Milestones/At Least One Coppola?/Saturday Re-cap: Blue and Foxcatcher/Oscar Talk and Prisoners/Enough Said/Reminders

Good Monday Everyone.  10 days and counting to TFF #40!

MILESTONES

Just a quick note...over the weekend I posted to Michael's Telluride Film Blog  for the 750th time and, coincidentally, the blog past its 90,000th view...On to 100,000!  Never thought I'd write this much about anything ever.  Also never thought anyone would ever read it.

AT LEAST ONE COPPOLA?

Emma Roberts star of Gia Coppola's "Palo Alto"

FiveTwo Film Blog was on it first last night.  Actor/Director/Writer...etc. James Franco has apparently let slip via Twitter and Instagram that Gia Coppola's "Palo Alto" will screen at Telluride.  The film is co-written by Coppola and Franco and based on Franco's "Palo Alto Stories".  Last night Franco (who was at Telluride with Danny Boyle and Aron Ralstin for "127 Hours" in 2010) tweeted, " Palo alto by Gia Coppola- Venice/Tornoto/telluride".

You can see the original tweet here:
https://twitter.com/search?q=james%20franco&src=tyah

The FiveTwo film blog post is here:
http://fivetwofilmblog.wordpress.com/2013/08/18/james-franco-leaks-telluride-film-on-instagram/

"Palo Alto" is described (on IMDb) as "a dark drama centered on a group of teens with a penchant for finding trouble".  Franco appears in the film.  Emma Roberts stars.  Val Kilmer is also a member of the cast.  Gia Coppola is the grand daughter of Francis Ford Coppola.

Does this fan the flames of the FFC as Guest Director rumors?  Probably.



SATURDAY RE-CAP

Here are a  couple of new-ish stories that I passed along on Saturday:

"BLUE" HAS INTERNATIONAL TRAILER

The Cannes winner has an international trailer that dropped yesterday.  You can access it via any of the following posts from Awards Daily, Rope of Silicon and The Playlist:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/dive-into-the-beauty-blue-is-the-warmest-color-international-trailer/

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/blue-is-the-warmest-color-international-trailer/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-international-trailer-for-cannes-palme-dor-winner-blue-is-the-warmest-color-20130816

I'm still fairly bullish on our chances to see this film in Telluride in a week and a half.

FOXCATCHER FIRE DIMS

This week has seen a flurry of activity and speculation about Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher".  We found out this week (officially) that Sony Pictures Classics has now got the distribution for the film and I (among others) thought that increased its chances of playing Telluride.

Now comes news via an anonymous comment to yesterday's blog post and Kris Tapley's (InContention/HitFix) twitter thread about the film that it's just not ready.  Tapley had a respondent who claims that the film is still far too long and unfinished and references a test screening from a couple of weeks ago.

If that's true..."Foxcatcher" goes back to the lower end of Telluride possibilities...not completely impossible, but incredibly unlikely.

Which is too bad because I am immensely intrigued by this project.  I think Miller is a real talent and I am embarrassingly anxious to see Steve Carell in a real departure for him.

OSCAR TALK AND PRISONERS

Anne Thompson (Thompson on Hollywood) and Kristopher Tapley (InContention/HitFix) have put up their first Oscar Talk podcast for the year.  Included in that is a fairly detailed discussion of Telluride and the films that they think are likely; "All is Lost" "Inside Llewyn Davis" "12 Years a Slave" "The Invisible Woman", "The Past", "Gravity", "Labor Day", "Nebraska" and "Blue is the Warmest Color".  They also mention "Prisoners" from director Denis Villenueve which I've had on the radar for a while but in recent days seems to be getting bandied about a bit more.  Sounds like I might have to re-evaluate it in relation to its position for Friday's "Ten Bets" list...which, again, will actually be more than ten.

Here's the link to OscarTalk from both Tapley and Thompson:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/oscar-talk-2013-so-far-fall-festival-preview-and-a-look-to-the-season-ahead

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/oscar-talk-season-five-episode-one-the-butler

And also, coming out this past weekend, a new television spt for "Prisoners".  The Playlist has that here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-new-tv-spots-for-hugh-jackman-thriller-prisoners-and-zack-snyder-produced-300-rise-of-an-empire-20130816

Jackman?  Gyllenhall? In Telluride?  Maybe.  Certainly looking more likely that the film is going to play.

ENOUGH SAID

Her in the late stages of pre-Telluride prediction a couple of films are generating some heat.  Kevin Macdonald's "How I Live Now" and Nicole Holofcener's "Enough Said".  It's the latter that benefited from the release of several new images over the weekend.  The film stars James Gandolfini (in one of his last films) Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Catherine Keener.  There's a lot of smoke out there that this could be on the Telluride schedule.  

I've included links to stories from The Film Stage...which also includes images and clips from other Telluride possibilities including Roger Michell's "Le Weekend", David Gordon Greene's "Joe" and Kelly Reichardt's "Night Moves":

http://thefilmstage.com/news/clips-and-photos-from-tiff-titles-visitors-night-moves-joe-enough-said-and-le-week-end/

Additionally, here are stories from The Hollywood Reporter and The Playlist:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/said-clip-james-gandolfini-julia-608213

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/7-new-photos-clip-from-enough-said-james-gandolfinis-penultimate-feature-film-20130816

REMINDERS...

Don't forget your invitation to this year's "Guide to the Ride" featuring yours truly.  We're set up for 5:00 pm Thursday, Aug. 29th at The River Club, 550 Depot in Telluride.  I promise we'll be done to get to the Thursday night feed downtown or make a 6:00 o'clock film.

Also...don't forget to send me your film ratings.  0-5 with 0 being awful.  Email them, Tweet or DM me, Facebook... or just comment here on the blog.  You can do it as the fest goes along or all at once after it's all over.  It'll take me about a week to get that all collated.

Remember that I'm doing the same thing with a select group of industry watchers, Oscar experts and critics including:

Alex Billington/FirstShowing

Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter

Scott Foundas/Variety

Eric Kohn/IndieWire

Eugene Novikov/Film Blather

Kristopher Tapley/InContention-HitFix

Sasha Stone/Awards Daily

I'm still working for and hoping to add another two or three folks to this lineup.  You'll want to check their reactions from  the festival.

A third reminder: I'll be writing daily summaries this year fro Screencraft.org.  The plan is a quick overview of key films on Wednesday, Aug. 28th when the lineup is announced and then a summary of film news, scuttlebutt, reaction and buzz each evening of the fest.  Look for that at www.screencraft.org.

And finally...

I posted my "Wish List" of films on Friday.  What's on your Telluride "Wish List"?  Drop me a line or two in any way that's convenient for you.  Let me hear what you'd like to see.


Follow/Like Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook.

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2.

More on Tuesday...

Critics' Telluride/Argo Trailer/First Gurus on BP/

Good Friday to Everyone...

CRITICS' TELLURIDE

For the first time I have asked some of the best in the business to rate what they saw at the Telluride Film Festival and they have responded.  I asked each critic/blogger to rate the films they saw on a scale from 0 to 5 with 0 being "abysmal" to 5 being extraordinary.

And now I want you to do this too.  Send me YOUR ratings using the same 0 to 5 scale and I'll compile and post the collective take on Monday.  You rate your films here as a comment to the blog or email me at mpgort@gmail.com or michael_speech@hotmail.com

Now here's the take from the professionals who accepted my invitation.

From Alex Billington/First Showing:  Amour-1, Argo-4.0, At Any Price-5, The Attack-4.5, Frances Ha-4, Ginger and Rosa-1, The Hunt-2, Hyde Park on Hudson-4, N0-4, Rust and Bone-4.5, Stories We Tell-3.5.

From Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter: Amour-4, Argo-5, Central Park Five-4, Hyde Park on Hudson-3.5, The Iceman-3.5, Love, Marilyn-4, No-3.5, Rust and Bone-4.5, The Sapphires-4.5

From Eugene Novikov/Film Blather: The Act of Killing-3, Amour-4, Argo-3.5, At Any Price-4, The Attack-4.5, Baraka-2, Everyday-2.5, Frances Ha-5, The Gatekeepers-2, The Hunt-4.5, Midnight's Children-0, No-3.5, Piazza Fontana-2, A Royal Affair-3, Rust and Bone-3.5, Wadjda-3

From Sasha Stone/Awards Daily: Argo-5, Amour-5, Central Park Five-5, Frances Ha-4, The Hunt-5, Hyde Park on Hudson-3, No-3, Paradise: Love-3, Rust and Bone-5, Stories We Tell-5

From Kristopher Tapley/InContention-Hit Fix: Argo-5, Baraka-5, Central Park Five-5, Everyday-3, Frances Ha-4, The Gatekeepers-4, Hyde Park on Hudson-2, The Iceman-4, No-3

Michael Patterson/Michael's Telluride Film Blog: Amour-3.5, Annecy Animation-3.5, Argo-4.5, At Any Price-2, The Attack-3.5, Corman's World-4, Frances Ha-4, Hyde Park on Hudson-2.5, No-3.5, Rust and Bone 4.5, The Sapphires 4

The combined averages for every film earning at least two responses was as follows:

1) Central Park Five-4.7
2) Argo-4.5
3) Stories We Tell- 4.3
4) The Sapphires 4.25
5) (Tie) Frances Ha and The Attack- 4.2
7) Rust and Bone- 4.0
8) The Iceman- 3.8
9) At Any Price- 3.7
10) (Tie) Amour and Baraka- 3.5
12) No- 3.4
14) (Tie) Hyde Park on Hudson and The Gatekeepers 3.0
15) Everyday- 2.8

All other films were viewed/rated by only one respondent.


ARGO TRAILER


Ben Affleck's "Argo" seems to be the big hit of this year's festival with critical reaction enthusiastic and Oscar watchers suggesting the possibility of multiple nominations.  As you can see from above, it was a favorite among the critic/bloggers that were kind enough to participate in my first ever post-Telluride poll.  It will be interesting to see if the reaction in Toronto is as enthusiastic (my bet is that it will be).

At any rate, the film opens Oct. 12 and has its theatrical trailer out for all to see.  If you missed it last week and your in Toronto, try to catch it...it's very, very good.

"Argo's' IMDb entry:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024648/


GURUS ON BP AND OSCAR HEAT

The Gurus of Gold have their first tentative look at where they think the Best Picture race starts.  Included in the conversation from Telluride are "Argo" and "Amour".  Take a look here:

http://moviecitynews.com/2012/08/gurus-o-gold-pre-toronto-international-film-festival-2012/

And The Playlist also analyzes the Oscar prospects after Telluride and most of Venice and before Toronto.  That's here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/oscars-which-contenders-got-heat-coming-out-of-venice-and-telluride-20120906

DON'T FORGET TO SEND YOUR RATINGS OF LAST WEEK'S FILMS FOR THE "PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE".

More later...

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

"Like" Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook.

Send in Your Ratings/Critic's Corner/50 K/5 Days in 2013

Good Thursday Everyone!

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm finally kind of returning to a "normal" existence after the heady weekend that was TFF #39.

SEND ME YOUR RANKINGS

I have put together a Critic's scorecard for this year's festival that I am planning to unveil in tomorrow's post...see below.

But I'd also like to do a "People's Ratings" of this year's films.  So, please, join in!

Send ratings of all the films you saw 0-5 with 0 being "abysmal" and 5 being "fantastic".  I'll compile them and post "The People's Telluride" on Monday.  

Tell your friends, the more the merrier.

I'll cut off ratings at 9pm (EDT, 6pm PDT) Sunday, Sept. 9.

Send ratings to me via email : mpgort@gmail.com OR just "comment" here on the blog with your films and ratings.

This should be interesting and fun.

CRITIC'S CORNER

As mentioned above, I'm going to have a Critic's/Film Bloggers Scorecard of the Telluride 2012 films up on Friday.  I'm very excited about it.  Some really great people have agreed to participate: Sasha Stone/Awards Daily, Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter, Eugene Hernandez/Film Society of Lincoln Center and co-founder of IndieWire, Kris Tapley/InContention, Alex Billington/First Showing and Eugene Novikov of Film Blather.

It's an incredibly distinguished list and I feel very fortunate that they've agreed to be included.


50,000

Almost unnoticed by me as it was happening was the 50,000th view of Michael's Telluride Film Blog.  It happened sometime Saturday night into Sunday morning.

Now, I know that's small potatoes in the grand scheme of the Interweb...but it sounds big to me.

It's also a measure of the growth of MTFB that it happened over the weekend while the fest was happening. I had projected earlier in the summer that I thought that I'd get to 50,000 before Halloween.  So to get there a couple of months early was both surprising and gratifying.

Thanks Readers!

5 DAYS IN 2013

To reiterate the announcement from last week from the fest's poobahs...TFF #40 will be a 5 day affair...starting on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013.

And, as you might expect, preparations seem to already be underway or in the planning stages.

I happened to be on line Sunday morning behind two employees of The Academy...you know THE Academy.  They cryptically mentioned that work had already begun from their end on some special programming for next year's fest.

That's all they'd say...but it was enough to get me jazzed...

OK, I was also jazzed that I was minutes away from seeing Marion Cotillard in person...

But my "jazzedness" was increased.

How fast can you make a year go???

More later...

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2.

"Like" Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook.