Looking Toward the Fall / More of the Critics' View from France / The Goldfinch Trailer, Stills, Poster

Good Thursday to you faithful readers...and everyone else as well.


LOOKING TOWARD THE FALL

Jordan Ruimy wrote a piece on his website World of Reel this week focusing on films that he thinks are in the mix to play one or more of the triumvirate of film festivals of late August-early September-i.e. Telluride, Venice and Toronto.

The list has expanded over the past couple of days as Jordan solicited input from readers and as I punch the publish to publish this morning the list has over four dozen possibilities.

I took a look at them and, based on history and/or distribution, these are the films that seem most likely from Jordan's list to make the TFF #46 SHOW.  I have listed them here in the order that Jordan has them on his original listing and with the numbering he has used:

8) A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood/Heller/TriStar-Sony
10) Lucy in the Sky/Hawley/Fox Searchlight
11) Nomadland/Zhao/Fox Searchlight
14) Dry Run/Haynes/Focus Features
18) Little Women/Gerwig/Columbia-Sony
24) Antlers/Cooper/Fox Searchlight
31) Against All Enemies/Andrews/Amazon Studios
32) Motherless Brooklyn/Norton/Warner Bros.
39) The Truth/Kore-eda/No current U.S. distribution
40) Ema/Larrain/No current U.S. distribution
41) Bergman Island/Hansen-Love/No current U.S. distribution
50) Radioactive/Satrapi/Amazon Studios

Of course there are numerous others in the list that could play or that I'd like to see on the list when it's released: Scorsese's The Irishman, Waititi's Jojo Rabbit, Gray's Ad Astra, Crowley's The Goldfinch to name a few.

The other note here is that Ruimy's list are all films that have yet to premiere.  He does not include films from Berlin or Cannes that could be a pert of the TFF program.

Ruimy's complete list of films is linked here.


MORE OF THE CRITICS' VIEWS FROM CANNES

Having linked Reini Urban's critical compilation for the films from Cannes quite a bit the last couple of weeks, I took a suggestion from a reader via the comments section and decided to relay critical reactions that had been put together by other sources.

The specifically mentioned critical review of the Palme competition films was from David Hudson writing for The Criterion Collection.  You can find that here.


Additionally, Eric Kohn at Indiewire put together the critical reception from 50 or so critics.  The Indiewire group chose Bong Joon-ho's Parasite as the best film as, of course, did the jury.

The article with the top five vote-getters in four categories: Best Film (Parasite), Direction (Sciamma/Portrait of a Lady on Fire), Screenplay (Parasite) and First Film (Atlantics).

The Indiewire critics article is linked here.

Among the critics included were a few who have participated in my annual collection of responses from industry types following TFF: including Kohn/Indiewire, Anne Thompson/Indiewire, Peter DeBruge/Variety, Gregory Ellwood/The Playlist and David Ehrlich/Indiewire.


THE GOLDFINCH TRAILER, STILLS, POSTER

The folks at Warner Bros. and Amazon have started rolling out the publicity for John Crowley's The Goldfinch based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Donna Tartt.  Appearing this week were stills, a poster and a teaser trailer which is here from YouTube:

Additionally stills were released for the film which first appeared at USA Today:

And finally we saw a teaser poster for the film as well.  Here that is from Awards Watch:

The Goldfinch is set for U.S. release on Sept. 13th.


That's today's version of MTFB.  I'll be back with more on Monday.

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Cannes’ Award Winners and Telluride 2019 / The Critical Final from Cannes

Welcome to today’s post Cannes MTFB...


CANNES AWARD WINNERS AND TELLURIDE 2019

The 72nd iteration of the Cannes Film Festival is in the books with the announcement of award winners Saturday night.  Taking the 2019 Palme d’Or was Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite.  The film was critically heralded and was considered among the favorites to win the top prize as the festival moved along.

Other Cannes awards presented by the competition jury led by this year’s president- Alejandro Inarritu- included:

Grand Prix: Atlantics
Jury Prize (tie): Les Miserables and Bacurau
Best Actress: Emily Beecham/Little Joe
Best Actor: Antonio Banderas/Pain and Glory
Best Director: Jean Pierre Dardennes and Luc Dardennes/Young Ahmed
Best Screenplay: Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Special Mention: It Must Be Heaven
Camera d’Or: Our Mothers

Honestly, my guess had been that Pedro Almodovar’s Pain and Glory would win the Palme.  Also, no glory for Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood which was a bit surprising given that it was probably the "biggest" film in the competition and also it was also the 25th anniversary of Pulp Fiction winning the Palme.

Also, a shutout for Terrence Malick’s generally well-received A Hidden Life was a bit of a surprise.
So, what are the TFF #46 chances for some of the winners?

First a reminder that winning the Palme itself is no guarantee that a film lands at Telluride.  Another reminder is that Cannes and T-ride share, on average, 7-8 titles each year but those titles can and do come from across all of the different sections of the Cannes fest.

Last year’s Palme winner, Shoplifters did play TFF but before that you have to go back to 2013’s Blue Is the Warmest Colour.

Other recent Palme winners that have played Telluride include:

Amour in 2012
The White Ribbon in 2009
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days in 2007
The Child in 2005
That's six Palme winners in the last 14 years...

So, history suggests that Parasite’s Palme win doesn’t mean a TFF berth and seems to imply it may be less likely to be programmed.  Additionally, as Bong hasn’t been a presence at T-ride before, that also diminished its chances.

Boosting its TFF profile, however, is its very positive critical reception (see below) and its U.S. distributor: Neon which has been a recent presence at TFF with Border and The Biggest Little Farm screening last year.

I also feel like the directing win for the Dardennes (and their past with T-ride) probably boosted the chances for Young Ahmed.  I suspect Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Les Miserables might have a Telluride future as a result of the attention they received in France.

From other sections perhaps The Lighthouse and The Climb will make the Telluride program.

Here are some links to coverage of this year’s Cannes winners:

Variety

The Hollywood Reporter

Indiewire

The Playlist



THE CRITICAL FINAL FROM CANNES

As I have done for many years now, I've been tracking the critical consensus for films screening as a part of the 72nd Cannes Film Fest through the work of Reini Urban who compiles an incredibly exhaustive list of the critics' takes on films that play throughout every part of the of the French fest.

Now that Cannes #72 is in the rear view mirror here is some of what his work reveals...

First that the top critics' choice won the top prize (and I don't recall that happening before).  Bong Joon-ho's Parasite won the Palme this past weekend and lead all films in all sections in the combined critical summation with an 8.77 rating on a scale of 10 (with over 400 reviews counted).  That's mind blowing.

The runner-up?  Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse which won the FIPRESCI critics' award.  It had an 8.63 combined raring.  Third was Pedro Almodovar's Pain and Glory.

The complete listing of Urban's critical compilation is linked here.



I'll have more on Thursday.

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The New Malick at TFF #46? / The Critics at Cannes /Coming Soon

Hope that your week has been going well.  It's Thursday!

THE NEW MALICK AT TFF #46?

Like a lot of the film community, I've been keeping an eye on the latest film, A Hidden Life,  from auteur Terrence Malick for...well...a long time.  News appeared this week that might nudge its chances of playing at Telluride a bit closer to a reality.

Fox Searchlight acquired the film for U.S. distribution after its play in Cannes.  The film was reportedly acquired for somewhere between $12-14 million.  

The anticipation at this point is that Searchlight will likely position the film for a fall release, plays at a fall fest or fests and campaign it as an awards contender.

Malick is notoriously reclusive and his previous Telluride brief, as best as I can sniff it out, came in 1998 as a producer for the film Endurance (IMDb link here).

Fox Searchlight's participation certainly doesn't hurt the films chances of playing at TFF #46 as the distributor has become a frequent presence in the San Juans over Labor Day weekend.  Last year Searchlight was at the fest with Can You Ever Forgive Me, The Favourite and The Old Man and the Gun.  In 2017, FS screened The Shape of Water at TFF #44 which, of course, went on to capture the Oscar for Best Picture.  Searchlight has also has Best Picture wins in the last decade with 12 Years a Slave and Birdman both of which also played the Telluride fest.

So...this week's acquisition activity probably bumps up the chances that A Hidden Life makes its way to southwest Colorado in about thee months.

THE CRITICS AT CANNES

Checking in with Reini Urban's collection of critical responses to the films that have been screening this last week-plus at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival.

With just a few days left before awards are handed out Bong Joon-Ho's Parasite sits atop the overall critical reception.  The film boasts a cumulative 8.57 rating on a scale of 10 (with over 200 critics counted) making it not only the highest rated film of the Palme competitors but the top rated film when all categories are considered.

Parasite has U.S. distribution from a relative newcomer on the scene: Neon.  Despite its youth, Neon has been well represented at Telluride the past few years with The B Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography (2016), Border (2018) and The Biggest Little Farm (2018) all making the TFF lineup so Parasite becomes a serious potential TFF #46 film.

Other notes from the critical compilation: 3 other Palme competing films are in the critics top ten at the moment.  That includes Almodovar's Pain and Glory (8.43 at #3) , Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire (7.76 at #6) and Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood (7.57 at #9).

Robert Eggers The Lighthouse is at #2 with a 8.48 rating.  The Lighthouse is being distributed domestically by A24.  Aside from the Tarantino film which with be released in the U.S. on July 26th, the other four films have a shot at Telluride.

Other Cannes films that I've taken note of as potential TFF choices and their critical response at this point include:

Young Ahmed/Dardennes- 5.47
A Hidden Life/Malick- 6.93
Matthias and Maxime/Dolan 5.84
Frankie/Sachs 5.53
Joan of Arc/Dumont 6.30
Port Authority/Lessovitz 5.56
Diego Maradona/Kapadia 7.11
Family Romance/Herzog 5.95
The Climb/Covino 6.76

A rating above 6.0 is generally regarded as good to great but hasn't necessarily been a determinative factor regarding whether TFF programs a Cannes film.


The Palme and other awards will be announced tomorrow and Saturday.

The Urban critical compilation is linked here.


COMING SOON

Still of Sarah Paulson in The Goldfinch (from IMDb)

Anton Volkov's Trailer Track website says we're about to get the first trailer for John Crowley's The Goldfinch.  Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, the film stars Nicole Kidman, Sarah Paulson and Ansel Engort. 

The film is set for U.S. release on Sept. 13th and is distributed by Warner Bros with Amazon Studios distributing worldwide and also acting as a production company for the film.

All of this means that it's a TFF #46 possibility.

Stay tuned for the trailer.

That's it for today.  Come back Monday for a look at Cannes awards results and if that menas anything for Labor Day weekend.


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Dispatches from Cannes / Interviews: Herzog, Dern and Chester

Good Monday friends of film...

DISPATCHES FROM CANNES

The 72nd Cannes Film Festival has essentially reached its halfway mark with the Palme d’Or and other awards set to be handed out this weekend.


In its first week the critics have given big boosts to Pedro Almodovar's Pain and Glory, Bong Joon-ho's Parasite and Xavier Dolan's Matthias and Maxime among others.  Early critical reaction has also very favorable for Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.


Here’s the link to the largest online compilation of the critical response to the films from Cannes thus far.



MULTIPLE INTERVIEWS

Lots of interviews from people that either have films out or coming out that played TFF #45 or are involved with the current edition of Cannes:


WERNER HERZOG/FAMILY ROMANCE LLC

Scott Roxborough for The Hollywood Reporter talks to Werner Herzog whose film Family Romance LLC is playing as a part of the Cannes Fest as a special screening.


The interview is here.


LAURA DERN/TRIAL BY FIRE

Katie Kilkenny does an interview for The Hollywood Reporter with Oscar nominee Laura Dern talking about her new film that played at TFF #45.  That's ed Zwick's Trial by Fire which also stars Jack O'Connell.

The interview with Dern is Linked here.



JOHN CHESTER/BIG LITTLE FARM

Joshua Encinias writing for The Film Stage talks with John Chester for of Big Little Farm.  The documentary played at TFF #45 and made a big impression on everyone who I talked to who had seen it.

That interview is here.


More to come on Thursday.

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Moving Image from A Hidden Life / The Burns' Country Tour Continues / Coppola's Megalopolis Edges Closer

Hello on this Thursday...


MOVING IMAGE FROM A HIDDEN LIFE


We got our first video image of Terrence Malick's latest film this week.  A Hidden Life is set to compete for the coveted Palme d"or at Cannes' 72nd Film Festival with its premiere screening scheduled for Sunday night.

A Hidden Life (previously called Radegund) tells the story of a young Austrian who is punished by the Nazi regime in World War II for claiming to be a conscientious objector.

The Film Stage linked the teaser, and it is only a teaser as it runs a meager 15 seconds.  Here it is via YouTube:

Here's the link to The Film Stage story.



THE BURNS' COUNTRY TOUR CONTINUES

You have to hand it Ken Burns and his production company, Florentine Films.  They have been very busy promoting his upcoming multi-part documentary called Country Music for a while now.

That has extended to a recent interview with Melissa Newman for Billboard that was up this week.

Burns discusses a wide range of topics concerning the 16+ hour, eight episode mini-series that will run in its entirety over two weeks in September (following TFF #46) on PBS.

The dating of the initial PBS screening works well to anticipate Burns' return to Telluride and also that there is a reasonable chance that at least some of the documentary will screen as a part of  the film fest.

Here's the link to the Billboard interview.


COPPOLA'S MEGALOPOLIS EDGES CLOSER

80 year old American film master Francis Ford Coppola continues work on his latest passion project.  Megalopolis has been on Coppola's mind for decades and was derailed, at least in part, by the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

The latest news this week was that Coppola has actively moved into the casting phase for the project and the two names being dangled in a number of outlets were Jude Law and Shia LaBeouf..

More details are linked here via The Playlist.


That's the MTFB for today.  More to come on Monday.

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So Many Trailers and Teasers: Judy / Frankie / Family Romance LLC / Diego Maradona / New Images from A Hidden Life

Welcome back from the weekend and Mother's Day...hope all the mothers had a swell day.

SO MANY TRAILERS AND TEASERS

With the 72nd Cannes Film Fest opening tomorrow a number of films that will be screening dropped video over the weekend some of which are potential Telluride entrants.  Also appearing was a trailer for the non-Cannes film Judy starring Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland.  So today's post is largely devoted to connecting TFF fans with some of those trailers all of which are linked here via YouTube.

JUDY

Judy is set to be released Sept 27th from Roadside Attractions which was last at Telluride in 2017 with the Oscar winning (Best Actor and Original Screenplay) Manchester by the Sea.

Along with the trailer, linked here's a story about its release from: Indiewire.

FRANKIE

Ira Sachs' family drama is set to play Cannes a week from today as a part of the Palme d'Or competitive slate.  The film stars Isabelle Huppert, Brendan Gleeson, Greg Kinnear and Marisa Tomei.  Huppert was a TFF tribute recipient in 1986.

The film currently has no U.S. distributor or release date.

Here's the trailer:

And an accompanying story from The Playlist.

FAMILY ROMANCE LLC

Family Romance from Werner Herzog is also playing Cannes out of competition and is scheduled to screen Saturday night.  The film is set in Japan and IMDb says it is about " A man is hired to impersonate the father of a  young girl".

Here's the trailer:

And an story about the trailer and film from The Hollywood News.

DIEGO MARADONA

And finally a trailer for the documentary Diego Maradona about the life of the world renowned soccer player from director Asif Kapadia.  The film comes from HBO and is set for release in the U.S. on Sept. 24th putting it in a sweet spot to screen at either Telluride, Toronto or both.

Here is its trailer:

And a story about the trailer and the doc from our friend Alex Billington and FirstShowing.net.

Diego Maradona screens at Cannes on the 19th.

NEW IMAGES FROM A HIDDEN LIFE

While we don't have a trailer release for Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life, we do have a peek at new stills from the film that is scheduled to screen at Cannes in Palme competition on the 19th.

Here's a look a some of those images from The Film Stage:

See more of the pics from The Film Stage here.

A Hidden Life tells the true story of an Austrian World War II conscientious objector who refused to serve for the Nazis.  The film is seeking U.S. distribution and a subsequent domestic release date.

And for those that are interested...here's the link to the official schedule for Cannes.

There's your Monday MTFB.  I'll have more on Thursday and coming next Monday a first look at the critical reaction to the first week of Cannes' films.

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More on Ad Astra / Pierre Rissient: One Year Gone / Indiewire's 15 Anticipated Cannes Films

Hello all on this Thursday...

MORE ON AD ASTRA

In my Monday post I passed along the story that Disney/Fox looked like they were going to push James Gray's space drama, Ad Astra, into the fall schedule from its previously announced release date of May 24th.

Well, it didn't take long for that uncertainty to dissipate as multiple sources reported on Tuesday that Ad Astra's new release date will be Sept. 24th. That likely means some premiere at Venice, Toronto and/or Telluride.  New York is removed from consideration as it will run from Sept 28th to Oct. 14th.

Zack Sharf writing for Indiewire specifically suggests that the film's chances at playing one or more of the fests has increased saying: "The move most likely means that Disney will target a launch for the drama at the fall film festivals, be it Venice, Telluride or TIFF."

Ad Astra stars Brad Pitt as an astronaut who goes searching for his father (Tommy Lee Jones) who was also an astronaut but who has been missing for years.

The Sharf story from Indiewire is here.

PIERRE RISSIENT: ONE YEAR GONE

Telluride favorite Pierre Rissient died a year ago ( May 5, 2018) and earlier this week Scott Foundas, who is now an executive for Amazon Studios and who has had a significant past with TFF, wrote a tribute on the one year anniversary of Rissient's passing that appeared this week.

That tribute appeared at Cinema Scope (cinema-scope.com) and you can find that piece linked here.

Foundas is currently credited as the Executive in charge of Production for Amazon's Radioactive from director Marjane Satrapi (Perspolis) which could be a film in the conversation for a spot at TFF #46.

INDIEWIRE'S 15 ANTICIPATED CANNES' FILMS

This week the folks at Indiewire put together a  list of 15 films that are about to premiere over the next couple of weeks at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival.

The article and complete list are linked here.

On their list are a number of films that I think have a chance of making the TFF #46 lineup including:

Family Romance, LLC (Herzog)

Frankie (Sachs)

A Hidden Life (Malick)

The Lighthouse (Eggers)

The Cannes Fest opens on Tuesday evening with Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die.

That's today's MTFB.  More on Monday.

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Ad Astra Flies Back Into Consideration / Frankie: SPC Has It and Some Images

The first weekend of May 2019 is in the books.  Hope you had a good one!

AD ASTRA FLIES BACK INTO CONSIDERATION

I've had James Gray's Ad Astra on the radar for quite some time.  The film combines high concept and prestige plus a notable cast (Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, Ruth Negga) to have created quite a  stir.  Also creating a stir has been its shifting release dates.  At one point it was set for a Jan. 2019 release and its latest official release date has been May 24th.  That date will also reportedly go by the wayside according to a number of sources over the past few days and I mention that here because the scuttlebutt now is that Disney/Fox has settled on a fall release for the film which may well include the fall festivals.  

"Fall Festivals" usually refers to Venice, Toronto, New York and, of course, Telluride.  Gregory Ellwood writing at The Playlist reported that "it's likely that Fox will aim for a Venice debut" which would make a good deal of sense...and perhaps the film would follow what has become a not uncommon move of transferring directly from Venice to Telluride.  The Shape of Water, Gravity, Birdman and La La Land have all been recent travelers of that path.

The Ellwood article is linked here.

I, for one, am pleased that this film is back in the conversation and will be looking over the summer for other clues about its ultimate fate regarding where it play and if that could include TFF #46.

FRANKIE: SPC HAS IT AND SOME IMAGES

Ahead of its premiere at Cannes in the next week or two came news late last week that Ira Sachs' Frankie starring former TFF Tribute recipient Isabelle Huppert has been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics.  SPC's claim moves Frankie right into consideration for possible TFF #46 inclusion.  SPC has historically had a very solid relationship with TFF.  As a matter of fact, it has been the strongest distributor relationship with TFF over the near decade and a half I have been attending.

Last year was a bit of an aberration as SPC only had Ralph Fiennes' The White Crow in the TFF lineup.  In the 2017, more characteristically, SPC had five films on the TFF #45 program: Fantastic Woman, Loveless, The Rider, Foxtrot and Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool.  Over my time at TFF, SPC has averaged 4.4 films per year.

Penelope Cruz in Pedro Almodovar's Pain and Glory

I honestly expect SPC to be back at TFF with more than one film in 2019.  Perhaps Pedro Almodovar returns with a TFF film for the first time since 2006's Volver with his Cannes entry Pain and Glory?  Could we see the documentary about John  Prine (John Prine; Hello In There)?  Or the Clive Owen, Tim Roth starrer The Song of Names?

And who knows what SPC might acquire in the next couple of months as a result of Cannes?

Both The Film Stage and Deadline have stories about the SPC acquisition of Frankie as well as numerous images released prior to its Cannes' bow.  You can find The Film Stage story here and the Deadline story here.

Done for Monday.  More on Thursday.

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The Best of the Decade and Telluride / Could 44 Someday Be at TFF? / No New Apocalypse Now for TFF #46

Good Thursday everyone...Happy May!


THE BEST OF THE DECADE AND TELLURIDE

After having teased it for a couple of weeks, Jordan Ruimy of World of Reel published his compilation of over 250 film critics, bloggers, programmers, distributors, academics and the like after asking them "What are the best films of the 2010's?".  Participants were told to name five in no order of preference.

The best film of the decade?  Drum roll please...George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road.

Jordan was kind enough to have invited me to participate.  Three of the films that made my final list of five made it into the final top 25.  My final five were (in alpha order): 12 Years a Slave, Birdman, Inside Llewyn Davis, A Separation and Shame.

On the final top 20 in Jordan's poll A Separation finished #9, Inside Llewyn Davis was $10 and 12 Years a Slave was #21.

As you might expect, Telluride Film Fest film's were all over the list.  Jordan ran a more comprehensive list of the top 75 and TFF films that made the cut included:

#3 Moonlight
#7 Roma
#9 A Separation
#10 Inside Llewyn Davis
#12 Under the Skin
#13 Carol
#14 Toni Erdmann
#20 The Act of Killing
#21 12 Years a Slave
#23 La La Land
#26 Amour
#26 (tie) Ida
#35 Blue Is the Warmest Color
Six films tied at #41: Son of Saul, The Turin Horse, The Rider, Manchester by the Sea, Leviathan, First Reformed
#53 Faces Places
Four films tied at #58: Gravity, Stories We Tell, The Other Side of the Wind, Foxtrot
Two films tied at #70: The Look of Silence and Frances Ha.


That's an astounding 26 films of the top 75.  That also means that roughly 10% of the TFF schedule over the last nine years is on the list.

Here's my original list of 20 films to start with that I published back on April 11th:

2010- True Grit
2011- The Tree of Life, Shame, A Separation
2012- Lincoln, The Life of Pi
2013- 12 Years a Slave, Nebraska, Inside Llewyn Davis
2014- Birdman, Foxcatcher, The Grand Budapest Hotel
2015- Son of Saul, Spotlight, Mad Max: Fury Road
2016- Moonlight, La La Land
2017- Lady Bird, Dunkirk
2018- Roma


Making Ruimy's list of 75 from my top 20:

2011: The Tree of Life, A Separation
2013: 12 Years a Slave, Inside Llewyn Davis
2014: The Grand Budapest Hotel
2015: Son of Saul, Mad Max: Fury Road
2016: Moonlight, La La Land
2017: Dunkirk
2018: Roma


Finally, the massive list of respondents to Ruimy's poll included industry professionals who have been a part of my annual poll of professionals following the conclusion of TFF:

Nick Allen/RogerEbert.com
Alex Billington/FirstShowing.net
Peter DeBruge/Variety
Gregory Ellwood/The Playlist
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Mark Johnson/Awards Circuit
Eric Kohn/Indiewire



Others of note:

Erik Anderson/Awards Watch
David Ansen/Newsweek
Drake Doremus/Film Director
Pete Hammond/Deadline
Monte Hellman/Film Director
Peter Howell/The Toronto Star
Annette Insdorf/Columbia Film School
Dave Karger/TCM
Eric Lavallee/Ioncinema
Rod Lurie/Film Director
Joey Magidson/Awards Circuit
Matt Neglia/Next Best Picture
Tom O'Neil/Gold Derby
David Poland/Movie City News
Steve Pond/The Wrap
Cedric Succivelli/International Cinephile Society
Jeff Wells/Hollywood Elsewhere

Ruimy's entire post is linked here.


COULD 44 SOMEDAY BE AT TFF?

I have wondered since it was announced nearly a year ago what the Barrack and Michelle Obama might produce as a part of their development deal with Netflix and as of a couple of days ago; it appears we have our first set of answers.

Vice reported earlier this week that Obamas have seven projects in development.  They include television series, documentaries and a feature film centered on the life of Frederick Douglass.

Of particular note in terms of a possible Telluride play are the documentary Crip Camp which focuses on a camp for disabled kids that was founded in the late 1960's as well as Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom which is very early in its development.

The Vice story and a complete rundown of the seven projects is here.



NO NEW APOCALYPSE NOW FOR TFF #46

I speculated in Monday's MTFB post that the latest version of Apocalypse Now (dubbed "The Final Cut") which screened at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this week might make an appearance at TFF #46.  That speculation seems to have taken a hit since Monday as multiple outlets have reported that the film will be released in theaters on Aug. 15th.

There is a newly cut teaser for this final version.  Here that is via YouTube:

And the story from SlashFilm is linked here.



That's your MTFB for this Thursday.  I'll have more on Monday.


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

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