And Now...Rumors and Whispers / Joker Uncertainty / Film Stage and The Playlist's Fall Film Lists / New Images of Renee Zellweger as Judy The Current Bets / The People's Telluride

Monday...Four Days...


AND NOW...RUMORS AND WHISPERS

Seems like every year at this time...the week of the fest...rumors start flying fast and furious.  I think we get a "Brad Pitt has been spotted in Telluride" rumor every year.

Over the weekend I started hearing a new bit of speculation...that TFF has a super secret film screening planned.  Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel alluded to that over the weekend wiring at his website that:

"I can't confirm the precise title, but a lot of talk is pointing towards a surprise film sneaking its way into the Telluride Film Festival lineup next week."

Jordan's list of possible suspects includes the still untitled Todd Haynes project (Maybe Dark Water, maybe Dry Run), Bombshell-the Jay Roach film about Roger Ailes, Fox News and the women who were Aile's downfall played by Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie as Gretchen Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Kayla Pospisil respectively.  Ruimy's third mention is Chloe Zhao's Nomadland.  All three of these films remain on my list of "Other Possibilities" from last Friday's post.

It should come as no surprise that I'd repeat my perpetual fantasy suggestion of Greta Gerwig's Little Women or that James Gray's Ad Astra makes the journey from Venice after all.  Maybe the below mentioned Joker actually does show at The SHOW.  Even Sam Mendes' 1917 has been rumored.

Here's my completely unfounded assessment of each of these scenarios in the order of what I'm guessing is the likelihood that it happens-emphasize "guessing":

1) None of the rumors are true and there is no surprise screening at all.
2) Todd Haynes Project (Dark Water or Dry Run or...being snarky now...Dry Water or Dark Run or Dry Dark Water Run)
3) Nomadland
4) Little Women
5) Ad Astra
6) Joker
7) Bombshell
8) El Camino/Breaking Bad

9) 1917

There is even one title that I have heard that seems so unlikely that I'm hesitant to mention it here...yet...maybe on Wednesday when I post the final Ten Bets.

By the way, the Ruimy article mentioned above also has Jordan's final predicted Telluride list.  I have linked it here.  Jordan graciously once again gives a tip of the hat to MTFB.




JOKER UNCERTAINTY

Last Friday a bunch of us that are fairly intense watchers of Film Fest lineups in general and Telluride's lineup chances in particular were embroiled in a big discussion following the news that Todd Phillip's Joker had been added to the New York lineup.

The reason for the hubbub?  NYFF had listed the film as a "New York" premiere.  Why is that intriguing?  Because that designation generally means that the film in question is probably playing Telluride before it goes to New York.  If a film is playing New York and did not previously play Telluride that almost always means that NYFF labels it a U.S. premiere.

Most of those of us who are trying to parse out what's going to screen this week gave up on Joker back when Toronto announced it as a North American premiere meaning that the film will not play at Telluride first.

But now there's a bit of confusion...so what are the possible explanations:

1) Joker does play Telluride.  Maybe Toronto got it wrong and their screening will be a Canadian Premiere not a North American premiere.  This is possible.  We already know that there has been some confusion about TIFF premiere status labels this year.  There was confusion about A Hidden Life when it was announced and there have continued murmurs that some films that TIFF has labeled as North American premieres are, nevertheless, playing Telluride.

2) New York has it wrong... which would means no Telluride play and that NYFF would have the actual U.S. premiere.

3) NYFF and TIFF both have it right and that means no Telluride play.  How?  My friend Kenny Miles suggested on Twitter Friday that Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX. could announce Joker as a last minute addition and that would satisfy the designations from both fests as they stand.  Fantastic Fest takes off a week before New York does.

I honestly think #3 is probably the most probable scenario.

PS...a new trailer for Joker is supposed t drop on Wednesday...  from Anton Volkov's Trailer Track site.


FILM STAGE AND THE PLAYLIST LIST FALL FILMS

Both The Film Stage and The Playlist have posted big articles detailing movies they believe are of note for the fall movie season. The Film Stage list is 50 films long while The Playlist has a list of 45.

Both outlets list the films in chronological order by announced release date and add a section for those films that are, as yet, undated but are believed to be a release before the end of 2019.

As you might expect, there is a good deal of overlap.

I have gathered the TFF #46 titles that I expect to see this week on the lineup announcement from both lists and from both they are:

Parasite
Pain and Glory
Motherless Brooklyn
Ford v. Ferrari
The Report
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
A Hidden Life
Uncut Gems
First Cow
Marriage Story

The Playlist also includes: Judy and First Cow
The Film Stage also includes: Varda by Agnes

Both articles are linked below:

The Film Stage


The Playlist


NEW IMAGES OF RENEE ZELLWEGER FROM JUDY

Awards Watch had some new images of Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland from the forthcoming film Judy that I am expecting to be announced on Thursday as one of the films on the TFF #46 lineup.  Lots of the awards outlets have Zellweger high on their lists for a possible Best Actress nomination for the film which IMDb describes thusly: "Legendary performer Judy Garland arrives in London in the winter of 1968 to perform a series of sold-out concerts."

Here are the new pics from Awards Watch:

 Judy is set to open in the U.S. on Sept. 27th.


CURRENT 20 BETS

1) The Aeronauts

2) Beanpole

3) The Climb

4) Country Music

5) Family Romance LLC

6) First Cow
7) Ford v Ferrari

8) A Hidden Life

9) Judy
10) The Kingmaker

11) Lyrebird

12) Marriage Story

13) Motherless Brooklyn

14) Pain and Glory

15) Parasite

16) Portrait of a Lady on Fire

17) The Report
18) The Two Popes

19 ) Uncut Gems

20) Varda by Agnes

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

For the eighth consecutive 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 with any of the following contact methods:

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Premiere Uncertainty / Multiple Trailers to Consider / New York Doc Reveal / Parasite Already Looking Toward Oscar / Current Ten Bets / The People's Telluride

Thursday...One Week...One Day...

PREMIERE UNCERTAINTY

Reading premiere statuses has become THE tea leaf reading essential to grasping what films are possibly playing at Telluride but it's not a perfect or exact science.  Every year it seems that there are a couple of films which are announced with one status and then it turns out that that designation is incorrect.  When that happens, depending on what was announced,  you can end up including a film for TFF or excluding it from TFF and then find out on announcement morning that you got it wrong.  

This year is no different in terms of the fact that it's happened...it does seem like there is more confusion than the past few years.

You're already probably aware that Malick's A Hidden Life was a focus of some confusion when it was reported by at least one outlet to be a North American premiere at Toronto which would mean no slot for it at Telluride.  Later it was discovered that it is, in fact, a Canadian premiere at TIFF and consequently probably IS playing TFF #46.

If you've been reading along the past two weeks you know that we've had some confusion about Beanpole and The Truth.  We think we have Beanpole back in as probable for Telluride despite its continued designation by Toronto as a North American Premiere.  As far as The Truth...that hasn't become clear yet.  Again, TIFF is listing it as a North American premiere but I still have whispers that it's a Telluride play.

And...now...I'm hearing a bit of scuttlebutt that the list of NA preems at Toronto may include still a couple of other films that I had written off.  I'm going to try to nail some of that down before I post this week's new list of "Bets".

And finally, let me tease you a little that over the past week or so I've heard a couple of really intriguing suggestions about films that I haven't considered seriously making an appearance next week.  I'm hoping to get to a point where I can either confirm confidently or debunk...but if a couple of these things happen...there will be some surprises.

MULTIPLE TRAILERS TO CONSIDER

Since my last post on Tuesday there has been a deluge of teasers and trailers for films that will or could still play on the Telluride screens: Marriage Story, an IMAX trailer for Ad Astra, Antlers and Bombshell (was previously the Untitled Jay Roach Roger Ailes project).  I have downloaded all of them from YouTube.

Additionally, the word is that we're supposed to get a trailer for The Report later today.

MARRIAGE STORY X 2

We're very sure this is already in the lineup for next week

What I Love About Nicole:

:

What I Love About Charlie:

AD ASTRA IMAX

I still am clinging to a slender reed of hope that this screens in Venice and then makes the trip to southwest Colorado.

ANTLERS

Scott Cooper's last two projects screened at Telluride: Black Mass and Hostiles.  The producer is a guy named Guillermo Del Toro...you might remember him for a little thing called The Shape of Water.

BOMBSHELL

Admittedly...an outside shot at best.

NEW YORK DOC REVEAL

The New York Film Fest revealed its documentary choices yesterday and, unusually, they revealed nothing abut what will play at The SHOW only what likely will not as each announced film was labeled by NYFF as a World, North American or U.S. premiere.

Among docs that seem to be off the Telluride plate are:

Tim Robbins' 45 Seconds of Laughter

Michael Apted's 63 Up

Lynn Novick's College Behind Bars

Nanni Moretti's Santiago Italia

Sergei Loznitsa's State Funeral

The complete documentary announcement from the Film Society of Lincoln Center is linked here.

PARASITE ALREADY LOOKING TOWARD OSCAR

Deadline.com reports that South Korea has chosen Palme d'Or winner, Bong Joon-ho's Parasite to be its entrant for Oscar glory in the newly re-named category Best International Film (formerly Best Foreign Language Film).

Deadline's Nancy Tartiglione reported the choice yesterday.

For Bong, it's his second selection to represent South Korea in the Oscar sweepstakes having been selected back in 2006 for his film Mother.

Parasite opens in the U.S. on Oct. 11th.

The complete Deadline story is here.


CURRENT TEN BETS AND BONUS BETS

10) The Aeronauts
9) Ford v. Ferrari
8) The Two Popes
7) Judy
6) Pain and Glory
5) Uncut Gems
4) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
3) Motherless Brooklyn
2) Marriage Story
1) Parasite


Bonus Bets:

Bonus 1) Varda by Agnes
Bonus 2) First Cow
Bonus 3) A Hidden Life
Bonus 4) The Report
Bonus 5) The Kingmaker
Bonus 6) The Climb
Bonus 7) Waves
Bonus 8) Lyrebird
Bonus 9) Verdict

Of course a new Ten Bets and Bonus Bets is coming tomorrow... plus the dwindling list of films that are still possible...


THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

For the eighth consecutive 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 with any of the following contact methods:


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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Latest Toronto Announcements / New Trailers and Teaser: A Hidden Life, Little Women, Ad Astra, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Parasite

Thursday...Two weeks and one day...


LATEST TORONTO ANNOUNCEMENTS

First of all, take all of this with a grain of salt as the announcements from Toronto on Tuesday seemed to be off a bit in terms of premiere designations.  Most of the confusion fell on Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life that was reported at least by one outlet as a North American premiere but which TIFF's own website now labels as a Canadian premiere thereby affirming its likelihood for Telluride. 

However, both The Truth and Beanpole, which I had concluded were probably playing Telluride because of the New York film fest labeling both films New York premieres rather than U.S. premieres, were announced by TIFF as North American preems which would indicate no Telluride play.

After some back and forth behind the scenes, I think that there is still a chance that one or both of those films might still make a Telluride appearance.

Films that were otherwise confirmed for Telluride by their designations as Canadian premieres by TIFF included:

The Aeronauts
The Climb
Verdict
and after some hubbub...A Hidden Life

International premiere status points to the possibility of:

Dan Freidkin's Lyrebird...a post WWII story of an investigation into art theft and more.
Trey Edward Shults' Waves...about the vagaries of young love starring Lucas Hedges.

Appearing to drop out of the Telluride possibles list: Noah Hawley's Lucy in the Sky (slated as a World Premiere for TIFF), and Benedict Andrews' Seberg (billed as a North American premiere).  Also, Ken Loach's Sorry We Missed You, Haifaa Al-Mansour's The Perfect Candidate and Ladj Ly's Les Miserables.

Toronto has one more set of films to announce and will do so next Tuesday.



NEW TRAILERS AND TEASERS

A HIDDEN LIFE


A trailer for Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life (which I think IS going to Telluride) was revealed Tuesday from the Fox Searchlight folks.  Here it is from YouTube:

The trailer's great and I have hopes that Malick is back in Tree of Life/Thin Red Line territory.


LITTLE WOMEN

Here's the first trailer for Greta Gerwig's Little Women...which with the absence of its inclusion by Toronto in their Tuesday announcement, means it's still a minuscule Telluride possibility...and remember, I still have it in my fevered brain as a potential surprise sneak peek...

Here is that trailer, also from YouTube:

Yes please...

AD ASTRA

Unlikely but not eliminated...

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

Back to a film I'm almost dead certain will play in a couple of weeks...Celine Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire.   Thanks be to YouTube:

PARASITE

Also a lock for Labor Day...

CURRENT TEN BETS AND BONUS BETS

With a new Ten Bets coming tomorrow!

10) The Aeronauts
9) Ford v. Ferrari
8) The Two Popes
7) Pain and Glory
6) Uncut Gems
5) Judy
4) Motherless Brooklyn
3) Marriage Story
2) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
1) Parasite

Bonus 1) The Truth
Bonus 2) Varda by Agnes
Bonus 3) First Cow
Bonus 4) A Hidden Life
Bonus 5) The Report
Bonus 6) Beanpole
Bonus 7) The Kingmaker


DON'T FORGET TO PLAN TO RATE!

For the eighth consecutive 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 with any of the following contact methods:


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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Venice Scheduling Clues / Let's Talk Tributes / Indiewire's 30 Oscar Contenders (Fall Film Fests)

Monday...Two weeks, four days...


VENICE SCHEDULING CLUES

I have re-posted here the "Late-Breaking" post from Friday about the scheduling of films for Venice with some additional material added over the weekend...

Those of you that have followed this space for a few years know that a fairly strong overlap has developed over time between the Telluride and Venice fests.  Last year no less than nine different films played both festivals including: First Man, Roma, The Favourite and The Front Runner.  In 2017 they shared eight films including: The Shape of Water and Downsizing.


Venice opening night films that have moved on to play at Telluride in recent years have included:

2018- First Man
2017- Downsizing
2016- La La Land
2014- Birdman
2013- Gravity
2010- Black Swan

Over the past three years 23 films have played the Venice/Telluride connection and of them 19 were scheduled in the first four days of the Venice festival.

So, as you can see...there is a substantial connection.

And key to our ability to read the Venice tea leaves is scheduling.  In order to make both Venice and Telluride films have to be either front loaded or back loaded at Venice in order to have time to make it to southwest Colorado.  Further, the most sought after titles are front loaded as Venice will desire to world premiere them.  That's why today's release of the screening schedule for Venice is interesting.

We think we know, for example, that Hirokazu Kore-eda's The Truth will be in Telluride and we also know that it is this year's opener for Venice on Aug. 28.  That works.  Other films that more or less confirm the theory are Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story which we think is playing Telluride and which Venice has scheduled for Aug. 29th.  Laura Greenfield's documentary about Imelda Marcos is another film we think makes it to T-ride and its Venice screening date of Aug. 30th makes it possible.

All of that to get to this...there are four Venice films that aren't currently claimed by Toronto or New York that fit the profile:

James Gray's Ad Astra (Aug. 29)
Benedict Andrews' Seberg (Aug. 30)
Roman Polanski's J'accuse (Aug. 30)
Haifa al-Mansour's The Perfect Candidate (Aug. 29)

The theory of schedule dates indicate at least some chance of  the Venice/Telluride double play is further under-girded by the screenings of Pablo Larrain's Ema and Todd Phillips' Joker on Aug. 31.  Since we think we know from Toronto news that those two films will not play Telluride, it looks like Aug. 30th is our Venice cut off date this year.

So...

It feels to me like The Perfect Candidate and Seberg are the better bets for Telluride inclusion.  You may remember that a couple of weeks back  Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere said that he had been told that Ad Astra was NOT playing Telluride.  So, despite its Telluride-friendly date at Venice...it's still "iffy" at best.

And, frankly, I'd be surprised if Polanski's film screens.

Three other Venice films that could conceivably make the grade are: No One Left Behind, Balloon and Madre.

Other nuggets...looks like we can scratch David Michod's The King from Telluride speculation as it is scheduled to screen initially in Venice on Sept. 2nd.

Here's the link to the Venice schedule.


LET'S TALK TRIBUTES

Just for fun...who, among the 17 films I have listed above as a Ten Bets film or a Bonus Bet...might be ripe for a Telluride Tribute in three weeks?  Not every film has a great candidate for the honor.  Some have more than one.

Ten Bets possibles...

Parasite-maybe director Joon-ho Bong
Portrait of a Lady on Fire- No one leaps out
Marriage Story- director Noah Baumbach, actress Scarlett Johansson, actress Laura Dern, actor Alan Alda
Motherless Brooklyn- director/writer/actor Edward Norton, actor Bruce Willis, actor Willem Dafoe, actor Alec Baldwin
Judy- actress Renee Zellweger
Uncut Gems- actor Adam Sandler
Pain and Glory- director/writer Pedro Almodovar was a Tribute recipient in 1988 but actor Antonio Banderas is eligible
The Two Popes- director Fernando Meirelles, actor Anthony Hopkins, actor Jonathan Pryce
Ford v. Ferrari- actor Christian Bale was a tribute recipient in 2017.  Director James Mangold is a possibility as well as Bale's co-star Matt Damon...outside shot...writer/actor Tracy Letts
The Aeronauts-no one leaps out here

Bonus Bet possibles...

The Truth- director Hirokazu Kore-eda, actress Juliette Binoche, actor Ethan Hawke. Catherine Deneuve was tributed in 1999
Varda by Agnes- Varda was feted at Telluride in 1977
First Cow-director Kelly Reichardt
A Hidden Life- director/writer Terrence Malick, actor Matthias Schoenarts, actor Jurgen Prochnow.
The Report-outside shot-actress Annette Bening
Both Beanpole and The Kingmaker seem to lack candidates.

Now, I'll be honest.  I have three pretty hot leads as to the tribute recipients.  Only one of which is actually listed above and is, I think, a lock.

One of them is NOT listed above largely because it's a person that if I named, would seem, I think, odd enough to give it away and I'm not ready to do that yet.

The third is not a director or actor and of the three, the most "iffy" about at the moment.

Who would you like to see get the tribute?  Who do you think will?


INDIEWIRE'S 30 OSCAR CONTENDERS (FALL FILM FESTS)

Indiewire's Zach Sharf posted an article last week called 30 Oscar Contenders at You Need to Know Going Into the Fall Film Festivals.  Let's rundown what films are mentioned and if they will/could play at Telluride.

Start with the films Sharf says are likely TFF #46 titles.  In the article he names:

Marriage Story
Ford v. Ferrari
First Cow
The Two Popes
Uncut Gems
A Hidden Life

Among the other films that Sharf does not specify for Telluride but that I feel are very probable are:

Pain and Glory
Motherless Brooklyn
Parasite
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
The Report
The Truth
Varda by Agnes

Only two films listed still are in limbo regarding whether they play Telluride from this list of 30 and they are Ad Astra and Seberg...see Venice notes above.

The remaining 15 films all look as if they will not be playing Telluride: The Irishman, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Clemency, Joker, Just Mercy, The Goldfinch, Frankie. Dolemite Is My Name, Jojo Rabbit, The Laundromat, The Lighthouse, The Personal History of David Copperfield, The King, Wasp Network and Ema.

The complete story from Indiewire is linked here.


CURRENT TEN BETS AND BONUS BETS:

10) The Aeronauts
9) Ford v. Ferrari
8) The Two Popes
7) Pain and Glory
6) Uncut Gems
5) Judy
4) Motherless Brooklyn
3) Marriage Story
2) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
1) Parasite

Bonus 1) The Truth
Bonus 2) Varda by Agnes
Bonus 3) First Cow
Bonus 4) A Hidden Life
Bonus 5) The Report
Bonus 6) Beanpole
Bonus 7) The Kingmaker



DON'T FORGET TO PLAY...

For the eighth consecutive 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 with any of the following contact methods:


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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

LATE BREAKING: VENICE SCHEDULING CLUES

LATE BREAKING: VENICE SCHEDULING CLUES

Those of you that have followed this space for a few years know that a fairly strong overlap has developed over time between the Telluride and Venice fests.  Last year no less than nine different films played both festivals including: First Man, Roma, The Favourite and The Front Runner.  In 2017 they shared eight films including: The Shape of Water and Downsizing.


Venice opening night films that have moved on to play at Telluride in recent years have included:

2018- First Man
2017- Downsizing
2016- La La Land
2014- Birdman
2013- Gravity
2010- Black Swan

So, as you can see...there is a substantial connection.

And key to our ability to read the Venice tea leaves is scheduling.  In order to make both Venice and Telluride films have to be either front loaded or back loaded at Venice in order to have time to make it to southwest Colorado.  Further, the most sought after titles are front loaded as Venice will desire to world premiere them.  That's why today's release of the screening schedule for Venice is interesting.

We think we know, for example, that Hirokazu Kore-eda's The Truth will be in Telluride and we also know that it is this year's opener for Venice on Aug. 28.  That works.  Other films that more or less confirm the theory are Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story which we think i splaying Telluride and which Venice has scheduled for Aug. 29th.  Laura Greenfield's documentary about Imelda Marcos is another film we think makes it to T-ride and its Venice screening date of Aug. 30th makes it possible.

All of that to get to this...there are four Venice films that aren't currently claimed by Toronto or New York that fit the profile:

James Gray's Ad Astra (Aug. 29)
Benedict Andrews' Seberg (Aug. 30)
Roman Polanski's J'accuse (Aug. 30)
Haifa al-Mansour's The Perfect Candidate (Aug. 29)

The theory of schedule dates indicate at least some chance of  the Venice/Telluride double play is further under-girded by the screenings of Pablo Larrain's Ema and Todd Phillips' Joker on Aug. 31.  Since we think we know from Toronto news that those two films will not play Telluride, it looks like Aug. 30th is our Venice cut off date this year.

So...

It feels to me like The Perfect Candidate and Seberg are the better bets for Telluride inclusion.  You may remember that a couple of weeks back  Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere said that he had been told that Ad Astra was NOT playing Telluride.  So, despite its Telluride-friendly date at Venice...it's still "iffy" at best.

And, frankly, I'd be surprised if Polanski's film screens.

Other nuggets...looks like we can scratch David Michod's The King from Telluride speculation as it is scheduled to screen initially in Venice on Sept. 2nd.

Here's the link to the Venice schedule.


Have a good weekend...

Ups and Downs / Revelation from Venice / The Show

Welcome back from your last July weekend for 2019...


UPS AND DOWNS

Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere tells us that James Gray's As Astra is NOT going to be playing Telluride.  The information is not attributed but Jeff knows way more people than I do.

Wells also reported the same thing I had at the bottom of my post on Friday.  That Andreas Wiseman had written for Deadline that Tom Harper's The Aeronauts is likely headed to the San Juans for Labor Day weekend.

Jeff also links a Pamela McClintock piece from The Hollywood Reporter that makes that same claim.  That THR post is linked here.

And, for good measure, the Wells post from this weekend is linked here.

So, to re-cap, it seems that The Aeronauts is up and Ad Astra is down.



REVELATION FROM VENICE

Venice Film Festival head Alberto Barbera seems to have the "cow" out of the bag.  Barbera claimed in an interview with Screen Daily that was published Friday that the only film that he wanted to program but could not was Kelly Reichardt's First Cow (I'm considering an online petition to change the title of this film) and that A24 had decided to screen the film only in America as it has not found an international distributor as yet.  He also is flat quoted as saying that, as a consequence, the film is headed to Telluride.

First Cow also does not appear to have a U.S. release date.

Here's the Screen Daily linked.



THE SHOW

Just a bit of a rumination here.

When I began this thing in 2008 nobody else was messing around with trying to peg the films for Telluride.  Sure, there were the occasional pieces that would pop up.  One shot guesses that you'd find online but not a lot.  And certainly nothing in any official way from big time media.

As the years have gone on, and especially with the decision from the Toronto Fest to require that they know what a film's actual status is regarding which fests it's going to play and then their further decision to publicly reveal that status in their programming announcements, it seems increasingly that the reticence from media to deduce the films that will play Telluride has begun to fade.

Last week Screen Daily, for instance, included an assessment that did exactly what I do and have done for several seasons, which is to sort of reverse engineer the announcement from TIFF to make claims about what goes to Telluride.

World of Reel and Hollywood Elsewhere have been all over essentially the same list that I've put together as has BBC News, The Wrap and a couple of hints from Pete Hammond at Deadline.com,

It's generally pretty accurate unless Toronto mis-labels a film's status (which has happened rarely) or, sometimes with regard to International premieres because that designation can get a little murky.

Nevertheless, it feels to me that more outlets are willing to do the same process and publish the results.

Not sure how I feel about that...

Here's the July 23rd Screen Daily article that does what I'm talking about.


CURRENT TEN BETS...

10) The Truth
9) Ford v. Ferrari
8) The Two Popes
7) Pain and Glory
6) Uncut Gems
5) Judy
4) Motherless Brooklyn
3) Marriage Story
2) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
1) Parasite

That's the Monday MTFB.  More tomorrow...


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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

75 Films That Could Make the TFF #46 Lineup / Venetian Choices / Varda By Agnes English Trailer / Beautiful Day News / New Stills for Ada Astra /

Hope you had a good weekend... and also a big thank you to all of you that reached out in some fashion to offer condolences regarding the denial of my request for media accreditation for this year's Telluride Film Festival.


75 FILMS THAT COULD MAKE THE TFF #46 LINEUP

From the "Throw Everything Against the Wall and See What Sticks" Dept.: here, in alphabetical order, are 75 titles that could be named to the lineup for The SHOW:

1917
Ad Astra
The Aeronauts
Ahmed
Atlantics 
Bacurau
Bad Education
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Bergman Island
Blackbird
By the Grace of God
The Climb
Country Music/Ryman Concert
Dry Run (Todd Haynes film)
Ema
Fair and Balanced
Falling
Family LLC
First Cow
Ford vs. Ferrari
Forman vs. Forman
Frankie
The Goldfinch
The Good Liar
Harriet
A Hidden Life
John Prine: Hello in There
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Judy
Just Mercy
Kajillionaire
The Kindness of Strangers
The King
The Last Thing He Wanted
The Laundromat
Les Miserables
Light of My Life
The Lighthouse
Little Women
Long Time Coming
Lucy in the Sky
Mainstream
Marriage Story
Matthias and Maxime
Mr. Jones
Molly
Motherless Brooklyn
The Nest
Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always
Nomadland
Pain and Glory
Parasite
The Personal History of David Copperfield 
The Pope
Port Authority
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Queen + Slim
Radioactive
The Report
Sebring
Sorry We Missed You
Synonyms
Torrance
The True History of the Kelly Gang
The Truth
The Two Glorias: Life on the Road
Uncut Gems
Untitled Miranda July Film
Varda by Agnes
Wasp Network
Wendy
Where Is Anne Frank?
The Whistlers
Who You Think I Am


And bonus...New Looney Tunes Cartoons...


VENETIAN CHOICES?

World of Reel's Jordan Ruimy thinks he's got the bead on Venetian titles due to what seemed like an errant Tweet yesterday from what Ruimy deems a very credible source.

Among titles he rattles off that also could make the Venice/Telluride connection are:

Soderbergh's The Laundromat, Reichardt's First Cow, Gray's Ad Astra, Waititi's Jojo Rabbit, Larrian's Ema and Baumbach's Marriage Story.

Jordan's full story is linked here.



VARDA BY AGNES HAS AN ENGLISH TRAILER


Ahead of announcements this week that I suspect will reveal where this final film from Agnes Varda lands comes an English dubbed trailer.


Here that is from YouTube:

And a poster as well:

Here's coverage of the trailer release from:

FirstShowing.net

The Playlist

The Film Stage

BEAUTIFUL DAY NEWS

Over the weekend I ran across a couple of articles about Marielle Heller's upcoming A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers.  Also, coming later today we should see the first trailer for the film.  That, to me, pre-sages the likelihood that some festival is going to announce the film in the next few days.  Toronto announces its first wave tomorrow and Venice announces on Thursday.

Here's the articles from the weekend from Entertainment Weekly  and The Wrap.

I am anticipating that I'll be able to tweet the trailer later today and also expect to include it in tomorrow's post.

NEW STILLS FOR AD ASTRA

On the Red Carpet tweeted new photos from James Gray's Ad Astra-again, another film that we should know more about by the time we get to the end of the week in terms of where it lands or if it lands fest-wise.

Here's a sample of a couple of the new looks:

That's your Monday...more tomorrow including news from Toronto.

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I'm Not Official / Ten Bets 2019 #4 / New Trailer and Poster for Ad Astra / Ruimy Ruminates on Telluride

Hello from Salem, Oregon...

I'M NOT OFFICIAL 

And by that I mean...I have been denied media accreditation for the 46th Telluride Film Festival.  

I was first accredited in 2011 and have been accredited each year since then.  Eight straight.  This year...not so much.

The email notification came a week ago and said that the fest was"unfortunately unable" to offer me the accreditation.  The email went on to say that I'd be able to apply as a "new applicant" next year.

I responded with an email asking two questions:  Is there a specific reason I was denied and is there an appeal process.  

Let me be honest here.  I understand that the accreditation isn't a given and that the fest fully has the right to accredit whomever and whatever in any manner they choose.

And, as a practical matter, the accreditation means only a couple of things.  Media accreditation allows those that receive it to have priority access to the tributes as well as an additional four films of the holder's choosing and an invite to the Patron Preview on Friday afternoon.  It has also meant that I have received email notices from the fest about such items as the Guest Director, Poster Artist etc.

Also, as a side benefit, accredited journalists are placed on a list which results in direct notifications from the film distributors and publicists.  In turn, that has meant invitations to parties from Fox Searchlight, Netflix and Cohen Media.  I know that that's a shallow thing to get hung up on...but it has been nice for an Oklahoma guy to get invited to Hollywood parties.

Ultimately, the denial of accreditation stings especially after eight years of having been approved.  

TEN BETS 2019 #4

Here's the latest installment of MTFB's Ten Bets and that last one before announcements from other film fests (Toronto, Venice, London and New York...maybe Fantastic Fest) begin to give us a clear-eyed version of what we might expect to see over Labor Day weekend.

Here's last week's Ten Bets:

10) Nomadland
9) Judy
8) Motherless Brooklyn
7) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
6) Untitled Noah Baumbach Project
5) The Climb
4) Little Women
3) Family Romance LLC
2) Agnes by Varda
1) Parasite


Others in Play: The Good Liar, Jojo Rabbit, The Goldfinch, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Untitled Todd Haynes Project, Atlantics, The Laundromat, Radioactive, Country Music/Ryman Concert, The Lighthouse, Harriet, The Truth, Synonyms, Ad Astra, Molly, Lucy in the Sky.

This week's Ten Bets:


10) Country Music/Ryman Concert
9) The Truth
8) Judy
7) Motherless Brooklyn
6) Marriage Story (Previously Untitled Baumbach)
5) Portrait of a Lady on FIre
4) The Climb
3) Parasite
2) Family Romance LLC
1) Varda by Agnes

Little Women drops into the "Others in Play" category due to a bunch of buzz this past week that it might forgo festivals altogether.  Also on that list: The Good Liar, Jojo Rabbit, The Goldfinch, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Untitled Todd Haynes Project, Atlantics, The Laundromat, Radioactive, The Lighthouse, Harriet, Nomaland, Synonyms, Ad Astra, Molly, Lucy in the Sky, Uncut Gems, The Personal History of David Copperfield.

We'll get a big set of answers next week.


NEW TRAILER AND POSTER FOR AD ASTRA


Ahead of next week's announcements from Venice and Toronto came a new poster and trailer for James Gray's Ad Astra which suggest that we're likely to hear some news about that film in those announcements.

Here's the new poster:

And here's the link to the trailer via YouTube:

Additionally, Anton Volkov has reported via his Trailer Track website that we can expect to see trailers within a few days for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Harriet and The Goldfinch.

RUIMY RUMINATES ON TELLURIDE

Jordan Ruimy at his website World of Reel was one of the places that out me onto the Jeff Sneider Tweet that teases the possibility of Uncut Gems playing TFF that I reported yesterday,

Jordan put that same pic on his website along with a list pf films that he has an inkling might play Telluride in the same post:

These films look Telluride-bound:

The Safdies’ Uncut Gems
James Gray's Ad Astra
Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit
Fernando Meirelles' The Pope
Pablo Larrain's Ema
Hirokazu Kore-eda's The Truth
Bill Condon’s The Good Liar
Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story
Steven Soderbergh’s The Laundromat
Noah Hawley’s Lucy in the Sky
Michael Angeo Covino’s The Climb
Celine Sciamma’s  Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Werner Herzog’s Family Romance LLC
Agnes Varda’s Varda by Agnes
Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite

As you can see, Jordan's list looks a lot like mine...

Here's the link to Jordan's full story.


MORE REGARDING VENICE (AND TORONTO)

At the very bottom of yesterday's post you might have seen the late breaking blurb that Hirokazu Kore-eda's The Truth is the opening film.  That bodes well for a TFF screening.

The past six years of Venice openers suggest that The Truth is a very real possibility:

2018- First Man
2017- Downsizing
2016- La La Land
2015- Everest
2014- Birdman
2013- Gravity

That's five of the last six openers that went on to TFF.


Meanwhile Variety's Nick Vivarelli posted on Tuesday a string of films that he suggests will probably play at Venice.  Among those he lists that are best bets for Telluride as well are:

Ad Astra
Marriage Story
Joker
The Aeronauts
The Pope
The King
Against All enemies
Ema
Wasp Network

That Variety post is here.

Finally, Toronto announced its opening film will be a Canadian produced documentary about Robbie Robertson and The Band titled Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band.  That choice should have zero impact in terms of TFF 2019 films.


That's today's MTFB from Oregon.  I'll have more next week including the analysis of the first flight of announced films from Toronto and what those choices tell us about TFF #46,


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

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Telluride and the Oscar Part Six: Supporting Actor / Chazelle Back in the Game / THR's 20 Venice Possibles

Welcome to the Monkey House...


TELLURIDE AND THE OSCAR PART SIX: BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Today is Part Six of my series looking at the relationship between films from the Telluride Film Festival and the Oscars "Big Eight" categories with the focus today on Best Supporting Actor.  Beginning with 2005 (the year before I began attending the fest) here are all the Oscar nominees for that category.  Winners are indicated with ***.


2005: Jake Gyllenhaal/Brokeback Mountain
2006: Jackie Earle Haley/Little Children
2007: Hal Holbrook/Into the Wild
2008: No nominees
2009: Christopher Plummer/The Last Station
2010: Geoffrey Rush/The King's Speech
2011: No nominees
2012: Alan Arkin/Argo
2013: Michael Fassbender/12 Years a Slave
2014: Mark Ruffalo/Foxcatcher, Edward Norton/Birdman
2015: Mark Ruffalo/Spotlight
2016: Mahershala Ali/Moonlight***, Lucas Hedges/Manchester by the Sea
2017: Richard Jenkins/The Shape of Water
2018: Richard E. Grant/Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Notes:  The category that Telluride has held the least sway over in the 14 years with only 14 nominations during that time and just the single win for Mahershala Ali in 2016.

Mark Ruffalo is the only actor with two nominations in this category from TFF films and they came in back to back years with Foxcatcher in 2014 and Spotlight in 2015.

2008 and 2011 saw no nominations at all from T-ride films in the category.

To the best of my ability, it appears that the first TFF nominee in this category was Jaye Davidson for The Crying Game in 1992.

Thursday a look at Best Adapted Screenplay.



CHAZELLE BACK IN THE GAME

Emma Stone and Damien Chazelle

(Photo via Michael Buckner/Deadline/Shutterstock)

Mike Fleming writing at Deadline.com has reported as of yesterday that Damien Chazelle is in the process of lining up his next project.  Fleming reports that the film is an "original drama set in period Hollywood.  He further reports that Chazelle's Oscar winning star of his La La Land, Emma Stone, is considering taking the lead and that Lionsgate, which distributed  La La Land is said to be in the running to do the same for the new picture.

Deadline reports that the film's current title is Babylon.

It's worth noting for TFF fans as Chazelle's last two films have made their way there-La La Land and First Man.

Deadline does not report any specific timeline for the film.

The Deadline story is here.

Variety has reported that Paramount is also interested.

The Hollywood Reporter suggests that Netflix may also be interested and that Stone may be looking at playing real life early Hollywood star Clara Bow.


THR'S 20 VENICE POSSIBLES

The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Roxborough published a story yesterday listing 20 films that he/THR feel have some likelihood of playing the Venice Fest.  They announce the bulk of their lineup on July 25th.

As most readers here know, the Venice/Telluride connection has been significant over the past few years.

Among the 20 titles the one's that seem to have the most chance of being a Venice/Telluride combo film are:

James Gray's Ad Astra
Taika Waititi Jojo Rabbit
Kelly Reichardt's First Cow
Chloe Zhao's Nomadland
Fernando Meirelles' The Pope
Pablo Larrain's Ema
Hirokazu Kore-eda's The Truth

A couple of others to mention that are outside shots: Todd Phillips' Joker and Steven Soderbergh's The Laundromat

The article also includes Martin Scorsese's The Irishman which almost everyone believes will not be ready for Venice (and Hence Telluride).  Also mentioned is Greta Gerwig's Little Women, which is the only film among the 20 that Roxborough specifically mentions as a Telluride possibility...though he does also write about the current bizz that Little Women may not do any fest at all.

The complete THR article is linked here.


That'll do for this Tuesday.  I'll have more on Thursday.

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

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New Ad for Ad Astra / New Judy Trailer Coming Today / Netflix Re-Thinking

Welcome back from the weekend...hope yours was good.


NEW AD FOR AD ASTRA

The producers of the Brad Pitt starring As Astra launched a 30 second spot via the film's official Twitter account over the weekend.

For my money, it may do a better job of teasing the film than the full trailer that appeared four weeks back.

Ad Astra tells the story of astronaut Pitt who agrees to search for his father, also an astronaut, who disappeared years earlier while on a deep space mission that could still have far reaching consequences in terms of the survival of the solar system.

Ad Astra is directed by James Gray and Twentieth Century Fox is distributing.  It's due in theaters on Sept. 20th. 

Here's the link to the new spot on the Ad Astra Twitter feed.


NEW JUDY TRAILER COMING TODAY

Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland in Judy

Anton Volkov reported over the weekend that we'd see a new trailer for the Judy Garland biopic Judy.  The film stars Renee Zellweger in the title role.  Also appearing are Jessie Buckley, Finn Whitrock, Rufus Sewell and Michael Gambon.

The film is directed by Rupert Goold (True Story).  Roadside Attractions and LD Entertainment are distributing domestically with Sept. 27th scheduled for U.S. release.

The Trailer Track story is linked here and I hope to have the trailer here for the blog tomorrow.


NETFLIX RE-THINKING

Saw this story over the weekend as well.  Netflix is reportedly reviewing its big budget film approach and re-considering it all together.

Specifically mentioned in the coverage (which originated with TheInformation.com) were the hefty price tags for J.C. Chandor's Triple Frontier (est. $115 million) and, as you might expect, Martin Scorsese's The Irishman (est. 150 million).

I'd be curious about how or if  Roma's success but lack of a Best Picture win last year is factoring into the process.  Further, I wonder if Netflix will strive to be as much of a presence at Telluride as they were last year.  The streamer had half a dozen films playing as a part of the fest in 2018.

It also seems to be of a piece with recent shakeups at Amazon Studios who may also be re-evaluating how much money they are willing to pour into projects.

I have linked stories about the Netflix re-think here from Indiewire and The Playlist.




I'll have more tomorrow including the continuation of my series on the Telluride/Oscar connection.


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

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