Showing posts with label Blue is the Warmest Color. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blue is the Warmest Color. Show all posts

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Globes and SAG boost 12 Years

After the announcements from The Screen Actors Guild and The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the lull in the "12 Years a Slave" momentum has been stymied, I think.

It feels like that there was some loss of momentum after some of the critic group announcements, but the last two days have put some wind back in its sails.

Golden Globe breakdown:

Telluride #40 Films:

12 Years a Slave (7 nominations): Best Picture (Drama), Director, Actor (Drama), Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Screenplay, Score.

Nebraska: (5 nominations): Best Picture (Comedy/Musical), Director, Actor (Comedy), Supporting Actress, Screenplay.

Gravity (4 nominations): Best Picture (Drama), Director, Actress (Drama), Score.

Inside Llewyn Davis (3 nominations): Best Picture (Comedy/Musical), Actor (Comedy/Musical), Song.

All is Lost (2 nominations): Best Actor (Drama), Score.

Labor Day (1 nomination): Best Actress (Drama).

3 Foreign Language nominations: Blue is the Warmest Color, The Wind Rises, The Past.

Also 2 nominations for TFF #39 films:  Greta Gerwig's Best Actress (Comedy/Musical) nomination for Frances Ha and the Best Foreign Language nomination for The Hunt.

27 total TFF nominations today from The Golden Globes.


Add today's announcement to yesterday's Screen Actors Guild nominations:

Best Supporting Actor:

Barkhad Abdi/Capt. Phillips
Daniel Bruhl/Rush
Michael Fassbender/12 Years a Slave
James Gandolfini/Enough Said
Jared Leto/Dallas Buyers Club


Best Supporting Actress:

Jennifer Lawrence/American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o/12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts/August: Osage County
June Squibb/Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey/The Butler


Best Actor:

Bruce Dern/Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor/12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks/Capt. Phillips
Matthew McConnaughey/Dallas Buyers Club
Forest Whitaker/The Butler

Best Actress:

Cate Blanchett/Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock/Gravity
Judi Dench/Philomena
Meryl Streep/August: Osage County
Emma Thompson/Saving Mr. Banks

Best Ensemble:

12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
August: Osage County
Dallas Buyers Club
The Butler


12 Years-4 nominations
Nebraska-2 nominations
Gravity-1 nomination


Surprises???

Kate Winslet's "Labor Day" Best actress nomination.
No Oprah for Supporting Actress???( actually no "Butler" anywhere on the GG list this morning).  Sally Hawkins seems to have benefited.
No Woody Allen love for Picture, Director or Screenplay.


Glad to see:  "Inside Llewyn Davis" love for the film and Oscar Isaac.  Also happy to see Redford's name especially after not seeing it yesterday from the SAG nominations.

And a nice boost for "Nebraska" which, I think, over-performed this morning with its 5 nominations. Particularly pleased that Alexander Payne got a directing nod.


More to come...

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

BREAKING: NEW YORK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE ANNOUNCES WINNERS

From NYC and the NYFCC... (TFF #40 Films in Bold)

Best Picture: American Hustle
Best Director: Steve McQueen/12 Years a Slave
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett/Blue Jasmine
Best Actor: Robert Redford/All is Lost
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence/American Hustle
Best Screenplay: American Hustle
Best Cinematography: Inside Llewyn Davis
Best Foreign Film: Blue is the Warmest Color
Best First Film: Fruitvale Station
Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises
Best Non-Fiction: Stories We Tell***

***TFF #39 film


National Board of Review lands tomorrow...

Monday, November 4, 2013

Labor Day Trailer/12 Years Grab Bag/Inside Inside Llewyn/Women of Blue/More Lost/Nebraska/Far From Madding


Good Monday to Everyone...welcome to another week...


LABOR DAY TRAILER



Jason Reitman's "Labor Day" got a ton of attention this past week even though it doesn't open (in a limited run) until Christmas Day.  I have linked a number of those stories here for you to look at.  "Labor Day's" reception at Telluride/Toronto could best be described as mixed.


http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/watch-first-two-labor-day-trailers/

http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/watch-two-trailers-for-jason-reitmans-labor-day-with-kate-winslet/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-new-trailer-for-jason-reitmans-labor-day-starring-josh-brolin-kate-winslet-20131031

http://www.slashfilm.com/exclusive-jason-reitmans-online-trailer-for-labor-day/

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/kate-winslet-and-josh-brolin-in-the-trailer-for-jason-reitmans-labor-day

http://thedissolve.com/news/807-labor-day-trailer/

http://www.indiewire.com/article/trailer-of-the-week-josh-brolin-takes-kate-winslet-hostage-in-jason-reitmans-labor-day




12 YEARS GRAB BAG



The "12 Years a Slave" onslaught continues as the film opened "wide" this past weekend.  Although "wide" still seems to be a fairly selective term here.  I searched for the film in Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque and Santa Fe for this weekend and it wasn't listed for any theaters in those cities.

Nevertheless, here are some of the more eye catching "12 Years" stories that popped up this week.

Here's an interview with Solomon Northup's descendants provided from FoxSearchlight (and I believe Fox News...which makes me shudder...)
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/post/3857/behind-the-dream-12-years-a-slave/

Yahoo Movies did a story that focused on newcomer and likley Oscar nominee Lupita Nyong'o:
http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/12-things-know-12-years-slave-breakout-lupita-185709419.html

Anne Thomopson interviews actor Paul Dano who is featured in both "12 ,Years" and Denis Villenueve's "Prisoners":
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/paul-dano-talks-12-years-a-slave-prisoners

and Michael Fassbender is interviewed at Toronto by Vanity Fair/Starz
http://video.vanityfair.com/watch/michael-fassbender-on-12-years-a-slave


HELPING TO GET INSIDE LLEWYN



Anne Thompson passed along this very cool story this week about the man that aided actor Oscar Isaac in his preparation to get inside "Llewyn Davis".

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/oscar-isaac-talks-the-real-life-inspiration-for-inside-llewyn-davis-honing-his-guitar-skills-and-more

THE WOMEN OF BLUE



The Playlist has the interview with the two actresses from the Cannes Palme d'Or winner and Telluride #40 film "Blue is the Warmest Color".  The film continues to be embroiled in ongoing shifts of controversy for any number of reasons.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/it-was-just-you-your-skin-and-your-emotion-lea-seydoux-adele-exarchopoulos-talk-blue-is-the-warmest-color-20131022

HOW THEY MADE LOST



The Wrap passes along this story featuring both director J.C. Chandor and star Robert Redford about how they filmed the fantastic "All os Lost":
http://www.thewrap.com/jc-chandor-robert-redford-all-is-lost-how-they-did-it

DERN LOVES NEBRASKA



Bruce Dern is now on record as proclaiming his role of Woody in "Nebraska" as the best role he has ever been offered.  The Playlist has that story here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/savannah-film-festival-bruce-dern-talks-nebraska-says-alexander-payne-alongside-hitchcock-kazan-and-more-20131030

FAR FROM MADDING



It's no secret that I have Thomas Vintenberg's adaptation of Thomas Hardy's "Far from the Madding Crowd" on my future Telluride radar.  The Playlist (among a number of other outlets) had a look at the first images from that shoot.  "Madding" stars Carey Mulligan and Matthias Schoenaerts.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-images-of-carey-mulligan-matthias-schoenaerts-in-thomas-vinterbergs-far-from-the-madding-crowd-20131031


More to come on Thursday...

Monday, October 28, 2013

The FAC #2 Part Two/TFF#40 Echos Continue: 12 Years, Invisible, Blue, Past, Lost, Nebraska/Oscar Matters

Hello Everyone...hope you had a good weekend!

THE FAC #2, PART TWO

As promised last Thursday, here's the other half of the updated Film Awards Clearinghouse with the latest numbers for Best Supporting Actor and Actress as well as Adapted and Original Screenplay.

I use the publicly posted predictions of these Oscar experts:

Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Kris Tapley/HitFix-InContention
Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood
Peter Knegt/IndieWire
Alex Carlson/Film Misery
Nathaniel Rogers/Film Experience
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit
Brad Brevet/Rope of Silicon

The films position on the first FAC is in parenthesis.  Telluride #40 films are Bold.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR



1) Jared Leto/Dallas Buyers Club (2)
2) Michael Fassbender/12 Years (1)
3) Tom Hanks/Saving Mr. Banks (3)
4) Daniel Bruhl/Rush (4)
5) Barkhard Abdi/Capt. Phillips (-)
6) James Gandolfini/Enough Said (-)
7) Bradley Cooper/American Hustle (7)
8) Jeremy Renner/American Hustle (-)
9) Matthew McConnaughey/Mud (-)
10) John Goodman/Inside Llewyn Davis (-)

Dropping out: Mark Ruffalo, Daniel Oyelowo

Hot Stuff: Abdi, Gandolfini, Cooper, Renner

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS



1) Oprah Winfrey/LD's The Butler (1)
2) Lupita Nyong'o/12 Years (2)
3) June Squibb/Nebraska (3)
4) Julia Roberts/August: Osage County (7)
5) Jennifer Lawrence/American Hustle (6)
6) Octavia Spencer/Fruitvale (5)
7) Sally Hawkins/Blue Jasmine (9)
8) Margo Martindale/August: Osage County (4)
9) Carey Mulligan/Inside Llewyn Davis (-)
10) Amy Adams/Her (-)

Dropping Out: Cameron Diaz

Hot Stuff: Roberts (at the apparent expense of Margo Martindale), Hawkins, Mulligan and Adams.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY




1) 12 Years a Slave (1)
2) Captain Phillips (3)
3) Before Midnight (2)
4) August: Osage County (-)
5) Philomena (6)
6) The Wolf of Wall Street (4)
7) Labor Day (-)
8) Blue is the Warmest Color (-)
9) Short Term 12 (-)
10) The Book Thief (-)

Dropping: Monuments Men and Foxcatcher as they have been moved to 2014 release dates.

Hot: August, Labor Day, Blue, Short Term and Book Thief.


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY



1) Inside Llewyn Davis (2)
2) Nebraska (6)
3) Blue Jasmine (3)
4) American Hustle (1)
5) Her (5)
6) Gravity (-)
7) Saving Mr. Banks (4)
8) Lee Daniel's The Butler (8)
9) Fruitvale Station (7)
10) Dallas Buyers Club (-)

No drop outs

Hot Stuff: Gravity, Nebraska, Dallas Buyers

ANALYSIS

Here's the breakdown of the "Great Eight" categories vis-a-vis Telluride #40.  If these predictions were true on nomination morning...

12 Years a Slave: Nominated in six (of these 8 categories...I really think it ends up with 11 overall): Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress and Adapted Screenplay.

Nebraska: 5 nominations: Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay.

Gravity: 3 Nominations: Picture, Director, Actress and 1 possible for Original Screenplay.

Inside Llewyn Davis: 2 nominations: Picture, Original Screenplay.  3 possibles: Directors, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress.

All is Lost: 2 nominations: Picture, Actor, 1 possibility: Director.

Blue is the Warmest Color: 2 possibilities: Actress, Adapted Screenplay.

Labor Day: 2 possibilities: Actress, Adapted Screenplay.

The Past: 2 possibilities: Actress, Original Screenplay.

In the Big Eight categories Telluride #40 predicted currently to have 18 nominations and another 10 possibilities.
 
In terms of total nominations, I'm still expecting a record number for Telluride films this year.  In the 30's is likely.  40+ is a stretch, but possible.

Other non-Telluride films expected to be big players;

Captain Phillips: 5 nominations.
American Hustle: 4 nominations and another 4 possibilities.
Saving Mr. Banks: 3 nominations and 2 possibles.
August: Osage County: 3 nominations and 2 possibles.
Lee Daniel's The Butler: 2 nominations and 3 possibles.
Dallas Buyers Club: 2 nominations and 2 possibles.
Blue Jasmine: 2 nominations and 2 possibles.
Philomena: 2 nominations.
The Wolf of Wall Street: 1 nomination and 3 possibles.
Her: 1 nomination and 3 possibles.
Before Midnight: 1 nomination and 1 possible.
Fruitvale Station: 4 possibles.

I suspect that "Wolf" lost some predictive steam because of its "limbo" status concerning its release date. Now that that has been resolved, I expect that it will begin to pick up some heat from Oscar pickers.  I also think "Her" picked up some heat from its New York Film Fest debut and that it may still be gaining some momentum.  Same is true for the London premiere of "Mr. Banks".  Reports were very positive, so despite my "vibe" that it wouldn't make much of a dent, people in the know and that have seen it would beg to differ with me.

Right now, I also have a "vibe" that "Dallas Buyers Club" may be a more serious player than merely Actor and Supporting Actor nominations.  I get the sense that it could rise in the Best Pic, Director and Screenplay races as well.

Bottom line for me is that "American Hustle" may still be the biggest threat to "12 Years" Oscar supremacy. Maybe "Wolf" as well, but I think the real race might come from the David O. Russell film.  Even with that being said, my gut tells me that it'll be a "12 Years" night on Mar. 2.  Multiple wins...Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actress, plus under the line wins for Costume, Production Design and maybe Score.  Ejiofor won't win the Actor's trophy, though.  I think it's going Redford's way.

TFF#40 ECHOS CONTINUE

     12 YEARS A SLAVE NEWS



I continue to make it clear that this is the best film of the year.  It continued its roll out this weekend by adding a few more cities.  Coming this weekend it adds a slew more and if you didn't catch it in Telluride (or Toronto) I'd encourage you to go see it.  Frankly, I'm going to find a way to see it again in a theater though I think the chances of it being programmed at my local 8 screener in the middle of the Oklahoma Panhandle is unlikely until it gets the 10-11 Oscar nominations that I think are coming its way.  Probably going to have to catch it in Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque or Santa Fe sometime in the next six weeks or so.

Nevertheless, for those who haven't seen the film or wish to re-visit it, The Playlist posted links to two clips and a Steve McQueen featurette here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-2-clips-directors-vision-featurette-for-steve-mcqueens-12-years-a-slave-20131024

Also, Canada.com's Bob Thompson talks to "12 Years" star Chiwetel Ejiofor:
http://o.canada.com/entertainment/scene-and-heard-12-years-a-slaves-chiwetel-ejiofor-would-rather-talk-about-the-film-than-the-oscars/

     THE INVISIBLE WOMAN, VISIBLE IN A DIFFERENT CATEGORY



News reported by The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg that Felicity Jones who is the titular "Invisible Woman" in the Ralph Fiennes film will be campaigned by Sony Pictures Classics as a Best Actress candidate rather than Supporting which most observers thought would be the direction that SPC would take.  Here's the post from Feinberg:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/oscars-invisible-womans-felicity-jones-651103


     BLUE CONTINUES TO MAKE WAVES



Julian Scanton of Esquire talked recently to "Blue is the Warmest Color" co-star Lea Seydoux as the film continues to spark controversy and conflicting commentary and reportage from the stars and the director. Here's the Esquire interview with Seydoux:

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/culture/lea-seydoux-interview

     FARHADI ON THE PAST AND THE FUTURE



Indie Wire's Laya Maheshwair talks to the Iranian genius about his current film and some thoughts about future projects:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/asghar-farhadi-on-oscar-odds-for-the-past-iranian-filmmaking-directing-an-opera-and-making-an-english-language-movie

     ALL IS LOST'S CHANDOR ALSO PAST AND FUTURE



"All is Lost" director J.C. Chandor talked to Alex Billington at FirstShowing.net about the survival film starring Oscar favorite Robert Redford and also about some of his future plans:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/video-interview-talking-with-all-is-lost-writerdirector-j-c-chandor/

     NEBRASKA IN NEW YORK



If there was no "12 Years a Slave" Alexnader Payne's "Nebraska" would probably be in the tank for.  It or "Inside Llewyn Davis".  Nevertheless, Edward Davis writing for The Playilist explores the tone of "Nebraska" and includes the link to the half hour conversation about the film from the New York Film Festival with Alexander Payne, Bruce Dern and Will Forte:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/nyff-alexander-payne-bruce-dern-will-forte-talk-the-particular-tone-of-nebraska-20131009


 OSCAR MATTERS



In addition to the above addition to The Film Awards Clerainghouse, here are some other Oscar-y tidbits. For example, tale a look at the latest from Gold Derby (which varies a bit from The FAC):

http://www.goldderby.com/news/4952/gravity-12-years-a-slave-oprah-entertainment-news-721480395.html

And here is the link to the latest Oscar Podcast from Kris Tapley of HitFix/InContention and Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/oscar-talk-nyff-gotham-nominations-awards-contenders-head-for-2014

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/oscar-talk-where-are-we-now


More to come on Thursday...





Monday, October 14, 2013

Lots of 12 Years Material/Kechiche on Blue: Show It/Dern for Lead/Foreign Film Oscar Analysis and Predictions/Llewyn and Wind

Good Monday to All...


LOTS OF 12 YEARS MATERIAL...



With its screening as apart of The New York Film Festival this week, Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" saw a burst of media attention.  Dutifully, I have compiled some of that here for your perusal.  It also allows me to remind all of you that read this space, that I still think that it was the best thing I saw at TFF #40 and I'm feeling confident that it will be the best film I will see this year (Scorsese's "Wolf", Clooney's "Monuments Men", Jonze's "Her", Stiller's "Walter Mitty", Greengrasses' "Capt. Phillips" notwithstanding).  Frankly, looking at what's still out there to be seen, the film that looks to me to be the biggest challenge to "12 Years" supremacy might be David O. Russell's "American Hustle".  I still have serious reservations about "Saving Mr. Banks".

I've said it before and will say it again... "12 Years a Slave" is the film we'll still be talking about 10-20-50 years from now.  That said, here's some of the coverage from this week:

The Playlist provides a look at the NYFF Q+A with McQueen:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/nyff-steve-mcqueen-talks-12-years-a-slave-20131010

IndieWire independently with the same notion here:
http://www.indiewire.com/article/nyff-13-steve-mcqueen-on-12-years-a-slave-the-effects-of-slavery-today-and-working-with-michael-fassbender

And The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nyff-12-years-a-slave-646444

Fox Searchlight has provided the link to The Charlie Rose Show interview with McQueen and stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender:
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/post/3837/watch-ejiofor-mcqueen-and-fassbender-on-charlie-rose/

And new stills from the film popped up via IMDb:
http://www.imdb.com/media/index/rg1360960000?ref_=hm_snp_t1

Pete Hammond at Deadline.com links this featurette and post about star Ejiofor:
http://www.deadline.com/2013/10/12-years-a-slave-featurette-chewitel-ejiofor-video/

KECHICHE ON BLUE: SHOW IT



Well, you can't say that Cannes Palme d'Or winner "Blue is the Warmest Color" hasn't had its share of controversy in the five weeks since it payed at Telluride.  First, just the general furor about the explicitness of the lesbian love scenes, then the stories that stars Lea Seydoux and Adele Excharopolous felt violated (by the way, I meT Ms. Excharopolous briefly at this year's Patron Brunch...she is as lovely in real life as she appears to be on screen...she was also very kind to this small-time blogger).  Then came the story that director Abdellatif Kechiche didn't even want the film released.  On top of all that, came the decision from the French not to allow a limited release there to act as a qualifying run for the Foreign Language Oscar.  It's been intriguing to say the least.

Now Kechiche is reported by IndieWire as wanting the film released...read it here:
http://www.indiewire.com/article/abdellatif-kechiche-corrects-the-record-on-lesbian-drama-blue-is-the-warmest-color-the-film-should-be-released#

Meanwhile, The Playlist has posted the entire 27 1/2 min. NYFF press conference for the film here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/nyff-abdel-kechiche-open-to-blue-is-the-warmest-color-sequel-says-his-directors-cut-will-be-40-minutes-longer-20131011

DERN FOR LEAD



Bruce Dern thinks he should be campaigned for Best Actor for "Nebraska".  Some Oscar experts have gone on record saying that he should go Supporting as he'd be a virtual lock for a nomination and the probable favorite to win.  Further, the experts say, the Best Actor race is crazy competitive...Redford, McConnaughey, Hanks, DiCaprio, Bale, Issac, Ejiofor, Phoenix and more.

You can argue that Will Forte is the lead...you'd be wrong, but you can make the argument.  I'm all for Bruce's position.  He's a lead...that's where he should be considered.  Frankly, I think  he'll get the nomination.  I doubt he wins, though.

Nevertheless, Daniel Montgomery at Gold Derby takes a look at Dern's position here:
http://www.goldderby.com/news/4902/nebraska-bruce-dern-entertainment-news-273645198.html

FOREIGN FILM OSCAR ANALYSIS AND PREDICTIONS



The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg took a look this week at the Foreign Language Oscar field.  Feinberg sets the favorite as Asghar Farhadi's "The Past" but argues that it's by no means a prohibitive favorite.  TFF #40 as well as #39 films are mentioned favorably by Feinberg as possible challengers including "Bethlehem", "The Hunt", "Wajdja" and "Gloria".  As mentioned above, "Blue is the Warmest Color" is off the table for this year's Oscar Foreign Language consideration as is "The Lunchbox".  Peruse Scott's complete post here:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/foreign-language-oscar-can-past-646371

And here is the latest Feinberg Forecast from Scott Feinberg at The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/feinberg-forecast-updated-projections-20-648133


LLEWYN AND THE WIND



Writing for IndieWire, Shelley Farmer makes a case that The Coens' "Inside Llewyn Davis" and Hiyao Miyazaki's "The Wind Rises" have more in common than you might think.  Take a look:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/criticwire/inside-llewyn-davis-the-wind-rises-review


That's enough for now...More on Thursday...

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Another Llewyn Davis Trailer/Blue Views/Payne Now and Later/Gravity and Oscar/All is Lost About to Set Sail

Good Thursday to Everyone...

ANOTHER LLEWYN DAVIS TRAILER

Well, you can't say that CBS Films hasn't been about making sure to provide plenty of opportunities to sneak a peak at The Coen Brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis".  The newest trailer (and a longish one at that) dropped this week and one blogger noted that it was the fifth trailer for the film.  Seems like a lot.

Nevertheless, here's the trailer from YouTube and a few posts that accompanied it this week:


And here are the posts:

Thompson on Hollywood:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/new-second-trailer-inside-llewyn-davis

The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-inside-llewyn-davis-doesnt-just-want-to-exist-in-new-trailer-for-the-coen-brothers-film-20131007

Hollywood Elsewhere:
http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2013/10/snow-scarves-chilly-winds/


BLUE VIEWS



We also saw this week some new stills and a new clip from Abdellatif Kechiche's controversial "Blue is the Warmest Color" set for a limited release here in the U.S. on Oct. 25.

Catch those at The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/blue-is-the-warmest-colour-lea-seydoux-felt-like-a-prostitute-director-says-sex-scenes-didnt-go-far-enough-20131007

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/lea-seydoux-adele-exarchopoulos-share-a-kiss-in-new-clip-from-blue-is-the-warmest-color-20131008

PAYNE NOW AND LATER

 


I loved Alexander Payne's "Nebraska".  It doesn't hurt that I seems like I know the people and the place that the story focuses on.  It also doesn't hurt that Bruce Dern was unflaggingly kind to me and my folks during the festival this year.  All that aside, I still think it's a fine film and, personally, I suspect that it's going to get a good bit of Oscar attention before it's all said and done.

Its roll out continued this week with its presentation at the New York Film Festival.  Steve Zeitchik writes about that for The New York Times:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-nyff-2013-alexander-payne-nebraska-bruce-dern-20131008,0,2863351.story

Meanwhile, director Payne is apparently on the cusp of a new project which will immediately go into the "Coming Attractions" collection.  The Playlist reports that Payne will direct "The Judge's Will" with Fox Searchlight producing.  The post for that is here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/alexander-payne-signs-the-judges-will-with-fox-searchlight-20131008


GRAVITY AND OSCAR



Awards Daily's Sasha Stone offered this meditation this week on the possibility that "Gravity" might break new ground come Oscar night on Mar. 2:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/the-state-of-the-race-gravity-changes-the-game-but-will-it-change-the-academy/

ALL IS LOST ABOUT TO SET SAIL



The Fantastic J.C. Chandor/Robert Redford collaboration, "All is Lost" opens next week.  Go see it.  I'm likely to see it again (along with second viewings of "12 Years", "Llewyn Davis", "Gravity" and "Nebraska").  Maureen Dowd at The New York Times posted an interview with Redford yesterday.  You can catch that here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/movies/robert-redford-goes-to-sea-in-all-is-lost.html?smid=tw-nytmovies&seid=auto&_r=0

Also, here's Kris Tapley's (HitFix/InContantion) chat with writer/director Chandor from Telluride:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/telluride-jc-chandor-on-the-multiple-metaphors-of-all-is-lost#~ojS1L3AvezAHs8


More on Monday.  Have a great weekend!

Monday, September 23, 2013

Coming Attractions/Oscar Conversations/12 Years Talk/Labor Day Poster/Blue View/India Chooses

Good Monday to All...to the extent that it CAN be a good Monday...

COMING ATTRACTIONS



I'm always sniffing around for news of films announced, going into production, deals struck that seem to me to have some potential, for a variety of reasons, to end up playing as a part of some future Telluride program. This year, Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" is a perfect example.  I'd been collecting and occasionally posting stories about it for months.  The earliest story I can find that I still have stored in my "Future Telluride" file is from Dec. 2011.

Another example occurred this week with the announcement from Fox Searchlight that they're going to produce a new adaptation of  Thomas Hardy's classic novel "Far From the Madding Crowd".  While the fact that it's a classic piece of literature and that it's Fox Searchlight would have been enough for me to consider it as a future Telluride prospect, the additional news that it's to be directed by Thomas Vintenberg also piqued my interest.  Vintenberg's "The Hunt" played T-ride #39.  The announced casting of Carey Mulligan and Matthias Schoenaerts didn't hurt its profile either.

Here's the announcement story as posted earlier this week from Movie City News:
http://moviecitynews.com/2013/09/thomas-vinterberg-to-direct-far-from-the-madding-crowd-for-fox-searchlight/

All of this also got me to thinking about what I DID have stored away on my hard drive so I went through it and cleaned it out this week and in doing that I discovered that there are still a lot of films that I've stashed info about.  Some will never get made.  Some have no realistic chance of being on the Telluride program. But some are very likely to end up in the San Juans on some future Labor Day weekend.  More about that a little farther down.

After culling the "Future Telluride" list, I was left with 167 entries for nearly 70 films.  I dumped about an equal number from the file.  Still, that's a ton of reference material left.  And what can I tell you from all of that?

Well, there are some things that are just pretty good guesses as far as the future at Telluride is concerned.  The ten  best shots are these:

Werner Herzog's "Queen of the Desert" starring Nicole Kidman as the real life Gertrude Bell.  IMDb says it's scheduled for a 2015 release or, perhaps his "Vernon God Little" project.

Errol Morris' "Holland, Michigan" starring Naomi Watts or his "Freezing People is Easy".

The Dardennes Brothers "Two Days, One Night" starring Marion Cotillard.  IMDb lists it as a 2014 release.  I would not be surprised at its inclusion at Cannes followed by a screening at Telluride.

Bill Pohlad's Brian Wilson/Beach Boys film "Love and Mercy" starring Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks, John Cusack and Paul Giamatti.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's first comedy "Birdman".  Michael Keaton, Edward Norton and Emma Stone star among others.  This is another film I suspect will travel the Cannes/Telluride pipeline.  (I told Inarritu I was anxious to see it there next year when I ran into him in the Galaxy lobby just prior to the first screening of "12 Years a Slave").

Lone Scherfig's "Posh".

Noah Baumbach's "Untitled Public School Project" and/or "While We're Young".

Mike Leigh's "Turner" or whatever it might eventually be titled starring Timothy Spall as the painter J.M.W. Turner.

Of course my file includes a lot of wishful thinking as well:

Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice"
Brad Bird's "Tomorrowland" starring George Clooney
Robert Redford's on again/off again "A Walk in the Woods" project
the purported Charlie Kaufman adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaugterhouse Five"
Justin Kurzel's "MacBeth" with Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
Lynne Ramsay's Moby Dick in space project (Mobius?)
George Clooney's possible Smothers Brothers film
and Warren Beatty's proposed Howard Hughes film

So, here's to the films that might happen to be a part of our future Telluride experiences.  Over the next few weeks, I'll link to the stories about some of them that I still have sitting in my cache.

OSCAR CONVERSATIONS



Three podcasts focused on the Awards season and/or the post-Telluride lay of the land are offered/linked here for your amusement and edification:

Anne Thompson and Kris Tapley's Oscar Talk:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/oscar-talk-ep-110-telluride-venice-toronto-wrap
 
Sasha Stone's Oscar Podcast:
http://www.awardsdaily.com/oscarpodcast/?p=2131

And The Playlist's podcast:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/podcast-the-playlist-talks-tiff-and-venice-film-festival-20130917


12 YEARS TALK

HitFix's Greg Ellwood sat down with Michael Fassbender last week to talk about Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL2cb0g4IQ4&feature=youtu.be&a

LABOR DAY POSTER

We have art for Jason Reitman's "Labor Day:


Check the story from Rope of Silicon:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/first-poster-jason-reitmans-labor-day/

BLUE VIEW

Abdellatif Kechiche's "Blue is the Warmest Color" has a trailer tailored to domestic audiences that was released this past week:



Here's the accompanying story from FirstShowing:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/nc-17-rated-palme-dor-winner-blue-is-the-warmest-color-first-trailer/?uid=983e5a79bbfad64ab445cd9e2428cd738d7274f8


INDIA CHOOSES NO LUNCHBOX

The Good Road (India Oscar entry 2013)

In something of a surprise, India announced their choice for the Foreign Language Oscar competition and is was not Ritesh Batra's "The Lunchbox" which many, including me, had thought would be the choice.  The Indian authorities instead they choice is "The Good Road". directed by Gyan Correa.

The Hollywood Reporter posted this story about the choice:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscars-india-nominates-good-road-633774


More on  Thursday...




Monday, September 16, 2013

The Final (Combo) Telluride Film Ratings/12 Years Takes Toronto/Anne and Scott Say.../Post Telluride Echoes/One Last Thing...100,000

Good Monday Everyone...

 THE FINAL TELLURIDE FILM RATINGS



Over the past two weeks I have collected and posted both "The Professionals Telluride": reactions by film critics, bloggers and industry pros as well as "The Peoples Telluride": ratings from those of us who attend the festival as average Joes.  Today is the final ratings post (and a new concept that I did not do last year) and that is the Combined Telluride Ratings.  I have put the two lists together for this final review of how the films shook out at this year's incredible festival.  17 films were shared between the two lists (The Pros had 20 that meant my original criteria and 21 films were on the Peoples list).

Adding the two lists made a composite possible perfect score of 10.

Here's where they landed when the ratings were combined.  Their combined rating is in parenthesis.  The Pros position and the Peoples position follow each film in brackets.

1) 12 Years a Slave (9.25) [1/2]
2) Tim's Vermeer (8.97) [4/1]
3) Gravity (8.75) [3/3]
4) Nebraska (8.38) [5/6]
5) All is Lost (8.26) [6/7]
6) Inside Llewyn Davis (8.25) [7/5]
7) Blue is the Warmest Color (8.15) [2/11]
8) The Past (7.71) [9/10]
9) The Lunchbox (7.55) [13/4]
10) The Wind Rises (7.1) [18/8]
11) Labor Day (7.0) [10/14]
11) (tie) Prisoners (7.0) [12/13]
13) Tracks (6.84) [16/12]
14) Palo Alto (6.4) [16/17]
15) The Invisible Woman (6.19) [20/18]
16) The Unknown Known (5.73) [15/20]
17) Under the Skin (5.1) [18/21]

Again, as I wrote last week, huge differences between The Pros and The People on "Blue is the Warmest Color", "The Lunchbox"and "The Wind Rises".


12 YEARS TAKES TORONTO



The audience response that we first saw when Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" bowed as a "Sneak Preview" in Telluride two weeks ago continued unabated at the Toronto International Film Festival which concluded this weekend with its selection as the Audience Award winner for that fest.  Stephen Frears "Philomena" was runner-up with Denis Villenueve's "Prisoners" (which also was a "sneak" at Telluride) finishing as second runner-up.

The Hollywood Reporter filed this story about the "12 Years" win and the other prizes handed out at TIFF this weekend:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/toronto-12-years-a-slave-629611




ANNE AND SCOTT SAY...



I'm continuing to check in with a number of industry handicappers who have begun to assess the upcoming awards season and focus specifically for where they think nominations might occur with respect to this year's Telluride lineup.  Today I'm looking at Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood and Scott Feinberg, chief awards analyst for The Hollywood Reporter.

Neither Anne nor Scott have set a complete set of predictions, limiting themselves this early to the "major" categories.  Thompson looks at five categories, Feinberg at 11.  Additionally, Thompson restricts her list of "frontrunners" to films that she's actually seen.  That being noted here's what each of them think at this early point in the season:

Thompson says:

12 Years: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay
Gravity: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director
Nebraska: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director
All is Lost: Best Actor
The Past: Best Actress

Feinberg says:

12 Years: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay
Gravity: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay
All is Lost: Best Picture, Best Actor
Inside Llewyn Davis: Best Original Screenplay
The Wind Rises: Best Animated Feature
Best Doc: Tim's Vermeer, The Unknown Known (and Stories We Tell from TFF #39)
The Past: Best Foreign Language Film
Gloria: Best Foreign Language Film
The Lunchbox: Best Foreign Language Film


POST-TELLURIDE ECHOES



Among the hundreds of articles/posts that have now been written about Telluride #40's films and their further play at Toronto, I am linking to three that seemed pretty interesting.

Steve McQueen, director of "12 Years a Slave" did an interview with Kristin McCracken of The Playlist and talked about the film, the process and Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender.  It's here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/interview-steve-mcqueen-talks-12-years-a-slave-django-unchained-pitt-fassbender-20130911

And John Sehring, President of Sundance Selects/IFC Films talked to The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg about the process of awards season and the effect it is having on the films his company has in its hands: "Blue is the Warmest Color" and TFF #39's "Frances Ha".  You could say he's a little frustrated.

Here's the link: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/ifc-sundance-selects-chief-rips-625959

Anne Thompson analyzes the post_Telluride and Toronto filmscape and offers her take on which films got a boost and which didn't:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/telluride-and-toronto-wrap-who-came-out-ahead


ONE LAST THING....100,000



Michael's Telluride Film Blog/The Film Awards Clearinghouse rolled past its 100,000th view sometime last night.  100,000 views is mind blowing to me.  Thanks readers!


More on Thursday...

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Thursday: It Begins!/TFF #40 Program Guide/Last Call/The Kid Does All Right/The Other Thing...

Good Thursday from Telluride, Colorado

IT BEGINS



From the Telluride frontlines…

The 40th Telluride Film Festival doesn’t actually start until this morning…but it essentially started Wednesday night with a free concert in the community’s Town Park featuring The Punch Brothers.  They will appear on the soundtrack album for The Coen Brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis” which was announced as one of the films making up the program for this anniversary year.  The “Brothers” included songs from “O Brother Where Art Thou?” and “The Big Lebowski” (which also screened in the outdoor theater Wednesday night). 

The Coens were in attendance at the concert and “Llewyn Davis” himself, Oscar Issac, who plays the title role in the film, showed up and added his voice to the occasion. 

Rain then.  A lot of rain.  The concert suffered a deluge and I escaped just before the body of the storm hit.

Lots of talk about the lineup…which is incredibly exciting.  In addition to “Llewyn” the fest announced screenings of Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” with Cannes Best Actor winner Bruce Dern in attendance, Jason Reitman’s “Labor Day”, Jonathan Glazer’s “Under the Skin”, Alfonso Cuaron’s “Gravity”, Ralph Fiennes’ “The Invisible Woman”, Errol Morris’ “The Unknown Known”, J.C. Chandor’s “All is Lost” complete with Robert Redford Tribute plus a lot more. 

Then there are the “sneaks”…films that the festival hierarchy has in their pocket which will be announced later in the weekend.  The buzz around town tonight is that there will be three or four and that one of them is almost certainly Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave”.  As to the others, I don’t have any great intell yet, “Salinger”, the documentary about the reclusive author is being mentioned in some circles.  I tend to believe earlier whiffs of the possibility of Denis Villenueve’s “Prisoners” may portend a “sneak” of that film.  Other titles that I've seen/heard: "The Immigrant" and "Parkland".

Then there’s the intriguing story of a last minute screening for festival honchos last night here in Telluride of some “just finished” film.  Is it true?  If so, what film?  Just for fun I’m going to toss out “Foxcatcher”. 

The bottom line is that the weekend is going to offer an embarrassment of riches.  I hope you’ll look here for an occasional report.

Today:  Patron’s Brunch at 10:00 am.  A great opportunity to star gaze, meet old film fest friends and make new acquaintances.    At 1:00-Press meeting-duty calls.  Patron Screening at 2:30.  We don’t know what it will be yet.  Last year it was “Argo”.  5:00-My meet-up with followers of my blog (see below) followed by dinner at the Opening Night feed on Colorado Ave.  After that, a couple of films which will depend on what the Patron Screening is earlier in the day.  I could catch the Redford Tribute, “Inside Llewyn Davis”, “All is Lost”, “Blue is the Warmest Color” or “Under the Skin”. 

The adventure has begun.


TFF #40 PROGRAM GUIDE



Need to look at the Program Guide?  Here's the link to the online pdf version of the guide:

So many choices and more to be announced.


LAST CALL



Please make sure to attend this year's "Guide to the Ride".  It's this afternoon at The River Club (550 W. Depot in T-ride).  I promise to get everyone out in time to make the Opening Night Feed and the Robert Redford Tribute (or "Llewyn Davis" if that's your preference).  We'll talk the lineup, the possible "sneak previews" and other TFF related subjects.  Food, wine...etc.  It's fun.  Come by.
  

Also, don't forget to send me your film ratings to be a part of my "People's Telluride" project.  Rate what you see 0-5.


THE KID DOES ALL RIGHT



The final "Ten (+) Bets:

For the Final "Ten (+) Bets":

1) Nebraska***
2) Labor Day***
3) Inside Llewyn Davis***
4) All is Lost***
5) The Unknown Known***
6) The Past***
7) The Invisible Woman***
8) Gravity***
9) 12 Years a Slave
10) Blue is the Warmest Color***
11) Palo Alto***
12) The Immigrant
13) The Lunchbox***
14) Prisoners
15) Gloria***

***= films announced as part of the TFF #40 program

Also included from the "just below" list were: "The Story of Children and Film", "Jodorowsky's Dune", "Burning Bush", "Tim's Vermeer" and "Aguirre: The Wrath of God".  Also, yesterday's "rumblings" segment turned out to be correct as Jonathan Glazer's "Under the Skin" is on the program.


"Ten Bets" (really was 15):  Absent "sneak previews" MTFB called the top 8 and 12 of the 15.  I'll also be willing to bet that at least one more from the final list ends up as a "sneak", maybe more.

AND THE OTHER THING ABOUT THIS BLOG

So the fest is about to start.  As we've known now for 24 hours, the slate is jammed packed with great stuff and awards contenders.  As always, this space will report on the fest as it happens and then transition to a post-fest account of how the films that have played here fair in the awards season.  To that end I have linked Scott Feinberg's analysis from The Hollywood Reporter posted last night.  

Scott, who will be a part of MTFB's Film Expert Rating's Panel for the weekend,  also suggests that "12 Years" and "Prisoners" are likely "sneaks" (Dave Poland also tossed in a vote for "Prisoners" via Twitter last night.  Weirdly, as I write this, a "Prisoners" television spot is running on the morning news program my wife has on.



PS...

I love this festival and I love this town...there, I said it

More later...

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

TFF #40 LINEUP ANNOUNCED/SELECTED SUMMARIES

Here's the link for the lineup of films announced for the 40th Telluride Film Festival today:

http://www.telluridefilmfestival.org/

40th Anniversary Program Line-up
We are proud to announce official program selections for the 40th anniversary edition of Telluride Film Festival. TFF’s annual celebration of artistic excellence brings together, cinema enthusiasts, filmmakers and artists to discover the best in world cinema in the beautiful mountain town of Telluride, Colorado. TFF will screen more than 100 feature films, short films and revivals representing twenty-five countries, along with special artist Tributes, Conversations, Panels, Education Programs and Festivities. 

In honor of its 40th anniversary, the usual four-day Telluride Film Festival has an additional day of programming and takes place Thursday, August 29 - Monday, September 2, 2013

In celebration of their contributions to Joel and Ethan Coen’s new film INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS and the 40th anniversary of Telluride Film Festival, Punch Brothers will perform. The performance will include songs featured in several of T Bone Burnett and the Coen Brothers’ collaborations, including songs from the soundtrack of INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS. The concert will be tonight, Wednesday, August 28 at 5:00 pm in Telluride Town Park.

Telluride Film Festival is honored to present the Werner Herzog Theatre, the fourth cineaste for whom the Festival has named a theatre. Situated in Telluride’s Town Park Pavilion, the Werner Herzog Theatre is the Festival’s most technologically advanced theatre accommodating 650 pass holders. Chuck Jones, Abel Gance and Pierre Rissient also share this tribute. 

The past 40 years have seen Telluride Film Festival mixing highly anticipated award hopefuls with the films of talented emerging filmmakers and auteurs from around the globe. First-time filmmakers discovered at TFF include Terry Zwigoff, Jim Jarmusch, Billy Bob Thornton, Robert Rodriguez, Michael Moore, Doug Liman, Jon Favreau, Andrea Arnold, Lodge Kerrigan, Robert Luketic and Sarah Gavron. In addition, TFF has previewed numerous films that have generated wins at the Oscars® in recent years, including FOG OF WAR, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, THE LIVES OF OTHERS, BABEL, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, JUNO, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, UP IN THE AIR, THE KING’S SPEECH, BLACK SWAN, A SEPARATION, THE ARTIST, THE DESCENDANTS and ARGO. 

“This year’s 40th anniversary is a celebration of what Telluride Film Festival has accomplished over the past four decades, as well as what we are doing now and forty years from now” said Telluride Film Festival Executive Director Julie Huntsinger. We are committed to presenting groundbreaking films with the world’s most preeminent talent in technologically advanced, state-of the art facilities including the brand new Werner Herzog Theatre. We look forward to continuing to explore the future in cinema through current masters of the art form and breakthrough talents.”  

40th Telluride Film Festival is proud to present the following new feature films to play in its main program, the ‘SHOW’: 
ALL IS LOST (d. J.C. Chandor, U.S., 2013)
BEFORE THE WINTER CHILL (d. Philippe Claudel, France, 2013)
BETHLEHEM (d. Yuval Adler, Israel, 2013)
BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR (d. Abdellatif Kechiche, France, 2013)
BURNING BUSH (d. Agnieszka Holland, Czech Republic, 2013)
DEATH ROW: BLAINE MILAM + ROBERT FRATTA (d. Werner Herzog, U.S., 2013)
FIFI HOWLS FROM HAPPINESS (d. Mitra Farahani, U.S., 2013)
THE GALAPAGOS AFFAIR: SATAN CAME TO EDEN (d. Dan Geller, Dayna Goldfine, U.S., 2013)
GLORIA (d. Sebastián Lelio, Chile, 2013)
GRAVITY (d. Alfonso Cuarón, U.S./U.K., 2013)
IDA (d. Pawel Pawlikowski, Poland, 2013)
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (d. Joel and Ethan Coen, U.S., 2013) 
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN (d. Ralph Fiennes, U.K., 2013)
LABOR DAY (d. Jason Reitman, U.S., 2013)
THE LUNCHBOX (d. Ritesh Batra, India, 2013)
LA MAISON DE LA RADIO (d. Nicolas Philibert, France, 2013)
MANUSCRIPTS DON’T BURN (d. Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran, 2013)
THE MISSING PICTURE (d. Rithy Panh, Cambodia/France, 2013)
NEBRASKA (d. Alexander Payne, U.S., 2013)
PALO ALTO (d. Gia Coppola, U.S., 2013)
THE PAST (d. Asghar Farhadi, France/Italy, 2013)
SLOW FOOD STORY (d. Stefano Sardo, Italy, 2013)
STARRED UP (d. David Mackenzie, U.K., 2013)
TIM’S VERMEER (d. Teller, U.S., 2013)
TRACKS (d. John Curran, Australia, 2013)
UNDER THE SKIN (d. Jonathan Glazer, U.K., 2013)
THE UNKNOWN KNOWN (d. Errol Morris, U.S., 2013)

Additional Sneak Previews may play outside the main program and will be announced over the course of the five-day weekend.

“During its 40 years Telluride has brought together established filmmakers and those about to be discovered to celebrate together the joys of great cinema,” commented Festival Artistic Director Gary Meyer. “This year is especially exciting because of the many wonderful movies we were able to consider and then program, and also frustrating given the amount we could not fit into the program.  Our selection of classics this year is truly rich as we celebrate the past, present and future of the art.” 

Since its inception in 1974, Telluride Film Festival has paid tribute to numerous influential filmmakers and artists. Gloria Swanson, Francis Ford Coppola and Leni Riefenstahl were the first to be honored, and forty years later the prestigious list has grown to include Pedro Almodovar, Claudia Cardinale, George Clooney, Penelope Cruz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Catherine Deneuve, Laura Linney, Clint Eastwood, Colin Firth, Jodie Foster, Stephen Frears, Werner Herzog, Isabelle Huppert, Jack Nicholson, Jean Simmons, Meryl Streep, Tilda Swinton, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Agnes Varda to name a few. 

Joining that list, the 2013 Silver Medallion Awards, given to recognize an artist’s significant contribution to the world of cinema, go to Grammy and Oscar-winning music producer T Bone Burnett and Oscar-winning filmmakers the Coen Brothers, whose four collaborations together include THE BIG LEBOWSKI, LADYKILLERS, O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? and INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS with a 90-minute program featuring a musical performance by the Americans, a clip reel with scenes from the collaborations and an onstage interview; Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof (THE TWILIGHT, THE WHITE MEADOWS, GOODYBE) presenting his latest film, MANUSCRIPTS DON’T BURN. The program includes a selection of clips followed by the presentation of the Silver Medallion and onstage interview; and Oscar-winning director, actor, producer Robert Redford (ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID) who stars in the TFF selection ALL IS LOST. The program includes a selection of clips showcasing the range of performances during his career, followed by the presentation of the Silver Medallion and an onstage interview. 

“When I joined James Card and Bill Pence to start the Telluride Film Festival, we wanted to make tributes, retrospectives and revivals central to the Festival” said Co-founding Artistic Director Tom Luddy. “40 years later, Julie, Gary and I are still able to present a show which focuses on film artistry and preservation. This is something I’m very proud of. The fact that there is still a large audience for it makes me believe in the future of the cinema.” 

For each of the past 25 years, Telluride Film Festival directors have selected a Guest Director to serve as a key collaborator in the Festival’s programming decisions, bringing new ideas and overlooked films to light. Donald Richie, to whom the Festival is dedicated, had the first honor in 1988 and has been followed by many notable collaborators including Laurie Anderson, Peter Bogdanovich, John Boorman, J.P. Gorin, Edith Kramer, Errol Morris, Alexander Payne, Peter Sellars, Stephen Sondheim, Bertrand Tavernier and Slavoj Zizek, among others. 

This year, Telluride Film Festival invites six past Guest Directors to return with new programs: novelist Don Delillo (TFF 2006) presents LA MORTE ROUGE (d. Victor Erice, Spain, 2006) and analyzes the 26-second ZAPRUDER film; screenwriter, director Buck Henry (TFF 2005) presents the “director’s cut” of THE TERMINAL MAN (d. Mike Hodge, U.S., 1972); writer Phillip Lopate (TFF 1995) presents NAKED CHILDHOOD (d. Maurice Pialat, France, 1969) with Pialat’s short, LOVE EXISTS (France, 1960); novelist Michael Ondaatje (TFF 2010) presents short films LA JETÉE (d. Chris Marker, France, 1962) and ELEPHANT (d. Alan Clarke, U.K., 1989); film scholar, curator and author B. Ruby Rich (TFF 1996) presents ONE WAY OR ANOTHER (d. Sara Gómez, Cuba, 1974); writer Salman Rushdie (TFF 2004) presents MAHANAGAR (d. Satyajit Ray, India, 1963). 

Additional film revivals include Pierre Rissient’s selections, short MUSCLE BEACH (d. Irving Lerner, Joseph Strick, U.S., 1948) and TV episode A PIECE OF THE ACTION (d. Bernard Girard, U.S., 1962); “Pordenone Presents” has two selections: HE WHO GETS SLAPPED with The Alloy Orchestra performing their brand new score, and A SIMPLE CASE (d. Vsevolod Pudovkin, USSR, 1930) with a live musical performance by Gabriel Thibaudeau both presented by Paolo Cherchi Usai; PORTRAIT OF JENNIE (d. William Dieterle, U.S., 1948) presented by David Thomson; LE JOLI MAI (d. Chris Marker, Pierre Lhomme, France, 1963) presented by Colin MacCabe; LA POISON (d. Sacha Guitry, France, 1951) presented by Monique Montgomery; AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD (d. Werner Herzog, Germany, 1972); and Michael Barker presents DEATH RIDES A HORSE (d. Giulio Petroni, Italy, 1967).

Backlot, Telluride’s intimate screening room featuring behind-the-scenes movies and portraits of artists, musicians and filmmakers, will screen the following programs, five of which are preceded by short films: 
DIOR AND I (d. Frédéric Tcheng, U.S., 2013)
HERE BE DRAGONS (d. Mark Cousins, U.K., 2013) 
JODOROWSKY’S DUNE (d. Frank Pavich, U.S./France, 2013)
LOCATIONS: LOOKING FOR RUSTY JAMES (d. Alberto Fuguet, Chile, 2013) select screening will be followed by Francis Ford Coppola’s RUMBLE FISH (U.S., 1983)
NATAN (d. David Cairns, Paul Duane, Ireland, 2013) 
MILIUS (d. Zak Knutson, Joey Figueroa, U.S., 2013)
MULTIPLE VISIONS, THE CRAZY MACHINE (d. Emilio Maille, Mexico, 2012)
MUSIDORA, THE TENTH MUSE (d. Patrick Cazals, France, 2013)
PARTICLE FEVER (d. Mark Levinson, U.S., 2013)
REMEMBRANCE – A SMALL MOVIE ABOUT OUUL IN THE 1950s (d. Peter Von Bagh, Finland, 2013)
ROAD MOVIE: A PORTRAIT OF JOHN ADAMS (d. Mark Kidel, U.K., 2013)
A STORY OF CHILDREN AND FILM (d. Mark Cousins, U.K., 2013)

Telluride Film Festival annually celebrates a hero of cinema who preserves, honors and presents great movies. This year’s Special Medallion award goes to Alejandro Ramirez who runs Cinepolis, the fourth-largest chain of movie theatres in the world, with a focus on how movies can address poverty and social change. Past recipients include C. Chapin Cutler Jr. and Boston Light & Sound, Criterion Collection, HBO, Ninon Sevilla, Ted Turner, Stanley Kauffman, Manny Farber, Pierre Rissient, Leonard Maltin, Serge Bromberg and UCLA Film & Television Archive. 

Telluride Film Festival’s SHOWcase for Shorts features eleven short films chosen to precede select feature films; Filmmakers of Tomorrow includes four programs: Student Prints, Great Expectations – narrative and non-fiction, and Calling Cards from twenty-one emerging filmmakers. 

Telluride Film Festival’s Education Programs present students the opportunity to experience film as an art and expand participants’ worldview through film screenings and filmmaker discussions. Celebrating its 25th year, the Student Symposium provides 50 graduate and undergraduate college students a weekend-long immersion in cinema. In honor of its anniversary, 25 new students and 25 alumni will make up the 2013 Symposium. The City Lights Project, now in its 14th year, brings fifteen high school students and five teachers from three divergent schools the opportunity to participate in a concentrated program of screenings and discussions. In 2011, TFF and UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA-TFT) launched FilmLAB, an extraordinary new program giving ten outstanding graduate film students from UCLA/TFT the opportunity to attend the festival and learn from the greatest filmmakers in the world in a workshop/lab setting: and For The Love Of Movies, a Los Angeles High School Screening Program focusing on the most creatively promising and under-served young talent featuring the “Best” of Telluride Film Festival, managed by UCLA-TFT graduate students and with the participation of selected filmmakers and TFT faculty.

Telluride Film Festival’s Talking Heads programs allow attendees to go behind the scenes with the Festival’s special guests. Eight Conversations take place between Festival guests and the audience about cinema and culture, and three outdoor Noon Seminars feature a panel of Festival guests discussing a wide range of film topics. These programs are free and open to the public. A special seminar, Alice & Friends, with panelists Alice Waters, Michael Pollan and Dieter Kosslick will focus on the issues at the intersection of food sustainability, consumption and art and will be followed by the presentation of Participant Media’s inaugural FOOD, INC. Movement Award to Alice Waters. 

Various Festivities take place throughout the Festival including Book Signings with Don DeLillo signing Libra and Underworld; Robyn Davidson signing Tracks; David Thomson signing Moments that Made the Movies; and Joyce Maynard signing Labor Day. Other festivities include Story Night in Brigadoon; Disney’s never-seen-before short GET A HORSE; and 40 Years of THE SHOW, presented by AMPAS featuring two 40th anniversary exhibitions from the Academy’s Telluride Film Collection, a photography display and clip reels highlighting TFF’s history from the Academy Film Archive to precede film screenings. 

Corporate support at Telluride Film Festival plays an essential role in the life of the Festival and underscores the Festival’s commitment to quality, adventure and distinction in the art of cinema. TFF is privileged to collaborate with some of the world’s most renowned consumer and entertainment brands, including Land Rover North America, Turner Classic Movies, Audible.com, Meyer Sound, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Pine Ridge Vineyards and Universal Studios; and excited to welcome new partners Bombardier Business Aircraft, EY, Film Finances, Inc. and Participant Media-- each of which are aligned with a unique feature of the festival. Equally, Telluride Film Festival is extremely proud of its committed relationships with Americas Film Conservancy, The London Hotels, Teatulia, The Hollywood Reporter, Cinedigm, Dolby, New Sheridan Hotel, Telluride Alpine Lodging, and UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

The 40th Telluride Film Festival’s program will be posted here in its entirety on Wednesday, August 28, 2013 at noon.



Here are summaries for select films announced today:



 “All is Lost”- Directed by J.C. Chandor.  The second feature effort from Chandor (Margin Call) stars Robert Redford, a boat and the Indian Ocean.  This film played out of competition at Cannes to very good reviews and started some serious buzz for a possible Best Actor nomination for the 70 year old Redford.  Reportedly it has very little dialogue.  Lionsgate is distributing and the release date is also Oct. 18. The film is being presented in conjunction with a Festival Tribute of Redford. IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2017038/?ref_=ttco_co_tt



“Blue is the Warmest Color”-Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche.  The film that won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and the Steven Spielberg led jury took the unusual step of specifically recognizing the two lead actresses (Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarcopoulos) in addition to director Kechiche.  The film explores an intense relationship between two young women.  “Blue” is set to be released in the U.S. on Oct. 25.  Oddly, because of its release date in France and Academy rules, it will not be France’s entry for the Foreign Language Oscar.  “Blue’s” domestic distribution will be handled by Sundance Selects.  IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2278871/?ref_=ttco_co_tt

“Gloria” – Directed by Sebastien Lelio.  Paulina Garcia took the Best actress prize at the Berlin International Film Festival as the title character in this film about a woman of a certain age who has a whirlwind romance.  “Gloria” will also play the New York Fest in October.  IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2425486/?ref_=ttrel_rel_tt



“Gravity”- Directed by Alfonso Cuaron.  The film stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. As Cuaron returns to feature film directing for the first time since his outstanding 2006 film “Children of Men”.  We’ve heard a couple of things about this highly anticipated film: Clooney’s screen time is limited and it’s reportedly beautifully shot (and in 3D).  There has been quite a bit of buzz that this could return Bullock to the Oscar race.  “Gravity” is from Warner Brothers and is set for release on Oct. 4.  IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454468/?ref_=ttrel_rel_tt



“Inside Llewyn Davis”- Directed by Ethan and Joel Coen and starring Oscar Issac (as the title character), Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, F. Murray Abraham and Justin Timberlake.  The Coen’s dive into the world of the Greenwich Village folk music scene in the early 1960’s in a film based loosely on Dave Van Ronk’s memoir of the period, “The Mayor of McDougal Street”.  “Llewyn” won the Grand Prix Award at Cannes in May (the unofficial second place award).  The film features a soundtrack of traditional folk music under the guidance of T. Bone Burnett repeating the job he did for the Coen’s “O Brother Where Art Thou?”  “Llewyn” is set for release on Dec. 6 and is being distributed by CBS Films.  The film is being screened as a part of a Festival Tribute of the Coen Brothers. IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2042568/?ref_=ttrel_rel_tt



“The Invisible Woman” -Directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes.  It also stars Felicity Jones as the title character.  Another true story, this film centers on the secret relationship British literary legend Charles Dickens had with a much younger woman.   Kristin Scott Thomas and Tom Hollander co-star.  Sony Pictures Classics is distributing and have set a U.S. release for Christmas Day.  IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1700845/?ref_=ttrel_rel_tt



“Labor Day”-Directed by Jason Reitman.  Reitman returns to Telluride where both “Juno” and “Up in the Air” showed with this film starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin.  Winslet is a single mother and Brolin is a con on the lamb whose paths cross with unexpected consequences.  Tobey Maguire and James Van Der Beek co-star.  The script was written by Reitman and bases on a novel by Joyce Maynard. I have a buddy who has seen it and says it is Reitman’s most mature work.  Distribution is under the direction of Paramount who will issue it in limited release on Dec. 25.  IMDb:


The Lunchbox- Directed by Ritesh Batra.  Irrfan Kahn stars in this film set in Mumbai and focused on the relationships that are changed as the result of a mix up in the delivery of a lunchbox.  This was a selection to the Cannes Critics Week.  Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter called it “an ingenious tale of romance by correspondence” IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2350496/?ref_=sr_1



“Nebraska” –Directed by Alexander Payne.  Payne returns to Telluride after the success of “The Descendants” in 2011.  “Nebraska” (which will be presented in the U.S. in black and white) stars Bruce Dern and Will Forte as an estranged father/son duo who make a cross country trip to claim a big money prize.  Dern was named Best Actor at Cannes for his portrayal of the alcoholic father.  Stacy Keach and June Squibb also appear. Paramount is distributing and the film is due in theaters on Nov. 22.  IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821549/



“Palo Alto”-Directed by Gia Coppola.  The first thing you notice is the relationship of the director and the star, Emma Roberts, to other, more famous people.  Coppola is Francis Ford Coppola’s grand-daughter and Roberts is the daughter of Eric Roberts and niece to Julia.  The film is based on stories by James Franco who also appears in the film as does Val Kilmer.  The story is described a “dark drama” focused on a group of teenagers.  The film does not currently have a U.S. release date.  IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2479800/?ref_=sr_1



“The Past” –Directed by Asghar Farhadi.  Farhadi returns to Telluride as well with this follow up to his Oscar winning “A Separation”.  Berenice Bejo won the Best actress prize at Cannes for her portrayal of a young wife caught between two men, one of them her past the other her possible future.  Sony Pictures Classics has the distribution for the film which is set for U.S. release on Dec. 20.  IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404461/?ref_=ttrel_rel_tt

“Tim’s Vermeer”- Directed by Teller (of Penn and Teller…Penn Jillette is one of the films producers).  Martin Mull is featured in this story about an American inventor, Tim Jenison, and his attempt to understand the intricacies of the paintings of Johannes Vermeer.  IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3089388/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

“Tracks”-Directed by John Curran.  Mia Wasikowska stars in this true story of a young Australian woman who goes on a lengthy journey of self discovery through the Outback.  “Tracks" also stars Adam Driver and has yet to establish a U.S. release date.  IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2167266/?ref_=ttrel_rel_tt



 “Under the Skin”-Directed by Jonathan Glazer.  Scarlett Johansson stars in this film about an alien in human form traveling through Scotland.  The film is playing both Venice and Toronto as well.  Currently, it has no announced U.S. release date.  Glazer returns to direct a feature film for the first time since 2004’s “Birth”.  IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441395/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1


“The Unknown Known: The Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld”.  Documentarian Errol Morris examines the life of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.  IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2390962/?ref_=sr_6