Taking a Look at Sony Pictures Classics Slate/The Playlist Seeks Fall Fest Clarity/Foxcatcher Poster Features Tatum/Tickets for TFF #41...Ummm...Not So Fast

LOOKING AT THE SONY PICTURES CLASSICS SLATE

No distributor has historically had a stronger presence at the Telluride Film Festival than Sony Pictures Classics.  Fest hondos usually tell people that they program between 24 and 30 feature films each year.  For the last ten years, SPC has averaged 4.6 films per festival...or somewhere in the neighborhood of 18% of the T-ride slate each year comes from the SPC stable.


Here's what SPC has shown in Telluride in the last 11 years :

2013: The Invisible Woman, The Lunchbox, The Past, Tim's Vermeer and Jodorowsky's Dune.
2012: The Gatekeepers, At Any Price, Rust and Bone, No, Wadjda, Amour
2011: A Dangerous Method, In Darkness, Footnote, A Separation
2010: Incendies, Of Gods and Men, Tamara Drewe, Another Year, The Illusionist, Inside Job
2009: The Last Station, The White Ribbon, Coco Before Chanel, A Prophet, An Education
2008: Waltz with Bashir, I've Loved You So Long, O'Horten
2007: Brick Lane, When Did You Last See Your Father, Persepolis, The Band's Visit, The Counterfeiters
2006: Jindabyne, The Lives of Others, Volver, The Italian
2005: Breakfast on Pluto, Capote, Cache, The Child
2004: Being Julia, House of Flying Daggers, Bad Education, Merchant of Venice, Up and Down, Yes
2003: The Fog of War, My Life Without Me, The Triplets of Belleville, Young Adam

Here are SPC's films listed by IMDb as of today:

"Leviathan" 

"Jimmy's Hall"

"The Salt of the Earth"

"Foxcatcher"

"Wild Tales"

"Saint Laurent"

"Coming Home"

"Red Army"

"Mr. Turner"

"Aloft"

Six of these films were listed on last week's first "Ten Bets" list.  (Those six are: "Leviathan", "The Salt of the Earth", "Foxcatcher", "Coming Home", "Red Army" and "Mr. Turner").  At this point the other four: "Jimmy's Hall", "Wild Tales", "Saint Laurent" and "Aloft" are less likely to my way of thinking, but none of these ten are impossible for TFF.

Regardless of which SPC films make the TFF #41 lineup, you can count on the distributor to be well represented again especially in light of SPC co-president's comments about the Telluride/Toronto dynamic.


THE PLAYLIST SEEKS FALL FEST CLARITY

IndieWire blog The Playlist posted "The Fall Festival 50: Our Wish list for the Venice, Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals" yesterday and there is a LOT to digest from the lengthy list of films (which actually edges over the 50 mark when "other possibilities" are included.

The Playlist specifically mentions Telluride in connection with six films:  "Unbroken", "While We're Young", "Men, Women and Children", "99 Homes", "True Story" and "Kill the Messenger".  Of that list, I'd agree on the Noah Baumbach "While We're Young".  All of the others have "issues" that may work against their inclusion.  I would love to see "Unbroken" make the trip to the San Juans though.

Four films that I think have some Telluride potential are listed in the article without any specific guess as to where they might end up: "Carol", "Suite Francais", "A Most Violent Year" and "Queen of the Desert"...though, if "Queen" is ready and doesn't play Telluride, I'll be stunned.

The post also suggests that Jon Stewart's "Rosewater" seems to be lock for Toronto and unlikely for Telluride.  It also says "The Imitation Game" is likely for TIFF and though they don't specifically rule out Telluride, an early slot for the Benedict Cumberbatch starrer at TIFF would close the door.  Finally, the Playlist Staff suggests that both Alejandro Inarritu's "Birdman" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice" are probably headed to Venice which doesn't preclude a Telluride play.  As regular readers of this space know, I'm high on "Birdman's" chances and less bullish on "Vice".

The whole Playlist post is here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-fall-festival-50-our-wishlist-for-the-venice-telluride-and-toronto-film-festivals-20140630


FOXCATCHER POSTER FEATURES TATUM

It was all over the Twitterverse yesterday.  A new poster for Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher" (#6 on last week's "Ten Bets" list) featuring Channing Tatum.  You see it above.  Below are a smattering of the posts from various sources with the poster from yesterday.

Awards Daily:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/new-foxcatcher-poster-puts-channing-tatum-out-front/

Rope of Silicon:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/channing-tatum-stares-us-first-domestic-foxcatcher-poster/

People:

http://www.people.com/article/channing-tatum-foxcatcher-trailer-photo-steve-carell-mark-ruffalo-oscar-buzz?

IndieWire:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/youll-take-channing-tatum-seriously-in-this-teaser-poster-for-oscar-bait-foxcatcher-20140630

The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/channing-tatum-stares-you-down-in-first-poster-for-bennett-millers-foxcatcher-20140630

TICKET NEWS

If you haven't got your TFF #41 tickets...you're out of luck.  The festival announced late last week that all passes are sold out.  The only way in now is through sponsorship or as a guest.  If you're set to be a guest...drop me a line.

More tomorrow...

Follow/Like Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook and Twitter (@Gort2)

TFF #40 Films Still Winning/Best of the Week: Ten Bets #1; Anne and Eric Talk Telluride and Toronto; More on the Toronto Ultimatum; What's Up Ken's Sleeve: The Roosevelts; Winter's Adopted

Hello on the last Saturday in June from beautiful Grand Haven, MI.  The boss and I are slinging some art in this lakeside community.

TFF #40 FILMS STILL WINNING

HitFix reported yesterday that the Saturn Awards have been announced and TFF #40 films "Gravity" "Prisoners" and "12 Years a Slave" continue to win plaudits.

"Gravity" won five awards including Best Direction while "12 Years" was names Best Independent Film.  "Prisoners" won recognition for Best Makeup.

Take a look at the entire slate of Saturn Award winners and the HitFix story here:


http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/2014-saturn-awards-winners

BEST OF THE WEEK

TEN BETS #1

Well, I've been teasing it for weeks now and it's finally time to take the plunge.  Here's the first "Ten Bets" list for the 41st Telluride Film Festival.  Here's your disclaimer...if the past is any indicator, only about half of these titles will actually end up on the TFF #41 program in two months.  Last year I my first "Ten Bets" list had six films that ended up playing as apart of TFF #40 ("Nebraska", "The Past", "Aguirre; The Wrath of God", "The Invisible Woman", "Labor Day" and "12 Years a Slave:). That being duly noted, here are your bets:

10) Salt of the Earth (Wenders)
9) Winter Sleep (Ceylan)
8) Red Army (Polsky)
7) Coming Home (Yimou)
6) Foxcatcher (Miller)
5) The Roosevelts (Burns)
4) Leviathan (Zvyagintsev)
3) Birdman (Inarritu)
2) Two Days, One Night (Dardennes)
1) Mr. Turner (Leigh)

Just under the "ten bets": "A Most Violent Year", "National Gallery" and "Queen of the Desert".


ANNE AND ERIC TALK TELLURIDE AND TORONTO

Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood and Eric Kohn of IndieWire (who is Anne's new podcast partner) posted their second edition of  "ScreenTalk".  In it they spend a reasonable amount of time talking about the Toronto ultimatum about North American premieres, which is a direct shot across Telluride's bow. They also talk a bot about Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Birdman", which I'm very excited about and which will almost certainly be on the first 2014 TFF "Ten Bets" list (coming Friday).   The discussion of Toronto/Telluride situation and "Birdman" starts at about the 16 minute mark.  You'll find the entire podcast here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/screen-talk-episode-2-boyhood-jersey-boys-telluride-vs-toronto-clash-more

MORE ON THE TORONTO ULTIMATUM

You've seen me writing about this quite a bit these past few months,  The Toronto International Film Fests demand that they will absolutely not program any film on their first four day weekend that isn't a world or North American premiere.  They've laid down that marker in an effort to prevent a repeat of the "12 Years a Slave" (and others) screenings that occurred in Telluride prior to screening at Toronto.

Well, yesterday the Toronto Star published a lengthy piece about the ultimatum.  What I found intriguing are the comments from Sony Pictures Classics co-president Tom Bernard in which he states that he thinks Toronto has made a mistake.

That implies (at least to me) a couple of things.  First, even though Bernard declines to talk about SPC's plans and hopes for the fall fest season, you have to think that it's a pretty big signal that SPC is going to play Telluride like they always have and that actually moved the needle on where I placed "Foxcatcher" on the initial "Ten Bets" list above.  I also think that the subtext is there to support the notion that Bernard thinks that other distributors are likely to follow suit.

Of course, the TIFF peeps are all upbeat in the article...but I think they sound just a little too chirpy.

I don't know...look at it and see for yourself:


http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2014/06/26/tiff_vs_telluride_tussle_turns_movie_premieres_into_a_battle_of_wills_peter_howell_column.html

WHAT'S UP KEN'S SLEEVE

Long time Telluride Film mainstay Ken Burns has "The Roosevelts" up his sleeve.  It's a seven hour documentary about the famed American family focusing on Teddy, Franklin and Eleanor.  PBS is set to begin the series on Sept. 14th and it's that 9/14 date that makes me think that there's a good chance that Telluride patrons will be able to see at least some of the doc on Labor Day weekend.  Burns has often premiered parts of his current projects in the TFF forum and this wouldn't be a surprise.  Catch up on some details of this enterprise from The Poughkeepsee Journal (of all places) here:

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/2014/06/12/ken-burns-roosevelt-library/10376967/

The article includes video of Burns talking about the project.

MORE ROOSEVELT/BURNS INFO

Yesterday I reported that Ken Burns latest project, "The Roosevelts" was a seven hour documentary.  That's wrong.  It's a seven PART, 14 hour doc about Teddy, Franklin and Eleanor.  That's according to the National Endowment for the Arts press release/story that came out yesterday afternoon.  I have linked it here:

http://www.neh.gov/events/2014/09/14/the-roosevelts-intimate-history

Despite the length of the project, I still think we're likely to see some portions of the project available for viewing in the San Juans over Labor Day weekend.


WINTER'S ADOPTED

"Winter Sleep" poster via IMDb.com

Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Cannes Palme d'Or winner has just been picked up for U.S. distribution by Adopt Films.  The acquisition probably increases the Telluride profile of the three hour plus film that won the Palme and was a critical darling last month.  Adopt has a rather short pedigree but it does include "Bethlehem" which played T-ride last year and "Barbara" which was a part of the 2012 TFF lineup.

I had been thinking that this might be one of those years where the Palme winner didn't make the Telluride lineup.  The Palme presence at Telluride is about 50/50.  Over the past 11 years T-ride has programmed these Palme winners: "Elephant" (Van Sant) '03, "The Child" (Dardennes Bros.) '05, "4 Months, Three Weeks, Two Days" (Mungiu) '07, "The White Ribbon" (Haneke) '09, "Amour" (Haneke) '12 and "Blue is the Warmest Color" (Kechechie) '13.But during that same span Palme winners "Fahrenheit 9/11", "The Wind that Shakes the Barley", "The Class", "Uncle Boonmee" and "The Tree of Life" did not play Telluride.

Ultimately, the news that Adopt Films has the U.S. distribution probably nudges "Winter Sleep" into the "more than 50% chance of playing Telluride" camp.  But just barely.

Here are a couple of posts about the Adopt acquisition:

Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/adopt-films-grabs-us-rights-to-palme-dor-winner-winter-sleep

The Dissolve:

http://thedissolve.com/news/2544-palme-dor-winner-winter-sleep-secures-stateside-di/

"Winter Sleep" IMDb page:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2758880/?ref_=nv_sr_1

More on Monday.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Ten Bets/Variety Looks at the Possible Oscar Field/More on the Toronto Ultimatum

Good Friday to All...


TEN BETS #1

Well, I've been teasing it for weeks now and it's finally time to take the plunge.  Here's the first "Ten Bets" list for the 41st Telluride Film Festival.  Here's your disclaimer...if the past is any indicator, only about half of these titles will actually end up on the TFF #41 program in two months.  Last year I my first "Ten Bets" list had six films that ended up playing as apart of TFF #40 ("Nebraska", "The Past", "Aguirre; The Wrath of God", "The Invisible Woman", "Labor Day" and "12 Years a Slave:). That being duly noted, here are your bets:

10) Salt of the Earth (Wenders)
9) Winter Sleep (Ceylan)
8) Red Army (Polsky)
7) Coming Home (Yimou)
6) Foxcatcher (Miller)
5) The Roosevelts (Burns)
4) Leviathan (Zvyagintsev)
3) Birdman (Inarritu)
2) Two Days, One Night (Dardennes)
1) Mr. Turner (Leigh)

Just under the "ten bets": "A Most Violent Year", "National Gallery" and "Queen of the Desert".

Of course, this could all be wrong.


VARIETY LOOKS AT THE OSCAR FIELD (and I make a few comments)

Variety posted an article yesterday looking at over 40 potential Oscar contenders.  I took a stroll through them all.  Of the films it listed, there are a number (as you might expect) of Telluride possibles including: "Birdman", "Foxcatcher", "A Most Violent Year", "The Imitation Game", "Mr. Turner" and "Men, Women and Children" although I personally still expect that the latter will skip T-ride and go directly to Toronto.

Check out the entire gallery of more than 40 films here:

http://variety.com/gallery/2014-oscars-this-years-potential-contenders/#!41/other-contenders/


MORE ON THE TORONTO ULTIMATUM

You've seen me writing about this quite a bit these past few months,  The Toronto International Film Fests demand that they will absolutely not program any film on their first four day weekend that isn't a world or North American premiere.  They've laid down that marker in an effort to prevent a repeat of the "12 Years a Slave" (and others) screenings that occurred in Telluride prior to screening at Toronto.

Well, yesterday the Toronto Star published a lengthy piece about the ultimatum.  What I found intriguing are the comments from Sony Pictures Classics co-president Tom Bernard in which he states that he thinks Toronto has made a mistake.

That implies (at least to me) a couple of things.  First, even though Bernard declines to talk about SPC's plans and hopes for the fall fest season, you have to think that it's a pretty big signal that SPC is going to play Telluride like they always have and that actually moved the needle on where I placed "Foxcatcher" on the initial "Ten Bets" list above.  I also think that the subtext is there to support the notion that Bernard thinks that other distributors are likely to follow suit.

Of course, the TIFF peeps are all upbeat in the article...but I think they sound just a little too chirpy.

I don't know...look at it and see for yourself:


http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2014/06/26/tiff_vs_telluride_tussle_turns_movie_premieres_into_a_battle_of_wills_peter_howell_column.html


More tomorrow from Grand Haven, Michigan...

Follow/Like Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook/Twitter (@Gort2)

Howell Brings It Home/Trailers, Clips and Photos for the Cannes Films/major Outlets and Their Pre-Cannes Final Thoughts/Odds and Ends

You're in Thursday...look around...yup, it's Thursday...


HOWELL BRINGS IT HOME

Jake Howell writing for Movie City News has concluded his project of counting down the Palme competition films for the 67th Cannes Film Fest which opened yesterday with Nicole Kidman in "Grace of Monaco".

Here are the links to the last set of those capsules at MCN:

"Clouds of Sils Maria" dir; Olivier Assayas

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/05/countdown-to-cannes-olivier-assayas/

"The Wonders" dir: Alice Rohrwacher

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/05/countdown-to-cannes-alice-rohrwacher/

"Wild Tales" dir: Damian Szifron

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/05/countdown-to-cannes-damian-szifron/

"Mr. Turner" dir: Mike Leigh

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/05/countdown-to-cannes-mike-leigh/


Things get serious today with screenings of the first of the films in competition.  Mike Leigh's "Mr. Turner" (which is definitely on the MTFB T-ride "watch list") and Abderrahmane Sissako's "Timbuktu" are the first two out of the gate in the Main category.  The Un Certain Regard section also launches today with "Party Girl" and "The Lovely Girl".

TRAILERS, CLIPS AND PHOTOS FROM CANNES FILMS

I've linked a bunch of new material or re-worked material for several Cannes films from The Playlist.  Beginning with a link to their story featuring a new clip from Tommy Lee Jones Palme d'Or challenging sophomore directorial effort "The Homesman"  Looks good.  Check the story and the clip here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-tommy-lee-jones-hilary-swank-square-off-in-first-clip-from-cannes-drama-the-homesman-20140512

The Playlist also provided a link to a trailer from Zhang Yimou's "Coming Home" with English subtitles.  It looks intriguing.  Check it here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-new-trailer-for-zhang-yimous-cannes-film-festival-drama-coming-home-starring-gong-li-20140506

Next a link to a clip from "Two Days, One Night" from the Dardennes.  It's in french...but it does feature Marion Cotillard.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-clip-from-dardennes-cannes-drama-two-days-one-night-starring-marion-cotillard-20140512

And finally, a series of new photos from Olivier Assayas' "Clouds of Sils Maria":

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/new-pics-from-olivier-assayas-cannes-competition-pic-clouds-of-sils-maria-starring-kristen-stewart-juliette-binoche-20140512


MAJOR OUTLETS AND THEIR PRE-CANNES FINAL THOUGHTS

Hilary Swank in Tommy Lee Jones' "The Homesman"

Variety polled their three film critics and asked them what films they were looking forward to the most for the next two weeks in France.  Their responses and that article are here (surprise, no one film landed on everyone's list):

http://variety.com/2014/legit/news/cannes-variety-critics-on-films-they-cant-miss-1201178519/

HitFix, which has at least a couple of people on the ground in Cannes, has 11 Questions to be answered over the next fortnight:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/11-big-questions-we-want-answered-at-this-years-cannes-film-festival

 And IndieWire posted 10 films that they think have the best shot to surprise or shock the film world as they screen on the Croisette:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/the-10-films-that-might-surprise-or-shock-us-at-the-2014-cannes-film-festival

Meanwhile, this reminder from MTFB...the crossover between Cannes and Telluride is significant.  You can expect (if history is any guide) 7-10 films from Cannes to play T-ride on Labor Day weekend.  While that's a small portion of the entirety of the Cannes lineup; it does result in as much as 20-25% of Telluride's lineup.


ODDS AND ENDS

Variety's Scott Foundas has a big piece up about Oscar winner Marion Cotillard as her "Two Days , One Night" is about to land in the south of France and her collaboration with James Gray, "The Immigrant" is set to open in limited release here in the U.S. tomorrow.  Take a gander here:

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/marion-cotillard-two-days-one-night-1201178636/


And this about one of the more intriguing film stories, at least to me, of the past year or so.  Multiple sources have reported that Open Road has nabbed distribution for Jon Stewart's (of The Daily Show) directorial debut, "Rosewater'.  I have passingly mentioned it once or twice in this space as an outside Telluride prospect and now with the securing of distribution and a promised fall release date that possibility seems at least marginally more real.  The Dissolve actually mentions the Telluride possibility in its post regarding the Open Road acquisition:

http://thedissolve.com/news/2216-jon-stewarts-rosewater-picked-up-by-open-road-for-/

Here's the rub...Open Road hasn't any history with Telluride...

More on Monday...including some of the first reactions from early films at Cannes.

Cannes Countdown Continues/Trailers; "Winter Sleep" and "Coming Home"/Playlist First Look at "The Search"

Welcome to Thursday...


COUNTDOWN TO CANNES CONTINUES

The 67th Cannes Film Festival is now less than a week away and the anticipation is building.  As I have for the past couple of years, I'll be following the critical reaction to the films that play which particular focus on the films in the Palme d'Or competition as well as the Un Certain Regard Program and the Director's Fortnight category from which most Cannes/Telluride crossover films emerge.

As we get closer I am continuing to link to the summaries of Palme competitors by Jake Howell and being featured in Movie City News.  Howell has added three more films since my last post: David Cronenberg's "Maps to the Stars", Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "Winter Sleep" and Naomi Kawase's "Still the Water".  Check the capsules at MCN here:

Cronenberg:

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/05/countdown-to-cannes-david-cronenberg/

Ceylan:

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/05/countdown-to-cannes-nuri-bilge-ceylan/

Kawase:

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/05/countdown-to-cannes-naomi-kawase/


TRAILERS; "WINTER SLEEP" AND "COMING HOME"

Photo via The Playlist

Foreign language trailers have emerged for two of the Cannes Palme competitors.  "Winter Sleep" and a second trailer for Zhang Yimou's "Coming Home".  You can  find the "Winter Sleep" trailer and story here from Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/winter-sleep-trailer-nuri-bilge-ceylan


and the new trailer for "Coming Home" with a story from The Playlist here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-new-trailer-for-zhang-yimous-cannes-film-festival-drama-coming-home-starring-gong-li-20140506


PLAYLIST FIRST LOOK AT "THE SEARCH"

Photo via The Playlist

The Playlist also posted a series of first images from Michel Hazanavicius' Palme player "The Search".  Those images and that story are here:

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

More on Monday...

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

Welcome to Thursday!

CANNES #67 ANNOUNCES

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

Official Competition: 

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

Opening Film: 

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

Out Of Competition: 

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

Un Certain Regard: 

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

Midnight Screenings: 

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

Special Screenings: 

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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


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




COULD "INHERENT VICE" COME TO TELLURIDE

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

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


http://t.co/2Ijmmuluyp


TELLURIDE'S ANNUAL CALL

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

41^st TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES CALL FOR ENTRIES

April 15, 2014

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

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

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

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

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

For more information visit www.telluridefilmfestival.org

More on Monday...have a great weekend!

"Rudderless" Gets a Course Setting/"Palo Alto" Trailers/"Coming Home" to Cannes?

Welcome to Thursday...

"RUDDERLESS" GETS A COURSE SETTING

Regular readers here know that I have been tracking the development of the William H. Macy directed, Casey Twenter & Jeff Robison scripted "Rudderless" for almost four years.  For those that don't know, Telluride served as the catalyst for my communicating with and ultimately meeting Mr. Twenter.  In the last year the film went before the cameras as Macy's feature film directing debut and was subsequently the closing night film for the Sundance Film Festival.

Now, the latest development is that the Oklahoma based film has a distributor.  Word came yesterday that Paramount/Samuel Goldwyn Films have picked up "Rudderless" and plan a fall release.  The specific date has yet to be announced.

I have links to the story from Variety and Deadline.com here:

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/william-h-macys-rudderless-heading-for-paramount-1201150649/

http://m.deadline.com/2014/03/william-h-macys-sundance-helming-debut-rudderless-headed-for-paramount-samuel-goldwyn/

The film centers on a father grieving after the death of his son and the son's music that the father discovers and embraces.

Stay tuned for the announcement concerning a release date.


"PALO ALTO" TRAILERS

"Palo Alto's" original trailer

I will admit that I did not see Gia Coppola's "Palo Alto" at the festival last fall.  Further, it's not high on my "to see" list.  However, I will be forever grateful that the film exists and was on the T-ride 40th anniversary program as it afforded me the opportunity to meet and talk with Gia's grandfather Francis Ford Coppola.

News now that the film has a new theatrical trailer and a poster.

Here are links to posts/stories with the new trailer included:

Rope of Silicon:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/palo-alto-trailer-poster-emma-roberts-james-franco/

FirstShowing:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2014/gia-coppolas-palo-alto-with-emma-roberts-gets-a-theatrical-trailer/

SlashFilm:

http://www.slashfilm.com/palo-alto-movie-trailer/

"Palo Alto" lands on May 9.

"COMING HOME" TO CANNES?

Rumors continue to swirl around that Zhang Yimou's "Coming Home" is headed to the 67th Cannes Film Festival.  Those fires were stoke earlier this week from Awards Daily's Sasha Stone:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/zhang-yimous-coming-home-latest-to-join-cannes-lineups-rumored-list/

Sasha's post also includes the foreign language trailer for the film as well as coverage of last week's Yimou/Ang Lee presentation at NYU.

More on Monday...have a great weekend.

Cannes Catches "Foxcatcher"/"Coming Home" Could Still Come Home/Galapagos Web View

Good Monday Everyone!


CANNES CATCHES FOXCATCHER

Steve Carell as John duPont in Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher"

After several weeks of Cannes speculation (and three more to come until the April 17th official announcement) Guy Lodge of HitFix reports that Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher" has been "independently verified" for a slot in one of the Cannes programs.  Lodge suggests a competition slot is likely for the based on true events film that was originally set for release last year but was subsequently pulled.

A Cannes premiere would add to the case for "Foxcatcher" becoming a Telluride programming choice. Miller's previous Telluride screening of his Oscar nominated "Capote" (with Best Actor win for the late Philip Seymour Hoffman) adds to the case as well.  Also indicating a possible Telluride play is the film's distributor Sony Pictures Classics.

Should it receive a favorable critical response and SPC set an appropriate release date, as is expected then the biggest hurdle to a Telluride play would likely be the "Toronto Ultimatum" from a couple of months ago that suggests that films are going to have to make a choice between Telluride and a prime spot at Toronto.  Miller's "Capote" and "Moneyball" both played Toronto.

The complete HitFix post is here:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/channing-tatum-and-steve-carell-look-set-to-hit-the-cannes-red-carpet-with-foxcatcher

"COMING HOME" COULD STILL COME HOME (TO TELLURIDE)

Zhang Yimou in NYC this past weekend (via Variety)

I reported last week that Thompson on Hollywood had reported that Zhang Yimou's "Coming Home" (hotly anticipated as a Cannes selection) was going to screen this past weekend in NYC as a part of a dialogue with Yimou and Ang Lee.  As a result, I said, that screening could diminish the chances that the film became a choice for Telluride.

Happily, an alert MTFB reader commented that the said screening was not happening.  I published that comment but also thought I'd highlight it here as it certainly allows me to put the Yimou film right back into the thick of T-ride speculation...and happy am I that it is.  Secretly I am hoping to see/meet Gong Li on Colorado Ave. or in line at The Chuck!

Here's the text of Dan's comment:

Dan said...

There is no screening of the ZY film tonight at NYU, Its a Q@A with Ang lee and Yimou. Although I think it was screened for Ang lee.

Further, reports of the evening back up Dan's claims.  Here are links to a couple of stories reporting on the Lee/Yimou .

From Variety:

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/directors-zhang-yimou-ang-lee-talk-censorship-hollywood-partnerships-at-nyu-event-1201149619/

The New York Times:

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/28/ang-lee-and-zhang-yimou-on-movies-and-the-china-market/

So, put "coming Home" back on the "Telluride possible" list and thanks to "Dan"!

GALAPAGOS WEB PRESENCE

"Galapagos" poster via IMDb

"The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden" didn't get a lot of buzz during last year's fest but people I ran into it had seen it during the fest were complimentary.  The film's distributor, Zeigeist Films, announced this week that a new website was going live in support of the film.  That website is here:

http://www.galapagosaffair.com/

The film officially opens in the U.S. this week.


More on Thursday!