Digger Not Digging??? / Parallel Tales Trailer

DIGGER NOT DIGGING???

Deadline reported last week that Alejandro G. Inarritu's hotly anticipated Digger starring Tom Cruise may not play any festival at all.  The context for this was the presentation for the film at Cinemacon last week. 

Of course, we know that Digger is not playing Cannes but with its announced Oct. 2nd release date many assumed (me included) that a Venice bow was in play followed (I would have thought) by a TFF #53 North American Premiere.  Warner Bros. seems to have poured cold water on the notion.  From Deadline:

"EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Tom Cruise starrer Digger, which wowed at CinemaCon on Tuesday, is unlikely to debut at a fall festival, we can reveal.

The film’s October 2 release date has led to speculation, and anticipation, in many quarters that Venice or another fall festival would be in the cards. Six of Iñárritu’s seven films have premiered at either Cannes or Venice. However, according to multiple well-placed sources, that’s not the current plan. Of course, things can change, but at the moment, we hear that’s how the land lies.

Warner Bros and Legendary declined comment."

I suppose the "escape hatch" is the phrasing "that’s not the current plan. Of course, things can change,"  that leaves some wiggle room for something to change. 

Honestly, I think the film could still make an appearance at Telluride.  Inarritu has screened Babel, Biutiful, Birdman and Bardo at T-ride.  The history/connection there is deep.  In a normal year, Digger might have appeared at the top of my annual "Ten Bets" first take for Telluride in June.  That will change now...but...I may still include the film somewhere in that initial Top Ten Bets.

For hoots...here's the current teaser from Digger from Warner Bros. and YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=digger+teaser+official

Stay tuned.

PARALLEL TALES TRAILER

Prior to its screening at Cannes, a trailer for Asghar Farhadi's Parallel Tales ha s been released. The trailer is in French so those of you who can speak/translate...here you go.  For those of us who cannot...it's still an interesting glimpse at what the film will be.  Here it is from YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXuLiRIkVkw

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MTFB Oscar Update: Best Picture and More / Oscar Thoughts / Extended Trailer for Salvatore / Visitations: Women Talking, Bardo and Sr.

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: BEST PICTURE AND MORE

Here's the last update for these major categories prior to final predictions that will post on the Sunday morning of the Oscars (March 12th).  A film's previous ranking from two weeks ago is indicated to the right in parentheses. TFF films are indicated in Bold.

 BEST PICTURE

1) Everything Everywhere All at Once (1)

2) The Banshees of Inisherin (3)

3) The Fabelmans (2)

4) Top Gun: Maverick (5)

5) All Quiet on the Western Front (7)

6) TAR (5)

7) Elvis (6)

8) Triangle of Sadness (8)

9) Avatar: The Way of Water (9)

10) Women Talking (10)

BEST DIRECTION

1) Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert/Everything Everywhere All at Once (1)

2) Steven Spielberg/The Fabelmans (2)

3) Todd Field/TAR (3)

4) Martin McDonagh/The Bnashees of Inisherin (4)

5) Ruben Ostlund/Triangle of Sadness (5)

BEST ACTRESS

1) Cate Blanchett/TAR (1)

2) Michelle Yeoh/Everything Everywhere All at Once (2)

3) Andrea Riseborough/To Leslie (5)

4) Michelle Williams/The Fabelmans (3)

5) Ana de Armas/Blonde (4)

BEST ACTOR

1) Austin Butler/Elvis (2)

2) Brendan Fraser/The Whale (1)

3) Colin Farrell/The Banshees of Inisherin (3)

4) Bill Nighy/Living (4)

5) Paul Mescal/Aftersun (5)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Kerry Condon/The Banshees of Inisherin (2)

2) Jamie Lee Curtis/Everything Everywhere All at Once (3)

3) Angela Bassett/Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (1)

4) Stephanie Hsu/Everything Everywhere All at Once (4)

5) Hong Chau/The Whale (5)

BEST SUPPORTNG ACTOR

1) Ke Huy Quan/Everything Everywhere All at Once (1)

2) Brendan Gleeson/The Banshees of Inisherin (2)

3) Barry Koeghan/The Banshees of Inisherin (4)

4) Judd Hirsch/The Fabelmans (3)

5) Bryan Tyree Henry/Causeway (5)

OSCAR THOUGHTS

The BAFTA win for Austin Butler seemed to have lifted him over Brendan Fraser in the Best Actor race and BAFTA also seemed to solidify Cate Blanchett's position over Michelle Yeoh, then the SGA's happened last night and it's all back up in the air again.  

DGA, PGA  and SAG Ensemble wins for Everything Everywhere All at Once have solidified its position for Best Picture and Best Direction. 

PGA- TFF nominees were wiped out across the board.  TAR, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On and Retrograde were the only TFF films nominated and none won.  You could make a bit of a case for Navalny's PGA win for Documentary being TFF-adjacent as it screened prior to the fest's start at Elk Park.  Also, TFF touches just a bit on Everything Everywhere All at Once with the special screening of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and the appearance at the fest of Michelle Yeoh.

SAG- Everything Everywhere won everything everywhere.  Ensemble, Actress (Yeoh), Supporting Actress (Curtis) and Supporting Actor (Quan).  Brendan Fraser gained back some ground with his SAG win over Austin Butler.  That goes back to being a tight race.  Yeoh's win did the same in Best Actress with Blanchett and Jamie Lee Curtis's win throws Supporting Actress into a real tizzy.  

Quan's win means he is locked and the Ensemble prize seems to lock Everything Everywhere for Best Picture.  EEAAO could end up with six Oscars in two weeks time.

this next two weeks are going to be crazy.

EXTENDED TRAILER FOR SALVATORE

Sony Pictures Classics released an extended trailer this week for Luca Guadagnino's documentary Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams.  The film has already been released.

VISITATIONS

Women Talking: Sarah Polley with Indiewire and Ben Whishaw with The Standard.

Sr. : Chris Smith with The National Board of Review.

Bardo: Alejandro Inarritu and Darius Khondji with Indiewire.

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MTFB Oscar Take: Picture, Direction and More / Critics Choice Nominations / Trailer and Poster for Women Talking / Visitations: Inarittu, Polley and More

MTFB OSCAR TAKE: UPDATING BEST PICTURE AND DIRECTION...ADDING DOCUMENTARY, ANIMATED FEATURE AND INTERNATIONAL FILM

In today's post I am updating Oscar predictions for Best Picture and Best Direction which were last posted on Dec. 1st.  In addition I am including first predictions for Best Animated, Documentary and International films.  TFF #49 films are in Bold.

BEST PICTURE

1) The Fabelmans (1)

2) The Banshees of Inisherin (2)

3) Everything Everywhere All at Once (5)

4) Women Talking (3)

5) Top Gun: Maverick (4)

6) TAR (6)

7) Elvis (7)

8) Avatar: The Way of Water (9)

9) Babylon (8)

10) Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (9)

11) The Woman King (New)

12) Triangle of Sadness  (10)

Out: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (11)

Stealth BP possibles: RRR, She Said, GDT's Pinocchio, Living

BEST DIRECTION

1) Steven Spielberg/The Fabelmans (1)

2) Sarah Polley/Women Talking (2)

3) Martin McDonagh/The Banshees of Inisherin (3)

4) Todd Field/TAR (4)

5) The Daniels/EEAAO (5)

6) Damien Chazelle/Babylon (6)

7) James Cameron/Avatar: The Way of Water (New)

Out: Rueben Ostlund/Triangle of Sadness

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

1) GDT's Pinocchio

2) Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

3) Turning Red

4) Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

5) Wendall and Wild

6) Strange World

7) Lightyear

BEST DOUMENATRY FEATURE

1) Good Night Oppy

2) Fire of Love

3) All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

4) All That Breathes

5) Navalny

6) Descendant

7) The Territory

BEST  INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

1) Close

2) All Quiet on the Western Front

3) Decision to Leave

4) Holy Spider

5) Argentina 1985

6) Saint Omer

7) Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths

CRITICS CHOICE NOMINATIONS

The Critics Choice Association named their nominees for film superlatives on Wednesday morning.  Nine different Telluride films earned at least one nomination with Todd Field's TAR leading the way with seven total nominations.  Here's the breakdown:

TAR (7): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Blanchett), Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing and Score.

Women Talking (6): Best Picture, Direction, Supporting Actress (Buckley), Ensemble, Adapted Screenplay and Score.

Aftersun (3): Best Actor (Mescal), Young Actor (Corio), Original Screenplay

Living (2): Best Actor (Nighy), Adapted Screenplay

Empire of Light (1): Cinematography

Armageddon Time (1): Best Young Actor (Repeta)

Bardo (1): Best Foreign Language Film

Close (1): Best Foreign Language Film

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (1): Best Animated Film

Everything Everywhere All at Once led all films with 14 nominations.

You can fins the complete list of nominees linked here.

TRAILER AND POSTER FOR WOMEN TALKING

New views of Sarah Polley's Women Talking with a new poster and a trailer.  Here's the trailer via YouTube:

 And the new poster:

VISITATIONS: INARITTU, POLLEY AND MORE

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarittu on Bardo from Gold Derby.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarittu on Bardo from The Hollywood Reporter.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarittu on Bardo from The Playlist.

Sarah Polley on Women Talking from The Hollywood Reporter.

Mary McCartney on If These Walls Could Sing from Solzy at the Movies.

Micheal Ward on Empire of Light from Indiewire.

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MTFB Oscar Take: Update-Lead Acting / Dave Karger, Entertainment Weekly and TFF #49 / Visitations: Profiles and Interviews

MTFB OSCAR TAKE: UPDATE-LEAD ACTING

Today I am updating predictions in the categories of Best Actress and Best Actor.  These were last predicted on Sept. 26th.  Past ranking is to the right of the performer in parentheses.  Performances from TFF #49 are in Bold.

BEST ACTRESS

1) Michelle Yeoh/Everything Everywhere All at Once (1)

2) Cate Blanchett/TAR (2)

3) Michelle Williams/The Fabelmans (3)

4) Olivia Colman/Empire of Light (4)

5) Danielle Deadwyler/Till (6)

6) Viola Davis/The Woman King (New)

7) Margot Robbie/Babylon (5)

Out: Carrie Mulligan/She Said

BEST ACTOR

1) Brendan Frasier/The Whale (1)

2) Colin Ferrell/The Banshees of Inisherin (2)

3) Austin Butler/Elvis (3)

4) Bill Nighy/Living (4)

5) Hugh Jackman/The Son (5)

6) Tom Cruise/Top Gun: Maverick (6)

7) Diego Calva/Babylon (New)

Out: Adam Driver/White Noise

DAVE KARGER, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY AND TFF #49

I am continuing my series wherein I check the Oscar predictions of a number of experts and how they have situated films that played at TFF #49.  Previously I have passed along predictions from Variety's Clayton Davis, The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg and Awards Watch's Erik Anderson.  Today I'm highlighting Dave Karger who has returned to Entertainment Weekly as their 2023 Oscar specialist.  Dave has predicted Best Picture, Direction and the acting categories in his first pass at this year's Oscar field.  Here's how TFF #49 films fare in his prognostications:

TAR: Best Picture, Direction, Actress/Blanchett and Supporting Actress/Hoss

Women Talking: Best Picture, Supporting Actress/Foy, Supporting Actress/Buckley

Empire of Light: Best Picture, Direction, Actress/Colman

Armageddon Time: Best Supporting Actor/Hopkins

Karger's complete list of predictions is linked here.

VISITATIONS: PROFILES AND INTERVIEWS

Alejandro Inarritu (Bardo)/Variety

Cate Blanchett (TAR)/The Los Angeles Times

Todd Field (TAR)/The Playlist

Sebastian Lelio (The Wonder)/The Guardian

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First MTFB Oscar Take for 2022-23 / Variety's Clayton Davis Says... / Bardo- Has a Trailer and is 22 Minutes Shorter

FIRST MTFB OSCAR TAKE FOR 2022-23

Welp...the Big Three Fall Film Fests are in the books.  TFF #49's MTFB polls are all in and posted.  So, now we begin to turn the page and focus on the Oscar season that is about to unfold and, more specifically, how TFF #49 films will fare over the next months or so.

Key Dates for the 95th Academy Awards:

Oscar Nomination voting Jan. 12-17

Nominations announced Jan. 24

Oscar Final voting: Mar. 2-7

The 95th Academy Awards Mar. 12

Here's your first look at my early line in six major categories.  TFF #49 films are indicated in Bold.

BEST PICTURE

1) The Fabelmans

2) Babylon

3) Everything Everywhere All at Once

4) Women Talking

5) The Banshees of Inisherin

6) Top Gun: Maverick

7) TAR

8) Avatar: The Way of Water

9) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

10) Empire of Light

11) Elvis

12) Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

BEST DIRECTION

1) Steven Spielberg/The Fabelmans

2) Sarah Polley/Women Talking

3) Damien Chazelle/ Babylon

4) Todd Field/TAR

5) The Daniels/Everything Everywhere All at Once

6) Martin McDonagh/The Banshees of Inisherin

7) James Cameron: Avatar: The Way of Water

BEST ACTRESS

1) Michelle Yeoh/Everything Everywhere All at Once

2) Cate Blanchett/TAR

3) Michelle Williams/The Fabelmans

4) Olivia Colman/Empire of Light

5) Margot Robbie/Babylon

6) Danielle Deadwyler/Till

7) Carey Mulligan/She Said

BEST ACTOR

1) Brendan Fraser/The Whale

2) Colin Farrell/The Banshees of Inisherin

3) Austin Butler/Elvis

4) Bill Nighy/Living

5) Hugh Jackman/The Son

6) Tom Cruise/Top Gun: Maverick

7) Adam Driver/White Noise

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Jesse Buckley/Women Talking

2) Clare Foy/Women Talking

3) Hong Chau/The Whale

4) Patricia Clarkson/She Said

5) Stephanie Hsu/Everything Everywhere All at Once

6) Laura Dern/The Son

7) Sadie Sink/The Whale

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Brendan Gleeson/The Banshees of Inisherin

2) Ke Huy Quan/Everything Everywhere All at Once

3) Ben Whishaw/Women Talking

4) Judd Hirsch/The Fabelmans

5) Paul Dano/The Fabelmans

6) Jeremy Strong/Armageddon Time

7) Brad Pitt/Babylon

My personal candidates for whom I am beating the drum:

Bill Nighy/Living-Best Actor

Judith Ivey/Women talking-Best Supporting Actress

Jeremy Strong/Armageddon Time-Best Supporting Actor

Ben Whishaw/Women Talking-Best Supporting Actor

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On-Best Picture, Best Animated Feature, Best Adapted Screenplay

VARIETY'S CLAYTON DAVIS SAYS...

For a more holistic view of Oscar prospects for TFF #49 films I turned to the latest Oscar predicitons from Variety's chief Oscar prognosticator Clayton Davis. Davis currently has not yet predicted a number of categories.  He has predicted Best Picture, Direction, all four acting categories, both screenplay categories, Cinematography, International Feature and Animated Feature.  Here's what he has predicted currently for nominations for films that screened at TFF #49:

Women Talking (7 nominations): Picture, Direction, Supporting Actress/Buckley, Supporting Actress/Foy, Supporting Actress/Ivey, Supporting Actor/Whishaw, Adapted Screenplay

TAR (5 nominations): Picture, Direction, Actress/Blanchett, Supporting Actress/Hoss, Original Screenplay

Empire of Light (3 nominations): Picture, Actress/Colman and Cinematography

Bardo (2 nominations) International Feature, Cinematography

Single nominations:

Living: Best Actor/Nighy

Close: International Feature

Holy Spider: International Feature

***Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (TFF #48)

All of Davis' predictions can be found here.

BARDO- HAS A TRAILER AND IS 22 MINUTES SHORTER

First the trailer for the film by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu via YouTube:

Additionally, multiple sources reported this week that the film had been cut by 22 minutes down from a Telluride runtime of 174 min. to 152.

Here's the Indiewire article that talks about the changes to the film.

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SPECIAL POST: Telluride at Home-Day One

SPECIAL POST: TELLURIDE AT HOME-DAY ONE

We "opened" the first ever Telluride Film Festival at Home last night with the first film we ever saw at the The SHOW, Alejandro Inarittu's Babel.

I've mentioned the story before, but briefly we got to attend the 2006 festival due to the kindness of a couple of my former students.  We didn't have a clue what we were about to experience.  We actually didn't get to Telluride until Saturday afternoon (I had obligations on Friday night).  I had seen a little bit about Babel before we got on the road that weekend, and on Saturday evening we thought that seemed like the most attractive prospect.  Lined up at the Chuck...which meant we also had to figure out its specific W2 process.  We got in after some interesting conversation with people online and got settled.

Then the ringmaster brought out Inarittu to introduce the film.  I had no idea that that would happen.  That was the moment I was hooked.  The notion that I was going to be able to see this film with the director in attendance (and answering questions afterwards).  Yes please.

We had been provided about half a dozen individual passes for the weekend and used them to see:

Babel
Directed by John Ford
Fur
The Lives of Others
Venus
Volver

After the fest was over we also sought out:

Infamous
Little Children
Severance

We've been in Telluride each Labor Day since.

Babel's IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449467/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Friday's planned films: First Man (TFF #45-2018) and Frances Ha (TFF #39-2012)

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Awards Circuit's First Predix for Oscar 2020 / A Tease for The Irishman / Inarritu to Preside Over Cannes / Trial by Fire Acquired

Good post-Oscar Thursday...


AWARDS CIRCUIT'S FIRST PREDIX FOR OSCAR 2020

Clayton Davis is all over it as he and his website, Awards Circuit, are already up with, what I believe is, the first serious pass at predicting Oscar nominees for Best Picture for next year.

Davis has a really good record of sniffing out Oscar potential this early and as such, gives us some hints about films that might have the pedigree necessary to be considered as possible TFF #46 selections.

Davis runs down a fairly substantial list of films and ends the article with a "pre-season" top ten of possible Best Picture nominees.  Without giving away the entire list of ten films, here are those included that, at first blush, feel like they have the most Telluride prospects:

Marielle Heller's Mr. Rogers biopic starring Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

John Crowley's The Goldfinch based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book starring Nicole Kidman.

Kasi Lemmon's Harriet based on the life of Underground Railroad pioneer Harriet Tubman starring Cynthia Erivo.

And...just because I think Netflix might try to follow the path they used with Roma, Martin Scorsese's The Irishman (see below).  The story of a mob hitman who may have killed Jimmy Hoffa.  For Scorsese, the old gang came back together as the film stars Robert DeNiro, Harvey Keitel and Joe Pesci with the addition of Al Pacino.

Among the other films that Davis discusses that didn't make it to his initial top ten list are these which also seem to make some sense for TFF:

Greta Gerwig's Little Women
Joe Wright's The Woman in the Window
Hirokazu Koreeda's The Truth
Scott Cooper's Antlers
Bill Condon's The Good Liar

Additionally, Davis makes predictions for each of the other 23 categories.

The entire article is linked here.


A TEASE FOR THE IRISHMAN

Perhaps this is Martin Scorsese' Great White Whale.  It's reportedly in post-production and there are rumors that it could well be headed to Cannes (if Cannes and Netflix can reach some sort of arrangement) or maybe Venice.

As I mentioned above, I think we have to at least consider the chance that the film makes its way to Telluride so I'll continue to keep an eye on it.

Consequently, if you didn't notice earlier this week, The Irishman and Netflix dropped a teaser.  Here it is via YouTube:

I also linked some of the coverage the came out with the teaser's release from:

Indiewire

The Playlist

Trailer Track


INARRITU TO PRESIDE OVER CANNES

Speaking of Cannes...the prestigious film festival announced this week that four time Oscar winning director/writer Alejandro Inarritu will preside over this year's Palme d'Or jury.  Inarritu has, over the years, been a staple of the Cannes' lineup in various sections and with multiple films.

Inarritu has also been a frequent presence at Telluride both in the capacity as presenting one of his own films but also as a fan and supporter of his fellow amigos Guillermo Del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron.

Inarritu was first represented at Cannes in 2000 with his first feature Amores Perros.

Here's Variety's story about the announcement.


TRIAL BY FIRE IS ACQUIRED

Roadside Attractions has acquired TFF #45 entrant Trial by Fire from director Ed Zwick.  The film stars Laura Dern and Jack O'Connell and is based on an article from author David Grann.  Trial by Fire was one of two films at last year's fest that was based on material written by Grann.  The other was David Lowery's The Old Man and the Gun starring Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek.

Coverage of the acquisition and plans to release the film this spring are addressed in the following:

The Hollywood Reporter

Deadline

The Wrap



That's today's MTFB.  I'll another go at this on Monday.

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Another One Bites the Dust / Crazy Ideas Re-visited / A Trailer for Human Flow

Welcome back from your weekend.  It's Monday, August 21, 2017...ten days to TFF #44...

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

I started seeing some social media mention on Friday that Xavier Dolan's The Death and Life of John F. Donovan was probably not going to be ready for exhibition.  Indiewrie confirmed that in a post on Friday afternoon.

The film's french distributor is sourced in the article specifically saying that the film won't be ready for Toronto which necessarily also means that it wouldn't be ready for the earlier occurring TFF #44. John F. Donovan has been on my dwindling list of films that could still pop up at Telluride but that changes now.

One other note about Toronto; they do have one more round of films to be announced Tuesday.  Last week one of the major film outlet had suggested that TIFF was finished naming films but a friendly reader messaged me with the news that TIFF wasn't quite done which made more sense to me as I had gotten used to TIFF making their announcements in five installments.  So, look for a final wave of films and parsing coming tomorrow.

Consequently, my list of films which might still make The SHOW is now:

Final Portrait
L'amant Double
Marshall
Mary Magdalene
Our Souls at Night
The Snowman
Wonder
You Were never Really Here

CRAZY IDEAS RE-VISITED

Four things that are really far-fetched but...you never know...

Alejandro Inarritu's VR installation Carne y Arena.  It's played at Cannes and the L.A. County Museum.  

Denis Villenueve surprises by showing up with, at a minimum, scenes from Blade Runner 2049. Maybe the whole film.

William Friedkin is feted and shows The Devil and Father Amorth plus the recently restored Sorcerer and perhaps even The Exorcist.

David Lynch drops the final two episodes of Twin Peaks:The Return in Telluride prior to them airing on Sunday night, Sept. 3rd on Showtime.

Final word: make all these crazy ideas happen...

A TRAILER FOR AI WEI WEI'S HUMAN FLOW

One of the documentaries we expect to see in Telluride in a few days is Ai Wei Wei's Human Flow. The film is known to bow in Venice and we then think it'll make the trip to southwest Colorado.  Wei Wei focuses on the global refugee crisis after having filmed in nearly two dozen countries according to Indiewire which reported over the weekend that the doc has a trailer.

And here it is from YouTube:

That's Monday.  More tomorrow...

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Cannes Is in Full Swing: The Critics Are Speaking / Inarritu Makes a Splash with V.R. at Cannes / Haneke's Happy End: More Clips

Good Monday to all,,,

CANNES IS IN FULL SWING: THE CRITICS ARE SPEAKING

The 70th Cannes Film Fest has roared into life and we begin the process of parsing critical responses as a method of gauging the possible Telluride fortunes of the films that make up the variety of programs.  Of course, it' still early.  As I type this on Monday morning, less than half of the Palme competition films have played.  With that noted, here's what the critical consensus is to this point (and only mentioning films that have publicly screened)

First, looking at Reini Urban's massive and constantly updated compilation of critical response among Palme d'Or competition films at the top is Robin Campillo's 120 Battements par Minute with a 7.10 composite rating on a 10 point scale.

Urban' current top three:

1) 120 Battements par Minute (7.10)
2) Okja (6.41)
3) The Square (6.38)

Among all films in all categories with sufficient critical response to give  a reasonable indication of how it's playing the top film so far has been Agnes Varda's Villages, Visages with a 7.57 score.

The complete Urban list is here.

The Todas Criticas compilation has 120 BPM on top of the Palme films with a 6.63 rating.  Todd Haynes Wonderstruck is right behind at 6.6.

Todas Criticas is here.

Loveless leads the Screen Daily critical collective with a 3.2 composite (out of 4).  Screen Daily's grid is here.

Ioncinema's group of critics have Loveless and 120 BPM locked together with a 3.5 average rating (out of 5).  The Ioncinema chart is here.


INARRITU MAKES A SPLASH WITH VIRTUAL REALITY AT CANNES

We've be following the reports from France concerning Alejandro Inarritu's V.R. installation Carne y Arena.  Reportedly lasting about six minutes and focused on immersing the "viewer" in the world of the current refugee crisis.  Reports also indicate that it can experienced by one person at a time and is established in a warehouse.

The experience is said to be headed for Los Angeles this summer.

In as far as Telluride is concerned, I'm still dubious about our chances but...

Details about the V.R. experience can be found here from Indiewire as well as here from The Hollywood Reporter.


HANEKE'S HAPPY END: MORE CLIPS

I had a link in my last post to a single clip from Michael Haneke's Happy End.  That has expended to three clips that are now accessible from this story at The Film Stage.

Haneke's first film since Amour is set to bow at Cannes in Palme competition today.  As a matter of fact, depending on when you're reading this, it may have already have happened.


That's it for now.  More on Thursday...


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Jonathan Demme Remembered / Judging Cannes / Inarritu Talks VR in NY / 30th Telluride Film Festival Re-visited

It is Thursday, April 27, 2017...No really...it s.

JONATHAN DEMME REMEMBERED

The news of Jonathan Demme's death yesterday was a shock.  He was 73, so I suppose, in terms of age, it isn't that anomalous but Demme always seemed so vital that he didn't seem to be 73.

Demme's best known work was the five Oscar winner Silence of the Lambs.  I was a huge fan of the Thomas Harris book long before it became a film and when it came out in 1991 I was skeptical that anyone could make the film version stand up to the novel.  I was pleasantly surprised.  It's one of those rare films that succeeds as well as its source material.  Demme (and screenwriter Ted Talley) proved me wrong.  

Demme won an Oscar for direction and the film won Best Picture as well as Adapted Screenplay, Actress (Jodie Foster) and Actor (Anthony Hopkins).  It became the first film since One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) to win the Big Five Oscars.

Demme also had other memorable efforts including Philadelphia and Something Wild.

In 1987 his documentary effort Haiti Dreams of Democracy appeared as a part of the 14th TFF screening on Telluride Community Television.

Indiewire marked Demme's passing yesterday with this profile and with this reminiscence from Barry Jenkins.

JUDGING CANNES

The official announcement of jurors for the Plame d'Or for the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival has been revealed.

We already knew that the jury would be presided over by Pedro Almodovar and it had slipped that actress Jessica Chastain would be a jury member as well.  The group was completed yesterday with the official confirmation of Chastain along with actor (and surprise choice) Will Smith as well as directors Maren Ade (Toni Erdmann), Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden), Paolo Sorrentino (Youth).  Additional members of the jury are Fan Bingbing, Agnes Jaoui and musician Gabriel Yared.

As always, the jury composition is eclectic and varied.  Where will they land for the Palme.

Indiewire has more about the Cannes jury here.

INARRITU TALKS VR IN NY

Alejandro Inarritu's virtual reality project Carne y Arena is set to play at Cannes and this week the Oscar winning director was in New York as a member of a Tribeca Film Festival conversation focused on VR and his project.

I'd be very interested should TFF chose to invite Inarritu and present the project over Labor Day weekend but the challenges are interesting.  

Here's coverage of the Inarritu convo from Tribeca from Entertainment Weekly as well as from Indiewire.

30TH TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL RE-VISITED

MTFB's continuing project focused on the past programs from the Telluride Film Festival reviews the program from TFF #30 (Aug. 29-Sept. 1, 2003)

Here are the highlights:

TFF #30 Program-Aug. 29-Sept. 1, 2003

GUEST DIRECTOR: Stephen Sondheim

TRIBUTES: Toni Collette, Peter Brook, Krystof Zanussi

SHOWS

Alexandra’s Project

The Barbarian Invasions

The Battle of Algiers

The Beggar’s Opera

La Belle Equipe

Best of Youth

Carnet du Bal

Contract

Dans la Nuit

Dogville

Elephant

A Face in the Crowd

Fog of War

French Can Can

The General

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Horatio’s Drive

I’m Not Scared

Intermission

Japanese Story

Lost in Translation

Love Me If You Dare

The More the Merrier

My Life Without Me

Noi Albinoi

Osama

Panique

Reconstruction

Sexual Dependency

Shattered Glass

Song of the Little Road

Struggle

Tell Me Lies

This Little Life

Touching the Void

The Triplets of Belleville

Uzak

Wheel of Time

GUESTS:

John Crowley

Errol Morris

Robert S. McNamara

Sarah Gavron

Budd Schulberg

Peter Bogdanovich

Kevin Macdonald

Chloe Sevigny

Peter Sarsgaard

Rolf De Heer

Peter Sellars

Werner Herzog

Ken Burns

Mark Ruffalo

Gus Van Sant

Paul Schrader

 That's a wrap for this Thursday.  See you on the other side of the weekend...

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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COMMENT to the BLOG

More from France / Does Burns Vietnam Doc Play Telluride? / Inarritu at Cannes Means T-ride?

Good Monday to ya...

Welcome to the Monkey House...as Mr. Vonnegut might say...


MORE FROM FRANCE

We continue to digest the announcement of the bulk of the Cannes #70 lineup that was released last Thursday with analysis from some other outlets.

Initially, I should note that I hadn't paid enough attention to the announcement that Francois Ozon's L'Amant Double (The Double Lover) had been chosen to compete for the Palme d'Or.  My mistake was not catching this and also indicating that the film needs to be included on the list of Telluride possibilities as Ozon scored well at TFF #43 last year with Frantz.

So definitely put it on the watch list and take a look at this story from Indiewire that includes the teaser for the film.

Additionally, you might want to grab a look at in depth  Cannes coverage from some sources that I did not include in the post last Thursday:

from Nancy Tartaglione and Greg Evans of Deadline

And an additional piece from Tartaglione here.

Gwilym Mumford of The Guardian also takes a look at the lineup

and check this piece from Talia Soghomonian at Collider.


Meanwhile, Indiewire's Anne Thompson has posted an analysis at Indiewire that assesses the potential Oscar players that might be starting down that road by walking the Red Carpet next month in the south of France.  Take a look at Anne's perspective here.


DOES BURNS' VIETNAM DOC PLAY TELLURIDE?

Ken Burns has been a regular part of the Telluride Fest for a long long while.  He's one of its biggest supporters and has often been featured in the lineup.  It's been some time, however since his last inclusion.  I believe his last project to play was 2012's Central Park Five.

We've also known for some time that he has been working on a multi-part documentary about the Vietnam War and PBS has announced just this weekend that the program will debut on Sept. 17. That premiere date would work incredibly well if it were following a TFF #44 bow (Sept. 2-6).

So, it seems to me that there's a better than 50/50 chance that parts of the 10 episode series make their way to some of the screens in and around Telluride.

Here's the announced schedule from Uproxx.



INARRITU AT CANNES MEANS T-RIDE

Well, most years that there was announcement that Alejandro Inarritu was part of the Cannes lineup, I'd immediately think that we'd see his project 3 1/2 months later in Telluride but I'm not so sure about this.

Working with frequent collaborator Emmanuel Lubezki, the Oscar winning director will premiere Carne y Arena at Cannes in May.  Thing id, it's not a film but a virtual reality project.  Reports describe it as a six minute experience that focuses on the current Latin American refugee situation.  I understand that the experience will be presented for groups of ten people at a time.

My inclination is to believe that it probably won't play in Telluride, despite Inarritu's affinity for the fest.  If I grasp it correctly, the presentation requires a fairly large dedicated space and I'd be a little surprised if TFF organizers would give up one of their current spaces or have a new space that they could use.  That said, however, Cannes has apparently put together a way to do it and and if Cannes can, why not Telluride.

I'll be interested to see reports out of France next month about how the presentation occurs.  That will definitely move the needle for me in terms of assessing the Telluride possibilities for a presentation.

Indiewire has the coverage here.



Come back for more on Thursday...

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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COMMENT to the BLOG

The Latest FAC for Major Oscar Categories / BAFTA Results and a Few Thoughts / WGA Rewards Spotlight and The Big Short

Good Monday everyone...welcome to another post on Michael's Telluride Film Blog/The Film Awards Clearinghouse.


THE LATEST FAC FOR MAJOR OSCAR CATEGORIES

For the purpose of The FAC I gather data from the publicly posted predictions of the following:

Erik Anderson/Awards Watch
Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Joey Magidson/Hollywood News
Nathaniel Rogers/Film Experience
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Kristopher Tapley/Variety-InContention
Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood/Indiewire

TFF #42 films are in Bold.

BEST PICTURE

1) The Big Short (1)

2) The Revenant (3)

3) Spotlight (2)

4) Mad Max: Fury Road (4)

5) The Martian (5)

6) Room (6)

7) Bridge of Spies (7)

8) Brooklyn (8)

Comment: The Revenant's and Alejandro Inarritu's DGA win has shuffled the top of the deck slightly.  Spotlight slips from #2 to #3 and The Revenant moves up to that #2 spot.   The top three films are bunched within a two point window in The FAC metric so the Best Picture race is still wide, wide open.

It will interesting to see if last night's BAFTA announcement changes the field further.  

BEST DIRECTOR

1) Alejandro Inarritu/The Revenant (1)

2) Adam McKay/The Big Short (2)

3) George Miller/Mad Max: Fury Road (4)

4) Tom McCarthy/Spotlight (3)

5) Lenny Abrahamson/Room (5)

Comment:  McCarthy and Miller trade places signalling a weakening among The FAC pundits in their feeling that Spotlight is waning, however slightly, in the Best Picture race. 

BEST ACTRESS

1) Brie Larson/Room (1)

2) Saorise Ronan/Brooklyn (2)

3) Cate Blanchett/Carol (4)

4) Charlotte Rampling/45 Years (3)

5) Jennifer Lawrence/Joy

Comment: Larson has solidified her hold on the lead here.  Slight shift below her as Blanchett and Rampling switch the #3 and #4 positions.

BEST ACTOR

1) Leonardo DiCaprio/The Revenant (1)

2) Bryan Cranston/Trumbo

3) Michael Fassbender /Steve Jobs (3)

4) Matt Damon/The Martian (4)

5) Eddie Redmayne/The Danish Girl (5)

Comment: It's Leo all the way here.  The category remains static from the last FAC post.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Alicia Vikander/The Danish Girl (1)

2) Rooney Mara/Carol (2)

3) Kate Winslet/Steve Jobs (3)

4) Jennifer Jason Leigh/The Hateful Eight (4)

5) Rachel McAdams/Spotlight (5)

Comment: Another category that's frozen with these nominees in the same positions as the last FAC.  Vikander is away out front.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1)  Sylvester Stallone/Creed (1)

2) Christian Bale/The Big Short (4)

3) Mark Ruffalo/Spotlight (2)

4) Mark Rylance/Bridge of Spies (3)

5) Tom Hardy/The Revenant (5)

Comment:  Stallone is the odds on favorite.  Bale's ascendance could signal a rise in The Big Short's fortunes and the subsequent drop for Mark Ruffalo might be another signal that Spotlight might be waning.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) The Big Short (1)

2) Room (2)

3) The Martian (5)

4) Carol (3)

5) Brooklyn (4)

Comment: Last weekend's WGA win for The Big Short only solidifies its status as the very likely winner for this category on Oscar night.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Spotlight (1)

2) Inside Out (2)

3) Ex Machina (3)

4) Straight Outta Compton (4)

5) Bridge of Spies (5)

Comment: Spotlight won the WGA and is the prohibitive favorite here.

BAFTA RESULTS AND A FEW THOUGHTS

Alejandro Inarritu's western revenge/survival dram The Revenant won the British version of the Oscar last night for Best Picture.  Inarritu also won as did star Leonardo DiCaprio.  The film also won honors for cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki also won the American Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography last night...making him likely to win an unprecedented third straight Oscar) and  Best Sound.

In addition to DiCaprio, Brie Larson won Best Actress for Room, Kate Winslet was named Best Supporting Actress for Steve Jobs and Mark Rylance as Best Supporting Actor for Bridge of Spies.

Other winners last night included Screenplay wins for Spotlight and The Big Short.  Mad Max; Fury Road won four tech awards for editing, costumes, makeup and production design.

Complete results are here:

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/bafta-awards-winners-2016-complete-list-british-academy-film-television-1201706004/

The Revenant's win on top of its win with the DGA most likely signals that it is the front runner for the Best Picture Oscar in less than two weeks time.  That said, analysis from Oscar pros Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter and Kristopher Tapley of Variety's InContention say.."not so fast".

Both analysts suggest that The Revenant is the likely favorite but they also point out that this season has been anything but predictable and that the BAFTA last year rewarded Richard Linklater's Boyhood.  So, they both say, the race may still not be over andwe could still have a surprise or two on Feb. 28.

Check out their analysis here:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/bafta-awards-revenant-wins-dont-865269

http://variety.com/2016/film/in-contention/the-revenant-key-bafta-awards-analysis-1201706167/

One final note: Telluride films won Best Actress-Brie Larson/Room, Best Supporting Actress-Kate Winslet/Steve Jobs, Original Screenplay-Spotlight and Non-English Language Film-Wild Tales.

WGA REWARDS SPOTLIGHT AND THE BIG SHORT

The Writers Guild of America named their award winners for 2015 on Saturday with TFF #42 film Spotlight named Best Original Screenplay and The Big Short winning Best Adapted Screenplay. Those wins are expected to be repeated on Oscar night in a couple of weeks.

I have linked WGA coverage here:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/2016-wga-winners-complete-list-856955/item/original-screenplay-2016-wga-theatrical-852591

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-awards-writersguild-idUSKCN0VN072

http://www.awardsdaily.com/2016/02/13/writer-guild-awards-announcing/

http://variety.com/2016/film/in-contention/wga-awards-winners-writers-guild-america-1201705269/

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