Early Notes

EARLY NOTES

My view this morning:

Plan for Friday--

Grab pass and lanyard

Stop at Brigadoon

Food

Press meet up

Patron screening

Din Din

Evening Films...leaning to Roma and the Cuaron tribute...maybe Destroyer...

More later

TFF #45 Lineup Announced / Useful Info for Some of the Films Announced Today / Who's # 1?

TFF #45 LINEUP ANNOUNCED

45th Telluride Film Festival is proud to present the following new feature films to play in its main program:

·       ANGELS ARE MADE OF LIGHT (d. James Longley, U.S.-Denmark-Norway, 2018)

·       BE NATURAL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ALICE GUY-BLACHÉ (d. Pamela E. Green, U.S., 2018)

·       BIRDS OF PASSAGE (d. Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego, Colombia-Denmark-Mexico, 2018)

·       BORDER (d. Ali Abbasi, Sweden, 2018)

·       BOY ERASED (d. Joel Edgerton, U.S., 2018)

·       CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? (d. Marielle Heller, U.S., 2018)

·       COLD WAR (d. Pawel Pawlikowski, Poland-France-U.K., 2018)

·       DESTROYER (d. Karyn Kusama, U.S., 2018)

·       DOGMAN (d. Matteo Garrone, Italy-France, 2018)

·       DOVLATOV (d. Aleksei German, Russia-Poland-Serbia, 2018)

·       FIRST MAN (d. Damien Chazelle, U.S., 2018)

·       FISTFUL OF DIRT (d. Sebastián Silva, U.S., 2018)

·       FREE SOLO (d. Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, U.S., 2018)

·       GHOST FLEET (d. Shannon Service and Jeffrey Waldron, U.S., 2018)

·       GIRL (d. Lukas Dhont, Belgium-Netherlands, 2018)

·       GRAVES WITHOUT A NAME (d. Rithy Panh, France-Cambodia, 2018)

·       MEETING GORBACHEV (d. Werner Herzog and André Singer, U.K.-U.S.-Germany, 2018)

·       NON FICTION (d. Olivier Assayas, France, 2018)

·       PETERLOO (d. Mike Leigh, U.K., 2018)

·       REVERSING ROE (d. Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, U.S., 2018)

·       ROMA (d. Alfonso Cuarón, U.S.-Mexico, 2018)

·       SHOPLIFTERS (d. Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan, 2018)

·       THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM (d. John and Molly Chester, U.S., 2018)

·       THE FAVOURITE (d. Yorgos Lanthimos, Ireland-U.K.-U.S., 2018)

·       THE FRONT RUNNER (d. Jason Reitman, U.S., 2018)

·       THE GREAT BUSTER (d. Peter Bogdanovich, U.S., 2018)

·       THE OLD MAN & THE GUN (d. David Lowery, U.S., 2018)

·       THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND (d. Orson Welles, U.S., 1976/2018)

·       THE WHITE CROW (d. Ralph Fiennes, U.K., 2018)

·       THEY’LL LOVE ME WHEN I’M DEAD (d. Morgan Neville, U.S., 2018)

·       TRIAL BY FIRE (d. Ed Zwick, U.S., 2018)

·       WATERGATE – OR, HOW WE LEARNED TO STOP AN OUT-OF-CONTROL PRESIDENT (d. Charles Ferguson, U.S., 2018)

·       WHITE BOY RICK (d. Yann Demange, U.S., 2018)

USEFUL INFO FOR SOME OF THE FILMS ANNOUNCED TODAY


Here's a partial list of films announced this morning as part of the TFF #45 lineup with a trailer and an IMDb link (in alphabetical order):

BOY ERASED

Dir: Joel Edgerton
Main Cast: Lukas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Joel Edgerton
Release date: Nov. 2
Distrib: Focus Features

Trailer:

Boy Erased IMDb link

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?

Dir: Marielle Heller

Main Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant

Release date: Oct. 19

Distrib: Fox Searchlight

Trailer: 

Can You Ever Forgive Me? IMDb link


COLD WAR

Dir: Pawel Pawlikowski
Main Cast:Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot
Release date: Dec. 21
Distrib: Amazon
Trailer:

Cold War IMDb link


DESTROYER

Dir: Karyn Kuwasa
Main Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sebastian Stan
Release date: Dec. 25
Distrib: Annapurna
Trailer: Unavailable

Destroyer IMDb link


THE FAVOURITE

Dir: Yorgos Lanthimos
Main Cast: Olivia Colman, Rachel Wiesz, Emma Stone
Release date: Nov. 23
Distrib: Fox Searchlight
Trailer:

The Favourite IMDb link

FIRST MAN

Dir: Damien Chazelle

Main Cast: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy

Release date: Oct. 12

Distrib: Universal 

Original Trailer:

New Trailer as of yesterday:

First Man IMDb link

THE FRONT RUNNER

Dir: Jason Reitman

Main Cast: Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga

Release date: Nov. 21

Distrib: Columba/Stage 6

Trailer:Unavailable

The Front Runner IMDb link

GIRL

Dir: Lukas Dhont

Main cast: Victor Polster

Release date: Nov. 16

Distrib: Netflix

Trailer:  

Girl IMDb link

NON-FICTION

Dir: Olivier Assayas

Main Cast: Juliette Binoche, Guillaume Canet

Release date: TBD

Distrib: Sundance Selects

Trailer: Unavailable

THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN

Dir: David Lowery

Main Cast: Robert Redford, Sissy Spacek, Casey Affleck

Release date: Sept. 28

Distrib: Fox Searchlight

Trailer:

The Old Man & the Gun IMDb link


THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND

Dir: Orson Welles
Main Cast: John Huston, Peter Bogdanovich
Release date: Nov. 2
Distrib: Netflix
Trailer:

The Other Side of the Wind IMDb link


PETERLOO

Dir: Mike Leigh
Main cast: Rory Kinnear
Release date: Nov. 9
Distrib: Amazon
Trailer:

Peterloo IMDb link

ROMA

Dir: Alfonso Cuaron

Main cast: Yalitza Aparicio

Release date: Oct. 5

Distrib: Netflix

Trialer: 

Roma IMDb link


SHOPLIFTERS

Dir: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Main cast: Lily Franky, Kirin Kiki
Release date: Nov. 23
Distrib: Magnolia
Trailer:

Shoplifters IMDb link


WHITE BOY RICK

Dir: Yann Demange
Main cast: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Release date: Sept. 14
Distrib: Columbia
Trailer:

White Boy Rick IMDb link


WHO'S #1?

You may or may not have seen a post from Awards Circuit yesterday that linked to their YouTube account.  If you did not, they rank the world's most important film festivals in as far as awards season is concerned.

No spoilers but...

Here's that video:

I'm out...almost literally...we hit the road to T-ride in about two hours... Hoping to see some of you tonight.

Next post will be Friday morning with a view toward what I'll be planning to see and do...

Then check back throughout the weekend for TBAs and reactions to the films that I see.

IT'S FINALLY HERE!

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

WEDNESDAY MTFB SPECIAL: The FINAL 25 Bets for TFF #45 / A New Film to Consider / Surveying the Landscape

WEDNESDAY MTFB SPECIAL: THE FINAL 25 BETS FOR TFF #45

Here we are the day before the actual reveal of the 2018 Telluride Film Fest lineup.  Consequently, here is my final list of 25 films I expect will make the list when it's announced tomorrow morning:


1) The Favourite
2) The Old Man and the Gun***
3) Roma
4) First Man
5) Destroyer***
6) The Front Runner***
7) Boy Erased***
8) Can You Ever Forgive Me?***
9) Shoplifters
10) Cold War
11) The Other Side of the Wind
12) White Boy Rick***
13) Dogman
14) Peterloo
15) Non-Fiction
16) Meeting Gorbachev
17) Free Solo
18) Graves Without a Name
19) Birds of Passage
20) Girl
21) Watergate
22) Angels Are Made of Light
23) The White Crow***
24) They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
25) Ghost Fleet

***designates film's first screening should it play Telluride (and I'm still relatively confident there will be at least one more)

Other films still in play:

The Biggest Little Farm, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, On the Basis of Sex, He Dreams of Giants, Nothing Like a Dame, The Aspern Papers, The Great Buster.

I'LL HAVE THE LINEUP POSTED TOMORROW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE... EXPECTING IT BETWEEN 9:00 AND 10:00 EDT


A NEW FILM TO CONSIDER

Peter Bogdanovich photo via IMDb

MTFB reader Dr. Jack Gindi dropped me an email a couple of days ago mentioning a film that he felt I should think about as a TFF #45 possibility.  That film: Peter Bogdanovich's The Great Buster.  It's a documentary about the great film comedian Buster Keaton.

Admittedly, I knew nothing of the film but told Jack I'd give a look and after a little review I can report that he could be onto something.

Largely because it's Bogdanovich, who, as the good doctor pointed out, will probably be in Telluride this week with the crew that's expected to land with the Orson Welles' final film The Other Side of the Wind.  Additionally, Bogdanovich has remained a member of the fests Board of Advisers.  Also, the film is being handles by the Cohen Media Group which has had a good history with T-ride (last year they had The Insult and Faces Places at TFF #44).

So, all things considered...The Great Buster sounds like something we should seriously consider making The SHOW this weekend.


SURVEYING THE LANDSCAPE

A lot of folks who specialize in Oscar prediction are  posting/publishing their takes prior to the beginning of the Fall Fest Trifecta of Telluride/Venice/Toronto.

I've included a link to a few.  A couple of them actually reference yours truly:

Kristopher Tapley/Variety

Sasha Stone/Awards Daily

Matt Neglia/Next Best Picture

Richard Lawson/Vanity Fair

Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit

You read all this and you'll have a really good perspective about what's coming down over next 2-3 weeks.

CONTACTS:

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

The Final 25 Bets for TFF #45 Will Be Posted Tomorrow / A New Attraction at MTFB / A TFF #45 Poster Appears / The Pros Are Lined Up / The People's Telluride

Good Tuesday to everyone.  If you're getting ready to head to Telluride...safe travels.  If you're already there...I'm a little jealous...


THE FINAL 25 BETS FOR TFF #45 WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW!

Make sure to catch a special Wednesday edition of Michael's Telluride Film Blog tomorrow as I will post the final 25 Bets for this year's lineup.


A NEW ATTRACTION AT MTFB

Over that last year and a half you have probably noticed that I have been periodically posting sections that review past Telluride Film Festivals.  The project started in April 2017 but it was spurred by a chance glance at TFF #43 (2016).

I was walking down Colorado Ave. on the way to a screening at The Zog and noticed an array of past TFF programs at the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art.  Every TFF program from #1 to #43 were in a window display there.  I pulled my camera out and started taking pics.

And I had an idea.  For a long I have had a page called "Selected TFF History" which thumbnails fests from the beginning.  Standing in front of that collection of programs, I thought that if a guy had access to those, he might be able to put together a more substantial historical review of TFF from the beginning and so a mission was born.

That mission has played out since April of 2017 with sporadic (in reverse chronological order) posts for each festival from 2005 back to 1974.  I chose to begin with 2005 because you can find links to every program from 2006 to the present at the official Telluride Film Fest site.

The next part of the mission is completed today as I have collected those posts into two separate pages.  If you'll look at the top of this post you'll see tabs for TFF for 1974-1995 and another for 1996-Present.

I've done my best to chronicle as many of the films that screened each year as well as Tributes, Guest Directors and the famous that were in attendance.  It's not meant to be an exhaustive accounting; simply more detailed than the "Select History".

Future plans include the addition of each new year's rundown and the addition of the years 2005 to the Present as more than the links to those programs at the TFF website.

I hope you find it useful and enjoyable from time to time.



A TFF #45 POSTER APPEARS

I posted it yesterday as a standalone but thought I'd better include it as a part of a regularly scheduled blogpost so here it is...the 2018 Telluride Film Festival poster:

I was alerted to the fact that the poster had appeared on the official Telluride Film Festival website yesterday afternoon via Twitter by MTFB reader J. Scott Pollard.  So this still of it comes directly from there rather than a result of a press release.

Additionally, if you click the link to purchase the poster you'll discover that the artist it Woody Pirtle.  Pirtle is a 74 year old artist who was born in Corsicana, TX according to his bio at his official website Pirtle Design.  The bio goes on to reveal that Pirtle's work has hung in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, The Library of Congress and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London among other institutions.  Pirtle was awarded the AIGA medal in 2003 and the Rome Prize in design in 2015.

THE PROS ARE LINED UP

I am happy to report that a number of industry professionals have agreed again this year to take part in Michael's Telluride Film Blog's critical appraisal of the films that will pay this week at the 45th Telluride Film Festival.

As I have asked that you readers do, I have these kind souls to rate the films that they see on a 1-5 scale.  I'll collate that data and then next week, after the fest is all over, I'll report back the average rating for a bunch of this year's crop.

This year's Pros include writers for Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Indiewire, Awards Daily, Awards Circuit, RogerEbert.com and ScriptMag. com among others.

I'll also include the Professional's data in The Composite Telluride which combines the ratings given by the Pros and The People.  Speaking of which...


THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

For the seventh consecutive year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

When the time comes, you can send those ratings to me in any of the following ways listed as contact info for me listed below.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

TFF #45 Poster Appears

New Trailer for The Old Man / Neil Simon 1927-2018 / Tribute Clues / Too Much of a Good Thing / Ahead This Week / The People's Telluride

Welcome back from the weekend.  What are you doing next weekend?


NEW TRAILER FOR THE OLD MAN

Fox Searchlight dropped a second trailer for David Lowery's The Old Man and the Gun starring Robert Redford in what he has said is his last acting job.

Here's the trailer from YouTube:

Additionally, here is coverage of the trailer's release from Indiewire and Awards Circuit.

As an aside, here is my plea to Fox Searchlight-whatever entourage you're bringing to Telluride in support of this film, please include Tom Waits.  That is all.

NEIL SIMON 1927-2018

Photo via Getty Images

Neil Simon died yesterday.  He was the pre-eminent voice for Broadway comedy in the 20th Century.  Read a lot of "Doc" Simon's plays.  Directed some.  Acted in some as well.  

He was a giant that deserved to be regarded as such.  This world is a darker place without him in it.

Exeunt Doc...and rest ye well...

TRIBUTE CLUES

                                      

Was contacted last night by a couple of faithful followers of the blog (you know who you are) who passed along the news that Tellurideinside.com had published the free screenings that will occur at the Able Gance outdoor theater on Wednesday and Thursday nights.  Long time TFF fans know that those screening choices each year generally point to Tribute recipients.

Wednesday night's screening is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  That film was directed by a guy named Alfonso Cuaron.

Thursday night's film is Crazy, Stupid Love which stars both Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone either of which might be a Tribute recipient this week (and bravo to TFF organizers for this selection that leaves us guessing still).  I suppose there's also a 2% chance that it could be Steve Carell and that Welcome to Marwen pops up in the T-ride lineup...but I really don't think that's going to happen.  Just like Julianne Moore (the fourth of the five stars in Crazy, Stupid, Love) might be a candidate if Gloria Bell was going to play TFF but as it is scheduled by Toronto as a World Premiere, that's not going to happen either.

I suppose it's not outside the realm of possibility that both Gosling AND Stone get Tributes.

Here's the story from Tellurideinside.com

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING...

As we get to this moment every year a number of people will ask what I'm most excited to see during the weekend.  I always admit a couple of things: I don't live in L.A. or N.Y. or any major metropolitan area...so I am always interested in films that I know won't make it to my small berg until late in the year if at all and, of course, I am very interested in films that may be part of the Oscar conversation so those two things tend to inform my list of films to see.  I will also have to admit that I can be swayed by the personalities that accompany a film.  And, just like many of you, my choices can and likely will shift through the course of the weekend based on what the buzz is in lines.

This year, more than most, my pre-fest preferences have shifted from week to week.  At the moment, these eight films are in a constantly evolving rotation with each other as to my "must sees" in alphabetical order: Boy Erased, Destroyer, The Favourite, First Man, The Front Runner, The Old Man and the Gun, The Other Side of the Wind and Roma.  That said, I'm also pretty hot for Cold War, Non-Fiction and Shoplifters.  

Ultimately, if you look at last week's Ten Bets, I'd like to get in the top 16 or so and I know that's impossible.  Also, there is another film, that, should it pop up as has been indicated to me, then I'd be compelled to add it.

AHEAD THIS WEEK

MTFB goes into Fest Week mode...

Tuesday's post will include something I've been working on for a year and a half.

Wednesday...will have a special posting of the FINAL TEN (25) BETS FOR TFF #45.

Thursday...I'll post the official lineup as soon as it drops with some extra content.

Friday through Monday...I'll post each day with schedules, TBAs and whatever else seems interesting.

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

For the seventh consecutive year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

When the time comes, you can send those ratings to me in any of the following ways listed as contact info for me listed below.

That's your Monday MTFB...more tomorrow...

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Ten (20) Bets for TFF #45 #9 / Damien Chazelle Talks First Man with THR / New Posters for The Favourite and Roma / The People's Telluride

It starts in a ONE WEEK!!!   Telluride 2018....


TEN (20) BETS FOR TELLURIDE #9

Here's your penultimate Ten Bets list for TFF 2018 beginning, as always with a review of last week's Ten (20) Bets:


1) The Old Man and the Gun
2) Roma
3) First Man
4) The Front Runner
5) Destroyer
6) The Favourite
7) Cold War
8) Dogman
9) Shoplifters
10) Can You Ever Forgive Me?
11) Non-Fiction
12) Boy Erased
13) White Boy Rick
14) Peterloo
15) The Other Side of the Wind
16) Meeting Gorbachev
17) Free Solo
18) Graves Without a Name
19) Birds of Passage
20) Girl

And now, the latest Ten (20) Bets:

1) The Front Runner
2) The Old Man and the Gun
3) First Man
4) Roma
5) Destroyer
6) The Favourite
7) Cold War
8) Can You Ever Forgive Me?
9) Shoplifters
10) Boy Erased
11) Non-Fiction
12) White Boy Rick
13) Dogman
14) Peterloo
15) The Other Side of the Wind
16) Meeting Gorbachev
17) Free Solo
18) Graves Without a Name
19) Birds of Passage
20) Girl

Other films still in play:

Angels Are Made of Light, The White Crow, Watergate, Ghost Fleet, They'll Love Me When I'm Dead, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, On the Basis of Sex, He Dreams of Giants, The Biggest Little Farm, Cheney (Backseat), Nothing Like a Dame, Mary Queen of Scots, The Aspern Papers.

I might mention here that I have heard via very, very hush-hush sources about two or three additional titles that are not listed anywhere above may pop up at Telluride.  I may be able tell you next week...maybe not. 




DAMIEN CHAZELLE TALKS FIRST MAN WITH THR

First Man director Damien Chazelle is basking in the spotlight of presenting the opening film for the Venice Film Festival, after which we are morally certain, he will wing his way to Colorado to screen the eagerly awaited film at TFF #45 (will he bring along the film's star Ryan Gosling?)

The Oscar winning director of La La Land offers up the true story of man's first moon landing through the lens of astronaut Neil Armstrong (who had strong roots in Telluride).  Other cast members who would be cool to see in T-ride include Corey Stoll who plays Buzz Aldrin, Claire Foy who is Armstrong's wife Janet and Kyle Chandler who plays Deke Slayton.

As a part of the run up to the big lift off for the film coming next week, The Hollywood Reporter has a huge feature on Chazelle this week.

The complete story is linked here.


NEW POSTERS FOR THE FAVOURITE AND ROMA

I have to admit that one of the films that I am most intrigued by among the list of films that I'm saying will play in Telluride next week is Yorgos Lanthimos' The Favourite.  The trailer looks interesting and I'm a sucker for Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz.

In addition to those factors is the claim from Indiewire's Anne Thompson a few days back that The Favourite might be the early favorite to win Best Picture.

Needless to say, it's on my list to catch next week in the mountains.

The film got a new international poster yesterday and here it is:

You have to admit...it is unique.

Also adding a new poster yesterday was another film that is getting huge buzz prior to screening at all four fall film fests (T-ride, TIFF, Venice and NYFF).  Alfonso Cuaron's Roma's new poster is spare but maybe that's the point:

Roma is also high on my list for next week.


THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

For the seventh consecutive year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

When the time comes, you can send those ratings to me in any of the following ways listed as contact info for me listed below.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

New Announcements Reveal Possibilities / Awards Daily's Comprehensive Review of Fests and Oscar Players / First Look at Nicole in Destroyer

Good Thursday everyone...we're just a week away from being on the road to Telluride. 


NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS REVEAL POSSIBILITIES

Since Tuesday's post we have seen new announcements from Fantastic Fest (its second wave), the New York Film Fest  and the last of Toronto's announcements.  Each has given us a few more tidbits to chew on.

New York's documentary announcements give us the most information of interest.  The NYFF announces with some films having NO premiere designation.  Those appear to be films that have had their U.S. premiere somewhere prior to New York's dates.  Three documentaries fit that criteria that also do not have any credited U.S. screening that I can find up to this point:  Angels Are Made of Light...which almost assuredly confirms it for Telluride after its earlier announcement for Toronto as a Canadian Premiere.

The other two are The Waldheim Waltz and Watergate.  Waldheim is from film maker Ruth Beckermann while Watergate is from Oscar winner (Inside Job) Charles Ferguson.  Ferguson has played Telluride in 2010.  Seems like Ferguson could well be returning to The SHOW.

Meanwhile, Toronto's last announcement left us with a couple of items of interest.  We know that Brady Corbet's Vox Lux starring Natalie Portman won't make the trip from Venice as TIFF lists it as a North American Premiere.  However, Lukas Dhont's Girl, which made a splash at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section, is all but confirmed for TFF #45 with its Canadian Premiere designation.

And Fantastic Fest announced Ali Abassi's Border as a Texas Premiere.  I had some confusion a couple of weeks back when the L.A. Film Fest announced it (prior to its inclusion later by Toronto) as a "California Premiere" rather than a U.S. Premiere and thought that made the film a pretty decent bet for T-ride.  Seems I was wrong.

I'll have all of this figured into tomorrow's post with a brand new Ten Bets that will probably be 20 films. 

Here are links to the latest news from the New York Film Festival (via Variety)

The Toronto International Film Festival

Fantastic Fest (from ComingSoon.net)




AWARDS DAILY'S COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF FESTS AND OSCAR PLAYERS

Yesterday my friend Sasha Stone of Awards Daily posted a substantial piece detailing what film festivals have what films and which seem to be playing that are probable Oscar contenders.  The piece is quite informative and, to blow my own horn here, the Telluride section includes a fairly significant chunk of MTFB.

Here's the link.

And my thanks to Sasha for including my work on her website.


FIRST LOOK AT NICOLE IN DESTROYER


You probably saw it all over the web the last day or so.  I'm taking the photo of Nicole Kidman in character for her film Destroyer which we are relatively certain will be a part of the TFF #45 lineup when it's officially announced a week from today.  If you haven't seen it, take a gander:

Here's a woman going full Charlize Theron in Monster.

Kidman plays a former cop that attempts to correct a part of her past.  

Could this be the role that nets her a third Oscar?  Maybe.

Vanity Fair published the photo with an interview of the film's director Karyn Kusawa which you can find here.

That's your Thursday MTFB.  More tomorrow including the next to last Ten Bets for 2018.  The SHOW draws near!


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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

The First Telluride Film Festival-1974 / Tribute Odds / Indiewire's Fall Movie Preview / The People's Telluride

Good Tuesday everyone... Ten Days until the 45th Telluride Film Festival...



THE FIRST TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL-1974

The long developing TFF history project comes to a way station today with a review of the first Telluride Film Festival which occurred in Telluride on Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 1974.

I started this with a post on April 13, 2017 with a look at the 32nd TFF.  That was the starting point as you can still access programs for the festival beginning with the one from 2006 on the official Telluride Film Festival website.

I plan to add this style of history for each of those years soon.  Ultimately, I plan to add pages to the History section of this space by permanently placing all of my synopses there in full.  My goal is to have a one stop spot where anyone can access a somewhat expanded history of the fest.  That's going to drop next week just prior to the beginning of this year's fest.

So, though today is a milestone, it's still not the completion of the project.

That said, here's the review of TFF #1:

Tributes: Francis Ford Coppola, Gloria Swanson, Leni Riefenstahl

SHOWS:

BBC Interview with Leni Riefenstahl
The Blue Light
The Chinese in Paris
The Conversation
Das Stahltier
Don't Touch the White Woman
Finian's Rainbow
Olympia
Peau Danne
Queen Kelly
The Rain People
Rivers of Sand
Sadie Thompson
Solaris
Stage Struck
Sunset Boulevard
Sweet Movie
The Thief of Baghdad
Triumph of the Will
White Hell of Pitz Palu
Why Change Your Wife
You're a Big Boy Now

In addition to the tribute recipients, British actress Julie Christie was reported to have attended the festival.


TRIBUTE ODDS

As the picture continues to get clearer about probable films that will part of the TFF #45 program, I thought it might be time to return to the contemplation of who might be tribute recipients this year.

I touched on this topic in a post on July 31st and since then, we've added some more film titles that are probable for Telluride...most notably Destroyer with Nicole Kidman starring.

So...here are ten people would could be tributed and what I guessing their odds are:

1) Nicole Kidman/Destroyer and Boy Erased Odds-2 to 1.
2) Sissy Spacek/The Old Man and the Gun Odds 3 to 1.
3) Alfonso Cuaron/Roma Odds- 3 to 1
4) Juliette Binoche/Non-Fiction Odds - 4 to 1
5) Hugh Jackman/The Front Runner Odds-5 to 1
6) Matthew McConaughey/White Boy Rick Odds-5 to 1
7) Ryan Gosling/First Man Odds- 10 to 1
8) Hirokazu Kore-eda/Sholifters Odds- 15 to 1
9) Rachel Wiesz/The Favourite Odds-20 to 1
10) Guillaume Canet/Non-Fiction Odds 25 to 1

Runner-up-Olivier Assayas/Non-Fiction Odds 30 to 1


INDIEWIRE'S FALL MOVIE PREVIEW

The staff at Indiewire have put together their "awards contenders" list of 25 films for the fall film season and listed them chronologically by release date.

If the latest Ten Bets list from last Friday is accurate (and I think it's pretty accurate) then nine TFF #45 films made their list:

White Boy Rick- Sept. 21
The Old Man and the Gun- Sept. 28
First Man- Oct. 12
Boy Erased- Nov. 2
The Other Side of the Wind- Nov.2
Peterloo- Nov. 9
The Favourite- Nov. 23
Cold War- Dec. 21
Roma- undated but likely a December release

On the list of the Indiewire films that could still land at Telluride: Mary Queen of Scots (Dec. 7), Welcome to Marwen (Dec. 21), Adam McKay's untitled Dick Cheney film (Dec. 21), Ad Astra (Dec. 21) and On the Basis of Sex (Dec. 25)

Check out the entire list at Indiewire.


THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

For the seventh consecutive year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

When the time comes, you can send those ratings to me in any of the following ways listed as contact info for me listed below.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG