SPECIAL: NO NETFLIX FOR FALL FESTS
It is rare that I deviate from the publishing schedule for MTFB but this news justifies and additional post today. Anne Thompson at Indiewire has reported that Netflix has determined that they will be sending no films to any of the major fall fests Telluride included.
That report came late yesterday.
The news means that a number of high profile projects are no longer in play for TFF as well Venice, Toronto and New York.
Titles from Netflix that have been a part of the conversation: Mank, Hillbilly Elegy, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and White Tiger.
The news could impact Telluride considerably as Netflix has been a major presence at the fest over the last few years:
2015: Beasts of No Nation, Winer on Fire
2016: The Ivory Game, Into the Inferno
2017: First They Killed My Father, Wormwood
2018: Roma, Dovlatov, Girl, Reversing Roe, The Other Side of the Wind, They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
2019: Marriage Story, The Two Popes, Tell Me Who I Am, Inside Bill's Brain
Thompson's claim is pretty definitive as she writes:
"As awards groups adjust to the evolving post-pandemic reality, so will the studios. And the first up is everyone’s favorite Oscar insurgent, Netflix: While it will provide sponsorship for some major festivals in 2020, it’s not planning to send any of their films or talent to attend them."
Thompson's complete article is linked here.
Obsessing about the Telluride Film Festival and the film awards season since 2008! "The best Telluride predictor I know." -Sasha Stone, Awards Daily "The best blog out there for predicting what will be going to Telluride."-Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture "The Nostradamus of Telluride" -Tim Appelo, Movies for Grownups
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Hear the Jazz Go Down / Late Breaking: Variety Reports on Cannes / Poland Has Some Thoughts / New Doc from Morris
HEAR THE JAZZ GO DOWN
With apologies to Dire Straits for lifting the lyrics from Sultans of Swing to title this item...
The Telluride Jazz Festival announced that they will postpone until 2021. The Jazz Fest had been scheduled for Aug. 13-15 but will forgo 2020 altogether and opt to "wait until next year" according to a post on the Jazz fest's website.
The closing sentence reveals that the plan is to have the fest back on the same weekend in August of 2021.
The cancellation or postponement as the fest seems to prefer is worrisome from the Film Fest's perspective as Jazz takes place just a couple of weeks prior to Film. Comparing the two fests is not exact. The Jazz Fest is centered during each day at Town Park and Elks Park and then there are "After Dark" performances in a variety of venues around town. Nevertheless, despite some differences in terms of structure, the cancellation of the 2020 edition of Jazz Fest makes one take pause.
The announcement from Jazz Fest organizers is here.
LATE BREAKING: VARIETY REPORTS ON CANNES
Variety's Elsa Keslassy posted a story early this morning with a number of interesting reveals about the Cannes Film Festival.
- Cannes will announce their list of 50 or so titles that would have played there on June 3.
- Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch will be on that list along with ThomasVinterberg's Another Round, Francois Ozon's Summer '85, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Memoria, Sofia Coppola's On the Rocks, Gia Coppola's Mainstream and Naomi Kawase's Come Morning.
- The French Dispatch is "likely" to world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The article suggests that Coppola might also go to TIFF.
- It appears that the notion of some co-operation between Cannes and Venice has disappeared.
- Venice appears to have landed Nanni Moretti's Tre Piani and Maiwenn's DNA meaning they won't be on the Cannes list next Wednesday.
If the claims are true, it implies that The French Dispatch and On the Rocks may be off the list for TFF #47.
LATE BREAKING: VARIETY REPORTS ON CANNES
Variety's Elsa Keslassy posted a story early this morning with a number of interesting reveals about the Cannes Film Festival.
- Cannes will announce their list of 50 or so titles that would have played there on June 3.
- Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch will be on that list along with ThomasVinterberg's Another Round, Francois Ozon's Summer '85, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Memoria, Sofia Coppola's On the Rocks, Gia Coppola's Mainstream and Naomi Kawase's Come Morning.
- The French Dispatch is "likely" to world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The article suggests that Coppola might also go to TIFF.
- It appears that the notion of some co-operation between Cannes and Venice has disappeared.
- Venice appears to have landed Nanni Moretti's Tre Piani and Maiwenn's DNA meaning they won't be on the Cannes list next Wednesday.
If the claims are true, it implies that The French Dispatch and On the Rocks may be off the list for TFF #47.
The complete article is here with other info including other films expected to be announced for Cannes next week and a list of films that are said to be holding off for Cannes 2021.
LATE BREAKING: NO NETFLIX FOR FALL FESTS (added at 11:00am EDT on Thurs.5/28)
It is rare that I deviate from the publishing schedule for MTFB but this news justifies and additional post today. Anne Thompson at Indiewire has reported that Netflix has determined that they will be sending no films to any of the major fall fests Telluride included.
That report came late yesterday.
The news means that a number of high profile projects are no longer in play for TFF as well Venice, Toronto and New York.
Titles from Netflix that have been a part of the conversation: Mank, Hillbilly Elegy, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and White Tiger.
The news could impact Telluride considerably as Netflix has been a major presence at the fest over the last few years:
2015: Beasts of No Nation, Winer on Fire
2016: The Ivory Game, Into the Inferno
2017: First They Killed My Father, Wormwood
2018: Roma, Dovlatov, Girl, Reversing Roe, The Other Side of the Wind, They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
2019: Marriage Story, The Two Popes, Tell Me Who I Am, Inside Bill's Brain
Thompson's claim is pretty definitive as she writes:
"As awards groups adjust to the evolving post-pandemic reality, so will the studios. And the first up is everyone’s favorite Oscar insurgent, Netflix: While it will provide sponsorship for some major festivals in 2020, it’s not planning to send any of their films or talent to attend them."
Thompson's complete article is linked here.
LATE BREAKING: NO NETFLIX FOR FALL FESTS (added at 11:00am EDT on Thurs.5/28)
It is rare that I deviate from the publishing schedule for MTFB but this news justifies and additional post today. Anne Thompson at Indiewire has reported that Netflix has determined that they will be sending no films to any of the major fall fests Telluride included.
That report came late yesterday.
The news means that a number of high profile projects are no longer in play for TFF as well Venice, Toronto and New York.
Titles from Netflix that have been a part of the conversation: Mank, Hillbilly Elegy, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and White Tiger.
The news could impact Telluride considerably as Netflix has been a major presence at the fest over the last few years:
2015: Beasts of No Nation, Winer on Fire
2016: The Ivory Game, Into the Inferno
2017: First They Killed My Father, Wormwood
2018: Roma, Dovlatov, Girl, Reversing Roe, The Other Side of the Wind, They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
2019: Marriage Story, The Two Popes, Tell Me Who I Am, Inside Bill's Brain
Thompson's claim is pretty definitive as she writes:
"As awards groups adjust to the evolving post-pandemic reality, so will the studios. And the first up is everyone’s favorite Oscar insurgent, Netflix: While it will provide sponsorship for some major festivals in 2020, it’s not planning to send any of their films or talent to attend them."
Thompson's complete article is linked here.
POLAND HAS SOME THOUGHTS
Move City News' David Poland posted a very extensive article on Monday that takes a look and offers thoughts and prescriptions to Fall Fail Fests including Telluride. It's interesting.
Poland talks about what he perceives as the conditions that would need to be met for both Telluride and Toronto to occur in something of a normal state. He also addresses the notion of what virtual versions of both fests might or could look like. He also talks about potential piracy problems and ultimately suggests that he thinks the window for both fests to make a definitive decision is about a month.
We'll see.
NEW DOC FROM MORRIS
Errol Morris is working on a new documentary focused on 60's counter-culture figure Timothy Leary. The film's working title "A Film by Errol Morris". Indiewire reports that the film is inspired by the memoir of Laery companion Joanna Harcourt-Smith.
The film is being produced by and for Showtime. No release date is included in the article but there is a teaser which says the film is "coming soon". From YouTube:
In normal times I'd be eyeballing this as a possible/probable addition to the TFF lineup but the lack of a release date and the vagaries of Covid-19 changes that calculus. I think it's still possible that it could play but that feeling isn't nearly as strong as I would customarily have for an Errol Morris project.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
Monday, May 25, 2020
Late Breaking: Venice Is On (Says a Government Official) / Still Up in the Air / The Best of the 2000's / Telluride and the World of Reel Lists
LATE BREAKING: VENICE IS ON (SAYS A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL)
Multiple outlets reported that Venice is still planning to run Sept. 2-12. The news came late yesterday from the Governor of the the Venetian region who is also on the board of the Biennale. Deadline.com's Nancy Tartiglione reported:
"The governor of Italy’s Veneto region, Luca Zaia, said today that the Venice Film Festival will go ahead as scheduled in September. Dates are September 2-12 for the Lido event which would mark the first major film industry gathering not recently postponed or canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic."
Reporting on the news is linked here from:
Deadline
Variety
The Hollywood Reporter
STILL UP IN THE AIR
Multiple outlets reported that Venice is still planning to run Sept. 2-12. The news came late yesterday from the Governor of the the Venetian region who is also on the board of the Biennale. Deadline.com's Nancy Tartiglione reported:
"The governor of Italy’s Veneto region, Luca Zaia, said today that the Venice Film Festival will go ahead as scheduled in September. Dates are September 2-12 for the Lido event which would mark the first major film industry gathering not recently postponed or canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic."
Reporting on the news is linked here from:
Deadline
Variety
The Hollywood Reporter
STILL UP IN THE AIR
In 2009 the 36th Telluride Film Festival screened Jason Reitman's Up in the Air for the first time anywhere. It's the story of a man, played by George Clooney, unsure about the choices he has made along the way to constructing his life hence at least one reason for the title.
Now in 2020...with a global pandemic changing the world on a daily basis we're all with George...up in the air. That might also be a fair description about were the film community is in terms of film fests that act as the starting place for the fall film frenzy...Venice, Toronto, New York and, of course Telluride.
I have had a number of TFF patrons reach out to ask me what I know...which is zip...or what I think. I have some ideas but am hesitant to speculate in print as those ideas are wholly uninformed. I have no insider info.
This much is true...we still don't really know how any of these fests are going to construct themselves as yet nor do we know when we will know. Our first indication of some sign of what is to come may happen when Cannes reveals its list of films that it would have programmed had Cannes occurred this past two weeks (in a normal world this space would have been assessing the 2020 Palme d'Or winner in today's post). That is supposed to be revealed in "early June". Perhaps there will be some more details at that time regarding how the cooperation with other fests that Cannes' head Thierry Fremaux has referenced might be structured...
Until then...or more likely even later...we're all still Up in the Air.
Indiewire's Anne Thompson and Eric Kohn discussed some of these issues with Toronto Artistic Director Cameron Bailey in this week's edition of their podcast: Screen Talk linked here.
THE BEST OF THE 2000'S
(photo from CNN)
You might have noticed a week ago in my post, that I had included a rundown of a poll conducted by Jordan Ruimy's World of Rell website about the best films of the 1990's. Jordan was kind enough to include me as one of the approximately 180 folks that were a part of that poll. You may have also noticed that that I mentioned that Jordan polled us about the 2000's as well.
Well, those results are in!
The top ten films from the collective:
1) Mulholland Drive (David Lynch)
2) There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson)
3) Zodiac (David Fincher)
4) In the Mood For Love (Wong Kar-Wai)
5) No Country For Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen)
6) Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron)
7) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry)
8) Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki)
9) Yi Yi: A One and A Two (Edward Yang)
10) Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola)
From the list of ten are four of the five films that I put on my list (in alphabetical order):
Children of Men (6)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (-)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (7)
No Country for Old Men (5)
There Will Be Blood (2)
Last week I matched four of five with one of the other participants but this week the best I could do was matching three of five with several of the other participants including Mr. Ruimy himself!
Matt Fagerholm/RogerEbert.com
Ann Hornaday/The Washington Post
Don Kaye/Den of Geek
Richard Lawson/Vanity Fair
Marcos Levy/Freelance
Jordan Ruimy/World of Reel
Peter Travers/Rolling Stone
Glenn Whipp/The Los Angeles Times
TELLURIDE AND THE WORLD OF REEL LISTS
You won't be stunned to see this entry. Now that Jordan has completed the compilation of data for
both the 1990's and the 2000's, here's my rundown of TFF films that made each of the lists.
From the 1990's:
14) Beau Travail (which actually screened at Telluride in 2012)
22) The Piano
31) Blue
32) Breaking the Waves
33) The Long Day Closes
From the 2000's:
2) There Will Be Blood (scenes screened in 2007)
3) Zodiac
8) Spirited Away
9) Yi Yi
10) Lost in Translation
14) 4 Months, Three Weeks. Two Days
16) Brokeback Mountain
22) City of God
25) Talk to Her
26) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
29) Dogville
31) Cache
39) Amelie
45) The White Ribbon
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Oscar's Uncertainty / IFC Films Acquires Berlin Title / Animated Lineup at Annecy
OSCAR'S UNCERTAINTY
As of this moment the 2021 Oscar telecast os still set for Feb. 28th but a Variety story Tuesday suggested that there is some notion within the Academy that the ceremony might need to be postponed.
Mark Malkin wrote:
"The 93rd Oscars aren’t until February, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is considering postponing the big night, according to multiple sources.
The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, say definitive plans are far from being concrete at this juncture. The telecast is currently set for Feb. 28, 2021, on ABC.
“It’s likely they’ll be postponed,” one of the sources familiar with the matter told Variety."
There seemed to be a lot of pushback on Twitter to the notion from a number of industry outlets. Nevertheless, the story underscores the lack of certainty within the film business as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
One other notable tidbit from the Malkin story:
"It’s unclear if postponing the Oscars will also mean that the Academy will allow films released after the year-end deadline to qualify for the 2021 Oscars."
The complete story is here.
In a semi related story, the Directors and Producers Guilds have adjusted their eligibility criteria to more closely correspond with decisions made earlier by the Academy. Variety also has that story here.
IFC FILMS ACQUIRES BERLIN TITLE
IFC Films has acquired Phillippe Falardeau's My Salinger Year for U.S. distribution. Normally this kind of news would land the film smack in the middle of my Telluride speculation. It's a distributor with some TFF history and a film from the Berlin fest (it was the opening film) which always seems to land a TFF spot or two. It stars the red hot Margaret Qualley and Sigourney Weaver (who would make a tempting tribute candidate).
But...who knows in the current climate.
The Hollywood Reporter has the story linked here.
My Salinger Year's IMDb page is here.
ANIMATED LINEUP AT ANNECY
The Annecy Animated Film Fest which has chosen to present as an online fest has announced its lineup according to The Hollywood Reporter. As mentioned before, Annecy films occasionally find their way onto the T-ride lineup and that could still be true regardless of ANnecy's decision to go online.
You can find the announced films in competition and contretemp competition linked here .
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
As of this moment the 2021 Oscar telecast os still set for Feb. 28th but a Variety story Tuesday suggested that there is some notion within the Academy that the ceremony might need to be postponed.
Mark Malkin wrote:
"The 93rd Oscars aren’t until February, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is considering postponing the big night, according to multiple sources.
The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, say definitive plans are far from being concrete at this juncture. The telecast is currently set for Feb. 28, 2021, on ABC.
“It’s likely they’ll be postponed,” one of the sources familiar with the matter told Variety."
There seemed to be a lot of pushback on Twitter to the notion from a number of industry outlets. Nevertheless, the story underscores the lack of certainty within the film business as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
One other notable tidbit from the Malkin story:
"It’s unclear if postponing the Oscars will also mean that the Academy will allow films released after the year-end deadline to qualify for the 2021 Oscars."
The complete story is here.
In a semi related story, the Directors and Producers Guilds have adjusted their eligibility criteria to more closely correspond with decisions made earlier by the Academy. Variety also has that story here.
IFC FILMS ACQUIRES BERLIN TITLE
Margaret Qualley in My Salinger Year (via IMDb).
IFC Films has acquired Phillippe Falardeau's My Salinger Year for U.S. distribution. Normally this kind of news would land the film smack in the middle of my Telluride speculation. It's a distributor with some TFF history and a film from the Berlin fest (it was the opening film) which always seems to land a TFF spot or two. It stars the red hot Margaret Qualley and Sigourney Weaver (who would make a tempting tribute candidate).
But...who knows in the current climate.
The Hollywood Reporter has the story linked here.
My Salinger Year's IMDb page is here.
ANIMATED LINEUP AT ANNECY
The Annecy Animated Film Fest which has chosen to present as an online fest has announced its lineup according to The Hollywood Reporter. As mentioned before, Annecy films occasionally find their way onto the T-ride lineup and that could still be true regardless of ANnecy's decision to go online.
You can find the announced films in competition and contretemp competition linked here .
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
Monday, May 18, 2020
A Return for Inarritu? / The Best of the 90's / New Rules for Docs at the Oscars
A RETURN FOR INARRITU?
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is a stalwart fan of the Telluride Film Festival. He's been there a lot beginning in 2006 with Babel (it was my first year at TFF too) and following it with Biutiful in 2010 and Birdman in 2014. He's also been in town for the fest as a supporter for both Alonzo Cuaron and Guillermo Del Toro and, I believe, has attended once or twice just to attend.
Now comes news that he is working on a restoration of his first feature film, the Oscar nominated Amores Perros from 2000. Indiewire's Zack Sharf reports that the film maker has plans to screen it at the Morelia Film Fest in Mexico in October and a massive public screening in Mexico City in December.
One has to wonder, and I do, if the possibility exists that the new restoration might be rolled out over Labor Day weekend in Telluride. Sharf reports that Inarritu has already been working on the project for months and the October target for the Morelia screening suggests that there is at least a theoretical possibility that it could be ready for a Telluride bow.
It would make for an intriguing addition to the TFF #47 slate.
Check out the entire story from Indiewire here.
THE BEST OF THE 90'S
Jordan Ruimy at his website World of Reel completed and posted an enormous poll of industry folks: film makers, critiques, pundits etc. Somehow, I was invited and was more than happy to respond. We (some 175 of us or thereabouts) were asked to submit five titles, in no particular order, that we regarded as the best films of the 1990's. That post went up last Thursday.
My list of five: Goodfellas, L.A. Confidential, Magnolia, Pulp Fiction and Schindler's List.
When all was said and done, all five of the films from my list landed in the Top 20 of Ruimy's over all poll. Mine, in the order the finished: Goodfellas at #1. Pulp Fiction at #2. Magnolia at #7. Schindler's List at #13 and L.A. Confidential at #18.
Ruimy's complete list of the Top 40 films of the 1990's is linked here.
The individual rundown of every one who was a respondent and their lists is linked here.
No one matched my choices 5 for 5. I was 4 of 5 with The A.V. Club's Jesse Hassenger. Our only disconnect was my inclusion of L.A. Confidential. Hassenger had Fargo instead...which is a worthy choice.
There nine folks that I was 3 for 5 with including Telluride freinds Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter and Mark Johnson/Awards Circuit. Also Peter Howell from The Toronto Sun who had always been kind to answer my questions about the Toronto Film Fest.
Other notable participants included: David Ansen/Newsweek, Alex Billington/First Showing, film director Jim Cummings (Thunder Road), David Ehrlich/Indiewire, Gregory Ellwood/The Playlist, David Fear/Rolling Stone, Dave Karger/TCM, Eric Kohn/Indiewire, Eric Lavalee/Ioncinema, film director Rod Lurie (Straw Dogs), Scott Menzel /We Live Entertainment, Steve Pond/The Wrap, Claudia Puig/USA Today, Jeff Sneider/Collider, Glenn Whipp/The Los Angeles Times.
Jordan has also polled us on the best films of the 2000's ane I expect we'll see that poll very soon.
NEW RULES FOR DOCS AT THE OSCARS
Much as they did at the end of April, for feature films, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has re-worked the rules for Oscar eligibility for documentary films to reflect the challenges film makers are experiencing during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Basically, AMPAS has made it easier, for this year only, to qualify a documentary for Oscar consideration including screening at specific film fests, though Telluride is not on the list of those fests published by The Hollywood Reporter.
The whole of the THR article about the new rules is linked here.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is a stalwart fan of the Telluride Film Festival. He's been there a lot beginning in 2006 with Babel (it was my first year at TFF too) and following it with Biutiful in 2010 and Birdman in 2014. He's also been in town for the fest as a supporter for both Alonzo Cuaron and Guillermo Del Toro and, I believe, has attended once or twice just to attend.
Now comes news that he is working on a restoration of his first feature film, the Oscar nominated Amores Perros from 2000. Indiewire's Zack Sharf reports that the film maker has plans to screen it at the Morelia Film Fest in Mexico in October and a massive public screening in Mexico City in December.
One has to wonder, and I do, if the possibility exists that the new restoration might be rolled out over Labor Day weekend in Telluride. Sharf reports that Inarritu has already been working on the project for months and the October target for the Morelia screening suggests that there is at least a theoretical possibility that it could be ready for a Telluride bow.
It would make for an intriguing addition to the TFF #47 slate.
Check out the entire story from Indiewire here.
THE BEST OF THE 90'S
Jordan Ruimy at his website World of Reel completed and posted an enormous poll of industry folks: film makers, critiques, pundits etc. Somehow, I was invited and was more than happy to respond. We (some 175 of us or thereabouts) were asked to submit five titles, in no particular order, that we regarded as the best films of the 1990's. That post went up last Thursday.
My list of five: Goodfellas, L.A. Confidential, Magnolia, Pulp Fiction and Schindler's List.
When all was said and done, all five of the films from my list landed in the Top 20 of Ruimy's over all poll. Mine, in the order the finished: Goodfellas at #1. Pulp Fiction at #2. Magnolia at #7. Schindler's List at #13 and L.A. Confidential at #18.
Ruimy's complete list of the Top 40 films of the 1990's is linked here.
The individual rundown of every one who was a respondent and their lists is linked here.
No one matched my choices 5 for 5. I was 4 of 5 with The A.V. Club's Jesse Hassenger. Our only disconnect was my inclusion of L.A. Confidential. Hassenger had Fargo instead...which is a worthy choice.
There nine folks that I was 3 for 5 with including Telluride freinds Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter and Mark Johnson/Awards Circuit. Also Peter Howell from The Toronto Sun who had always been kind to answer my questions about the Toronto Film Fest.
Other notable participants included: David Ansen/Newsweek, Alex Billington/First Showing, film director Jim Cummings (Thunder Road), David Ehrlich/Indiewire, Gregory Ellwood/The Playlist, David Fear/Rolling Stone, Dave Karger/TCM, Eric Kohn/Indiewire, Eric Lavalee/Ioncinema, film director Rod Lurie (Straw Dogs), Scott Menzel /We Live Entertainment, Steve Pond/The Wrap, Claudia Puig/USA Today, Jeff Sneider/Collider, Glenn Whipp/The Los Angeles Times.
Jordan has also polled us on the best films of the 2000's ane I expect we'll see that poll very soon.
NEW RULES FOR DOCS AT THE OSCARS
Poster for last year's Best Doc Oscar winner: American Factory
Much as they did at the end of April, for feature films, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has re-worked the rules for Oscar eligibility for documentary films to reflect the challenges film makers are experiencing during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Basically, AMPAS has made it easier, for this year only, to qualify a documentary for Oscar consideration including screening at specific film fests, though Telluride is not on the list of those fests published by The Hollywood Reporter.
The whole of the THR article about the new rules is linked here.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
Thursday, May 14, 2020
Whispers from Vulture / Cannes Reveries and Analysis / Coppola On the Rocks / HN Updates Oscar Predix
WHISPERS FROM VULTURE
Nate Jones posted yesterday on Vulture.com a piece entitled "How Each Major Film Festival Is Responding to the Coronavirus. Included in his assessment is Telluride along with Cannes, Venice, Toronto and New York.
The Telluride segment doesn't really offer much new save for this sentence:
"However, organizers tell Vulture they are proceeding as if the festival will happen. Otherwise, the only news out of Telluride came in mid-April, when the fest proposed extending its schedule by an extra day"
The key words being: "they (TFF) are proceeding as if the festival will happen"
No clues as to which "organizers" are the source of the claim but it's encouraging.
The Vulture article is linked here.
CANNES REVERIES AND ANALYSIS
The 73rd Cannes Film Festival was to have been going by today. The original schedule had envisioned an opening night film on Tuesday night and as you know that did not happen. As the original start date has come and gone a variety of outlets have offered memories and retrospectives about past Cannes as well as a number of assessments of Cannes place in the film universe.
I'm passing along a link to a couple of those here.
The first is a look at Cannes and its past from the perspective of three Indiewire veterans who all have wealth of experience to draw on. Anne Thompson, Eric Kohn and David Ehrlich (all of which have been kind enough over the years to participate in my annual round-up of industry veterans at the end of TFF) offer up their reminiscences of their personal experiences in southern France as well as a look at Cannes' past and potential future influence on the film industry.
Take a look at their stories here.
Meanwhile, Deadline has published the highlights of a France TV interview with Cannes President Pierre Lescrue. Nancy Tartaglione's post went up yesterday.
Lescrue revealed that Cannes would be naming films that would have been selected would include roughly 50 titles. Previous reports had established that the announcement of those titles will come sometime in early June.
It's my belief that some of those titles that would have played Cannes will be among the films that also play TFF and it will be interesting to parse that announcement for clues and possibilities.
The Deadline story is linked here.
COPPOLA ON THE ROCKS
One of the films that may well be on that list next month is Sofia Coppola's latest collaboration with Bill Murray. Her film, On the Rocks, she says, is done. That information leads one to believe that it certainly is a possible title for the Cannes list and then some presentation among the fall fests that are currently still planning on occurring in some fashion including, perhaps, T-ride.
Coppola's last Bill Murray film was, of course, Lost in Translation which played Telluride with Coppola in attendance back in 2003.
Coppola is featured in an article this week (along with Kirsten Dunst) in Empire Online.
You can check that here.
HN UPDATES OSCAR PREDIX
In an exercise of faith or chutzpah or wishful thinking, Hollywood News' Joey Magidson has updated his Oscar predictions for the month of May. Consequently, in the same spirit, I have mined those predictions for Telluride possibles.
Among his top ten Best Picture picks are TFF potentials: Nomadland, Ammonite and Stillwater. Also in his top ten are Mank and The Trail of the Chicago 7 both of which could be Telluride players if they're finished.
In his second tier of Best Picture picks are other "Maybes" for Telluride: The French Dispatch, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Annette and On the Rocks.
Magidson's complete rundown of Oscar predictions are linked here.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
Nate Jones posted yesterday on Vulture.com a piece entitled "How Each Major Film Festival Is Responding to the Coronavirus. Included in his assessment is Telluride along with Cannes, Venice, Toronto and New York.
The Telluride segment doesn't really offer much new save for this sentence:
"However, organizers tell Vulture they are proceeding as if the festival will happen. Otherwise, the only news out of Telluride came in mid-April, when the fest proposed extending its schedule by an extra day"
The key words being: "they (TFF) are proceeding as if the festival will happen"
No clues as to which "organizers" are the source of the claim but it's encouraging.
The Vulture article is linked here.
CANNES REVERIES AND ANALYSIS
The 73rd Cannes Film Festival was to have been going by today. The original schedule had envisioned an opening night film on Tuesday night and as you know that did not happen. As the original start date has come and gone a variety of outlets have offered memories and retrospectives about past Cannes as well as a number of assessments of Cannes place in the film universe.
I'm passing along a link to a couple of those here.
The first is a look at Cannes and its past from the perspective of three Indiewire veterans who all have wealth of experience to draw on. Anne Thompson, Eric Kohn and David Ehrlich (all of which have been kind enough over the years to participate in my annual round-up of industry veterans at the end of TFF) offer up their reminiscences of their personal experiences in southern France as well as a look at Cannes' past and potential future influence on the film industry.
Take a look at their stories here.
Meanwhile, Deadline has published the highlights of a France TV interview with Cannes President Pierre Lescrue. Nancy Tartaglione's post went up yesterday.
Lescrue revealed that Cannes would be naming films that would have been selected would include roughly 50 titles. Previous reports had established that the announcement of those titles will come sometime in early June.
It's my belief that some of those titles that would have played Cannes will be among the films that also play TFF and it will be interesting to parse that announcement for clues and possibilities.
The Deadline story is linked here.
COPPOLA ON THE ROCKS
photo via Empire Online
One of the films that may well be on that list next month is Sofia Coppola's latest collaboration with Bill Murray. Her film, On the Rocks, she says, is done. That information leads one to believe that it certainly is a possible title for the Cannes list and then some presentation among the fall fests that are currently still planning on occurring in some fashion including, perhaps, T-ride.
Coppola's last Bill Murray film was, of course, Lost in Translation which played Telluride with Coppola in attendance back in 2003.
Coppola is featured in an article this week (along with Kirsten Dunst) in Empire Online.
You can check that here.
HN UPDATES OSCAR PREDIX
In an exercise of faith or chutzpah or wishful thinking, Hollywood News' Joey Magidson has updated his Oscar predictions for the month of May. Consequently, in the same spirit, I have mined those predictions for Telluride possibles.
Among his top ten Best Picture picks are TFF potentials: Nomadland, Ammonite and Stillwater. Also in his top ten are Mank and The Trail of the Chicago 7 both of which could be Telluride players if they're finished.
In his second tier of Best Picture picks are other "Maybes" for Telluride: The French Dispatch, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Annette and On the Rocks.
Magidson's complete rundown of Oscar predictions are linked here.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
Monday, May 11, 2020
Cannes Will Announce / Eyeballing Oscar 2020 / Paul Schrader Has an Idea
CANNES WILL ANNOUNCE
Cannes Film Festival head Thierry Fremaux revealed a lot about the immediate future of that fest this weekend in an interview for Screen Daily.
Variety hit the high points in a story that they posted yesterday.
If the past is any guide, some of the decisions Fremaux and crew make will make ripples in the Telluride lineup. As I have often mentioned, over the years I have been a Telluride attendee the two fests average of sharing 7-8 titles each outing. Of course, the pandemic make all historic guideposts moot.
Nevertheless, at this point I am proceeding with the assumption that past guideposts are worth referencing until otherwise disproven. So with that, here are the big takeaways from the Fremaux interview:
1) Cannes will announce a lineup of films that would have been selected in early June (more below).
2) Cannes officials are still speaking with Venice officials with the notion of some sort of combined effort in September.
3) Fremaux says that "Cannes" films will likely be screened at a number of fests. He gives a list (more below).
Fremuax's revelation that there will be a 73rd Cannes lineup announcement will give us a list of films to work from which, in a normal year, we would have heard on April 16th. Assuming that it's by-and-large the films that would have played at a physical version of Cannes, I'm going to work from it to try and assess which of those films might have been crossovers.
Using Cannes prize winners as a barometer, which I factor in, won't be a guidepost this year as Fremaux also revealed that films will not be adjudicated. Further, it seems that the list that will be revealed will not categorize films by the section they would have been invited to be a part of (Palme d'Or competition, Un Certain Regard, etc.)
Fremaux does list fests that he suggests will be a part of the Cannes films screening process, From the Screen International interview:
"We’ll go to Toronto, Deauville, Angoulême, San Sebastian, New York, Busan in Korea and even the Lumière festival in Lyon"
You'll note that Telluride is missing from that list but that may just be Fremaux respecting Telluride's secrecy. I'd be gob-smacked if there are no Cannes 2020 titles playing as a part of TFF #47.
Also, the notion of "co-presenting" with Venice doesn't necessarily preclude a film from playing T-ride either.
Couple of other notes: we heard this week that Paul Verhoeven's Benedetta and Andrew Dominik's Blonde have been officially moved to 2021 for release indicating that those two films are almost certainly off the table for fall film fests and this year's Oscars. It may signal that those two films might be around for a 2021 edition of Cannes.
Also, a quick reminder here that Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch has been dated for release in France on Oct. 14 and in the U.S. on Oct. 16. That could signal that the film might play at the Cannes/Venice combo and other of the fall fests including New York (and to that extent, Telluride).
I have linked the Variety story here.
And the complete interview from Screen Daily is linked here.
EYEBALLING OSCAR 2020
Indiewire's Zack Sharf cast a glance at what films might be Oscar contenders in the new reality of the Covid-19 pandemic in a post published on May 8th. Usually, films that seem Oscar-y get a look from me as I try to puzzle out what might be worth keeping an eye on as possible players for The SHOW so this kind of article catches my eye. That's especially true in light of the uncharted seas we're sailing right now.
So, here are some of the points Sharf makes with a thought or two from me.
Sharf leads off with Sundance films that he thinks could be players. Almost uniformly a Sundance play means that we can check it off the list for T-ride. There are rare examples of films playing both Sundance and TFF: An Education, Manchester by the Sea and The Report but these are not normal times. Sharf lists these Sundance narrative feature titles as Oscar possibles:
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Minari
Promising Young Woman
The 40 Year Old Version
The Father
Never Rarely Sometimes Always made it into theaters for three days which could be enough to keep it out of TFF consideration. Still, only three days?
The other four films? If TFF programmers consider Sundance films, maybe. Personally, I'd like to see Minari make it to the San Juans as it was largely filmed in my home state of Oklahoma. I even had a good friend acting as the schooling tutor on set (Hello Rose Mary Baker!).
Sharf then runs down what were thought to be probable Cannes titles that have/had some Oscar potential including:
The French Dispatch
Nomadland
Annette
Memoria
Other Cannes' "titles" he lists seem to be unlikely TFF choices (ex: Soul)
I a section about Netflix films, Sharf reminds us that Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods will drop on the streamer on June 17th.
Other Netflix titles that might be in the mix for TFF and/or Oscar:
Mank
Hillbilly Elegy
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
The Prom
Rebecca
In the remaining bulk of the post Sharf mentions many films that are still nominally scheduled for release before the end of the year. Of note,as a Telluride-star-gazer:
The French Dispatch
Dune
The Trail of the Chicago 7
Stillwater
On the Rocks
The Woman in the Window
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Ammonite.
Sharf's complete article is linked here.
PAUL SCHRADER HAS AN IDEA
(Photo of Paul Schrader from Claudio Onorati/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock and Indiewire)
Oscar nominee Paul Schrader has his own ideas about dealing with the current state of the world of film and film festivals in particular. His thoughts largely center around a Netflix and/or Amazon sponsored festival of festivals.
Schrader shared his concept with Indiewire's Eric Kohn recently.
Schrader explains:
"You have to have all the power players involved. If you have Netflix with its deep pockets, and the major festival curators to come up with a list of films at all levels of competition, and if you get an all-star jury of maybe two dozen actors, artists, and critics, you have an event. You have something Netflix can advertise as the Netflix fall festival of festivals. That would grab people’s attention."
Schader and Kohn also the hurdles that would have to be overcome in their back-and-forth. It's intriguing.
Take a look at the entire interview here at Indiewire.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Venice to Take the Pulse / Indiewire Lists Oscar Possibles / Vonnegut Doc
VENICE TO TAKE THE PULSE
Elsa Keslassy writing for Variety reports this week that the Venice Film Fest is surveying a broad swath of people and entities that have been and potentially would be players for that fest that is currently slated to run from Sept. 2-12.
Writing in a story that was posted Tuesday, Keslassy says:
"The letter, which was signed by Venice’s artistic director Alberto Barbera and issued on Monday, is meant to gauge how many filmmakers, talent and producers are willing to turn up at the fest before a decision is taken at the end of the month on whether to maintain or cancel this year’s edition."
The article quotes Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera as saying in the letter:
“We all know that, most probably, any festival will not be able to take place exactly like it was in the past. We will have to deal with a number of limitations and security measures: reduction of the number of screened films and a similar decrease of attendance from press, industry and audience."
A couple of other notes from the story worth mentioning are that Venice may be softening an earlier line that suggested that no part of the fest would be conducted online and that Barnera is expected to get feedback by May 10th.
Venice's survey might serve as a template for others of the fall film fests to consider as they move forward in their attempts to go forward.
The complete Variety article is here.
INDIEWIRE LISTS OSCAR POSSIBLES
On the heels of an L.A. Times list of potential Oscar eligible films that I linked in Monday's post, Indiewire's Zack Sharf posted a list for consideration yesterday in a piece called "The 20 Best Movies Eligible for Oscars Right Now".
Sharf uses his crystal ball to assess films that would meet the new criteria established for this year's Academy Awards .
It has some interesting titles including a couple that played TFF #46. Those are: The Assistant and First Cow.
There are a few Sundance titles that under normal circumstances I would flatly rule out but these times are not normal circumstances. So...maybe????? Crip Camp, Miss Americana and Spaceship Earth.
Check out Sharf's entire list here.
VONNEGUT DOC
Those that know me well know that I'm a ridiculous fan f Kurt Vonnegut and his literary canon (looking at you Chris Schneider). Yesterday, Whyaduck Productions and 9.14 Pictures dropped a trailer for a new documentary about the author and, as you might expect, I was thrilled. The title: Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time...other Vonnegut fans will appreciate the Slaughterhouse-Five reference in the film's title.
Here's the trailer from YouTube:
The film does not yet seem to have a distributor as yet nor a release date. So...hear my plea...Program this for TFF #47. Also, some distrib...pick this up.
The director, Robert Weide, has significant ties to Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm. He was Oscar nominated for Best Documentary Feature in 1998 for Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth. That also earned a Primetime Emmy Award for his direction. Additionally, He won a DGA award for direction for Curb in 2012 and another for the HBO program: Palestinian Chicken. He also won a PGA award for and a Primetime Emmy producing Curb in 2000. He also was very involved with the PBS docu-series American Masters. The guy has some hardware.
Vonnegut appeared for a speaking engagement in Oklahoma City in February 2003 and I actually took a personal day to be there. I was lucky enough to run into a couple of former students and if you ever saw Vonnegut do his lecture, you know that he talks lovingly about teachers. It was more than special.
Vonnegut died a bit more than four years later.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
Elsa Keslassy writing for Variety reports this week that the Venice Film Fest is surveying a broad swath of people and entities that have been and potentially would be players for that fest that is currently slated to run from Sept. 2-12.
Writing in a story that was posted Tuesday, Keslassy says:
"The letter, which was signed by Venice’s artistic director Alberto Barbera and issued on Monday, is meant to gauge how many filmmakers, talent and producers are willing to turn up at the fest before a decision is taken at the end of the month on whether to maintain or cancel this year’s edition."
The article quotes Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera as saying in the letter:
“We all know that, most probably, any festival will not be able to take place exactly like it was in the past. We will have to deal with a number of limitations and security measures: reduction of the number of screened films and a similar decrease of attendance from press, industry and audience."
A couple of other notes from the story worth mentioning are that Venice may be softening an earlier line that suggested that no part of the fest would be conducted online and that Barnera is expected to get feedback by May 10th.
Venice's survey might serve as a template for others of the fall film fests to consider as they move forward in their attempts to go forward.
The complete Variety article is here.
INDIEWIRE LISTS OSCAR POSSIBLES
Julia Garner in The Assistant
On the heels of an L.A. Times list of potential Oscar eligible films that I linked in Monday's post, Indiewire's Zack Sharf posted a list for consideration yesterday in a piece called "The 20 Best Movies Eligible for Oscars Right Now".
Sharf uses his crystal ball to assess films that would meet the new criteria established for this year's Academy Awards .
It has some interesting titles including a couple that played TFF #46. Those are: The Assistant and First Cow.
There are a few Sundance titles that under normal circumstances I would flatly rule out but these times are not normal circumstances. So...maybe????? Crip Camp, Miss Americana and Spaceship Earth.
Check out Sharf's entire list here.
VONNEGUT DOC
Those that know me well know that I'm a ridiculous fan f Kurt Vonnegut and his literary canon (looking at you Chris Schneider). Yesterday, Whyaduck Productions and 9.14 Pictures dropped a trailer for a new documentary about the author and, as you might expect, I was thrilled. The title: Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time...other Vonnegut fans will appreciate the Slaughterhouse-Five reference in the film's title.
Here's the trailer from YouTube:
The film does not yet seem to have a distributor as yet nor a release date. So...hear my plea...Program this for TFF #47. Also, some distrib...pick this up.
The director, Robert Weide, has significant ties to Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm. He was Oscar nominated for Best Documentary Feature in 1998 for Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth. That also earned a Primetime Emmy Award for his direction. Additionally, He won a DGA award for direction for Curb in 2012 and another for the HBO program: Palestinian Chicken. He also won a PGA award for and a Primetime Emmy producing Curb in 2000. He also was very involved with the PBS docu-series American Masters. The guy has some hardware.
Vonnegut appeared for a speaking engagement in Oklahoma City in February 2003 and I actually took a personal day to be there. I was lucky enough to run into a couple of former students and if you ever saw Vonnegut do his lecture, you know that he talks lovingly about teachers. It was more than special.
Vonnegut died a bit more than four years later.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
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