rider / Late Breaking: Ed Lachman Honored by Cannes

Welcome my friends, to Thursday and MTFB...

NOT SO FAST DON

There is yet another snag in the ongoing drama concerning Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.  The film had been announced last week as the closing night presentation for the Cannes Film Festival on May 19th but is now again in Limbo.

I had thought with last week's announcement that the last legal hurdle had been cleared or at least that accommodations had been reached that would allow the film to play in France.  That doesn't seem to be the case at this point as Screen Daily reported that one time producer Paulo Branco has sought a "writ" to prohibit the screening from a court in Paris.

It appears from the Melanie Goodfellow reporting that there will be a hearing about the matter on May 7th which could result with the film being barred from screening.

Gilliam's saga continues and it seems that we will have to wait for the court proceeding to find out if the film will, in fact, close Cannes.

WELLES DOC TO PLAY CANNES

Orson Welles may not be represented at Cannes with The Other Side of the Wind due to the feud between the fest and Netflix but that doesn't mean that you won't have the opportunity to get your Orson fix.  The fest has announced that the documentary The Eyes of Orson Welles will play in the Cannes Classics section.  The film is directed by Mark Cousins who historically has had quite a connection to Telluride, though not recently.

Cousins has played TFF with films such as The Story of Film, What Is This Film Called Love and The Story of Children and Film which was his last Telluride visit in 2013.

Also of potential interest in the Cannes Classics selections is Magarethe Von Trotta's documentary Searching for Ingmar Bergman which I could see making the grade for TFF #45.

Coverage of the Cannes announcement of additional films is linked here:

Indiewire

Ioncinema

Awards Watch

CHLOE ZHAO TALKS THE RIDER

With the release a few days back of Chloe Zhao's The Rider came a flurry of P.R. materials including this interview with the writer/director with Gregory Ellwood at The Playlist.  

The film played very well at TFF last year ending up tied for the #2 spot on my collection of film ratings from film Pros.

You can find Ellwood's article and the recorded interview from The Playlist here.

LATE BREAKING: ED LACHMAN HONORED BY CANNES

Ed Lachman and Todd Haynes in Telluride last year (pic from Scott Foundas)

As I am getting ready to post this morning word is coming form France that TFF #44 tribute recipient Ed Lachman will be honored next month by the Cannes Film Fest for his contributions as a cinematographer.  Lachman will receive the Pierre Angenieux ExcelLens award.  The award began in 2013 and past winners include Vilmos Zsigmond and Roger Deakins.

Lachman was honored last September in Telluride for his career.  That tribute included screenings of Todd Haynes' Wonderstruck.

Lachman's credits also include Far From Heaven, Carol and The Virgin Suicides.

That's a wrap for this Thursday.  I'll have more on Monday.

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Pics from Cannes Films / Posters for Welles and Garrone / First Stills from Old Man and the Gun

Good Monday morning to everyone...a visually dominated post today...


PICS FROM CANNES FILMS

Indiewire put up 36 stills from a bunch of the films that are playing Cannes next month last Tuesday and I thought I'd re-post the photos of the films among that group that seem, at least to me and at this time, to be the most likely Telluride crossovers:

Asghar Farhadi's Everybody Knows:

Matteo Garrone's Dogman:

Debra Granik's Leave No Trace:

Bi Gan's Long Day's Journey Into Night:

The complete album of 36 stills is here from Indiewire.

POSTERS FOR WELLES AND GARRONE

We have our first this week at posters for potential Telluride films The Other Side of the Wind and Dogman.

The look at the poster for Orson Welles' final film comes to us from WorldofReel:

 And the Dogman poster comes from the Twitter account of Richard Lorman:

AND THE FIRST STILLS FROM OLD MAN AND THE GUN

From Indiewire comes a look at couple of photos from David Lowery's Old Man and the Gun starring Robert Redford (TFF Tribute 2013) which is reportedly his last acting role.

Here are the peeks at Redford (and co-star Sissy Spacek):

Fox Searchlight has announced that the film will be released October 5th.

That's a wrap for this Monday.  I'll be back on Thursday with more...

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Late Breaking: Don Quixote Will Ride at Cannes / TFF Time Tunnel: The Eighth Telluride Film Festival / Filmworker Trailer / First Man Details

Good Thursday yo you...


LATE BREAKING: DON QUIXOTE WILL RIDE AT CANNES

Overnight the Cannes Film Festival announced the addition of several films to their lineup including that Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote will close the fest on May 19.

The Gilliam film had not been previously named due to legal complications but these appear to have been solved or waived so that the film can play next month in France.

Quixote was among a number of films announced as additions overnight included adds to the Palme d'Or competition section and Un Certain Regard.

Notably "Persona Non Grata" Lars Von Trier has been invited back to Cannes out of competition with The House That Jack Built.  That ends  his banishment that had been in effect since 2011.

Screen Daily has details of the newly announced films here.

Here's a thought...a Terry Gilliam tribute in Telluride.


TFF TIME TUNNEL: THE EIGHTH TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL

The ongoing history of the Telluride Film Festival project continues here today with a review of the Eighth TFF which transpired from Sept. 4-7, 1981.

Tributes:

The Character Actor: Margaret Hamilton, Elisha Cook, John Carradine, Woody Strode
Carlos Diegues
Dusan Makavejev

Special Medallions : Stan Brakhage and Kevin Brownlow


SHOWS:

Age of the Earth
The Big City
Catherine
Charm of Dynamite
The Circus
Daddy Long Legs
Dark Water
Eight Minutes to Midnight
False Witness
Fear Not Jacob
Fruits of Passion
Ganga Zumba
Hollywood
Love Affair or The Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator
Montenegro
My Dinner With Andre
Mysteries of the Organism
The Paper Chase
Paradise Not Yet Lost
Pearl Row
Pickup on South STreet
Prisoner of Shark Island
Sergeant Rutledge
Sherlock Holmes
Silver Dollar
Soldier Girls
Stages: John Houseman Directs Lear
The Sudden Wealth of the Poor People of Kombach
Three Brothers
Ticket to Heaven
Trapped
The Trouble with Harry
The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes
Vernon Florida
A Very Curious Girl
The Wizard of Oz
Xica Da Silva

Guests:

Susan Anspach
Keith Carradine
Robert Carradine
Shelley Duvall
Sam Fuller
Andre Gregory
John Houseman
Leonard Maltin
Errol Morris
Volker Schlondorff
Wallace Shawn



FILMWORKER TRAILER

One of the documentaries that made something of a splash at last year's fest was Tony Zierra's Filmworker which centered on the story of one time actor Leon Vitali who became Stanley Kubrick's right hand man.

Filmworker now has this trailer (vie YouTube):

The Playlist has details about the film and the trailer's release here.

Filmworker is set to open early next month in Los Angeles and New York.


FIRST MAN DETAILS

First Man set pics via The Daily Mail

One of the domestic non-Cannes films I'm watching for a possible slot at TFF #45 is Damien Chazelle's First Man.  It's Chazelle's much anticipated followup to La La Land.

First Man will follow the true story of American hero Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon.  The film is scheduled for commercial release on Oct. 12th.

I have it on my radar because of its high profile and because of Chazelle.  The distribution is with Universal Pictures which has a thin Telluride profile over the past decade or so playing Steve Jobs at T-ride in 2015 and Flash of Genius back in 2008.

It's also worth noting that the film is scripted by Josh Singer who co-wrote and won an Oscar for Spotlight in 2015.  Singer also penned The Post last year which was a Golden Globe nominee for Best Screenplay.

Indiewire's Michael Nordine reported on some emerging details about the film (which has been described in an earlier Indiewire story as "Whiplash in space". (The 25 Actor-Director Pairings to Get Excited About in 2018).


That's your MTFB for this Thursday.  Tune in again Monday for more.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

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Cannes and the Rest of the Lineup? / Milos Forman 1932-2018

Welcome back from the weekend on this Monday...


CANNES AND THE REST OF THE LINEUP

Followers of the Cannes Film Fest know that the Palme d'Or lineup is probably not complete.  It has been common in recent years that films have been added to the competition and other sections of the fest after the main announcement and I expect that to be the case again this year.

That said, it appears that the door has not completely closed on three films of particular interest to this writer that I've been eyeing as potential Cannes/Telluride crossovers for months.

First, the Netflix/Cannes stand off...which includes Alfonso Cuaron's Roma and Orson Welles' now completed The Other Side of the Wind.

Those doors where thought to be closed with last Thursday's announcement as Netflix withdrew any films from consideration for any section of the festival.  The conflict centers on the Netflix distribution model and Cannes' insistence that competition films must have a French theatrical release.

Despite what happened Thursday, there are reports that there still may efforts to open the door for both of those films.  Indiewire reported that Fremaux is still lobbying for Roma to play Cannes and that Welles' daughter is imploring Netflix and the fest to find some way that The Other Side of the Wind could still play.

Honestly, I don't have a good sense of how this will eventually shake out.  My best guess is that the standoff remains in place and both Roma and Wind don't get added and may, instead screen at Venice and/or Telluride but I wouldn't wager any money on that.

The other film to mention is Terry Gilliam's The Man Killed Don Quixote.  Its chance of playing Cannes seemed to be dashed by ongoing legal proceedings involving one of the film's past producers.  However, there were hints this weekend that even that door might not be totally closed.

Again, if I were forced to guess, I wouldn't count on Gilliam's film making it to the Croisette.  Its past history suggests that.  Actually, it's past history suggests that it's chances at T-ride, Venice, New York and/or Toronto are all dicey at best.


MILOS FORMAN 1932-2018

Milos Forman has died at 86.  His body of work as a director was smallish.  IMDb lists 20 features with Forman directing but the list of 20 is formidable and includes two Best Direction Oscar wins for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus (both of which also won Best Picture).  In addition to those two classics Forman also directed Man in the Moon, Ragtime, The People vs. Larry Flynt and Hair.

Forman was in Telluride for the festival in 2001 with the re-release of Amadeus that screened that year.

Several of you probably know that I have occasionally said that Cuckoo's Nest is my favorite film (though that claim shifts from time to time).

Forman was notable for directing all manner never getting stuck in a particular genre or format.  His versatility was remarkable.

Here's Indiewire's report on his passing.



More on Thursday...

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And Now...From the 71st Cannes Film Festival / San Fran Film Fest Ongoing

Good Thursday friends...  It's Cannes time...


AND NOW...FROM THE 71ST CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

Now we know the Cannes lineup.  Main Competition, Un Certain Regard, Special Screenings...

And of the films that have been announced, historically five to ten are probably headed to Telluride in four and a half months.

Of course it's all guess work of the most speculative at this point.  I'll wait to see and hear what happens when these films screen in a month in France.  I'll be looking at critical reaction and the apportionment of prizes as well as pedigree and distribution.  All of that, and also some good old fashioned intuition to try to formulate a list of films that will make an appearance both on the Croisette and on Colorado Ave.

At first glance, the Cannes lineup offers a smaller list of obvious Telluride candidates than most years.

That said, here are what start out as the best chances for films that we now know are playing Cannes that might also play TFF #44:

In competition:

Dogman
Ash Is the Purest White
Burning
Three Faces
Cold War

From Un Certain Regard:

Long Day's Journey Into Night
Manto

And among Special Screenings: Pope Francis: A Man of His Word

Still a possibility is the opening night film: Asghar Farhadi's Everybody Knows.

Perhaps the most surprising omission, at least to me, is Mike Leigh's Peterloo.

As is often the case, Cannes Fest head Thierry Fremaux said other films could still be added to the lineup.

Fremaux also suggested that both The Other Side of the Wind and The Man Who Killed Don Quixote where serious contenders for selection but that the Netflix/Cannes feud had nixed the Welles film and another legal issue blocked the selection of Gilliam's film.

Both American films named in the Palme d'Or competition will open in the U.S. prior to Labor Day weekend meaning that they are off the table for Telluride: Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman (opens Aug. 10) and David Robert Mitchell's Under the Silver Lake (opens June 22).

Coverage of this morning's announcement is here from:

Indiewire

Variety

The Hollywood Reporter




SAN FRAN FILM FEST ONGOING

Gary Meyer's Eat, Drink, Film website reports that the San Francisco Film Fest or SFFILM is off to a roaring start.  Meyer's first report is here.

Looking at Gary's story makes me yearn to be both in San Fran and at a film festival...what a great pairing of place and purpose.

Gary says he has a couple of other posts from SFFILM in the pipeline so stay tuned.


That's your MTFB this Thursday.  More on Monday.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

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Everybody Knows Opens Cannes / On the Other Cannes / No Roma in Cannes Competition?

Well, I'm back.  Didn't plan to take last week off from the blog but that's what happened.  As i posted on Thursday...my apologies.

EVERYBODY KNOWS OPENS CANNES

While I was away this week it was announced that Asghar Farhadi's Everybody Knows will open the Cannes Film Festival next month.

Farhadi's Spanish language film stars Penelope Cruz (TFF Tributee in 2006) and Javier Bardem.

I've had Everybody Knows on the Cannes/Telluride watch list for months now due to Farhadi's past screenings of A Separation and The Past at TFF.

Two things I would note, however, are that Farhadi's last film (The Salesman) did not play TFF and  it's relatively rare that a Cannes opener makes the crossover to lay Telluride as well.  The last time I can find that happening was in 2004 with Pedro Almodovar's Bad Education so...it's been a long time.


Further details of the selection of the film for Cannes is here from:

Variety

Indiewire

The Pre-Cannes trailer for Everybody Knows from YouTube

ON THE OTHER CANNES

The release this week of a trailer and poster for Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote all but assures that the film's title will be announced for some spot in Cannes on Thursday.  The multi-decade-in-the-making film has also been on my Cannes/TFF crossover possibility list for a long while.

Here's the trailer from YouTube:

And coverage of the trailer from:

Interview

The Guardian

Cinema Blend

AND...NO ROMA IN COMPETITION AT CANNES?

The news this week that Alfonso Cuaron is now under the Netflix banner means that, as of now, Cuaron's film will not be playing in competition in France next month.

Cannes director Thierry Fremaux has made it clear that under the current Netflix release strategies, Netflix films will not be in the main competition.

For its part, Netflix, according to Vanity Fair and Indiewire is now threatening to exclude Roma and four other films from the festival including the highly anticipated Orson Welles "last film" The Other Side of the Wind.

And, of course, I have no good idea what this set of circumstances might do regarding TFF #44.


That's the bounceback MTFB for this Monday.


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Apologies

Apologies from the management.  MTFB will return Monday, April 9th.