Looking Toward the Fall / More of the Critics' View from France / The Goldfinch Trailer, Stills, Poster

Good Thursday to you faithful readers...and everyone else as well.


LOOKING TOWARD THE FALL

Jordan Ruimy wrote a piece on his website World of Reel this week focusing on films that he thinks are in the mix to play one or more of the triumvirate of film festivals of late August-early September-i.e. Telluride, Venice and Toronto.

The list has expanded over the past couple of days as Jordan solicited input from readers and as I punch the publish to publish this morning the list has over four dozen possibilities.

I took a look at them and, based on history and/or distribution, these are the films that seem most likely from Jordan's list to make the TFF #46 SHOW.  I have listed them here in the order that Jordan has them on his original listing and with the numbering he has used:

8) A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood/Heller/TriStar-Sony
10) Lucy in the Sky/Hawley/Fox Searchlight
11) Nomadland/Zhao/Fox Searchlight
14) Dry Run/Haynes/Focus Features
18) Little Women/Gerwig/Columbia-Sony
24) Antlers/Cooper/Fox Searchlight
31) Against All Enemies/Andrews/Amazon Studios
32) Motherless Brooklyn/Norton/Warner Bros.
39) The Truth/Kore-eda/No current U.S. distribution
40) Ema/Larrain/No current U.S. distribution
41) Bergman Island/Hansen-Love/No current U.S. distribution
50) Radioactive/Satrapi/Amazon Studios

Of course there are numerous others in the list that could play or that I'd like to see on the list when it's released: Scorsese's The Irishman, Waititi's Jojo Rabbit, Gray's Ad Astra, Crowley's The Goldfinch to name a few.

The other note here is that Ruimy's list are all films that have yet to premiere.  He does not include films from Berlin or Cannes that could be a pert of the TFF program.

Ruimy's complete list of films is linked here.


MORE OF THE CRITICS' VIEWS FROM CANNES

Having linked Reini Urban's critical compilation for the films from Cannes quite a bit the last couple of weeks, I took a suggestion from a reader via the comments section and decided to relay critical reactions that had been put together by other sources.

The specifically mentioned critical review of the Palme competition films was from David Hudson writing for The Criterion Collection.  You can find that here.


Additionally, Eric Kohn at Indiewire put together the critical reception from 50 or so critics.  The Indiewire group chose Bong Joon-ho's Parasite as the best film as, of course, did the jury.

The article with the top five vote-getters in four categories: Best Film (Parasite), Direction (Sciamma/Portrait of a Lady on Fire), Screenplay (Parasite) and First Film (Atlantics).

The Indiewire critics article is linked here.

Among the critics included were a few who have participated in my annual collection of responses from industry types following TFF: including Kohn/Indiewire, Anne Thompson/Indiewire, Peter DeBruge/Variety, Gregory Ellwood/The Playlist and David Ehrlich/Indiewire.


THE GOLDFINCH TRAILER, STILLS, POSTER

The folks at Warner Bros. and Amazon have started rolling out the publicity for John Crowley's The Goldfinch based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Donna Tartt.  Appearing this week were stills, a poster and a teaser trailer which is here from YouTube:

Additionally stills were released for the film which first appeared at USA Today:

And finally we saw a teaser poster for the film as well.  Here that is from Awards Watch:

The Goldfinch is set for U.S. release on Sept. 13th.


That's today's version of MTFB.  I'll be back with more on Monday.

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Cannes’ Award Winners and Telluride 2019 / The Critical Final from Cannes

Welcome to today’s post Cannes MTFB...


CANNES AWARD WINNERS AND TELLURIDE 2019

The 72nd iteration of the Cannes Film Festival is in the books with the announcement of award winners Saturday night.  Taking the 2019 Palme d’Or was Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite.  The film was critically heralded and was considered among the favorites to win the top prize as the festival moved along.

Other Cannes awards presented by the competition jury led by this year’s president- Alejandro Inarritu- included:

Grand Prix: Atlantics
Jury Prize (tie): Les Miserables and Bacurau
Best Actress: Emily Beecham/Little Joe
Best Actor: Antonio Banderas/Pain and Glory
Best Director: Jean Pierre Dardennes and Luc Dardennes/Young Ahmed
Best Screenplay: Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Special Mention: It Must Be Heaven
Camera d’Or: Our Mothers

Honestly, my guess had been that Pedro Almodovar’s Pain and Glory would win the Palme.  Also, no glory for Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood which was a bit surprising given that it was probably the "biggest" film in the competition and also it was also the 25th anniversary of Pulp Fiction winning the Palme.

Also, a shutout for Terrence Malick’s generally well-received A Hidden Life was a bit of a surprise.
So, what are the TFF #46 chances for some of the winners?

First a reminder that winning the Palme itself is no guarantee that a film lands at Telluride.  Another reminder is that Cannes and T-ride share, on average, 7-8 titles each year but those titles can and do come from across all of the different sections of the Cannes fest.

Last year’s Palme winner, Shoplifters did play TFF but before that you have to go back to 2013’s Blue Is the Warmest Colour.

Other recent Palme winners that have played Telluride include:

Amour in 2012
The White Ribbon in 2009
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days in 2007
The Child in 2005
That's six Palme winners in the last 14 years...

So, history suggests that Parasite’s Palme win doesn’t mean a TFF berth and seems to imply it may be less likely to be programmed.  Additionally, as Bong hasn’t been a presence at T-ride before, that also diminished its chances.

Boosting its TFF profile, however, is its very positive critical reception (see below) and its U.S. distributor: Neon which has been a recent presence at TFF with Border and The Biggest Little Farm screening last year.

I also feel like the directing win for the Dardennes (and their past with T-ride) probably boosted the chances for Young Ahmed.  I suspect Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Les Miserables might have a Telluride future as a result of the attention they received in France.

From other sections perhaps The Lighthouse and The Climb will make the Telluride program.

Here are some links to coverage of this year’s Cannes winners:

Variety

The Hollywood Reporter

Indiewire

The Playlist



THE CRITICAL FINAL FROM CANNES

As I have done for many years now, I've been tracking the critical consensus for films screening as a part of the 72nd Cannes Film Fest through the work of Reini Urban who compiles an incredibly exhaustive list of the critics' takes on films that play throughout every part of the of the French fest.

Now that Cannes #72 is in the rear view mirror here is some of what his work reveals...

First that the top critics' choice won the top prize (and I don't recall that happening before).  Bong Joon-ho's Parasite won the Palme this past weekend and lead all films in all sections in the combined critical summation with an 8.77 rating on a scale of 10 (with over 400 reviews counted).  That's mind blowing.

The runner-up?  Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse which won the FIPRESCI critics' award.  It had an 8.63 combined raring.  Third was Pedro Almodovar's Pain and Glory.

The complete listing of Urban's critical compilation is linked here.



I'll have more on Thursday.

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Dispatches from Cannes / Interviews: Herzog, Dern and Chester

Good Monday friends of film...

DISPATCHES FROM CANNES

The 72nd Cannes Film Festival has essentially reached its halfway mark with the Palme d’Or and other awards set to be handed out this weekend.


In its first week the critics have given big boosts to Pedro Almodovar's Pain and Glory, Bong Joon-ho's Parasite and Xavier Dolan's Matthias and Maxime among others.  Early critical reaction has also very favorable for Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.


Here’s the link to the largest online compilation of the critical response to the films from Cannes thus far.



MULTIPLE INTERVIEWS

Lots of interviews from people that either have films out or coming out that played TFF #45 or are involved with the current edition of Cannes:


WERNER HERZOG/FAMILY ROMANCE LLC

Scott Roxborough for The Hollywood Reporter talks to Werner Herzog whose film Family Romance LLC is playing as a part of the Cannes Fest as a special screening.


The interview is here.


LAURA DERN/TRIAL BY FIRE

Katie Kilkenny does an interview for The Hollywood Reporter with Oscar nominee Laura Dern talking about her new film that played at TFF #45.  That's ed Zwick's Trial by Fire which also stars Jack O'Connell.

The interview with Dern is Linked here.



JOHN CHESTER/BIG LITTLE FARM

Joshua Encinias writing for The Film Stage talks with John Chester for of Big Little Farm.  The documentary played at TFF #45 and made a big impression on everyone who I talked to who had seen it.

That interview is here.


More to come on Thursday.

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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.

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Narrowing the Field / Nuggets About The Irishman / Fremaux and Cannes' Insights

Welcome back from the holiday weekend...

NARROWING THE FIELD

I teased on my April 11th post that I have been asked to be a part of a "Best of the Decade" project and posted the list of 20 films I came up with to work from.

The completed project is set to come out next month sometime and as the organizer has let the cat out of the bag, I am assuming that I can too.

If you're on Twitter you may have seen this tweet the last week from Jordan Ruimy who runs the World of Reel website:

So...connecting the dots...yes, I'm one of Ruimy's "200".

As you may remember from my earlier post, these were my top 20 2010 films:

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


And further...time to winnow my list down from 20 to 10.  Chronologically, here are my 10 best of the 2010's:

2010- True Grit
2011- The Tree of Life, Shame, A Separation
2013- 12 Years a Slave, Inside Llewyn Davis
2014- Birdman
2015- Son of Saul
2017- Lady Bird, Dunkirk

I'll have my top five soon...


NUGGETS ABOUT THE IRISHMAN

Joe Pesci and Martin Scorsese on the set of The Irishman (via Phillip Vaughn/Shutterstock and Indiewire)

Perhaps the most anticipated film of 2019 is Martin Scorsese's The Irishman.  The film is being produced by Netflix which gives at least some hope that it could possibly make the Venice/Telluride couplet in a few months.

Recently Indiewire's Zack Sharf wrote about an interview with one of the film's producers: Jane Rosenthal.  Rosenthal revealed some small bits of information and insight about the upcoming mob flick from the director of Goodfellas and The Departed.

You can find that story linked here.


FREMAUX AND CANNES' INSIGHTS

Cannes Film Fest artistic director Thierry Fremaux had a conversation over the weekend with Indiewire's Eric Kohn about the 2019 lineup for the venerable festival. 

Among topics discussed: Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in ...Hollywood, The Truth and Rocketman.

And it should come as no surprise that there are further films that will be added to the various sections that make up the total program for Cannes #72.

The Kohn/Fremaux interview is linked here.

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


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

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Cannes Lineups Announced / Anderson, VR and Cannes

Welcome to Thursday...Time to open the Cannes...

Sorry.


CANNES LINEUPS ANNOUNCED

In the Palme d'Or competition:

Pain and Glory (Almodovar)
The Traitor (Bellocchio)
The Wild Goose Lake (Yinan)
Parasite (Joon-ho)

Young Ahmed (The Dardennes)
Oh Mercy! (Desplechin)
Fire Next Time (Diop)
Matthias and Maxime (Dolan)
Little Joe (Hausner)
The Dead Don't Die (Jarmusch)
Sorry We Missed You (Loach)
Les miserables (Yi)

A Hidden Life (Malick)
Nighthawk (Filho and Dornelles)
The Whistlers (Porumboiu)
Frankie (Sachs)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Sciamma)
It Must Be Heaven (Suleiman)
Sybil (Triet)

Un Certain Regard:

Invisible Life
Beanpole
The Swallows of Kabul
The Brother's Love
The Climb
Jeanne
A Sun That Never Sets
Room 212
Port Authority
Papicha
Adam
Zhou Ren Mi Mi
Liberte
Bull
Summer of Changsha


Special Screenings:

Tommaso
Share
For Sama
Etre Vivant et le Savior
Family Romance LLC


Out of Competition

Rocketman
The Best Years of a Life
Too Old to Die Young
Diego Maradona
Le Belle Epoque

Midnight Screening:

The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil

The complete lineup is here from The Film Stage


My best guess-sight unseen-of Cannes' films that could make the jump to Telluride:  Young Ahmed, Family Romance LLC (Herzog), Matthias and Maxime, Sorry We Missed You and A Hidden Life.

Notable films that many thought might make the lineup but didn't (at least yet) :

The Truth, Midsommar, Wendy and First Cow.  Most noticeable was the absence of Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood.  Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux said the film was not ready though did suggest that the door was still open should Tarantino finish before the festival kicks off on May 14.

And, as was true last year, Netflix will not have any films in any section of the fest.

The Hollywood Reporter covers omissions here.




ANDERSON, VR AND CANNES

One title that we had heard earlier this week that would play during the Director's Fortnight  is Laurie Anderson's Virtual Reality project Go Where You Look: Falling Off Snow Mountain.  The project will consist of three installations according to Michael Nordine writing for Indiewire.  The installations are: Aloft, Chalkroom and To the Moon.

Anderson has collaborated with Hsin-Chien Huang to create the project.

TFF #45 scored Eliza McNitt's Spheres VR presentation last year, which leads me to believe that another VR presentation could easily be part of the TFF #46 lineup and Anderson certainly has been involved with Telluride.  Her most recent TFF presence was in 2015 with her documentary Heart of a Dog.  Anderson also continues to be one of TFF's "Esteemed Council of Advisors".

Indiewire's story about Anderson's VR installation at Cannes is linked here.



More on Monday...

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Late Breaking: Cannes #72 Poster Honors Varda / Final Set of Program Dedications / Peterloo Arrives / More Cannes Spec / The Burns Country Tour Continues

Good Monday to everyone.  Writing on my phone today as I have been art showing in Texas.

LATE BREAKING: CANNES #72 POSTER HONORS VARDA

Just released is the poster for the 72nd edition of Cannes featuring late film maker Agnes Varda.  Here it is:

FINAL SET OF PROGRAM DEDICATIONS

Here’s the last set of program dedications from TFF that I can find.  It appears that the fest began the feature of dedicating programs in 1990.
So, to complete the list I begin sharing last week here are the first few dedications from 1990-1997:


#24 1997- James Stewart
#23 1996- Louis Malle
#22 1995- Kathleen Tynan
#21 1994- Dennis Potter
#20 1993- Gary Essert
#19 1992-Nestor Almendros and Marion Zunz
#18 1991- Joel McCrea
#17 1990- Michael Powell



PETERLOO ARRIVES

Mike Leigh’s historical epic that played at TFF 45 last Labor Day opened in the United States Last weekend. As a result there has been a modicum of P.R. material appearing to coincide with it release.
The film was modestly received at T-ride and critically since then.

Leigh talked about the film in a recent post from J. Don Birnam writing for Awards Circuit.  You can find that interview linked here.



MORE CANNES SPEC

Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere has a post up with more speculation/predictions about which films will be named Thursday to the lineup for the 72nd Cannes Film Festival.

Included among the titles is the first mention that I’ve seen that Cannes might include if Jay Roach’s examination former of Fox News head Roger Ailes.
The film, titled Fair and Balanced, is reported by IMDb as “expected Dec. 20th and stars John Lithgow as Ailes.
Margot Robbie, Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman also star.
Also mentioned in the Wells article Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield,  Pablo Larrain’s Ema, Danielle Lesowitz’s Port Authority, Cristi Puiu’s Manor House and Marco Bellochio’s The Traitor.

Any of those films might be part of a Cannes-Telluride one-two punch.
As many of you know, Cannes and Telluride will often share an average of 7-8 films so this week’s Cannes lineup announcement should give us a lot to ponder as we look forward to TFF #46.
Wells’ post can be found here.



THE BURNS COUNTRY TOUR CONTINUES

(Photo of Johnny Cash from Episode 5 of Country Music via Sony Music Archives and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

The Ken Burns Country Music Tour (at least that's what I', calling it) to bring attention to his forthcoming documentary about the history of country and western music in the United States is making another stop.  This time in Pittsburgh on Wednesday of this week.  As a part pf that stop, Burns did a solid interview with Scott Mervis for The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Burns doc is scheduled to launch on PBS a couple of weeks after the Telluride Film Festival (Sept. 15th) leading me to think that Telluride might be the final stop on "the tour".

The Post-Gazette article can be seen here.


That's a wrap on your Monday MTFB.  I'll be back on Thursday.  That post may well come a little later in the day so that I can do a bit of an entry on the Cannes lineup which will largely be announced that day.


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Indiewire's Cannes Wish List / Herzog on Gorbachev / More Country Music News

Welcome to Thursday...


INDIEWIRE'S CANNES WISH LIST

As we edge closer to the official announcement of the Cannes Film Festival lineup Indiewire has published its list of 50 films on their wish list for the 72nd edition of the French film affair.

Again, Scorsese's The Irishman and other Netflix titles are off the list and also likely off the Cannes list is James Gray's As Astra.

Among the 50 films that are on the Indiewire's hopefuls are these that I think seem Telluride-possible.  Most of the following titles have now become repeat mentions from previous Cannes' speculation pieces.  Alphabetically, those films are:

Ahmed (The Dardennes Brothers)
Ema (Pablo Larrain)
First Cow (Kelly Reichardt)
One Second (Zhang Yimou)
Radegund (Terrence Malick)
The Truth (Hirokazu Kore-eda)


The complete Indiewire list is here.


HERZOG ON GORBACHEV

Herzog at the Kremlin (via The Orchard and Indiewire)

Indiewire's Christian Blauvelt sat down with legendary filmmaker and Telluride "Esteemed Council of Advisors" member (and who has a TFF theater named for him) Werner Herzog last week to talk about his latest documentary film Meeting Gorbachev which premiered at TFF #45 last September.

Herzog's exploration of the former Russian/Soviet leader is scheduled for a May 3rd U.S. release from The Orchard.

The Indiewire interview with Herzog also includes an exclusive look at a trailer for the film.

You can find that interview here.


MORE COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS

The Tennessean reports that Ken Burns will donate a trove of the interviews that he and his crew have done for the upcoming PBS documentary Country Music to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Burns is currently in the midst of promoting the 8 part 16 hour doc before it screens on PBS on  September 15th.

Burns past extensive connection to Telluride and his frequent presence at the festival with various projects leads me to think that there is a better than fair chance that at least some of the doc will bow at TFF #46 over the Labor Day weekend.

The Tennessean reports that Burns will be donating all of the recorded interviews and transcripts from over 40 artists.

The complete Tennessean article is linked here.


That will do for today.  I'll have more on Monday.

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I'm Back / Netflix and Cannes: The Breakup Continues / Malick at Cannes and Then... / Schiller Talks Telluride and More / Lucy in the Sky Teaser / Burn's Country Music / New Pic of Hanks as Rogers

Spring Break has concluded...

I'M BACK

After a ten day hiatus MTFB is back today after having spent Spring Break doing this and that.  Spent some of the break in NYC.  Saw Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird with Jeff Daniels.  It's nearly perfect.  Saw Bryan Cranston in Network...Cranston is phenomenal.  Did some other stuff.

It was good to step away for a few days, but I'm back now as we head our way to the announcement of the films that will play at Cannes which really does begin the Telluride speculation season on some earnest.   Here we go...


NETFLIX AND CANNES: THE BREAKUP CONTINUES

While I was away we found out that Netflix will again have zero films playing at the Cannes Film Fest in May.  The impasse that created that situation last year has not been resolved and as such, Netflix apparently will not be bringing any films to France in any of the programs.

That was reported in a  number pf places this past week including this from Variety.

In addition, as it turns out, the big fish in Netflix's barrel this season, Martin Scorsese's The Irishman reportedly wouldn't be ready anyway.  It seems that there is still far too much effects work to be done.  That according to Zack Sharf writing at Indiewire.

Sharf writes that a Venice premiere at this point seems the safest bet.  That would still seem to leave the door open for a screening at Telluride much in the way Netflix played Cuaron's Roma last year (and Searchlight did Shape of Water the year before).

My take is still some serious wariness.  Scorsese hasn't been at Telluride in decades.  I wouldn't be surprised if it played Venice and Venice alone or skipped fests all together. 

Still, Collider's Adam Chitwood suggests a run for the film through the Venice, Telluride, Toronto (maybe New York) gauntlet.


MALICK AT CANNES AND THEN...

And speaking of Cannes...there's a growing consensus that  Terrence Malick will return to Cannes in May with his latest film Radegund.  It's a film I have been stalking for quite some time mostly because it's Malick doing a film with a reportedly more traditionally narrative structure that tells the true story of an Austrian conscientious objector during World War II.

I'm hoping, that after a spate of films that haven't exactly been embraced (since Tree of Life) that this will be the path back to critical success for the auteur. 

Charles Barfield writing for The Playlist suggests that Cannes will screen the new film. That story is linked here.

Should that come to pass, the questions would be: does it play any other fests and which distributor picks it up?

I'll keep an eye on it.

SCHILLER TALKS TELLURIDE, FILM AND MORE?

Friend of the blog and multi-hyphenate Christopher Schiller was featured this week on The Weekend Take podcast with Shawn Schaffer.  Schiller runs down a number of topics including a love letter to the Telluride Film Festival.

You can find Schiller's guest stint and The Weekend Take podcast at iTunes at this link.



LUCY IN THE SKY TEASER


Here's the teaser from YouTube:

The Hollywood Reporter

First Showing

The Playlist

Indiewire




BURNS' COUNTRY MUSIC

The Asheville, NC  Citizen Times reports that Ken Burns is going to screen some moments of his new documentary on country music in Asheville next week (on April 2 on the UNC-Asheville campus).  It's yet another sign that, although the entire 16 hour doc may not be ready in its entirety, there's plenty of it to show to an audience.

This roll out in various parts in various places continues to make me think that a presentation of some of it over Labor Day weekend in T-ride  is a realistic possibility.

The Citizen Times article is linked here.



NEW PIC OF HANKS AS ROGERS

And to celebrate what would have been Fred Rogers 91st birthday, TriStar released a new photo from the set of A Beautiful Day in the neighborhood starring Tom Hanks as Rogers.

Here's the new photo:

The film is directed by Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) and is set for U.S. release on Nov. 22nd.

That's your "Spring Break Is Over Return Issue" of MTFB.  I'll have more on Thursday.


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A U.S. Trailer for Non-Fiction / A Bit More Thinking About Cannes / Out of Pocket

Welcome to Thursday...


A U.S. TRAILER FOR NON-FICTION

Last week Sundance Selects dropped a new U.S. trailer for Olivier Assayas' latest film which ran the festival gamut last fall debuting at Venice then playing Telluride, Toronto and New York.  The film is scheduled to open here in the states on May 3rd.

Non-Fiction stars Juliette Binoche and Guillaume Canet.


Here's the new trailer via YouTube:

I have linked a story about the U.S. trailer release from Jordan Raup writing at The Film Stage.  That link is here.

Non-Fiction's IMDb page is linked here.

Assayas is currently filming his next film Wasp Network.


 A BIT MORE THINKING ABOUT CANNES

Jordan Ruimy writing at his blog World of Reel recently shared a couple of thoughts about films that could make the 72nd Cannes Film Festival lineup.  Chief among them is his claim that multiple sources are suggesting that Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie will likely make the lineup and may well play in competition for the Palme d'Or and could also be the opening night film.

Ruimy also tosses in a couple of other titles that I have my eye on as potential Cannes/Telluride crossovers The Dardennes brothers' Ahmed chief among them.

I have linked Ruimy's reporting here.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood's IMDb page is here.

Ahmed's IMDb page is here.


OUT OF POCKET

That's your MTFB for this Thursday.  I'm going to be out of pocket for the next few days as I go on spring break.  MTFB will return in full force on Monday, Mar. 25th.


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The Cannes Speculation Begins / But Not This One? / And on a Related Note...Venice-Netflix? / Early Oscar Analysis

Welcome back for the weekend...Did you Spring Forward?  I sort of shambled forward...


THE CANNES SPECULATION BEGINS

With the Cannes Film Festival just a couple of months away, it's time to start thinking in a serious fashion what could play as part of their programs with an eye, then. to those films that could bow in France and then have their North American unveiling over Labor Day weekend in the Colorado Rockies.

To that end, you may have notice The Hollywood Reporter's analysis this week of 50 films that their authors say have a shot at making the 2019 Cannes lineup.

Casting an eye over that moderately extensive list of films, these are the titles that jump out at me as worth a glance as we look for films that could make the TFF #45 program (click on the title to go to its IMDb page):

Against All Enemies dir: Benedict Andrews

Ahmed dir: The Dardennes Brothers

The Truth dir: Hirokazu Koreeda

Ema dir. Pablo Larrain

Radegund dir. Terrence Malick (admittedly more a wish than a prophecy)

First Cow dir: Kelly Reichardt

The Laundromat dir. Stephen Soderbergh

 Of course, there are a number of others listed in the THR article that intrigue and could certainly pop up both in France and Telluride.  The complete THR article is linked here.


BUT NOT THIS ONE?

One film listed in the preceding THR linked story is Martin Scorsese's much anticipated Netflix backed gangster drama The Irishman.  Interestingly, within a day of its publication, ShowBiz411 reported that The Irishman will NOT be ready to make an appearance at Cannes.

Roger Friedman headlines his story from Thursday with "Confirmed: No Irishman at Cannes".  In the body of the story Friedman writes "The film is shot...but the special effects will take months."  Friedman also implies that The Irishman might eschew fall fests altogether which would certainly fit Scorsese's recent M.O.

The complete ShowBiz411 post is linked here.


AND ON A RELATED AND GAME CHANGING NOTE...VENICE/NETFLIX?

Eric Kohn wrote a piece this last week at Indiewire which explores where the Cannes/Netflix relationship is and may be headed.  In it he reports that the Venice International Film Festival may be following Cannes path in regards to screening of Netflix films as the battle over how various entities, Festivals and the Oscars particularly, deal with the films that are produced by the streaming giant.

Kohn reports that a recently signed law in Italy that would establish guidelines for theatrical distribution of films there that are similar to the laws in France which have been the central issue in the ongoing Netflix-Cannes confrontation.

Kohn writes, "The Lido may off limits to Netflix in the coming year".  Additionally, he speculates  that that turn of events could conceivably benefit Telluride (and Toronto) writing that it "could be very good" for both fests.

The full paragraph from Kohn is a s follows:

"Netflix doesn’t necessarily need a bump from the festival for its most anticipated films. “Roma” found plenty of acclaim at Venice, Telluride, and Toronto. The Lido may be off-limits to Netflix in the coming year, as Italy’s Minister of Culture Albert Bonisoli signed a law in November requiring theatrical windows in the country similar to the rule in France. But Telluride and Toronto, both of which declined comment for this story, continue to maintain close relationships with Netflix and remain tangible fall launchpads for awards-season hopefuls."

The complete Kohn story is linked here.



EARLY OSCAR ANALYSIS

Also from Indiewire this week is a peak at early Oscar speculation from their resident Oscar guru Anne Thompson.  The article focuses specifically on directors that she perceives might be on the Oscar short list in the months after Telluride comes to a close but still gives us some good fodder for thinking about films that might make their way to the San Juans.

On her list that might be worth our contemplation (and, as above, linked to their IMDb page):

Noah Baumbach' Untitled Project (starring Adam Driver)

Greta Gerwig's Little Women

Noah Hawley's Lucy in the Sky

Marielle Heller's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Hirokazu Koreeda's The Truth (mentioned and linked above)

Dee Ree's The Last Thing He Wanted

Jay Roach's Fair and Balanced

Martin Scorsese's The Irishman (if it's ready and fall fests are even a part of its release strategy...see above)

Joe Wright's The Woman in the Window

Thompson's complete Indiewire story is linked here.


That's today's MTFB.  More on Thursday.


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

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Awards Circuit's First Predix for Oscar 2020 / A Tease for The Irishman / Inarritu to Preside Over Cannes / Trial by Fire Acquired

Good post-Oscar Thursday...


AWARDS CIRCUIT'S FIRST PREDIX FOR OSCAR 2020

Clayton Davis is all over it as he and his website, Awards Circuit, are already up with, what I believe is, the first serious pass at predicting Oscar nominees for Best Picture for next year.

Davis has a really good record of sniffing out Oscar potential this early and as such, gives us some hints about films that might have the pedigree necessary to be considered as possible TFF #46 selections.

Davis runs down a fairly substantial list of films and ends the article with a "pre-season" top ten of possible Best Picture nominees.  Without giving away the entire list of ten films, here are those included that, at first blush, feel like they have the most Telluride prospects:

Marielle Heller's Mr. Rogers biopic starring Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

John Crowley's The Goldfinch based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book starring Nicole Kidman.

Kasi Lemmon's Harriet based on the life of Underground Railroad pioneer Harriet Tubman starring Cynthia Erivo.

And...just because I think Netflix might try to follow the path they used with Roma, Martin Scorsese's The Irishman (see below).  The story of a mob hitman who may have killed Jimmy Hoffa.  For Scorsese, the old gang came back together as the film stars Robert DeNiro, Harvey Keitel and Joe Pesci with the addition of Al Pacino.

Among the other films that Davis discusses that didn't make it to his initial top ten list are these which also seem to make some sense for TFF:

Greta Gerwig's Little Women
Joe Wright's The Woman in the Window
Hirokazu Koreeda's The Truth
Scott Cooper's Antlers
Bill Condon's The Good Liar

Additionally, Davis makes predictions for each of the other 23 categories.

The entire article is linked here.


A TEASE FOR THE IRISHMAN

Perhaps this is Martin Scorsese' Great White Whale.  It's reportedly in post-production and there are rumors that it could well be headed to Cannes (if Cannes and Netflix can reach some sort of arrangement) or maybe Venice.

As I mentioned above, I think we have to at least consider the chance that the film makes its way to Telluride so I'll continue to keep an eye on it.

Consequently, if you didn't notice earlier this week, The Irishman and Netflix dropped a teaser.  Here it is via YouTube:

I also linked some of the coverage the came out with the teaser's release from:

Indiewire

The Playlist

Trailer Track


INARRITU TO PRESIDE OVER CANNES

Speaking of Cannes...the prestigious film festival announced this week that four time Oscar winning director/writer Alejandro Inarritu will preside over this year's Palme d'Or jury.  Inarritu has, over the years, been a staple of the Cannes' lineup in various sections and with multiple films.

Inarritu has also been a frequent presence at Telluride both in the capacity as presenting one of his own films but also as a fan and supporter of his fellow amigos Guillermo Del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron.

Inarritu was first represented at Cannes in 2000 with his first feature Amores Perros.

Here's Variety's story about the announcement.


TRIAL BY FIRE IS ACQUIRED

Roadside Attractions has acquired TFF #45 entrant Trial by Fire from director Ed Zwick.  The film stars Laura Dern and Jack O'Connell and is based on an article from author David Grann.  Trial by Fire was one of two films at last year's fest that was based on material written by Grann.  The other was David Lowery's The Old Man and the Gun starring Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek.

Coverage of the acquisition and plans to release the film this spring are addressed in the following:

The Hollywood Reporter

Deadline

The Wrap



That's today's MTFB.  I'll another go at this on Monday.

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

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