The First Ten Bets for TFF #45 / Awards Daily Critics' List / Burning Has a Home

Good Friday all!  Big post today!



THE FIRST TEN BETS FOR TFF #45

Here you have it.  My first official stab at guessing/predicting/projecting/hoping for films that will play at The SHOW in Telluride over Labor Day weekend.

The first set of predictions every June is fraught with uncertainty.  I look at a lot of factors:  Studios. distributors, TFF histories, especially with directors.  The buzz around films we know are coming in the fall and will almost assuredly play some if not all of the Telluride/Venice/Toronto triumvirate.  Oscar hopefuls, Cannes titles and a lot of the time, especially in early July...it's about intuition.

It all factors into my assessments.

Here's the history of success, or lack thereof, for each of the last seven years that I have been using the "Ten Bets" format:

2011: 8/10
2012: 5/10
2013: 6/10
2014: 7/10
2015: 4/10
2016: 3/10
2017: 7/10

As you can tell, last year was a bounce back after low years of 2015 and 2016.

Overall, I manage an average of  5.7 correct guesses with the initial Ten Bets of each season.

So...crossing fingers... here's the first Ten Bets for 2018 (in order of likelihood):

10) Beautiful Boy- I think Amazon Studios will land at Telluride with this, at least and maybe more.

9) The Front Runner- Jason Reitman was once a T-ride favorite.  My guess is that this film gets him back.

8) Burning- this was Cannes' unrewarded critical darling from a director who has played TFF before.   This was actually higher on my list until word broke yesterday that it had been grabbed for U.S. distribution by Well Go USA Entertainment.   See below.

7) Sunset- If its half as good as his first film (Son of Saul), Laszlo Nemes will return.

6) The Old Man and the Gun- This feels like Fox Searchlight's best play for Oscar season and thus its best chance at a Telluride berth...though they do have other possibles.

5) Cold War- Pawel Pawlikowski with a good shot to return to TFF.

4) Capernaum- Cannes Jury Prize winner and SPC's most likely shot for the schedule.

3) Peterloo- Mike Leigh's film about labour strife in Britain.

2) The Other Side of the Wind-Orson Welles "last film".  If this doesn't play Telluride I will be greatly surprised and, for that matter, upset.

1) If Beale Street Could Talk- It would a shock if Barry Jenkins' follow-up to his Oscar winning Moonlight does not make The SHOW's lineup.

Others on my "just under the Ten Bets" list: Boy Erased, The Sisters Brothers, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, The Eyes of Orson Welles, Dogman, On the Basis of Sex, Girl, Happy as Lazzaro, Shoplifters, He Dreams of Giants, First Man, Widows,  A Star Is Born, Cheney (Backseat), Roma, At Eternity's Gate, Everybody Knows.

What do YOU think?  What films do YOU think might play?  What films do YOU WANT to play?

Drop me a note at any one of the contact methods listed below.

Looking at this list before I punch the button to publish, I'm saying to myself...naw...these can't all happen...but what if they did???

So, there you have it.  Let's see now how many of these films actually make the lineup.



AWARDS DAILY'S CRITICS' LIST

Jordan Ruimy, writing and compiling for Awards Daily has posted a "Best Of" critics assessment for the first half of 2018.

TFF #45 films pop up on the list with some frequency.  Included on the list are:

#31-Loveless
#24-Foxtrot
#13-Lean on Pete
#6-The Rider
#1-First Reformed

Pretty impressive for the films that played last year but weren't released until this year.  The complete list from Awards Daily is here.


BURNING HAS A HOME

As I mentioned above,  Lee Chang-dong's Cannes critical fave Burning has a distributor.  Variety reports that Well Go USA Entertainment has acquired the film and plans a limited release on Oct. 26th in NYC with expansion after that.

The film was right at the top of the critics' polls after its screening at Cannes but had languished without a distributor until yesterday.

As you see above, I still have it listed among my first Ten Bets list, albeit lower than I was thinking earlier this week, despite the fact that Well Go USA has essentially no Telluride history to speak of.

The complete story is linked here from Variety


That's your Friday MTFB.  Come back for more on Monday.


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The Distributors 2018: The Cohen Media Group / Beautiful Boy Trailer and Poster Land / Marwen Moved

It;s Thursday and MTFB is back with more speculation and reportage regarding the Telluride Film Festival...

THE DISTRIBUTORS 2108: THE COHEN MEDIA GROUP

Over the years the Cohen Media Group has had a modestly robust presence at the Telluride Film Festival.  Here's the history of the organization at TFF since 2012:

2017: The Insult, Face Places
2016: Journey Through French Cinema
2015: Hitchcock/Truffaut, Marguerite, Rams
2014: Magician
2013: No Show
2012: The Attack

But this year, at least at this moment, CMG's larder is almost bare.  According to IMDb it seems as of the only film that they have that could be in play for TFF is Julien Landais' The Aspern Papers based on the Henry James novel and starring Joely Richardson, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Vanessa Redgrave.

The period romance has reportedly been in post-production since last August.

Put The Aspern Papers at 30% and also keep an eye peeled for other Cohen Media acquisitions as we go through the next few weeks.  Should that happen, it might change the calculus for CMG's TFF profile.

BEAUTIFUL BOY TRAILER AND POSTER LAND

 As advertised, the trailer for Felix Von Groeningen's Beautiful Boy starring Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet popped yesterday.  It's good.  Here its is from YouTube:

The film tells the true story of father and son Nic and David Sheff and the challenges to their lives and relationships due to the son's drug addiction.  The screenplay is based on the memoirs of both; father David's Beautiful Boy and son Nic's Tweak.

The film is distributed by Amazon Studios and is scheduled for release on Oct. 12th.

Here's coverage of the release of the trailer from:

Entertainment Weekly

The Playlist

Awards Daily

The Film Stage

Indiewire

ShowBiz411

Deadline

Variety

A couple of these outlets mention that the film is expected to play the fall film circuit.  ShowBiz411 specifically mention Telluride and Toronto as possibilities.

Yes please.



MARWEN MOVED

I was very excited and responsive to the trailer that was released a week ago but in these intervening seven days came news that Universal has decided to move the film's release from its original November date to Dec. 21.  The U dated Green Room for the Nov. date in Welcome to Marwen's place.

Here are details from Variety and Awards Circuit.

My initial impression is that the move to December could signal that the film won't be ready in time for Telluride/Venice/Toronto.  It might also indicate a New York Film Fest premiere and/or and AFI Fest slot as well.

It almost certainly signals less of a chance that the film will make it to Telluride.


That's today's MTFB.  Come back tomorrow for the first Ten Bets for TFF #45!

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The Distributors 2018: Netflix / Widows Has a New T.V. Spot / Coming Friday: Ten Bets #1

Hello on this late Tuesday in June...


THE DISTRIBUTORS 2018: NETFLIX

I talked last week about Amazon Studios and how the streaming giant has developed a robust relationship with Telluride over the past few years.  Also making in-roads with Telluride is the other streamer that has changed the face of how film/TV relate and are integrated/ignored vis-a-vis film festivals.  Netflix has made its mark in Telluride over the past few years.  To wit:

2015- Beasts of No Nation, Winter on Fire
2016- The Ivory Game, Into the Inferno
2017- First They Killed My Father, Wormwood

So, a couple of things each year for the last three years.

It will be interesting to see if the Cannes/Netflix dustup from earlier this year has any effect on Netflix's TFF profile.

Netflix certainly has projects that could make a play at T-ride and/or, perhaps Venice since none of their stable played at Cannes.

Here are some of the films that are under the Netflix banner that could make the grade for Labor Day weekend:

Orson Welles' The Other Side of the Wind
Alfonso Curaron's Roma
David Mackenzie's Outlaw King
Alice Rohrwacher's Happy as Lazzaro
Lukas Dhnot's Girl

and a couple of wild cards...

IMDb reports that J.C. Chandor's Triple Frontier has gone into post-production.  Could it be ready for an early September bow?  It's unlikely but not impossible.

And then there is the biggest of Netflix's big fish, Martin Scorsese's The Irishman which is dated for release until 2019 but has reported been in post-production since February.

All of these could make a play at TFF #45 but, as you'd expect, some have a better shot than others.

Probably the most likely is the finished project from Orson Welles.  I am increasingly bullish on its chances of making the fest.

The two Cannes acquisitions, Girl and Happy as Lazzraro, are next in line in terms of TFF probability.

Curaon's Roma also has a decent shot to play as the buzz on it is strong and it's probably Netflix's best shot at breaking into this year's Oscar race.

I get the sense that the Mackenzie film is less likely and, of course, both the Chandor and Scorsese are extremely unlikely.

Netflix almost certainly has a documentary or two that I am overlooking that could/will make the TFF lineup.

This could be the first year Netflix lands more than two films at Telluride-or-because of the rift with Cannes-none.

Chances...

The Other Side of the Wind- 80%
Girl and/or Happy as Lazzaro- 50%
Roma- 40%
Outlaw King- 25%
Triple Frontier- 15%
The Irishman- 5%

Thursday's Distributor d'jour will be the Cohen Media Group.


WIDOWS HAS A NEW T.V. SPOT

Steve McQueen's Widows continues to draw a lot of attention and that interest was stoked once again earlier this week with the release of a new television spot for the film.

Widows tells the story of a group of women (Viola Davis, Carrie Coon and Michelle Rodriguez among them) who face the aftermath of a failed crime that their dead husbands tried to commit.  The film is slated to open Nov. 16th.

Here's the new spot courtesy of YouTube:

COMING FRIDAY: TEN BETS #1

That's right, three days hence comes the first "official" stab at ten films that I think will play at the 45th Telluride Film Festival.  I'll post a new "Ten Bets" each Friday until the fest with a special final "Ten Bets" on Wednesday, August 29th, the day before TFF announces the lineup.

Between this Friday and then we'll gain clarity from announcements about the lineups for Toronto, Venice, New York, London and Fantastic Fest (Austin).

Also, the "Ten Bets" will actually expand as more and more information becomes available.  Last year, the final list before the TFF announcement contained 25 films (24 of which played the festival).

So, mark your calendar you Telluride film fans...Friday is day one as the countdown to Labor Day weekend gets real.



That's a wrap for today's MTFB.  More to come on Thursday.


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This Year's Oscar Crop and TFF Regulars / More on Don Q

Welcome back from your weekend.  Hope you had a good one...


THIS YEAR'S OSCAR CROP AND TFF REGULARS

At the end of last week not one but three major Oscar prediction groups published articles focusing on the films that they see as possible players for awards season glory.  Writers for Awards Daily, Variety and Entertainment Weekly all provided lists.

Taking a look, I noticed, to little surprise, that a number of films appeared on all three lists and a number also will be directed by people with past appearances at Telluride which means they have to be considered among the films that could make the SHOW.  So...here are the films from all three lists that have a TFF legacy director:

Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk
Damien Chazelle's First Man
Steve McQueen's Widows

Making at least two of the lists:

Mike Leigh's Peterloo
Jacques Audiard's The Sisters Brothers
Jason Reitman's The Frontrunner
Alfonso Cuaron's Roma
Yann  Damange's White Boy Rick


And with one mention:

David Mackenzie's Outlaw King
Pawel Pawlikowski's Cold War
Julian Schnabel's At Eternity's Gate

The complete articles can be found here from Entertainment Weekly, Variety and Awards Daily



MORE ON DON Q

In light of last week's news that Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote has been programmed to screen at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival despite having lost a court case in France concerning the ownership of the film's rights, came another story at the end of last week from Indiewire's Michael Nordine.

The IW story focuses on the claims of producer Marilea Besuievsky who says  that Paulo Branco, who won the court case, may have over claimed the extent of the court victory.

Besuievsky, being quoted from a Spanish language publication, El Espanol, says that Gilliam has the right to release the film anywhere in the world.

So...back on the TFF watch list it goes...

The Indiewire article is here.


More to come tomorrow.

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The Distributors 2018: Annapurna Pictures / Ivory/Payne Joint?

The week comes to a close on this late Friday in June...


THE DISTRIBUTORS 2018: ANNAPURNA PICTURES

So, here's the thing, Megan Ellison and her Annapurna Pictures have been producing films for awhile.  IMDb suggests that's been true since 2012.  Within the last few months, however, Annapurna  has made the decision to move into film distribution and that could open up some serious fall festival possibilities including Telluride.

Up to this point, the only Annapurna joint to have played Telluride was 2014's Foxcatcher.  I can clearly remember catching sight of Megan Ellison at the Fox Searchlight party in T-ride in 2014.

Now, with the move into distribution, I suspect there's a reasonable chance that Annapurna may well show up at Telluride with more frequency.

For example, Annapurna has the rights to Barry Jenkins' follow-up to the Oscar winning Moonlight in If Beale Street Could Talk and if that film doesn't make the TFF #45 lineup, I'll eat my hat (metaphorically, of course).

But in addition to Beale Street, Annapurna has a number of other films that could also be possible for TFF...

Backstreet...or whatever it will ultimately be called, is director Adam McKay's examination of the life and career of former Vice President Dick Cheney.  The film stars Christian Bale as Cheney, Amy Adams as his wife Lynne and Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld (I kid you not).  It could play TFF.

The other most likely Telluride player in the Annapurna stable id Jacques Audiard's The Sisters Brothers starring Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly in a western of sorts.  Audiard's history at Telluride and with Cannes means we should at least pay attention to it as a potential film for Labor Day in the San Juans.

Chances for each...

If Beale Street-90%
The Sisters Brothers- 50%
Backseat (or whatever)- 45%

Maybe all three make the cut...

And...is it possible that Steve Carell could make a triple play appearance at TFF #45?  Beautiful Boy, Welcome to Marwen and Backseat...



IVORY/PAYNE JOINT

In the middle of March several outlets reported that frequent TFFer Alexander Payne was setting up to direct The Burial.  That may not be his next project as The Film Stage reported this week that Payne may well be team up with recent Oscar winner James Ivory to direct The Judge's Will.

The film, reportedly based on true story from India, would be re-set in Chicago and reveal the tale of a judge who tasks, in his will, that his family be responsible for the care of his mistress.

The Film Stage says that the project will be set up at Fox Searchlight.

Here's the story from The Film Stage.



Sorry for the short Friday post...More on Monday and have a good weekend.



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The Distributors 2018: Amazon Studios / The Front Runner Looks at Awards Season / Welcome to Marwen Trailer Arrives / And Maybe The Don Is Back On

Thursday marks the return of MTFB for this week with an assessment of the chances of five films that are being distributed by Amazon Studios.

THE DISTRIBUTORS 2018: AMAZON STUDIOS

Amazon had Oscar nominee/winner Manchester by the Sea play in 2016.

Wonderstruck in 2017.

This year could see multiple entrants from Amazon Studios including Mike Leigh's Peterloo, Ritesh Batra's Photograph, Pawel Pawlikowski's Cold War. All of these directors have some TFF history, especially Leigh.  In addition, we have to consider Felix Van Groeningen's Beautiful Boy and Dan Fogelman's Life Itself.

Chances in order of likelihood for TFF #45:

Peterloo- 75%
Cold War- 50%
Beautiful Boy 40%
Photograph- 30%
Life Itself- 20%


As a matter of fact, Peterloo will almost certainly be on the opening Top Ten List coming out in a week or two.  Cold War could make that list as well.

I'll look at Netflix tomorrow.


THE FRONT RUNNER LOOKS AT AWARD SEASON

Sony has dated Jason Reitman's The Front Runner with a Nov. 7th limited release date putting it smack in the middle of the awards season.  A wider release will occur the following week on Nov. 14th.

The Front Runner re-visits the real story of Gary Hart's ill-fated 1988 presidential run.  Hugh Jackman stars as Hart.

Deadline reported the story on Wednesday.  Also reporting the dates was Clayton Davis's Awards Circuit.  Both sources suggest that Telluride is a real possibility for Reitman's film despite the fact that Sony/Columbia have a meager TFF profile. 



WELCOME TO MARWEN TRAILER ARRIVES

We passed along Trailer Track's Anton Volkov's news earlier this week that a trailer would be released for Robert Zemeckis's Welcome to Marwen and that trailer dropped yesterday.  Here it is via YouTube:

Further reporting on the film and its trailer release can be found at:

FirstShowing

SlashFilm

The Playlist

Trailer Track


AND MAYBE THE DON IS BACK ON

Reporting from the Czech Republic suggests that Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote will play at the Karlovy Vary Film Fest.  The news was reported by both The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.

That comes after the news reported here Monday that Gilliam had suffered a legal set back with a French court finding in favor of producer Paolo Blanco. 

I wondered  if that decision might nix the chances of Quixote playing T-ride. 

Now, with this latest news that TMWKDQ will screen at Karlovy Vary despite the court ruling, I am again considering that the Gilliam passion project might still have a shot at the San Juans in a couple of months.



That's all for today.  More tomorrow.

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The Distributors 2018: Sundance Selects and IFC Films / The 4th Telluride Film Festival Re-visited /Marwen Trailer Looming?

Welcome to Tuesday...


THE DISTRIBUTORS 2018: SUNDANCE SELECTS AND IFC FILMS

The series of analyzing the films that specific distribution companies have in the pipeline and their chance at playing TFF #45 continues today looking at the partnered firms of Sundance Selects and IFC Films.

Here's the recent history of Sundance Selects and IFC Films with TFF:

Looking for a probable film from these outfits this year is a difficult proposition.  This again is likely a result of the growth of Amazon and Netflix within the film industry as well as the expansion of entities like A24, Neon and Annapurna.

My best prediction for a film from this combo is Roger Michell's documentary There's Nothing Like a Dame. 

The doc focuses on the lives and careers of four legendary British actresses: Eileen Atkins, Joan Plowright, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith.

Another reason to think that it might make a TFF play is Roger Michell's history with the fest.  Past Michell films at T-ride include Venus and Hyde Park on Hudson.

The film has no known release date at this time per IMDb all of which suggests that it could make the Labor Day lineup.

Chances: 30%.

2003: Touching the Void, Intermission

2004: Nobody Knows

2005: Three Times

2006: Deep Water, Indigenes, Day Night Day Night

2007: Secret Sunshine, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, Jar City

2008: Hunger, Gomorrah, Flame and Citron, Everlasting Moments, The Good, the Bad and the Weird

2009: Fish Tank, Red Riding Trilogy, Life During Wartime, Vincere

2010: The Princess of Montpensier, Carlos, Tabloid

2011: Into the Abyss, Pina, The Forgiveness of Blood, The Kid with a Bike, Goodbye First Love

2012: Frances Ha, The Central Park Five, Everyday

2013: Blue is the Warmest Color

2014: Two Days, One Night, Seymour: An Introduction

2015: 45 Years

2016: Things to Come, Graduation, Wakefield
2017: Eating Animals

THE 4TH TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL RE-VISITED

Counting down the last few beginning TFFs now as we look back to the fourth fest that was held Sept. 2-5, 1977.

Tributes: Michael Powell, Agnes Varda, Ben Carre

SHOWS:

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
The Ascent
Black Narcissus
The Bluebird
Cleo from 5 to 7
Coup de Grace
Dagguerotypes
The Devil's Playground
A Geisha
I Know Where I'm Going
It Happened Here
La Pointe Courte
La Roi des Champs Elysees
Le Bonheur
The Light in the Dark
Lion's Love
The Magician
A Matter of Life and Death
Nine Months
Old San Francisco
Picture Show Man
Primary
Queen of Apollo
The Red Dance
Rudd Family Goes to Town
Scaramouche
The Spy in Black
The Squatter's Daughter
The Volunteer
Voyage to the Grand Tartary
Wake and Fright
Winstanley
A Woman's Face


GUESTS:

Werner Herzog
Ed Lachman
Martin Scorsese


MARWEN TRAILER LOOMING

Steve Carell on the set of Welcome to Marwen

Steve Carell has a couple of projects that could end up in front of Telluride audiences by the time we get to Labor Day weekend.  The more likely is Beautiful Boy co-starring actor of the moment Timothee Chalamet. 

The other is, like Beautiful Boy, based on a true story of a man finding a novel way of healing himself in the aftermath of a harsh attack.

Robert Zemeckis directs Welcome to Marwen.  Word from Anton Volkov/Trailer Track that a Marwen trailer drop is imminent.

Here's the story from Trailer Track.

I'll pass the trailer along as soon as possible.


That's your MTFB for this Tuesday.  More to come on Thursday.


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The Distributors 2018: A24 / Guest Director Named / Don Gone?

Good Monday everyone.  I hope you survived the weekend...


THE DISTRIBUTORS 2018: A24

I continue my breakdown of film distribution companies and their films with a look toward what seems the most likely players for TFF #45.  Today we turn to relative newcomer A24.  A24 Appeared on the Telluride scene just a few years ago but has made a substantial splash in a short time.  Here's their TFF run:

2017: Lean on Pete, First Reformed, Lady Bird
2016: Moonlight
2015: Room
2014:  No film
2013: Under the Skin
2012: Ginger and Rosa

Seven films in six years with three Best Picture Oscar nominations and the win in 2016 for Moonlight.  So you have to think that A24 is a player for 2018 but it feels like their cupboard is a bit bare.  Two films that we might take a look at, Native Son and The Lighthouse are dated, at least currently, for 2019.

Maybe the biggest shot for A24 this year is the Jonah Hill directed and written Mid 90's.  The film purportedly went into post production in late July of last year and has had relatively good buzz.

I, however, am a tad leery about thinking a Jonah Hill debut is necessarily a likely event for T-ride.  Still, this film seems like A24's best shot at the fall fests including Telluride.  Maybe their only one.  Or, perhaps this year is like 2014 and A24 doesn't play this year.

Mid 90's chances to make TFF #45: 30%.

Tomorrow Sundance Selects and IFC Films.


GUEST DIRECTOR NAMED

We found out who will guest direct the 2018 edition of the Telluride Film Festival.  It's author Jonathan Lethem.

Here's the press release from the Fest:

BERKELEY, CA – Telluride Film Festival, presented by National Film Preserve LTD., is proud to announce its 2018 Guest Director, Jonathan Lethem. The award-winning novelist, essayist and short story writer is set to select a series of films to present at the 45th Telluride Film Festival running over Labor Day Weekend, August 31 - September 3, 2018.

Festival organizers annually select one of the world’s groundbreaking artists to join them in the creation of the Festival’s program lineup. The Guest Director serves as a key collaborator in the Festival’s programming decisions, bringing new ideas and overlooked films to Telluride. In keeping with Telluride Film Festival tradition, Lethem’s film selections, along with the rest of the Telluride lineup, will be kept secret until Opening Day.

“Tom and I first met Jonathan through Criterion Collection,” said Telluride Film Festival executive director Julie Huntsinger. “Since then, we have forever been impressed with his knowledge of and enthusiasm for cinema.  We are thrilled to have him join us for the 2018 Festival!”

One of America’s greatest contemporary writers, Jonathan Lethem was born in 1964 in Brooklyn, NYC to artist Richard Lethem and late political activist Judith Lethem. His impressive body of work spans 10 novels, five short story collections, a novella, two books of essays, a comic series and writings in The New Yorker, Rolling Stone and Mc Sweeny’s. Lethem’s first genre-defying novel, Gun with Occasional Music (1994) experimented with science fiction and crime and gained him a strong cult following. In 1999, Lethem’s fifth novel Motherless Brooklyn met with significant commercial and critical success winning the National Book Critics Circle Award, Macallan Gold Dagger for Crime Fiction, Salon Book Award and was named Esquire’s book of the year. The film adaptation of Motherless Brooklyn, directed by Edward Norton and starring Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, Willem Dafoe and Leslie Mann is currently in production and slated for a 2019 release. Lethem’s more recent novels include New York Times Bestseller The Fortress of Solitude (2003), You Don’t Love Me Yet (2007), Chronic City (2009), Dissident Gardens (2013) and A Gambler’s Anatomy (2016).  In 2005, Jonathan Lethem was the recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship.

“From the very beginning for me, my love for literature and my love for film were splendidly mixed-up and inextricable,” said Lethem. “I always saw the two great 20^th Century storytelling forms as speaking to and through one another. So, when by my great good luck I fell in with Tom Luddy and Julie Huntsinger, I immediately recognized them as being of my tribe; they feel the same resonance and have designed their wonderful festival in the mountains to reflect it. When I learned they’d involved writers I admire like Michael Ondaatje and Rachel Kushner and Geoff Dyer in the heart of the program, I was thrilled – and envious! I’m still pinching myself in disbelief that it’s my turn to play at programming the Dream Multiplex.”

Past Guest Directors include Joshua Oppenheimer, Volker Schlöndorff, Rachel Kushner, Guy Maddin, Caetano Veloso, Michael Ondaatje, Alexander Payne, Salman Rushdie, Peter Bogdanovich, B. Ruby Rich, Phillip Lopate, Errol Morris, Bertrand Tavernier, John Boorman, John Simon, Buck Henry, Laurie Anderson, Stephen Sondheim, G. Cabrera Infante, Peter Sellars, Don DeLillo, J.P. Gorin, Edith Kramer and Slavoj Žižek.

The Guest Director program is sponsored by FilmStruck, Turner’s subscription on-demand service that offers film aficionados a comprehensive and constantly refreshed library of films including an eclectic mix of contemporary arthouse, indie, foreign, cult and classic Hollywood films. FilmStruck is the exclusive streaming home to the Warner Bros. classic film library and the Criterion Collection. FilmStruck was developed by Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and is managed by TCM in partnership with Warner Bros. and the Criterion Collection.

And coverage of the announcement from Screen Daily and The Movie City News.


DON GONE?

Poor Terry Gilliam.

After winning the right to screen his more than 25 year-in-the-making passion project, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, at Cannes, French courts have now decided that producer Paolo Branco owns the film's rights which almost certainly means the film's future is back to limbo status.

Soooo...for those of us that thought, we might see the film in Telluride in 10 weeks or so...looks very doubtful.

Reporting from a number of sources indicates that Branco's company is the sole owner of the film's rights and that he/they are ready to sue about anyone and everyone that was apart of the film's Cannes screening and French release.

Here's the story from The Playlist.



That's it for this Monday.  Come back for more tomorrow.

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The Distributors 2018: Focus Features / Werner's New Project / Another Angel Could Be in Play

Good Friday everyone...


THE DISTRIBUTORS 2018: FOCUS FEATURES

Normally, I would have examined the Focus Feature lineup a bit later in the process because their TFF participation has been spotty over the last dozen years.  These are the Focus films that have played Telluride since 2006:

2006- Catch a Fire
2012- Hyde Park on Hudson
2015- Suffragette
2017-Darkest Hour

So, why evaluate them this early?  I have a couple of reasons.  First, I think Focus really benefited last year with Darkest Hour playing TFF #45.  It ended up with two Oscar wins (for Gary Oldman's performance and for Best Makeup/Hair) and another four Oscar nominations.

The second reason is that Focus has, on paper, a very good slate of films going into the fall:

Asghar Farhadi's Everybody Knows (no release date yet)
Joel Edgerton's Boy Erased (Sept. 28)
Mimi Leder's On the Basis of Sex (Nov. 9)
Josie Rourke's Mary Queen of Scots (Dec. 7)

All of which have at least a shot at making the fest.  I'm guessing Focus lands at least one of these at Telluride and, for the first time since I started covering TFF, maybe two films.

Here's my analysis for each:

Cruz and Bardem on the set of Everybody Knows

Everybody Knows- Farhadi directs Penelope Cruz (a past TFF Tribute recipient in 2006) and Javier Bardem in a Spanish language mystery.  This would seem the most likely fit for TFF as it checks off a number of TFF boxes: It was a Cannes film, Farhadi's past with the fest and Cruz's past tribute status.  However, the critical reception to the film at Cannes was less than enthusiastic.  As a matter of fact, the Reini Urban composite critical rankings had it at 19th of the 21 competition films.  Ouch.
Chances 50%.

Boy Erased- Edgerton directs Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Lucas Hedges and himself in a film that tackles the issue of gay conversion therapy.  That's a lot of acting and Oscar firepower in one film and the film has a timely hot button issue.  Chances 40%.

On the Basis of Sex- Looks at the rising career of a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In light of the success and buzz around the Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary, RBG, and Ginsburg's legendary status...this film is expected to be high profile.  With a buzzy cast including Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer and Justin Theroux. Chances 40%.

Margot Robbie as Elizabeth I in Mary Queen of Scots

Mary Queen of Scots- The story of the struggle for power and the British throne between Mary and Elizabeth I.  The film features red hot actresses Margot Robbie as Elizabeth and Saoirse Ronan as Mary and both women are coming off of Oscar nominations last year.  Robbie for I. Tonya and Ronan for Lady Bird.  Additionally, Ronan is rumored to have been the probable third tribute last year that did not happen (due to filming schedule conflicts-at a guess).  Chances 40%.

As a gauge...here were my guesses for Focus Films last year.  That Darkest Hour % looks a little silly in retrospect.

Victoria and Abdul 35%
Darkest Hour 10%
Phantom Thread 0%

Bottom line is that I think Focus will be back at Telluride this year.


WERNER'S NEW PROJECT

The Playlist reported yesterday that Telluride regular Werner Herzog has signed on to Executive Produce and direct (at least some episodes) of Fordlandia based on Greg Grandin's Pulitzer Prize winning book of the same name.

Fordlandia outlines the true story of Henry Ford's attempt to create a small town America in the Amazonian jungle.

No details about when we could see episodes on the USA Network, which owns the rights to the book.

You'd have to think that, depending on what timeline occurs, that some episodes would be screened as a part of TFF #46 in 2019. 

I'll keep an eye open for further information.


ANOTHER ANGEL COULD BE IN  PLAY

Sorry Angel still via Indiewire

Variety reports that Strand Releasing has obtained the distribution rights for Cannes Palme competition film Sorry Angel fro director Christophe Honore. 

The film played to fair-ish reviews at Cannes but was not an award winner at the end of that fest.

The Variety story says that Strand plans a fall release for the film.  Strand has had an occasional presence at Telluride which suggests that we ought to keep it in mind as a potential TFF #45 selection.

The Variety story is here.

That's your Friday MTFB.  Have a great weekend and come back for more on Monday.


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The Distributors 2018: Fox Searchlight / Odds and Ends

Good Thursday everyone...


THE DISTRIBUTORS 2018: FOX SEARCHLIGHT

One of the most durable and dependable distribs at Telluride over the time I have been attending has been Fox Searchlight.  Although they missed in 2016, last year saw a resurgence of its presence at Telluride (and at the Oscars...coincidence...you decide?)

Searchlight, over these past several years has averaged a film and a half per year but has been a no show for about a third of the time. As you can also see, FS normally goes two or three years consecutively with a film or films between years when they don't play at TFF.

2017: The Shape of Water (Best Picture Oscar), Battle of the Sexes
2016: No Show
2015: He Named Me Malala
2014: Birdman (Best Picture), Wild
2013: 12 Years a Slave (Best Picture)
2012: No Show
2011: Shame, The Descendants
2010: Never Let Me Go, 127 Hours, Black Swan
2009: No Show
2008: Slumdog Millionaire (Best Picture)
2007: Juno, The Savages
2006: The Last King of Scotland, The Namesake
2005: Bee Season
2004: Kinsey

You'll note that FS has had four films win Best Picture in the ten years between 2008-2017 all of which screened at Telluride...which means we probably should keep our eye out to see if any Searchlight film(s) make the Venice or Toronto lineups.

What do they have to offer this season?

The Old Man and the Gun-David Lowery directs Robert Redford in what he has said will be his last acting gig.  Sissy Spacek co-stars.

Can You Ever Forgive Me?- Melissa McCarthy's change of pace role as a woman who turns to counterfeiting literature.  It's based on the true story of Lee Israel.  It's directed by Marielle Heller (Diary of a Teenage Girl).

The Favourite-the latest from Yorgos Lanthimos (The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Lobster).  Lanthimos was Oscar nominated for the script for The Lobster.  The film stars Emma Stone and Rachel Wiesz and Olivia Colman and is set in 18th century England in the court of Queen Anne.  It's the second of two big films centered on the British monarchy this summer, the other being Mary, Queen of Scots (parked at Focus Features) which stars Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan.  This could be the film that introduces Lanthimos to Telluride.

And finally, Wendy from Beasts of the Southern Wild director/writer Benh Zeitlin.  The film, says FS, is set on a "mysterious island where aging and time have come unglued".  The story centers on a couple of children dealing with their existence there.  The cast list on IMDb is just the two kids and the film has no announced release date.

Those four films seem to be the Fox Searchlight play for TFF consideration this year and none of them are a slam dunk for TFF #45 inclusion.

The Old Man and the Gun seems like the most probable mostly because I think T-ride is where Redford would feel most comfortable rolling it out.  He's also a producer on the film.  Call it's chances 50%.

After that any on the other three could play.  Maybe Emma Stone edges The Favourite into second place after two straight T-ride appearances with La La Land and Battle of the Sexes.  Call it a 45% chance.

Put Wendy in third at 30% and Can You Ever Forgive Me? at fourth with 25%.

Last year, this is where I had the Fox Searchlight films in my first assessment:

Battle of the Sexes-55%
Goodbye Christopher Robin- 45%
Three Billboards- 40%
The Shape of Water- 35%

As you can see, BOTS...good assessment.  Shape of Water...not so much.


Tomorrow my look at Focus Features.


ODDS AND ENDS

Cine Europe has served as a spot to continue to push the buzz for two high profile Telluride possibilities.  Deadline reported that Warner Bros. had footage from Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born was screened.  The story written by Deadline's Nancy Tartaglione, said that Cooper previewed the first eight minutes of the film.

Meanwhile, in a separate story Tartaglione reported that Sony had Jason Reitman on hand to preview his film The Front Runner which stars Hugh Jackman and tells the true story of Gary Hart's 1988 presidential campaign implosion.

A Star Is Born is dated for an Oct. 5th release.  Sony, as yet, has not named a release date for The Front Runner, though the Deadline article says that an awards season release is planned.

One other "odd or end" is that the Peterloo movie Twitter account announced on Monday that the film has been dated for a Nov. 9th U.S. release (after a Nov. 2 release in the U.K.).  To wit:

That's your Thursday MTFB.  More to come tomorrow...


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The Distributors 2018: Sony Pictures Classics / Hinting at The Old Man / And Another One Moves Down the List

Good Tuesday film friends...hope all is well...


THE DISTRIBUTORS 2018: SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

No distributor has had more a presence for as long as Sony Pictures Classics.  SPC has been there the longest with the most for the history of TFF.  The "recent" history includes 67 films in the last 15 years or about 4 and a half films per year on average:


2017: A Fantastic Woman, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, Foxtrot, Loveless, The Rider (5)
2016: The Eagle Huntress, Maudie, Norman, Toni Erdmann (4)
2015: Son of Saul (1)
2014: Foxcatcher, Leviathan, Red Army, Mr. Turner, Wild Tales, Salt of the Earth and Merchants of Doubt (7)
2013: The Invisible Woman, The Lunchbox, The Past, Tim's Vermeer and Jodorowsky's Dune (5)
2012: The Gatekeepers, At Any Price, Rust and Bone, No, Wadjda, Amour (6)
2011: A Dangerous Method, In Darkness, Footnote, A Separation (4)
2010: Incendies, Of Gods and Men, Tamara Drewe, Another Year, The Illusionist, Inside Job (6)
2009: The Last Station, The White Ribbon, Coco Before Chanel, A Prophet, An Education (5)
2008: Waltz with Bashir, I've Loved You So Long, O'Horten (3)
2007: Brick Lane, When Did You Last See Your Father, Persepolis, The Band's Visit, The Counterfeiters, Steep! (6)
2006: Jindabyne, The Lives of Others, Volver, The Italian (4)
2005: Breakfast on Pluto, Capote, Cache, The Child (4)
2004: Being Julia, House of Flying Daggers, Bad Education, Merchant of Venice, Up and Down, Yes (6)
2003: The Fog of War, My Life Without Me, The Triplets of Belleville, Young Adam (4)

And SPC has seen the coupling with TFF pay off with Oscar nominations for Best Picture: Amour, An Education, Capote.

Best Foreign Language Film (so many here): A Fantastic Woman, Loveless, Toni Erdmann among many others.

Best Documentary Feature: The Fog of War, Inside Job.

But this year looks like maybe 2015 when SPC only had Son of Saul in play at Telluride.  As it stands now, the only film SPC that could make TFF #45 is Nadine Labaki's Capernaum.  Capernaum picked up the Jury Prize at Cannes last month but suffered from middling critical response.

Deadline reported three weeks ago that SPC had picked up the rights to Denys Arcand The Fall of the American Empire but that isn't showing up on the IMDb page for either SPC or the film itself as yet.

Don't discount the possibility, though, SPC picking up some of the other Cannes players.  Currently, for example, Lee Chang dong's critical darling, Burning still has no U.S. distributor, nor does Jafar Panahi's Three Faces, Sergei Dvortsevoy's Ayka, Matteo Garrone's Dogman, Messora and Saliviza's The Dead and The Others or Sergey Loznitsa's Donbass.  So there is a large body of work out there that SPC could still acquire and submit for inclusion at TFF #45.

Last year when I did the SPC assessment it looked like this for the 2017 TFF lineup:

1) Loveless/Zvyagnistev. Chances: 80%.

2) A Fantastic Woman/Lelio. Chances: 75%.

3) The Rider/Zhao.  Chances: 60%.

4) Happy End/Haneke. Chances: 55%.

5) Final Portrait/Tucci. Chances: 40%.

6) The Silent Man/Landesman. Chances: 25%

7) The Leisure Seeker/Virzi. Chances: 20%

8) Based on a True Story/Polanski. Chances: 5%.

Ultimately, the top three played TFF  in addition to Foxtrot and Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool.

Bottom line is that I'd put Capernaum at 60% (mostly because of SPC's long connection to TFF) and The Fall of the American Empire at about 30%.

Tomorrow we'll look at Fox Searchlight.


HINTING AT THE OLD MAN

The Playlist, like a lot of outlets, featured the release of the trailer for The Old Man and the Gun last week.  I didn't get to that article until late this weekend.  Playlist head honcho Rodrigo Perez covers the familiar bases but adds near the end of the piece that the Sept. 28th release "should mean you'll see a festival bow before that and we'll assume Telluride, Venice, TIFF or all of the above."

That's the kind of assertion that makes me take note.

The Old Man and the Gun is under the Fox Searchlight umbrella and will be a part of Thursday's assessment of the films they have and their TFF #45 probability.  The speculation from The Playlist gives The Old Man a bit of a boost going into that assessment.

The complete post from The Playlist is here.


AND ANOTHER ONE MOVES DOWN (AND ALMOST FF) THE LIST

I have mentioned Paolo Sorrentino's Loro (1 and 2) as a possible Telluride 2018 selection but that appears less likely in the wake of a story from Variety's Nick Vivarelli published last week.

The film which explores the life and career of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been screening in Italy in its two part incarnation.  Vivarelli reports that Sorrentino now has a solo version that clocks in at just under two and a half hours.  Vivarelli writes that the single film version "is likely to launch from the Toronto Film Fest in September."

Though the statement is not definitive, it feels solid so, at this point, I don't really expect we'll see Loro over Labor Day weekend.

The complete story from Variety is here.


That's the MTFB fix for this Tuesday.  More to come on Thursday.


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First Man Trailer and Poster Too / Moving Parts / Could The Angel Appear?

Monday dawns and MTFB is waiting...

FIRST MAN TRAILER...OF COURSE (AND POSTER TOO)

As expected, the first trailer for Damien Chazelle's First Man was released Friday night.  I included it on my Twitter feed almost as soon as I could lay my hands on the YouTube link.  Here it is:

The release generated a lot of interest online and the number of sources that reported on it Friday/Saturday were numerous.  Much of that coverage is linked below but to distill the more interesting nuggets:

Awards Daily's Sasha Stone suggests that First Man "maybe going to Telluride but might hit the Venice/Telluride one two punch".  [My guess is the latter if the film does make a T-ride appearance I suspect it will come after a Venice bow]

First Showing's Alex Billington isn't as specific writing that "This film is expected to premiere at a few film festivals in the fall first."

The film is slated to open in the U.S. on Oct. 12th.

Other coverage for the trailer release is linked here from:

Variety

The Hollywood Reporter

Deadline

Entertainment Weekly

The Playlist

The Film Stage

Awards Watch

The Wrap

MOVING PARTS

You can take a couple of films off your Telluride wish list/prediction charts.  Over the weekend we discovered that Lenny Abrahamson's follow up to Room, for which Brie Larson won the Best Actress Oscar (and the film also was nominated for Best Picture, Direction and Adapted Screenplay), The Little Stranger will open domestically on August 31st so you can scratch that.

That tidbit is here from Awards Watch

We also discovered that Where'd You Go Bernadette from director Richard Linklater has been moved to March 22, 2019 so it becomes very unlikely in our Telluride calculations.

COULD THE ANGEL APPEAR?

Pic from Marcos Ludevid and Variety

Distributor The Orchard has acquired the rights to El Angel.  The film debuted at Cannes to reasonable critical response as a part of the Un Certain Regard section.  The Orchard brought Pablo Larrain's Neruda to Telluride in 2016 so that suggests it's a possibility.  

On the other hand, I was really confident that BPM, which The Orchard distributed last year, was going to make a Telluride play and was very, very wrong.

Variety's Brett Lang reported the acquisition on Thursday.

That's your MTFB for this Monday.  I'll be back tomorrow as we begin dissecting the offerings from the distributors that most often play Telluride.  Starting with the most frequent player: Sony Pictures Classics.

Bye now...

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