Cannes Announcement Draws Near / One Battle Trailer Drops / Something Else to Keep an Eye On

 CANNES ANNOUNCEMENT DRAWS NEAR

We'll get the bulk of the Cannes lineup for Palme competition as well as Une Certain Regard, Out-of-Competition and Special Screenings on April 10th.  Between now and then, I'll be adding Cannes Guesswork from Variety (today) and then Next Best Picture and World of Reel next week prior to the actual announcement.

For today, I've drawn from Variety's Cannes spec piece published March 14th.  From that piece here are ten Cannes to TFF possibilities:

After the Hunt/Amazon-MGM/Luca Guadagnino

Couture/No Distribution/Alice Winocour

Die, My Love/No Distribution/Lynne Ramsay

Orphan/No Distribution/Laszlo Nemes

The Chronology of Water/No Distribution/Kristen Stewart

The Disappearance of Joseph Mengele/No Distribution/Kirill Serebrennikov

The History of Sound/Mubi/Oliver Hermanus

The Mastermind/Mubi/Kelly Reichardt

The Way of the Wind/No Distribution/Terrence Malick

The Young Mother's Home/No Distribution/The Dardennes Brothers

Variety also unequivocally reports that Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia and Julian Schnabel's In the Hands of Dante will not be playing Cannes.

The entire Variety piece is linked here.

ONE BATTLE TRAILER DROPS

So remember a couple of week's ago when Warners moved Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another to a Sept. 26th release date opening the door to a potential selection by Telluride and/or Venice and/or Toronto?  That was followed by small teaser for a forthcoming full trailer.  Then, the full trailer dropped last week.

Here the trailer is from YouTube:

I'm intrigued.

On a related note, there is a good deal of hubbub about wrangling between PTA and Warners over the final cut of the film that may be related to reported test screenings.  

I'm keeping my eyes and ears open.

SOMETHING ELSE TO KEEP AN EYE ON

I'm sure a lot of you saw the news this past week that A24, Barry Jenkins and Zendaya are all on board for a biopic (of a sort) about the life of Ronnie (Bennett) Spector.  That combination is eye catching and could be Telluride material for, say, 2026?

Details are sparse but you can check out these stories from last week about the project:

Deadline.

The Hollywood Reporter.

The Playlist.

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Back and Forth / A New Possibility?/ WWBP? / Trailer for The Hand of God

 BACK AND FORTH

Three films keep giving me fits regarding whether they will or won't be on the TFF #48 lineup when it's announced in nine days:

The French Dispatch

Bergman Island

Dune

In the cases of The French Dispatch and Bergman Island it's a matter of conflicting claims about the accuracy of their premiere status that has been reported.

For Dune it's a conflict between what premiere status has been telling us and definitive claims that it will not play from sources who have better access than I do.  

At the moment, we await the second wave of films for Fantastic Fest.  Should Dube popup there, that would all but confirm the "No Dune at Telluride" narrative.  Could Dune play at FF?  Well, I think that's it's possible.  The genre based film fest proudly proclaims on its webpage that it has screened Parasite, There Will Be Blood and Jojo Rabbit among others so a Dune screening would not shock me.

I'm currently slightly leaning to the notion that The French Dispatch will play at Telluride.  Bergman Island, I think may still be a Telluride no-show.

There are also a couple of things that I'm pretty close to saying they'll be at Telluride.  I'll likely get to those in Thursday's post of the 10th Ten Bets list.

A NEW POSSIBILITY?

Friend of MTFB Chris Schneider caught a Tweet the other day that points to the possibility of the inclusion of a film that hasn't been on my radar at all.  

The film: Peter Hedges' The Same Storm. Hedges has an Oscar nomination for the screenplay of About a Boy.  Hedges has also directed and written Ben Is Back, What's Eating Gilbert Grape for which Leonardo DiCaprio received his first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and Pieces of April for which Patricia Clarkson was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.  He's also Lucas Hedges' father.

The best evidence that this is a real TFF possibility?  The tweet has since been deleted.

Here is the IMDb entry for The Same Storm.

WWBP?

He's a Telluride favorite and an Oscar winner and he's back this year as The SHOW's Guest Director.  He is Barry Jenkins.  Frankly, I think he's the perfect choice for the gig.

So I began to wonder...could a guy predict what would Barry program (WWBP) ?

There's a wealth of material from the last five years about the films that Mr. Jenkins has said have influenced him.  Do they point to some film choices that the 2021 TFF Guest Director might program?  He's already said that the selections are locked via Twitter:

Maybe.  For fun, let's say that they do and make some guesses based on publicly available interviews and such.  As I recall, the TFF Guest Director normally programs around six selections.  So here are some thoughts (with something of a bibliography following):

1) Lynne Ramsay's Ratcatcher.  I think this popped up more than any other individual film that Jenkins has named as a a film of influence and quality. Also, there's a new restoration that's also scheduled to screen at the New York fest.

2) Something from John Cassavetes.  Jenkins appears to reference Cassavetes as a director and his a number of his films more than any other single director at least from the various lists and interviews that I have come across.  He mentions a number of Cassavetes' films that it's a substantial list to choose from.  I'm assuming that he will only program a single Cassavetes' film (but maybe it could be more than one).  So...what Cassavetes?  I'm going to go with A Woman Under the Influence.  I'm almost certainly wrong, but if it's not this, I still kind of expect a John Cassavetes' selection: Shadows?, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie?, Faces? Opening Night?

3) Something from Jacques Tati...Let's go with The Big Day.

4) Something from Jacques Demys...Lola?

5) David Gordon Green's George Washington

6) Claire Denis' Beau Travail

Some other possibilities (or maybe I'm just projecting): Blood Simple, Pather Panchali, Stalker, Solaris The Dekalog.

Of course, it's likely that Mr. Jenkins programs films that are not on the above list at all.  Still, fun to think about.

Here's the bibliography:

https://mubi.com/lists/barry-jenkins-favorite-films

https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/barry-jenkins-favorite-films/

https://www.indiewire.com/2017/05/barry-jenkins-film-style-wong-kar-wai-claire-denis-lynne-ramsay-1201834261/

https://t.co/em5qdtMde1?amp=1

TRAILER FOR THE HAND OF GOD

We're pretty sure that Paolo Sorrentino's The Hand of God will be playing Telluride.  We got a new trailer for the film this past week.  Here it is from You Tube:

That's it for today.  Will have a new Ten Bets on Thursday...

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Still a Little Wonky / Pete Hammond at the TFF Party / ICYMI: Barry Jenkins Will Guest Direct TFF #48

STILL A LITTLE WONKY

Fair Warning...the next three weeks will be weird and MTFB may not post quite as it normally does.  The Chief Executive is art showing over the next couple of weeks with The Festival of the Arts in Oklahoma City this week (and it does run almost the entire week) followed by a crazy three day drive to the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts to do the Independence Day weekend Berkshires Art Festival.

I'll attempt to keep to my normal Monday/Thursday posting sked and I am planning for the first "Ten Bets" for TFF #48 to hit on Thursday, June 24th.  But no promises...if the art tent collapses... 

PETE HAMMOND AT THE TFF PARTY

Every year, except, of course, last year, the Telluride Film Festival hosts a big wing-ding in L.A.  That wing-wing happened last Thursday.  Deadline's Pate Hammond was on hand and filed a report on Friday filled with hints and guesses at films that could be Telluride bound.  Amoing the juicier of the items was this line about Netflix films:

"I have reliably heard that Netflix — of course, still not going to Cannes next month — will have at least four films at T-Ride if things work out."

If you look back at my review of Netflix possibilities that I posted on May 17th you'll see that I pegged the following as Netflix's most Likely T-ride players:

The Power of the Dog

Blonde

The Hand of God

tick, tick...BOOM

Don't Look Back

If any of this make up that group of four, that's a powerhouse of a lineup!  I'm personally pulling for Dominik's Blonde, Miranda's tick, tick, BOOM, McKay's Don't Look Back and Campion's The Power of the Dog being the four.  

But note Hammond's qualifier "if things work out".

Here's the link back to my May 17th post.

Hammond also mentions Warner Bros. and Denis Villenueve's Dune:

"I am told Warner Bros, which just confirmed Denis Villeneuve’s Dune for Venice, is possibly going to have a film hit Telluride as well, likely one of its awaited fall titles like David Chase’s Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark, Clint Eastwood’s Cry Macho or even November title King Richard with Will Smith."

Personally, I still think Dune is the most likely TFF #48 player from Warners and the one about which I would be most excited.

Then it's to Searchlight.  Here's what Hammond writes:

"There was a strong Searchlight contingent spotted, and they usually are good for one or two movies. Whether Cannes entry Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch is one of them is unknown (it has also been announced for NYFF), but September release The Eyes of Tammy Faye with Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield makes sense."

And while I don't discount the possibility that "Tammy Faye" could play (I actually am leaning toward it being at Toronto and skipping T-ride right now), my guess is that Guillermo Del Toro's Nightmare Alley (also from Searchlight) is probably more likely and don't totally discount Taika Waititi's Next Goal Wins.  Check my Searchlight analysis from my May 24th post.

Hammond also says that Amazon Studios was out in force at the Thursday evening soiree. 

The complete Hammond account of he party is linked here.

ICYMI: BARRY JENKINS TO GUEST DIRECT TFF #48

From the TFF press release:

Los Angeles, CA – Telluride Film Festival, presented by National Film Preserve LTD., is proud to announce Academy Award-winning director Barry Jenkins as its 2021 Guest Director. The celebrated filmmaker is set to select a series of films to present at the 48h Telluride Film Festival running September 2 - 6, 2021. 

 Festival organizers annually select one of the world’s great film enthusiasts to join them in the creation of the Festival’s program lineup. The Guest Director serves as a key collaborator in the Festival’s programming decisions, bringing new ideas and overlooked films to Telluride. In keeping with Telluride Film Festival tradition, Jenkins’s film selections, along with the rest of the Telluride lineup, will be kept secret until Opening Day.

“Each year as we think about who a good Guest Director would be, Tom and I weigh different factors,” said executive director Julie Huntsinger. “Many are based in the intellectual realm: film knowledge, appreciation and, of course, serious talent. But our recipe always includes something more ephemeral – something that has to do with the quality of the human heart. Rare is the person who exceeds on each of these criteria. Barry Jenkins checks every box and more. We feel lucky and a little incredulous that our long-time friend and very talented colleague has agreed to join us as Guest Director this year. The whole world knows of Barry’s gifts, and we’re thrilled that he is taking the time to share the films he loves in a place with the people who love him dearly.”

Academy Award winner Barry Jenkins’ feature film debut, MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY, was hailed as one of the best films of 2009 by The New York Times and received several Independent Spirit and Gotham Award nominations. In 2019, along with playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, Jenkins received an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his second feature the Academy Award and Golden Globe winning Best Picture MOONLIGHT. As well as earning eight Academy Award nominations, ten Broadcast Critics Choice Awards nominations, six Golden Globe nominations and four BAFTA nominations, MOONLIGHT won Best Picture and Director at the Gotham Awards and Best International Film by the British Independent Film Awards. In addition to NYFCC and NBR awarding Jenkins Best Director and LAFCA naming him Best Director and the film Best Picture, Jenkins received a DGA Best Director nomination and won the WGA Award for Best Original Screenplay. His third feature, the adaptation of James Baldwin’s IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK went on to receive three Academy Award nominations and won Best Picture at the Independent Spirit Awards. Jenkins also received the Independent Spirit Award for Best Director. Jenkins’ next feature film projects include a follow up to THE LION KING for Walt Disney Studios as well as a biopic of famed choreographer, Alvin Ailey, for Searchlight Pictures.

For television, Jenkins directed an episode in the first season of the Netflix Original Series DEAR WHITE PEOPLE. His most recent project for television is the critically acclaimed adaptation of Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Colson Whitehead’s THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD for Amazon. Jenkins has directed all episodes and written a number of the screenplays. Upcoming work includes a script based on the life of the first American Female Olympic boxing champ Clarissa “T-Rex” Shields as well as an adaptation of Netflix’s original documentary, VIRUNGA, about the battle to save the Congo’s mountain gorilla population.

My first Telluride was the 29th festival, in 2002. In the time since, I've done many things at the festival both high -- opening the Werner Herzog Cinema as Ringmaster and, of course, the world premiere of Moonlight -- and low (rolling up the floor of the Max at festival's end was a rite of passage). When I was approached about curating the Filmmakers of Tomorrow program many years ago, I was honored to be invited deeper into the inner workings of the festival I loved so dearly; being invited to curate a program as Guest Director is an honor my 2002 self would never imagine. We've all been tucked away in our silos longing for the day when we can safely venture out into communal spaces to once again partake in the rituals of cinema we love so dearly. I never doubted that the show would once again go on. But having a role in what is shown? Yes, that is quite the honor indeed. My thanks to Tom and Julie for bestowing this wonderful gift upon me. I'll see everyone at the SHOW. 

Past Guest Directors include Pico Iyer, Jonathan Lethem, Joshua Oppenheimer, Volker Schlöndorff, Rachel Kushner, Guy Maddin, Caetano Veloso, Michael Ondaatje, Alexander Payne, Salman Rushdie, Peter Bogdanovich, B. Ruby Rich, Phillip Lopate, Errol Morris, Bertrand Tavernier, John Boorman, John Simon, Buck Henry, Laurie Anderson, Stephen Sondheim, G. Cabrera Infante, Peter Sellars, Don DeLillo, J.P. Gorin, Edith Kramer and Slavoj Žižek.

 The Guest Director program is sponsored by Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Considered throughout the industry as one of the leading authorities on classic film, the network presents great films, uncut and commercial-free, highlighting the entire spectrum of film history. 

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Looking Ahead / Attention Email Followers / Odds and Ends: The Gaze, Berlin Fest, Flower Moon Photo

LOOKING AHEAD

I'm just a week and a day from closing out my academic year at the real job and only a couple of weeks away from an announcement from the Cannes folks about what films will play their July dated fest for 2021...which usually gives us some Telluride clues.  So... I'm starting to think about serious examination of what we know about which films are coming from what distributors and who has a serious track record in as far as playing TFF is concerned.

To that end, I did a quick canvas of distributors and films from the last five years of Tellurides (that included the announced list from last summer for what would have been TFF #47).  Over those fests both Netflix and SPC have been represented by 16 selections for a 5.2 film per year average.  This included that occasional film that was actually picked up after the fest was complete.  

Several outlets have had seven films across the five years: Searchlight (including Oscar Best Picture winners: The Shape of Water and Nomadland), A24, Neon and Amazon Studios.

The rest of list of distributors which have had multiple selections over the last five years are:

Kino Lorber-6

Cohen Media Group-5

HBO-4

Focus Features-3

IFC-3

Magnolia-3

Several outlets have shown up twice including: Warner Bros. Paramount, Roadside Attractions and Sundance.

So over the next few weeks, I'll start to look at what films these outlets have in the pipeline and assess the chances of those films making the Telluride lineup.  

ATTENTION EMAIL FOLLOWERS

For those of you who get your twice weekly dose of MTFB through email subscription: The automatic email service provider associated with Blogspot is discontinuing that service in July.  If you'd like to continue to receive MTFB as an email subscription when that happens drop me a line with the email address you'd prefer to use and I'll try to put together a mailing list to continue your ability to get the blog delivered to you.

ODDS AND ENDS

***THE GAZE

TFF favorite Barry Jenkins' The Underground Railroad arrives tomorrow on Amazon Prime.  This week Jenkins released a companion short film called The Gaze along with an essay about gthe experience of making the 10 part series.  You can access the Vimeo video of  The Gaze and the essay here from The Film Stage.

***BERLIN FEST

The Berlin International Film Festival will stage an in-person open-air Summer Special iteration of this year's festival on June 9-20 using 16 venues throughout the city.  The lineup for the Summer version of the fest will be announced May 20th.  Details are here from The Hollywood Reporter.

***FLOWER MOON PHOTO

We got a peek online this week of Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone from the set of Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon currently filming here in Oklahoma:

Here's a look via Fandango:

I currently am not aware of the film having a projected release date.  TFF #49?

That's all for this Thursday.

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Oscar Update: Best Director / LA and NY Film Critics Award 2020 Films / Indiewire's Best of 2020 / Nightmare at Christmas (And Maybe Labor Day?) / Two Telluride Favorites Talk Film: Barry and Chloe

 OSCAR UPDATE: BEST DIRECTOR

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Direction updated since I last posted this category on  Nov. 19th.  A director's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) Chloe Zhao/Nomadland (1)

2) David Fincher/Mank (2)

3) Aaron Sorkin/The Trial of the Chicago 7 (3)

4) Lee Isaac Chung/Minari (7)

5) Regina King/One Night in Miami (4)

6) George C. Wolfe/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (9)

7) Florian Zeller/The Father (5)

8) Paul Greengrass/News of the World (8)

9) Spike Lee/Da 5 Bloods (6)

10) Shaka King/Judas and the Black Messiah (10)

Other Possibles: Darius Marder/Sound of Metal, Emerald Fennell/Promising Young Woman. Kornel Mundruczo/Pieces of a Woman

Hot: Lee Isaac Chung/Minari, George C. Wolfe/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Not: Florian Zeller/The Father, Spike Lee/Da 5 Bloods

INDIEWIRE'S BEST OF 2020

Indiewire polled over 200 critics worldwide for their 2020 Best Of poll.  The website posted their lists of top tens in multiple categories on Dec. 14th.  Among the various categories, here is where Tff $6 and TFF #47 films landed in each category:

Best Picture: #1) Nomadland (47), #3) First Cow (46), #6) Beanpole (46)

Best Director #1) Chloe Zhao/Nomadland (47), #4) Kelly Reichardt/First Cow, #9) Kantemir Balegov/Beanpole (46)

Best Performance: #2) Frances McDormand/Nomadland (47)

Best Cinematography: #1) Nomadland (47) #7) First Cow (46), #9) Beanpole (46)

Best Screenplay: #2) First Cow (46)

Best International Film: #2) Beanpole (46)

Best First Film: #7) The Assistant (46), #10) The Climb (46)

The complete listing in each category is linked here.

LA AND NY FILM CRITICS AWARD 2020 FILMS

Both The Los Angeles Film Critics Association and The New York Film Critics Circle named their "Best Of" for 2020 films over the weekend.  Here's how that played out for Telluride films from both TFF #47 and #46 is as follows:

From New York (From Variety):

Best Film: First Cow (TFF #46)

Best Director: Chloe Zhao/Nomadland (TFF #47)

The complete list of NYFCC winners is here from Variety.

Meanwhile the LAFCA had the following TFF films on its list:

Best Picture Runner-up: Nomadland (TFF #47)

Best Director: Chloe Zhao/Nomadland (TFF #47)

Best Foreign Language Film: Beanpole (TFF 346)

Best Editing: The Father (TFF #47)

Best Production Design Runner-up: Beanpole (TFF #46)

Best Cinematography Runner-up: Nomadland (TFF #47)

The complete list of LAFCA winners is here from The Hollywood Reporter.

 

NIGHTMARE AT CHRISTMAS (AND MAYBE LABOR DAY?)

Indiewire reported this week that Guillermo Del Toro has wrapped Nightmare Alley, his film noir starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe and Richard Jenkins.  The article also includes a Tweet from the film's distributor, Searchlight, confirming an earlier Tweet from the film's co-writer, Kim Morgan, revealing that the film will be released in December of 2021.

The information that the film is wrapped combined with the release date allows for the possibility that we could see it pop up at TFF #48 perhaps after a Cannes or Venice bow or even as a first time ever screening at TFF.

Del Toro was on hand in Telluride in 2017 with The Shape of Water which had premiered at Venice.  after its Telluride play it went on to win the Best Picture Oscar and Del Toro won for Best Director.

Check out more details in the story from Indiewire linked here.

TWO TELLURIDE FAVORITES TALK FILM: BARRY AND CHLOE

They're two of the hottest directing/writing talents in the current film firmament.  They've also been at Telluride.  I'm talking Barry Jenkins, who has been a part of TFF since his college days and debuted Oscar winner Moonlight there in 2016 and Chloe Zhao who has been at T-ride with both The Rider in 2017 and this year's Nomadland.  As a matter of fact, the two met originally in Telluride in 2017 (per Variety's reporting).

So, Variety got the two together recently for a conversation.  Thanks Variety!

Here's the link to the print and video of their conversation.

BERLIN FEST MOVES AND WILL BE A HYBRID

The Berlin Film Festival, which often premieres a couple of films that make it into the Telluride lineup each year, has announced changes from their traditional dates and structure as Covid-19 continues to change the shape of the film world at large and film festivals in particular.

Variety reports that:

"The festival is now looking to present the festival selections to the film industry in early March, Variety understands, with the European Film Market running as a digital event at the same time. A mini-festival with a series of onsite world premieres is being planned for early June."

The complete Variety article with further details can be found here.

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Barry Jenkins Has a New Project / Ad Astra Trailer and Poster

Hello to everyone on this Thursday...


BARRY JENKINS HAS A NEW PROJECT

Barry Jenkins has his next project and it seems like a great fit.  Jenkins has signed on to direct a feature film based on the life of legendary choreographer Alvin Ailey.  Multiple sources reported the move on Monday.

The film will be distributed and, in part, produced by Fox Searchlight.  No timeline was revealed in any of the stories about the deal on Monday.

Perhaps we might see that film sometime down the road at a not too distant TFF.  I'll certainly be keeping an ear open for further news concerning the film and its development.

Here is some of the reporting that came down on Monday about the project from:

Deadline

Variety

The Hollywood Reporter

Indiewire

The Playlist



AD ASTRA TRAILER AND POSTER

James Gray's Ad Astra is set for U.S. release on Sept. 20th.  The highly anticipated film starring Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones is an outside possibility for a TFF play.  That release date suggests the chance exists for it to make some combination of screenings at any or all of the T-ride/Venice/Toronto fests.

Beginning to plow the way for that release began in earnest yesterday with the release of the first trailer for the film.  Here that is via YouTube:

We also have our fist poster for the film as well:



Ad Astra tells the story of a son (Pitt) searching for his missing father (Jones) set in space.  The film is from 20th Century Fox.

Multiple sources reported on the trailer and poster release with many ( Indiewire, Deadline, The Playlist) suggesting that a fall festival berth or two could be in the cards.

Here's a generous sampling of those stories:

Indiewire

The Playlist

Deadline

Entertainment Weekly

The Hollywood Reporter

The Film Stage


That's today's MTFB.  I'll have more on Monday when I'll start up the summer posting schedule (Mon. Tues. Thurs. Fri.)...

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Redford's Retirement? / Awards Daily's Weekly View / Beale Trailer

Good Monday to everyone and all the ships at sea...


REDFORD'S RETIREMENT?

Robert Redford has been clear and upfront over the past couple of months that The Old Man and the Gun would be his last acting job in film but this past weekend, with the public premiere of the film occurring, the Oscar winning director was singing a slightly different tune.

Elizabeth Wagmeister writing for Variety, reports that Redford has backed off the definitive claim about the conclusion of his acting career.  The 82 year old star is quoted in the story as responding to questions about his retirement with "I should never have said that".  The story goes on to reveal that Redford feels that all the reaction to his announcement has detracted from the film itself.  To that end, he has dialed back on the "last film" rhetoric.

On the other hand, he certainly doesn't sound like he's got acting plans in his immediate future.

The article and video can be found here from Variety


AWARDS DAILY'S WEEKLY VIEW

I checked in to Sasha Stone's updated Oscar predictions which she which she posts each week as a "Predictions Friday" column.  This week, Sasha predicts many more categories than she has up to now.

Here are some Telluride-centric takeaways from her crystal ball:

She currently has Damien Chazelle's First Man leading the way for TFF films with 11 predicted nominations.  It also appears that, if Sasha were 100% correct, First Man would likely lead all nominees (she has Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born with between 8-10).

First Man nominations according to Stone: Best Picture, Direction, Actor, Supporting Actress, Editing, Cinematography, Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Original Score.  She also says that it could have a shot with Jason Clarke for Supporting Actor (listed in her "Contender" section for that category.  Frankly, that's a potential nomination that I'll probably be cheering on.

The Favourite has between 7-9 nominations largely depending on which actresses get categorized where and then how many of the triumvirate of Colman, Stone and Weisz  make the final Oscar lineup.  Stone is currently listing Colman as a "Contender" for Best Actress rather than a predicted nominee.  In addition to the women, Stone suggests noms for Best Picture, Cinematography, Original Screenplay, Production Design and Costumes.  Stone also lists director Yorgos Lanthimos in the "Contender" section.

Roma lands six nominations: Best Picture, Direction, Cinematography, Editing, Original Screenplay and Production Design.  It also is listed as contending for Best Actress and Supporting Actress.

Marielle Heller's Can You Ever Forgive Me? is listed for four nominations: Best Picture, Actress, Supporting Actor and Adapted Screenplay.  Heller is also listed as contending for Direction.

Four films would receive a single nomination: Boy Erased for Supporting Actress and three feature documentaries: Free Solo, Watergate and Reversing Roe.

Also noted, a predicted nomination for TFF#44 film First Reformed for Best Original Screenplay.

Among other films Stone lists among her "Contenders", the leader of the "outside looking in" club is Jason Reitman's The Front Runner which Stone lists with no nominations but as a contender for six: Best Picture, Actor, Supporting Actress, Direction, Cinematography and Adapted Screenplay.

Boy Erased is listed as a contender for Actor, Supporting Actor and Adapted Screenplay.

The Old Man and the Gun contends for Best Actor.

White Boy Rick contends for Best Actor.

Destroyer contends for Best Actress.

And TFF #44 First Reformed also contends for Best Picture and Best Actor.

Sasha's complete set of predictions are here.



BEALE TRAILER


Yeah, yeah...I know.  If Beale Street Could Talk didn't play The SHOW but I can't help myself, Barry Jenkins will always be a part of my Telluride-view.  So, here's the new trailer from Beale Street via YouTube and Movieclips:

That's a wrap for this Monday.  More to come on Thursday.

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Digging for News Nuggets / Focus Where Art Thou? / Shorts at TFF #45

Good Monday everyone...hope you had a great weekend.

DIGGING FOR NEWS NUGGETS

As last week ended a number of film-centric sites assessed the week's news from both Toronto and Venice's announcements.  Some of the included detective work regarding Telluride.  I took a look at a couple of of those stories to confirm or dispute my conclusions as well as theirs.

Here's what I discovered.

Deadline's Pete Hammond agrees with my reading of the leaves in as far as Telluride as a destination for: 

First Man

Dogman

White Boy Rick

The Front Runner

The Old Man and the Gun

Roma 

Shoplifters

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Hammond is unsure about The Favourite.  I feel fairly strongly that it makes TFF's lineup.

The Hammond story is linked here.

Meanwhile, Scott Feinberg at The Hollywood Reporter also took aim at last week's festival reveals.  His analysis says that these films are headed to Telluride that I agree are probable:

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

The Old Man and the Gun

The Front Runner

White Boy Rick

Non Fiction

First Man

Roma

Cold War

Dogman

Shoplifters

Feinberg also includes Galveston, which I suspect will not play Telluride as it screened earlier this year at South by Southwest.  Peterloo (form Mike Leigh) which I can't deduce from the TIFF or Venice announcements but still believe will play TFF #45 and the documentary Reversing Roe...which I now nothing about so I will defer to Scott.

The Feinberg piece is linked here.

This Anne Thompson piece for Indiewire suggests The Favourite is likely for Telluride.  Anne also says T-ride is probable to include:

Roma

The Other Side of the Wind

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

The Old Man and the Gun

First Man

The Front Runner

White Boy Rick

In a separate story Thompson suggests Peterloo will be added to Telluride's list.

FOCUS WHERE ART THOU?

Both Indiewire's Anne Thompson (in the second story cited above and The Playlist's Gregory Ellwood (via Twitter) mentioned that Focus Features is M.I.A. thus far from Fall Fest announcements.  Ellwood going so far as to say that he had been told that Focus wasn't going to Toronto, Venice or Telluride.

Ellwood did, however suggest that Focus Film would be playing a prime slot in Toronto during its first four days:

We also know from TIFF's announcement that Asghar Farhadi's Everybody Knows (from Focus) will play there.

I just find it hard to believe that Mary Queen of Scots, Boy Erased and On the Basis of Sex won't be playing ANY of the triumvirate of early fall fests.  Stay tuned...

SHORTS AT TFF #45

Since the discovery last week that Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk would World Premiere at Toronto, I have wondered if Jenkins would still curate this year's shorts program for TFF #45 and additionally, if he would attend Telluride with TIFF following so closely on the heels of TFF (TIFF opens Sept. 6th).

Over the weekend we got at least part of the answer to those questions from Jenkins himself via his Twitter account:

So we now now that the master has, in fact, programmed the aforementioned shorts program.  Now the only question that remains is if Barry will be in town on Labor Day weekend.

That's your MTFB for this last Monday in July.  More tomorrow!

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First Signs of Beale Street / The Usual Suspects -Part One 2018 / The Favourite Teaser Appears

Welcome to Tuesday, July 10, 2018...


THE FIRST SIGNS OF BEALE STREET

Stefan James, Kiki Layne, Regina King and Barry Jenkins at Essence Fest

One of the most hotly anticipated titles of the fall has to be Oscar winner Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk.  The film is the writer/director's follow up to the thrice Oscar winning Moonlight.  It's an adaptation of the James Baldwin novel of the same name.

That alone would be enough to pique the interest of Telluriders but adding fuel to the fire has been the relative quiet surrounding the film.

There is a good deal of speculation that it will play Venice and I have had it at the number one spot on this summer's first Ten Bets lists for TFF #45.  We also know that its one of the films that Annapuna Pictures is distributing this fall...as Megan Ellison's production company adds distribution to its list of services.  Other films in their lineup include: Backseat, The Sisters Brothers and Destroyer.

All that to get to the story that Jenkins and some of the actors in the film: Regina King, Stephan James and Kiki Layne, were featured in a Q+A about the film at New Orleans' Essence Fest this past weekend.

Here's the 14 minute interview from YouTube:

I found the interview via a story from Awards Watch and that story is linked here.

More coverage is here from BlackFilm.com and also from Hollywood Elsewhere.

If Beale Street Could Talk is not yet scheduled for release in the United States.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS-PART ONE 2018

If Beale Street Could Talk director and TFF Usual Suspect Barry Jenkins

There are a number of people that have, over the years have become frequent players at Telluride.They're folks that may not always be there and even if they are there, they don't always have a project that screens at the fest but often times you can predict some of the choices for the fest based on The Usual Suspects and what they do have to offer.

For example...Barry Jenkins...who has been a part of the fest in a variety of ways for a decade and a half.  That's why his If Beale Street Could Talk is at the top of the Ten Bets list.

Steve McQueen-His Hunger, Shame and Oscar winner 12 Years a Slave all screened at Telluride which leads one to think that Widows is a good bet.  I've been holding back on putting it in the Ten Bets because the film's description seems less Telluride-y than McQueen's previous efforts.  Still, it wouldn't surprise if it were to screen at T-ride.

Jacques Audiard-Audiard has been represented thrice at TFF 1996- A Self Made Hero, 2009-A Prophet and 2012-Rust and Bone.  However his Palme D'or winning Dheepan wasn't at The SHOW in 2015.  His The Sisters Brothers could get him back to the San Juans.

Alejandro Inarritu is a great example of a "usual suspect" who attends even when he doesn't have a project.  That happened last year when he was in town to support his amigo Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water.  I suspect that could happen again this year for Alfonso Cuaron's Roma.  Cuaron, himself would become a "usual suspect" this year if Roma plays.  I think that could happen.

Jason Reitman- At one point Reitman was a sure TFF bet as he ran off a series of SHOW entrants: Juno (07), Up in the Air (09) and Labor Day (13) but Young Adult and Men, Women and Children which might have played The SHOW did not.  Reitman could return this year with The Frontrunner.  There's a decent chance that could happen.

I'll look at more of  "The Usual Suspects on Thursday.

THE FAVOURITE TEASER APPEARS

Yorgos Lanthimos has made a big splash on the art house circuit over the past few years with The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer including an Oscar nomination for writing The Lobster.

This year he has directed the historically based The Favourite set during the reign of Queen Anne in Britain in the 1700's.  Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone star and the film is reportedly more "accessible" than either Lobster or Scared Deer.  As it is from Fox Searchlight, this might be the year that a Lanthimos film makes the TFF lineup.

All of that reminder material is to get to the fact that the film had a teaser/trailer release on Monday.  Here it is from YouTube:

The Favourite is scheduled for release on Nov. 23rd.

That's your Tuesday MTFB.  More to come on Thursday.


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This Year's Oscar Crop and TFF Regulars / More on Don Q

Welcome back from your weekend.  Hope you had a good one...


THIS YEAR'S OSCAR CROP AND TFF REGULARS

At the end of last week not one but three major Oscar prediction groups published articles focusing on the films that they see as possible players for awards season glory.  Writers for Awards Daily, Variety and Entertainment Weekly all provided lists.

Taking a look, I noticed, to little surprise, that a number of films appeared on all three lists and a number also will be directed by people with past appearances at Telluride which means they have to be considered among the films that could make the SHOW.  So...here are the films from all three lists that have a TFF legacy director:

Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk
Damien Chazelle's First Man
Steve McQueen's Widows

Making at least two of the lists:

Mike Leigh's Peterloo
Jacques Audiard's The Sisters Brothers
Jason Reitman's The Frontrunner
Alfonso Cuaron's Roma
Yann  Damange's White Boy Rick


And with one mention:

David Mackenzie's Outlaw King
Pawel Pawlikowski's Cold War
Julian Schnabel's At Eternity's Gate

The complete articles can be found here from Entertainment Weekly, Variety and Awards Daily



MORE ON DON Q

In light of last week's news that Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote has been programmed to screen at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival despite having lost a court case in France concerning the ownership of the film's rights, came another story at the end of last week from Indiewire's Michael Nordine.

The IW story focuses on the claims of producer Marilea Besuievsky who says  that Paulo Branco, who won the court case, may have over claimed the extent of the court victory.

Besuievsky, being quoted from a Spanish language publication, El Espanol, says that Gilliam has the right to release the film anywhere in the world.

So...back on the TFF watch list it goes...

The Indiewire article is here.


More to come tomorrow.

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The Distributors 2018: Annapurna Pictures / Ivory/Payne Joint?

The week comes to a close on this late Friday in June...


THE DISTRIBUTORS 2018: ANNAPURNA PICTURES

So, here's the thing, Megan Ellison and her Annapurna Pictures have been producing films for awhile.  IMDb suggests that's been true since 2012.  Within the last few months, however, Annapurna  has made the decision to move into film distribution and that could open up some serious fall festival possibilities including Telluride.

Up to this point, the only Annapurna joint to have played Telluride was 2014's Foxcatcher.  I can clearly remember catching sight of Megan Ellison at the Fox Searchlight party in T-ride in 2014.

Now, with the move into distribution, I suspect there's a reasonable chance that Annapurna may well show up at Telluride with more frequency.

For example, Annapurna has the rights to Barry Jenkins' follow-up to the Oscar winning Moonlight in If Beale Street Could Talk and if that film doesn't make the TFF #45 lineup, I'll eat my hat (metaphorically, of course).

But in addition to Beale Street, Annapurna has a number of other films that could also be possible for TFF...

Backstreet...or whatever it will ultimately be called, is director Adam McKay's examination of the life and career of former Vice President Dick Cheney.  The film stars Christian Bale as Cheney, Amy Adams as his wife Lynne and Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld (I kid you not).  It could play TFF.

The other most likely Telluride player in the Annapurna stable id Jacques Audiard's The Sisters Brothers starring Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly in a western of sorts.  Audiard's history at Telluride and with Cannes means we should at least pay attention to it as a potential film for Labor Day in the San Juans.

Chances for each...

If Beale Street-90%
The Sisters Brothers- 50%
Backseat (or whatever)- 45%

Maybe all three make the cut...

And...is it possible that Steve Carell could make a triple play appearance at TFF #45?  Beautiful Boy, Welcome to Marwen and Backseat...



IVORY/PAYNE JOINT

In the middle of March several outlets reported that frequent TFFer Alexander Payne was setting up to direct The Burial.  That may not be his next project as The Film Stage reported this week that Payne may well be team up with recent Oscar winner James Ivory to direct The Judge's Will.

The film, reportedly based on true story from India, would be re-set in Chicago and reveal the tale of a judge who tasks, in his will, that his family be responsible for the care of his mistress.

The Film Stage says that the project will be set up at Fox Searchlight.

Here's the story from The Film Stage.



Sorry for the short Friday post...More on Monday and have a good weekend.



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