A TRAILER FOR MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Purportedly an Oscar contender since it bowed at The Sundance Film Festival last February, Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester by the Sea is expected by many to be that rare "Sundance" exception for The SHOW. They don't come along very often.
For a good chunk of time I thought, and some others did as well, that Nate Parker's Birth of a Nation might be an exception too or instead but we're pretty sure that won't happen.
Manchester received great response from the Sundance crowd and is regarded by some as a strong contender for Oscar action. The film stars Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams both of whom could well be in the conversation for acting awards. The buzz on Affleck is particularly strong.
Those of us who didn't see the film in Park City now have a chance to look at some of it as Amazon/Roadside Attractions released a full trailer for it yesterday. Here it is via YouTube:
As you might expect, here's coverage of the release of the trailer yesterday from:
WHAT'S THE MYSTERY FILM?
Well, the Ol' Blog is chugging right along. It gets increasing attention the closer we get to the opening of each year's SHOW and this year has been no exception. Within the last couple of weeks MTFB has been mentioned or linked by Awards Daily, Awards Circuit, Awards Watch and maybe most intriguingly by Hollywood Elsewhere last Sunday evening.
The HE mention included a version of the last week;s Ten (Plus) Bets. What made it intriguing were a couple of phrases in the post to the effect that author Jeffrey Wells had run the list by "a guy who knows his stuff" and that said "guy" all but endorsed the "Ten Bets" but also apparently added that it did not include "one major American film that is definitely going".
Which piqued my interest.
So...what could that "major American film" be?
Seems to me that the description really gives us some clues and limits.
At this point, by reason of deduction, has be a film that is NOT playing Toronto or New York which have revealed (we think) all of the films for their lineups.
It could be a film that will play Venice as part of that festival occurs before Telluride begins and continues after T-ride is over.
It could also be a film that will play the AFI Fest, BFI (because we don't know their complete lineups yet) or isn't going to play any other Festival at all.
And it has to be a "major American" film.
So...
If you've been reading this space of late you know that one of the rumors that's swirling around is that Warners is going to screen Sully in Telluride. That would seem to fit the criteria listed above.
As a matter of fact, the three Warners' pictures we've been batting around for weeks would all probably fit the bill: Sully, The Accountant and Live By Night.
Next, I'm going to admit what a number of people have been guessing since last Friday that the buzz I've heard about a Venice film that could play despite its Toronto designation as a North American premiere is (as some of you have guessed) Nocturnal Animals.
If Nocturnal IS the film that our "guy" is referencing then that would raise a bunch of questions centered on the veracity of Toronto's so-called "honest premiere status" policy. I think you'd have to question any and all of Toronto's designations at that point.
Additionally, someone in some comment section or forum somewhere this last week, suggested that the term "major American film" implied a release from a major studio rather than a distributor like Focus Features which is distributing Nocturnal Animals.
That said, Nocturnal Animals could be in the TFF #43 lineup, if what I'm hearing is true.
Three other films seem, to me anyway, to fit the descriptive terms.
Warren Beatty's Rules Don't Apply (20th Century Fox, release 11/23)
Robert Zemeckis' Allied (Paramount, release 11/23)
David Frankel's Collateral Beauty (New Line Cinema, release 12/16)
Martin Scorsese's Silence and Denzel Washington's Fences seem out of reach for Telluride. Scorsese has been reported as saying Silence won't be ready until October and hasn't git a release date. Fences is also thought to be unready and isn't set for release until 12/25.
So, in order, it seems to me that the best guess is:
1) Sully
2) Nocturnal Animals
3) Allied
4) Rules Don't Apply
5) Collateral Beauty
But I wouldn't bet the kids college fund.
Last real quick blip...The Ron Howard Beatles doc Eight Days a Week; The Touring Years
Got other ideas or thoughts...comment!
The original Hollywood Elsewhere post is here:
Hollywood Elsewhere
TORONTO CHIEFS NAME CONTENDERS...AND THEY SOUND FAMILIAR
In a story in The Guardian on Wednesday, Toronto International Film Festival CEO Piers Handling and Artistic Director Cameron Bailey responded to inquiry about the films that they have programmed for TIFF 2016 focusing on their evaluation of awards prospects.
Last week's Ten (Plus) Bets had La La Land at #3, Arrival at #4 and Moonlight at #5.
Here's the article from The Guardian
That's going to do have to do it for this Thursday. A new Ten (plus) Bets drops tomorrow!
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