Acquisition News/Trailers and Clips from Cannes/Another Critical Take on Cannes/TFF #42?

Good Thursday to all...


ACQUISITION NEWS

Still from "Clouds of Sils Maria"

Post Cannes there has been considerable movement toward distributors buying the rights for U.S. distribution of a number of Cannes titles.  Some of those acquisitions may boost a film's chances at a Telluride play while others probably diminish that potential.

Case in point of the latter...Magnolia picked up two very well received titles in the past few days:  "Force Majeure" (Turist) and "White God", the top prize winner from the Un Certain Regard section.  While their representation by Magnolia doesn't eliminate those films from Telluride consideration, I can find only two films from them that have played Telluride in the last five years: "The Hunt" and "A Royal Affair" both played in 2012 (also both featured Mads Mikkelsen who was tributed that year).  So, you know, it's possible that we'd see one or both of these films...but if history is any guide; it's not incredibly likely.

I've linked the story about the "White God" acquisition from Variety:

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/cannes-prize-winner-white-god-fetches-north-american-distribution-1201193008/


and from IndieWire for "Force Majeure":

http://www.indiewire.com/article/magnolia-pictures-wins-distribution-for-un-certain-regard-winner-force-majeure

Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Kristian Levring's "The Salvation" starring the aforementioned Mads Mikkelsen has been acquired by IFC films.  IFC also has distribution for other Cannes #67 titles including "Clouds of Sils Maria" and  "Bird People".  IFC also has Richard Linklater's Sundance hit "Boyhood".  The IFC profile at Telluride independently is noticeable (and their connection/partnership with Sundance Selects opens the door a bit more).  IFC had "Frances Ha" at TFF in 2012, "Into the Abyss" and "Pina" in 2011 and "Carlos" and "The Princess of Montpensier" in 2010.  Those films featured directors who have had a history with Telluride.  All of which may mean that "Clouds" is a more likely prospect today than it has been up to now.

Here's the news about IFC for "The Salvation":

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-ifc-films-nabs-kristian-706178

Meanwhile, THR also reports that "Timbuktu" which was critically well received but shut out of the prizes at Cannes has been picked up by The Cohen Media Group.

This probably reduces chances of Telluride attendees seeing the film as I can find no mention of any film distributed by CMG that has played Telluride previously.  Too bad, as I had become a bit intrigued by the film after reading about it in the reports from Cannes.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-cohen-media-group-takes-706990


Finally...reiterating some reporting from earlier, Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the documentary "Salt of the Earth" as well as Cannes screenplay winner "Leviathan".  Most years I would tell you that that news would move both films right to the top of the Telluride "possibles" list (and it does make their presence at TFF #41 more likely) but SPC has such a large stable of films on their plate that parsing what makes the trip to the San Juans becomes a difficult task.  At present IMDb lists these titles as SPC properties (that have no set release date or a release date that would accommodate a T-ride screening);

"Salt of the Earth"
"Leviathan"
"Red Army"
"Jimmy's Hall"
"Foxcatcher"
"Wild Tales"
"Coming Home"
"Mr. Turner"
"Saint Laurent"
"Aloft"

SPC had five films at TFF #40: "Tim's Vermeer", "The Invisible Woman", "The Lunchbox", "Jodorowsky's Dune" and "The Past". Five films per year is roughly the SPC average at T-ride. Their TFF footprint is always substantial (check out their ten year track record from my June 24th post from last summer).  The challenge is which five of these ten films make the trip?

Here are the stories on the acquisitions of "Salt of the Earth" and "Leviathan":

http://variety.com/2014/film/festivals/sony-pictures-classics-buys-cannes-favorite-leviathan-exclusive-1201191129/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-sony-pictures-classics-acquires-707058


TRAILERS AND CLIPS FROM CANNES

I've put together a quick section of links to stories/posts and trailers that have been late releases at the end of the Cannes fest:

"Two Days, One Night" from Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/two-days-one-night-trailer-dardennes-marion-cotillard

"Winter Sleep" from The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-trailer-for-longest-cannes-contender-nuri-bilge-ceylans-winter-sleep-plus-5-minute-making-of-video-20140505

"Clouds of Sils Maria" from The Dissolve:

http://thedissolve.com/news/2321-olivier-assayas-cannes-competition-title-clouds-of/

Clips from "The Blue Room" also from The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/cannes-review-mathieu-amalric-directs-and-stars-in-elegant-but-airless-the-blue-room-20140526


ANOTHER CRITICAL TAKE ON CANNES

IndieWire published its critical takeaway from Cannes #67 this week.  You can find it here:

http://www.indiewire.com/survey/best-films-and-performances-from-cannes-2014/

A quick summary:  Their critic's panel chose "Two Days, One Night" as Best Film,   Anne Dorval as Best Lead Performance for "Mommy", Kristen Stewart for Best Supporting Performance for "Clouds of Sils Maria", Xavier Dolan for Best Director for "Mommy" and "Leviathan" for Best Screenplay.

TFF 42?

Michael Haneke via IMDb

And word the last couple of days that Michael Haneke has new film project planned to begin shooting this summer.  Should it come to pass, put it on your Telluride watch list for 2015 as Haneke films have made a number of appearances at the festival over the years including "White Ribbon " and "Amour".  The new film is entitled "Flashmob" and at least for the time being and sounds like an unlikely project for the auteur.

From The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/michael-hanekes-next-film-flashmob-reportedly-shoots-this-summer-20140527

More on Monday as I'll begin the six-posts-a -week schedule for MTFB as we move into the final three month  countdown to TFF #41.

Cannes in the Can/The Cannes Critique/Cannesalysis

Welcome to Monday!

CANNES IN THE CAN

They're done in France.  The 67th Cannes Film Festival came to a close Sunday with re-screenings of films from throughout the week.  Saturday evening the Jane Campion-led Palme jury announced its choices for prizes:

Palme d'Or: "Winter Sleep" dir: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Grand Prix: "The Wonders" dir: Alice Rohrwacher
Jury Prize: (Tie) Goodbye to Language" dir; Jean-Luc Godard and "Mommy" dir: Xavier Dolan
Director: Bennett Miller, "Foxcatcher"
Screenplay: "Leviathan"
Best Actress: Julianne Moore, "Maps to the Stars"
Best Actor: Timothy Spall, "Mr. Turner"

Un Certain Regard prizes included:

UCR Prize: "White God" dir: Kornel Mundruczo
Jury Prize: Turist (Force Majeure) dir: Ruben Ostland
Special Prize: "Salt of the Earth" dir: Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribiero Salgado
Ensemble: "Party Girl"
Actor: David Gulpilil, "Charlie's Country"


Check the complete list of all prizes for all sections here from Variety:

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/winter-sleep-wins-palme-dor-cannes-1201191262/


THE CANNES CRITIQUE

Here are the final critical compilations for the 67th Cannes Film Fest  with the top three films listed for each source:

Ioncinema:

1) Two Days, One Night
2) (tie) Mr. Turner
2) (tie) Winter Sleep

http://www.ioncinema.com/news/film-festivals/2014-cannes-critics-panel-day-9-assayas-doubles-down-with-sils-maria-zvyagintsev-drinks-to-sweet-tragic-notes-with-leviathan

From http://cannes-rurban.rhcloud.com/2014

1) Goodbye to Language
2) Winter Sleep
3) Two Days, One Night

From http://www.todaslascriticas.com.ar/cannes

1) Goodbye to Language
2) Winter Sleep
3) Clouds of Sils Maria

And from http://criticsroundup.com/cannes-2014/

1) (tie) Two Days, One Night
1) (tie) Wild Things
3) Goodbye to Language


Critically, the big winners seem to have been: Godard's "Goodbye to Language" (Jury Prize), "Winter Sleep" (Palme d'Or) and "Two Days, One Night" (bupkes). The Dardennes snub seems curious.  I would have thought Cotillard was a lock for Best Actress if the jury wasn't awarding the film an overall prize.

"Out of Competition" films that did well in critical analysis:

From the Un Certain Regard section both "The Blue Room" and "Juaja" did very well with critics...neither were prize winners.

"How to Train Your Dragon 2", "Silver Watered-Syria Self Portrait", "The Owners", "Maidan", "Cold in July", "Gett" , "National Gallery", "A Hard Day", "Mange Tes Mort", "Le Counte De La Princesse Kaguya", "P'tit Quinquin", "It Follows", "Red Army" and "The Kindergarten Teacher" all received steady critical acclaim.

CANNESALYSIS

And after the two weeks at Cannes are done...what do we know vis-a-vis the 41st Telluride Film Festival.  Mostly that the films that I thought were likely are probably still likely.  The acquisitions of Sony Pictures Classics of "Leviathan", "Jimmy's Hall", "Saint Laurent" and "Wild Tales" during the festival raises their T-ride profile. As of yesterday, SPC had also acquired "Salt of the Earth".

Going into Cannes, I had been pointing at certain films that, assuming they played well, had a reasonably good Telluride profile.  It seems to me that "Mr. Turner" and "Two days, One Night" fit that bill.  Through the course of the I think "Leviathan" and "Red Army" both became very real possibilities.

I suspect that both Dolan's "Mommy" and Cronenberg's "Maps to the Stars" will exclusive to the Toronto fest.  I don't have any insider info, it just feels that way to me.

"Foxcatcher" remains something of an enigma.  It all depends on how SPC perceives its Oscar chances as a result of a Telluride play and the expectation that should they play the film at Telluride that it will play Toronto in a less-than -prime slot.

Of course, they could chose to bypass Toronto altogether as "Nebraska", "Inside Llewyn Davis" and "All is Lost" did last year (all three played in Cannes as well).  Though you could make a strong case that that strategy didn't work particularly well.

As to Oscar repercussions...from Cannes...."Foxcatcher" and "Mr. Turner" seemed to be the most likely films with that potential before and after the fest.  I expect a number of films to be a part of the Foreign Language film Oscar convo depending on what countries make which choices.  For example, "Leviathan" seems like a no-brainer as the choice for Russia in terms of quality but its critique of the Mother country is not likely to sit well in Putin's "throwback" Russia.

It'll be fun to watch this summer.

SPEAKING OF SUMMER

I'll be back to a six-post-a week schedule beginning next Monday, June 2.  Let the full tilt Telluride obsession begin!

More on Thursday!

#Cannes2014 Palme d'Or talk focuses on Leviathan, Winter Sleep, Two Days and Mommy. Check the odds: http://www.jigsawlounge.co.uk/film/reviews/cannes2014bet/ …

#Cannes2014 Palme d'Or talk focuses on Leviathan, Winter Sleep, Two Days and Mommy. Check the odds: http://www.jigsawlounge.co.uk/film/reviews/cannes2014bet/ …

Cannes Down the Homestretch/Acquisition News from France/Early Oscar Talk: Foxcatcher

Good Thursday to Everyone...

CANNES DOWN THE HOMESTRETCH

As I type this morning the Cannes Film Festival is leaning toward its finish line.  About the time I publish this morning, the first non-press screening of Xavier Dolan's "Mommy" should just about be finished screening which just leaves two more films to screen in competition.  Award winners are set to be announced Saturday evening in France which is mid-day Saturday here in the States.

Of key concern to those of us with an eye toward Telluride are three things from the two week "granddaddy of all film fests"...1) The critical reactions, 2) the award winners and 3) the deals made by distributors that might be inclined to push a film for T-ride.

So...the critical reaction thus far...

I have been tracking four different Cannes critic trackers these last ten days or so.  Here's where they are in terms of the "top five" films in the Palme d'Or competition category.


Cannes Critics Ratings top five thus far:

1) "Goodbye to Language"/Godard (8.67)
2) "Two Days, One Night"/Dardenne Brothers (7.75)
3) "Winter Sleep"/Ceylan (7.61)
4) "Mommy"/Dolan (7.10)
5) "Timbuktu"/Sissako (6.93)

That complete chart is here:

http://cannes-rurban.rhcloud.com/2014

Ioncinema's Critics Panel has (which hasn't registered enough response yet for either "Mommy" or "Goodbye to Language):
1) "Two Days, One Night"/Dardenne Brothers (4.0)
2) (tie) "Mr. Turner"/Leigh (3.5)
2) (tie) "Winter Sleep"/Ceylan (3.5)
4) "Timbuktu"/Sissako (3.3)
5) "Foxcatcher"/Miller (3.2)

The complete chart from Ioncinema is here:

http://www.ioncinema.com/news/film-festivals/2014-cannes-critics-panel-day-6-dardennes-receive-a-bonus-with-two-days-one-night-still-the-water-floats

Total Critics from South America has it looking like this:

1) "Goodbye to Language"/Godard (9.25)
2) "Winter Sleep"/Ceylan (7.71)
3) "Two Days, One Night"/Dardennes Brothers (7.35)
4) "The Wonders"/Rohrbacher (6.79)
5) "Timbuktu"/Sissako (6.68)

Check the full roundup here:

http://www.todaslascriticas.com.ar/cannes


Finally, Critics Round Up has it this way:

1) Two Days, One Night"/Dardennes Brothers (94)
2) "Wild Tales"/Szifron (93)
3) "Timbuktu"/Sissako (84)
4) "The Wonders"/Rohrbacher (83)
5) "Mr. Turner"/Leigh (81)

Their complete look at Cannes is here;

http://criticsroundup.com/cannes-2014/


I have also collected all of these ratings for the 13 films (of the 18 in competition) to arrive at a consensus chart.

1) "Two Days, One Night"
2) "Winter Sleep"
3) "Timbuktu"
4) ""Mr. Turner"
5) "The Wonders"
6) "Foxcatcher"
7) "Wild Tales"
8) "Maps to the Stars"
9) "Saint Laurent"
10) "The Homesman"
11) "Still the Waters"
12) "Captives"
13) "The Search"

Note:  Late news this morning is that Dolan's "Mommy" is getting good reviews across the board and Jean Luc Godard's "Goodbye to Language" is getting great reviews.


Meanwhile, the three highest praised films from the festival's Un Certain Regard section have been Mathieu Amalric's "The Blue Room", Lisandro Alonso's "Jauja" and Jessica Hausner's "Amour Fou".


ACQUISITION NEWS FROM FRANCE

In a move that signals that we might want to to put Ken Loach's "Jimmy's Hall" on our Telluride radar, Sony Pictures Classics has picked up the U.S. distribution for that film.  "Jimmy's Hall" screened at Cannes in the Palme competition section this morning.  Here are reports about the SPC acquisition from The Hollywood Reporter and Variety:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-ken-loachs-jimmys-hall-705840

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/cannes-sony-classics-acquires-ken-loachs-jimmys-hall-1201187214/

"Jimmy's Hall" trailer via YouTube/Coming Soon

SPC has also acquired the Yves St. Laurent biopic "Saint Laurent" during the festival and "Wild Tales".

EARLY OSCAR TALK...FOXCATCHER

Steve Carell in "Foxcatcher" via The Hollywood Reporter

IndieWire/CriticWire have echoed the claim that we've already seen in a lot of laces which is that Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher" is likely the most Oscar-y film from the Cannes films.  Take a look at their compendium of critical response from Cannes:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/criticwire/foxcatcher-steve-carell-channing-tatum-bennett-miller-cannes-review

I'll have Cannes updates through the next few days via this space and Twitter (@Gort2), otherwise...More on Monday...

Cannes at Half Time/Cannes and the Critics/Foxcatcher Clip/Cannes Acquisitions/Outside Llewyn Davis

Welcome to Monday...

CANNES AT HALF TIME

As I post this morning, the 67th Cannes Film Festival has reached the halfway point as measured by the number of films in the Palme d'Or competition section have screened.  Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher" rolled out in France this morning...which for us here in the States means about six-ish hours ago.  As I type, David Cronenberg's "Maps to the Stars" should just about be finished with its first screening.  The two films will have been the ninth and tenth of the 18 competition films to play.  I'm very interested to see the critical reaction for both of them as the day progresses.  Both films have some possibility of playing in Telluride this Labor Day.

The films that I will be closely tracking in the second half of the Palme eligible films are:

Michel Hazanvicius' "The Search", The Dardennes Brothers' "Two Days, One Night", Jean Luc Godard's "Goodbye to Language" and Olivier Assayas' "Clouds of Sils Maria"

Looking back on the first half of the fest, here's what has jumped out at me.

Lots of people early on have speculated that Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "Winter Sleep" might be the picture to beat for the Palme and it seems to have a substantial critical reception as well (this for a three+ hour, dialogue driven film...).  Also faring well in the early going critic-wise: Mike Leigh's "Mr. Turner" and "Timbuktu".  Pilloried by the critics: Opening Night (non-competition film) "Grace of Monaco" and Atom Egoyan's "Captives"

In the Un Certain Regard section, films that seem to have done well: Mathieu Amalric's "The Blue Room" and Lisandro Alonso's "Jauja" starring Viggo Mortensen.


CANNES AND THE CRITICS

And speaking of critical reaction, here are the cumulative critical responses so far as collected by Ioncinema, Critic's Roundup,  todaslascriticas.com.ar. and http://cannes-rurban.rhcloud.com/2014:

http://www.ioncinema.com/news/film-festivals/2014-cannes-critics-panel-day-4-homesman-is-strong-marriage-material-rohrwacher-farms-a-solid-sophomore-pic-with-the-wonders

http://criticsroundup.com/cannes-2014/

http://www.todaslascriticas.com.ar/cannes

http://cannes-rurban.rhcloud.com/2014



FOXCATCHER CLIP

Concurrent with its premiere in Cannes as a part of the Palme d'Or competition slate, Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher" has a new clip.  I have to tell you that every time I see a little something more on this film I get increasingly excited.  Sony Pictures Classics is distributing, so I'm cautiously optimistic about its chances of making the Telluride program.  Here's the new clip...(Carell for the win!)

 Late note:  This morning as I prepare to publish, the first reviews for "Foxcatcher"  are coming out of Cannes and they're generally very good.  I have linked Variety, HitFix and Indiewire reviews here:

http://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/cannes-film-review-foxcatcher-1201185646/

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/review-tatum-ruffalo-and-carell-excel-in-evocative-unsettling-foxcatcher

http://www.indiewire.com/article/cannes-review-channing-tatum-anchors-bennett-millers-icy-foxcatcher-but-the-revelation-is-steve-carrell

CANNES ACQUISITIONS OF NOTE

Sundance Selects has picked up Mathieu Amalric's "The Blue Room" for U.S. distribution and Sony Pictures Classics has grabbed "Wild Tales" from director Damain Szifron.  Those actions increase the chances for both films as potential players at Telluride this year.

SPC was represented last year at Telluride with: "Tim's Vermeer", "The Invisible Woman", "The Lunchbox", "Jodorowsky's Dune" and "The Past".

Sundance Selects/IFC had "Blue is the Warmest Color" in the TFF #40 lineup.


http://www.indiewire.com/article/cannes-sony-pictures-classics-acquires-palme-dor-contender-wild-tales

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/the-blue-room-mathieu-amalric-cannes-sundance-selects


OUTSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

"You can't stop what's coming"...that's a line from the Coen Brothers 2007 Oscar winner "No Country for Old Men" but it pertains to the latest Coen Brothers news out this week that I and others have mentioned in the past.  Also pertaining, the title of this segment...they're really going to go away from "Inside Llewyn Davis".

Word this week was that the Coens' next project will be "Hail Caesar".  The film will probably star George Clooney and is described as the third film in their collaboration called "The Numbskull Trilogy".  "O Brother, Where Art Thou? " and "Intolerable Cruelty" representing the first 2/3rds of said trilogy.  Various reports this week indicated that the film will feature Clooney as a 1950's era Hollywood "fixer".  No word from any source that I could find about when shooting might commence...but I'm hoping for a late 2015 release date.

Here are links to some of the stories that came out this week about the project:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/coen-brothers-set-hail-caesar-next-george-clooney-likely-star/

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/the-coen-brothers-inside-llewyn-davis-follow-up-will-be-hail-caesar

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-coen-brothers-next-film-will-be-hail-caesar-new-plot-details-revealed-20140516

More on Thursday!

More Films for Cannes/The Act of Killing Part 2?/More from the "Scottish" Movie

MORE FILMS FOR CANNES

Cannes Film Fest programmers have added six more films to the various sections including one in the Une Certain Regard section that is generally considered as the second tier below the Palme d"or competition category.

After looking at the new films added I can tell you that none of them immediately jump out as likely Telluride contenders.  That said, there is some buzz that one more film might be added to the main competition slate. The story is covered in these posts from The Hollywood Reporter and Variety:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-adds-six-films-official-700109


http://variety.com/2014/film/festivals/cannes-film-festival-adds-six-features-to-the-official-selection-1201167463/

THE ACT OF KILLING PART 2?

"The Act of Killing", Joshua Oppenheimer's documentary about genocide in Indonesia, made quite a splash at Telluride in 2012.  As we have reported in this space before, Oppenheimer has been working on a sequel to "Act" that switches the focus from the perpetrators to the victims.  The film is called "The Look of Silence".  Screen Daily reported  this week that the new documentary is nearing completion and that it is expected to be ready for the fall film fest season.  The Dissolve goes a  step further and mentions Telluride by name and suggests that the desire is fro the sequel to follow the same path that "Act" did.

I expect that will happen.  As the sequel purports to be the other "half of the coin"of this same story and has Werner Herzog and Errol Morris  as executive producers, chances are it's on Telluride's list on Labor Day weekend.

http://www.screendaily.com/news/production/oppenheimers-killing-follow-up-readied-for-autumn-fests/5071115.article?referrer=RSS

http://thedissolve.com/news/2110-joshua-oppenheimers-the-act-of-killing-sequel-is-a/


MORE FROM THE "SCOTTISH" MOVIE

Marion Cotillard and Michael Fassbender in "MacBeth" (photo from The Playlist/EmpireOnline.com)

Another new photo has emerged from the filming of Justin Kurzel's "MacBeth" of stars Marion Cotillard (Lady MacBeth) and Michael Fassbender (MacBeth).  It's no secret that I am fascinated by this project.  It's listed by IMDb as a 2015 release but also listed as being in post-production.  It's distributor is The Weinstein Company and the production firm all has had reasonably good ties to past Telluride films (See Saw; "Tracks", "Shame", "The King's Speech").  If I were betting, right now I'd bet this doesn't make the trip to T-ride but I'd like it to.

Here's the story that goes with the photo:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/michael-fassbender-marion-cotillard-bring-shakespeare-to-life-with-new-image-from-macbeth-20140428


That's all for now, folks...more on Monday.  Have a great weekend!

HitFix Says Some of What I Say/Countdown to Cannes with Jake/Jane Got a Gun and Left for 2015

Welcome to Monday!

HITFIX SAYS SOME OF WHAT I SAY

Guy Lodge of HitFix posted an article this week about the lineup of films that Sony Pictures Classics has set to play at Cannes next month.  They have several films in play. Titles: "Foxcatcher", "Mr. Turner", "Coming Home", "Whiplash" and "Red Army".  Lodge includes this couple of sentences near the end of the post which sounds like I might have written it for this space:

"So, a strong start for Sony Classics -- and we don't even know what else they might acquire at the festival. Expect most of these titles to surface again in Telluride, where the studio has a strong history of taking their showcase titles, and beyond. "

You can read the entire post here:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/sony-classics-set-for-a-bumper-year-at-cannes-following-acquisition-of-red-army



COUNTDOWN TO CANNES WITH JAKE

The opening of the Cannes Festival is less than three weeks away now (May 17), and Jake Howell and Movie City News have begun their annual countdown and synopses for the films in competition.  Howell has already highlighted "The Homesman", "The Captive" and "Foxcatcher".  I have linked to all three of those stories below and will try to snag the rest of them for future posts.  Additionally, watch my Twitter feed as I will retweet the links when Jake and MCN tweet them.


"The Homesman":

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/04/countdown-to-cannes-tommy-lee-jones/

"The Captive":

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/04/countdown-to-cannes-atom-egoyan/

"Foxcatcher":

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/04/countdown-to-cannes-bennett-miller/


JANE GOT A GUN AND LEFT FOR 2015

The troubled, and I mean Troubled...film "Jane Got a Gun" has undergone another shift.  The film's release has been pushed back to 2015.  The film has had changes in director and cast members as well.  Check the story at The Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/official-jane-got-a-gun-698786

More on Thursday...

Cannes Teasers and Trailers/Views of "The Scottish Movie"

Good Monday to All ...

CANNES TRAILERS AND TEASERS

Just prior to and in addition to the announcement of the main lineup of films for this year's 67th edition of the Cannes Film Fest we saw a slew of those films release trailers/teasers in conjunction with their inclusion.  I have linked a number of those films/trailers and posts that went with them as well...

***THE HOMESMAN

Tommy Lee Jones second directorial effort features Jones, Hilary Swank and Meryl Streep in a story about set in the American west in the 19th century.  Swank rescues Jones on the condition that he help her transport three mentally challenged women through dangerous territory to relative safety in Iowa.  This post with the trailer comes from HitFix:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/tommy-lee-jones-and-hilary-swank-ride-the-high-country-in-first-trailer-for-the-homesman

***MAPS TO THE STARS

David Cronenberg reportedly skewers Hollywood in what has been termed a "dark comedy".  "Dark" sounds right for Cronenberg...but comedy?...We'll see.  The trailer is from this post from FirstShowing.net:


http://www.firstshowing.net/2014/watch-first-promo-trailer-for-david-cronenbergs-maps-to-the-stars/


***TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT

Jean Pierre and Luc Dardennes feature Marion Cotillard in this working class story about a woman trying to convince her co-workers to give up their bonuses to save her job.  In handicapping Cannes films for Telluride...this is very near the top of the "Most likely" list.  The trailer and story from this post from Rope of Silicon:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/trailer-picture-poster-dardennes-two-days-one-night-starring-marion-cotillard/


***FOXCATCHER

The long awaited Bennett Miller film focused on the weird story of Jon DuPont and the U.S. Olympic wrestling team.  Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum star.  Telluride chances?  50/50.  The trailer and post from Awards Daily:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/bennett-millers-foxcatcher-trailer/


***THE SEARCH

Michel Hazanavicius' remake of a Fred Zinnemann film from the late 40's and it stars his wife Berenice Bejo.  Haznavicius' "The Artist" made the trip from Cannes to Telluride in 2011.  Makes you think that "The Search" could do the same thing.  The trailer and story from The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-look-the-artist-director-michel-hazanavicius-cannes-contender-the-search-starring-berenice-bejo-20140418


VIEWS OF "THE SCOTISH MOVIE"

They're filming away...Justin Kurzel's new version of "MacBeth" starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard.  The Mail Online put up a story this week about the film and it included some stills as well.  Is ita Telluride film?  Maybe...hope so...

Here's the story:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2607423/BAZ-BAMIGBOYE-Hail-shocking-new-tale-Macbeth-starring-Michael-Fassbender-Marion-Cotillard.html



More on Thursday...

Cannes #67 Announces/Could "Inherent Vice" Come to Telluride?/Telluride's Annual Call

Welcome to Thursday!

CANNES #67 ANNOUNCES

Here's the official lineup from the 67th Cannes Film Festival via The Playlist:

Official Competition: 

"Captives" (Canada) dir. Atom Egoyan
"Foxcatcher" (U.S.A.) dir. Bennett Miller
"Goodbye To Language" (France) dir. Jean-Luc Godard
"The Homesman" (U.S.A./France) dir. Tommy Lee Jones
"Jimmy's Hall" (U.K) dir. Ken Loach
"Leviathan" (Russia) dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev
"Maps To The Stars" (Canada) dir. David Cronenberg
"The Marvel" (Italy) dir. Alice Rohrwacher
"Mommy" (Canada) dir. Xavier Dolan
"Mr. Turner" (U.K) dir. Mike Leigh
"Saint Laurent" (France) dir. Bertrand Bonello
"The Search" (France) dir. Michel Hazavanicius
"Sils Maria" (France) dir. Olivier Assayas
"Still The Water" (Japan) dir. Naomi Kawase
"Timbuktu" dir. Abderrahmane Sissako
"Two Days One Night" (Belgium) dir. Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardennes
"Wild Tales" (Argentina) dir. Damian Szifron
"Winter Sleep" (Turkey) dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Opening Film: 

"Grace Of Monaco" (U.S.A./France) dir. Olivier Dahan

Out Of Competition: 

"Coming Home" (China) dir. Zhang Yimou
"How To Train Your Dragon 2" (U.S.A.) dir. Dean DeBlois

Un Certain Regard: 

"Amour Fou" (dir. Jessica Hausner) 
"Bird People" (dir. Pascale Ferran)
"The Blue Room" (dir. Mathieu Amalric
"Charlie's Country" (dir. Rolf De Heer) 
"Eleanor Rigby" (dir. Ned Benson) 
"Fantasia" (dir. Wang Chao) 
"A Girl At My Door" (dir. July Jung) 
"Harcheck mi Headro" (dir. Keren Yedaya) 
"Jauja" (dir. Lisandro Alonso) 
"Lost River" (dir. Ryan Gosling) 
"The Misunderstood" (dir. Asia Argento) 
"Party Girl" (dir. Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger and Samuel Theis) 
"Run" (dir. Philippe Lacote) 
"Salt Of The Earth" (dir. Wim Wenders & Juliano Ribeiro Salgado) 
"Snow In Paradise" (dir. Andrew Hulme) 
"Titli" (dir. Kanu Behl) 
"Tourist" (dir. Ruben Ostlund) 
"Unhappy Youth" (dir. Jaime Rosales) 
"Xenia" (dir. Panos Koutras) 

Midnight Screenings: 

"The Rover" (dir. David Michod) 
"The Salvation" (dir. Kristian Levring) 
"The Target" (dir. Chang) 

Special Screenings: 

"Bridges Of Sarajevo" (anthology film) 
"Caricaturists: Fantasies Of Democracy" (dir. Stephanie Valloatto)
"Eau Argentee" (dir. Mohammed Ossana)
"Les Gens Du Monde" (dir. Yves Yeuland) 
"Maidan" (dir. Sergei Loznitsa)
"Red Army"  (dir. Polsky Gabe)

Of immediate interest to Telluride watchers in the competition category are:

"Foxcatcher"
"Maps to the Stars"
"Mr. Turner"
"The Search"
"(Clouds of) Sils Maria"
"Two Days, One Night"

Trailer for Tommy Lee Jones Cannes Competition Selection "The Homesman"

Out of competition titles that may also have some Telluride potential:

"Coming Home"
"Charlie's Country"
"Salt of the Earth"


As expected, Inarritu's "Birdman" and Anderson's "Inherent Vice" were both not announced this morning.

Cannes head honcho Thierry Fremaux is quoted as saying that other titles could be named later.


Other titles will almost certainly come into Telluride consideration as Cannes approaches and then as the films unspool on the Croisette.




COULD "INHERENT VICE" COME TO TELLURIDE

If you read this blog with any frequency, you know that I have not been a big believer that Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice" is likely to appear as a part of the Telluride lineup this Labor Day weekend.  Lately, though, even I have had to admit that there has been some buzz that it's a possibility.  With last week's murmuring that it won't play Cannes, I've been seeing/hearing Telluride as an option with some frequency.  There was Jeff Wells' Hollywood Elsewhere blurb to that effect earlier in the week and now The Irish Times has opined in that direction as well reporting on Wednesday that "Most everyone has it (Inherent Vice) marked down for Telluride or Venice in the autumn."

Now, I don't know who "most everyone" is...but...


http://t.co/2Ijmmuluyp


TELLURIDE'S ANNUAL CALL

It went out Tuesday...the annual call for entries came forth from the Telluride Film Festival.  I have included the official word from my email Inbox and Shannon Mitchell:

41^st TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES CALL FOR ENTRIES

April 15, 2014

BERKELEY, CA – Telluride Film Festival (August 29 – September 1, 2014), presented by National Film Preserve, Ltd. announces its Call for Entries in all categories including student, short and feature length films.

Submission period begins April 15, 2014. Film Entry Form is available for download at www.telluridefilmfestival.org.

Shorts and student film submissions must be received no later than 5:00 pm, July 1, 2014. Feature film submissions must be received no later than 5:00 pm, July 15, 2014. All submissions must have been completed after July 15, 2013 and no works in progress will be accepted. Feature-length films (60 minutes or longer) will only be considered if they are to have their first North American screening at Telluride Film Festival. Final program determinations will be made by August 1, 2014. No early or late entries will be accepted.

Professional and amateur filmmakers working in all aesthetic disciplines and genres including narrative, documentary, animation and experimental are welcome.

Each year Telluride Film Festival plays host to an average of 25 feature films and 25 shorts and student films. Films selected to screen at Telluride Film Festival will be shown out-of-competition. TFF is not a competitive festival.

For more information visit www.telluridefilmfestival.org

More on Monday...have a great weekend!

"Birdman" Flies to October/"Inherent": A Cannes No Show?

Welcome to Monday!

"BIRDMAN" FLIES TO OCTOBER

Less than a week before the announcement of the lineup for the Cannes Film Fest, Fox Searchlight has revealed that they will release Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Birdman" on October 17.  Multiple source reported the news on Friday night/Saturday morning.  In the midst of that reporting was a good deal of disagreement about whether the film is ready for a Cannes debut.  Some reports indicated that the film will not be ready for the Croisette (late May/early June is mentioned as the likely time frame for the film to be finished by Deadline.com).  I tend to fall into that camp, though there were a number of sources that suggested  that they still believed that the dark comedy would  show up on the Cannes list.

Ultimately, there was also a good bit of speculation that the film is very possible for a Telluride bow...including this line from Kris Tapley's report:

"...I certainly expect it to do at least Telluride..." and Tapley also writes that Inarritu has been, "...a big fan of (Telluride) since his first trip there."

I told Inarritu last fall in T-ride when I saw him just before the first ever screening of "12 Years a Slave" (also from Fox Searchlight) that I was in hopes that "Birdman" would be playing this year's fest.  He just smiled.

Here are links to any number of posts focusing on "Birdman's" release date:

HitFix/InContention:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/inarritus-birdman-with-michael-keaton-gets-a-release-date-in-the-middle-of-oscar-season

Deadline.com:

http://www.deadline.com/2014/04/fox-searchlight-sets-alejandro-gonzalez-inarritus-birdman-for-october-17-bow/

The Playlist:

http://www.deadline.com/2014/04/fox-searchlight-sets-alejandro-gonzalez-inarritus-birdman-for-october-17-bow/

thefilmstage.com

http://thefilmstage.com/news/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritus-birdman-wont-be-ready-for-cannes-opening-october-17th/

Variety:

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/michael-keatons-birdman-set-for-oct-17-u-s-release-1201156361/

FirstShowing.net:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2014/inarritus-birdman-starring-michael-keaton-set-to-open-in-october/



"INHERENT": A CANNES NO SHOW?

Jeff Wells/Hollywood Elsewhere published this weekend that Paul Thomas Anderson's highly anticipated "Inherent Vice" is also unlikely to be announced on Thursday as a part of the Cannes lineup.  Wells claims, however, that its more likely to do fall festivals and he specifically mentions "Telluride/Venice and Toronto.  I'm STILL keeping my anticipation to a minimum but it still raises the films Telluride profile from the "Near zero chance" category to at least a "low possibility".

Check out the Wells story here:

http://t.co/C1LvfBPAQ6

More on Thursday...including the parsing of the lineup from Cannes...

Mark Cousins is the New Mr. Peabody (and Ken Burns Too)...Not a Casting Story/Mickey and Roger and Telluride/Cannes Announcement in One Week

Welcome to Thursday...


MARK COUSINS IS THE NEW MR. PEABODY (WELL, SO IS KEN BURNS)

Over the past couple of Telluride Film Fests, Mark Cousins has become a familiar face around town.  He presented "The Story of Children in Film" last year and previously had presented "The Story of Film".  The latter earned TCM and Mr. Cousins a Peabody Award this past week.

Congratulations to him and Turner Classic Movies and the Telluride programmers as well for providing we film goers the opportunity to see what has been hailed as a high quality production.

Ken Burns "The Central Park Five" (PBS?Florentine Films) was also named a Peabody recipient.  CP5 also appeared at TFF #39.

Other programs named Peabody winners this year included: "Breaking Bad", "The Bridge", "House of Cards", "Key and Peele", "Orange is the New Black" and "How to Survive a Plague". You can find the complete list of Peabody winners here:

http://www.peabodyawards.com/stories/story/2013-peabody-winners

MICKEY AND ROGER AND TELLURIDE

With the death of Mickey Rooney this week, Chaz Ebert tweeted a link to a piece that her husband roger had done about Mr. Rooney at the 2005 Telluride Fest.  Rooney was tributed that year and Ebert did the Q & A.  Here's the link to the piece Roger wrote made all the more moving because they're both gone now...

http://www.rogerebert.com/festivals-and-awards/telluride-3-mickey-in-the-limelight


CANNES ANNOUNCEMENT IS ONE WEEK AWAY

The 67th Cannes Film Fest announcement of the bulk of its lineup is a week from today.  As a public service, here's a link to IndieWire's 40 film Cannes wish list:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/cannes-wish-list-40-films-we-hope-make-the-festivals-2014-lineup

Included on their wish/prediction lineup are:

"Birdman"
"Clouds of Sils Maria"
"Coming Home"
"Eden"
"Everything Will Be Fine"
"Far From the Madding Crowd"
"Foxcatcher"
"The Imitation Game"
"Inherent Vice"
"Maps to the Stars"
"A Most Violent Year"
"Mr. Turner"
"A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence"
"Rosewater"
"The Search"
"Squirrel to the Nuts"
"Suite Francaise"
"Two Days One Night"
"While We're Young"


 More on Monday...have a great weekend...