More on Rumors and Whispers / The Professionals Telluride / Circuit Breaker Podcast / Joker Bits and Pieces / The People's Telluride

Tuesday...Three Days...


MORE ON RUMORS AND WHISPERS

Yesterday I wrote a little bit about rumors swirling that a secret film would screen at Telluride this week.  My list of what that might be was as follows:

1) None of the rumors are true and there is no surprise screening at all.
2) Todd Haynes Project (Dark Waters or Dry Run or...being snarky now...Dry Water or Dark Run or Dry Dark Water Run)
3) Nomadland
4) Little Women
5) Ad Astra
6) Joker
7) Bombshell
8) El Camino/Breaking Bad

For about three hours yesterday afternoon several of us that play this game thought we had the rumored secret figured out as Focus Features announced that Todd Haynes' Dark Waters has been dated for release.  Deadline.com was the first to report the film will be in limited release on Nov. 22nd.  The story also revealed that the film has been titled Dark Waters which, as far as I know, is the first definitive reference to the film's title.  Dry Run had also been bandied about as a possible title.

A lot of film Twitter made clear that they viewed this as a likely "tell" that the film is probable for Telluride's lineup that will be officially unveiled on Thursday.

Here's the Deadline.com article.

Then early on Monday evening came Indiewire's story about the Dark Waters release written by Anne Thompson.  Anne's story included this passage:

"The movie (Dark Waters), which co-stars Tim Robbins and Bill Pullman, will not be ready in time for the earlier fall film festivals, but might turn up at AFI Fest in November. Focus will open the movie limited November 22, with expansion a week later."

I have to believe Anne has the lowdown straight on this.

So...what does it mean?

1) The #1 possibility I listed above still looks like my best guess...I.E. no film plays as a surprise.

Then with the Thompson story in mind, we drop Dark Waters down to the last possibility and the rest of the guesses look like this:

2) Nomadland
3) Little Women
4) Ad Astra
5) Joker
6) Bombshell
7) El Camino/Breaking Bad
8) Dark Waters

Thompson's complete Indiewire report is linked here.



THE PROFESSIONALS TELLURIDE

Each year since 2012 I have polled a list of industry professionals at the conclusion of the fest to rate the films they saw on a 1-5 scale just like I ask you readers to do and over the years many, many people have been kind enough to share their thoughts about them.  This year's crew of Professionals is a large one.  I think the largest collection of pros since I started doing this.  The list is also Deeeep!

So, my huge thanks to the following who have agreed to rate this year and a special shout out to Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter and Sasha Stone of Awards Daily who were part of that first 2012 group and, I believe, the only two who have participated every year.

Here's this year's list of Professionals:

Erik Anderson/Awards Watch
J. Don Birnam-Jorge T/SplashReport.com
Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Marshall Flores/Awards Daily
Mark Johnson/Awards Circuit
Gary Kramer/Salon
Tomris Laffly/RogerEbert.com
Scott Menzel/We Live Entertainment
Kenny Miles/We Live Entertainment
Mark Neglia/Next Best Picture
Eugene Novikov/Rotten Tomatoes
John Rhodes/Screencraft
Christopher Schiller/ScriptMag.com
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Anne Thompson/Indiewire
Chris Willman/Variety
Anonymous

I'll have the ratings compiled and ready for posting about a week after the fest closes.


CIRCUIT BREAKER PODCAST

In Awards Circuit's Circuit Breaker podcast they launch into a full examination of Telluride specific discussion just before the 40 min. mark.  They also mention the blog you're currently reading.

Take a listen to what Clayton Davis and his crew have to say about TFF #46.  The podcast is linked here.


JOKER BITS AND PIECES

Ahead of its new trailer release and the film's debut in Venice...and...

The Joker film at the end of the weekend was releasing bits and pieces of that new trailer.  Indiewire posted a couple of the flashes of film that they had obtained on Sunday evening.

Here's a still of Robert DeNiro from one of the 10 second blips that are floating around:

 All of which appear to posted to the JokerMovie Instagram account.

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

For the eighth 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".

Report your ratings with any of the following contact methods:

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

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.

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

First Oscar Predictions for 2018 / Continued Oscar Insight / Focus on The Other Side / Border Makes Some Noise

Good Monday everyone... I've got a full edition of MTFB today.



FIRST OSCAR PREDICTIONS FOR 2018

First up today is my first Oscar predictions for 2018.  As regular readers know, I shift gears after each year's SHOW is completed (as well as Venice and Toronto) and, until Oscar night, the focus of this space becomes focused on the awards twists and turns that TFF films are a part of.

Consequently, I also endeavor to provide predictions about the Oscar race including my own set of prognostications.  Over the next few months I'll also pay attention to some of the larger critic's top ten and  "best of" lists as well as many of the film guild awards.  All of which lead up to Oscar nomination announcement morning (Jan. 22) and the 91st Oscars ceremony on Feb. 24.

Additionally, this year, as I reported a few days back, this year my predictions will also be included as part of The Gurus of Gold at Movie City News. 

It's an exciting time.

So here you are.  My first set of predix for the four most major of major categories: Picture, Direction, Actress and Actor.


BEST PICTURE

1) First Man
2) A Star Is Born
3) Roma
4) Green Book
5) The Favourite
6) BlacKkKlansman
7) If Beale Street Could Talk
8) Black Panther
9) Can You Ever Forgive Me?
10) Boy Erased

Others: Eighth Grade, Widows, The Front Runner, Vice

BEST DIRECTION

1) Alfonso Cuaron/Roma
2) Bradley Cooper/A Star Is Born
3) Damien Chazelle/First Man
4) Spike Lee/BlacKkKlansman
5) Yorgos Lanthimos/The Favourite

Others: Barry Jenkins/If Beale Street Could Talk, Ryan Coogler/Black Panther, Peter Farrelly/Green Book, Steve McQueen/Widows, Adam McKay/Vice

BEST ACTRESS

1) Glenn Close/The Wife
2) Lady Gaga/A Star Is Born
3) Melissa McCarthy/ Can You Ever Forgive Me?
4) Olivia Colman/The Favourite
5) Julia Roberts/Ben Is Back

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

BEST ACTOR

1) Bradley Cooper/A Star Is Born
2) Viggo Mortensen/Green Book
3) Ryan Gosling/First Man
4) Lucas Hedges/Boy Erased
5) Willem Dafoe/At Eternity's Gate

Others: John David Washington/BlacKkKlansman, Christian Bale/Vice, Hugh Jackman/The Front Runner, Ethan Hawke/First Reformed


TFF #45 Breakdown if these predictions were 100% accurate (I'm picking nine nominees for Best Picture):

First Man (3): Best Picture, Direction, Actor
The Favourite (3): Best Picture, Direction, Actress
Roma (2) Best Picture, Direction
Can You ever Forgive Me? (2): Best Picture, Actress
Boy Erased (1) Best Actor

Additional Possibilities:

The Front Runner (2): Best Picture, Actor
Boy Erased (1): Best Picture
Roma (1): Best Actress
Destroyer (1): Best Actress

And from TFF #44...

First Reformed (1): Best Actor


CONTINUED OSCAR INSIGHT

Both Sasha Stone at Awards Daily and Erik Anderson of Awards Watch post updates for the Oscar season each Friday.  Sasha's is titled Predictions Friday while Erik's is Frontrunner Friday.  Clayton Davis of Awards Circuit updates weekly on Mondays. I'll try to make sure to provide those links each week.  I'll also be adding Scott Feinberg's Feinberg Forecast (The Hollywood Reporter) , Kristopher Tapley (Variety) and others as the season really gets rolling.

Sasha Stone/Awards Daily

Erik Anderson/Awards Watch

Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit


FOCUS ON THE OTHER SIDE

I saw two big pieces appear this weekend that delved into the back story of the efforts to finish Orson Welles final film The Other Side of the Wind. Both Chris O'Falt for Indiewire and Alex Ross for The New Yorker put up extensive stories about how the film was rescued and finished.

I have linked both of them.

Indiewire

The New Yorker


BORDER MAKES SOME NOISE

Ali Abbasi's TFF #45 selection and Cannes'  Un Certain Regard winner Border made a splash this weekend as it was named winner of the World Fiction prize at The Los Angeles Film Festival as well as having a U.S. trailer release.

The film was one of the more divisive offerings at this year's SHOW as evidenced by the disparate reactions from my collection of ratings from both the attendees of the fest, who had it at the #16 spot in their ratings and the Professionals for whom it ended up at their #8 spot.

Here's the U.S. trailer from YouTube:

Also linked here is coverage of the trailer release from The Film Stage and The Playlist.

Additionally, here's the coverage of the awards announcement from the L.A. Film Fest from The Los Angeles Times.


That's today's MTFB.  I'll have 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 Professionals' Telluride / The Early Oscar Landscape / Toronto Awards Green Book

It's Monday and I hope your weekend was outstanding!



THE PROFESSIONALS' TELLURIDE

Here's is your 2018 installment of The Professionals view of the films that played the 44th Telluride Film Festival.  14 industry journalists participated this year by rating each film they saw on a 1-5 scale.  They were:

Peter DeBruge/Variety
David Ehrlich/Indiwire
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Stephen Galloway/The Hollywood Reporter
Gary Kramer/Salon
Mark Johnson/Awards Circuit
Tomris Laffly/RogerEbert.com
Kenny Miles/We Live Entertainment
Eugene Novikov/Film Blather
Christopher Schiller/ScriptMag.com
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Kristopher Tapley/Variety
Anne Thompson/Indiewire
Anonymous

Last year The Pros had The Shape of Water out front with a 4.50 average followed by two films which tied for the second spot; Faces Places and Loveless which both averaged 4.25.
In 2016 , Moonlight was on top with a 4.87 average followed by La La Land at 4.58.
In 2015, the top film was Son of Saul at 4.44 with Anomalisa second with a 4.42.
In 2014, number one was Birdman at 4.72 and second was Foxcatcher at 4.63.
2013: 12 Years a Slave 4.70 and Blue is the Warmest Color 4.40
2012: Central Park Five 4.7 and Argo 4.5

The top ten rated films in by the Professionals since I began them in 2012:

1) Moonlight (4.87) (16)
2) Birdman (4.72) (14)
3) 12 Years a Slave (4.70-tie) (13)
3) Central Park Five (4.70-tie) (12)
5) Foxcatcher (4.63) (14)
6) La La Land (4.58) (16)
7) Argo (4.50-tie) (12)
7) The Shape of Water (4.50) (17)
9) Son of Saul (4.44) (15)
10) Anomalisa (4.42) (15)



13 of the 33 fetaures for the 45th edition of The SHOW were evaluated by enough of the Pros to merit averaging their ratings.  Here are those results:

1) Roma (4.73)
2) First Man (4.17)
3) Cold War (4.14-tie)
3) Free Solo (4.14-tie)
5) Can You Ever Forgive Me ? (4.11)
6) The Favourite (3.90)
7) Watergate (3.60)
8) Border (3.50)
9) Destroyer (3.25)
10) Boy Erased (3.20)
11) The Old Man and the Gun (3.17)
12) White Boy Rick (3.06)
13) The Front Runner (3.05)


That also means that Roma moves onto the Top Ten form the Pros since 2012.  Roma moves to #2 ahead of Birdman by 1/100th of a point and bumps Anomalisa from the list.

Here's the new Pros Top Ten:

1) Moonlight (4.87) (16)
2) Roma (4.73) (18)
3) Birdman (4.72) (14)
4) 12 Years a Slave (4.70-tie) (13)
4) Central Park Five (4.70-tie) (12)
6) Foxcatcher (4.63) (14)
7) La La Land (4.58) (16)
8) Argo (4.50-tie) (12)
8) The Shape of Water (4.50-tie) (17)
10) Son of Saul (4.44) (15)


Coming on Monday: THE COMPOSITE TELLURIDE...the combination of The People and The Professionals.


THE EARLY OSCAR LANDSCAPE

I did a quick inventory of Sasha Stone's (Awards Daily), Scott Feinberg's (The Hollywood Reporter) and Clayton Davis' (Awards Circuit) early, early mostly post-fest (TFF, Venice, Toronto) takes on their views with regard to the Oscar races. They took their first stabs at the six major categories (Picture, Director and the acting categories at the end of the week last week with Sasha's first Forecast Friday, Scott's first Feinberg Forecast and Clayton's weekly updated predictions.

Focusing on films that played TFF #45 here's what the two Oscar pundits are saying:

Stone:

First Man leads the field with five nominations according to Stone: Best Picture, Direction, Actor Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor (Jason Clarke-who is going to to be one of the peeps that I am personally rooting for).

Boy Erased is next with three: Best Actor, Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor (Crowe)  Fienberg doesn't have Boy Erased listed at the front runner level in any category.

Four films are at two nominations according to Stone in the six major categories:

Roma: Best Picture, Direction
Can You Ever Forgive Me? Best Picture, Actress
The Old Man and the Gun: Actor and Supporting Actress
The Favourite: Actress (Colman), Supporting Actress (Stone)

Feinberg has four films bunched with four nominations from among the films that played TFF #45:

First Man: Best Picture, Direction, Actor, Supporting Actress
Roma: Best Picture, Direction, Actress, Supporting Actress
The Favourite: Best Picture, Actress (Colman), Supporting Actress (both Stone and Weisz)

Feinberg also has Cold War listed as a Best Picture front runner but not as a probable short lister for Best Foreign Language Film.

Feinberg also has Hugh Jackman as a front runner for Best Actor for The Front Runner and Melissa McCarthy for Best Actress for Can You Ever Forgive Me?

For Davis' part the lay of the land looks like this for Telluride films in the major six categories:

First Man tops the list with four: Best Picture, Direction, Actor, Supporting Actress

Next are The Favourite and Can You Ever Forgive Me? with three each

The Favourite: Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Colman) - no nominations in Supporting Actress for either Stone or Weisz)

Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Best Picture, Actress and Supporting Actor

Three films for TFF #45 get two nominations in the major six categories according to Davis:

Roma: Best Picture, Direction
Boy Erased: Best Picture, Supporting Actress
The Old Man and the Gun: Actor, Supporting Actress

Complete predictions from each expert are linked below

Sasha Stone/Awards Daily

Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter

Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit



TORONTO AWARDS GREEN BOOK

The Grolsch Audience Award for favorite film at the Toronto International Film Festival ended up being a surprise as Peter Farrelly's Green Book took the top spot.  Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk was the first runner-up and Alfonso Cuaron's Roma was second runner-up.

Many, including myself, were surprised that Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born didn't land the award or even crack the top three.

One other TFF #45 title made waves as Free Solo was named Best Documentary.

Here's the Indiewire story about the TIFF awards.


That's a wrap for this MOnday.  I'll have more Thursday including this year's COMPOSITE TELLURIDE.

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

TFF #45 Lineup Announced / Useful Info for Some of the Films Announced Today / Who's # 1?

TFF #45 LINEUP ANNOUNCED

45th Telluride Film Festival is proud to present the following new feature films to play in its main program:

·       ANGELS ARE MADE OF LIGHT (d. James Longley, U.S.-Denmark-Norway, 2018)

·       BE NATURAL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ALICE GUY-BLACHÉ (d. Pamela E. Green, U.S., 2018)

·       BIRDS OF PASSAGE (d. Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego, Colombia-Denmark-Mexico, 2018)

·       BORDER (d. Ali Abbasi, Sweden, 2018)

·       BOY ERASED (d. Joel Edgerton, U.S., 2018)

·       CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? (d. Marielle Heller, U.S., 2018)

·       COLD WAR (d. Pawel Pawlikowski, Poland-France-U.K., 2018)

·       DESTROYER (d. Karyn Kusama, U.S., 2018)

·       DOGMAN (d. Matteo Garrone, Italy-France, 2018)

·       DOVLATOV (d. Aleksei German, Russia-Poland-Serbia, 2018)

·       FIRST MAN (d. Damien Chazelle, U.S., 2018)

·       FISTFUL OF DIRT (d. Sebastián Silva, U.S., 2018)

·       FREE SOLO (d. Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, U.S., 2018)

·       GHOST FLEET (d. Shannon Service and Jeffrey Waldron, U.S., 2018)

·       GIRL (d. Lukas Dhont, Belgium-Netherlands, 2018)

·       GRAVES WITHOUT A NAME (d. Rithy Panh, France-Cambodia, 2018)

·       MEETING GORBACHEV (d. Werner Herzog and André Singer, U.K.-U.S.-Germany, 2018)

·       NON FICTION (d. Olivier Assayas, France, 2018)

·       PETERLOO (d. Mike Leigh, U.K., 2018)

·       REVERSING ROE (d. Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, U.S., 2018)

·       ROMA (d. Alfonso Cuarón, U.S.-Mexico, 2018)

·       SHOPLIFTERS (d. Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan, 2018)

·       THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM (d. John and Molly Chester, U.S., 2018)

·       THE FAVOURITE (d. Yorgos Lanthimos, Ireland-U.K.-U.S., 2018)

·       THE FRONT RUNNER (d. Jason Reitman, U.S., 2018)

·       THE GREAT BUSTER (d. Peter Bogdanovich, U.S., 2018)

·       THE OLD MAN & THE GUN (d. David Lowery, U.S., 2018)

·       THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND (d. Orson Welles, U.S., 1976/2018)

·       THE WHITE CROW (d. Ralph Fiennes, U.K., 2018)

·       THEY’LL LOVE ME WHEN I’M DEAD (d. Morgan Neville, U.S., 2018)

·       TRIAL BY FIRE (d. Ed Zwick, U.S., 2018)

·       WATERGATE – OR, HOW WE LEARNED TO STOP AN OUT-OF-CONTROL PRESIDENT (d. Charles Ferguson, U.S., 2018)

·       WHITE BOY RICK (d. Yann Demange, U.S., 2018)

USEFUL INFO FOR SOME OF THE FILMS ANNOUNCED TODAY


Here's a partial list of films announced this morning as part of the TFF #45 lineup with a trailer and an IMDb link (in alphabetical order):

BOY ERASED

Dir: Joel Edgerton
Main Cast: Lukas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Joel Edgerton
Release date: Nov. 2
Distrib: Focus Features

Trailer:

Boy Erased IMDb link

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?

Dir: Marielle Heller

Main Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant

Release date: Oct. 19

Distrib: Fox Searchlight

Trailer: 

Can You Ever Forgive Me? IMDb link


COLD WAR

Dir: Pawel Pawlikowski
Main Cast:Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot
Release date: Dec. 21
Distrib: Amazon
Trailer:

Cold War IMDb link


DESTROYER

Dir: Karyn Kuwasa
Main Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sebastian Stan
Release date: Dec. 25
Distrib: Annapurna
Trailer: Unavailable

Destroyer IMDb link


THE FAVOURITE

Dir: Yorgos Lanthimos
Main Cast: Olivia Colman, Rachel Wiesz, Emma Stone
Release date: Nov. 23
Distrib: Fox Searchlight
Trailer:

The Favourite IMDb link

FIRST MAN

Dir: Damien Chazelle

Main Cast: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy

Release date: Oct. 12

Distrib: Universal 

Original Trailer:

New Trailer as of yesterday:

First Man IMDb link

THE FRONT RUNNER

Dir: Jason Reitman

Main Cast: Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga

Release date: Nov. 21

Distrib: Columba/Stage 6

Trailer:Unavailable

The Front Runner IMDb link

GIRL

Dir: Lukas Dhont

Main cast: Victor Polster

Release date: Nov. 16

Distrib: Netflix

Trailer:  

Girl IMDb link

NON-FICTION

Dir: Olivier Assayas

Main Cast: Juliette Binoche, Guillaume Canet

Release date: TBD

Distrib: Sundance Selects

Trailer: Unavailable

THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN

Dir: David Lowery

Main Cast: Robert Redford, Sissy Spacek, Casey Affleck

Release date: Sept. 28

Distrib: Fox Searchlight

Trailer:

The Old Man & the Gun IMDb link


THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND

Dir: Orson Welles
Main Cast: John Huston, Peter Bogdanovich
Release date: Nov. 2
Distrib: Netflix
Trailer:

The Other Side of the Wind IMDb link


PETERLOO

Dir: Mike Leigh
Main cast: Rory Kinnear
Release date: Nov. 9
Distrib: Amazon
Trailer:

Peterloo IMDb link

ROMA

Dir: Alfonso Cuaron

Main cast: Yalitza Aparicio

Release date: Oct. 5

Distrib: Netflix

Trialer: 

Roma IMDb link


SHOPLIFTERS

Dir: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Main cast: Lily Franky, Kirin Kiki
Release date: Nov. 23
Distrib: Magnolia
Trailer:

Shoplifters IMDb link


WHITE BOY RICK

Dir: Yann Demange
Main cast: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Release date: Sept. 14
Distrib: Columbia
Trailer:

White Boy Rick IMDb link


WHO'S #1?

You may or may not have seen a post from Awards Circuit yesterday that linked to their YouTube account.  If you did not, they rank the world's most important film festivals in as far as awards season is concerned.

No spoilers but...

Here's that video:

I'm out...almost literally...we hit the road to T-ride in about two hours... Hoping to see some of you tonight.

Next post will be Friday morning with a view toward what I'll be planning to see and do...

Then check back throughout the weekend for TBAs and reactions to the films that I see.

IT'S FINALLY HERE!

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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WEDNESDAY MTFB SPECIAL: The FINAL 25 Bets for TFF #45 / A New Film to Consider / Surveying the Landscape

WEDNESDAY MTFB SPECIAL: THE FINAL 25 BETS FOR TFF #45

Here we are the day before the actual reveal of the 2018 Telluride Film Fest lineup.  Consequently, here is my final list of 25 films I expect will make the list when it's announced tomorrow morning:


1) The Favourite
2) The Old Man and the Gun***
3) Roma
4) First Man
5) Destroyer***
6) The Front Runner***
7) Boy Erased***
8) Can You Ever Forgive Me?***
9) Shoplifters
10) Cold War
11) The Other Side of the Wind
12) White Boy Rick***
13) Dogman
14) Peterloo
15) Non-Fiction
16) Meeting Gorbachev
17) Free Solo
18) Graves Without a Name
19) Birds of Passage
20) Girl
21) Watergate
22) Angels Are Made of Light
23) The White Crow***
24) They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
25) Ghost Fleet

***designates film's first screening should it play Telluride (and I'm still relatively confident there will be at least one more)

Other films still in play:

The Biggest Little Farm, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, On the Basis of Sex, He Dreams of Giants, Nothing Like a Dame, The Aspern Papers, The Great Buster.

I'LL HAVE THE LINEUP POSTED TOMORROW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE... EXPECTING IT BETWEEN 9:00 AND 10:00 EDT


A NEW FILM TO CONSIDER

Peter Bogdanovich photo via IMDb

MTFB reader Dr. Jack Gindi dropped me an email a couple of days ago mentioning a film that he felt I should think about as a TFF #45 possibility.  That film: Peter Bogdanovich's The Great Buster.  It's a documentary about the great film comedian Buster Keaton.

Admittedly, I knew nothing of the film but told Jack I'd give a look and after a little review I can report that he could be onto something.

Largely because it's Bogdanovich, who, as the good doctor pointed out, will probably be in Telluride this week with the crew that's expected to land with the Orson Welles' final film The Other Side of the Wind.  Additionally, Bogdanovich has remained a member of the fests Board of Advisers.  Also, the film is being handles by the Cohen Media Group which has had a good history with T-ride (last year they had The Insult and Faces Places at TFF #44).

So, all things considered...The Great Buster sounds like something we should seriously consider making The SHOW this weekend.


SURVEYING THE LANDSCAPE

A lot of folks who specialize in Oscar prediction are  posting/publishing their takes prior to the beginning of the Fall Fest Trifecta of Telluride/Venice/Toronto.

I've included a link to a few.  A couple of them actually reference yours truly:

Kristopher Tapley/Variety

Sasha Stone/Awards Daily

Matt Neglia/Next Best Picture

Richard Lawson/Vanity Fair

Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit

You read all this and you'll have a really good perspective about what's coming down over next 2-3 weeks.

CONTACTS:

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

One More Film Falls from Consideration (Maybe Two) / Canadians Announce Canadians / MTFB Makes Appearance at Awards Circuit /

Good Thursday Telluride Film Fans...

ONE MORE FILM FALLS FROM CONSIDERATION (MAYBE TWO)

The New York Film Festival named Julian Schnabel's At Eternity's Gate as its Closing Night Film yesterday and labeled it as a North American Premiere.  That effectively signals us that the film will not be making a stop at Telluride.

Schnabel has had a significant relationship with T-ride including acting as its poster artist (where's this year's poster?) in 2002:

His magnificent The Dining Bell and the Butterfly played TFF in 2007 but he hasn't been back since.

Additionally, Anne Thompson at Indiewire tweeted yesterday that Joel Edgerton's Boy Erased is likely to play the first weekend of Toronto which almost certainly means that it won't play T-ride:

Thompson later tweeted that the film's presence at TIFF is not confirmed as yet but The Playlist's Gregory Ellwood hinted last weekend that a Focus Feature film would be playing Toronto's opening weekend...and Boy Erased was speculated by some to be that film.

However, late yesterday afternoon and five and a half hours after the above tweet,  Thompson seemed to open the door back up for the potential of a play at Telluride revealing that director Joel Edgerton had screened the film for festivals "late" and, quoting Anne, "we may see it at Telluride".

Here's the story Thompson filed at Indiewire late yesterday afternoon.

I can't think of a reason that Thompson would have even done the story following her earlier tweet if there wasn't some possibility that still existed for the film to make the TFF #45 lineup.

Here's coverage of the Schnabel/NYFF announcement from: Variety and Deadline.

CANADIANS ANNOUNCE CANADIANS

The Toronto International Film Festival announced Canadian films that have been added to various portions of their program yesterday.  While the announced films didn't add or really eliminate films that we've been thinking about as Telluride potentials, the absence of an announcement for Xavier Dolan's The Death and Life of John F. Donovan made me think that another fall fest season is going to pass without that film showing up anywhere.

Then , yesterday afternoon, in a separate announcement, TIFF revealed that Dolan's film will World Premiere there thus removing it from Telluride consideration

The original TIFF Canadian announcement is here from Indiewire and Variety.

The story of the addition of John F. Donovan is here from The Playlist.

MTFB MAKES APPEARANCE AT AWARDS CIRCUIT

Mark Johnson of Awards Circuit posted his TFF #45 speculation piece yesterday and was kind enough to mention MTFB and link to the blog in the body of the article.

So a big thanks to Mark and the entire Awards Circuit crew for the shout out.  Those of you tuning in for the first time from A.C. ...Howdy!

Mark goes on to name 10 films he's predicting which mirror my latest Ten Bets closely but not 100%.

For example, Mark does name Backseat (The Adam McKay biopic about Dick Cheney that stars Christian Bale as the former Veep) which may be titled something else before its release.  I hope he's right because I would love to see that.

Mark's complete story is here.

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