The Best of the Decade and Telluride / Could 44 Someday Be at TFF? / No New Apocalypse Now for TFF #46

Good Thursday everyone...Happy May!


THE BEST OF THE DECADE AND TELLURIDE

After having teased it for a couple of weeks, Jordan Ruimy of World of Reel published his compilation of over 250 film critics, bloggers, programmers, distributors, academics and the like after asking them "What are the best films of the 2010's?".  Participants were told to name five in no order of preference.

The best film of the decade?  Drum roll please...George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road.

Jordan was kind enough to have invited me to participate.  Three of the films that made my final list of five made it into the final top 25.  My final five were (in alpha order): 12 Years a Slave, Birdman, Inside Llewyn Davis, A Separation and Shame.

On the final top 20 in Jordan's poll A Separation finished #9, Inside Llewyn Davis was $10 and 12 Years a Slave was #21.

As you might expect, Telluride Film Fest film's were all over the list.  Jordan ran a more comprehensive list of the top 75 and TFF films that made the cut included:

#3 Moonlight
#7 Roma
#9 A Separation
#10 Inside Llewyn Davis
#12 Under the Skin
#13 Carol
#14 Toni Erdmann
#20 The Act of Killing
#21 12 Years a Slave
#23 La La Land
#26 Amour
#26 (tie) Ida
#35 Blue Is the Warmest Color
Six films tied at #41: Son of Saul, The Turin Horse, The Rider, Manchester by the Sea, Leviathan, First Reformed
#53 Faces Places
Four films tied at #58: Gravity, Stories We Tell, The Other Side of the Wind, Foxtrot
Two films tied at #70: The Look of Silence and Frances Ha.


That's an astounding 26 films of the top 75.  That also means that roughly 10% of the TFF schedule over the last nine years is on the list.

Here's my original list of 20 films to start with that I published back on April 11th:

2010- True Grit
2011- The Tree of Life, Shame, A Separation
2012- Lincoln, The Life of Pi
2013- 12 Years a Slave, Nebraska, Inside Llewyn Davis
2014- Birdman, Foxcatcher, The Grand Budapest Hotel
2015- Son of Saul, Spotlight, Mad Max: Fury Road
2016- Moonlight, La La Land
2017- Lady Bird, Dunkirk
2018- Roma


Making Ruimy's list of 75 from my top 20:

2011: The Tree of Life, A Separation
2013: 12 Years a Slave, Inside Llewyn Davis
2014: The Grand Budapest Hotel
2015: Son of Saul, Mad Max: Fury Road
2016: Moonlight, La La Land
2017: Dunkirk
2018: Roma


Finally, the massive list of respondents to Ruimy's poll included industry professionals who have been a part of my annual poll of professionals following the conclusion of TFF:

Nick Allen/RogerEbert.com
Alex Billington/FirstShowing.net
Peter DeBruge/Variety
Gregory Ellwood/The Playlist
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Mark Johnson/Awards Circuit
Eric Kohn/Indiewire



Others of note:

Erik Anderson/Awards Watch
David Ansen/Newsweek
Drake Doremus/Film Director
Pete Hammond/Deadline
Monte Hellman/Film Director
Peter Howell/The Toronto Star
Annette Insdorf/Columbia Film School
Dave Karger/TCM
Eric Lavallee/Ioncinema
Rod Lurie/Film Director
Joey Magidson/Awards Circuit
Matt Neglia/Next Best Picture
Tom O'Neil/Gold Derby
David Poland/Movie City News
Steve Pond/The Wrap
Cedric Succivelli/International Cinephile Society
Jeff Wells/Hollywood Elsewhere

Ruimy's entire post is linked here.


COULD 44 SOMEDAY BE AT TFF?

I have wondered since it was announced nearly a year ago what the Barrack and Michelle Obama might produce as a part of their development deal with Netflix and as of a couple of days ago; it appears we have our first set of answers.

Vice reported earlier this week that Obamas have seven projects in development.  They include television series, documentaries and a feature film centered on the life of Frederick Douglass.

Of particular note in terms of a possible Telluride play are the documentary Crip Camp which focuses on a camp for disabled kids that was founded in the late 1960's as well as Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom which is very early in its development.

The Vice story and a complete rundown of the seven projects is here.



NO NEW APOCALYPSE NOW FOR TFF #46

I speculated in Monday's MTFB post that the latest version of Apocalypse Now (dubbed "The Final Cut") which screened at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this week might make an appearance at TFF #46.  That speculation seems to have taken a hit since Monday as multiple outlets have reported that the film will be released in theaters on Aug. 15th.

There is a newly cut teaser for this final version.  Here that is via YouTube:

And the story from SlashFilm is linked here.



That's your MTFB for this Thursday.  I'll have more on Monday.


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

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A Salute to Mark Medoff / First Teaser for Young Ahmed / One More Time for Apocalypse Now

Good Monday to everyone.

A SALUTE TO MARK MEDOFF

(Photo via Getty Images and The Wrap)

Mark Medoff-Oscar nominee and Tony Award winning writer died on Tuesday.  He was 79.

The disclaimer: to the best of my knowledge, Mr. Medoff had no connection to the Telluride Film Festival.

So why mention him here?

As many of you know, in real life I'm a high school speech/drama/debate/English teacher.  I've had students performing Mr.Medoff's work for a long, long time.  Sometimes as competition pieces individually or as duos.  Sometimes for play competitions (at least three times).  So, obviously, his work has made an impact in my life and the lives of my kids.

And he was a New Mexico guy.  He taught for many, many years in Las Cruces at New Mexico State University and though I'm not a New Mexico native, I've spent a lot of time there.  It's just down the road...you might say.

So, Mr. Medoff, a salute to you, sir.  Thanks for the sharing your gift with the world, my kids and me.

Here's The Wrap's story about Mr. Medoff's passing.


FIRST TEASER FOR YOUNG AHMED

High on my list of films from Cannes that I think are most likely to travel to Colorado for Labor Day weekend is the latest social drama from The Dardennes Brothers.  The Dardennes have had a rich history with both the Cannes Film Festival and TFF so, though it doesn't happen that their films do the Cannes/Telluride connection, it's occurred enough over the years that you'd be a little silly not to expect it to happen again.

The Dardennes film is Young Ahmed and its plot is described at IMDb as:  "A young Belgian hatches a plot to kill his teacher after embracing an extremist interpretation of the Quran."

Young Ahmed currently doesn't have U.S. distribution but prior to its screening at Cannes next month, the film's producers have released a teaser/trailer.

Here that is from YouTube:

Linked here is an accompanying story on the teaser's release from The Film Stage.

Young Ahmed's IMDb page is here.


ONE MORE TIME FOR APOCALYPSE NOW

Francis Ford Coppola screened what he is saying is the definitive version of his 1979 classic, Apocalypse Now, at the Tribeca Film Festival.  This latest version has been renamed Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut.  Coppola screened Apocalypse Now Redux as a part of TFF in 2014.

I am wondering if  Coppola might return again to TFF to screen the latest version.

The Wrap had this story about the Tribeca screening which includes the note that Coppola expects a theatrical release at some point later this year.  Depending on the timing for that and the interest level from the fest and Coppola...maybe.

I have linked the story from The Wrap here.



That's it for your MTFB on this Monday.  More for you on Thursday...


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