Monday, August 3, 2020

When Will TFF Announce? / Ten Bets #4 / Some Notes on The French Dispatch / The Telluride Drive-In?

WHEN WILL TFF ANNOUNCE?



The answer is I don't know.  I had a hunch that we might see an announcement on Friday after both Venice (last Tuesday and Toronto (on Thursday) had revealed their lineups.  It seemed, to me at least, that was possible.  But Friday came and went and no revelation from TFF.

Perhaps after the New York Fest announces their lineup?  For the last four years at least New York's lineup announcement has come on the first or second Tuesday in August which suggests we'll see it either tomorrow or, more likely,  a week from tomorrow.

Maybe after that TFF will reveal.  


TEN BETS #4



I'm a little bit surprised to be doing an updated Ten Bets but here it is.  As a quick reminder, here's a look at the 3rd Ten Bets list from two weeks ago:

10) Fireball
9) John Prine: Hello In There
8) There Is No Evil
7) Soul
6) The French Dispatch
5) Lover's Rock (Small Axe)
4) Mangrove (Small Axe)
3) Notturno
2) Nomadland
1) Ammonite

Other possibilities: Undine, Forgotten We'll Be, Untitled Garbus/Cortes Voting Rights Documentary, The Secrets We Keep, American Utopia and French Exit.


Here's the latest Ten Bets:


10) The French Dispatch
9) The Secrets We Keep
8) Fireball
7) There is No Evil
6) The Truffle Hunters
5) Mangrove
4) Lover's Rock
3) Notturno
2) Ammonite
1) Nomadland

Other possibilities: Undine, Forgotten We'll Be, Untitled Garbus/Cortes Voting Rights Documentary, John Prine: Hello in There, and French Exit.



SOME NOTES ON THE FRENCH DISPATCH




A couple of interesting tidbits emerged the last few days regarding Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch.  Anne Thompson of Indewire suggested this week on the Indiewire podcast Screen Talk  that she thinks that the film could end up bowing at the Berlin Fest in 2021 and just slide into Oscar contention before the new deadline for eligibility (Feb. 28th).  Berlin is currently scheduled to happen Feb. 11-21, 2021.


Other reporting that seems to semi-confirm the notion comes from a separate Anne Thompson article at Indiewire that says explicitly that the film will be moved to 2021.  Previously it had been reported that the release date was "indefinitely " postponed.  Trailer Track's Anton Volkov also suggested he was hearing 2021 for it.  Volkov had that up on his Twitter account on Friday.

A few days back, Indiewire suggested that when Telluride makes the announcement about what films would have played TFF #47 that The French Dispatch would be on the list (MTFB's July 20).  But when Searchlight announced that the film was off its Oct. 16th premiere date and was delayed indefinitely, I had to wonder if that would affect its Telluride status (assuming that Indiewire has the story right).

Of course, we won't ultimately know until TFF makes their list public.  


THE TELLURIDE DRIVE-IN



Here's what we know...TFF will screen Chloe Zhao's Nomadland at some drive-in theater in the gretaer Los Angeles area (under the banner of "Telluride in Los Angeles") on Sept. 11th.  That's the same day that it will co-premiere at Venice and Toronto.  It has been reported that Zhao and star Frances McDormand will appear at that screening after having appeared virtually for Toronto and Venice.  We don't know any further details beyond that.  

I'm eagerly awaiting further details.

And then there's this intriguing note.  Jake Coyle, writing about the Toronto announcement for the Associated Press last Thursday, included this:

The major fall festivals — Venice, Toronto, Telluride and New York — earlier announced an alliance, saying they would collaborate on programming. Since then, Colorado's Telluride has been canceled but reborn as a drive-in series in Los Angeles. The festivals earlier announced Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” will debut across all four events.

"Drive-In Series"...now that would be intriguing.  My personal guess is that it's likely a misunderstanding on the part of the AP writer.  But....what if it's not?  That could be stunning!




EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

TWITTER @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

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