Obsessing about the Telluride Film Festival and the film awards season since 2008!
"The best blog out there for predicting what will be going to Telluride."-Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
"The Nostradamus of Telluride"
-Tim Appelo, Movies for Grownups
The 78th Cannes Film Festival opened last Tuesday and will run though May 24th. TFF watchers know that it's likely that anywhere from 6-10 films screening there the next few days will probably end up in Telluride over Labor Day. That's been the trend for some time. One of the things I'll be doing over the next few posts is checking to see how critics respond. Several film outlets will be posting composite critical responses and I traditionally keep track some of those and report them but the Big Daddy of all Cannes compilations comes from cannes-ratings.org.
So this week I took a moment to try to calibrate what that compilation has told us over the years. What I did was to look for the lowest rated film that played at Cannes that also played Telluride. My thought was that perhaps by doing that we might establish some critical baseline for where the cutoff is below which it's unlikely a film will be selected for Telluride inclusion.
Thus here are the lowest rated films from Cannes for each year (going back to 2011) that made it to TFF. Cannes-ratings uses a 1-10 scale.
2024-Santosh-5.97
2023-Strange way of Life-5.58
2022-Tori and Lokita-6.11
2021-Unclenching the Fist-6.08
2019-Family Romance LLC-5.68
2018-The Eyes of Orson Welles-6.11
2017-An Inconvenient Sequel-5.75
2016-Neruda-6.58
2015-Rams-5.10
2014-Wild Tales-5.41
2013-Jororowsky's Dune-5.55
2012-Paradise:Love-5.03
2011-Bonsai-5.00
As you can see, the outliers are Neruda at the top and Bonsai and Paradise: Love at the bottom. The average rating to claim the last Cannes to T-ride spot is at 5.69. So, if you want to check what the critical reception at Cannes, that might be a spot to think that anything below that has a lesser chance to get to Telluride.
One other point, since it's still so early in the Cannes fest most of the films only have a very few reviews as yet. As Cannes rolls on those films will gather more and more critical responses and you can get a better idea for where a film may end up. For example, the film at the top of the list right now is Love Me Tender with a 9.12 cumulative rating but it's only been reviewed by four critics...so grain of salt.
Monday's MTFB will have my first real look.
FOUR FILMS ON THE EDGE:
Four films on the periphery of my analysis of what goes to Telluride had moments this week that, at the very least, didn't hurt their chances of playing Telluride.
Richard Linklater's Blue Moon- The film's release dates were announced this week. It will have a limited release on Oct. 17th followed by a wider release on Oct. 24th. Linklater has never been to TFF as far as I can discern which works against the notion that it will play Telluride. However, it does have some things working in its favor. These release dates for one. Also, a good critical response from Berlin where it also picked up for Andrew Scott for Best Supporting Performance. It's from Sony Pictures Classics and it stars Ethan Hawke who is often a TFF attendee.
Ronan Day-Lewis's Anemone- Like Blue Moon, Anemone's release dates were also announced this week and leave open the possibility for T-ride. Anemone will open limited on Oct. 3rd and wide on Oct. 10th. The film stars past TFF tribute recipient Daniel Day-Lewis who also co-wrote the screenplay. Day-Lewis first attended TFF in 1989 with My Left Foot and returned for his tribute in 2007 with some scenes from There Will Be Blood. He won Best Actor Oscars for both of those performances. Another factor working in favor of a TFF play is that the distributor is Focus Features which has been a reliable Telluride player for years.
Werner Herzog's Bucking Fastard- Herzog has possibly been the most screened director at Telluride over the years and The Playlist reports:
"Production took place in Ireland (hence the “Irish landscape”) and Slovenia, having wrapped filming last month, as the film is now heading to the Cannes Film Market with the aim of sharing footage with potential buyers."
So it may be ready for a San Juan screening.
Stephane Ghez's Welcome to Lynchland-Played Yesterday at the Cannes Fest with David Lynch's son, Riley introducing it. The documentary about Lynch's career and films feels like it could be right down TFF's alley given Lynch's stature and his early participation with TFF.
More on Monday.
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Lots of speculation within the last month or so, that David Lynch might launch a new film in May. Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel (among others) has been among those that have suggested that a "surprise" inclusion will be a Lynch film.
Over the years there has been a strong relationship between Cannes and Telluride with many films having premiered at the French festival and then screening three and half months later in southwest Colorado.
Which, of course, raises the question: Does Lynch return to Telluride? Lynch has a history at the fest with Blue Velvet in 1986, a 1989 presentation of Twin Peaks and a Tribute to him in 1999 with a screening of The Straight Story.
We could know on Thursday if the film even exists and if it play Cannes when the the bulk of its lineup is announced. which leads to...
A COUPLE OF MORE CANNES PREDICTIONS
From Ioncinema and Screen Daily come these titles that could be announced Thursday that seem to me to have potential as films that also might then screen as a part of The SHOW:
Armageddon Time
Asteroid City
Bardo
Bones and All
Broker
Crimes of the Future
R.M.N.
Showing Up
The Son
Tori and Lokita
The Whale
Women Talking
Look at the complete lists from both outlets at these links:
Welcome to Michael's Telluride Film Blog and The Film Awards Clearinghouse (FAC).
THE FAC UPDATED PREDICTIONS FOR SUPPORTING AND SCREENPLAYS
Taking a look today at four categories to update them as we begin the new year. Also a mention that the Golden Globe Awards are less than a week away. They'll be announced on Sunday, Jan. 7th.
As always, the films/performers from TFF #44 films are indicated with Bold.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
The Supporting races were last predicted in this space on Dec. 4th. In that post the Supporting Actress race looked like this :
1) Alison Janney/I, Tonya 2) Laurie Metcalf/Lady Bird
3) Holly Hunter/The Big Sick 4) Octavia Spencer/The Shape of Water
5) Mary J. Blige/Mudbound
Others: Hong Chau/Downsizing, Leslie Manville/Phantom Thread, Melissa Leo/Novitiate
Comment: Blige has really seen a surge over the past couple of weeks. The top spot is still very tight but Metcalf seems to have the edge at the moment.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
From a month ago:
1) Willem Dafoe/The Florida Project
2) Sam Rockwell/Three Billboards
3) Armie Hammer/Call Me By Your Name
4) Michael Stuhlbarg/Call Me By Your Name
5) Mark Rylance/Dunkirk
Others: Richard Jenkins/The Shape of Water, Ben Mendelsohn/Darkest Hour, Ray Romano/The Big Sick
The updated predictions:
1) Willem Dafoe/The Florida Project
2) Sam Rockwell/Three Billboards 3) Richard Jenkins/The Shape of Water
4) Woody Harrelson/Three Billboards
5) Armie Hammer/Call Me By Your Name
Others: Michael Stuhlbarg/Call Me By Your Name, Christopher Plummer/All the Money in the World, Steve Carell/Battle of the Sexes
Comment: Nice surges for Jenkins and Harrelson. Dafoe looks like the solid favorite to win at this point.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The screenplay categories are being updated for the first time since Nov. 9th...
Here's what was out front nearly two months back:
1) Call Me By Your Name
2) Mudbound
3) Molly's Game
4) The Disaster Artist
5) Last Flag Flying
Others: Wonderstruck, Stronger, Wonder Woman
And today's update:
1) Call Me By Your Name
2) Mudbound
3) Molly's Game
4) The Disaster Artist
5) Wonder
Others: Victoria and Abdul, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, Wonderstruck
Comment: A very stable category for the last two months. The fifth spot is a toss up. The top four seem to be in good shape.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
From Nov. 9th:
1) Three Billboards 2) The Shape of Water
3) Get Out 4) Lady Bird 5) Darkest Hour
Others: The Post. The Big Sick, I, Tonya
And the new FAC prediction says:
1) Three Billboards
2) Get Out
3) Lady Bird
4) The Post
5) The Shape of Water
Others: The Big Sick, Phantom Thread, I Tonya
Comment: Phantom Thread supplants Darkest Hour in the conversation for the last spot.
TELLURIDE TIME TUNNEL-RE-VISITING TFF #13
MTFB continues its months long review of the history of the Telluride Film Festival.
You may recall that I started this project back on April 13, 2017. The goal here is to provide a place on the interwebs where someone could get a relatively complete look at what played at each Telluride Film Fest (in as far as feature films are concerned) since its inception.
As I have written on a couple of occasions, the current official Telluride Film Festival website has links to the programs for fests from 2006 to last year's program. Prior to 2006, I am unaware of any other collection of data for TFF online. This is an attempt to provide that.
So, we pick up where we left off with a look at the films and personalities of TFF #13. The 13th Telluride Film Festival took place from Aug. 29-September 1, 1986.
Tributes: Alexander Mackendrick, Jiri Menzel and Isabelle Huppert.
Also of note, a retrospective of the films of Anthony Mann labeled Mann of the West that featured the one and only Jimmy Stewart in person.
SHOWS:
The Biscuit Eater
Blue Velvet
Cactus
Closely Watched Trains
The Decline of the American Empire
Devil in the Flesh
Document: Fanny and Alexander
Eat the Peach
Eraserhead
The Gay Desperado
The Interrogation
The Lacemaker
The Ladykillers
A Lonely Woman
Los Inundados
The Man form Laramie
Mother Teresa
My Little Village
No End
The River's Edge
The Sacrifice
Sacrificed Youth
Seize the Day
Smasher
The Sweet Smell of Success
Therese
Tire Die
Too Far to Go
We Are the Living
Winchester 73
The Witch
Working Girls
Guests:
Denys Arcand
Laura Dern
Crispin Glover
Agnieszka Holland
Chuck Jones
David Lynch
Kyle MacLachlan
Anne Meara
Jerry Stiller
James Stewart
Robin Williams
I'm trying to imagine a weekend where I might have seen James Stewart, Robin Williams and David Lynch around town and also have caught screenings of Blue Velvet, The River's Edge, Winchester 73 and The Sweet Smell of Success.
RT'S TOP 100 FILMS OF 2017
Rotten Tomatoes has released its list of the top 100 films rated on their site for 2017. The list includes a number of titles from both TFF #44 as well as TFF #43.
Those from TFF #44 making the grade are:
#91-The Other Side of Hope
#68-Human Flow
#67-Battle of the Sexes
#26-Faces Places
#20-The Shape of Water
#5-Lady Bird
Jordan Peele's Get Out is rated as the top film by RT for 2017.
TFF #43 films that made the RT Top 100 are:
#97-Maudie
#81-Frantz
#64-I Called Him Morgan
#61-The B-Side:Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography
#44-Graduation
#35-Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
If you're as glued to Twitter as I usually am and you pay attention to Telluride Film news via that media, then you almost certainly already know that Telluride #44 has a Guest Director.
The word came via press release email yesterday that director Joshua Oppenheimer will Guest Direct for the 2017 edition of TFF.
Ironically, I mentioned Oppenheimer's first appearance at Telluride in last Tuesday's post as a part of my TFF history retrospective. Tuesday's review was for the 24th TFF in 1997. Oppenheimer presented The Entire Story of the Louisiana Purchase that year.
Most recently he has presented both The Look of Silence (2014) and The Act of Killing (2012) at the fest.
Here's the full text of the press release from TFF:
BERKELEY, CA – Telluride Film Festival, presented by National Film Preserve
LTD., is proud to announce its 2017 Guest Director, Joshua Oppenheimer.The award-winning documentarian is set to select a series of films
to present at the 44th Telluride Film Festival running over Labor Day Weekend,September 1-4, 2017.
Festival organizers annually select one of
the world’s great film enthusiasts to join them in the creation of the
Festival’s program lineup. The Guest Director serves as a key collaborator in
the Festival’s programming decisions, bringing new ideas and overlooked films
to Telluride. In keeping with Telluride Film Festival tradition, Oppenheimer’s
film selections, along with the rest of the Telluride lineup, will be kept
secret until Opening Day.
“The Guest Director program is
one of the most essential and wonderful parts of our festival,” said
Telluride Film Festival executive director Julie
Huntsinger. “Joshua has been a part of the SHOW with several of the
incredible films he has made in the past, and now as our Guest Director. His
rare combination of intelligence and down-to-earth understanding of humanity
will make for a remarkable presentation of films our audience will not want to
miss. Further gilding the lily, FilmStruck has joined us as the sponsor of this
selection. We are beyond fortunate with this terrific combination of cinematic
genius.”
Filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer was born in
the US in 1974 and studied filmmaking at Harvard University. Oppenheimer is
best known for The Act of Killing (Telluride 2012) and The Look of Silence
(Telluride 2014). The Act of Killing (2014 Academy Award Nominee for Best
Documentary) was named Film of the Year in 2013 by the Guardian and the Sight
and Sound Film Poll. It won 72 international awards, including a BAFTA, a
European Film Award and an Asia-Pacific Screen Award. The Look of Silence (2016
Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary) premiered at the Venice Film
Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI award, and
went on to receive another 70 prizes, including an Independent Spirit Award,
the IDA Award for Best Documentary Feature, a Gotham Award, and three Cinema
Eye Honors. His early shorts have recently been re-released online and on DVD,
including The Entire History of the Louisiana Purchase, which premiered at
Telluride in 1997. Joshua Oppenheimer was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in
2014. Oppenheimer is a partner at Final Cut for Real in Copenhagen, and
Artistic Director of the Centre for Documentary and Experimental Film at the
University of Westminster in London.
“You stumble from a cinema into Telluride’s
thin air, touched in ways you never imagined possible,” commented Oppenheimer.
“You turn to a total stranger to share a thought unthinkable only two hours
before. What happened? In the mirror of a great film, you confronted
truths from which you normally avert your eyes. You recognised
yourself in those delicate, mysterious moments that defy words yet
make us human. Telluride's movies are empathy machines, inviting
us to find ourselves in people we’d never otherwise know. Julie
Huntsinger and Tom Luddy’s annual selection is driven by such
curiosity and humanity that you cannot leave Telluride without
feeling the responsibility and pain and love that comes
with compassion. We emerge connected, reminded that self-absorption
ultimately leaves us isolated and fearful. There is no greater privilege
than joining Tom and Julie as this year’s guest director,
sharing with Telluride’s audience the films that give me the greatest
courage, and teach me to practice the widest empathy.”
Past Guest Directors include Volker
Schlöndorff , Rachel Kushner, Guy Maddin, Caetano Veloso, Michael Ondaatje,
Alexander Payne, Salman Rushdie, Peter Bogdanovich, B. Ruby Rich, Phillip
Lopate, Errol Morris, Bertrand Tavernier, John Boorman, John Simon, Buck Henry,
Laurie Anderson, Stephen Sondheim,G.
Cabrera Infante,Peter Sellars,
Don DeLillo, J.P. Gorin, Edith Kramer and SlavojŽižek.
One of the newest distribution companies to the Telluride experience is A24 and though they are new to TFF, relatively speaking, and though they haven't screened a large number of films at the fest, their presence has made a lot of noise, especially the last two years. Here's the entire A24 footprint which only begins its T-ride time in 2012:
2016: Moonlight
2015: Room
2014: _____
2013: Under the Skin
2012: Ginger and Rosa
Brie Larson earned a Best Actress Oscar for 2015's Room and the film was also nominated for Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay.
Then there's last year's Moonlight which picked up three Oscars for Best Picture, Supporting Actor and Adapted Screenplay. It was also nominated for five others including Direction and Supporting Actress.
That's a very impressive run in an incredibly short time.
My take is that A24 likes getting their product into Telluride and Telluride likes having it there. As you can see, however, the outfit hasn't ever placed more than a single film in a year in their limited time there and, as you can see above, in 2014 A24 wasn't in T-ride at all.
But could this be the year that the firm lands more than a single title?
Here's the rundown of current A24 films that seem to have a shot at Labor Day:
A Prayer Before Dawn/Sauvaire: Played at Cannes as a part of the Midnight Screening program where it got a respectable 6.28 average critical rating according to Reini Urban's compilation of Cannes critics. Chances of it playing seem slight to me. Chances: 15%.
How to Talk to Girls at Parties/Mitchell. Another Cannes presentation shown out of competition that had middling critical reception- 5.61 on the Urban compilation. It could pop at Telluride but I have doubts. Chance: 15%.
The Killing of a Scared Deer/Lanthimos: The third A24 film that played Cannes- in the main competition category where it won Best Screenplay. This coming on the heels of writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos' Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay last year for The Lobster. Although the Urban combo score was 5.96, its Metacritic score was a solid 84. I could actually see this making a play at T-ride. Chances: 50%.
Cannes clip of The Florida Project via YouTube
The Florida Project/Baker: Regular readers of MTFB know that I am high on this film's chances to play Telluride in light of its performance at Cannes. It was the third most widely praised film critically at Cannes in any section with an 8.05 combo rating from Urban and a 91 Metacritic score. Sean Baker grabbed a lot of buzz in 2015 for his Tangerine and I expect A24 is going to be working hard to get Willem Dafoe some awards season attention for Best Supporting Actor. All of that and my intuition makes me think The Florida Project might be heading to Colorado. Chances: 65%.
Woodshock/Mulleavys: The one film on the list that A24 didn't play at Cannes. Kirsten Dunst stars in what looks pretty trippy. At least that's the way the trailer looks:
I think it looks interesting but I also think it's how A24 looks at approaching Telluride now. Chances 20%.
And if you were wondering about the Safdie's Good Time with Robert Pattinson; it's set to open in August.
So, it seems to me that your two best A24 best are The Florida Project and The Killing of a Sacred Deer.
ADDING TO TUESDAY'S FOX SEARCHLIGHT ANALYSIS
I was perusing Nancy Tartiglione's post at Deadline earlier today for nuggets that might have popped up in 20th Century Fox's presentation at CineEurope in Barcelona. A sentence or two caught my eye as FS Exec VP Rebecca Kearey is quoted as suggesting serious festival plays for Martin McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water. Here's the direct quote from the post: Those were joined by Fox Searchlight titles Battle Of The Sexes, Goodbye Christopher Robin , Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape Of Water. Of the latter two, Searchlight EVP of International Marketing & Distribution Rebecca Kearey said they would be playing at many of the fall festivals.
After seeing that, I'm inclined to bump both films' chances of a Telluride play up 5 points from Tuesday's analysis. So Ebbing goes from 40% to 45% and Shape of Water from from 35% to 40%. I'm leaving Battle of the Sexes at 55% and Goodbye Christopher Robin at 45% for now.
Meanwhile, Pete Hammond from Deadline dropped his belief that Battke of the Sexes has, what he calls a 99% chance to play Telluride. He also suggested in a story yesterday his belief that Alexander Payne will have Downsizing at TFF #44. Check out Hammond's story here.
LAST NOTE FOR THURSDAY...
I was reading this story from The Hollywood Reporter yesterday about David Lynch attending the Lucca Film Festival in Tuscany and the fact that he'll be doing some presentations of Twin Peaks;The Return (through seven episodes now on Showtime) and I was reminded that Lynch revealed the first two episodes at Cannes prior to their Showtime presentations.
It also reminded me that I have a theory that master of weirdness might make a return this year to Telluride. Hear me out...or, I guess, read me out.
Lynch used to be a fairly serious Telluride regular. As best I can tell Lynch was in Telluride in 1986 with Blue Velvet and Eraserhead. Screened some of Twin Peaks in 1989 (though only Mark Frost and Michael Ontkean are listed as attending with the show). Industrial Symphony in 1990, again with no Lynch listed as attending. Lynch received a Telluride Tribute in 1999 complete with screenings of The Straight Story. In 2001, TFF reportedly "snuck" Mulholland Drive. I think the last time a Lynch film played the festival was as an executive producer on Werner Herzog's My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done in 2009 as a sneak preview.
That's a pretty impressive run of Telluride screenings.
Sooo... how about screening the last two episodes of Twin Peaks: The Return at TFF #44?
They're both set to screen on Showtime on Sunday, Sept. 3rd. Maybe we should kick off the weekend Friday with those two episodes back to back.
It's a thought.
That's a wrap for Thursday. More tomorrow.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com
Within the last ten days or so, we got trailers for two films that made a splash at last year's Telluride Film Festival. Some folks were talking animatedly about Sally Hawkins performance in Aisling Walsh's film. The film is slated for release on June 16th.
Also making a recent appearance was a trailer for Joseph Cedar's Norman...which we saw at Telluride with the rather more lengthy title: Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer. Richard Gere stars. Norman opens on April 14th. Here's that trailer:
And speaking of trailers, I couldn't resist linking readers to a couple of "trailers" that appeared within the last week just for fun. The first comes from Late Night with Seth Meyers and is called "Oscar Bait". As you might guess from the title, it lampoons a certain type of film...
Winner of six Oscars including Best Direction, this video has been making the rounds and shows Chazelle doing the prep for that terrific opening number "Another Day of Sun":
Welcome to Friday...my last day in Kansas City at The National Speech Tournament...back home to the Oklahoma Panhandle tomorrow...
START TO JUDGE "THE JUDGE"
Last week, I posted that about the Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall starrer "The Judge" which sort up popped up out of nowhere in terms pf Telluride consideration. However, now that the possibility exists, I'm going to keep an eye on it, at least for awhile. To that end, yesterday saw a blizzard of stories/posts to coincide with the release of a trailer. Here it is from YouTube/thejudgemovie.com:
Here are links to a number of stories that ran with the trailer yesterday:
The Playlist also had a story up yesterday about the new Inarritu/Keaton collaboration "Birdman" with new photos AND some crazy speculation that the film might include an amazingly long tracking shot. Check the story here:
THE LAST TWO GREAT TFF FILMS THAT I DIDN'T SEE AT TFF
This week I've been listing ten great films that I HAVE seen and that DID play at Telluride, but I didn't see them there. Thus far the list has included "Brokeback Mountain", Amelie", "The Straight Story", "Sling Blade", "Ed Wood", Capote", "Blue Velvet" and "The Lives of Others". Today's final two additions are:
Backtracking just a bit to 2001 and David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive". Yes, Lynch made my list three times. The first time I saw the film I was modestly impressed but it has gotten better every time I've seen it. "Mulholland" is a Lynchian take on the whole world of film making couched in a "murder mystery'. To my mind, it's the best thing Naomi Watts has ever done.
And 2009, Michael Haneke's masterpiece "The White Ribbon". Haneke's brilliant black and white meditation on evil and how people can become what they become. It's still one of the most haunting things I've ever seen on a movie screen.
More tomorrow...
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Mark it down as a Telluride film for 2015. Sylvain Chomet will be filming the animated "A Thousand Miles". Chomet has had an animated history with the festival with both "The Triplets of Belleville" (2003) and "The Illusionist" (2010) making the lineup. His latest feature was the live action "Attila Marcel" which I thought might be a TFF choice last year but was not. However, the move back to animation may make "A Thousand Miles" a likely TFF 2015 prospect. Check this story from Variety:
The Next Two Great TFF Films I didn't see at Telluride.
Yesterday I began a week long listing of my ten favorite films that played at Telluride that I didn't see at Telluride. Taking them chronologically, I began with films that played at T-ride prior to my first trip their in 2006. I'm listing a couple of them each day and started yesterday with "Blue Velvet" and "Ed Wood". Here are today's additions to the list:
From 1996: Billy Bob Thornton's: "Sling Blade". Billy Bob writes the script (and won an Oscar for his efforts, directs and gives what is still probably his best performance in this film that introduced him to the film world. John Ritter also is great in a real change of pace role for him.
From 1999: David Lynch's second film on this list: "The Straight Story". Richard Farnsworth...who was always great, gives his best performance as Alvin Straight. Alvin is determined to visit his semi-estranged an brother but is hampered by any number of circumstances. Ultimately, Alvin takes off on his odyssey...using a modified riding lawn mower. It's based on a true story. As a side note: I love Harry Dean Stanton as the brother who shows up for a few moments at the end of the film.
Coming tomorrow...additions from 2001 and 2005
HITFIX ON SPC
The good guys over at HitFix posted a piece yesterday extolling the finest films from Sony Pictures Classics which celebrated 20 years of existence in 2012. The HitFix fellows (Ellwood, Tapley and Lodge) honor the distribution house by each choosing their "ten best" SPC films and because SPC has often played at Telluride, many of their choices will be familiar to TFF fans. Among the T-ride films that appear somewhere on the tree lists are: "Amour", "Cache", "The Illusionist" (see the Chomet story above), "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "A Prophet", and "Another Year" among others. Take a look at the full article here:
Good Monday from Kansas City, KS. and the National Speech and Debate Tournament...I'm here all week...literally.
BOY AND THE WORLD
Picture via HitFix
The Brazilian animated feature "Boy and the World" made a splash at last week's Annecy Animation Fest after also performing well at earlier fests. GKIDS has the distribution and I think it has become a serious possibility for the Telluride 2014 lineup. HitFix reports on the film:
VIEWS OF GILLIAM'S LATEST (AND NEWS OF DON QUIXOTE)
A new trailer is out for Terry Gilliam's "The Zero Theorem" which we had marked down as a TFF #40 possibility. It's appearance at Austin's Fantastic Fest last fall has all been ended the chances that we'll see it at T-ride this year. Nevertheless, a new trailer was dropped this weekend and The Playlist had that story:
The post also says that Gilliam's long time project "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" will not begin shooting until 2015.
TEN TFF FILMS NOT SEEN AT TFF
I'm doing a quick little project in this week's posts. I'm taking a quick look at ten great films that played at Telluride that I didn't actually didn't see there. I didn't start going until 2006 so all of those films that they screened from the beginning fit the bill. Then, of course, there are the films that I COULD have seen from '06 on, but for one reason or another, didn't until later. This list is a mix of both.
In chronological order, here are the first two of ten great TFF films that I didn't see at TFF:
1986- David Lynch's "Blue Velvet". Lynch's best film that both adheres to and parodies the "small town with big secrets" film. Dennis Hopper was never better and the film laid the groundwork for Lynch's television masterpiece "Twin Peaks".
1994-"Ed Wood". Tim Burton's best film with Johnny Depp in great form as the title character (creator of what are universally regarded as some of the worst films ever made) and Martin Landau delivery of a master class level performance as Bela Lugosi.
Two more from this list coming in tomorrow's post...
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George Clooney and Ryan Gosling on the set of "The Ides of March" (thanks to thehollywoodstory.com)
A busy 24 hours in terms of news and such that may or does have a bearing on the Telluride Film Festival.
I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY BEST PICTURES THERE ARE!
First, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS...the Oscar people) announced in the middle of last night that beginning this year there will be between 5 and 10 Best Picture nominees. For most of its existence the Academy had nominated 5 films each year. Then the last two years, they have nominated 10 (they used to nominate more than 5 way back in the beginning days of Oscar as well).
Well, now, this year if will be at least 5, not more than 10 and could be any number of films in between. So in a "down" year...(like 2008) maybe only 5 get nominated. In a good year (like last year) maybe 7 or 8 or 9. In a great year you might get 10. Apparently it will all hinge of the percentage of first place votes a picture gets during the nominating process. The threshold is going to be 5% if I'm reading their press release correctly. You can read that release here: http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2011/20110614a.html
Most critical reaction this morning seems generally positive, but it will make prognostication a bit trickier...
ANOTHER EARLY, EARLY OSCAR PREDICTION!
Next, The LA Times is out today with its list of 15 films it says are possible Oscar contenders. That list and descriptions of the films are here: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/awards/2011/06/oscars-preview-15-front-runners-for-best-picture.html
TFF#38 suspects on The Envelope's list are: "The Artist," "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," "Carnage," "The Descendants," "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," "The Ides of March," "The Iron Lady," and "Young Adult."
Also on their list that I don't realistically think will be at Telluride (and why):
"War Horse"-Spielberg doesn't need to festival and hasn't "Tellurided" (though his compadres Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall are both members of the festival's Board of Advisors and are frequently in Telluride for it).
"The Tree of Life"-Terrence Malick's film was released May 27.
"Like Crazy"-a Sundance Festival hit...which almost totally precludes it (though not 100%- "An Education" played both Sundance then Telluride, but it's unlikely).
"J. Edgar"-Clint Eastwood's biopic about the former FBI director starring Leonardo DiCaprio. It's been a long time since Clint has been to Telluride and he doesn't need to "festival" for people to pay attention to this film.
"Hugo Cabret"-Martin Scorsese also doesn't need the T-ride exposure..and it's in 3D...which I'm guessing is not something that Telluirde has prepared technically to project.
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"-Despite the fact that director David Fincher was a tributee in 2008, I have to doubt that he'll return with this American adaptation of the Swedish phenomena..if he didn't pop "The Social Network" at Telluride, I have a difficult time believing he'd bring "Tattoo" to the San Juans.
"A Dangerous Method"-David Cronenberg's film about Freud and Jung starring Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender. I believe Cronenberg will play Venice and Toronto and be happy with that (despite Viggo being a Tributee in 2009).
MONEYBALL!
One film NOT on the LA Times Envelope list today is Bennett Miller's "Moneyball." I think it has a shot to play at Telluride because it IS Bennett Miller's first feature since "Capote" which was at Telluride in 2005. The Playlist has a nice story about its trails and tribulations and a set of clips shown on last night's Entertainment Tonight...here that is: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/watch_first_brief_clips_from_moneyball_starring_brad_pitt_jonah_hill/
RUDDERLESS!
Yesterday we teased our minuscule connection to the film "Rudderless." We already know that William H. Macy is set to direct, but perusing the IMDB entry we also find that casting director and music supervisor (and the music is crucial to the film) are signed on as well. Casting is in the hands of Ronnie Yeskel whose previous credits include: "Reservoir Dogs," "Pulp Fiction," and "The Long Kiss Goodnight" among others. The music supervisor is Debra Baum who has been involved with the music for "The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood," "A Walk to Remember," and "3000 Miles to Graceland' again among others.
COENS BROTHERS MUSICALS CONTINUE...
Despite the fact that I'm pretty sure most of you are tired of the joke...it's till making me laugh, so, with apologies...as you are now aware the next Coen Brothers film may be a musical. I've had some fun this week with suggesting that we go back over the Coen canon and re-make all their films as musicals...today's example: "Burn After Reading: The Musical" featuring such hit tunes as: "Intelligence is Relative," "Raw Data," "Osborne Cox:Secret Agent Man" and "I Did Not See That Coming."
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