Showing posts with label Ali Abbasi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ali Abbasi. Show all posts

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Daddio Full Trailer / Looks at Cannes/TFF Possibilities / Participant and Netflix Choices Could Impact TFF

First, my apologies for not having a post up last Monday.  I was finishing up a very, very busy weekend and just ran out of time.

DADDIO FULL TRAILER

Sony Pictures Classics has delivered a full trailer for Christy Hall's Daddio starring Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn. This follows a teaser that was released a few weeks ago. The TFF #50 selection  is set for a limited open on June 28th.

Here's the IMDb description for those who didn't see the film at the fest:


"A woman taking a cab ride from JFK engages in a conversation with the taxi driver about the important relationships in their lives."





LOOKS AT CANNES/TFF POSSIBLES

With the announcement of films for the Cannes Film Fest have come some promotional materials allowing us to begin to see images for those films and perhaps some for films that will then play TFF #51,  Here's a couple:

Barry Keoghan in Andrea Arnold's Bird:




And a photo of Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan from Ali Abbasi's The Apprentice:



From Guy Maddin, Evan and  Galen Johnson's Rumours:





PARTICIPANT AND NETFLIX CHOICES COULD IMPACT TFF




Word this week that Participant, the production company behind such TFF fare as Roma, Spotlight, Flee, The Look of Silence and numerous others will be closing up shop.  Meanwhile, it was reported that Netflix is shifting focus in terms of the films it produces and will be less auteur focused.  Netflix has been among the most represented film producer/distributors at Telluride for the past decade.

Both circumstances could have a real effect on TFF programming.

Both stories were reported at World of Reel.  Here's the Participant story and here's the Netflix story.

       

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (TWITTER): @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

BLUE SKY: https://bsky.app/profile/gort2.bsky.social

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

Monday, May 16, 2022

Fred Ward 1942-2022 / Marcel Creators Have a Word / Official Clip for Holy Spider / NEON Nabs Broker / Marty Back in Oklahoma

FRED WARD 1942-2022


Fred Ward at TFF #36 (photo via Salon.com and Getty Images)



I will miss Fred Ward.  The actor died on May 8th at the age of 79.  Fred's credits included some great stuff: Escape from Alcatraz, Southern Comfort, The Right Stuff, The Player and, of course, Tremors.  Tremors is one of my wife's favorite movies. For years we've been talking about writing and producing a stage musical adaptation.  Can you envision singing Graboids?

I just watched The Player again a couple of weeks ago.

Ward was in Telluride in 2009 for The SHOW as a part of the group that was there with the foreign film Farewell, a gripping cold war true story that featured Ward as Ronald Reagan.  I saw the film at the fest and it was quote good.

Salon.com had a nice write up about Fred this week.  That's linked here.


MARCELS'S CREATORS HAVE A WORD




Recently, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On co-creators Dean Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate sat down with Joshua Rothkopf writing for Entertainment Weekly for an interview ahead of the films release on June 24th.  The result of that interview was posted at EW.com on Friday the 13th.

Frequent readers of this space already know that I am an outspoken fan of the film so I am pleased to provide the link to the interview, encourage you to read (regarding the genesis of the project and other matters) and then make sure to go see the film or re-watch it of you caught it at Telluride or one of its other film fest stops (SXSW, San Francisco, Seattle, Milwaukee).


OFFICIAL CLIP FOR HOLY SPIDER

On the TFF #49 watch list is Ali Abbasi's Cannes Plame d'Or contender Holy Spider.  The film focuses on a series of murders in Iran and the female journalist that is trying to unravel the story.

Here's the newly released first look clip from YouTube:




NEON NABS BROKER




NEON has acquired North American distribution rights for Hirokazu Kore-eda's Broker according to multiple sources including Variety.  This is of note to Telluride Film Fest fans as the film now checks off a bunch of boxes that could signal a TFF #49 appearance.

Cannes competition choice...check
Foreign auteur that's played TFF before... check (Kore-eda's Shoplifters in 2018)
Distributor with a history at T-ride...check (NEON)

Assuming reviews are strong out of Cannes, Broker's lineage could land it on my first "Ten Bets" list.



MARTY BACK IN OKLAHOMA




Jordan Ruimy of World of Reel reports that additional filming is underway in the northeast part of my home state for Killers of the Flower Moon.  Jordan, as a part of his story, links to a report from Louise Red Corn writing for The Osage News from last Tuesday with photos showing crew and equipment back in Pawhuska.

Speculation is that they'll be filming a social dance that will include an number of the locals that were filmed earlier as extras and background players.





EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

TWITTER @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

Monday, May 9, 2022

Kino Lorber Acquisition Could Be a TFF Player / Cannes Has a New Palme / Initial Views of Holy Spider

KINO LORBER ACQUISITION COULD BE A TFF PLAYER





The Hollywood Reporter let us know on Friday that Kino Lorber had acquired the North American rights to Maggie Peren's The Forger.  The film was selection of the Berlin International Film Festival.  According to IDMb The Forger is:

"The true story of Cioma Schönhaus, a Jewish man who, during the Second World War, repeatedly escaped the Gestapo thanks to his ability to forge passports. But his other talent was perhaps even rarer: the gift for happiness."

The Kino Lorber buy and the film's Berlin lineage suggests at least some possibility that it could play at Telluride this Labor Day.

Kino Lorber has frequently landed films in the TFF lineup.  Some examples:

2020: (announced) Never Gonna Snow Again, There Is No Evil and Truman & Tennessee
2019: Beanpole
2017: Filmworker
2016: Fire at Sea
2015: Ixcanul, Sembene!, Taxi

The trailer for the film is linked here from YouTube:



THR says the film will be released later in 2022.




CANNES HAS A NEW PALME




I mean it literally.  The Cannes Fest has a new design for the physical award that will be handed out at the end of the month.  Awards Watch's Erik Anderson was who first drew my attention to that news with a Tweet this past Saturday.

Here's the new look Palme d'Or:


The Hollywood Reporter's Chris Gardner provided the details with this story that was posted Friday.



INITIAL VIEWS OF HOLY SPIDER





The Playlist provided some early stills from Ali Abbasi's Holy Spider.  The film is playing Cannes in the Main Competition section.  Abbasi previously played Cannes in 2018in the Un Certain Regard section with Border which then made the trip to Telluride later that September.  That opens the door to some serious speculation that this new film might also be a candidate for TFF #49.

The film's description per IMDb:

"In Holy Spider, we follow family man Saeed as he embarks on his own religious quest - to "cleanse" the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral and corrupt street prostitutes. After murdering several women, he grows ever more desperate about the lack of public interest in his divine mission."

Here's a taste from the images at The Playlist:








EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

TWITTER @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

Thursday, November 22, 2018

Shoplifters Arrives / Destroyer Clip / Deadline Interviews: Grant and Jackman / The Wrap Talks with Ali Abbasi

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...grateful to have you along for a look at what's in MTFB today.


SHOPLIFTERS ARRIVES

Hirokazu Kore-eda's Cannes Palme d'Or winner Shoplifters opens in the U.S. this holiday weekend.  The TFF #45 entrant has been a critical smash and has become one of the few films thought to be able to challenge for the foreign language Oscar against Alfonso Cuaron's Roma Pawel Pawlikowki's Cold War.

As you might expect, with its U.S. release, there has been, over the past few days, a glut of news and interviews surrounding the film.

Included in that is this David Ehrlich interview for Indiewire.

Awards Daily also provided the route to a new clip released for the film which is here from YouTube:




DESTROYER CLIP

Nicole Kidman makes a play for inclusion as Best Actress with her turn as a detective seeking redemption in Karyn Kusama's Destroyer.  The film is set to open on Dec. 25th.  Annapurna pictures previewed a new clip from the film this week via Indiewire.

The link to that story from Zach Sharf and clip is here.

Destroyer's official trailer is here from YouTube:



DEADLINE INTERVIEWS: GRANT AND JACKMAN



Deadline.com has a couple of interviews of recent vintage that focus on participants from TFF #45.

Joe Utichi talks to Richard E. Grant for Can You Ever Forgive Me?  That's linked here.

And Utichi also filed this interview with Hugh Jackman who plays Sen. Gary Hart in The Front Runner.  You can find that here.


AND THE WRAP TALKS WITH ALI ABBASI



Continuing the string of interviews with TFF #45 personal, here's an interview from this week conducted by Steve Pond of The Wrap with Ali Abbasi, the director and co-writer of Cannes Un Certain Regard winner Border.



That's your Turkey Day MTFB.  Have a great holiday and I'll have more on Monday including some new Oscar predictions/updates.

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