Daddio Full Trailer / Looks at Cannes/TFF Possibilities / Participant and Netflix Choices Could Impact TFF

First, my apologies for not having a post up last Monday.  I was finishing up a very, very busy weekend and just ran out of time.

DADDIO FULL TRAILER

Sony Pictures Classics has delivered a full trailer for Christy Hall's Daddio starring Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn. This follows a teaser that was released a few weeks ago. The TFF #50 selection  is set for a limited open on June 28th.

Here's the IMDb description for those who didn't see the film at the fest:

"A woman taking a cab ride from JFK engages in a conversation with the taxi driver about the important relationships in their lives."

LOOKS AT CANNES/TFF POSSIBLES

With the announcement of films for the Cannes Film Fest have come some promotional materials allowing us to begin to see images for those films and perhaps some for films that will then play TFF #51,  Here's a couple:

Barry Keoghan in Andrea Arnold's Bird:

And a photo of Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan from Ali Abbasi's The Apprentice:

From Guy Maddin, Evan and  Galen Johnson's Rumours:

PARTICIPANT AND NETFLIX CHOICES COULD IMPACT TFF

Word this week that Participant, the production company behind such TFF fare as Roma, Spotlight, Flee, The Look of Silence and numerous others will be closing up shop.  Meanwhile, it was reported that Netflix is shifting focus in terms of the films it produces and will be less auteur focused.  Netflix has been among the most represented film producer/distributors at Telluride for the past decade.

Both circumstances could have a real effect on TFF programming.

Both stories were reported at World of Reel.  Here's the Participant story and here's the Netflix story.

       

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Next Best Picture's Early Oscar Line and TFF / Daddio Has a Date / Interviews and Profiles

 NEXT BEST PICTURE'S EARLY OSCAR LINE AND TFF

I'm continuing my current project of scouring early Oscar prognostications for possible titles that might pop up at the 51st Telluride Film Festival.  Today's source is Daniel Howat from Next Best Picture.  For this source I looked at Best Picture Predictions first and then for other possibilities from the acting, directing and screenplay categories.

So here are the films from those predictions that seem to me to be the most Telluride-ific.

The Actor-Dir: Duke Johnson

Blitz-Dir: Steve McQueen

Conclave-Dir: Edward Berger

Long Day's Journey Into Night"- Dir: Jonathan Kent

Maria- Dir: Pablo Larrain

The Piano Lesson- Dir: Malcolm Washington

Queer- Dir: Luca Guadagnino

Juror #2- Dir: Clint Eastwood

Mother Mary- Dir: David Lowery

Anora- Dir: Sean Baker

The Apprentice- Dir: Ali Abbasi

Bird- Dir: Andrea Arnold

The Collaboration- Dir: Kwame Kwei-Armah

Emilia Perez- Dir: Jacques Audiard

Megalopolis- Dir: Francis Ford Coppola

The Nickel Boys- Dir: RaMell Ross

Polaris- Dir: Lynne Ramsay

The complete early predictions from NBP are linked here.

DADDIO HAS A DATE

Dakota Johnson at the post-screening Q+A for Daddio at Telluride

Indiewire reports that Sony Pictures Classics has dated the release for Christ Hall's Daddio. The film will hit theaters on June 28th.  Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn star.

The IMDb description:

"A woman taking a cab ride from JFK engages in a conversation with the taxi driver about the important relationships in their lives."

I caught Daddio at telluride and was quite taken with it.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Director and writer Christy hall and Produce Ro Donnelly for Daddio from Indieiwire.

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My First Stab at Oscar / Trailer for All of Us Strangers /International Submissions / Daddio Has a Home

MY FIRST STAB AT OSCAR

Here's my way-too-early first attempt to predict Oscar nominations at the end of the run of Telluride-Venice-Toronto.  TFF #50 films are in Bold.

BEST PICTURE

1) Oppenheimer

2) Killers of the Flower Moon

3) Poor Things

4) Barbie

5) Maestro

6) American Fiction

7) The Holdovers

8) Past Lives

9) The Zone of Interest

10) The Color Purple

Alternates: Anatomy of a Fall, Air, Saltburn and Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse.

BEST DIRECTION

1) Christopher Nolan/Oppenheimer

2) Martin Scorsese/Killer of the Flower Moon

3) Yorgos Lanthimos/Poor Things

4) Greta Gerwig/Barbie

5) Jonathan Glazer/The Zone of Interest

Alternates: Alexander Payne/The Holdovers, Bradley Cooper/Maestro and Justine Triet/Anatomy of a Fall.

BEST ACTRESS

1) Lily Gladstone/Killers of the Flower Moon

2) Emma Stone/Poor Things

3) Carrie Mulligan/Maestro

4) Annette Bening/Nyad

5) Sandra Huller/Anatomy of a Fall

Alternates: Margot Robbie/Barbie, Natalie Portman/May December and Fantasia Barino/The Color Purple

BEST ACTOR

1) Cillian Murphy/Oppenheimer

2) Colman Domingo/Rustin

3) Leonardo DiCaprio/Killers of the Flower Moon

4) Bradley Cooper/Maestro

5) Paul Giamatti/The Holdovers

Alternates: Jeffrey Wright/American Fiction, Andrew Scott/All of Us Strangers and Barry Keogahn/Saltburn.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Da'Vine Joy Randoplh/The Holdovers

2) Emily Blunt/Oppenheimer

3) Jodie Foster/Nyad

4) Julianne Moore/May December

5) Danielle Brooks/The Color Purple

Alternates: Penelope Cruz/Ferrari, America Ferrera/Barbie, Viola Davis/Air and Sandra Huller/The Zone of Interest.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Robert Downey, Jr./Oppenheimer

2) Mark Ruffalo/Poor Things

3) Ryan Gosling/Barbie

4) Robert DeNiro/Killers of the Flower Moon

5) Willem Dafoe/Poor Things

Alternates: John Magaro/Past Lives Dominic Sessa/The Holdovers, Sterling K. Brown/American Fiction.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Barbie

2) The Holdovers

3) Past Lives

4) Maestro

5) Anatomy of a Fall

Alternates: Air, May December and Saltburn.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Oppenheimer

2) Killers of the Flower Moon

3) Poor Things

4) American Fiction

5) The Zone of Interest

Alternates: All of Us Strangers, Origin, Dumb Money.

TRAILER FOR ALL OF US STRANGERS

Searchlight released a trailer for Andrew Haigh's All of Us Strangers last Thursday.   The release came just a bit too late for my regular post then so I have included it today.  All of Us Strangers stars Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal.  It is set for a limited release on Dec. 22nd.

INTERNATIONAL SUBMISSIONS

The United Kingdom chooses The Zone of Interest.

The United Kingdom has selected Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest as its choice to compete for the Best International Film Oscar.  The choice was not a surprise.  The film won the Grand Prize at Cannes last May (just behind Palme d'Or winner and fellow TFF #50 selection Anatomy of a Fall).

Zone is a very likely nominee and possible winner in this category.

Variety, among other outlets, reported the choice late last week.

France chooses The Taste of Things.  That was, perhaps, a bit of a surprise as Anatomy of a Fall might have been the more likely choice after having won the Palma d'Or at Cannes last May.  Vanity Fair, among other outlets reported the choice.

DADDIO HAS A HOME

Deadline has reported that Christy Hall's Daddio has been acquired for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics.  No word yet on release plans for the film that stars Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson.

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Post TFF 50 / Oscar Thoughts/ The Bikeriders Trailer / The People's Telluride

POST TFF 50

Random thoughts as we look at TFF #50 for the first time in the rearview mirror. 

***The tradition continues.  Once again I went 24 out of 25 on the Final Bets posting.  I had The Settlers in the #25 spot.  That apparently was filled by the sneak of Totem.  In addition to the 24 on the actual list one of the other "possibles" made the lineup-Daina O. Pusic's Tuesday.

Here's the track record for the past several years:

2022: 24 of 25

2021: 24 of 25 

2020: No fest

2019: 24 of 25

2018: 25 of 25

2017: 24 of 25

2016: 20 of 20

With the 2023 total added in, over eight years MTFB is 140/145.  Accurate 97% of the time.

***I thought the lineup was strong across the board this year and that sentiment seemed to be echoed across the journalists and pundits I spook with but also standing in line with the other passholders.  It'll be interesting to see if The People's Poll, The Professional's Poll or both bear that out with hard numbers.

***I'm looking to post The Pros next Monday and The People on the following Monday (Sept. 18) with The Composite poll capping our numbers game on Thursday, Sept. 21.

OSCAR THOUGHTS

Here's my early post T-ride take on Oscar chances for some TFF #50 films:

***Poor Things is likely going to be the most nominated film with a Telluride pedigree.  I can see nominations for Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Stone), Supporting Actor-maybe times two Ruffalo (and possibly Dafoe), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Production Design, Makeup/Hair, Costumes. Maybe Original Score and Visual Effects.

***The Holdovers might be the most popular title in terms of mass appeal,  Possible nominations for Picture, Direction, Actor (Giamatti), Supporting Actress (Randolph), Original Screenplay.  Maybe Supporting Actor (Sessa).

***The Bikeriders-There was a good deal of buzz around the performances of Austin Butler, Tom Hardy and especially Jodie Comer.  Enough to land each of them nominations?  Hard to tell.  Would three acting nominations manifest a Best Picture nomination?  Possibly.

***Nyad-Actress (Bening), Supporting Actress (Foster).  Maybe Picture, Direction, Cinematography and Adapted Screenplay.

***Rustin-Actor (Domingo)  Maybe Original Screenplay...outside shot at Best Picture.

***All of Us Strangers- Actor (Scott), Supporting Actor (Mescal)  Lots of people loved this film last weekend.  It could land in the conversation for Adapted Screenplay and Picture

***Saltburn- Barry Keoghan is a possibility  for Best Actor but Emerald Fennell's sophomore effort might have been the most divisive film from TFF #50.

***I'd love to see Sean Penn and (I can't believe I'm writing this) Dakota Johnson get some attention for Daddio along with Christy Hall for writing the screenplay.  It's be cool, too, if Julia Louis-Dreyfus made some noise for her turn in Tuesday.

***Docs: The Pigeon Tunnel, American Symphony, Tehacapi, Beyond Utopia and Food Inc. 2.

***International: Perfect Days, The Teachers' Lounge, La Chimera, Fallen Leaves, The Zone of Interest, Anatomy of a Fall, The Taste of Things

THE BIKERIDERS TRAILER

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

You have another week until the clock runs out on you chance to be a part of this year's People's poll of TFF #50 films.

All you have to do is rate the films you saw  and then report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

Report your ratings to: mpgort@gmail.com 

The deadline for this year to turn in your ratings will be Sept. 15th.

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Latest Toronto Announcements / El Conde Looks Crazy / Waiting on the Fantastic

 LATEST TORONTO ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Toronto International Film Festival dropped two huge lists of films at the end of last week with Centerpiece Films announced Thursday,  Wavelengths, Shorts and Classics and "In Conversation With" participants and films added Friday.  As always, I'm parsing premiere statuses to see what they reveal about films that may be playing Telluride before TIFF.  Here's what I think we found out:

1) A couple of new films look T-ride bound.  Christy Hall's Daddio and from the animated film directing team of Javier Mariscal and Fernando Trueba They Shot the Piano Player.  I have mentioned They Shot the Piano Player in my June 9th analysis of which films Sony Pictures Classics might have to TFF #50 and rated it with a 25% chance to do so.  Mariscal and Trueba previously had screened Chico and Rita at TFF in 2010.

As for Hall's Daddio...caught me totally by surprise.  The film stars Sean Penn (at TFF in 2007 with Into the Wild) and Dakota Johnson (at TFF in 2021 with The Lost Daughter.

The IMDb summary of the film:

"A woman taking a cab ride from JFK engages in a conversation with the taxi driver about the important relationships in their lives."

As best I can tell Daddio does not yet have U.S. distribution.

2) The Centerpiece announcement also seemed to have confirmed that Fallen Leaves, Perfect Days and The Promised Land will be at Telluride.

3) The Centerpiece announcement sows some confusion about two films that we had thought were certain for Telluride after their inclusion in the New York announcement with no premiere status designation.  About Dry Grasses and The Settlers are both listed as North American premieres by TIFF and if that's accurate it would mean no Telluride for them.

Announced earlier, Alice Rohrwacher's La Chimera is in that same boat.

This happens every year.  Sometimes it's miscommunication.  Sometimes it's mislabeling the status.  Where that leaves us is that all three of these films could still be a Telluride play (I particularly think that The Settlers probably IS going to Telluride.  No intell, just a gut feeling).

4) Finally from the Centerpiece announcement, Ilker Catak's The Teacher's Lounge which won a couple of awards at the Berlin Fest and a slew at the German Film Awards is listed as a North American Premiere which, if correct, means no screening at Telluride.  I have been listing it as a TFF  "possibility" through all 8 of this year's "Ten Bets" lists.

5) The Wavelengths announcement appears to confirm a TFF slot for Orlando, My Political Biography.  It also suggests three shorts to Telluride: NYC RGB, Quiet As It's Kept and Bouquets 31-40.

6) The "In Conversation With" section announced that Pedro Almodovar will be participating and screening his short Strange Way of Life as a North American Premiere.  That knocks it off of the Telluride track.  I had thought there was a real possibility that it could screen in T-ride but that appears destined not to be.

EL CONDE LOOKS CRAZY

Pablo Larrain's El Conde (The Count) will likely be playing at some theater in the San Juans over Labor Day weekend.  The film will World premiere at Venice and it has a screening slot early enough in that fest to make the hop to Telluride.

Well, the film looks bonkers.  Here is the newly released trailer from Netflix via YouTube:

 

And here's the IMDb summary: 

"Centers on Augusto Pinochet (infamous Chilean dictator) who is not dead but an aged vampire. After living 250 years in this world, he has decided to die once and for all."

And finally, a story about the film from Indiewire's Eric Kohn.

WAITING ON THE FANTASTIC

We're kind of expecting that Fantastic Fest, the Austin, Texas based festival that runs at the end of September/Early October will probably announce a big chunk of its lineup sometime this week.  Last year they announced on August 16th.  The year before the initial announcement came August 6th.

FF's lineup can prove instructive each year as a confirmation or elimination for a film's possible inclusion for Telluride.

Last year Fantastic Fest included:

The Banshees of Inisherin

Bones and All

Decision to Leave

Holy Spider

The Menu

Triangle of Sadness

Bones and All and Holy Spider played at TFF #49 and that was confirmed with the FF announcement listing both of those films as Texas Premieres.  Meanwhile with a U.S. Premiere designation Banshees, Decision to Leave, The Menu and Triangle of Sadness were all confirmed as not playing at TFF #49.

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