MTFB Oscar Update: The Middle Eight / Daddio Has a Trailer / Interviews and Profiles

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: THE MIDDLE EIGHT

 BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

1) The Zone of Interest/United Kingdom (1)

2) Society of the Snow/Spain (2)

3) The Teachers' Lounge/Germany (3)

4) Perfect Days/Japan (4)

5) Io Capitano/Italy (5)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1) 20 Days in Mariupol (1)

2) Bobi Wine: The People's President (2)

3) Four Daughters (3)

4) The Eternal Memory (4)

5) To Kill a Tiger (5)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

1) Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse (1)

2) The Boy and the Heron (2)

3) Elemental (3)

4) Nimona (4)

5) Robot Dreams (5)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

1) What Was I Made For?/Barbie (1)

2) I'm Just Ken/Barbie (2)

3) It Never Went Away/American Symphony (3)

4) Whazhazhe/Killers of the Flower Moon (4)

5) The Fire Inside/Flamin' Hot (5)

ORIGINAL SCORE

1) Oppenheimer (1)

2) Killers of the Flower Moon (2)

3) Poor Things (3)

4) American Fiction (4)

5) Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (5)

CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) Oppenheimer (1)

2) Poor Things (3)

3) Killers of the Flower Moon (2)

4) Maestro (4)

5) El Conde (5)

EDITING

1) Oppenheimer (1)

2) Killers of the Flower Moon (2)

3) Anatomy of a Fall (3)

4) Poor Things (4)

5) The Holdovers (5)

PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) Barbie (1)

2) Poor Things (2)

3) Oppenheimer (3)

4) Killers of the Flower Moon (4)

5) Napoleon (5)

Comment: All eight of these categories remain virtually unchanged over the past couple of weeks.  Among them only one seems to be truly competitive and that's Production Design.  I wonder if Poor Things win at the BAFTAs on Sunday will move it ahead of Barbie when I predict these categories again on March 4th.  

DADDIO HAS A TEASER

One of the more obscure films I saw at TFF #50 was Daddio starring Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn.  I quite enjoyed the well-acted two hander.  Now Sony Pictures Classics has dropped a teaser for the film.  Here that is from YouTube:

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Sandra Huller and Justine Triet for Anatomy of a Fall from Awards Radar.

Mark Ruffalo for Poor Things from AFrame.

Screenwriter Tony McNamara for Poor Things from Gold Derby.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (TWITTER): @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

BLUE SKY: https://bsky.app/profile/gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

MTFB Oscar Update: Score, Cinematography, Editing and Production Design / What the Experts Are Saying: Part Two / The London Film Critics Circle and TFF / Interviews and Profiles

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: WINNERS FOR SCORE, CINEMATOGRAPHY, EDITING AND PRODUCTION DESIGN

In this post I'm continuing my first "educated" set of predictions for who/what will win on Oscar night, March 10th.  The focus for this post is initial projections for which films will win for Score, Cinematography, Editing and Production Design..  As always TFF films are in Bold.

ORIGINAL SCORE

1) Oppenheimer

2) Killers of the Flower Moon

3) Poor Things

4) American Fiction

5) Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) Oppenheimer

2) Killers of the Flower Moon

3) Poor Things

4) Maestro

5) El Conde

EDITING

1) Oppenheimer

2) Killers of the Flower Moon

3) Anatomy of a Fall

4) Poor Things

5) The Holdovers

PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) Barbie

2) Poor Things

3) Oppenheimer

4) Killers of the Flower Moon

5) Napoleon

Comment: I'm currently predicting that Oppenheimer wins three of the four categories from today's list with Barbie picking up the fourth category.  TFF films' best chances are with Poor Things in Production Design.

Next Monday...winner predictions for Visual effects, Sound, Costumes and Makeup/Hair.

WHAT THE EXPERTS ARE SAYING: PART TWO

I've decided for each post between now and the Oscars to share where some of the top Oscarologists are in terms of predicting the 23 category winners. Today I'm sharing the publicly posted current predictions from Erik Anderson of Awards Watch and Joey Magidson of Awards Radar.  as with my predictions above, TFF films are in Bold.

From Erik Anderson/Awards Watch:

Oppenheimer (7): Best Picture, Direction, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Editing, Score and Sound.

Barbie (4): Best Adapted Screenplay, Costume, Production Design and Song (What Was I Made For?).

The Holdovers (2): Best Actor and Supporting Actress.

Films with single Oscar wins:

Killers of the Flower Moon: Best Actress.

Anatomy of a Fall: Best Original Screenplay.

The Zone of Interest: Best International Feature.

Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse: Best Animated Feature

20 Days in Mariupol; Best Documentary Feature.

Maestro: Best Makeup/Hair

The Creator: Best Visual Effects.

War Is Over: Best Animated Short

Nai Nai and Wai Po: Best Documentary Short.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar: Best Live Action Short.

Three TFF films will win a total of four Oscars should Anderson be 100% accurate.

And from Joey Magidson of Awards Radar:

Oppenheimer (7): Best Picture, Direction, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Editing, Score and Sound.

Barbie (3): Best Adapted Screenplay, Costumes and Song (What Was I Made For?).

The Holdovers (2): Best Actor and Supporting Actress

Poor Things (2): Production Design and Makeup/Hair.

Films with single Oscar wins:

Killers of the Flower Moon: Best Actress.

Anatomy of a Fall: Best Original Screenplay.

The Zone of Interest: Best International Feature.

Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse: Best Animated Feature.

20 Days in Mariupol: Best Documentary Feature.

The Creator: Best Visual Effects.

War Is Over: Best Animated Short.

The Last Repair Shop: Best Documentary Short.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar: Best Live Action Short.

If Magidson is spot on then five TFF films win a total of seven Oscars.

THE LONDON FILM CRITICS CIRCLE AND TFF

The London Film Critics Circle announced their winners for cinema achievement last weekend.  In total, five TFF films/performers earned nine LFCC honors lead by The Zone of Interest with three.  Here's the rundown:

The Zone of Interest (3): Film of the Year, Director of the Year and the LFCC Technical Achievement Award.

All of Us Strangers (3): Actor of the Year (Scott), British/Irish Film of the Year and British/Irish Performer of the Year (Mescal).

Anatomy of a Fall (1): Screenwriters of the Year.

Poor Things (1): Actress of the Year.

The Holdovers (1): Supporting Actress of the Year.

In addition, the LFCC recognized Rustin's Colman Domingo with the Derek Malcolm Award for Innovation.

The complete set of winners was reported by Next Best Picture. That is linked here.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Behind the Scenes of  the Production Design for Poor Things from Indiewire.

Director Tran Anh Hung for The Taste of Things from the Film at Lincoln Center Podcast.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (TWITTER): @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

BLUE SKY: https://bsky.app/profile/gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

The Composite Telluride for TFF #50 / Indiewire's 16 Best from the Fests and TFF #50 / American Symphony Has a Home / Larrain Talks El Conde

THE COMPOSITE TELLURIDE FOR TFF #50

Here's my annual final step of computation that has become an MTFB tradition.  It's The Composite Telluride ratings in which I add the average from The People and The Professionals to provide one more glimpse of how The SHOW's films were perceived.   

To begin, here's the history of The Composite Telluride with the film's combined rating in parentheses and its position on each of the two lists in brackets.

2012

1) Argo (9.25) [2/2]

2) Stories We Tell (9.10) [3/1]

3) The Attack (8.70) [5/3]

4) Central Park Five (8.450 [1/13]

5) The Sapphires (8.36) [4/8]

6) Frances Ha (8.27) [5/9]

7) Amour (7.67) [10/6]

8) Rust and Bone (7.65) [7/16]

9) Baraka (7.50) [10/10]

10) The Iceman 7.41 [8/17]

11) No (6.61) [12/21]

12) The Gatekeepers (6.58) [14/18]

13) Hyde Park on Hudson (6.33) [14/20]

14) At Any Price (5.83) [9/24]

15) Everyday (4.88) [15/25]

2013

1) 12 Years a Slave (9.25) [1/2]

2) Tim's Vermeer (8.97) [4/1]

3) Gravity (8.75) [3/3]

4) Nebraska (8.38) [5/6]

5) All is Lost (8.26) [6/7]

6) Inside Llewyn Davis (8.25) [7/5]

7) Blue is the Warmest Color (8.15) [2/11]

8) The Past (7.71) [9/10]

9) The Lunchbox (7.55) [13/4]

10) The Wind Rises (7.1) [18/8]

11) Labor Day (7.0) [10/14]

11) (tie) Prisoners (7.0) [12/13]

13) Tracks (6.84) [16/12]

14) Palo Alto (6.4) [16/17]

15) The Invisible Woman (6.19) [20/18]

16) The Unknown Known (5.73) [15/20]

17) Under the Skin (5.1) [18/21]

2014

1) Birdman (9.18) [2/1]

2) Foxcatcher (8.83) [4/2]

3) The Imitation Game (8.79)  [1/7]

4) Wild Tales (8.43) [3/4]

5) '71 (8.15) [6/3]

6) Mommy (7.42) [8/8]

7) Red Army (7.30) [7/11]

8) Two Days, One Night (7.21) [13/9]

9) Mr. Turner (7.10) [14/6]

10) Wild (6.71) [8/13]

11) Rosewater (6.52) [12/14]

12) The Homesman (6.38) [16/11]

13) Madame Bovary (6.18) [15/12]

2015

1) Spotlight (8.86) [2/3]

2) Son of Saul (8.74) [5/1]

3) Beasts of No Nation (8.62) [3/5]

4) Steve Jobs (8.17) [10/4]

5) Carol (8.13) [8/6]

6) Black Mass (7.98) [7/9]

7) Room (7.97) [1/11]

8) 45 Years (7.84) [11/7]

9) Anomalisa (7.78) [14/2]

10) Suffragette (7.07) [12/12]

11) He Named Me Malala (6.22) [13/13]

2016

1) Moonlight (9.19) [1/1]

2) La La Land (8.91) [2/2]

3) Manchester by the Sea (8.13) [5/4]

4) Arrival (8.01) [6/7]

5) Maudie (7.89) [3/9]

6) Sully (7.68) [10/6]

7) Toni Erdmann (7.65) [9/8]

8) Things to Come (7.25) [19/3]

9) Una (6.85) [15/10]

10) California Typewriter (6.78)[13/11]

10) Into the Inferno (6.78) [21/5]

12) Wakefield (6.26) [12/14]

13) Bleed for This (6.12) [14/13]

14) Norman (5.97) [16/15]

2017

1) The Shape of Water (8.72) [2/1]

2) Lady Bird (8.58) [1/5]

3) Faces Places (7.96) [5/2]

4) Darkest Hour (7.90) [3/8]

5) Hostiles (7.78) [4/9]

6) The Rider (7.63) [10/2]

7) Battle of the Sexes (7.62) [6/7]

8) First Reformed (7.32) [13/6]

9) Lean on Pete (7.16) [7/12]

10) First They Killed My Father (7.05) [15/10]

11) Loving Vincent (7.00) [12/11]

12) Wonderstruck (6.6) [10/13]

13) Downsizing (6.17) [16/14)]

14) Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (6.16) [8/15]

2018

1) Roma  (9.20) [1/1]

2) First Man (8.51) [2/2]

3) Free Solo (8.33) [5/3]

4) Cold War (8.16) [6/3]

5) Can You Ever Forgive Me? (7.91) [8/5]

6) The Favourite (7.66) [9/6]

7) Boy Erased (7.43) [4/10]

8) White Boy Rick (6.94) [7/11]

9) The Front Runner (6.74) [10/13]

10) Destroyer (6.69) [12/9]

11) Border (6.57) [16/8]

12) The Old Man and the Gun (6.56) [14/10]

2019

1) Parasite (9.11) [2/1]

2) The Two Popes (8.93) [1/2]

3) Marriage Story (8.54) [4/3]

4) Ford v. Ferrari (8.46) [3/7]

5) A Hidden Life (8.01) [5/5]

6) Waves (7.90) [12/4]

7) Pain and Glory (7.63) [5/9]

8) The Report (7.53) [9/8]

9) Motherless Brooklyn (7.22) [10/11]

10) Uncut Gems (7.00) [14/10]

11) Judy (6.93) [7/13]

12) The Aeronauts (6.75) [8/14]

13) The Climb (6.57) [15/12]

2021:

1) The Power of the Dog (8.95) [2/1]

2) Belfast (8.42) [3/4]

3) The Rescue (8.13) [6/2]

4) Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (8.01) [1/10]

5) King Richard (7.98) [7/5]

6) Spencer (7.77) [4/12]

7) Red Rocket (7.63) [5/15]

8) C'mon C'mon (7.58) [9/6)

9) Cyrano (7.08) [11/8]

10) The Lost Daughter (6.92) [10/14]

11) The French Dispatch (5.55) [12/17]

12) Encounter (5.14) [13/18]

2022:

1) TAR 8.13 [1-2]

2) Women Talking 8.09 [2-1]

3) The Wonder 7.52 [5-4]

4) One Fine Morning 7.50 [6-4]

5) Armageddon Time 7.35 [3-9]

6) Aftersun 7.26 [7-8]

7) Bones and All 7.25 [8-6]

8) Empire of Light 7.11 [4-12]

9) Lady Chatterley's Lover 6.77 [9-13]

10) Living 6.75 [10-7]

AND HERE IS THIS YEAR'S COMPOSITE TELLURIDE:

1) Poor Things (9.04) [1/1]

2) Anatomy of a Fall (8.68) [2/2]

3) The Holdovers (8.38) [4/4]

4) The Zone of Interest (8.34) [5/3]

5) All of Us Strangers (8.06) [6/6]

6) Saltburn (7.57) [7/11]

7) Rustin (7.42) [8/7]

8) The Bikeriders (7.09) [9/10]

9) Nyad (7.06) [11/9]

10) Fingernails (6.59) [10/12]

As you can see, ten films earned enough views from both the Pros and the People to make the composite list.  In the case of The Pros, enough saw The Taste of Things and El Conde to make their list but not The People's.  Whereas enough of The People saw Perfect Days, Daddio, Janet Planet, The Royal Hotel, Tuesday and Wildcat to make that list but miss making it on The Pros list.  Leaving ten films with sufficient ratings from each poll to make The Composite.

The only serious disconnect between the two polls this year was over Emerald Fennell's Saltburn which the Pros liked quite a bit more than the people.

If you're talking the Best Picture Oscar, ending up in the top spot for The Composite Telluride used to be a good place to be.  Since I started it, The Composite Telluride has pointed to the Best Picture winners from 2012-2017 and again in 2019 but since then, not so much.  

For Oscar 2024, Poor Things is positioned to have a fighting chance at the Best Picture Oscar but at this point I still think that's likely to go to either Oppenheimer or Killers of the Flower Moon.

After TFF #50 The Composite All Time Top Ten changes as Poor Things enters the list at #8.  The Two Popes from 2019's fest drops from the all time top ten Composite Poll:

1) (TIE) 12 Years a Slave (9.25) 2013 (Won Best Picture)

1) (TIE) Argo (9.25) 2012 (Won Best Picture)

3) Roma (9.20) 2018 (Won Best Foreign Language Film)

4) Moonlight (9.19) 2016 (Won Best Picture)

5) Birdman (9.18) 2014 (Won Best Picture)

6) Parasite (9.11) 2019 (Won Best Picture)

7) Stories We Tell (9.10) 2012

8) Poor Things (9.04) 2023

9) Tim's Vermeer (8.97) 2013

10) The Power of the Dog (8.95) 2021 (Nominated Best Picture)

INDIEWIRE'S 16 BEST FROM THE FESTS AND TFF #50

Indiewire's crew has put together their list of the 16 best films from the just completed run of Telluride-Venice-Toronto film fests.  From that list are seven films that screened at TFF #50:

All of Us Strangers

High and Low: John Galliano

The Holdovers

Janet Planet

The Pigeon Tunnel

Poor Things

The Royal Hotel

The complete list of 16 films is linked here.

AMERICAN SYMPHONY HAS A HOME

News from a number of sources, including The Hollywood Reporter, that Netflix has acquired Matthew Heineman's documentary about Grammy winning musician Jon Batiste and his wife Suleika Jaouad.  American Symphony World Premiered at Telluride on the fest's opening night.

The deal also incudes the participation of Barack and Michelle Obama's production company Higher Ground.

THR reports that a major Oscar push is planned for the film.

LARRAIN TALKS EL CONDE

Writer/Director Pablo Larrain has a new interview with Time.com in which he talks about his TFF #50 selected film El Conde (The Count).  Laura Zornosa wrote the piece.

El Conde is available to stream on Netflix right now if you missed it at TFF.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

TWITTER @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

The Professionals' Telluride / Re-visiting TFF #50 / Oscar Experts and TFF / Poor Things Wins Venice / Me and The BBC / Trailers: Nyad and The Royal Hotel / The People's elluride

 THE PROFESSIONALS' TELLURIDE

As I have been doing since 2012, I asked a panel of 18 industry journalists, bloggers and professionals to rate the films they saw at TFF #50.

A couple of notes by way of explanation.  The Pros were asked to rate the films they saw on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being not-so-very-good and 5 being "fantastic".  Additionally, a film had to be rated by more than half of this year's panel of pros to make the list.

I am, as always, indebted to all of the industry professionals who took time from their crazy busy schedules to provide me their feedback.  I can't adequately express my appreciation. 

Here's this year's panel:

Erik Anderson/Awards Watch

J. Don Birnam-Jorge T/SplashReport.com

Clayton Davis/Variety

Marshall Flores/Awards Daily

Mark Johnson/Awards Daily and Good as Gold

Dave Karger/Turner Classic Movies

Joey Magidson/Awards Radar

Ryan McQuade/Awards Watch

Scott Menzel/We Live Entertainment

Clarence Moye/Awards Daily

Matt Neglia/Next Best Picture

Christopher Schiller/ScriptMag.com

Sasha Stone/Awards Daily

Anne Thompson/Indiewire

Chris Willman/Variety

Anonymous

Past toppers for each Pro Poll and their average rating have been:

2012: The Central Park Five (4.7)

2013: 12 Years a Slave (4.7)

2014: Birdman (4.72)

2015: Son of Saul (4.44)

2016: Moonlight (4.82)

2017: The Shape of Water (4.5)

2018: Roma (4.73)

2019: Parasite (4.75)

2020: No Fest

2021:Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (4.44)

2022: TAR (3.93)

To qualify for inclusion a film had to have been seen by at least half of The Professionals.  So using that metric Here is the Professionals' Poll for TFF #50:

1) Poor Things (4.53)

2) Anatomy of a Fall (4.44)

3) The Taste of Things (4.43)

4) The Holdovers (4.21)

5) The Zone of Interest (4.15)

6) All of Us Strangers (3.92)

7) Saltburn (3.89)

8) Rustin (3.42)

9) The Bikeriders (3.23)

10) Fingernails (3.13)

11) Nyad (3.11)

12) El Conde (2.68)

The films that were seen by the most pros were Poor Things and The Bikeriders.  Each was seen by 15 out of the 16.  Next in line were The Holdovers and Saltburn which were watched by 14 of the 16.

It's interesting to note that five films reached a better average score from this year's lineup than last year's top average for TAR (3.93).

After this year's poll, The Professionals' All Time Top Ten (through 2023) looks like this with Poor Things entering the all time Pros Top Ten at #9.  Son of Saul and Marcel the Shell with Shoes On which had been tied for the all time #10 spot were displaced.

1) Moonlight (4.87) (16)

2) Parasite (4.75) (19)

3) Roma (4.73) (18)

4) Birdman (4.72) (14)

5) 12 Years a Slave (4.70-tie) (13)

6) Central Park Five (4.70-tie) (12)

7) Foxcatcher (4.63) (14)

8) La La Land (4.58) (16)

9) Poor Things (4.53) (23)

10) Argo (4.50-tie) (12)

10) The Shape of Water (4.50-tie) (17)

RE-VISITING TFF #50 

***My first thought is how solid TFF in 2023 was.  The lineup was varied and deep.  I was particularly taken with The Holdovers, The Zone of Interest, The Bikeriders and Poor Things.  I missed getting in All of Us Strangers, Anatomy of a Fall and Nyad which were on my initial list to get to during the festival but I got to add Daddio, Tuesday and The Falling Stars all of which I enjoyed/admired.

The fest was DEEP!

***As always, it's great to see friends and colleagues at the festival and catch up.  It's also fun to make new friends.  Do I always get to run into people I want to see?  Nope.  But I got to see some folks who returned to the fest after having been absent for a bit.  Always nice.

***Also always nice is meeting readers of the blog. That might be the best part!  It's certainly not the "perks".  Absent the accreditation as a journalist there aren't any perks.

***Readership really exploded this year.  It always spikes in August and September as the fest approaches and then happens but 2023 blew through previous highs for views.  As I post this morning MTFB has had approximately 78,000 views in the last 40 days.

***For those who missed it-MTFB went 24/25 on The Final Bets this year.  6 of 10 from the Original Ten bets back in June and the overall percentage of correct predictions from the final posted since I started recording these as "Bets" is 97%.

OSCAR EXPERTS AND TFF

I ran down some of the latest projections from some serious Oscarologists after the fest concluded.  Thee are projections post-Telluride and with a good portion of Venice concluded.  I'll be passing some of these along in the context of TFF #50 films over the next week to ten days.  In each case I'm looking at their projections in the eight "above-the-line categories: Best Picture, Direction, the four acting categories and the two screenplay categories.

Starting with Clayton Davis at Variety who projects:

Poor Things with five nominations with one other possibility: Best Picture, Direction (Lanthimos), Actress (Stone), Supporting Actor (Ruffalo) and Adapted Screenplay.  The Other possibility is a second Supporting Actor nomination for Willem Dafoe.  As an aside, I fully expect Poor Things will load on craft nominations as well.  I can see the film grabbing double digit nominations when Oscar noms are announced on Jan. 23rd.

The Zone of Interest with four nominations: Best Picture, Direction (Glazer), Actress (Huller) and Adapted Screenplay.

The Holdovers with three nominations and an additional possibility: Best Picture, Actor (Giamatti) and Original Screenplay.  The added possibility is a nomination for Alexander Payne for direction.

All of Us Strangers with one nomination and two other chances: Best Adapted Screenplay.  The other shots are Actor (Scott) and Supporting Actor (Bell).

Saltburn with one nomination and another possibility: Best Original Screenplay.  The other chance is Best Picture.

Rustin is projected to have a Best Actor nomination for Coleman Domingo.

TFF #50 films that Davis does not have predicted with a nomination but does have close enough to be considered potentials include:

An astounding six "maybes" for The Bikeriders: Best Picture, Direction (Nichols), Actor (Butler), Supporting Actress (Comer), Supporting Actor (Hardy) and Original Screenplay.

Nyad with a shot for Annette Bening as Best Actress.

Anatomy of a Fall possible for Best Original Screenplay.

POOR THINGS WINS IN VENICE

Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things, which screened to pack houses at Telluride last week, has won The Golden Lion, the top prize given at the 80th Venice Film festival.  Two other TFF films earned honors from Venice juries.  Pablo Larrain won Best Screenplay for El Conde and Alex Braverman's Andy Kaufman documentary Thank You Very Much was named Best Documentary in the Venice Classics section.

ME AND THE BBC

I wrote last week that I had been approached by the BBC to be interviewed for their program Talking Movies with Tom Brook.  I said "sure" and that interview occurred a week ago on Sunday.

Well, the program appeared on the BBC yesterday and here in the USA on BBC News.  I lifted it and edited it to focus on my "appearance".  I'm in twice and my guest star is Anne Thompson of Indiewire:

TRAILERS:  NYAD AND THE ROYAL HOTEL

NYAD:

THE ROYAL HOTEL:

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.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

The 50th Telluride Film Festival Lineup

THE 50TH TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP

After months of anticipation and intense analysis and speculation, here is your official lineup for the 50th iteration of the Telluride Film Festival.  Note here: I expect that the weekend will have 2-3 "surprises/sneaks".

The official press release:

Telluride Film Festival, presented by the National Film Preserve, today announces its official program selections for its 50th anniversary edition. TFF’s celebration of artistic excellence brings together cinema enthusiasts, filmmakers, and artists to discover the best in world cinema in the beautiful mountain town of Telluride, Colorado. TFF is screening over eighty feature films, short films, and revival programs representing twenty-nine countries, along with filmmaker Tributes, Conversations, Seminars, Student Programs, and Festivities. Telluride Film Festival’s 50th anniversary edition takes place Thursday, August 31 through Monday, September 4, 2023.

 

The 50th Telluride Film Festival proudly presents the following new feature films playing in its Main Program, the SHOW: 

 

•      ALL OF US STRANGERS (d. Andrew Haigh, U.K., 2023)

•      AMERICAN SYMPHONY (d. Matthew Heineman, U.S., 2023)

•      ANATOMY OF A FALL (d. Justine Triet, France, 2023)

•      ANSELM (d. Wim Wenders, Germany, 2023)

•      BALTIMORE (d. Joe Lawlor, Christine Molloy Ireland-U.K., 2023) 

•      BEYOND UTOPIA (d. Madeleine Gavin, U.S., 2023)

•      THE BIKERIDERS (d. Jeff Nichols, U.S., 2023)

•      CASSANDRO (d. Roger Ross Williams, U.S., 2023)

•      DADDIO (d. Christy Hall, U.S., 2023)

•      EL CONDE (d. Pablo Larraín, Chile, 2023)

•      FALLEN LEAVES (d. Aki Kaurismäki, Finland, 2023)

•      THE FALLING STAR (d. Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, France-Belgium, 2023)

•      FINALLY DAWN (d. Saverio Costanzo, Italy, 2023)

•      FINGERNAILS (d. Christos Nikou, U.S., 2023)

•      FOOD, INC. 2 (d. Robert Kenner, Melissa Robledo, U.S., 2023)

•      HIGH & LOW-JOHN GALLIANO (d. Kevin Macdonald, U.K., 2023)

•      THE HOLDOVERS (d. Alexander Payne, U.S., 2023) 

•      HOLLYWOODGATE (d. Ibrahim Nash’at, U.S.-Germany, 2023)

•      JANET PLANET (d. Annie Baker, U.S., 2023)

•      LA CHIMERA (d. Alice Rohrwacher, Italy-France-Switzerland, 2023)

•      THE MISSION (d. Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss, U.S., 2023)

•      THE MONK AND THE GUN (d. Pawo Choyning Dorji, Bhutan, 2023)

•      NYAD (d. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, U.S., 2023)

•      OCCUPIED CITY (d. Steve McQueen, Netherlands-U.K.-U.S., 2023)

•      ORLANDO, MY POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY (d. Paul B. Preciado, France, 2023)

•      PERFECT DAYS (d. Wim Wenders, Japan, 2023)

•      THE PIGEON TUNNEL (d. Errol Morris, U.K., 2023)

•      POOR THINGS (d. Yorgos Lanthimos, U.S.-Ireland-U.K., 2023)

•      THE PROMISED LAND (d. Nikolaj Arcel, Denmark-Germany-Sweden, 2023)

•      THE ROYAL HOTEL (d. Kitty Green, Australia, 2023)

•      RUSTIN (d. George C. Wolfe, U.S., 2023)

•      SALTBURN (d. Emerald Fennell, U.S., 2023)

•      THE TEACHER’S LOUNGE (d. Ilker Çatak, Germany, 2023)

•      TEHACHAPI (d. JR, France, 2023)

•      THANK YOU VERY MUCH (d. Alex Braverman, U.S., 2023)

•      TUESDAY (d. Daina O. Pusić, U.S.-U.K., 2023)

•      WILDCAT (d. Ethan Hawke, U.S., 2023)

•      THE ZONE OF INTEREST (d. Jonathan Glazer, U.S.-U.K.-Poland, 2023)

 

The 2023 Silver Medallion Awards, given to recognize an artist’s significant contribution to the world of cinema, will go to Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (with POOR THINGS), Italian writer-director Alice Rohrwacher (with LA CHIMERA), and German filmmaker Wim Wenders (with ANSELM and PERFECT DAYS). Tribute programs include a selection of clips, the presentation of the Silver Medallion, and the film screening. 

 

TFF selects four documentary shorts for its Main Program:

 

•      IF DREAMS WERE LIGHTNING (d. Ramin Bahrani, U.S., 2023)

•      INCIDENT (d. Bill Morrison, U.S., 2023)

•      THE LAST REPAIR SHOP (d. Ben Proudfoot, Kris Bowers, U.S., 2023)

•      THE LAST SONG FROM KABUL (d. Kevin Macdonald, Afghanistan-Qatar-Portugal-Germany, 2023)

“Fifty years is a long time to do anything. And while we might be a little biased, we feel the work that TFF does is pretty important,” comments Telluride Film Festival director Julie Huntsinger. “We take the charge of preserving the theatrical experience and promoting film seriously, but with necessary winks here and there. We’re ecstatic to share a program we feel reflects so much of the past fifty years, naturally and organically, films old and new, which stand as a testament to our beloved co-founders Tom Luddy and Bill Pence who are no longer with us.”

 

As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, TFF is honoring its long and diverse history by selecting some of its most celebrated past guests to curate its Guest Director program. Alfonso Cuarón, Adam Curtis, Ethan Hawke, Rachel Kushner, Steve McQueen, and Mira Nair’s selections include:

 

•      JUVENILE COURT (d. Frederick Wiseman, U.S., 1973) Selected and presented by 

Rachel Kushner

•      ALL THAT JAZZ (d. Bob Fosse, U.S., 1979) Selected and presented by Ethan Hawke

•      JONAH WHO WILL BE 25 IN THE YEAR 2000 (d. Alain Tanner, France-Switzerland, 

1976) Selected and presented by Alfonso Cuarón

•      THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY (d. John Mackenzie, U.K., 1980) Selected and presented 

by Adam Curtis

•      ZÉRO DE CONDUITE (d. Jean Vigo, France, 1933) Selected and presented by Steve 

McQueen

•      THE MUSIC ROOM (d. Satyajit Ray, India, 1958) Selected and presented by Mira Nair

 

The Special Medallion celebrates a hero of cinema who preserves, honors and presents essential, meaningful films. This year’s award goes to Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation. Film restorations by The Film Foundation to screen along with the program are Idrissa Ouédraogo’s YAM DAABO (Burkina Faso, 1986), Bahram Beyzaie’s DOWNPOUR (Iran, 1972), and two shorts by Agnès Varda: BLACK PANTHERS (France-U.S., 1970) and UNCLE YANCO (France-U.S., 1968) which will be shown alongside THE GLEANERS AND I (France, 2000) as part of a celebration of the late filmmaker.

 

Additional film restorations playing throughout the Festival include THE UNKNOWN (d. Tod Browning, U.S., 1927); MY GRANDMOTHER (d. Kote Mikaberidze, Soviet Union, 1929) with Finnish music ensemble Cleaning Women performing a live score; Abel Gance’s LA ROUE (France, 1923) shown in four chapters; and two films remembering TFF 21 Special Medallion recipient Ninón Sevilla: VÍCTIMAS DEL PECADO (d. Emilio Fernández, Mexico, 1951) and LLÉVAME EN TUS BRAZOS (d. Julio Bracho, Mexico, 1954).

 

Special Screenings and Festivities include Pedro Almodóvar’s short film STRANGE WAY OF LIFE (Spain, 2023); Ross White and Tom Berkeley’s short THE GOLDEN WEST (Ireland-U.K., 2023); a live performance by Jon Batiste following Thursday’s screening of AMERICAN SYMPHONY, Tina Satter’s REALITY (U.S., 2023); Agnès Varda’s art installation, Patatutopia; and Festival poster signing by Luke Dorman.

 

Backlot, Telluride’s intimate screening room features behind-the-scenes movies and portraits of artists, musicians, and filmmakers is showing the following programs:

 

•      AKA MR. CHOW (d. Nick Hooker, U.S., 2023)

•      ALL THAT IS SACRED (d. Scott Ballew, U.S., 2023) with TARPON (d. Guy de la 

Valdene, Christian Odasso, U.S., 1973)

•      ANGEL APPLICANT (d. Ken Meyer, U.S., 2023)

•      CAROL DODA TOPLESS AT THE CONDOR (d. Marlo McKenzie, Jonathan Parker, 

U.S., 2023)

•      CINEMA HAS BEEN MY TRUE LOVE: THE WORK AND TIMES OF LYNDA MYLES 

(d. Mark Cousins, U.K., 2023)

•      KIM’S VIDEO (d. David Redmon, Ashley Sabin, U.S.-U.K.-Italy, 2023)

•      LITTLE GIRL BLUE (d. Mona Achache, France, 2023)

•      MUSICA! (d. Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, U.S., 2023)

•      NOTES FROM SHEEPLAND (d. Cara Holmes, Ireland, 2023)

•      ROOM 999 (d. Lubna Playoust, France, 2023)

•      ZINZINDURRUNKARRATZ (d. Oskar Alegría, Spain, 2023)

 

Telluride Film Festival’s shorts section, Filmmakers of Tomorrow, includes three programs: Student Prints, now in its 30th year, screening films from the best in student-produced work from around the globe; Calling Cards, exceptional new works by promising filmmakers; and Great Expectations, featuring works from innovative and diverse filmmakers. 

 

Telluride Film Festival’s Student Programs present students with the opportunity to experience film as an art and expand participants’ worldviews through film screenings and filmmaker discussions. The Student Symposium provides graduate and undergraduate students with a weekend-long immersion in cinema. The City Lights Project brings together high school students and their teachers from various schools to participate in a concentrated program of films and discussions. FilmLAB, in partnership with the American Film Institute, brings exceptional AFI Fellows to learn from world-class filmmakers in a masterclass setting. The FilmSCHOLAR program, created in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin, gives young film scholars and aspiring critics the opportunity to immerse themselves in a weekend of cinema and learn from some of the best voices in the field. 

 

Telluride Film Festival’s Talking Heads programs allow attendees to go behind the scenes with the Festival’s special guests. Conversations about cinema and culture and outdoor Noon Seminars feature a panel of Festival guests discussing a wide range of film topics. These programs are free and open to the public. 

 

As we look to the next 50 years of the Telluride Film Festival, our corporate, institutional, and philanthropic supporters light the path ahead. We have incredible momentum in our $25M capital campaign to achieve a decades-long dream of a forever home at Telluride's historic Nugget Building. In addition to rescuing a beloved small-town movie theater, this investment at the Nugget site will create a year-round hub for filmmaker residency programs and TFF's nationally recognized education programs. “We are filled with gratitude for our exceptional long-term relationships,” says Huntsinger. “It is the magic of film in our transformational setting that uniquely provides opportunities to align in support of a shared experience.” TFF is honored to feature some of the world’s most renowned consumer and entertainment brands and to engage a vibrant philanthropic community of passionate and committed donors. Together, they play a dynamic role in the life of the Festival and underscore TFF's commitment to quality, adventure, and distinction in the art of cinema. TFF welcomes Festival Luxury Vehicle Lucid Motors and remains proud to enjoy Meyer Sound's extraordinary audio experience at the Galaxy, Werner Herzog, and Nugget Theaters.

For more information about Telluride Film Festival, or to download the 2023 program guide, please visit www.telluridefilmfestival.org.

FINAL TEN (PLUS) BETS FOR TFF #50 / A Look at Lists / Some Stars Could Be in Town / My Top Ten / Late Breaking / The People's Telluride for TFF #50

FINAL TEN (PLUS) BETS FOR TFF #50

Here are my final "bets" for the TFF #50 lineup.  Over the past few years this final list has normally been off by one or two titles.

1) The Holdovers

2) Poor Things

3) Saltburn

4) The Zone of Interest

5) Anatomy of a Fall

6) Nyad

7) Rustin

8) The Royal Hotel

9) Wildcat

10) Fingernails

11) All of Us Strangers 

12) Fallen Leaves

13) Perfect Days

14) El Conde

15) Janet Planet

16) The Promised Land

17) Orlando, My Political Biography

18) The Pigeon Tunnel

19) The Bikeriders

20) Daddio

21) Occupied City

22) They Shot the Piano Player

23) The Taste of Things

24) La Chimera

25) The Settlers

Other possibilities: Without Blood, The American Buffalo, About Dry Grasses, The Storms of Jeremy Thomas, The End, Freud's Last Session, Tuesday and All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.

A LOOK AT LISTS

Lots of sources have begun laying out their "Must See" lists for fall films.  Included among them are lists from The Film Stage, Indiewire, The Playlist and World of Reel.  I compiled likely Telluride films from each of those lists to get a sense of what films might be hot tickets this weekend.

A total of eight probable TFF films made all four of the lists:

All of Us Strangers

The Bikeriders

El Conde

Fingernails

The Holdovers

Poor Things

Saltburn

The Zone Interest

Anatomy of a Fall made three of the lists missing only the World of Reel.

Films with two mentions:

Nyad

Rustin

Films with a single mention include:

Fallen Leaves

Janet Planet

Occupied City

Orlando, My Political Biography

The Pigeon Tunnel

The Royal Hotel

Wildcat

SOME STARS COULD BE IN TOWN?

Dakota Johnson at Telluride in 2021.

Over the weekend SAG/Aftra released a statement encouraging films that have an interim agreement with the organization to allow their talent to attend upcoming film festivals.

I scoured the updating list from Deadline.com for films that we think are playing Telluride as well as for films at Venice.

I spied two TFF #50 possibilities that have an interim agreement in place.  One is Christy Hall's Daddio which stars Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn-both of whom have attended Telluride previously and the other was Ethan Hawke's Daddio.  Hawke has been to Telluride on a number of occasions.

Venice films that have an interim agreement are Sofia Coppola's Priscilla and Michael Mann's Ferrari..

MY TOP TEN

Going into the week, my top ten films at the moment to try to catch are (in alphabetical order):

All of Us Strangers

Anatomy of a Fall

El Conde

Fallen Leaves

The Holdovers

Nyad

Poor Things

Rustin

Saltburn

The Zone of Interest

Honorable Mention: Fingernails, The Bikeriders, The Settlers and Janet Planet.

We'll drive part way tomorrow and roll into Telluride Wednesday afternoon.

SEE YOU IN THE 'RIDE!

LATE BREAKING

 A number of readers reached out to me yesterday with the news of the free screening in Elks Park on Wednesday of Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz.

In the past you could reliably infer some things about TFF tributes from the selection of films scheduled to run in Elks Park prior to the start of the fest but that has proven to be not necessarily the case in the past couple of years.  Last year's screenings were the documentary Navalny and Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show.  Neither of them pointed  to the tributes to Cate Blanchett, Sarah Polley and Mark Cousins.

So for those of us who have gotten used to discerning Guest Directors and who would read this as Martin Scorsese getting a tribute (and a likely screening of Killers of the Flower Moon)...hold on.

Additionally, some buzzing in my ear has me sold that the three tributes will go to three different foreign directors.  Marty's not foreign.

Sooo, I still am subscribing to the notion that KOTFM doesn't screen in Telluride.

That said, we still don't know who the Guest Director(s) might be.

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE FOR TFF #50

For the 11th non-consecutive year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, 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.

I'll compile all of your responses and post those a few days after the festival.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

Ten (Plus) Bets #9 / Cryptic Message from Kris Tapley / Fantastic Fest Announces / There Goes Maestro / The People's Telluride Returns

 TEN (PLUS) BETS #9

We're in the home stretch now with mere days left before TFF #50 takes off.  I'll have the 10th installment of 2023's Ten Bets a week from today and the FINAL BETS for this year will be published on Monday, August 28th.  And, of course, I'll post the announced list of films and other information on Wednesday August 30th.

Here's reminder of where we were with last week's Ten (Plus) Bets:

1) The Holdovers

2) Nyad

3) The Zone of Interest

4) Anatomy of a Fall

5) Saltburn

6) Poor Things

7) The Royal Hotel

8) Rustin

9) Wildcat

10) Fingernails

11) All of Us Strangers (previously titled Strangers)

12) The Bikeriders

13) Fallen Leaves

14) Perfect Days

15) The Settlers

Other possibilities: El Conde, The Pigeon Tunnel, Without Blood, The Promised Land, The End, The American Buffalo, The Teachers' Lounge, The Pot-au-Feu, Freud's Last Session, About Dry Grasses, Janet Planet, Orlando, My Political Biography, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.

And here is the latest Ten (Plus) Bets:

1) The Holdovers

2) Nyad

3) The Zone of Interest

4) Anatomy of a Fall

5) Saltburn

6) Poor Things

7) The Royal Hotel

8) Rustin

9) Wildcat

10) Fingernails

11) All of Us Strangers 

12) The Bikeriders

13) Fallen Leaves

14) Perfect Days

15) El Conde

16) Janet Planet

17) The Promised Land

18) Orlando, My Political Biography

19) The Pigeon Tunnel

20) Without Blood

Other possibilities: Daddio, They Shot the Piano Player, The Settlers, The End, The American Buffalo, The Pot-au-Feu, Freud's Last Session, About Dry Grasses, La Chimera, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, Tuesday and All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.

CRYPTIC MESSAGE FROM KRIS TAPLEY

Yesterday Kris Tapley posted on X (used to Twitter? Still is Twitter?):

Now, what does that mean?

Could it portend Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon landing at Telluride?

Will Rustin's World Premiere at Telluride draw out the founders of the production company behind the film?  That's Higher Ground Productions which was founded by a couple named Obama.

Or is it something else entirely?

Tapley has been around the biz for awhile and a Telluride attendee for a good long time as well.  He clearly knows something is in the wind.  That doesn't necessarily mean that Telluride would be included in whatever he's teasing but there's a chance.

FANTASTIC FEST ANNOUNCES

Fantastic Fest, the primarily genre film festival based in Austin Texas announced its lineup on Tuesday.  The news from FF each year usually doesn't provide a ton of Telluride intelligence but almost always provides a little and this year's announcement met that tradition.

First, Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things was not announced and, unless there is some late surprise addition, that all but assures that the film will play at TFF #50.

Additionally, Michel Gondry's The Book of Solutions which I had semi-considered as a possible choice for Telluride will not be.  FF announced it as a North American premiere taking it off the table for TFF.

To look for films from Fantastic Fest's list you want to pay attention to films that are listed as "Texas" premieres.  I found 16 of those on Tuesday and ran them down.  It appears that Gareth Edwards the Creator might be a T-ride possibility as it is listed as a Texas premiere and has not screened anywhere up to this point.

The film from 20th Century Studios/New Regency/Disney is described at IMDb as:

"...a post-apocalyptic thriller involving a future impacted by a war between humans and AI."

Meanwhile, another film that meets the Texas premiere and hasn't played anywhere else in the U.S. is Wonsuk Lee's Killing romance.  It's FF profile describes it:

"A fallen actress falls in love with a man, but when he turns out to be a monster, her next-door überfan helps her escape the only way they know how — by trying to kill him".

Honestly, I have a little difficulty believing that either of these films are necessarily Telluride bound but the premiere status and available data suggest otherwise.

Here's the link to the Fantastic Fest lineup.

THERE GOES MAESTRO

The New York Film Festival announced yesterday that Bradley Cooper's Maestro will be a North American premiere as its Spotlight Gala.  That removes it, at last, off the Telluride possibles list.  I was still holding out a slight hope that it might show up at Telluride since it was scheduled to bow in Venice on Saturday, Sept. 2nd.  I know that would cut it close but also thought since Cooper has said that he will not go to Venice for that premiere that perhaps it might still be at TFF #50.

But noop.

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE RETURNS

For the 11th non-consecutive year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, 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.

I'll compile all of your responses and post those a few days after the festival.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

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.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com