Paper Tiger (and Others) Announced for Cannes / Meanwhile...Herzog NOT Cannes Bound / The Story That Won't End

PAPER TIGER (AND OTHERS) ANNOUNCED FOR CANNES

Adam Driver on the set of Paper Tiger

As expected, the Cannes Film Festival  added a number of films to several different sections on Wednesday.  Most notable is the addition of James Gray's Paper Tiger to the Palme d'Or competition.  That addition had been widely expected.

14 other films were added to various sections but, at first blush, none of those jumps out as a TFF #53 candidate.  Of them, Diego Luna's Ashes, added as a Special Screening, intrigues me the most and if I had to point at one other film beyond Paper Tiger that could be in play for a Labor Day date in Telluride, that would be it.

Additionally, Variety reported yesterday that Paper Tiger has been acquired by NEON for North American distribution.  NEON has been on tear in recent years as far as the Palme d'Or competition, winning every one since Parasite.  The NEON acquisition doesn't hurt the film's chances of a TFF screening.  Gray's last film, Armageddon Time, played TFF in 2022.

There are two articles from Variety from yesterday:

Variety article #1

https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/cannes-victorian-psycho-maika-monroe-1236727917/

Variety article #2

https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/james-gray-paper-tiger-johansson-driver-cannes-neon-1236727770/

MEANWHILE...HERZOG NOT CANNES BOUND

Per World of Reel, earlier reporting that Werner Herzog's Bucking Fastard was headed to the Premiere section at Cannes haven't proven out.  Purportedly yesterday's Cannes announcement completes the films for all sections.  Herzog's film was not among them.

In WOR's story from yesterday:

"Notably absent is Werner Herzog, whose “Bucking Fastard” came very close to entering the official competition but was ultimately offered a slot in the Cannes Premiere section — it now looks like the film will be headed to Venice in September."

The possible inclusion of Bucking Fastard at Venice certainly doesn't preclude its possible selection for TFF #53.

The complete World of Reel story is here.

https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2026/4/22/cannes-2026-adds-16-titles-including-zachary-wigons-victorian-psycho-no-werner-herzog

THE STORY THAT WON'T END

You all remember the strife that the fest had in its efforts to eventually secure and screen the Aretha Franklin documentary Amazing Grace in 2019.

In 2022 director Adam Elliott brought suit against distributor NEON focused on claims of breach of contract and fraud.

You can find the details in this story from The Hollywood Reporter.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/neon-lawsuit-film-accounting-1236560710

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One More Early Look at Oscar 2022 / Soggy Bottom's Future / Amazing Grace Legal Saga Continues

 ONE MORE EARLY LOOK AT OSCAR 2022

This time around it's Erik Anderson of Awards Watch taking his stab at early Oscar predicting.  Among his Best Picture possibilities, the films that seem to me to be to be worth keeping an eye over the summer for clues about the possibility that they could play TFF #48 are:

Dune

The French Dispatch

The Harder They Fall

A Hero

The Humans

Nightmare Alley

Mothering Sunday

The Power of the Dog

The Tragedy of Macbeth

The complete Awards Watch story and set of predictions is linked here.

SOGGY BOTTOM'S FUTURE

Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel was up yesterday with a piece about where Paul Thomas Anderson's highly anticipated untitled project (working title Soggy Bottom) might land if it is a aprt of a film festival debut.

There is a good deal of speculation about it screening at Cannes and Ruimy reports that the French fest wants the film badly.  But Ruimy also reports that there is some hesitance to follow that path.  Ruimy cites the possibility of the film needing more time for editing and a general feeling that Cannes may not draw a lot of American film due to ongoing Covid concerns.

Ruimy suggests that there is some feeling within among "distributors behind his latest film" should wait for "wait it out for the fall festivals instead (Toronto, Venice, Telluride, New York)".

That's the first solid inclusion of Telluride in the conversation as a possible landing spot for the film that I have run across.

Ruimy's entire article is here.

AMAZING GRACE LEGAL SAGA CONTINUES

Telluride fans are more than aware that the Aretha Franklin documentary Amazing Grace had a difficult legal path to its ultimate release including three different attempts to schedule it for a Telluride berth. The third time was the proverbial charm as it played as a part of the program for TFF #46.

Now new legal hubbub surrounds the film as director Allan Elliot pursues a law suit against Sydney Pollack's attorney for causing damage to the film's value upon its eventual release.  A judge in California ruled earlier this week that the suit could continue.

Full details of where the legal dram is currently situated are here from The Hollywood Reporter.

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Fair and Balanced Has a Date...and Some Interest? / Amazing Grace Trailer and Poster

Welcome to your first Thursday in March 2019...



FAIR AND BALANCED HAS A DATE...AND SOME INTEREST?

A number of outlets reported earlier this week that Lionsgate has dated Jay Roach's Fair and Balanced for release on Dec. 20th.  Fair and Balanced explores the world of Fox News and its former head Roger Ailes and the charges of sexual harassment that were raised by some of the women that worked there.

John Lithgow has been cast as Ailes with Charlize Theron plays Megan Kelly and Nicole Kidman plays Gretchen Carlson among an all star cast.

Of particular note here was a tweet from the Ioncinema account that suggested that the fall fests, including Telluride, are interested in the film.  Here's a shot of the tweet from Ioncinema:

But I also saw a couple of other mentions on social media that suggested that the film, with the Dec. 20th release date was more likely to skip all the fall fest circuit and go with the late 2019 release strategy a la Vice.

I have included a couple of articles here that provide some detail about the release date announcement.

Variety

Deadline



AMAZING GRACE TRAILER AND POSTER



The saga of Amazing Grace, the Aretha Franklin documentary that nearly twice played at TFF is coming close to a conclusion.  The film now has a trailer seen here from YouTube:

Additional we have a poster release as well:

Time.com also announced yesterday that they would be partnering with NEON  as a distribution partner.  The announcement says that the doc will have its theatrical release this spring.

Time's Amazing Grace story

That is linked here

Additional coverage is linked here from

Deadline

Entertainment Weekly



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Los Angeles Critics' Name 2018's Top Films / Oscar Predictions Update / Acquiring Minds Want to Know / Berlin Announces Opening Film

Good Monday film friends...


LOS ANGELES CRITICS' NAME 2018'S TOP FILMS

The LA Film Critics Association met and voted for their top films and performances for the past year yesterday and here are their results with Telluride films in Bold.

Best Picture
Winner: Roma
Runner-up: Burning

Best Direction
Winner: Debra Granik/Leave No Trace
Runner-up: Alfonso Cuaron/Roma

Best Actress
Winner:Olivia Colman/The Favourite
Runner-up: Toni Collette/Hereditary

Best Actor
Winner:Ethan Hawke/First Reformed (TFF #44)
Runner-up:Ben Foster/Leave No Trace

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Regina King/If Beale Street Could Talk
Runner-up: Elizabeth Debicki/Widows

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Steven Yeun/Burning
Runner-up: Hugh Grant/Paddington 2

Best Screenplay
Winner: Nicole Holofcener and Tim Whitty/Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Runner-up: Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara/The Favourite

Best Production Design
Winner: Black Panther
Runner-up: The Favourite

Best Editing
Winner: Minding the Gap
Runner-up: Roma

Best Cinematography
Winner: Roma
Runner-up: If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Music Score
Winner: If Beale Street Could Talk
Runner-up: First Man

Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: (Tie) Burning and Shoplifters

Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film
Winner: Shirkers
Runner-up: Minding the Gap

Best Animation:
Winner: Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse
Runner-up: Incredibles 2

New Generation: Chloe Zhao

Special Citation: The Other Side of the Wind

Douglas Edwards Award: Green Fog

Lifetime Achievement: Hayao Miyazaki

The complete list and a bit of commentary is linked here from Indiewire.

OSCAR PREDICTIONS UPDATE

Here's my latest take on four major Oscar categories.  The film/performer's position as of my last set of predictions for that category follow in parentheses and TFF #45 films are Bold.

BEST PICTURE (Last updated Nov. 26th)

1) A Star Is Born (1)

2) Roma (2)

3) Green Book (3)

4) The Favourite (4)

5) Black Panther (8)

6) BlacKkKlansman (7)

7) If Beale Street Could Talk (6)

8) Vice (5)

9) Mary Poppins Returns (12)

10) First Reformed (-)***TFF #44

Others: First Man, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Widows, Boy Erased

BEST DIRECTION (Last update Nov. 26th)

1) Alfonso Cuaron/Roma (1)

2) Bradley Cooper/A Star Is Born (2)

3) Spike Lee/BlacKkKlansman (3)

4) Barry Jenkins/If Beale Street Could Talk (4)

5) Yorgos Lanthimos/The Favourite (5)

Others: Peter Farrelly/Green Book, Ryan Coogler/Black Panther, Rob Marshall/Mary Poppins Returns, Adam McKay/Vice

BEST ACTRESS (Last updated Nov. 8th)

1) Glenn Close/The Wife (1)

2) Lady Gaga/A Star Is Born (2)

3) Olivia Colman/The Favourite (3)

4) Melissa McCarthy/Can You Ever Forgive Me? (4)

5) Emily Blunt/Mary Poppins Returns (-)

Others: Yalitza Aparicio/Roma, Nicole Kidman/Destroyer, Viola Davis/Widows

BEST ACTOR (Last Updated Nov. 8th)

1) Christian Bale/Vice (3)

2) Bradley Cooper/A Star Is Born (1)

3) Viggo Mortensen/Green Book (2)

4) Ethan Hawke/First Reformed (-)***TFF#44

5) Rami Malek/Bohemian Rhapsody (4)

Others: Lucas Hedges/Boy Erased, WIllem Dafoe/At Eternity's Gate, Ryan Gosling/First Man

ACQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW

A couple of interesting and Telluride related news items concerning film distribution deals emerged this week.

First...

The long awaited Aretha Franklin documentary Amazing Grace has been picked up for release by specialty outfit Neon.  The film was scheduled to be screened at T-ride in both 2015 and 2016 but legal issues prevented that from occurring in both years.

As a side note, the film was recently screened at a Telluride Film Festival event in San Francisco.  So, in a sense, the twice scheduled and twice denied film finally did screen for TFFers.

Here's a sampling of coverage of the film's acquisition from: Variety, Deadline, Indiewire, The Wrap.

Meanwhile, Werner Herzog's documentary conversation with former Soviet Union Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, Meeting Gorbachev, that played this year's TFF #45 was also acquired for distribution this week by The Orchard.  Reporting is that The Orchard will release the film early next year.

Here are details from The Wrap and Deadline.


BERLIN ANNOUNCES OPENING FILM

The 69th Berlin Film Fest will open with Lone Scherfig's newest The Kindness of Strangers with Zoe Kazan , Andrea Riseborough and Bill Nighy.  The film is set for release sometime in 2019 and, as yet, has no U.S. distribution.

It is of note for Telluride fans as T-ride usually has a film or two from Berlin in the TFF lineup.  This year included Berlin entry Dovlatov and in 2017 TFF screened Berlin films A Fantastic Woman, The Other Side of Hope and Hostages.

Additionally, Lone Scherfig has a bit of a Telluride history having screened Italian for Beginners in 2001 and An Education in 2009.

So, until we have a definite distributor and release date, maybe put this on your TFF #46 possibles list.

IMDb describes The Kindness of Strangers as "The story of four strangers suffering through the worst crises of their lives."

The press release from the Berlinale is linked here.


That's today's semi-packed MTFB.  More to come on Thursday...including Screen Actors Guild/Aftra and Critics' Choice (BFCA) nominations!

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Oscar Prediction Update: Best Actress and Actor / Aretha Will Finally Sing / The Favourite Is the Favorite

Welcome to Thursday...and here's your MTFB for today...


OSCAR PREDICTION UPDATE: BEST ACTRESS AND ACTOR

Here's the latest MTFB guesses about nominees for the Oscar for Best Actress and Best Actor.  The last look at these categories here on MTFB was Oct. 18th.

As is the custom, these are the current predictions with the position of each actor from the Oct. 18th predictions to the right in parentheses.  The performers whose films played TFF #45 are Bold.

BEST ACTRESS

1) Glenn Close/The Wife (1)
2) Lady Gaga/A Star Is Born (2)
3) Olivia Colman/The Favourite (4)
4) Melissa McCarthy/Can You Ever Forgive Me? (3)
5) Viola Davis/Widows (5)

Others: Yalitza Aparicio/Roma, Julia Roberts/Ben Is Back, Toni Collette/Hereditary, Nicole Kidman/Destroyer

BEST ACTOR

1) Bradley Cooper/A Star Is Born (1)
2) Viggo Mortensen/Green Book (2)
3) Christian Bale/Vice (4)
4) Rami Malek/Bohemian Rhapsody (-)
5) Ryan Gosling/First Man (3)

Others: Hugh Jackman/The Front Runner, Ethan Hawke/First Reformed***, Lucas Hedges/Ben Is Back or Boy Erased, John David Washington/BlacKkKlansman


***Played TFF #44


ARETHA WILL FINALLY SING

After two separate attempts to schedule the film as a part of the Telluride Film Festival in 2015 and 2016, Sidney Pollack's documentary film Amazing Grace, which captured Aretha Franklin's live performance that formed the basis for the live album of the same name will finally be released.

Multiple sources this week confirmed that film makers had struck a deal with Franklin's heirs and that the film is soon to be on the way.

I have linked coverage of the Amazing Grace news from:

The Playlist

Indiewire

The Washington Post


THE FAVOURITE IS THE FAVORITE

The British Independent Film Association nominations are our and Yorgos Lanthimoss' The Favourite leads the pack with 13 nominations including Best British Independent Film.  Among other nominations the film was named for Best Actress, Olivia Colman and both Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz for Best Supporting Actress.  Lanthimos was nominated for Best direction as well.

TFF #44 film Lean on Pete also fared well with nominations for Andrew Haigh for direction and actor Charlie Plummer for Best Actor.

Complete coverage of the nominations can be found here from Variety.


That's your Thursday MTFB.  More on Monday.


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

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The Other Side of the Wind Confirmed / It Looks Like No Eyes / Aretha Franklin and Telluride / The People's Telluride Rides Again

Good Monday everyone.  We're down to the last few days to TFF #45 and I can feel the excitement building...tapping my foot here...


THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND CONFIRMED

Ray Kelly at Wellesnet.com wrote this weekend that what we have been thinking is true and that is that Orson Welles' final film The Other Side of the Wind will bow at Telluride following its screening in Venice.

Kelly cites a "festival source speaking on condition of anonymity" as revealing that the first showing in the United States  for the long gestating film project will be at Telluride.  I can also tell you that I have been assured that Kelly's source is well placed.

I will certainly have it on my list of films to catch at some point during the weekend and am curious which film makers will be part of the film's entourage.  At a guess, I'd venture Frank Marshall and Peter Bogdanovich.  Both of whom have been instrumental in finishing the project.  Additionally, Bogdanovich acts in the film as well.

You can read Kelly's entire story at Wellesnet.com here.


IT LOOKS LIKE NO EYES

In other Orson Welles/Telluride news, it appears that we will not be seeing Mark Cousins' The Eyes of Orson Welles next week.  I ran across a listing of Cousin's screenings including those at which he is scheduled to do question and answer sessions and it seems that the film and he are booked in Europe during Labor Day weekend.

The Eyes of Orson Welles examines Welles and his career through the lense of  little known artwork that Welles created.

On a brighter note, I still have a good deal of confidence that the "making-of" documentary about The Other Side of the Wind will play at TFF #45.



ARETHA FRANKLIN AND TELLURIDE

With this week's passing of the Queen of Soul I have had a number of folks reach out to me asking if I think that this turn will change the status of the documentary Amazing Grace.  The film was twice seemingly set to play Telluride in 2015 and 2016 only to be thwarted by legal issues at the last minute both years.

The doc was shot during two days as Franklin live recorded the songs that would become the album Amazing Grace.

My feeling is that we may eventually see it and even at Telluride but that isn't likely to be this year by any means.  Franklin's family and estate will now have to decide what they think about the situation.

Chris Willman writing for Variety posted a lengthy story on Friday about the status of Amazing Grace as well an authorized biopic at MGM that reportedly would cast Jennifer Hudson as Aretha.

Take a look at that story here for a deep dive into where both of those projects are in terms of seeing the light of day.

Nick Allen also had a piece about the doc this past weekend in The Telegraph.


THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE RIDES AGAIN!

For the seventh 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".

When the time comes, you can send those ratings to me in any of the following ways listed as contact info for me listed below.

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

A Moment of Reflection / Program Day One / Not So Amazing Grace / SPC Clarifies Screening Times for Norman

Good Friday People...It's Day One of the 43rd Telluride Film Festival.  Gird up...it's gonna be good...

A MOMENT OF REFLECTION

For those keeping score, MTFB's Final Ten (Plus) Bets from Wednesday went 20 for 20.  That's 100% in most jurisdictions.

PROGRAM DAY ONE

Here's the screen grab of the schedule for Friday, Sept. 2. 2016:

The Patterson schedule is likely to be:

Patron Brunch

Patron Screening...no news as to the title but I'm guessing (and it's completely a guess) Sully or La La Land...can't wait to find out.

Probably the Casey Affleck tribute followed by Manchester by the Sea.

We might be done for Friday at that time.  We'll calibrate for Saturday depending on the Patron screening.

NOT SO AMAZING GRACE

From the TFF #43 e-program...Amazing Grace

So it appears for the second straight year that the Aretha Franklin documentary Amazing Grace will be sidelined.  

Last year a judge's injunction at the eleventh hour prevented the film from being a part of the TFF #42 lineup.

This year the film was once again on the program but late word on Thursday was that it was being pulled from the screening schedule.

Check the details in this story from Indiewire

SPC CLARIFIES SCREENING TIMES FOR NORMAN

An email from the Sony Pictures Classics folks has pointed tom some updated screening times for Norman: The Modest Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer.

SPC says times and locales are as follows:

Sat. @ 9:15pm @The Chuck (this is the same as originally announced)

Sun @ 6:30 with Q+A @ The Galaxy

Mon @ 9:15 am @ The Palm

More to come... Including Saturdays TBAs...

Contact MTFB at...

mpgort@gmail.com

michael_speech@hotmail.com

On Twitter @Gort2

or comment to the blog...

The People's Telluride / "Amazing Grace" Saga Continues / Oscar Matters

It's Thursday and time for another episode of Michael's Telluride Film Blog/The Film Awards Clearinghouse...


THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

Ten days after the conclusion of TFF #42, I have the results of the fourth annual "People's Telluride". Since the fests close, I have been gathering the data that Telluride film followers have been sending my way since then.  Over two dozen respondents sent their evaluations.  Using the same criteria as I did for The Professionals Telluride, films were collated only of they received evaluations from at least a third of those respondents.  With that, here are the results of The People with the rating average in parenthesis:

1) Room (4.47)
2) Spotlight (4.45)
3) Beasts of No Nation (4.35)
4) Ixcanul (4.31)
5) Son of Saul (4.30)
6) Marguerite (4.23)
7) Black Mass (4.13)
8) Carol (4.02)
9) Rams (3.98)
10) Steve Jobs (3.86)
11) 45 Years (3.78)
12) Suffragette (3.58)
13) He Named Me Malala (3.39)
14) Anomalisa (3.36)

The People included three films that the Pros did not: "Ixcanul", "Marguerite" and "Rams".  The Pros had "Taxi" and "Time to Choose" on their list that The People excluded.

The biggest agreement between the sets of data came toward the bottom of the list as The Pros and The People both placed "Suffragette" and "He Named Me Malala" at the #12 and #13 spots respectively.

The greatest disparity came at the top and bottom and vice versa for each set of data.  The People really loved "Room" as it reigns at the top of the People's list but The Pros had it as their #11 film (of 13).  Meanwhile, the Pros were all about Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson's "Anomalisa" rating it #2 (just behind "Son of Saul") but the People had it at the bottom of their list at #14 (of 14).

Last year The People preferred "The Imitation Game" with a stellar 4.73 rating.  "Birdman" was #2 with a rating of 4.46.

In 2013, "Tim's Vermeer" led the People's poll with a 4.67 rating and "12 Years a Slave" was second with a rating of 4.55.

In 2012, "Stories We Tell was tops with a 4.80 closely followed by "Argo" with a 4.75.

Coming on Monday...The Combo Telluride...what happens when we put the two lists together?  We shall see.

Seems to me that being #2 on The People's Telluride is a real harbinger as "Argo", "12 Years a Slave" and "Birdman" all won the Best Picture Oscar.  So if you're Tom McCarthy and the crew from "Spotlight"...maybe a sign of things to come.




"AMAZING GRACE" SAGA CONTINUES

The legal saga that began at Telluride on its opening day between the producer of "Amazing Grace" and its subject, Aretha Franklin.  Took a new twist this week.  Franklin sued in Colorado court and obtained an injunction on T-ride's opening day which torpedoed the planned screening of the documentary just hours before it was set to appear.

Subsequently, planned screenings at both the Toronto and Chicago Film Fests were also scuttled.  This week, amid reports that the film was about to be screened privately for prospective distributors brought yet another threat to sue from Franklin and her lawyers.

In light of all this, producer Alan Elliot has agreed to a 30 day moratorium on screening of the film. Speculation is that the 30 day hold will  be used for both sides to negotiate terms under which the film could be screened.

Here's the story from Variety:


http://variety.com/2015/film/news/aretha-franklin-lawsuit-amazing-grace-documentary-1201594489/




OSCAR MATTERS

MTFB continues to make its annual transition from a Telluride film prediction outlet to a Telluride film in the awards season blog by looking at the latest and best prediction professionals and what they are saying after Telluride, Venice and now that Toronto is winding down.

Gold Derby shows a sharp rise for "Spotlight" and "Steve Jobs" from the Telluride plays and reactions.  Meanwhile, Sasha Stone reports that Vulture's Kyle Buchanan has claimed that "Spotlight" is out front in the Oscar race right now.  Take a look at both stories here:


Gold Derby

http://www.goldderby.com/news/10367/oscar-predictions-best-picture-steve-jobs-the-revenant-leonardo-dicaprio-975386420.html


Buchanan

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2015/09/kyle-buchanan-declares-spotlight-frontrunner-out-of-toronto/


More on Monday including The Combination Telluride...combining of the Professionals and The People's Telluride.  Contact me at:

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to

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"Amazing Grace" Won't Play Toronto Either / Digging into Awards Season Post-Telluride / "Carol" Score and Interviews / Rate, Rate, Rate

Welcome to Wednesday!

Most of the world that was at Telluride has now returned to home.  Not recovered yet, but getting closer.


"AMAZING GRACE" WON'T PLAY TORONTO EITHER

Looks like it's all over for the chance to see Sidney Pollack's 1972 documentary "Amazing Grace" at any point along the fall film fest gauntlet.

The film which was set to play Telluride last weekend was pulled at the last minute as a result of an injunction from a Colorado judge.  That decision came late enough in the fests planning that TFF directors were telling journalists that they still were planning on screening the film as late as the press orientation last Friday afternoon.

As the weekend turned into the start of this week word came that it would not screen at the Chicago Film Fest and now it has been removed from the Toronto lineup (TIFF opens on Thursday).

Apparently Toronto decided that the legal battle would not result in the rights to screen the film.

Coverage here from Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, Thompson on Hollywood and ShowBiz411:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/08/aretha-franklin-amazing-grace-toronto

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/aretha-franklin-judge-shows-no-820975

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/toronto-film-fest-wont-screen-aretha-franklin-doc-either-20150908

http://www.showbiz411.com/2015/09/08/aretha-franklin-doc-amazing-grace-removed-from-toronto-film-festival-too



DIGGING INTO AWARDS SEASON POST-TELLURIDE

I started it yesterday...the transition from MTFB to more of The FAC-Film Awards Clearinghouse, with an overview of TFF #42 films that seemed to have kept or earned their way into at least some level of the conversation about year end awards consideration.  For the next few days, I'll continue to delve into that area with articles, stories and posts that focus on Telluride and awards potential from the experts in the field.

Today I point to a post-Telluride conversation in the second of a series based at The Hollywood Reporter and the early view from Variety/InContention's Kristopher Tapley:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/awards-pundits-scott-feinberg-stephen-820861

http://variety.com/2015/film/awards/telluride-wrap-colorado-fest-opens-gate-to-kudos-season-1201587683/


"CAROL" SCORE AND INTERVIEW

The Film Stage has excerpted portions of the score for Todd Haynes "Carol" as well as interviews with Haynes and and star Rooney Mara.  If you loved "Carol" and many did...this is a great way to re-live some of the film as you wait to re-view it on its release on Nov. 20.

http://thefilmstage.com/news/hear-excerpts-of-carter-burwells-carol-score-as-todd-haynes-confirms-next-film/



RATE, RATE, RATE

They've begun to show up in my inbox.  The ratings for films from Telluride.  I had about half a dozen from The People yesterday as well as four from The Pros.  Keep them coming in folks!

Please rate each film you saw on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being abysmal and 5 being perfection.  If you want to rate with half points (ex: 4.5) that's cool too.

Send ratings to the comment section of the blog OR

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to

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Once in a Lifetime / Legal Weirdness / For Those Who Are Curious / Saturday TBAs

Day Two of TFF #42...

ONCE IN A LIFETIME

So, I got back to the condo very late on Thursday night and got to work on the post that went up yesterday.  As I was working through the various modes of information gathering that I use, I opened an email that had a curious address and subject line, but that's not unusual during Telluride week.

Turns out it was from Eason Jordan who is the Director of Special Projects for The Malala Fund. The message said that he and Malala's father, Ziauddin Yousafzai had been reading the blog and that they had particularly noted that I had written about her and being a teacher (in my real life job) on Wednesday.  Go look at it, I'll wait...

I was a little bit passionate.


Well, Mr. Jordan expressed an interest on the part of Ziauddin to meet...me.

I was floored.  Stunned.  I kind of thought it might be a hoax but I responded to Mr. Jordan and through a series of texts...well...

That's the father of a Nobel Peace Prize winner and a fellow teacher allowing another teacher to express his gratitude.  I was blown away by his warmth and kindness.  My thanks to Eason Jordan, who was beyond gracious in putting the two of us together and to Ziauddin for taking the time.  Also a big thank you to my wife who was also saluted by both men for for also being a part of the teaching profession and who also took some of the pictures.

One of the greatest moments in Telluride and really, in my life.

LEGAL WEIRDNESS

If you had plans to catch the Aretha Franklin documentary "Amazing Grace", those plans got radically altered at the last minute yesterday as a Colorado judge granted Franklin an injunction to keep the film from screening here in Telluride.

As I finish writing this post, it appears that the Fest has made its peace with the ruling and that other films will be scheduled in the spots that "Grace" was going to play.  For example, "Carol" is replacing it in the 10:30 pm slot at the Galaxy tonight (see all the TBA info below).

I've linked The Hollywood Reporter story about the legal proceeding and decision here:



http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/aretha-franklin-granted-injunction-stop-820609



FOR THOSE WHO ARE CURIOUS

Yesterday: "Malala" and "Carol".  Today:

"Suffragette"
"Anomalisa" or "45 Years" or Retour de Flamme"
"Spotlight"
"Steve Jobs"
And if I still have any juice, maybe "Marguerite"



Saturday TBAs

• 17 Viva Galaxy 1:15 PM

• 10 Room Werner Herzog Theatre 1:30 PM

• 16 Mom and Me Masons Hall Cinema 3:30 PM

• 20 Rams Werner Herzog Theatre 4:00 PM

• *b Sherpa Sheridan Opera House 4:15 PM

• G Dreaming Against the World + Tyrus Le Pierre 6:00 PM

• 41 Great Expectations Masons Hall Cinema 6:30 PM

• 7a Steve Jobs Galaxy 7:30 PM

• C Heart of a Dog Masons Hall Cinema 10:00 PM

• 1a Carol Galaxy 10:30 PM

• Noon, Elks Park

“To what extent can fiction films grapple with historical abuses?”

with Meryl Streep, Sarah Gavron, Tom McCarthy, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, László Nemes, Géza Röhrig

AMAZING GRACE will not be shown at this year's festival due to an injunction filed by Aretha Franklin. All slots where AMAZING GRACE was scheduled will be filled with another of our festival films.

REMEMBER TO RATE YOUR FILMS!

Please feel free to leave a comment or question here at the blog.

Email me at michael_speech@hotmail.com or mpgort@gmail.com

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BREAKING: THE TFF #42 LINEUP IS ANNOUNCED

BREAKING: Reporting from the road and straight from the Telluride Film Festival, here is your TFF #42 lineup:

"Amazing Grace"
"Anomalisa"
"Beasts of No Nation"
"Bitter Lake"
"Black Mass"
"Carol"
"45 Years" 
"He Named Me Malala"
"Heart of a Dog"
"Hitchcock/Truffaut"
"Ixcanul"
"Marguerite"
"Mom and Me"
"Only the Dead See the End of War"
"Rams"
"Room"
"Siti"
"Son of Saul"
“Spotlight”
"Steve Jobs"
"Suffragette"
"Taj Mahal"
"Taxi"
"Tikkun"
"Time to Choose"
"Viva"
"Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom"

Tributes announced are  for Danny Boyle (yes!) and Rooney Mara (???)


27 features and documentaries make the lineup.  Missing from this are two films that I had in my last "Ten Bets" lists (which ran to 20 films).  One MIA is Werner Herzog's "Queen of the Desert" which could also conceivably make an appearance as a "Sneak".  The other film that I would hope for as a  "sneak" is "Macbeth"

The docs "Tyrus" and "Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words" are appearing in other portions of the Telluride program.

Michael Fassbender as "Steve Jobs" at the 42nd Telluride Film Festival opening tomorrow

The films making the list that you have seen mentioned here on MTFB that didn't make the last "Ten Bets (Plus): "Ixcanul" and  "Winter on Fire",  Eight other films...I can't find that I've mentioned anyplace at all.  After some brief probing, they all seem fairly obscure and none appear to have U.S. distribution as we begin the weekend. They are:

"Bitter Lake"
"Mom and Me"
"Only the Dead See the End of the War"
"Siti"
"Taj Mahal"
'Tikkun"
"Time to Chose"
"Viva"

Personally, I'm most energized by "Steve Jobs", "Spotlight", "Carol", "Black Mass" and "Son of Saul".  After those, on my probable list are: "Suffragette", "Beasts of No Nation", "Anomalisa", "Room", "Hitchcock/Truffaut" and "45 Years".


Of course, this could all change with the announcement during the weekend of surprise screenings and sneaks.

I'm back on the road ASAP with a plan to get to Telluride by noon and get my mountain legs under me...

See you in the 'Ride!

Remember to rate those films!!!

Final Ten Best (Plus) Before TFF #42 / Welcome Mr. Miles / The Odd Rumors / New Views of "Malala" / On Thursday...

It's the last Wednesday before the cinematic candy store opens for business.  After a full year of being separated, it's time to rejoin my fellow adherents to all things Telluride Film Festival and head the wagons west to the beautiful San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado to bask in the filmic glory that will consume us Friday through Monday.  It's Labor Day weekend and for my wife and I, our tenth foray into TFF Territory.

It's what my hope for heaven looks, sounds and feels like...

See you in Telluride!

FINAL TEN BETS (PLUS) BEFORE TFF #42

From the most to least likely are:

1) Son of Saul
2) Suffragette
3) Carol
4) 45 Years
5) Black Mass
6) Steve Jobs
7) Beasts of No Nation
8) He Named Me Malala
9) Spotlight
10) Room


And then the "Plus"

11) Amazing Grace
12) Taxi
13) Marguerite
14) Anomalisa
15) Hitchcock/Truffaut

And now some "Plus-Plus"

16) Rams
17) Heart of a Dog
18) Tyrus
19) Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words
20) Queen of the Desert


WELCOME MR. MILES

I posted Monday that MTFB has its largest (and I think most distinguished) panel of industry professionals to offer their ratings for films that play this weekend at Telluride.  Here's that list again:

Nick Allen/Chicago Film Critics Assn. member/RogerEbert.com
Alex Billington/FirstShowing.net..
David Ehrlich/Time Out New York
Greg Ellwood/HitFix
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Eric Kohn/Indiewire
Tomris Laffly/Movie Mezzanine/Film Journal
Christopher Schiller/ScriptMag.com
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Kristopher Tapley/Variety/InContention
Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood

Now add that august group of individuals Mr. Kenny Miles of the Denver Society of Film Critics and a contributor to TheMovieBlog.com and FilmFad.com.  Welcome to the crew Mr. Miles!

And this serves as a good spot to remind you, dear reader to add your voice to the chorus for "The People's Telluride".  Rate the films you see during the fest 1-5 (1=BAD, 5=GREAT) and send them to me through one of the contact methods (email, Twitter, Facebook, Blog Comment) .  I'll compile both sets of ratings and report back to you.


THE ODD RUMORS

The persistent but unlikely speculation that persists seems to be that Venice opener "Everest" will follow the pattern of the past two Venice openers "Gravity" and "Birdman" and make its way to Telluride.  Why is it unlikely?  The film is slated to play the Deauville Fest in France on Sept. 4. Though the cast is huge, I don't see how they pull off three major fest screenings in seven days max.

The other rumor is that Sundance sensation "Brooklyn" will show at The SHOW.  Now, that's just not very probable either.  A "Brooklyn" play would violate Telluride's fairly stringent policy of playing new features that have not yet appeared in North America as it played very well at Sundance.

I think some folks are seeing its "Canadian Premiere" designation at Toronto and assuming that automatically means Telluride.  Ummmm...nope,

And just last night The Wrap was reporting in its Oscar/Fall Fest Season post that "The Danish Girl" was likely to play Telluride.  Again, not likely.  For whatever reason, The Wrap was calling it a "Canadian Premiere" whereas the TIFF website very clearly has it as a North American Premiere.  So don't hold your breath.

Here's the link to The Wrap story:

http://www.thewrap.com/watch-out-oscar-awards-season-gets-jump-start-with-fall-film-festivals/


NEW VIEWS OF "MALALA"

One of the films I am looking toward with high anticipation is the Davis Guggenheim documentary "He Named Me Malala".  The story of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and her strength as a voice for equal education in a part of the world where that's a dangerous belief to hold enraptures me as a teacher.

I really am hoping that Malala might well be in Telluride this week and that I have the chance to thank her and tell her in person that I teach. My wife teaches.  My children teach.  My mother was school secretary and my father taught. It's the Patterson Family business so to meet this incredible human being who faced death for the belief that education was a value worth perusing and defending...yea, I'd like to tell her thank you.

Oh, and IMDb put up some new, exclusive pictures from the film yesterday, one of which graces this portion of the post.


ON THURSDAY...

We should, if all goes the way it has the past couple of years, have a lineup fairly early tomorrow morning.  Check here for that announcement.


Headed to Telluride...see you there.  Travel safely friends!

Please feel free to leave a comment or question here at the blog.

Email me at michael_speech@hotmail.com or mpgort@gmail.com

Tweet/Follow at me @Gort2 on Twitter

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