I'm Not Too Bright... / Telluride a Hot Destination? / Cannes Critical Response / A Hint on a Short

 I'M NOT TOO BRIGHT

Well, I'm silly.  If you read last Thursday's post, you know I had a whole chunk about how I was thinking that the Val Kilmer documentary "Val" might be  a Telluride selection.  I even boldly put it into last week's Ten Bets at the # 9 spot. 

It was less than 24 hours later that I found that Val has been dated (by Amazon) for an August release. That clearly puts the kibosh on that notion.  I should have been better on my due diligence.  Mea Culpa!

Anyway, I guess Amazon will have a limited release on July 23rd and Amazon subscribers will be able to see the film on August 6th.

TELLURIDE A HOT DESTINATION?

For the past several weeks, there has been a low level buzz that Telluride and Venice both will benefit from some reluctance on the part of film makers to make plans to debut a film in Toronto due to Canada's approach to Covid-19.  Now, with the Delta variant raising numbers, there is some thought that could further push big name films to either Telluride or Venice or both,

Jeff Wells raises that notion in a post on his website Hollywood Elsewhere writing:

"The word along the Croisette is that certain distributors have either pulled their films out of the 2021 Toronto Film Festival or are seriously thinking about same. Why? Because (a) the Telluride and Venice festivals, unlike Toronto, are not leaning on streaming, and (b) distributors greatly prefer live-audience projection screenings."

We should be getting some serious hard info soon as Toronto is set to announce it's first wave of films on July 20th, a week from tomorrow.  That assumes that TIFF announces films with their premiere status designated but I wonder if that will happen this year.  TIFF has already named 13 films that will play there and did so with no premiere designation.  So, who knows?

CANNES CRITICAL RESPONSE

As the second week of the Cannes Film Festival gets ready to launch, let's check in with how critics' panels are reacting to the Plame d'Or competition films.

Ioncinema's panel has Leos Carax's Annette on top.  Here's the latest chart:

And the link to the Ioncinema article.

Screen Daily has Annette on top as well.

Screen Daily's Critics' Panel is linked here.

Reini Urban has Jauques Audiard's Paris 13th District on top but that's with only a single review.

Reini Urban's compilation.

Check back on Thursday for updated critical response.

A HINT ON A SHORT

I ran across a tweet this weekend that lead me to a news story about a short film called Mark of the Butterfly.  The reason I mention it here is that the film maker Chris Carter seems to imply in the news article from South Carolina television station WLTX that the film could play T-ride.  From the article:

"Carter has submitted Mark of the Butterfly to eight different film festivals. He says those festivals have strict rules about premiering it after submitting it. It will officially be able to be seen after the Telluride Film Festival in September."

So, he doesn't actually say that's it's playing Telluride but he sure implies it.

From the same article, here is the description of the film:

"It's about a high-powered attorney, who is one of the top attorneys in the state," explained Carter. "Now, she's up for a prestigious job as the district attorney, but she is suffering from lupus."

The complete article is linked here.

And, from YouTube, here's a trailer for the film:

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Cannes Will Announce / Eyeballing Oscar 2020 / Paul Schrader Has an Idea

CANNES WILL ANNOUNCE

Cannes Film Festival head Thierry Fremaux revealed a lot about the immediate future of that fest this weekend in an interview for Screen Daily.

Variety hit the high points in a story that they posted yesterday. 

If the past is any guide, some of the decisions Fremaux and crew make will make ripples in the Telluride lineup.  As I have often mentioned, over the years I have been a Telluride attendee the two fests average of sharing 7-8 titles each outing.  Of course, the pandemic make all historic guideposts moot. 

Nevertheless, at this point I am proceeding with the assumption that past guideposts are worth referencing until otherwise disproven.  So with that, here are the big takeaways from the Fremaux interview:

1) Cannes will announce a lineup of films that would have been selected in early June (more below).
2) Cannes officials are still speaking with Venice officials with the notion of some sort of combined effort in September.
3) Fremaux says that "Cannes" films will likely be screened at a number of fests.  He gives a list (more below).

Fremuax's revelation that there will be a 73rd Cannes lineup announcement will give us a list of films to work from which, in a normal year, we would have heard on April 16th.  Assuming that it's by-and-large the films that would have played at a physical version of Cannes, I'm going to work from it to try and assess which of those films might have been crossovers. 

Using Cannes prize winners as a barometer, which I factor in, won't be a guidepost this year as Fremaux also revealed that films will not be adjudicated.  Further, it seems that the list that will be revealed will not categorize films by the section they would have been invited to be a part of (Palme d'Or competition, Un Certain Regard, etc.)

Fremaux does list fests that he suggests will be a part of the Cannes films screening process,  From the Screen International interview:

"We’ll go to Toronto, Deauville, Angoulême, San Sebastian, New York, Busan in Korea and even the Lumière festival in Lyon"

You'll note that Telluride is missing from that list but that may just be Fremaux respecting Telluride's secrecy.  I'd be gob-smacked if there are no Cannes 2020 titles playing as a part of TFF #47.

Also, the notion of "co-presenting" with Venice doesn't necessarily preclude a film from playing T-ride either. 

Couple of other notes: we heard this week that Paul Verhoeven's Benedetta and Andrew Dominik's Blonde have been officially moved to 2021 for release indicating that those two films are almost certainly off the table for fall film fests and this year's Oscars.  It may signal that those two films might be around for a 2021 edition of Cannes.

Also, a quick reminder here that Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch has been dated for release in France on Oct. 14 and in the U.S. on Oct. 16.  That could signal that the film might play at the Cannes/Venice combo and other of the fall fests including New York (and to that extent, Telluride).


I have linked the Variety story here.

And the complete interview from Screen Daily is linked here.


EYEBALLING OSCAR 2020

Indiewire's Zack Sharf cast a glance at what films might be Oscar contenders in the new reality of the Covid-19 pandemic in a post published on May 8th.  Usually, films that seem Oscar-y get a look from me as I try to puzzle out what might be worth keeping an eye on as possible players for The SHOW so this kind of article catches my eye.  That's especially true in light of the uncharted seas we're sailing right now.

So, here are some of the points Sharf makes with a thought or two from me.

Sharf leads off with Sundance films that he thinks could be players.  Almost  uniformly a Sundance play means that we can check it off the list for T-ride.  There are rare examples of films playing both Sundance and TFF: An Education, Manchester by the Sea and The Report but these are not normal times.  Sharf lists these Sundance narrative feature titles as Oscar possibles:

Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Minari
Promising Young Woman
The 40 Year Old Version
The Father

Never Rarely Sometimes Always made it into theaters for three days which could be enough to keep it out of TFF consideration.  Still, only three days?

The other four films?  If TFF programmers consider Sundance films, maybe.  Personally, I'd like to see Minari make it to the San Juans as it was largely filmed in my home state of Oklahoma.  I even had a good friend acting as the schooling tutor on set (Hello Rose Mary Baker!).

Sharf then runs down what were thought to be probable Cannes titles that have/had some Oscar potential including:

The French Dispatch
Nomadland
Annette
Memoria

Other Cannes' "titles" he lists seem to be unlikely TFF choices (ex: Soul)

I a section about Netflix films, Sharf reminds us that Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods will drop on the streamer on June 17th.

Other Netflix titles that might be in the mix for TFF and/or Oscar:

Mank
Hillbilly Elegy
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
The Prom
Rebecca

In the remaining bulk of the post Sharf mentions many films that are still nominally scheduled for release before the end of the year.  Of note,as a Telluride-star-gazer:

The French Dispatch
Dune
The Trail of the Chicago 7
Stillwater
On the Rocks
The Woman in the Window
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Ammonite.

Sharf's complete article is linked here.



PAUL SCHRADER HAS AN IDEA

(Photo of Paul Schrader from Claudio Onorati/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock and Indiewire)

Oscar nominee Paul Schrader has his own ideas about dealing with the current state of the world of film and film festivals in particular.  His thoughts largely center around a Netflix and/or Amazon sponsored festival of festivals.

Schrader shared his concept with Indiewire's Eric Kohn recently.

Schrader explains:

"You have to have all the power players involved. If you have Netflix with its deep pockets, and the major festival curators to come up with a list of films at all levels of competition, and if you get an all-star jury of maybe two dozen actors, artists, and critics, you have an event. You have something Netflix can advertise as the Netflix fall festival of festivals. That would grab people’s attention."

Schader and Kohn also the hurdles that would have to be overcome in their back-and-forth.  It's intriguing.

Take a look at the entire interview here at Indiewire.


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Word on the Street / 25 Films for Cannes? / Inarritu's Return?

WORD ON THE STREET

As best as I can tell, we got our first word about the status of the 47th Telluride Film Festival from a story posted on The Denver Post's "The Know" website.  That story was posted Tuesday.  The post focused on any number of film related activities in Colorado for the rest of 2020 and their status at this point in relation to the Covid-19 health crisis.

Included as a part of the story was an assessment concerning film festivals within the state including TFF #47.  The relevant paragraph is here:

"The popular Film on the Rocks program at Red Rocks Amphitheatre is scheduled to go on as planned this summer, pending city restrictions, Erickson said. Separate from Denver Film, so is the 47th Telluride Film Festival, an internationally acclaimed event (scheduled for Sept. 4-7) where many Oscar-winning features make their debut, according to a spokeswoman."

So, the status at the moment for TFF #47 is a go. 

The complete Denver Post/The Know story is linked here.

Complicating matters, as I have been detailing here for the past few weeks, is the decision by organizers of the Cannes Film Festival to postpone that fest.  Reports have been that the Cannes soiree is likely to be re-set for late June or early July.  At least that's the plan for the moment. 

The reality is that what form Cannes will take for 2020, when it will happen or even if it will happen still seem to be relevant questions.  And, again, not to beat the drum too much, but the Cannes/Telluride overlap of  titles from year to year is substantial averaging 7.5 films shared per year which, again on average, means that Cannes titles are somewhere in the neighborhood of nearly 20% of the feature films that screen at TFF. 

The point being that whatever Cannes does will have some ripple effect in as far as TFF #47 os concerned.

More to come, as I will continue monitoring for whatever information I can find for both T-ride and Cannes in the coming days.

Now...speaking of Cannes...again....


25 FILMS FOR CANNES

In the midst of uncertainty regarding the fate and form of the 73rd Cannes Film Fest, Indiewire writers (Eric Kohn, David Ehrlich, Kate Erbland, Ryan Lattanzio and Zack Sharf) posted their 25 film Cannes wish list earlier this week.  Not only is is a "wish list" but it's also a list of films with very high Cannes potential.

So, as is my custom, I took a look at what the Indiewire folks were pointing at and whether some of the films they are signaling might have a shot at screening at The SHOW.

Here's what I found as TFF possibles:

Annette/dir: Leos Carax.  Why? It features one of last year's TFF tribute recipients, Adam Driver as well as TFF #39 tribute recipient Marion Cotillard.  It's from Amazon Studios.  It has no set U.S, release date but IMDb says it is set for a Nov. 27th release in Turkey.

Bergman Island/dir: Mia Hansen Love.  Why?  Hansen-Love has made Telluride appearances before: Goodbye First Love, Things to Come). 

The French Dispatch/dir: Wes Anderson.  "Hold up there Newt"  my mind hears some of you saying..."The French Dispatch is set for release on July 24th".  And, yeah, that's true...for the moment.  I suspect that July 24th date was set with a Cannes bow in mind in May.  Now that the Cannes date has changed, I think a whole different strategy might emerge for the film.  The film is under The Searchlight banner (new since the Disney folks dropped the word "Fox" from in front of Searchlight) and I could see them deciding that a new release date after some fall fest presence might be a smart play even with a Cannes that premiered the film in late June/July.  It's still an unlikely TFF choice but now it's not outside of the realm of possibility.

Summer of '85/dir: Francois Ozon.  Ozon has played TFF before with 2016's Frantz. 

Where Is Anne Frank/dir: Ari Folman.  The director of Waltz with Bashir (TFF #35) returns with this animated meditation on Anne Frank. 

The Woman in the Window/dir: Joe Wright.  A film that was on my TFF #46 watchlist for some time and then got dropped when its release date was changed.  It could be back in the convo for TFF #47 if it does make a Cannes appearance.  Certainly there are plenty of TFF connectives involved: Wright who was at TFF #44.  Stars Amy Adams (TFF #43 tribute), Jennifer Jason Leigh (TFF #20 tribute and back in 2007 with Margot at the Wedding), Gary Oldman (at TFF #44 with Darkest Hour). Writer Tracy Letts (at TFF #44 with Lady Bird).  Who knows?

The complete compilation of 25 films on he Indiewire wish list is linked here .



INARRITU'S RETURN?

News from Mexico is that multiple Oscar winner and frequent Telluride presence, Alejandro Inarritu os prepping his next feature film. 

Inarritu hasn't directed a feature since 2015's The Revenant.  His last film at TFF was 2014's Oscar winner Birdman.  He has also screened Babel and Biutiful at TFF as well as being a frequent guest and attendee of the fest often in support of Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity and Roma) and Guillermo Del Toro (The Shape of Water).

The Film Stage reports that Inarritu has begun very preliminary prep work in Mexico City.

Despite the fact that The Revenant did not make a play at TFF, you still have to believe that, if the timing were right, a new Inarritu would be a very big possibility for a TFF bow.

Here's the link to The Film Stage story.



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Awards Circuit Predicts for Oscar 2021 / Indiewire's 30 Collaborations / More on Parasite

AWARDS CIRCUIT PREDICTS FOR OSCAR 2021

Clayton Davis who runs the website Awards Circuit has jumped on the opportunity to get ahead of the Oscar game by making "year-out" predictions for next year's Oscar contenders (as well as Golden Globe guesses and SAG Awards).  As such, I am drawn to those as a way to peer into the possible future for TFF #47.

Davis lists 10 films as potential Best Picture nominees, eight of which seem to have at least some credibility as a Telluride possible.  I leave out two: In the Heights and Soul because they're summer releases.  The other eight:

Ammonite starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan from Neon (the distributor behind Parasite)
Annette starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard from Amazon
Dune starring Timothee Chalamet from Warner Bros.
Mank starring Gary Oldman from Netflix
News of the World starring Tom Hanks from Universal
Nomadland starring Frances McDormand from Searchlight
Stillwater starring Matt Damon from Focus Features
The Trial of the Chicago 7 starring Michael Keaton and Joseph Gordon-Levitt from Paramount

Other films that Davis mentions in other categories (and he predicts all 21 feature film categories) that might have some T-ride possibility include:

On the Rocks starring Bill Murray from A24
C'mon C'mon starring Joaquin Phoenix from A24
Blonde starring Ana de Armas - no distributor at present
I'm Thinking of Ending Things starring Jesse Plemons and Toni Collette from Netflix
Hillbilly Elegy starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams from Netflix


Take a look at the complete set of predictions here.


INDIEWIRE'S 30 COLLABORATIONS

(photo via Indiewire)

Indiewire's Zack Sharf takes a different approach to looking forward to the films of 2020 by focusing on director/actor combs that will be coming to a theater near you.  Those collaborations also offer a window on potential films that could be on screens in the San Juan Mountains come Labor Day weekend.  Some of those include:

David Fincher and Gary Oldman/Mank**
Mia Hansen-Love and Vicky Krieps/Bergman Island**
Charlie Kaufman and Jesse Plemons/I'm Thinking of Ending Things*
Leos Carax and Marion Cotillard/Annette*
Sophia Coppola and Bill Murray/On the Rocks**
Denis Villenueve and Timothee Chalamet/Dune*
Guillermo Del Toro and Cate Blanchett/Nightmare Alley*
Andrew Dominik and Ana de Armas/Blonde
Mike Mills and Joaquin Phoenix/C'mon C'mon
Taika Waititi and Michael Fassbender/Next Goal Wins*
Aaron Sorkin and Sacha Baron Cohen/The Trail of the Chicago 7*
Christian Petzold and Pauline Beer/Undine
Paul Greengrass and Tom Hanks/News of the World*
Lila Neugebauer and Jennifer Lawrence/Untitled
Francis Lee and Kate Winslet/Ammonite*


(* indicates director or actor has been to TFF)

All of the list of 30 collaborations are linked here.


MORE ON PARASITE

Parasite's Best Picture Oscar win continues to reverberate throughout the film world.  Indiewire's Kate Erbland takes a look at one of the women behind making Bog Joon-ho's film a reality: Elissa Federoff.

Take a look at the profile linked here.


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