Another Bump / Babylon's Fate? / White Noise Rumors / Dardennes' Tori and Lokita Acquired

ANOTHER BUMP

Pardon the interruption.  MTFB didn't publish last Thursday as I was in the middle of a trip to NYC.  But I'm back (albeit later than normal) today.  Apologies to any and all that were waiting on on a Thursday post.  To be honest, this summer is crazy busy so don't be all that surprised if the Blog isn't as consistent as it usually is regarding the Monday/Thursday posting schedule.

BABYLON'S FATE?

Margot Robbie on the set of Babylon (per Fox)

Jordan Ruimy (World of Reel) is reporting that the highly anticipated Damien Chazelle film Babylon ,ay or may not be a festival player.  Ruimy says that Paramount hasn't yet decided on what path they want to take with the film which is set for a December release.  

Babylon has been high on the MTFB radar since it was announced as Chazelle was selected for Telluride twice over the last few years for La La Land in 2016 and First Man in 2018.

Babylon is described as a history of Hollywood as the film community makes the transition from silent films to talkies.  The film stars Margo Robbie and Brad Pitt.

The World of Reel post is here.

WHITE NOISE RUMORS

Another story from Jordan from the last week concerns rumors of a difficult shoot of another film that has been high on the MTFB anticipation and TFF expectation list: Noah Baumbach's White Noise.  Baumbach's Telluride pedigree has been solid with appearances for Margot at the Wedding (2007), Frances Ha (2012) and Marriage Story (2019).

Nevertheless, the Ruimy post suggests the film might be on shaky ground.  

IMDb has the film listed as being in post-production and expected as a 2022 release from Netflix with A24 also acting in a production capacity.

DARDENNES' TORI AND LOKITA ACQUIRED

Deadline reports that The Dardenne's Brothers' Tori and Lokita, which picked up a special 75th Anniversary prize at Cannes last month has been picked up for U.S. distribution by the combination of Janis and Sideshow.  That coupling was the same crew that brought Oscar winner Drive My Car to the U.S. (and Telluride) last year.

That acquisition surely keeps the Dardennes fellows on the TFF #49 watch list.

Anthony D'Alessandro reported the acquistion for Deadline.

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Oscar History and TFF Part 10: Directors / Oscar Predictions: Best Picture Updated / Old Hollywood to Be Featured in New Films

OSCAR HISTORY AND TFF PART 10:  DIRECTORS

I'm turning now to a breakdown of the history between TFF and The Academy Awards as related to each of the feature categories.  Today I bring you the Best Director nominees from films that have screened at the festival since its inception in 1974:

1986- David Lynch/Blue Velvet
1989- Jim Sheridan/My Left Foot
1990- Barbet Schroeder/Reversal of Fortune
1992- Neil Jordan/The Crying Game
1993- Krzysztof Kielowski/Blue
1994- Woody Allen/Bullets Over Broadway
1996- Mike Leigh/Secrets and Lies
1997- Atom Egoyan/The Sweet Hereafter
2000- Ang Lee/Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
2001- David Lynch/Mulholland Drive
2002- Fernando Meirelles/City of God, Pedro Almodovar/Talk to Her
2003- Sophia Coppola/Lost in Translation
2005- Ang Lee/Brokeback Mountain-WINNER, Bennett Miller/Capote
2006- Alejandro Inarritu/Babel
2007- Jason Reitman/Juno, Julian Schnabel/The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Paul Thomas Anderson/There Will Be Blood (scenes screened)
2008- Danny Boyle/Slumdog Millionaire-WINNER, David Fincher/The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (scenes screened)
2009- Jason Reitman/Up in the Air
2010- Tom Hooper/The King's Speech-WINNER, Darren Aronofsky/Black Swan
2011- Michel Hazanavicius/The Artist-WINNER, Alexander Payne/The Descendants
2012- Michael Haneke/Amour
2013- Alfonso Cuaron/Gravity-WINNER, Steve McQueen/12 Years a Slave, Alexander Payne-Nebraska
2014- Alejandro Inarritu/Birdman-WINNER, Bennett Miller/Foxcatcher
2015- Tom McCarthy/Spotlight, Lenny Abrahamson/Room
2016- Damien Chazelle/La La Land-WINNER, Barry Jenkins/Moonlight, Kenneth Lonergan/Manchester by the Sea, Denis Villenueve/Arrival
2017- Guillermo Del Toro/The Shape of Water-WINNER, Greta Gerwig/Lady Bird
2018- Alfonso Cuaron/Roma-WINNER, Yorgos Lanthimos-The Favourite

Total of 44 nominations for Best Director with nine winners...Alfonso Cuaron twice.


OSCAR PREDICTIONS: BEST PICTURE UPDATED

Here's my updated prediction for the Best Picture Oscar nominations.  These were last posted at MTFB on Sept. 19th.  Each film is followed by its position in the last prediction posting in parentheses.  TFF #46 films are Bold.


1) Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood (2)
2) Marriage Story (3)
3) The Irishman (2)
4) JoJo Rabbit (7)
5) Parasite (5)
6) A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (10)
7) 1917 (6)
8) Ford v. Ferrari (4)
9) The Two Popes (9)
10) The Farewell (8)

Other possibles: Joker, Waves, Judy, Little Women

You're seeing a nice jump up for JoJo Rabbit and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.  Tough dive for Ford v. Ferrari.  I expect that The Irishman will move back up to the #23 or even #1 slot when I next check in as it has now screened as a part of the New York Film Fest and will be rolling out at Mill Valley, Hamptons, London, Rome, Chicago and Tokyo Fests over the next couple of weeks.



OLD HOLLYWOOD TO BE FEATURED IN NEW FILMS

Photo from Shutterstock and Deadline

Deadline.com shared a few weeks back the ongoing news about the development of two films that harken back to old Hollywood for their setting.  Both films could end up on TFF watch lists in the next year or two.

Deadline reported recently that Brad Pitt could be joining Damien Chazelle's next feature project which is currently titled Babylon.  The film is also rumored to be seeking past Chazelle collaborator Emma Stone who won the 2017 Best Actress Oscar for Chazelle's La La Land.  Lionsgate is rumored to be out front in terms of the studio where the project could land.

Meanwhile, in the same story, Deadline also says that David Finches is lining up a project focused on the life of Casablanca screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz.  The film is said to be set up at Netflix and would feature Gary Oldman in the lead.  The film is tentatively titled Mank.

Each feature reported for both films by Deadline would suggest at least the possibility of a play at The SHOW.

The complete Deadline story is linked here.


That's today on MTFB.

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Ups and Downs / Revelation from Venice / The Show

Welcome back from your last July weekend for 2019...


UPS AND DOWNS

Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere tells us that James Gray's As Astra is NOT going to be playing Telluride.  The information is not attributed but Jeff knows way more people than I do.

Wells also reported the same thing I had at the bottom of my post on Friday.  That Andreas Wiseman had written for Deadline that Tom Harper's The Aeronauts is likely headed to the San Juans for Labor Day weekend.

Jeff also links a Pamela McClintock piece from The Hollywood Reporter that makes that same claim.  That THR post is linked here.

And, for good measure, the Wells post from this weekend is linked here.

So, to re-cap, it seems that The Aeronauts is up and Ad Astra is down.



REVELATION FROM VENICE

Venice Film Festival head Alberto Barbera seems to have the "cow" out of the bag.  Barbera claimed in an interview with Screen Daily that was published Friday that the only film that he wanted to program but could not was Kelly Reichardt's First Cow (I'm considering an online petition to change the title of this film) and that A24 had decided to screen the film only in America as it has not found an international distributor as yet.  He also is flat quoted as saying that, as a consequence, the film is headed to Telluride.

First Cow also does not appear to have a U.S. release date.

Here's the Screen Daily linked.



THE SHOW

Just a bit of a rumination here.

When I began this thing in 2008 nobody else was messing around with trying to peg the films for Telluride.  Sure, there were the occasional pieces that would pop up.  One shot guesses that you'd find online but not a lot.  And certainly nothing in any official way from big time media.

As the years have gone on, and especially with the decision from the Toronto Fest to require that they know what a film's actual status is regarding which fests it's going to play and then their further decision to publicly reveal that status in their programming announcements, it seems increasingly that the reticence from media to deduce the films that will play Telluride has begun to fade.

Last week Screen Daily, for instance, included an assessment that did exactly what I do and have done for several seasons, which is to sort of reverse engineer the announcement from TIFF to make claims about what goes to Telluride.

World of Reel and Hollywood Elsewhere have been all over essentially the same list that I've put together as has BBC News, The Wrap and a couple of hints from Pete Hammond at Deadline.com,

It's generally pretty accurate unless Toronto mis-labels a film's status (which has happened rarely) or, sometimes with regard to International premieres because that designation can get a little murky.

Nevertheless, it feels to me that more outlets are willing to do the same process and publish the results.

Not sure how I feel about that...

Here's the July 23rd Screen Daily article that does what I'm talking about.


CURRENT TEN BETS...

10) The Truth
9) Ford v. Ferrari
8) The Two Popes
7) Pain and Glory
6) Uncut Gems
5) Judy
4) Motherless Brooklyn
3) Marriage Story
2) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
1) Parasite

That's the Monday MTFB.  More tomorrow...


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75 Films That Could Make the TFF #46 Lineup / Venetian Choices / Varda By Agnes English Trailer / Beautiful Day News / New Stills for Ada Astra /

Hope you had a good weekend... and also a big thank you to all of you that reached out in some fashion to offer condolences regarding the denial of my request for media accreditation for this year's Telluride Film Festival.


75 FILMS THAT COULD MAKE THE TFF #46 LINEUP

From the "Throw Everything Against the Wall and See What Sticks" Dept.: here, in alphabetical order, are 75 titles that could be named to the lineup for The SHOW:

1917
Ad Astra
The Aeronauts
Ahmed
Atlantics 
Bacurau
Bad Education
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Bergman Island
Blackbird
By the Grace of God
The Climb
Country Music/Ryman Concert
Dry Run (Todd Haynes film)
Ema
Fair and Balanced
Falling
Family LLC
First Cow
Ford vs. Ferrari
Forman vs. Forman
Frankie
The Goldfinch
The Good Liar
Harriet
A Hidden Life
John Prine: Hello in There
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Judy
Just Mercy
Kajillionaire
The Kindness of Strangers
The King
The Last Thing He Wanted
The Laundromat
Les Miserables
Light of My Life
The Lighthouse
Little Women
Long Time Coming
Lucy in the Sky
Mainstream
Marriage Story
Matthias and Maxime
Mr. Jones
Molly
Motherless Brooklyn
The Nest
Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always
Nomadland
Pain and Glory
Parasite
The Personal History of David Copperfield 
The Pope
Port Authority
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Queen + Slim
Radioactive
The Report
Sebring
Sorry We Missed You
Synonyms
Torrance
The True History of the Kelly Gang
The Truth
The Two Glorias: Life on the Road
Uncut Gems
Untitled Miranda July Film
Varda by Agnes
Wasp Network
Wendy
Where Is Anne Frank?
The Whistlers
Who You Think I Am


And bonus...New Looney Tunes Cartoons...


VENETIAN CHOICES?

World of Reel's Jordan Ruimy thinks he's got the bead on Venetian titles due to what seemed like an errant Tweet yesterday from what Ruimy deems a very credible source.

Among titles he rattles off that also could make the Venice/Telluride connection are:

Soderbergh's The Laundromat, Reichardt's First Cow, Gray's Ad Astra, Waititi's Jojo Rabbit, Larrian's Ema and Baumbach's Marriage Story.

Jordan's full story is linked here.



VARDA BY AGNES HAS AN ENGLISH TRAILER


Ahead of announcements this week that I suspect will reveal where this final film from Agnes Varda lands comes an English dubbed trailer.


Here that is from YouTube:

And a poster as well:

Here's coverage of the trailer release from:

FirstShowing.net

The Playlist

The Film Stage

BEAUTIFUL DAY NEWS

Over the weekend I ran across a couple of articles about Marielle Heller's upcoming A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers.  Also, coming later today we should see the first trailer for the film.  That, to me, pre-sages the likelihood that some festival is going to announce the film in the next few days.  Toronto announces its first wave tomorrow and Venice announces on Thursday.

Here's the articles from the weekend from Entertainment Weekly  and The Wrap.

I am anticipating that I'll be able to tweet the trailer later today and also expect to include it in tomorrow's post.

NEW STILLS FOR AD ASTRA

On the Red Carpet tweeted new photos from James Gray's Ad Astra-again, another film that we should know more about by the time we get to the end of the week in terms of where it lands or if it lands fest-wise.

Here's a sample of a couple of the new looks:

That's your Monday...more tomorrow including news from Toronto.

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I'm Not Official / Ten Bets 2019 #4 / New Trailer and Poster for Ad Astra / Ruimy Ruminates on Telluride

Hello from Salem, Oregon...

I'M NOT OFFICIAL 

And by that I mean...I have been denied media accreditation for the 46th Telluride Film Festival.  

I was first accredited in 2011 and have been accredited each year since then.  Eight straight.  This year...not so much.

The email notification came a week ago and said that the fest was"unfortunately unable" to offer me the accreditation.  The email went on to say that I'd be able to apply as a "new applicant" next year.

I responded with an email asking two questions:  Is there a specific reason I was denied and is there an appeal process.  

Let me be honest here.  I understand that the accreditation isn't a given and that the fest fully has the right to accredit whomever and whatever in any manner they choose.

And, as a practical matter, the accreditation means only a couple of things.  Media accreditation allows those that receive it to have priority access to the tributes as well as an additional four films of the holder's choosing and an invite to the Patron Preview on Friday afternoon.  It has also meant that I have received email notices from the fest about such items as the Guest Director, Poster Artist etc.

Also, as a side benefit, accredited journalists are placed on a list which results in direct notifications from the film distributors and publicists.  In turn, that has meant invitations to parties from Fox Searchlight, Netflix and Cohen Media.  I know that that's a shallow thing to get hung up on...but it has been nice for an Oklahoma guy to get invited to Hollywood parties.

Ultimately, the denial of accreditation stings especially after eight years of having been approved.  

TEN BETS 2019 #4

Here's the latest installment of MTFB's Ten Bets and that last one before announcements from other film fests (Toronto, Venice, London and New York...maybe Fantastic Fest) begin to give us a clear-eyed version of what we might expect to see over Labor Day weekend.

Here's last week's Ten Bets:

10) Nomadland
9) Judy
8) Motherless Brooklyn
7) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
6) Untitled Noah Baumbach Project
5) The Climb
4) Little Women
3) Family Romance LLC
2) Agnes by Varda
1) Parasite


Others in Play: The Good Liar, Jojo Rabbit, The Goldfinch, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Untitled Todd Haynes Project, Atlantics, The Laundromat, Radioactive, Country Music/Ryman Concert, The Lighthouse, Harriet, The Truth, Synonyms, Ad Astra, Molly, Lucy in the Sky.

This week's Ten Bets:


10) Country Music/Ryman Concert
9) The Truth
8) Judy
7) Motherless Brooklyn
6) Marriage Story (Previously Untitled Baumbach)
5) Portrait of a Lady on FIre
4) The Climb
3) Parasite
2) Family Romance LLC
1) Varda by Agnes

Little Women drops into the "Others in Play" category due to a bunch of buzz this past week that it might forgo festivals altogether.  Also on that list: The Good Liar, Jojo Rabbit, The Goldfinch, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Untitled Todd Haynes Project, Atlantics, The Laundromat, Radioactive, The Lighthouse, Harriet, Nomaland, Synonyms, Ad Astra, Molly, Lucy in the Sky, Uncut Gems, The Personal History of David Copperfield.

We'll get a big set of answers next week.


NEW TRAILER AND POSTER FOR AD ASTRA


Ahead of next week's announcements from Venice and Toronto came a new poster and trailer for James Gray's Ad Astra which suggest that we're likely to hear some news about that film in those announcements.

Here's the new poster:

And here's the link to the trailer via YouTube:

Additionally, Anton Volkov has reported via his Trailer Track website that we can expect to see trailers within a few days for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Harriet and The Goldfinch.

RUIMY RUMINATES ON TELLURIDE

Jordan Ruimy at his website World of Reel was one of the places that out me onto the Jeff Sneider Tweet that teases the possibility of Uncut Gems playing TFF that I reported yesterday,

Jordan put that same pic on his website along with a list pf films that he has an inkling might play Telluride in the same post:

These films look Telluride-bound:

The Safdies’ Uncut Gems
James Gray's Ad Astra
Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit
Fernando Meirelles' The Pope
Pablo Larrain's Ema
Hirokazu Kore-eda's The Truth
Bill Condon’s The Good Liar
Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story
Steven Soderbergh’s The Laundromat
Noah Hawley’s Lucy in the Sky
Michael Angeo Covino’s The Climb
Celine Sciamma’s  Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Werner Herzog’s Family Romance LLC
Agnes Varda’s Varda by Agnes
Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite

As you can see, Jordan's list looks a lot like mine...

Here's the link to Jordan's full story.


MORE REGARDING VENICE (AND TORONTO)

At the very bottom of yesterday's post you might have seen the late breaking blurb that Hirokazu Kore-eda's The Truth is the opening film.  That bodes well for a TFF screening.

The past six years of Venice openers suggest that The Truth is a very real possibility:

2018- First Man
2017- Downsizing
2016- La La Land
2015- Everest
2014- Birdman
2013- Gravity

That's five of the last six openers that went on to TFF.


Meanwhile Variety's Nick Vivarelli posted on Tuesday a string of films that he suggests will probably play at Venice.  Among those he lists that are best bets for Telluride as well are:

Ad Astra
Marriage Story
Joker
The Aeronauts
The Pope
The King
Against All enemies
Ema
Wasp Network

That Variety post is here.

Finally, Toronto announced its opening film will be a Canadian produced documentary about Robbie Robertson and The Band titled Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band.  That choice should have zero impact in terms of TFF 2019 films.


That's today's MTFB from Oregon.  I'll have more next week including the analysis of the first flight of announced films from Toronto and what those choices tell us about TFF #46,


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New Ad for Ad Astra / New Judy Trailer Coming Today / Netflix Re-Thinking

Welcome back from the weekend...hope yours was good.


NEW AD FOR AD ASTRA

The producers of the Brad Pitt starring As Astra launched a 30 second spot via the film's official Twitter account over the weekend.

For my money, it may do a better job of teasing the film than the full trailer that appeared four weeks back.

Ad Astra tells the story of astronaut Pitt who agrees to search for his father, also an astronaut, who disappeared years earlier while on a deep space mission that could still have far reaching consequences in terms of the survival of the solar system.

Ad Astra is directed by James Gray and Twentieth Century Fox is distributing.  It's due in theaters on Sept. 20th. 

Here's the link to the new spot on the Ad Astra Twitter feed.


NEW JUDY TRAILER COMING TODAY

Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland in Judy

Anton Volkov reported over the weekend that we'd see a new trailer for the Judy Garland biopic Judy.  The film stars Renee Zellweger in the title role.  Also appearing are Jessie Buckley, Finn Whitrock, Rufus Sewell and Michael Gambon.

The film is directed by Rupert Goold (True Story).  Roadside Attractions and LD Entertainment are distributing domestically with Sept. 27th scheduled for U.S. release.

The Trailer Track story is linked here and I hope to have the trailer here for the blog tomorrow.


NETFLIX RE-THINKING

Saw this story over the weekend as well.  Netflix is reportedly reviewing its big budget film approach and re-considering it all together.

Specifically mentioned in the coverage (which originated with TheInformation.com) were the hefty price tags for J.C. Chandor's Triple Frontier (est. $115 million) and, as you might expect, Martin Scorsese's The Irishman (est. 150 million).

I'd be curious about how or if  Roma's success but lack of a Best Picture win last year is factoring into the process.  Further, I wonder if Netflix will strive to be as much of a presence at Telluride as they were last year.  The streamer had half a dozen films playing as a part of the fest in 2018.

It also seems to be of a piece with recent shakeups at Amazon Studios who may also be re-evaluating how much money they are willing to pour into projects.

I have linked stories about the Netflix re-think here from Indiewire and The Playlist.




I'll have more tomorrow including the continuation of my series on the Telluride/Oscar connection.


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The Distributors 2019: Fox Searchlight / Return of The Jesus? / Ad Astra T.V. Spot

Good Thursday everybody!

THE DISTRIBUTORS 2019: FOX SEARCHLIGHT

Yesterday we began our look at film distributors as a way of setting the table for the expectations of films that could end up selected for a spot in the TFF #46 lineup this year by looking at Sony Pictures Classics.  As I mentioned yesterday, over the last decade and a half, SPC has had the most consistent relationship with TFF but the distribution group that may have had the most successful run at TFF over that time span has been Fox Searchlight.

The specialty film arm of 20th Century Fox has had an incredible run over the past several years:

2018: The Favourite, Can You Ever Forgive Ne?, The Old Man and the Gun (3)
2017: The Shape of Water (Best Picture Oscar), Battle of the Sexes (2)
2016: No Show
2015: He Named Me Malala (1)
2014: Birdman (Best Picture), Wild (2)
2013: 12 Years a Slave (Best Picture) (1)
2012: No Show
2011: Shame, The Descendants (2)
2010: Never Let Me Go, 127 Hours, Black Swan (3)
2009: No Show
2008: Slumdog Millionaire (Best Picture) (1)
2007: Juno, The Savages (2)
2006: The Last King of Scotland, The Namesake (2)
2005: Bee Season (1)
2004: Kinsey (1)

That's right.  Four Best Picture winners from Fox Searchlight since 2008's win for Slumdog Millionaire; the others being 12 Years a Slave (2013), Birdman (2015) and The Shape of Water (2017).

Over the year's included above Fox Searchlight films that played T-ride have earned a total of 80 Oscar nominations.  I addition to the above listed Best Picture winners, Fox Searchlight has also screened five other films that were nominated for Best Picture at Telluride: The Favourite, The Descendants, 127 Hours, Black Swan and Juno.

Last year, here's how I assessed the Searchlight slates chances of playing TFF:

The Old Man and the Gun 50%
The Favourite 45%
Wendy 30%
Can You Ever Forgive Me?  25%

Ultimately, Benh Zeitlin's Wendy was not released.

Finally, as you can see from above, FS doesn't always play TFF.  2009, 2012 and 2016 were all years in which FS did not have a film screen at The SHOW.  Over the 15 years covered here, FS has screened 21 films for an average of 1.4 films per year.

All of that acts as your background to contemplate the possibilities for Fox Searchlight films that might make an appearance over Labor Day weekend.  These are the seven films that I'm aware of from them that could be in the conversation for a TFF berth:

Malick's A Hidden Life
Cooper's Antlers
Zhao's Nomadland
Hawley's Lucy in the Sky
Zeitlin's Wendy (again)
Faxon and Rash's Downhill
Waititi's Jojo Rabbot

Any and all of them are possible for TFF, although none seem to be a dead certainty at this point.  Malick's probably the most "prestige" film among the group but its Cannes reception was modest...decent critical response but no love from the Cannes Palme jury.  Additionally, the fact that a Malick-directed film has never played T-ride.

On the other hand, Bill Pohlad is listed as one of several Executive Producers for the film and Pohlad has a history with TFF.  He was a producer or executive producer on 12 Years a Slave, Wild, Into the Wild, Fur and Brokeback Mountain all of which played Telluride so that adds some weight to the notion that A Hidden Life might be included in the 2019 edition of The SHOW.

Pohlad has a strong history with Malick as well.  In addition to his credit on A Hidden Life, Pohlad is also listed among the producers or acknowledged with thanks for The Tree of Life, Voyage of Time, Knight of Cups and To the Wonder.

Scott Cooper has certainly had a good Telluride resume over his brief career with both Black Mass and Hostiles making appearances.  That kind of frequency of invitation would normally make me think that his latest film is very likely to make the grade.  But since neither of those films made many waves financially, critically or in the awards season I wonder if Antlers gets the invite.

Honestly, the best shot might be Chloe Zhao's Nomadland starring two time Oscar winner Frances McDormand.  Zhao's last film, The Rider, played TFF in 2017 and received terrific critical response.  The film follows the life of a woman who is struggling to make it through America's Great Recession.  To me, it sets up as the kind of film that Telluride programmers would be very, very fond of.

Downhill is the remake of Reuben Ostlund's Force Majuere.

Personally, I'd love to see either Lucy in the Sky and/or Jojo Rabbit make it to Telluride.

Lucy in the Sky features Natalie Portman as a female astronaut who has emotional issues upon her return to earth.  Jojo Rabbit seems wild with writer, director, actor Taika Waititi creating an "anti-hate satire" with Waititi playing Adolf Hitler.  Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson also star.

And as to the Zeitlin...still may not be ready and, honestly, I wasn't all that enamored of his Beasts of the Southern Wild.

My estimate of chances:

Nomadland 50%
Lucy in the Sky 40%
A Hidden life 40%
Antlers 35%
Jojo Rabbit 35%
Wendy 25%
Downhill 20%

I'm guessing Fox Searchlight lands two films at Telluride this year.

RETURN OF THE JESUS?

John Turturro as Jesus Quintana in The Big Lebowski (via Indiewire)

John Turturro has made a lot of films playing a lot of characters.  He's done that several times for the Coen Brothers and perhaps none more memorably than Jesus Quintana, the "pederast" in The Big Lebowski.

Turturro has long wanted to return to that character and, in fact, has in a film he developed, wrote, directed (with the blessing of but no participation from the Coens) and will star in.  The film is titled Going Places.

Turturro was recently interviewed by The Independent in England mostly owing to his role in Sebastian Lelio English language remake of his own film-Gloria.  However, in the course of that interview, Turturro spends some time talking about Jesus and Going Places.

Indiewire's Zack Sharf picked up there and expanded on the Going Places story in a piece posted on Monday which includes the assertion that Going Places still has no announced release plans "but at this point a fall film festival debut seems likely."

So, despite the lack of a release date and no announced distributor, I'm putting the film on my TFF #46 watch list...and my wish list as well.

The original Independent interview is linked here.

The Indiewire story is linked here.


AD ASTRA T.V. SPOT


Last week we had the debut of the first trailer for James Gray's Ad Astra starring Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones.

This week we have an edited down version of it that has appeared as a television commercial.  Here that is from YouTube:

Ad Astra is one of the most highly anticipated titles this fall and is set to open on Sept. 20th.


Thursday is in the books.  More from MTFB tomorrow including my "If I Had To" segment.


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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.)...

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

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

More on Ad Astra / Pierre Rissient: One Year Gone / Indiewire's 15 Anticipated Cannes Films

Hello all on this Thursday...

MORE ON AD ASTRA

In my Monday post I passed along the story that Disney/Fox looked like they were going to push James Gray's space drama, Ad Astra, into the fall schedule from its previously announced release date of May 24th.

Well, it didn't take long for that uncertainty to dissipate as multiple sources reported on Tuesday that Ad Astra's new release date will be Sept. 24th. That likely means some premiere at Venice, Toronto and/or Telluride.  New York is removed from consideration as it will run from Sept 28th to Oct. 14th.

Zack Sharf writing for Indiewire specifically suggests that the film's chances at playing one or more of the fests has increased saying: "The move most likely means that Disney will target a launch for the drama at the fall film festivals, be it Venice, Telluride or TIFF."

Ad Astra stars Brad Pitt as an astronaut who goes searching for his father (Tommy Lee Jones) who was also an astronaut but who has been missing for years.

The Sharf story from Indiewire is here.

PIERRE RISSIENT: ONE YEAR GONE

Telluride favorite Pierre Rissient died a year ago ( May 5, 2018) and earlier this week Scott Foundas, who is now an executive for Amazon Studios and who has had a significant past with TFF, wrote a tribute on the one year anniversary of Rissient's passing that appeared this week.

That tribute appeared at Cinema Scope (cinema-scope.com) and you can find that piece linked here.

Foundas is currently credited as the Executive in charge of Production for Amazon's Radioactive from director Marjane Satrapi (Perspolis) which could be a film in the conversation for a spot at TFF #46.

INDIEWIRE'S 15 ANTICIPATED CANNES' FILMS

This week the folks at Indiewire put together a  list of 15 films that are about to premiere over the next couple of weeks at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival.

The article and complete list are linked here.

On their list are a number of films that I think have a chance of making the TFF #46 lineup including:

Family Romance, LLC (Herzog)

Frankie (Sachs)

A Hidden Life (Malick)

The Lighthouse (Eggers)

The Cannes Fest opens on Tuesday evening with Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die.

That's today's MTFB.  More on Monday.

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

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Ad Astra Flies Back Into Consideration / Frankie: SPC Has It and Some Images

The first weekend of May 2019 is in the books.  Hope you had a good one!

AD ASTRA FLIES BACK INTO CONSIDERATION

I've had James Gray's Ad Astra on the radar for quite some time.  The film combines high concept and prestige plus a notable cast (Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, Ruth Negga) to have created quite a  stir.  Also creating a stir has been its shifting release dates.  At one point it was set for a Jan. 2019 release and its latest official release date has been May 24th.  That date will also reportedly go by the wayside according to a number of sources over the past few days and I mention that here because the scuttlebutt now is that Disney/Fox has settled on a fall release for the film which may well include the fall festivals.  

"Fall Festivals" usually refers to Venice, Toronto, New York and, of course, Telluride.  Gregory Ellwood writing at The Playlist reported that "it's likely that Fox will aim for a Venice debut" which would make a good deal of sense...and perhaps the film would follow what has become a not uncommon move of transferring directly from Venice to Telluride.  The Shape of Water, Gravity, Birdman and La La Land have all been recent travelers of that path.

The Ellwood article is linked here.

I, for one, am pleased that this film is back in the conversation and will be looking over the summer for other clues about its ultimate fate regarding where it play and if that could include TFF #46.

FRANKIE: SPC HAS IT AND SOME IMAGES

Ahead of its premiere at Cannes in the next week or two came news late last week that Ira Sachs' Frankie starring former TFF Tribute recipient Isabelle Huppert has been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics.  SPC's claim moves Frankie right into consideration for possible TFF #46 inclusion.  SPC has historically had a very solid relationship with TFF.  As a matter of fact, it has been the strongest distributor relationship with TFF over the near decade and a half I have been attending.

Last year was a bit of an aberration as SPC only had Ralph Fiennes' The White Crow in the TFF lineup.  In the 2017, more characteristically, SPC had five films on the TFF #45 program: Fantastic Woman, Loveless, The Rider, Foxtrot and Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool.  Over my time at TFF, SPC has averaged 4.4 films per year.

Penelope Cruz in Pedro Almodovar's Pain and Glory

I honestly expect SPC to be back at TFF with more than one film in 2019.  Perhaps Pedro Almodovar returns with a TFF film for the first time since 2006's Volver with his Cannes entry Pain and Glory?  Could we see the documentary about John  Prine (John Prine; Hello In There)?  Or the Clive Owen, Tim Roth starrer The Song of Names?

And who knows what SPC might acquire in the next couple of months as a result of Cannes?

Both The Film Stage and Deadline have stories about the SPC acquisition of Frankie as well as numerous images released prior to its Cannes' bow.  You can find The Film Stage story here and the Deadline story here.

Done for Monday.  More on Thursday.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Hidden Figures Unhidden / Pitt and Cotillard are Allied / Venice and Toronto Meditations / The People's Telluride Returns / It's Easier to Follow MTFB

Good Monday everyone.  Hope you had an excellent weekend.


HIDDEN FIGURES UNHIDDEN

It's a late entry in the end of the year film sweepstakes and not really a highly likely Telluride candidate but you never know.  Theodore Melfi's Hidden Figures (from Fox 2000) debuted a trailer during Olympic coverage last night and then any number of press outlets offered it as well.  The film tells the true story of African American employees of NASA and their contributions to America's successful entry into the space race.

Here's the trailer from YouTube:

Hidden Figures stars Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Keven Costner.  It's set for release (at least for the time being) on Jan. 13, 2017.  However, the film has been reportedly test screening.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hidden-figures-trailer-taraji-p-919428

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2016/08/14/hidden-figures-movie-sneak-peek/88568332/

http://www.awardscircuit.com/2016/08/14/watch-first-trailer-hidden-figures-debuted-olympics/

http://theplaylist.net/taraji-p-henson-octavia-spencer-calculate-history-first-trailer-nasa-drama-hidden-figures-20160814/

http://awardswatch.com/news/the-hidden-figures-trailer-and-new-pics-of-taraji-p-henson-octavia-spencer-janelle-monae/


PITT AND COTILLARD ARE ALLIED

We saw the release of trailers over the weekend for a couple of films that could well be Oscar contenders and are also not terribly likely films to end up in the Telluride #43 schedule.

Allied is directed by Robert Zemeckis and stars Marion Cotillard and Brad Pitt in a WWII set romance/thriller.  Cotillard and Pitt have both attended a Telluride Film Fest and the film is from Paramount, which we're pretty sure is going to have Arrival on the T-ride schedule...so...you know...maybe.

Here's the trailer from YouTube:

Allied is set to open on Nov. 23.

Coverage of Allied and the trailer's release:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/allied-teaser-trailer-brad-pitt-919133

http://www.indiewire.com/2016/08/allied-trailer-brad-pitt-and-marion-cotillard-test-each-other-in-alluring-spy-thriller-1201716188/

http://www.awardsdaily.com/2016/08/12/first-look-at-allied-brad-pitt-and-marion-cotillard/

https://thefilmstage.com/trailer/brad-pitt-and-marion-cotillard-find-love-in-war-in-first-trailer-for-robert-zemeckis-allied/

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/08/12/allied-trailer-brad-pitt-marion-cotillard

http://theplaylist.net/brad-pitt-marion-cotillard-face-love-war-first-trailer-allied-20160812/



VENICE/TORONTO MEDITATIONS

The Venice Film Fest have unleashed the screening schedule and that, perhaps, it gives us some clues, questions and validations.

The first concern is whether films that the TIFF announcement's have hinted are probable Telluride films that are also playing in Venice have been scheduled in a manner that would allow their play in both fests.

Those films:

Arrival
La La Land
Frantz.

We already knew that La La Land would open Venice on Aug. 31 which fits with a Telluride play easily.  We now know that Arrival is set for its first screening on Sept. 1.  That works as well.  Of some concern is the Sept. 3 screening date for Frncois Ozon's Frantz.  That's dicey for The Ride.  All of those Venice competition films are slated as world Premieres which, if true, would suggest that Frantz would be on a tight schedule to get set-up for a 9/4 play at T-ride.  We think it's headed to Telluride due to its TIFF designation as a Canadian Premiere.  So...maybe it navigates the tight window, plays T-ride first (thus negating its Venice "world" premiere status) or that it doesn't really play at Telluride.

A couple of additional notes:  Wim Wenders The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez is scheduled for a Sept.1 screening  making it a very real possibility to fly to T-ride after that.  Also, jazz documentary I Called Him Morgan looks like it could make a play at Telluride as it is also scheduled for a Sept. 1 screening.  Three other Venice documentaries could still be in the Telluride conversation are: Chasing Trane, Beauties of the Night and American Anarchist.

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE RETURNS FOR 2016

It's your annual call to rate the films you see at the Telluride Film Festival.  MTFB is once again asking YOU to participate in The People's Telluride...a gathering of film ratings from the ticket buying public at the fest.

It's simple...rate the films you see on a 1 to 5 scale (1 being awful and 5 being masterpiece) and then send those to me via email: mpgort@gmail.com or michael_speech@hotmail.com OR via the comments section here on the blog or to my twitter account @Gort2.

IT'S EASIER TO FOLLOW MTFB NOW

I've added a "FOLLOW" button to the blog page.  You'll see it in the upper right hand area of the page. Just click on it and you can make it much easier to keep up with what's going on here.

Contact MTFB at:

mpgort@gmail.com

OR on Twitter @Gort2

OR check out Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse-107846269309712/

Or leave a comment.

Ten (Plus) Bets #7 / Wilson, HHhH, War Machine and Silence Bid Adieu / Taxi Driver 40th Anniversary Poster

Hello World on this Friday!

TEN (PLUS) BETS #7

Here's your weekly update of the films that appear to be the most likely to be on The SHOW's program when it's announced on Sept. 1.  First a re-cap from...

Last week's Ten (Plus) Bets:

13) Fire at Sea
12) Moonlight
11) The Red Turtle
10) Manchester by the Sea
9) Maudie
8) Frantz
7) Una
6) Neruda
5) Bleed for This
4) Arrival
3) Things to Come
2) La La Land
1) Toni Erdmann

Close: Aquarius, Dog Eat Dog, The Sense of an Ending, The Unknown Girl


This week's Ten (Plus) Bets #7

15) Defying the Nazis (Ken Burns PBS Doc)
14) High Summer (Animated short)
13) The Red Turtle
12) Manchester by the Sea
11) Moonlight
10) Fire at Sea
9) Maudie
8) Frantz
7) Una
6) Things to Come
5) Neruda
4) Bleed for This
3) Arrival
2) La La Land
1) Toni Erdmann

Close: Aquarius, Dog Eat Dog, I Daniel Blake, The Unknown Girl, The Sense of an Ending, Graduation, Sieranevada, The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez

Keeping an eye on: Gold, The Oppenheimer Strategies, The Circle, The Promise, Eternity, The Mercy


WILSON, HHhH , WAR MACHINE AND SILENCE BID ADIEU

For a long time during the run up to TFF #43 I have thought that Craig Johnson's Wilson might well be a serious player for the fest. but news broke yesterday that Fox Searchlight has dated the film for Mar. 3, 2017.  So say goodbye to Wilson.  Truth be told, I had a hunch was on the ropes for about the last three weeks and that explains why it disappeared from the Ten Bets list.

Meanwhile, you may have seen over the last 48 hours some news regarding a major shakeup at The Weinstein Company with at least two major executives exiting the company.  In the news about one of those moves, we discovered that TWC will only be releasing three films this fall: Lion, The Founder, and Gold.  HHhH is nowhere mentioned in the Variety story which suggests that it's fate is up in the air.

It may well mean that TWC doesn't have a film at TFF for the first time since I've been attending (since 2006).  Lion's World Premiere status for Toronto means it's off the Telluride table.  The Founders musical chairs style release changes doesn't inspire confidence and Gold isn't dated for release until late December which makes me think it won't be ready for an audience during the first week in September.

Here's the Variety story:

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/weinstein-companys-acquisitions-and-production-head-dan-guando-exits-exclusive-1201830775/

Jeff Wells/Hollywood Elsewhere reports that he's been told that David Michod's War Machine is going to be pushed to 2017.  If true, especially for the rationale stated (so as not to conflict with Brad Pitt in another WWII film-Allied), then it's off the T-ride list as well.  Here's the Wells/HE story:

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2016/08/war-machine-allegedly-opening-in-17/

And finally, in depressing "not playing Telluride news" is the word from Martin Scorsese that Silence won't be ready for human consumption until October at the earliest.  I never really thought TFF would likely have the film, but this looks like a confirmation:

From ShowBiz411:

http://www.showbiz411.com/2016/08/04/oscars-martin-scorsese-says-silence-will-be-golden-for-end-of-year-release



ON THE OTHER SCORSESE HAND...TAXI DRIVER 40TH ANNIVERSARY POSTER

I offered up a suggestion on Tuesday that the T-ride powers that be contemplate a tribute to a film, as they did with Apocalypse Now two years ago and my suggestion was Taxi Driver which is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its release this year.

I included the teaser for the 40th anniversary re-release of the Martin Scorsese classic...his best film in my opinion.

In the intervening time, I have discovered that there is a 40th anniversary poster as well>  Here it is via The Playlist:

http://theplaylist.net/first-look-brad-pitt-marion-cotillard-allied-20160803/

Friday's done.  More Monday...

Contact MTFB at:

mpgort@gmail.com

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