Focus on Focus / 40 Possible Oscar Films For 2022 and Telluride / From World of Real / Marcel Behind the Scenes / Trailer for Ticket to Paradise

 FOCUS ON FOCUS

My review of distributors with a recent significant Telluride history and what they may have to offer for TFF #49 continues today with Focus Features.  Focus has had a more-or-less consistent presence at the fest over the past few years:

2021 Belfast, The Card Counter, Red Rocket

2020- The Way I See It

2019 Waves

2018- Boy Erased
2017- Darkest Hour
2015- Suffragette
2012- Hyde Park on Hudson
2006- Catch a Fire

As you can see, Focus has been a solid entrant at T-ride particularly from 2015 forward and had large presence last year with three films that were featured as a part of The SHOW.

For 2022, Focus has three films that seem like they might be under consideration:

Todd Fields TAR with Cate Blanchett (a Blanchett tribute please?)

James Gray's Armageddon Time with Jessica Chastain (a Chastain tribute please?), Anne Hathaway and Anthony Hopkins (maybe Hopkins could get the Tribute that probably would have happened in 2020 with The Father)

Michael Showalter's Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies with Sally Field and Jim Parson (a Field tribute please?)

Bill Pohlad's Dreamin' Wild.  Pohad has an extensive history with TFF.

I have these films listed in the order from top to bottom that I feel like are most likely to make the TFF #49 list.

TAR 40% chance

Armageddon Time 35%

Spoiler Alert 25%

Dreamin' Wild 20%

40 POSSIBLE OSCAR FILMS FOR 2022 AND TELLURIDE

Tim Gray writing for Variety posted an Oscar speculation piece for Variety.  Gray breaks the categorization down into early fest contenders (Berlin, Sundance and Cannes) and from those the films that I could see as Telluride potentials would be: 

Armageddon Time 

One Fine Morning

Triangle of Sadness

 Then Gray switches to organizing by the month that the film will be released...so looking at September onward, other potentials would be:

Blonde

See How They Run ( a Searchlight film that I didn't include on my assessment of their slate a few days ago-but-you never know.  Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan star and that's an attention-getting duo)

The Banshees of Inisherin

Till

Amsterdam

Bones and All

The Menu

Golda

My Policeman

She Said

Babylon

Women Talking

And finally, Gray has a category of undated films from which possible TFF players include:

Bardo

Empire of Light

The Good Nurse

Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio

The Lost King

The Pale Blue Eye

Shirley

The Son

White Noise

The Whale 

The Wonder

The complete listing is here.

FROM WORLD OF REEL

Jordan Ruimy's World of Reel continues to be a go to place for Telluride and Telluride-adjacent news.  Since my last post on Thursday Jordan has added a couple of items of interest.  First, there's a new list from him of "Not Going to TFF/film fests".  Included on the list is Damien Chazelle's Babylon which Ruimy reports has been pursued fervently by The SHOW.  Jordan writes:

"I know for a fact that Telluride is trying VERY HARD to get Chazelle’s film. Paramount hasn’t budged just yet, it’s still set to skip the fall festivals"

Earlier in the piece Jordan characterizes Babylon's status as "possibly" skipping the fall fests so it seems unlikely but not entirely 100% off the table.

See the story and complete list of films skipping fests at this link to WOR.

The other note from Jordan is a semi-report about She Said.  That's the Maria Schrader film about the takedown of Harvey Weinstein.  The film has been test screened and Ruimy writes:

 “She Said” test-screened in the east coast last week. I’m not allowed to post the reaction I got from it, but it’s a very positive one."

The film has been flirting with my Ten Bets list during June.

Ruimy's complete post on She Said is here.

MARCEL BEHIND THE SCENES

A24 debuted a behind the scenes video concerning the animation of TFF #48 breakout hot (in select theaters now!) Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.  I'm a fan.

Here's the video from YouTube:

TRAILER FOR TICKET TO PARADISE

Do I think Ticket to Paradise will play TFF #49...nope.  Could it?  Maybe.  Does it have a trailer?  It does now.  From YouTube:

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

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