Maria Revealed / Elk's Park Films and Clues / Nickel Boys Screened / International Buzz / And Then There's This... / The People's Telluride-12th Edition

 MARIA REVEALED

Are you prepared for a return of Angelina Jolie to Telluride?  Looks like that's going to happen after Pablo Larrain's film Maria (starring Jolie) will screen in Venice on Aug. 29th and then head to the San Juans.

Vanity Fair had a couple of "first look" stills up at the end of last week.

The Vanity Fair article is linked here.

ELK'S PARK FILMS AND CLUES

Long time TFFers know that in the past that the films that the fest chooses to screen in Elk's Park the two nights prior to the fest taking off on Friday often (but not always) provide clues as to who (or in the case of Apocalypse Now-what) will be getting Tributes.  The last really good year for predicting tributes based on Elk's Park films was 2019 when the free flicks were Bridget Jones's Diary, The Right Stuff and Star Wars: The Last Jedi which pointed to Renee Zellweger, Philip Kaufman and Adam Driver as tributees.  

Soooo...here's the flyer for the free films in Elk's Park:

After Hours: My bet is that if it signals anything that it's a tribute for Thelma Schoonmaker.  I'd be surprised but very excited if it were for Martin Scorsese...that's not impossible.  Or maybe it's the two of them together.  At any rate, should either or both be tributed I'd also count on a screening of David Hinton's Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger.  Scorsese is a producer of the doc (which did screen at Tribeca but TFF has presented docs from Tribeca in the past).  Schoonmaker is in the film as herself, the wife of Michael Powell, and she also is a producer.

Lady Bird: Does this validate my Saoirse Ronan theory that I first wrote about back on June 3rd?  It was my original thought that Ronan would get a tribute and that Steve McQueen's Blitz might screen at TFF as well as The Outrun.  The announcement that Blitz would world premiere in London made me alter that theory but...

I still think a Ronan tribute likely occurs and occurs with some clips from Blitz.

Hottest possibilities for a tribute beyond these two: Ralph Fiennes, Angelina Jolie, Jason Reitman, Jacques Audiard and Samuel L. Jackson.

NICKEL BOYS SCREENED

According to World of Reel's Jordan Ruimy  RaMell Ross's Nickel Boys has screened privately in London and the response appears to have been very good.  Ruimy writes:

"“Nickel Boys” just had a preview screening at London’s Curzon Soho. A few folks who attended the screening have chimed in on Letterboxd, and you can read their reactions near the tail end of this article. They’re all very positive."

Ruimy continues:

"This adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel has been loaded with buzz for months. The film stars Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Hamish Linklater, Fred Hechinger, Daveed Diggs, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. "

Nickel Boys is currently #2 on my "to see" list for later this week.

INTERNATIONAL BUZZ

Pablo Larrain, director of Maria talks to Indiewire.

Screen Daily reports that Germany will submit Mohammad Rasoulof's The Seed of the Sacred Fig as its selection for the International Film Oscar.

Variety reveals that Cannes sensation All We Imagine as Light has set a U.S. release date of Nov. 15th.  It's very likely India's entry for the International Film Oscar.

AND THEN THERE'S THIS...

From the "Local News Network/Telluride, Colorado for Aug. 21st, a report that the fest has asked the Telluride Parks and Recreation Dept. for permission to offer tethered hot air balloon rides during the fest (in Town Park) and that the request is somehow related to a "program related event".  You can see the report yourself at about the 1:48 mark:

https://www.telluridelocal.news/newsstories/tln-august-21-2024

What "program" would hot air balloons be connected to?  I'm stumped.  One follower suggested over the weekend a connection to Julian Schnabel's Before Night Falls with this balloon sequence (from YouTube):

The speculation then focused on the possibility of a Schnabel tribute and, I would assume, a screening of Hand of Dante.

A REMINDER: I WILL POST "FINAL BETS" FOR TFF #51 ON WEDNESDAY MORNING and then, of course, the actual lineup when it pops on Thursday morning.  MTFB will post daily from TFF #51.  Mostly during the fest I like to make sure to get the TBAs posted each night for the following day.  I sometimes will include what I think my itinerary will look like for each day and also an occasional comment or two about some of the film I've seen.

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE-12TH EDITION

For the 12th 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".

Report your ratings to: mpgort@gmail.com 

The deadline for this year to turn in your ratings will be Sept. 15th.

I'll compile all of your responses and post those a few days after the festival.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

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