Star Gazing at TFF #49 / The Story of Film: A New Generation Trailer / Armageddon to NYFF / A Compassionate Spy Appears Confirmed

STAR GAZING AT TFF #49

Who might be joining us mere mortals in the San Juans in just a few weeks?  Working from my current Ten (Plus) Bets list, here are some possibilities (listed by film) with past TFF Guests indicated with ***:

Armageddon Time: Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Anthony Hopkins (who may have been a Tribute recipient had there been a TFF #47) and Jessica Chastain.

Bones and All: Timothee Chalamet, Taylor Russell***, Michael Stuhlbarg, Mark Rylance, Chloe Sevigny***.

Empire of Light: Colin Firth*** (Tribute 2010), Olivia Colman, Toby Jones.

One Fine Morning: Lea Seydoux***.

The Pale Blue Eye: Christian Bale***, Henry Melling, Gillian Anderson, Robert Duvall

TAR: Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong

Women Talking: Jesse Buckley, Rooney Mara*** (Tribute 2015), Clare Foy, Ben Whishaw, Frances McDormand.

The Wonder: Florence Pugh.

Hot prospects for Tributes include Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Olivia Colman and Frances McDormand.

THE STORY OF FILM: A NEW GENERATION TRAILER

TFF "Usual Suspect" Mark Cousins has a couple of projects that could make a splash at TFF #49.  One is an updating of sorts of his The Story of Film.  That film is The Story of Film: A New Generation and comes 10 years after the original.  The new version has a new trailer which dropped last week.  Here that is via YouTube:

Additionally, Cousins has a new documentary that will land at Venice and then could end up at Telluride.  March on Rome which is described at IMDb as a film that:

"Depicts the ascent of fascism in Italy, and its fallout across 1930s Europe."

I wouldn't be stunned if both films were screened at the fest.

ARMAGEDDON AT NYFF

The New York Film festival has announced that James Gray's Armageddon Time will play as a "Main Slate selection".  The announcement from NYFF is a little bit cagey with its language about the premiere status of the film:

"The premiere has been designated a special 60th anniversary screening event celebrating the history of the festival, featuring Gray and cast in attendance, along with NYFF filmmakers and supporters who have been integral to the festival’s success." 

There's no actual mention of its premiere status despite using the word premiere" in the announcement.  If the film isn't playing TFF/TIFF then New York could and likely would bill it as an North American premiere.  Also, the "60th anniversary screening event" language makes me think that the film plays somewhere else before NYFF.

So I'm going to stand pat, for the moment anyway, that Armageddon Time still screens at TFF #49.

NYFF's announcement is linked here.

A COMPASSIONATE SPY APPEARS CONFIRMED

Jordan Ruimy/World of Reel continues to be a fount of info regarding festival season.  In one of his later posts he seems to confirm that Steve James' A Compassionate Spy is headed for Telluride:

"Then there’s Steve James’ “A Compassionate Spy,” set to premiere at Venice, Telluride, Toronto and Chicago."

I reported here a week ago that the documentary looked like it was  headed to TFF #49 based on a Chicago Tribune story which included this:

"Though the filmmaker could not confirm the near-future for his latest project, many world premieres start at Venice and then go straight to a U.S. premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado a few days later."

And:

"James wrapped up principal photography in April, and his producers at Participant Media suggested submitting the film for Venice (Aug. 31-Sept. 10) and Telluride (Sept. 2-5)."

Jordan's full story is here.

PS...another doc that Jordan mentions is Laura Poitras' All the Beauty and the Bloodshed" has also been announced as NYFF's Centerpiece and os absent any premiere designation for that fest as far as I can tell.  

That leads me to think that we might consider it as a TFF #49 prospect.  The film focuses on the work of photographer Nan Goldin and her fight against the Sackler family (Purdue Pharma).  

Goldin's story was recently included as a part of the Hulu miniseries Dopesick.

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Oscar Predictions Update: Best Supporting Actor / Oscar History and TFF: Best Supporting Actor / It's Bale vs. Damon / Variety's 34 Best Picture Contenders

OSCAR PREDICTIONS UPDATE: BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

I last checked in on the Best Supporting Actor Oscar race on Sept. 25th.  Here's the new update for the category with the actor's previous position in parentheses.  Performances from TFF #46 films are in Bold.


1) Brad Pitt/Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood (1)
2) Al Pacino/The Irishman (4)
3) Tom Hanks/A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2)
4) Anthony Hopkins/The Two Popes (3)
5) Joe Pesci/The Irishman (-)

Other possibles: Willem Dafoe/The Lighthouse, Alan Alda/Marriage Story, John Lithgow/Bombshell, Taika Waititi/Jojo Rabbit

Notes:  Joe Pesci especially, but also Al Pacino are riding a crest of positive reactions to the first screenings of Martin Scorsese's The Irishman.  It will also be interesting to see if Scorsese's recent critique of "Superhero" films has any effect on how Oscarologists are handicapping the season.



OSCAR HISTORY AND TFF: BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Here's the complete history of nominees and winners for the Best Supporting Actor category and the Telluride Film Festival:

1992- Jaye Davidson/The Crying Game
1994- Martin Landau/Ed Wood-WINNER, Chazz Palminteri/Bullets Over Broadway
1997- James Coburn/Affliction-WINNER
2000- WIllem Dafoe/Shadow of the Vampire
2005- Jake Gyllenhaal/Brokeback Mountain
2006- Jackie Earle Haley/Little Children
2007- Hal Holbrook/Into the Wild
2009- Christopher Plummer/The Last Station
2010- Geoffrey Rush/The King's Speech
2012- Alan Arkin/Argo
2013- Michael Fassbender/12 Years a Slave
2014- Mark Ruffalo/Foxcatcher, Edward Norton/Birdman
2015- Mark Ruffalo/Spotlight
2016- Mahershala Ali/Moonlight-WINNER, Lucas Hedges- Manchester by the Sea
2017- Richard Jenkins/The Shape of Water
2018- Richard E. Grant/Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Overall 19 nominations and three wins.


IT'S BALE VS. DAMON

The question about where Matt Damon and Christian Bale would be campaigned in terms of Oscar categorization was answered earlier this week as reports from a number of sources indicated that both will be categorized as leads and as such will be going head to head for Best Actor nominations.

Some reports even indicated that Bale was the one who actually made the determination.

Indiewire's story on the matter is linked here.

Variety's report is here.

Deadline's story is here.


VARIETY LISTS 34 BEST PICTURE PLAYERS

Variety's Jenelle Riley and Avika Gottlieb writing for Variety have come up with a list of 34 films that they believe are the most likely films to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.  Among those films are   that played at TFF #46.

Those TFF #46 films are:

The Aeronauts
Ford v. Ferrari
A Hidden Life
Judy
Marriage Story
Motherless Brooklyn
Pain and Glory
Parasite
The Two Popes
Uncut Gems
Waves


The complete list of all 34 as well as brief descriptions and Oscar analysis for each is linked here.


That's your Thursday.


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Ford v. Ferrari Trailer, Poster, Photos / Neon is Bringing Some Heat to the Oscar Race

Good first Monday in June...TFF #46 is a mere three months away!


FORD V. FERRARI TRAILER, POSTER, PHOTOS

20th Century Fox/Disney revved up the hype machine in earnest over the weekend with the release of a slew of promotional materials for James Mangold's Ford v. Ferrari.  The film stars Christian Bale and Matt Damon and centers on the true story of Ford Motors attempt to develop a car that could compete against the world renowned Ferrari at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race.

The film is being alluded to as a "buddy" film and likened in a number of the stories about the trailer's release to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  The tenor of the trailer supports that description.  See for yourself (from YouTube):

Additionally we got a look at this poster:

And some stills from the film as well from The Film Stage:

Ford v. Ferrari is dated for a release on Nov. 15th.  The 20th Century Fox/Disney backing doesn't suggest a Telluride play however, James Mangold has been a part of the festival as the director of the Oscar nominated (Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress for the film) Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line in 2005.

I have linked a couple of stories associated with the trailer's release from

Variety

The Film Stage

The Wrap


NEON IS BRINGING SOME HEAT TO THE OSCAR RACE

Distribution outfit Neon looks to be  serious presence this Oscar season in the newly re-christened Oscar category Best International Feature (which used to be Best Foreign Language Film).

With acquisitions and positioning of two prize winning films from the recently concluded 72nd Cannes Film Fest.  Neon now has in its film cupboard both Bong Joon-ho's Palme d'Or winner  Parasite and Celine Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire which took the Cannes prize for Best Screenplay.

Parasite has been scheduled for an Oct. 11th U.S. release date and Neon has announced that Portrait will open on Dec. 6th in New York and Los Angeles.

Both films could make the Telluride lineup in three months.  Neon, as I have been noting in recent posts has made a splash at recent TFFs with both Border and Biggest Little Farm playing last year and The B-Side in 2016.

Linked here is coverage about both Parasite and Portrait of a Lady on Fire from Indiewire:

Parasite

Portrait



That's your MTFB entry for this Monday in June.  I'll have more on Thursday.

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Byron Allen Gets Friendly With Hostiles / The Stanton Oscar Express Making Headway? / New Poster for Film Stars / First Reformed Added to NYFF

Welcome to the first Thursday in October...


BYRON ALLEN GETS FRIENDLY WITH HOSTILES

After having premiered at Telluride and playing Toronto and being announced as the opening film for the Rome Film Fest, Scott Cooper's Hostiles has finally gained distribution.

The news was revealed Tuesday that Byron Allen's fledgling Entertainment Studios.  Reports suggested that plans for the film will include an Oscar qualifying release before the end of the year and a wider release in January.

Those plans mean that Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike are probably both part of the awards conversation for acting honors and that the film could be a player in the Best Picture, Direction and Screenplay categories as well.

The film was received in a generally positive way at both Telluride and Toronto especially Bale for his portrayal of a 19th century U.S. Army Captain charged with escorting a Native American Chief (Wes Studi) to Montana from New Mexico.  The film  currently has a 67 on Rotten Tomatoes and a 63 from Metacritic.

Further coverage is here from:

Variety

Indiewire



THE STANTON OSCAR EXPRESS MAKING HEADWAY?


FOr those that have been following along, the Harry Dean Stanton for Best Actor Oscar campaign may have gotten a boost this week as Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporters chief awards writer, included Stanton in his latest Feinberg Forecast,

Feinberg, doing an update of FF at the halfway mark of the New York Film Festival lists HDS as a "New" entrant on the race as a part pf a group he labels as "Major Threats".  That puts the late Stanton in Feinberg's top 12 for Oscar Best Actor.

The complete and updated version of The Feinberg Forecast is here



.NEW POSTER FOR FILM STARS


Paul McGuigan's Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool starring Annette Bening as film star Gloria Grahame and Jamie Bell has a new poster as it moves towards its Dec. 29th limited release date in the U.S..  The film is under the umbrella of Sony Pictures Classics. and in addition to having premiered at Telluride played Toronto and will play London, Mill Valley and Middleburg.

Check the new poster:

Also take a look at the story from The Express (UK).


FIRST REFORMED ADDED TO NYFF

A24 announced earlier this week that Paul Schrader's First Reformed has been added to the lineup of the on-going New York Film Festival.  The film played Telluride, Venice and Toronto.  The film stars Ethan Hawke and Amanda Seyfried.

It is scheduled to screen tomorrow evening at 6:00pm in Alice Tully Hall.  A release date has not yet been set.

Here's the rundown from NYFF.

Dear Guillermo... / Tribute Clues / WeiWei Interview / Screen Talk Talks Fall Fests / Reminder to Rate Your Films

Welcome back from the weekend.  It's Monday, August 28, 2017.  The 44th Telluride Film Festival begins in four days.


DEAR GUILLERMO...

This section of MTFB is going to be a little different than what you readers commonly see here but...

First, most everyone reading here knows that I have been very sure these past few weeks that Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water will be announced on Thursday as a part of the TFF #44 lineup.  I am very excited about the film but you know who's insane about it?

My wife.

Let me tell you why because it goes beyond the excitement about seeing GDT's new film in the incredible setting that is Telluride.

Some of you know that both my wife and I teach high school in a rural town (pop. 12,500)  in the Oklahoma Panhandle.  She's the art teacher here and damned good at what she does.  Especially in light of our current student body.

Please understand, that's not a slam about our kids but our situation is really unique.

In 1992 a massive pork processing facility opened in our community and to fill their workforce they have scoured the planet to find workers willing to re-locate.  That has meant a reliance on immigrants, refugees and others.

In the last 20 or so years our demographics have shifted from a majority Anglo population to one in which minority students are the majority.  Mostly kids from about every country south of the southern border of the U.S. but we're not exclusively Latin.  We have have significant student populations from Burma, S. Korea, Thailand, Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia and more.

Our school administration tells us we have somewhere between 25-30 languages spoken in our high school (enrollment is a shade under 900 kids grades 9-12).  Imagine that in a Podunk Oklahoma town.

Many of you also know that Del Toro had a harrowing childhood and turned to art as a kid to deal with that.  My wife sure does.  Del Toro's story and artwork have become an integral part of the curriculum in her classwork because...you know..it resonates with these kids...immigrant kids. They can relate to Del Toro's story because, for many of them, it's a lot like their stories.  Del Toro's body of film work plays a part too.  All these kids know Hellboy.

And, of course, because it's art, the language barrier is a much smaller problem in my wife's classroom than about anywhere else in the building.  For some of her students, it's the safest and most comfortable place they find themselves every day and that's not an exaggeration.  Some of her refugee kids spell out the terrors that they have lived through from refugee camps to predatory traffickers to hiding from death squads and civil war.

Needless to say, Guillermo has a more than special place in her heart.

So...I've never done this before in the nine years I've been writing this thing...but

If anyone knows anyone in the Del Toro camp (and I'm assuming here that he will make the trip with the film from Venice to Telluride), I'm asking for a favor.  You know what I'm going to say here...

A meeting between Kris and Guillermo would be...um...nice.  Well, she'd likely lose her mind at least a little bit.  She's already got a big honking copy of Guillermo's Cabinet of Curiosities and will be hauling it this weekend on the off chance that she might be able to get an autograph.  I'd like to make it a little less "chancy".

If anyone has some insight about making this happen, please contact me using any of the methods listed at the bottom of this post.

And Senor Del Toro, if YOU are reading this, hear my plea and reach out to me.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled blog post.


TRIBUTES CLUES

Many of you know that in the days before the beginning of the festival that, usually a couple of films are screened in Elks Park and that they almost always hint at who the tribute recipients will be.

A Telluride local and friend of the blog, who I am keeping anonymous, emailed me the an ad that has run locally in T-ride for the films that have been scheduled:

The choice of these two films seems to confirm earlier speculation that tributes are set for Christian Bale and cinematographer Ed Lachman.  As to the third tribute, I think I have that nailed down as well but am going to keep that under wraps for the time being.

WEIWEI INTERVIEW

Artist, dissident and film maker Ai Weiwei is certainly set for screening his documentary Human Flow at Venice this week and then is very likely to bring it Telluride this weekend.  He was the subject of a substantial interview with Variety this past week in which he speaks about the film.

Nick Vivarelli writes.  Here's the interview.

SCREEN TALK TALKS FALL FESTS

This week's podcast of Screen Talk with Indiewire's Anne Thompson and Eric Kohn spends a good deal of time focused on some of the upcoming launch of the fall film fests and Oscar season.  Although neither of them can name films that will be at Telluride, they do make mention of the fest and make no bones about Downsizing being there.  Among other films that they mention that I'm feeling will lay are: Lady Bird, Darkest Hour and The Shape of Water.

The Screen Talk podcast is here.


REMINDER TO RATE YOUR FILMS THIS WEEK

Don't forget, my friends, I want your ratings of the films you see next weekend.  Use a 0-5 scale with 0 being "putrid" and 5 being "best film since..."

I will publish The People's Telluride film ratings a week to ten days after the festival concludes.  Join in!

That's all for now.  More tomorrow and on Wednesday I'll post a special edition of MTFB with the final "Bets" for TFF #44.

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Let's Talk Tributes / I Got Your Trailers Right Here / New York Reveals Tomorrow

Welcome back from the weekend...it's Monday.  TFF #44 is 24 days away.

LET'S TALK TRIBUTES

It's always fun to think about the three tributes that will be a part of the festival.  Last year eventual Best Actor Oscar winner Casey Affleck was one of the three along with Amy Adams and Pablo Larrain.  Over the years the fest has tributed some of the most important people in the history of film: Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Nicholson, Robert Altman, Clint Eastwood, Catherine Denueve, David Lynch, Ang Lee, Peter O'Toole, Daniel Day Lewis, Claudia Cardinale, David Fincher, Marion Cotillard, Robert Redford, Roger Corman and The Coen Brothers among others have all been feted as a part of the fest's tribute program.

The first place to start is with the buzz that we have seen/read...

Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere suggested on July 16th that one specific tribute had been nailed down and named names.  That post has since, seemingly been modified to remove the reference.

Meanwhile, Deadline's Pete Hammond in a July 25th piece has speculated tributes for Christian Bale with Hostiles and Angelina Jolie with First They Killed My Father.  Both of those wouldn't surprise me.

If we go down the list of 15-16 films that we're relatively confident will play the fest I can see some other potential tributes that make sense:

Wonderstruck might mean Julianne Moore (though, if you follow this blog, you know that the Wells article suggested another person connected to this film would be a tribute recipient).

Downsizing could give us Matt Damon.

Battle of the Sexes-maybe Steve Carell?

The Shape of Water-seems like Guillermo Del Toro is the best shot of a tribute here.  Maybe Sally Hawkins.

Hostiles-Bale

First They Killed My Father-Jolie

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool-Annette Bening would be a great tribute subject but her gig presiding over the Golden Lion jury for Venice makes that impossible.

The Florida Project-Willem Dafoe would be an interesting choice.

Among the other films that are listed as "possibles":

Lean on Pete-Steve Buscemi...yes please.

Mary Magdalene-Joaquin Pheonix... though Phoenix might not have any interest in a tribute.

First Reformed-Ethan Hawke

Our Souls at Night-Jane Fonda...perhaps presented by her co-star and 2014 TFF tributee Robert Redford.

The Death and Life of John F. Donovan- a plethora of possibilities-Natalie Portman, Jessica Chastain. Thandie Newton, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates...even Michael Gambon who narrates in the film.

Molly's Game-Aaron Sorkin or Jessica Chastain.

My bet is that at least one, if not all three people who will be tributed are listed or referenced above.


I GOT YOUR TRAILERS RIGHT HERE

A couple of trailers appeared last week for films that will/could play The SHOW's 2017 edition.

First, a full trailer for the animated by hand exploration of the life of Vincent Van Gogh, Loving Vincent which we're fairly confident will make the journey to Telluride (from YouTube):

The film is distributed by Good Deed Entertainment is set to be released on Sept. 22.

Here's a story about the film and trailer release from Alex Billington/FirstShowing.net.

Also up with a trailer last week was Simon Curtis' Goodbye Christopher Robin (from YouTube):

The film focuses on the life of A.A. Milne, the creator of Winnie the Pooh.  The film is from Fox Searchlight and is set for an Oct. 13 release.

One note here, though.  I'm firm in my belief that Fox Searchlight already has Battle of the Sexes and The Shape of Water playing in Colorado and the chances of them playing three films there are smallish.

The Playlist covered the release of the trailer.

NEW YORK REVEALS TOMORROW

The New York Film Festival/Film Society of Lincoln Center are scheduled to reveal their main slate films tomorrow.  We already know that the fest will open with Richard Linklater's Last Flag Flying as a World Premiere and will close with Woody Allen's Wonder Wheel also as a World Premiere.  Their centerpiece film is Todd Haynes' Wonderstruck which they label a New York Premiere...one of the things that fueled my belief that it would be heading to Telluride.

Past that, it's all speculation for NYFF.  Just like announcements from Toronto, the NYFF reveal tomorrow will include premiere designations which can give us clues about other possible films headed to wither Telluride of TIFF.

Last year the NYFF announcement allowed me to claim that Fire at Sea, Graduation and Moonlight would play TFF #43 and confirmed Neruda, Manchester by the Sea, Things to Come and Toni Erdmann.

It also allowed us to eliminate form TFF #43 consideration: Aquarius, I, Daniel Blake, Sieranevada, Staying Vertical and The Unknown Girl.

TFF and NYFF share titles fairly commonly.  A look at the past few years and the number of films that played both TFF and NYFF:

2016- 11

2015- 4

2014- 11

2013- 12

2012- 9

So, we'll almost certainly find out some useful information tomorrow.

That's your Monday MTFB...more tomorrow.

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New Toronto Titles Reveal Little / First They Killed Trailer / Early Oscar and TFF #44

It's Thursday, Aug. 4, 2017...TFF #44 begins four weeks from tomorrow!

NEW TORONTO TITLES REVEAL LITTLE

The Toronto International Film Fest announced its slate of Documentaries, Midnight Madness and Short Cuts Tuesday and none of those announcements added as single title to TFF #44.  They did, however, take a player off the TFF #44 table after we were under the impression that Frederick Wiseman's Ex Libris: The New York Public Library.  We had that impression due to this Ioncinema story:

But despite what seemed to be a claim that Ex Libris would do the same path that Human Flow is looking like it will do, the TIFF announcement lists Ex Libris as a North American Premiere.  Ex Libris is currently listed as opening in NYC on Sept. 13.

This likely means that the film isn't playing T-ride but there is still enough to be a bit tentative about making a definitive call.  The most probable explanation is that it will premiere at TIFF sometime before its NYC bow on Sept. 13.

In terms of other news from the TIFF reveal Tuesday was that every film announced was a World or North American Premiere except for one and that was a seven minute film from the Midnight Madness section named Great Choice which was listed as a Canadian Premiere.  Investigation revealed that the film bowed in February at the Borscht Film Fest in Miami.

JUST BREAKING: TIFF'S PLATFORM SELECTIONS

It might be noted that Moonlight played the Platform section last year and was the only Platform selection that was shared by both TFF and TIFF and this year that will NOT be replicated as no film in the section will play both fests.

The TIFF announcement lists all twelve films as either a World or North American Premiere which means that none of them will have played TFF the week before.

While we can infer no additions to the Telluride lineup, we can glean films that won't make the trip to the San Juans.

Among the films announced this morning that I thought had a shpt at T-ride:

The Death of Stalin

Brad's Status 

Sweet Country

I am particularly disappointed that The Death of Stalin won't be playing Telluride.  It was relatively high on my wish list.

FIRST THEY KILLED TRAILER

In all the hubbub the last week or so about the casting methods used or not used for Angelina Jolie's First They Killed My Father, which we believe will play TFF #44 owing to its listing for Toronto as a Canadian Premiere, came the release yesterday of the first trailer for the film:

(trailer via YouTube)

I have also linked coverage of the film and the trailer's release here from:

Variety

Indiewire


HOSTILES CONFIRMED

After playing this game for awhile, I can tell you none of this prediction stuff is ever 100% certain. That goes as well for trying to read the TIFF tea leaves.  I'm pretty sure about those claims but as you can see above in the case of Ex Libris, sometimes things are confused or mis-labeled or just wrong.

That's why I continue to look for information that validates what we think we know and I had a fine example of how that works since my last post on Tuesday.

Combing through social media on Tuesday night I came across this reference on Twitter:

That's Native American actor and activist Wes Studi (a fellow Oklahoman by the way).  So naturally, I followed up:

Looks good to me.  Hostiles will be making the trip along with Mr. Studi.




EARLY OSCAR AND TFF #44

The big Oscar prognosticators seem to be getting their ducks lined up prior to the start of the fall film fest Trifecta (and now after lineup announcements from TIFF and Venice).

Tuesday we included Sasha Stone's assessment of the Picture, Director and Lead Acting fields. Today, here is the link to her view of the screenplay races.

Stone mentions probable Telluride players The Shape of Water, Downsizing, Battle of the Sexes and Wonderstruck as screenplay possibilities.

Meanwhile, Clayton Davis and his crew at Awards Circuit are up with another edition of their podcast: Circuit Breaker that surveys the field as well as a number of other items including some talk about TFF #44 that might well feature a massive reference to a certain Telluride Film Fest blog.  That happens at the 18 minute mark.  Take a listen.


That's your Thursday.

A reminder, I will update this post today should we find out anything of interest regarding TFF #44 from Toronto and don't forget, tomorrow...a new Ten Bets list...

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Searching for the Fox in 2014/Malick's Knight has a Date?/Meyer's New Gig

Welcome back from the weekend to a Monday in July...

SEARCHING FOR THE FOX IN 2014

I am continuing my series of looking at distributors and their connection to Telluride over the past few years as a way of examining the potential film choices for TFF #41,  Today it's Fox Searchlight.  Here's what we have seen from them art Telluride over the past decade:

2004: Kinsey
2005: Bee Season
2006: The Last King of Scotland, The Namesake
2007: Juno, The Savages
2008: Slumdog Millionaire
2009: ZIP
2010: Never Let Me Go, 127 Hours, Black Swan, Millions
2011: Shame, The Descendants
2012: ZIP
2013: 12 Years a Slave

14 films in ten years.  The highwater mark coming in 2010 with 4 films on the SHOW list but  '09 and '12 with no films at all.  But when Fox Search plays, they usually light it up including two Best Picture winners that they had play T-ride including last year's "12 Years a Slave".  Looking at their current lineup of films purportedly ready as per IMDb.com you'll find that they have three films that could show at the SHOW:

Inarritu's "Birdman", Vallee's "Wild" and Vinterberg's "Far from the Madding Crowd"...though it is still unlikely to be ready in time for Labor Day weekend.  Meanwhile, if you read this space with much regularity, you know that I think the "Birdman" is very, very likely to make a Telluride play.  That leaves "Wild" as a question mark.  Currently, I'm not feeling it as a Telluride play (although star Reese Witherspoon won her Oscar for "Walk the Line" which played T-ride in 2005.

So, bottom line:  Fox Searchlight plays "Birdman" as its solo entry for TFF #41.


MALICK'S KNIGHT MIGHT HAVE A DATE

Malcik and Christian Bale on the set of "Knight of Cups" via thefocuspull.com

Does Terrence Malick's "Knight of Cups" have a U.S. release date?  Well, there's buzz that it could be but it's not exactly from publicists.  thefilmstage.com reports that the film could get released in the U.S. in October.  The story also suggests that Venice or Toronto might be the fest for the film.  Venice seems right to me.  Remember, though. that "Tree of Life" made a small appearance to select distributors at Telluride back in 2011.

Check thefilmstage.com story here:

http://thefilmstage.com/news/knight-of-cups-distributor-confirms-terrence-malicks-drama-will-hit-u-s-theaters-this-year/



MEYER'S NEW GIG

Gary Meyer photo via Eat, Drink, Film

A couple of weeks back, I reported that Gary Meyer's responsibilities ofr the Telluride Film festival had changed from that of co-director to what is described as Senior Curator.  Meyer was said to be moving to put more focus on his Eat, Drink, Film website.  We've seen that happen now as Meyer has a big post up over the weekend about Roger Ebert.  Take a look at that here:

http://eatdrinkfilms.com/2014/07/02/roger-and-me-part-i/


More on Tuesday...

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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...

Not So Smart/View of Hyde Park/Depp and Anderson/Knight Without Damsel

Good Tuesday to All!


NOT SO SMART

So, yesterday, I was doing my research thing; trying to suss put clues here and there to what might be playing at this year's fest.  I stumbled over a reference online and dug into it.  At one point I was about 90% certain that I had a backdoor confirmation that a film that I have mentioned and that has been on the Ten Bets list was a go for TFF.  Very exciting...and I'm thinking I'm a film research genius.  Then I get a response to a feeler I had sent to a source....mmm...nope...no confirmation.  Actually, more confusion...

So..."not so smart"...but I'll keep trying!

VIEW OF HYDE PARK

The Playlist has a post up this morning that shows us posters for John Hillcoat's "Lawless" which we won't see in Telluride (it opens nationally that weekend) and Roger Michell's "Hyde Park on Hudson" which I feel strongly that we WILL see in Telluride.  Here's the poster:

And the post from The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/shia-labeouf-lives-in-the-shadows-on-new-lawless-poster-hyde-park-on-hudson-poster-spotlights-bill-murrays-fdr-20120717

The "Hyde Park" teaser:

JOHNNY DEPP AND WES ANDERSON

Wes Anderson is enjoying some of his best reviews for his current "Moonrise Kingdom".  Meanwhile, Johnny Depp may be the biggest movie star on the planet ("Dark Shadows" notwithstanding).  Neither film maker has made an appearance at Telluride, but that could change.  The interweb was lousy yesterday with the story that the two will apparently work together on Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (rhetorically, does that sound a lot like John Madden's "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"?)

Check the barrage of reporting:

Deadline.com

http://www.deadline.com/2012/07/johnny-depp-wes-anderson-movie-starring-grand-budapest-hotel/

HitFix:

http://www.hitfix.com/news/johnny-depp-checks-into-wes-andersons-the-great-budapest-hotel

The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/johnny-depp-confirmed-for-wes-andersons-new-film-the-grand-budapest-hotel-20120716

The Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/johnny-depp-wes-anderson-next-film-349863

For hoots, here's the trailer for "Moonrise Kingdom":

KNIGHT WITHOUT DAMSEL

We have gotten used to seeing set photos of Christian Bale with various beautiful women from Terrence Malick's currently filming "Knight of Cups".  Finally, photos emerged yesterday of Bale and someone male.  Oakenfold, who I gather is something of a well known DJ are featured.  Here's a pic:

and the story from The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-yes-that-is-christian-bale-hanging-with-paul-oakenfold-shooting-terrence-malicks-knight-of-cups-20120716


More later...


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Eggers and Telluide/UK Film/Love is All?/Beauties and Bale

Good Tuesday to All!


EGGERS AND TELLURIDE

The news release hit my email yesterday at 11:44 AM CDT.  I had a post up at 12:02 PM CDT.  The news from the Telluride Film Festival Press Office was that author Dave Eggers had been selected as the poster artist for TFF#39...and the poster was up and running...

I think I had the story up first anywhere on the web...by a ways...

The frustration, such as it was, when it came to re-tweeting/re-posting...nada...zip...zilch.  As the story rolled through the afternoon all of the movie blog type outlets you'd expect got it posted and it looks like Anne Thompson's "Thompson on Hollywood" got the majority of re-production.  Good for her.

I had hoped that the rapidity of getting their first would have reaped some more online love...not so much.

Nevertheless, there's an interesting side note to the Dave Eggers selection.  Eggers will obviously be in Telluride to schmooze and sign the poster and the press release says he will be honored by the UCLA film school in the course of the weekend's activities...but here's the intriguing thing...Dave Eggers also has film bona fides.  He was the screenwriter for 2009's "Where the Wild Things Are" and "Away We Go" (starring Jon Krasinski and Maya Rudolph.  His novel "Zeithoun" has reportedly been optioned by director Jonathan Demme and if you check his IMDb page you'll find that he has provided the "story" for "Promised Land".

"Promised Land"???  Wait.  Isn't that the Gus Van Sant directed (TFF in 1995-"Elephant" and 2003-"To Die For"), Matt Damon and Jon Krasinski co-written and co-starring film being distributed by frequent Telluride participant Focus Features that The Playlist has reported could well be ready for a fall film fest debut?  Here's The Playlist post:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/gus-van-sants-the-promised-land-could-hit-theaters-by-the-end-of-the-year-not-an-anti-fracking-movie-says-john-krasinski-20120618 

Yes to all...

So does that mean "Promised Land" is suddenly a lock for TFF #39?  No...but it does make me suspect it has a much better shot at being there than it seemed to have yesterday.

"Promised Land's" IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2091473/

AND...maybe there is a continuing connection with/to Maya Rudolph who shares three children with Paul Thomas Anderson who also happens to be directing a film with some buzz about it.  You know..."The Master".

Last year my grand conspiracy theory was that George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon might all three show up in Telluride and have an "Oceans" movie reunion while their respective films ("Descendants", "Ides of March, "Moneyball", and "We Bought a Zoo") all played...

Only the Clooney part with "The Descendants" actually happened...but it was fun to spin the grand story.

This Dave Eggers/TFF #39 Poster/"Promised Land"/Gus Van Sant/Focus Feature/Maya-PTA/"Master" thing looks like it will be the story I spin for this year.  

Chances that it happens: 1%...but it's a good story.

UK FILM COUNCIL

I continue looking at European film production houses that have had some Telluride presence in that past and to see if they have any films in the pipe that look reasonably Telluride-ish and today that's The UK Film Council.  Their past at Telluride includes:

2011: Shame, We Need to Talk About Kevin

2010: The King's Speech, The First Grader, Tamara Drewe, Another Year, Camerman: Jack Cardiff

2009: Bright Star, Fish Tank

2008: Happy Go Lucky

2007: Brick Lane, When Did You Last See Your Father

2006: Venus, The Last King of Scotland, Severance

As you can see, the last 6 fests have had a substantial UKFC footprint with 2 films common and 2010 being the banner year with 5 films playing.

So what does their announced 2012 slate hold that might have Telluride potential?

The best bet is the Dakota Fanning starrer "Now is Good".  I think the only other possibility (and I think it's not highly likely) is the Scarlett Johansson as an alien film "Under the Skin" from director Jonathan Glazer who is probably best known for 2000's "Sexy Beast".

I'd put "Now is Good's" chances at 30% and "Under the Skin" at 10%.

"Now is Good" IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1937264/

"Under the Skin" IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441395/

LOVE IS ALL?

The international trailer for Susanne Bier's film (and thus T-ride possible) "Love is All You Need" popped up over the weekend.  Here's the link to the story and the trailer from The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-international-trailer-for-susanne-biers-love-is-all-you-need-starring-pierce-brosnan-20120707

BEAUTIES AND BALE

And yet at least two more sets of photos have emerged from the Terrence Malick shoot of his "Knight of Cups" project starring Christian Bale.  These feature Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) and Teresa Palmer (I Am Number Four) and are beginning to make me think that the film is nothing more than Bale with 37,000 beautiful women...and a beach or an outdoor concert.  You can find these stories both at The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/freida-pinto-is-the-latest-actress-shooting-with-christian-bale-on-terrence-malicks-knight-of-cups-20120627#

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/teresa-palmer-the-latest-beauty-to-join-terrence-malicks-knight-of-cups-20120707

More later...

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