INTO THE TRAILER!
Werner Herzog's death row documentary has been making waves since its debut in Telluride nearly two months ago. The Toronto screening seemed to be well received and the film is scheduled for release before the end of the year. Now comes a trailer for it in good rhythm to keep the heat alive as we continue to careen towards awards season. You can take a gander at the trailer via www.deathandtaxesmag.com (seriously) here:
http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/154665/into-the-abyss-trailer-werner-herzog-explores-the-death-penalty/
or more conventionally from The Playlist here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/watch_trailer_for_werner_herzogs_death_row_documentary_into_the_abyss/
VREELAND MOVEMENT
Another documentary that played at TFF #38 was "Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel". Word was out this week that the film has been sold to several foreign markets. You'll find info concerning that move from both IndieWire here:
http://www.indiewire.com/article/2011/10/27/hanway_films_gets_international_rights_to_diana_vreeland#
And Variety.com here:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118045133?categoryid=13&cs=1&cmpid=RSS|News|LatestNews
THE ARTIST SPEAKING
Michel Hazanavicius' "The Artist" continues to please audiences and rake in Film Fest awards. Reuters.com posted an interview from The Wrap's Chris Willman (whom we met at Telluride this year in the screening for "Butter", Yikes! My less than stellar review for "Butter" for The Playlist can be found here:http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/telluride_11_review_jennifer_garners_butter_churns_and_churns_but_doesnt_pr/ ).
Here's Chris' article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/27/idUS307125124020111027
CLOONEY'S DILEMMA
Oh to be George Clooney...for many reasons not the least of which is the enviable dilemma of having the chance for too many Oscar nominations and campaigns to handle...
Though, frankly, I think his shot at much traction for nominations for "The Ides of March" has come and gone. But that's just me and my perception of the the way the wind seems to be blowing.
You might want to look at Greg Kilday's piece from The Hollywood Reporter about George's dilemma...
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/george-clooney-oscars-descendants-ides-of-march-254754
OSCARS ON PARADE
For a snapshot of the expert's view of where the Oscar race might be right now (other than my post from last Thursday of the second volume of this year's Clearinghouse) take a look/listen to Anne Thompson and Kris Tapley's Oscar podcast "Oscar Talk" posted here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2011/10/28/oscar_talk_shame_nc-17_descendants_whither_chastain_anonymous_rum_diary/
Also you might want to peruse David Poland's 19 Weeks to Oscar column over at The Movie City News here:
http://moviecitynews.com/2011/10/19-weeks-to-oscar-the-mean-season/
KNIGHTLEY'S MOVE
Speaking of Oscar and Telluride 2011 films, SPC has reportedly decided to campaign for Keira Knightley in the Best Actress category for David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method". There has been a good deal of speculation about where her performance would be slotted (Actress or Supporting Actress?). My view...don't go there, I thought her performance was over the top. But I also know from the buzz in T-ride and since that there are a good number of people who thought she was quite good. Does it mean that there are enough of those to land a nomination? I'm very skeptical...
HitFix has the lowdown on the SPC decision here:
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/in-contention/posts/sony-classics-aims-for-lead-with-knightley-in-method-supporting-for-carnage-cast
TIMBERLAKE AND LLEWYN
I tweeted earlier this week that Variety was reporting that the Coen Brothers were high on Justin Timberlake for their new project "Inside Llewyn Davis" (already on board: Carey Mulligan and Oscar Issac). Now comes a slew of confirmation articles from around the blogosphere. Take a look:
The original post from Variety:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118045264?categoryid=13&cs=1&cmpid=RSS|News|FilmNews
The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/justin_timberlake_offered_a_lead_role_in_the_coen_brothers_inside_llewyn_da/
Get The Big Picture:
http://www.getthebigpicture.net/blog/2011/10/29/coen-brothers-want-justin-timberlake-for-inside-llewyn-davis.html
That's all for now...back with more on Thursday!
