Best of the Week/15 Films Looking for Home

Good Saturday to Everyone...

To quote Henry John Deucthendorf "Gee it's good to be back home again"...

BEST OF THE WEEK

Here's a rundown of the best material I posted from the last week:

This week's "Ten Bets"

1) Nebraska
2) The Invisible Woman
3) The Past
4) The Immigrant
5) Inside Llewyn Davis
6) Labor Day
7) The Story of Children and Film
8) Blue is the Warmest Color
9) The Unknown Known
10) The Lunchbox

No additions this week and minimal movement within these ten.

Lurking just below these "Ten Bets": "Aguirre: The Wrath of God", All is Lost" (which gets a little boost of confidence due to its mention yesterday as "likely" for Telluride in a HitFix post...see below), "12 Years a Slave", "Like Father Like Son", "Life Itself", "Quay d'Orsay", "Philomena", "Heli", "Only Lovers Left Alive", "The Good Lie".

NO NEWS IS…



Well, part of Big theory #2 didn’t pan out at all.  If you were reading last week, you know that I floated a theory that the Telluride Film festival was going to announce this year’s Guest Director (which is way past the usual time frame for announcing) during the week last week in a bit of “counter-programming” while the Toronto and Venice Fests were announcing the bulk of their lineups (though Toronto will announce more titles and Venice could as well).

If you noticed, no announcement from Telluride…so…you know…poop.

On the other hand, the second part of the theory is still alive and well and that is that TFF #40 has kept the identity of this year’s Guest Director under wraps because it is someone very, very BIG.

A couple of readers of the blog over the past few days have suggested Francis Ford Coppola as a possibility.  I’d say that’s certainly in the ballpark.  Coppola was feted at the first TFF as one of the three original tributes.  He’d certainly fill the bill in terms of being someone BIG.  No doubt, his programming choices would be incredibly interesting.

Personally, I still have a different vibe.  No real reason.  I certainly have no inside dope on this topic but I continue to think that this year’s GD might come from either music or politics.  Like I said last week, I have some very crazy ideas…

If you have some crazy idea about the Guest Director…drop me a comment/email and share that.

But, as of this moment, we still don’t know and we’re staring right into the maw of August…very, very odd.

NEWS FROM OTHER FESTS:

Announcements yesterday that Paul Greengrass' "Captain Phillips" will also open the BFI Fest (London) on Oct. 9.  The "Captain" is now set to open BFI, New York and the Tokyo Fests.  Below is the release from the BFI:

http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/announcements/captain-phillips-opens-57th-bfi-london-film-festival

Meanwhile, Venice film fest head Alberto Barbera revealed last week (as we expected) that they will announce a couple of other American films for the Venice lineup in the next few days.  Screen Daily has that story:

http://www.screendaily.com/news/venice-head-impressed-by-uk-films/5058687.article?referrer=RSS

Barbera also revealed a list of films that were possible Venice choices but that he says aren't ready. That list included: "Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street", Clooney's "The Monument Men", Lee's "Old Boy" and Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel".  That means that they're also not ready for Telluride and they can come off the wish list.  I would have really liked to have seen any of these over Labor Day weekend.

Among the films still being thought of as possible late additions to the Venice lineup (according to the Screen Daily post): "American Hustle", "The Counselor" and "Labor Day".  Again, the additions to lineup are expected in early August.

PARKLAND PICS

Paul Giamatti as Abraham Zapruder in "Parkland"

I have had about half an eye on Peter Landesman's "Parkland" for a good long while and though I haven't seen/heard anything that really makes me think it will be on the the Telluride lineup this year, the film still intrigues me.  It reportedly focuses on the ordinary people that were swept up in the events of Nov. 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas, especially at Parkland Memorial Hospital where the dying President was taken immediately after he was shot.  The cast is intriguing including Paul Giamatti, Billy Bob Thornton and (my Telluride buddy...OK, I spoke to her briefly in 2007 when she was there with "Rails and Ties") Marcia Gay Harden.

Brad Brevet/Rope of Silicon posted stills of the film which is scheduled to open Sept. 2oth after showing in Toronto.  It's not a ridiculous notion to think it might play Telluride first.

Here's the link to the ROS post:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/parkland-pictures-jfk-zac-efron-billy-bob-thornton/

And "Parkland's" IMDb page:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2345112/?ref_=ttco_co_tt


WALTER HEADS TO NEW YORK

We saw the fantastic trailer earlier this week and in its wake yesterday came the announcement the Ben Stiller's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" will be the centerpiece gala for this year's New York Film Festival.  That takes it off of any potential Telluride showing.  Kind of too bad because the trailer did look intriguing.  Of course, that's what trailers are supposed to do.

I have linked a couple of stories about the selection below:


http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/secret-life-walter-mitty-screen-597985

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/ben-stillers-the-secret-life-of-walter-mitty-to-premiere-at-new-york-festben-stillers-the-secret-life-of-walter-mitty-to-premiere-at-new-york-fest

http://moviecitynews.com/2013/08/world-premiere-of-ben-stillers-the-secret-life-of-walter-mitty-as-the-centerpiece-gala-selection-for-the-51st-new-york-film-festival/


ALL IS TRAILERED

Telluride prospect, Cannes sensation and potential Oscar player "All is Lost" from J.C. Chandor and starring Robert Redford dropped an actual trailer yesterday.  Multiple links are posted below.  I got a good feeling about this playing Telluride and have had since it made its first splash at Cannes.  The HitFix post is also very bullish on its Telluride chances:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/the-trailer-for-all-is-lost-strands-robert-redford-out-at-sea

http://thedissolve.com/news/151-the-all-is-lost-trailer-robert-redford-sending-out/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-trailer-for-robert-redfords-shipwreck-drama-all-is-lost-20130801

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/all-is-lost-trailer

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/all-is-lost-trailer-robert-597998

"HUSTLE" UP A TRAILER

Yesterday I posted links to new pictures from David O. Russell's 1970's set, Abscam inspired "American Hustle".  The film stars Christian bale, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence.

I don't have this as a big possibility for a Telluride slot as much as I would like it to be true.  Still, it hasn't popped up on any other festivals announcement yet.  It's quite possible that it will avoid festivals altogether.

Wednesday "American Hustle" dropped a trailer into the universe.  Take a look at the post from Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/american-hustle-trailer-david-o-russell

DOCS IN TWO PLACES

Undeniably there will be a good deal of crossover in documentaries between the Telluride and Toronto festivals.  I continue to believe that Errol Morris will run from Venice to Telluride to Toronto with "The Unknown Known" among others.

Movie City News' David Poland talked to Toronto Doc programmer Thom Powers about the films that they announced this week on his DP30 segment.  Check it here:
http://moviecitynews.com/2013/07/dp30-via-skype-toronto-international-film-festival-doc-programmer-thom-powers-on-2013-docs/


CHILD'S POSE AND OSCAR

Berlin prize winner and Telluride possible "Child's Pose" has been chosen by Romania as its entrant for this year's foreign language competition.  The film has been very well received since its Berlin premiere (and I really do think it has a very real shot to play T-ride).

The Hollywood Reporter posted this story about the film's selection:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/best-foreign-language-oscar-romania-595458


15 FILMS LOOKING FOR A HOME

HitFix/InContention posted an interesting story yesterday that took a look at 15 films that are still looking for distribution but are playing a major fest and are also thought to have some awards potential.  The article also points at some of the 15 that they feel might make the Telluride lineup. Those films are:
Attila Marcel (dir. Sylvain Chomet)
Joe (dir. David Gordon Green)
The Railway Man (dir. Jonathan Teplitzky)
Serena (dir. Susanne Bier)

There are three other films among the 15 that they don’t tag with the “maybe Telluride” label that I would continue to include as outside possibilities:
Terry Gilliam’s “The Zero Theorem”
Kelly Reichardt’s “Night Moves” and
Matthew Weiner’s “You Are Here”.

Check they entire gallery with commentary at:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/15-potential-awards-players-still-looking-for-a-home



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Have a great weekend.  More on Monday.

Ten Bets/News from the Other Fests/Parkland Pics/Walter Heads to New York/All is Trailered

Good Friday Everyone!

I head back to the Oklahoma Panhandle today after a terrific time in Southern California visiting family. I'll be back at home tomorrow afternoon.

TEN BETS #6

Here's the sixth edition of the Telluride "Ten Bets" list.  These are 10 films that I feel very strongly are likely to play at this year's 40th Telluride Film Festival.  Last week's "Ten Bets" were:

1) Nebraska
2) The Invisible Woman
3) The Immigrant
4) The Past
5) Inside Llewyn Davis
6) Labor Day
7) The Unknown Known
8) The Story of Children and Film
9) Blue is the Warmest Color
10) The Lunchbox

This week's "Ten Bets"

1) Nebraska
2) The Invisible Woman
3) The Past
4) The Immigrant
5) Inside Llewyn Davis
6) Labor Day
7) The Story of Children and Film
8) Blue is the Warmest Color
9) The Unknown Known
10) The Lunchbox

No additions this week and minimal movement within these ten.

Lurking just below these "Ten Bets": "Aguirre: The Wrath of God", All is Lost" (which gets a little boost of confidence due to its mention yesterday as "likely" for Telluride in a HitFix post...see below), "12 Years a Slave", "Like Father Like Son", "Life Itself", "Quay d'Orsay", "Philomena", "Heli", "Only Lovers Left Alive", "The Good Lie".

NEWS FROM OTHER FESTS:

Announcements yesterday that Paul Greengrass' "Captain Phillips" will also open the BFI Fest (London) on Oct. 9.  The "Captain" is now set to open BFI, New York and the Tokyo Fests.  Below is the release from the BFI:

http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/announcements/captain-phillips-opens-57th-bfi-london-film-festival

Meanwhile, Venice film fest head Alberto Barbera revealed last week (as we expected) that they will announce a couple of other American films for the Venice lineup in the next few days.  Screen Daily has that story:

http://www.screendaily.com/news/venice-head-impressed-by-uk-films/5058687.article?referrer=RSS

Barbera also revealed a list of films that were possible Venice choices but that he says aren't ready. That list included: "Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street", Clooney's "The Monument Men", Lee's "Old Boy" and Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel".  That means that they're also not ready for Telluride and they can come off the wish list.  I would have really liked to have seen any of these over Labor Day weekend.

Among the films still being thought of as possible late additions to the Venice lineup (according to the Screen Daily post): "American Hustle", "The Counselor" and "Labor Day".  Again, the additions to lineup are expected in early August.

PARKLAND PICS

Paul Giamatti as Abraham Zapruder in "Parkland"

I have had about half an eye on Peter Landesman's "Parkland" for a good long while and though I haven't seen/heard anything that really makes me think it will be on the the Telluride lineup this year, the film still intrigues me.  It reportedly focuses on the ordinary people that were swept up in the events of Nov. 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas, especially at Parkland Memorial Hospital where the dying President was taken immediately after he was shot.  The cast is intriguing including Paul Giamatti, Billy Bob Thornton and (my Telluride buddy...OK, I spoke to her briefly in 2007 when she was there with "Rails and Ties") Marcia Gay Harden.

Brad Brevet/Rope of Silicon posted stills of the film which is scheduled to open Sept. 2oth after showing in Toronto.  It's not a ridiculous notion to think it might play Telluride first.

Here's the link to the ROS post:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/parkland-pictures-jfk-zac-efron-billy-bob-thornton/

And "Parkland's" IMDb page:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2345112/?ref_=ttco_co_tt


WALTER HEADS TO NEW YORK

We saw the fantastic trailer earlier this week and in its wake yesterday came the announcement the Ben Stiller's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" will be the centerpiece gala for this year's New York Film Festival.  That takes it off of any potential Telluride showing.  Kind of too bad because the trailer did look intriguing.  Of course, that's what trailers are supposed to do.

I have linked a couple of stories about the selection below:


http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/secret-life-walter-mitty-screen-597985

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/ben-stillers-the-secret-life-of-walter-mitty-to-premiere-at-new-york-festben-stillers-the-secret-life-of-walter-mitty-to-premiere-at-new-york-fest

http://moviecitynews.com/2013/08/world-premiere-of-ben-stillers-the-secret-life-of-walter-mitty-as-the-centerpiece-gala-selection-for-the-51st-new-york-film-festival/


ALL IS TRAILERED

Telluride prospect, Cannes sensation and potential Oscar player "All is Lost" from J.C. Chandor and starring Robert Redford dropped an actual trailer yesterday.  Multiple links are posted below.  I got a good feeling about this playing Telluride and have had since it made its first splash at Cannes.  The HitFix post is also very bullish on its Telluride chances:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/the-trailer-for-all-is-lost-strands-robert-redford-out-at-sea

http://thedissolve.com/news/151-the-all-is-lost-trailer-robert-redford-sending-out/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-trailer-for-robert-redfords-shipwreck-drama-all-is-lost-20130801

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/all-is-lost-trailer

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/all-is-lost-trailer-robert-597998


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Check out the "Best of the Week" tomorrow.

The Captain Sails to New York/Another Possibility/Argo Art

Good Tuesday to All…

THE CAPTAIN SAILS TO NEW YORK

Yesterday’s announcement the Paul Greengrass’ “Captain Phillips” starring Tom Hanks will be the opening night film for the New York Film festival all but killed the chances that it will be part of the Telluride lineup.  Had it been any other part of NYFF I’d suggest that there was still some possibility that we might see the film over Labor Day.  But the opening night position is exclusive so mark it off.

There had been a good deal of increased notice about the Telluride potential for “Captain Phillips” over the last week to 10 days especially in light of mentions in some major film blogs that a Telluride spot was very possible.

Too bad, I say.  I would have love to have seen the film and Tom Hanks on Colorado Ave.

Finally, this kind of thing happens every year.  There are always trails this blog goes down that turn out to be false leads.  Not a surprise, really.  When you’re trying to ferret out a secret lineup from the outside…that’s going to occur.  This situation is particularly disappointing, though, simply because I wanted it to be true very badly.

Oh well….

Here are a number of yesterday’s stories about the NYFF announcement:

The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/why-tom-hanks-captain-phillips-594925

Hollywood Elsewhere:
http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2013/07/nyff-phillips-splash/

The Dissolve:
http://thedissolve.com/news/122-paul-greengrass-captain-phillips-will-open-the-new/

The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/paul-greengrass-captain-phillips-to-open-51st-nyff-new-york-film-festival-check-out-new-pics-posters-20130729

The New York Times:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/29/new-york-film-festival-will-open-with-captain-phillips/

The Wrap:
http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/captain-phillips-open-new-york-film-festival-106596

Thompson on Hollywood:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/new-york-film-festival-to-open-with-paul-greengrass-captain-phillips-starring-tom-hanks

 MEANWHILE…ANOTHER POSSIBILITY…

David O. Russell’s Abscam based film “American Hustle” is looming out there.  No Toronto selection (though Toronto is supposed to announce another wave of films to their lineup today…coverage of it here tomorrow).  “American Hustle” stars Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence and Christian Bale.  New photos of the film emerged yesterday as evidenced above.  Here’s the rest of that story from The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-oscar-for-best-haircuts-goes-to-david-o-russells-american-hustle-in-these-first-look-images-20130729


AND A PIECE OF TFF #39

Wired.com reports that you’ll have a shot at a piece of Oscar history as the artwork that was used by the CIA in the real life inspiration for  Ben Affleck’s “Argo” will be put to auction.

Take a look at that story here:

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/07/kirby-argo-art-auction/

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More on Wednesday…

The Captain Gets a Poster/Coming Attractions: Cody and Haynes/No News Is???

Good Monday to Everyone…I'll be posting a little later than normal this week as I am on California time!

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS GETS A NEW POSTER



There has continued to be a steady, undiminished drumbeat among some of the film blogging smart set that Paul Green grass’s “Captain Phillips” will be in the Telluride lineup.  Actually, some even think that it’s possible that one of the Labor Day weekend tributes will be for Tom Hanks who stars as the eponymous Captain Phillips of the film.

News popped over the weekend that had released a new poster for the film.

You can find a related story for the poster release here from FirstShowing:
https://twitter.com/firstshowing/status/360881247758712833/photo/1



“Captain Phillips” IMDb page is here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535109/?ref_=sr_1



COMING ATTRACTIONS: CODY AND HAYNES



I haven’t done it for some time, but I do like to occasionally highlight film projects that are in their nascent stages that have what appears to me to be at least some Telluride potential for a year or two done the line.  To that end, I noted over the weekend the news of first pictures from Diablo Cody’s (Juno) directorial debut “Paradise”.   Here are a number of links to those pictures:



Thompson on Hollywood:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/first-look-diablo-codys-directorial-debut-paradise-starring-julianne-hough

Rope of Silicon:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/diablo-cody-movie-paradise-lamb-of-god/

USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/07/23/paradise-julianne-hough-diablo-cody/2518259/

The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-images-of-julianne-hough-octavia-spencer-russell-brand-in-diablo-codys-directorial-debut-paradise-20130726





Also emerging this weekend from The Playlist was a story that Todd Haynes (I’m Not There) is, perhaps on the brink of a new feature film project: “Act of God” and that the casting news was that Christian Bale, who has a couple of credits working with Haynes, is quite possibly lining up to play the lead in the film.  The project is fresh enough that it isn’t even listed at this point on Haynes IMDb Page.

Here’s the link to the story from The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/christian-bale-may-reteam-with-todd-haynes-for-political-drama-act-of-god-20130726


NO NEWS IS…



Well, part of Big theory #2 didn’t pan out at all.  If you were reading last week, you know that I floated a theory that the Telluride Film festival was going to announce this year’s Guest Director (which is way past the usual time frame for announcing) during the week last week in a bit of “counter-programming” while the Toronto and Venice Fests were announcing the bulk of their lineups (though Toronto will announce more titles and Venice could as well).

If you noticed, no announcement from Telluride…so…you know…poop.

On the other hand, the second part of the theory is still alive and well and that is that TFF #40 has kept the identity of this year’s Guest Director under wraps because it is someone very, very BIG.

A couple of readers of the blog over the past few days have suggested Francis Ford Coppola as a possibility.  I’d say that’s certainly in the ballpark.  Coppola was feted at the first TFF as one of the three original tributes.  He’d certainly fill the bill in terms of being someone BIG.  No doubt, his programming choices would be incredibly interesting.

Personally, I still have a different vibe.  No real reason.  I certainly have no inside dope on this topic but I continue to think that this year’s GD might come from either music or politics.  Like I said last week, I have some very crazy ideas…

If you have some crazy idea about the Guest Director…drop me a comment/email and share that.

But, as of this moment, we still don’t know and we’re staring right into the maw of August…very, very odd.

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More on Tuesday...

Toronto Looming/Tapley's Musings

Good Tuesday.  The Toronto International Film Festival begins announcing its lineup today.  Consequently, MTFB will have a second post later today with some analysis as to what we learn form this morning's announcements.  By way of preparing you, below is a reminder that the overlap between Telluride and Toronto has been significant over recent years.

TORONTO LOOMING

Films that played Telluride then Toronto from 2011 and 2012:

2012: (26 TFF films):
Ginger and Rosa
Paradise: Love
The Gatekeepers
At Any Price
Rust and Bone
Love, Marilyn
Midnight's Children
Barbara
The Sapphires
The Central Park Five
The Hunt
A Royal Affair
No
Frances Ha
Stories We Tell
Hyde Park on Hudson
The Iceman
The Act of Killing
The Attack
Amour
Everyday
Argo

Fully 22 films of Telluride's 26 plated in Toronto as well. (The exceptions: "Wadjda", "Piazza Fontana", "What is This Film Called Love?", "Superstar")

In 2011:

Le Havre
The Descendants
The Turin Horse
Bonsai
Forgiveness of Blood
The Artist
A Separation
Footnote
Into the Abyss
In Darkness
Pina
The Kid with a Bike
Goodbye First Love
Albert Nobbs
The Story of Film
The Island President
Shame
A Dangerous Method
Butter
Crazy Horse
We Need to Talk About Kevin

21 of 28 films. (The exceptions: "George Harrison:Living in the Material World", "Perdida", Passerby", "Bitter Seeds", "The Way Home", "Target" and "Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel")

Going back 6 years you find 113 films have played at both the Telluride and Toronto out of the (appx.) 161 films that have played Telluride.  So that's about 70% of Telluride's lineup will be hiding in Toronto's announcement.


I'll have more in my second post later today.

TAPLEY'S MUSINGS

Well, if you've never really thought that this blog was a particularly good informant regarding the Telluride lineup then there's good news for you.  Kris Tapley at HitFix/inContention posted his annual stab at what be in line for Telluride yesterday.  You can find that post here:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/spitballing-possibilities-for-the-40th-annual-telluride-film-festival

And it should get you revved up big time.  Among the interesting thoughts:


He's pretty high on the notion that we'll see The Coen Brothers "Inside Llewyn Davis", Alexander Payne's "Nebraska" and Jason Reitman's "Labor Day".  "Nebraska" and "Labor Day" have been ensconced on my "Ten Bets" list all summer.  This last few days has put some real shine on the notion that "Inside Llewyn Davis" is a serious consideration for T-ride.  Between Jeff Wells blurb at Hollywood Elsewhere over the weekend and now Tapley's comment that he has "a pretty good feeling we can anticipate the Coen Brothers first-ever Telluride appearance" the signs are pointing to that as a reality and that, my friends would be sweet. Fair warning, the Coens in Telluride  could cause me to become a blithering idiot...well more of a blithering idiot than normal.

I can say it, after this post from Mr. Tapley, "Llewyn" will  be on Friday's "Ten Bets"

He also seems fairly comfortable about Ralph Fiennes "The Invisible Woman" which I reported on a few weeks ago when the Daily Mail in England reported that it would be making the trip.  The other large shoe he drops is the potential (and he seems to have some confidence here) that "Captain Phillips" starring Tom Hanks has a real shot at T-ride.  That film is directed by Paul Greengrass.  That's also a stunner if it comes to pass.

Taplay also intrigues as he drops the nugget that the " Warner Brothers teams on "Gravity" and "Prisoners" are making the pilgrimage..." suggesting that there is a possibility that one or both films might make a play at Telluride, "Prisoners seems a little more likely to me as Tapley reminds us that director Denis Villeneuve played Telluride back in 2010 with "Incendies"...though I'd really love it if "Gravity" opened Venice and then "sneaked" a day or two late at Telluride.

Other films that he thinks are possibles but about which he doesn't seem as confident are: "12 Years a Slave""The Past", "The Lunchbox", "Blue is the Warmest Color", "Like Father Like Son", "Child's Pose", "Gloria", "Philomena", "Life Itself" and "The Immigrant".  There's also a glancing mention that "All is Lost" could make the trip to the San Juans.

No mention, though, of "The Counselor", "Dallas Buyers Club", "The Fifth Estate", "Foxcatcher", "The Zero Theorem", "Rush", "The Monuments Men", "American Hustle", Mandela"Long Walk to Freedom" or "The Wolf of Wall Street".  Seems about right, although I'm going to hold out hope for "Fifth Estate", "Counselor", "Foxcatcher" and "Dallas Buyer's Club".


Tapley also puts in a request for Herzog's "Aguirre: The Wrath of God" restoration...I'm high on its chances.

He, like me is more than dubious about our chances to "August: Osage County".

He also suggests a number of Tribute possibilities: The Coens, Bruce Dern, Judi Dench, Tom Hanks, Robert Redford and/or Kate Winslet. Tapley also suggests the possibility (as he did on Twitter over the weekend) that Roger Ebert might be posthumously awarded a Special Medallion.  That wouldn't surprise me a bit.

Take a look at the whole post...it'll make you breathe hard.  And, I really hope he's right.


This reminder: Venice announces Thursday...

I'LL HAVE ANOTHER POST IN  COUPLE OF HOURS.

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More later...

More Llewyn Speculation/Another Theory/Pain for Payne/The Full Mandela

Good Monday from Lawton, OK.

Those that have read this blog in past summers recognize that greeting as for the 19th consecutive year I am co-ordinating the Advanced Division for Team Debate at Cameron University's Debate Camp.  I am literally here all week.

But that's not going to stop this blog.  Big week this week with Venice and Toronto announcing lineups.

Going to be fun!


MORE LLEWYN SPECULATION

You saw my post last Friday concerning Jeff Wells Telluride speculative piece on his website Hollywood Elsewhere.

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2013/07/homework-assignment/

He named four films he feels have strong chances to be at Telluride.  On that list: J.C. Chandor's "All is Lost", Paul Greengrass' "Captain Phillips", Abdellatif Kechiche's Cannes Palme d'Or winner "Blue is the Warmest Color" and the Coen Brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis".

Now, I'd love to see any and all of them, but you know that I'm head over heels to see "Llewyn Davis".  It's close between it and "12 Weeks a Slave" as to which film is #1 on my Telluride wish list so the notion that it actually plays as part of the SHOW is intoxicating.

So I was thinking over the weekend and did some digging and there have been other hints that it might be possible.

Russ Fischer at SlashFilm posted on May 3rd that "There's always the chance that it will play Venice, Telluride or Toronto" and Kris Tapley wrote in his May 27 piece about the Coens and Cannes, "The film will likely travel to the Telluride and Toronto fests to stoke the flames..."

http://www.slashfilm.com/the-coen-bros-inside-llewyn-davis-dated-for-december/

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/cannes-and-the-coens

It seems to me that I've run across a couple of other websites that have implied the possibility of "Llewyn" showing at t-ride.  I'm still trying to track those down.

So, could this finally be the year that Telluride and the Coens merge?  Right now, I think it's a lot more likely right now than I did last week.  Is it a "Ten Bets" by the end of the week?  Maybe.


ANOTHER THEORY

So, we still don't know this year's guest director.  A few weeks back, I posited that it might be "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner who was at Telluride's Hollywood party as some kind of guest of the festival back on June 4th.

Seems like a plausible theory but I've been asking myself, if it is Weiner...why no announcement?  So over the weekend...another theory.

This one goes like this...the festival is going to announce this week.  why?  They've been waiting so that during this high profile Venice/Toronto week that they have a big arrow in their quiver to fire that will guarantee that Telluride doesn't get forgotten in the wave of other festival news.

Pretty good theory, huh?

And as I was contemplating this new theory, it occurred to me that another reason to wait until this week would be that this year's Guest Director is BIG...I mean titanically  HUGE...That would also give announcing during the Venice/Toronto week more impact.  To that end, I'm not sure that Weiner is sufficiently "HUGE".  He would be a cool choice, but not gargantuan.  I could easily fall back to the original Weiner theory which was his feature "You Are Here" will be a part of the festival lineup.

So...who?

If you're inclined, send me some suggestions...

I have some ideas...but they're really, really crazy.


PAIN FOR PAYNE

Looks like Alexander Payne's "Nebraska" (#1 on my Ten Bets list) will be rated R when it is released on Nov. 22.  Payne lost an appeal of the rating before the MPAA last week.  The Hollywood Reporter has details:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/alexander-payne-fails-overturn-nebraskas-588583


THE FULL MANDELA

We have already seen teaser for Justin Chadwick's "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom".  Toward the end of the week last week, we got a full trailer:

Here are a couple of posts about the trailer dropping:

The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-idris-elba-fights-for-his-rights-in-new-trailer-for-mandela-long-walk-to-freedom-20130718

HitFix:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/full-trailer-for-mandela-long-walk-to-freedom-promises-the-mandela-you-dont-know


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More tomorrow...

Best of the Week/Wells Speculates

Good Saturday...hope your weekend has gotten off to a great start!

BEST OF THE WEEK

WELLS SPECULATES...MIND BLOWN

Jeff Wells/ Hollywood Elsewhere tweeted enigmatically the link to this bit of Telluride #40 speculation:
"All is Lost"
"Inside Llewyn Davis"
"Blue is the Warmest Color" and
"Captain Phillips"

Hope he's right.

Here's the link to his post from yesterday:
http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2013/07/homework-assignment/

 TEN BETS #4

Not much movement in the "Ten" this week.  Anxiously waiting for the Toronto and Venice fests to announce lineups next week and see how that news impacts the thinking about Telluride.

This week's Ten Bets:

1) Nebraska
2) The Invisible Woman
3) The Unknown Known
4) The Story of Children and Film
5) The Past
6) The Immigrant
7) Daughter of the Dawn
8) Labor Day
9) Blue is the Warmest Color
10) Aguirre: The Wrath of God

Just below the "Ten": "The Lunchbox", "Like Father Like Son", "Life Itself", "Only Lovers Left Alive", "12 Years a Slave", "Quai d'Orsay", "Heli", "Philomena" and "The Selfish Giant".  With the Jeff Wells speculation from Thursday add "Inside Llewyn Davis", "Captain Phillips" and "All is Lost" as additional possibilities.

Also be looking out for SPC additions (reportedly) "Foxcatcher" and "Jodorowsky's Dune" as possibles.

DEADLINE DAY

http://www.telluridefilmfestival.org/film_entry

Monday was the deadline for submissions to the Telluride Film Festival.  I have been told on occasion that some of the "higher-ups" in the TFF hierarchy actually take a look at this space from time to time.  I'm not sure I believe that but I'd like to.  So, in that spirit, here's my list of 20 films that I'd sure like the Telluride Film Festival to consider programming.  Some of these I'm very sure will play.  Others don't have a snowball's chance of being in San Miguel County on Labor Day but it's a "wish list" (most with some kind of clip or trailer)of sorts so...

And to those film makers out there that are responsible for the films on this list...come on...apply...(of course, I fully realize that there are sometimes "late additions" to the Telluride lineup...that's OK too).

In alphabetical order they are:

"12 Years a Slave"- Steve McQueen's third feature following "Hunger" and "Shame" tells the true story of a free black man taken slammed into slavery and his struggle to regain that freedom.  Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender lead a massive and talent-laden cast.  Rumors are strong that it will play the Venice fest.

"All is Lost"- J.C. Chandor's follow-up to "Margin Call" features Robert Redford, a boat and the ocean...and not much dialogue.  It played at Cannes out of competition and was rapturously received.  Lot of buzz for Redford vis-a-vis awards season.

"American Hustle" -David O. Russell is on a hot streak.  "Silver Linings Playbook" last year and "The Fighter" in 2010.  "AH" is a true story of political corruption that features a phenomenal cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro from "SLP" and Christian Bale and Amy Adams from "Fighter" plus throw in Jeremy Renner.

"August: Osage County"-Meryl Streep leads the all star cast in this adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning play about a dysfunctional Oklahoma family.  Other cast mates: Julia Roberts, Ewan MacGregor, Chris Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch and Sam Shepard.

"Captain Phillips"- Tom Hanks plays the real life Captain of the U.S. ship hijacked by Somali pirates in 2009.  Paul Greengrass directs.

"The Counselor"- Ridley Scott (?) directs an original Cormac McCarthy script abut a lawyer who gets in over his head when dealing with the illicit drug trade.  The cast is intriguing: Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz.

"Dallas Buyers Club"- Matthew McConnaughey looks to continue his current acting winning streak with this true story of a homophobic Texan who contracted AIDS in 1986 and his attempts to find ways to treat it.  Jean-Marc Vallee (The Young Victoria) directs.Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner also star.

"The Fifth Estate"- Director Bill Condon's take on Julian Assange and the development of WikiLeaks.  Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Bruhl and Laura Linney star.

"Foxcatcher"- Bennett Miller has directed two straight winners: "Capote" and "Moneyball".  I'm hopeful that "Foxcatcher" will give him a hat trick.  "Foxcatcher" is another true story (notice that there are a lot of those on this list?).  This focuses on millionaire John DuPont and his murder of Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz.  Mark Ruffalo, Steve Carell and Channing Tatum star.

"Gravity"-Alfonso Curaon is back.  The director finally follows up his 2006 gem "Children of Men" with another sci-fi piece.  Now, I really liked "Children of Men" but Frankly was just lukewarm about this "lost in space" story starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney...most Bullock I understand.  That is until I saw the teaser...now, I'm kind of hot to see the film.

"Her" Spike Jonze directs, Joaquin Phoenix acts in a story about a men in love with his computer's operating system.  Yes.  Plus a lot of beautiful talented women: Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara and Olivia Wilde.  The combo of Jonze and Phoenix is a enough for me.

"The Immigrant"  James Gray's story of a young women trapped in a bad life in 19th century America with Marion Cotillard Jeremy Renner and Joaquin Phoenix.  I've been hot to see it since they teased it last year at TFF#39.

"Inside Llewyn Davis"-The Coen Brothers ode to music (folk music specifically) was roundly applauded at Cannes.  The buzz is very, very good.  Oscar Issac stars as the title character who appears to be a struggling New York folk musician in the early 60's.  Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, F. Murray Abraham and Justin Timberlake co-star.  This might be the #1 film on this fall's "must see" list.

"Labor Day"- I sure hope that Jason Reitman returns to Telluride.  I enjoyed "Juno" and "Up in the Air" and a brief conversation with Reitman both times.  This project sounds intriguing.  Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin star.  Brolin's on the run from the law whose path crosses with Winslet's character.

"The Monuments Men"- George Clooney and company save art from Nazis.  Clooney directs, stars and co-wrote the film which also features Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Bill Murray and Jean Dujardin.  Come on back to Telluride George!

"Nebraska"- Alexander Payne's story of a father-son road trip to claim a potential fortune.  Bruce Dern and Will Forte star (see story below).

"Out of the Furnace"- Scott Cooper follows "Crazy Heart" with this hard scrabble film about a man looking for justice for his brother.  Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson and Zoe Saldana star.

"The Past"-Berenice Bejo won Best Actress at Cannes in May in this film from "A Separation's" Asgahr Farhadi.  "A Separation" was one of the best films of 2011.  If this story of domestic difficulties is remotely in the same ball park, it should be worth our time.

"The Wolf of Wall Street"-Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio team up yet again for this true story of high finance, crime and corruption.  McConnaughey and Dujardin are both in this as well in addition to Jonah Hill and Jon Favreau.

"The Zero Theorem"-Terry Gilliam playing at satirizing our world with Christoph Waltz in the lead...yes please...in Telluride please.

Late word from this weekend is that director Terry Gilliam has confirmed that "The Zero Theorem" will be playing at the Venice Fest.  The Playlist reports:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/terry-gilliam-says-the-zero-theorem-headed-to-venice-film-festival-jessica-chastains-eleanor-rigby-also-rumored-20130714

SCHILLER'S 2FERS

Friend of the blog Chris Schiller tweeted out an interesting thought this weekend.  He speculated on some possible TFF#40 "2fers".  People that might star in 2 films showing as a part of the SHOW.  Last year Mads Mikkelsen fit that bill being in both "A Royal Affair" and "The Hunt" (see below, by the way).

Schiller's tweet:

2fer predictions/hopes for #TFF40 Benedict Cumberbatch(THE FIFTH ESTATE, AUGUST:OSAGE COUNTY) Tilda Swinton(THE ZERO THEOREM, ONLY LOVERS…)

So that got me to thinking, "what other '2fers' could pop up?" Not that they will or that I think that they will, but, you know, what could? Here's the list I came up with:

Michael Fassbender: "The Counselor' and "12 Years a Slave"
Joaquin Phoenix: "Her" and "The Immigrant"
Christian Bale: "Out of the Furnace" and "American Hustle"
Amy Adams: "American Hustle" and "Her"
Jeremy Renner: "American Hustle" and "The Immigrant"
Tom Hanks: "Captain Phillips" and "Saving Mr. Banks"
Matthew McConnaughey: "Dallas Buyers Club" and "The Wolf of Wall Street"
Daniel Bruhl: (actually a 3fer): "A Most Wanted Man", "Rush" and "The Fifth Estate"
Jean Dujardin; (also a 3fer): "The Monuments Men", "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "Mobius"
George Clooney (kind of a 3fer): "The Monuments Men", "Gravity" and producing "August: Osage County"
And this note...Cumberbatch also a "3fer" as he appears in "12 Years a Slave".

Who else? Drop me a line if there are others that you can think of that are "2fers" or more!

12 YEARS TRAILER

It dropped last night, the first trailer for Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave".  I have multiple links to stories with the trailer attached:

HitFix:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/12-years-a-slave-trailer-drops-with-looks-at-chiwetel-ejiofor-brad-pitt-and-michael-fassbender

The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/12-years-a-slave-trailer-585636

FirstShowing:
http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/must-watch-steve-mcqueens-12-years-a-slave-theatrical-trailer/

The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-trailer-for-steve-mcqueens-twelve-years-a-slave-starring-chiwetel-ejiofor-michael-fassbender-more-20130715

Awards Daily:
http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/12-years-a-slave-trailer-and-screencaps/

The Wrap:
http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/chiwetel-ejiofor-gets-sold-slavery-first-12-years-slave-trailer-video-103401

Rope of Silicon:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/12-years-a-slave-trailer-and-poster-premiere/

THE FIFTH ESTATE TRAILER

Much as "12 Years a Slave" did the other day, we had a trailer drop late last night for Bill Condon's "The Fifth Estate" starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Bruhl and Laura Linney.

I have thought this had promise and some Telluride possibilities because of Condon's and Linney's presence and I still do.  After seeing the trailer, I'm even more eager.  Here it is via YouTube:

I have also linked to a number of posts from early this morning that included the trailer as well:

The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-trailer-for-the-fifth-estate-starring-benedict-cumberbatch-as-julian-assange-20130717

FirstShowing:
http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/benedict-cumberbatch-as-julian-assange-in-the-fifth-estate-trailer/

Rope of Silicon:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/fifth-estate-wikileaks-official-trailer-pictures/

Movie City News:
http://moviecitynews.com/2013/07/trailer-the-fifth-estate-aka-the-wikileaks-movie/

"The Fifth Estate" opens Oct. 11th or 18th depending on which website you believe.

DOMESTIC COUNSELOR TRAILER

A new domestic trailer for Ridley Scott's "The Counselor" is making the rounds.  I have stories linked here through The Playlist, FirstShowing and Rope of Silicon:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-new-teasers-for-the-amazing-spider-man-2-ridley-scotts-the-counselor-feature-fresh-footage-20130718

http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/watch-another-seductive-new-trailer-for-ridley-scotts-the-counselor/?uid=8264cacf1f1cdc13fee895bdf87a2b0bc913f67c

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/counselor-official-trailer-michael-fassbender/

It will be interesting to see where this film lands next week when Venice and Toronto begin announcing their lineups.


BLUE SAGA CONTINUES

Pete Hammond at Deadline.com and Keuth Jagernauth at The Playlist reported late yesterday that, despite some serious efforts to change the outcome, Cannes Palme d'Or winner "Blue is the Warmest Color" is still ineligible for Best Foreign Language Oscar consideration.  The film is set to open in France (its home country) 9 days after The Academy's deadline.  U.S. distributor Sundance Selects has it set for here on Oct. 25.

Maybe of more importance to the concerns of this blog space is the unsurprising reveal that the film has been submitted to Telluride (and Toronto and New York).  I've thought that its chances of a T-ride play were pretty good and now with the confirmation that it was submitted, I feel that its even a bit more likely.

Check the stories here:

Deadline:
http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/oscars-sundance-selects-rejected-in-plea-to-make-cannes-palme-dor-winner-eligible-for-foreign-language-academy-award/

The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/cannes-hit-blue-is-the-warmest-color-sets-fall-release-date-academy-wont-bend-rules-to-allow-oscar-consideration-20130717

HitFix:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/sundance-selects-fails-in-plea-against-blue-is-the-warmest-color-oscar-ineligibility

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More on Monday...Have a good weekend!

Ten Bets #4/Wells Speculates...Mind Blown/Domestic Counselor (Trailer)/New Rush Trailer/SPC and Dune/Map of the Stars...kind of

Good Friday Everyone...

 TEN BETS #4

Not much movement in the "Ten" this week.  Anxiously waiting for the Toronto and Venice fests to announce lineups next week and see how that news impacts the thinking about Telluride.

Here's last week's Ten Bets:

1) Nebraska
2) The Invisible Woman
3) The Story of Children and Film
4) The Past
5) The Unknown Known
6) Daughter of the Dawn
7) Aguirre: The Wrath of God
8) The Immigrant
9) Labor Day
10) The Lunchbox

This week's Ten Bets:

1) Nebraska
2) The Invisible Woman
3) The Unknown Known
4) The Story of Children and Film
5) The Past
6) The Immigrant
7) Daughter of the Dawn
8) Labor Day
9) Blue is the Warmest Color
10) Aguirre: The Wrath of God

Just below the "Ten": "The Lunchbox", "Like Father Like Son", "Life Itself", "Only Lovers Left Alive", "12 Years a Slave", "Quai d'Orsay", "Heli", "Philomena" and "The Selfish Giant".

Also be looking out for SPC additions (reportedly) "Foxcatcher" and "Jodorowsky's Dune" as possibles.

WELLS SPECULATES...MIND BLOWN

Jeff Wells/ Hollywood Elsewhere tweeted enigmatically the link to this bit of Telluride #40 speculation:
"All is Lost"
"Inside Llewyn Davis"
"Blue is the Warmest Color" and
"Captain Phillips"

Hope he's right.

Here's the link to his post from yesterday:
http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2013/07/homework-assignment/

DOMESTIC COUNSELOR TRAILER

A new domestic trailer for Ridley Scott's "The Counselor" is making the rounds.  I have stories linked here through The Playlist, FirstShowing and Rope of Silicon:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/watch-another-seductive-new-trailer-for-ridley-scotts-the-counselor/?uid=8264cacf1f1cdc13fee895bdf87a2b0bc913f67c

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-new-teasers-for-the-amazing-spider-man-2-ridley-scotts-the-counselor-feature-fresh-footage-20130718

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/counselor-official-trailer-michael-fassbender/

It will be interesting to see where this film lands next week when Venice and Toronto begin announcing their lineups.



NEW RUSH TRAILER

There has been a bit of media speculation that the new Ron Howard film "Rush" could make an appearance as a part of this year's Telluride program.  Frankly, I'm less convinced, but a) you never know and b) I have to tell you that over the last six weeks I've heard some pretty interesting/strange T-ride possibilities...so maybe it could pop up.

"Rush" trailer via movieCLIPS and YouTube

The film stars Daniel Bruhl and Chris Hemsworth and focuses on the true life competition between two Formula One racers (Niki Lauda and James Hunt) that happened back in the '70's.

I have also linked accompanying stories from...

Rope of Silicon:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/rush-movie-trailer-release-date-september/

The Wrap:
http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/rush-trailer-chris-hemsworth-ron-howard-video-103916

FirstShowing:
http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/watch-chris-hemsworth-is-a-racing-playboy-in-new-trailer-for-rush/

SPC AND DUNE

Word this week that Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the documentary "Jodorowsky's Dune".  That makes it a film to consider for Labor Day weekend.  The doc explores the failed attempt by film maker Alejandro Jodorowsky to produce an adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic SciFi novel.

I've attached SPC's news release via Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/sony-classics/sony-pictures-classics-acquires-documentary-jodorowskys-dune/10151620899536731?utm_content=buffer8eec7&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer


MAP TO THE STARS...KIND OF

And now this from Telluride Film Fest via Foursquare.  A map of all the TFF venues includuing the new Werner Herzog (The ZOG).

https://foursquare.com/telluridefilm/list/telluride-film-festival-venues?ref=tw

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More tomorrow...