So Long Elmore/International Counsellor Trailer/More for Toronto/New Views from "Enough Said"

Good Wednesday Everyone...

SO LONG ELMORE

Elmore Leonard died yesterday.  He was 87.  He was a writer and if you've never read anything by him, that's you're loss.  The man could flat write.  Westerns at first, then crime fiction in the second half of his career.  That's where I ran across him.  The crime stuff.

There are few authors who could write better, cleaner dialogue and characters than Elmore.  And funny...Good Lord, his characters could be so funny.

We're lucky that there have been some pretty good film/TV adaptations of his work: "Out of Sight", "Get Shorty", "Jackie Brown" (Rum Punch) and FX's current "Justified".  But as good as some of the film stuff is...reading Elmore was always better.

He was also a Telluride guy.  Leonard was a fest guest in 1991 and a Special Medallion recipient in 2000.

He was a unique and wondrous talent and will be missed in my home and many, many others.

INVITATIONS...

1) "THE GUIDE"-Come and visit, talk a little film, have a beverage and a nosh at The 3rd "Guide to the Ride".  It's an opportunity for us all to get together before the serious business of watching film until our heads spin.  "The Guide" will be hosted by Mitzi and Larry Mallard at The River Club in Telluride (550 Depot) at 5:00 pm on Thursday, Aug. 29.

2) RATE THE FILMS- For the second year MTFB is calling on you readers to share your impressions of the films you chose to watch during Labor Day weekend.  I call it "The Paople's Telluride".  Rate what you see on a 0-5 scale and send those ratings to me.  Email, DM, Facebook...whatever.  I'll collect and collate and report to everyone the week after the Festival concludes.  Also don't forget to check out "The Critic's Telluride".  Some very kind and generous people have agreed to rate the films they see as well.

Alex Billington/First Showing
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Scott Foundas/Variety
Eric Kohn/IndieWire
Eugene Novikov/Film Blather
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Kristopher Tapley/HitFix/InContention

I have feelers out and would like to snag a couple of more of the "pros".  We'll see.

3) Bebop over to Screencraft.org (www.screencraft.org) during the fest.  I'll be posting there as well.  A daily summary of what is going on, impressions of the films I see and the buzz about the weekend.



INTERNATIONAL COUNSELLOR TRAILER

I'm very intrigued with Ridley Scott's "The Counsellor (2 l's for the UK trailer that dropped yesterday).  The film stars Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz in Cormac McCarthy territory.  Fassbender is an attorney who gets into a drug deal gone bad.  I've linked the trailer above from YouTube and a variety of reports/stories that accompanied the new trailer below:

FirstShowing: http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/watch-another-full-uk-trailer-for-ridley-scotts-the-counselor/

The Wrap: http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/michael-fassbenders-life-being-bed-penelope-cruz-grave-danger-counselor-video-111921

Thompson on Hollywood: http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/counsellor-trailer

Rope of Silicon: http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/counselor-international-trailer/

IndieWire: http://www.indiewire.com/article/trailer-of-the-week-cameron-diaz-makes-for-a-great-femme-fatale-in-ridley-scotts-the-counselor

Awards Daily: http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/the-counselor-official-international-trailer/


MORE FOR TORONTO

The Toronto International Film Festival announced a slew of additional titles yesterday to various different segments of TIFF.  The Wrap has a nice rundown of the new titles here:

http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/toronto-film-fest-adds-spike-jonze-imax-3d-rock-n-roll-and-real-story-argo-111871

Among the titles that popped up that could have a Telluride showing previous are:
"A Touch of Sin" and "Closed Curtain" in the Masters section.
"For No Good Reason" in the Mavericks section.
"Ilo Ilo" and "Palo Alto" from the Discovery section (again, we're thinking "Palo Alto" is IN because of James Franco tweeting it a couple of days ago.)
"Gravity" has been programmed as an IMAX presentation...think it's going to be in Telluride...
"How I Live Now" and "Tracks" in the Next Wave section ("Palo Alto" is in this section as well)

As always, it will be interesting to see what shows at the SHOW before going to Toronto.

In other Toronto-related news, The Wrap's Steve Pond also posted a story yesterday about the Telluride?Toronto connection and rivalry.  The story is entitled: "Why Alexander Payne and the Coen Brothers Are Skipping Toronto".  Check that story here:

http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/why-alexander-payne-and-coen-brothers-are-skipping-toronto-film-fest-112036

And finally this tidbit: Jason Reitman has announced for the second straight year that he'll  be doing one of his "live reads" of a film script in Toronto.  It's set for Sept. 6.  Script and cast have yet to be announced.

Friend of the blog Christopher Schiller tweeted out yesterday a suggestion that Reitman do a run through in Telluride... because it's likely he'll be in town with "Labor Day".  That'd be a cool addition to the 40th anniversary program...wouldn't it?


NEW VIEWS FROM "ENOUGH SAID"

HitFix/InContention posted exclusive new photos from the Nicole Holofcener film "Enough Said" yesterday. The film stars James Gandolfini in one of his final roles.  There has been a good deal of speculation that the film might show up in Telluride next week before it heads to Toronto.  Sounds like a good idea to me.

Check the HitFix/InContention story here: http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/exclusive-james-gandolfini-julia-louis-dreyfus-in-new-enough-said-photos

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More on Thursday.

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

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

MILESTONES

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

AT LEAST ONE COPPOLA?

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

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

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

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

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

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



SATURDAY RE-CAP

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

"BLUE" HAS INTERNATIONAL TRAILER

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

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

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

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

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

FOXCATCHER FIRE DIMS

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

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

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

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

OSCAR TALK AND PRISONERS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ENOUGH SAID

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

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

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

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

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

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

REMINDERS...

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

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

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

Alex Billington/FirstShowing

Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter

Scott Foundas/Variety

Eric Kohn/IndieWire

Eugene Novikov/Film Blather

Kristopher Tapley/InContention-HitFix

Sasha Stone/Awards Daily

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

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

And finally...

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


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More on Tuesday...

Tributes?/Counseling Views/"Enough Said" Trailer

Good Wednesday to Everybody...


TRIBUTES?...

Three tributes (and occasionally an additional "Special Medallion")...who could they be for this year's 40th Telluride Film Festival.

I've been batting this around in my head for a while now and some friends of the blog have given it some serious thought too.  So, as a way to organize some thoughts about this, let's look at some of my "Ten Bets" films (and some others as well) to see who some possible Tribute candidates are:

Like Alexander Payne's "Nebraska".  You have to believe Bruce Dern is a real Tribute possibility.
"The Invisible Woman"...Ralph Fiennes seems like a possibility.
"Inside Llewyn Davis"...The Coen Brothers...and here's a crazy thought: John Goodman.
"Labor Day"...Kate Winslet (Josh Brolin doesn't feel right).

From other films just below the "Ten Bets"

"12 Years a Slave"...Brad Pitt...if you can fete Clooney...you can fete Pitt.  The rest of the cast and Steve McQueen need more on their resumes...but watch for future tributes for Cumberbatch and Fassbender.

"All is Lost"...Redford...seems like a natural choice.

"Philomena"...Judi Dench would also seem to be a very likely candidate.

With this week's surge that "Gravity" is a very real possibility...Sandra Bullock becomes a part of the tribute conversation.

Then there's Roger Ebert.  I am a firm believer that the Festival will recognize him this year.  My guess is a "Special Medallion"...but it's not a crazy thought that he could be tributed.

Other less likely scenarios:
Julia Roberts if "August: Osage County" makes the lineup.
Ridley Scott with "The Counselor"
Nicole Kidman with "Grace of Monaco" or "The Railway Man"
Matthew McConnaughey with "The Dallas Buyers Club"
Jessica Chastain with "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby"
Philip Seymour Hoffman with "A Most Wanted Man"
Paul Giamatti or Billy Bob Thornton with "Parkland"

So those are my thoughts about the most likely candidates.  I have a reader who suggests that there will a third "out of nowhere" selection that non one can see coming...and I'll bet he's absolutely right.


COUNSELING VIEWS

The release came yesterday of new clips from Ridley Scott's "The Counselor" which stars Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt.  I'm still holding a dwindling hope for this to make the Telluride lineup.

Here are links to the new clips via The Playlist and Rope of Silicon:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-michael-fassbender-gets-warned-by-brad-pitt-javier-bardem-in-2-clips-from-the-counselor-20130806

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/counselor-movie-clips-fassbender-pitt-bardem-cruz/


"ENOUGH SAID" TRAILER

Also dropping yesterday was a trailer for the James Gandolfini starring "enough said".  There has been a good deal of buzz that this film could very well play Telluride.  The film also stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Catherine Keener.  Stories linked below from HitFix, FirstShowing and The Playlist:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/james-gandolfini-courts-julia-louis-dreyfus-in-the-trailer-for-nicole-holofceners-enough-said

http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/nicole-holofceners-enough-said-full-trailer-with-james-gandolfini/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-charming-trailer-for-nicole-holofceners-enough-said-starring-james-gandolfini-julia-louis-dreyfus-20130806


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More on Thursday!

Ten Bets #5/Venice Re-Post/Multiple Photos/Enough Said/Invitation/

Good Friday Everyone...

TEN BETS #5

What a crazed week this has been with the first wave of announcements for Toronto and the main announcement for Venice.  That news has dominated the film world this week (much as Comic Con news the week before).  With those announcements, we can at least pretend that there are clues about the Telluride Film Festival.  We're also armed with Telluride-y analysis from Kris Tapley (HitFix/InContention), Jeff Wells (Hollywood Elsewhere) and Pete Hammond (Deadline).  That leads me to this week's new "Ten Bets" list.  Let's review last week's list:

1) Nebraska
2) The Invisible Woman
3) The Unknown Known
4) The Story of Children and Film
5) The Past
6) The Immigrant
7) Daughter of the Dawn
8) Labor Day
9) Blue is the Warmest Color
10) Aguirre: The Wrath of God

Here are this week's "Ten Bets" for Telluride:

1) Nebraska
2) The Invisible Woman
3) The Immigrant
4) The Past
5) Inside Llewyn Davis
6) Labor Day
7) The Unknown Known
8) The Story of Children and Film
9) Blue is the Warmest Color
10) The Lunchbox

Lurking just below these "Ten Bets": "Aguirre: The Wrath of God", All is Lost", "Captain Phillips", "12 Years a Slave", "Like Father Like Son", "Life Itself", "Quay d'Orsay", "Philomena", "Heli", "Only Lovers Left Alive", "The Good Lie".

VENICE RE-POST

Here's another look at what I wrote yesterday in light of the Venice Film Festival lineup announcement:

In Competition:

The Rooftops

L’intrepido

Miss Violence

Tracks

Via Castellana Bandiera

Tom at the Farm

Child of God

Philomena

La Jalousie

The Zero Theorem

Ana Arabia

Under the Skin

Joe

The Police Officer’s Wife

Parkland

Kaze Tachinu

The Unknown Known

Sacro Gra

Stray Dogs

Out of Competition:

Space Pirate Captain Harlock

Gravity

Moebius

Locke

Unforgiven

Wolf Creek 2

Home from Home

Gondola

The Canyons

Che Strano Chiamarsi Federico Scola Racconta Fellini

Walesa: Man of Hope

  

And a couple of documentaries to notice from that portion of Venice’s program:

The Armstrong Lie

At Berkeley

Here’s my take.  As noted, Venice and Telluride usually share 3-4 titles.  From this morning’s announcement the most likely this year (at least from my perspective) are:

The Armstrong Lie

Philomena

The Unknown Known

The Zero Theorem

Gravity

Parkland

Still in the wind now after TIFF and Venice announcements: "Captain Phillips", "Saving Mr. Banks", "The Wolf of Wall Street", , "The Monuments Men", "The Counselor", "Grace of Monaco", "Diana", "Out of the Furnace"and "Foxcatcher".

Makes you wonder where or if any or all of these will land.  My bet right now is that New York gets "Wolf of Wall Street".  I've also been hearing that "Out of the Furnace" may forgo the festival scene entirely.  The "no fest" strategy could also be true for any of the films listed above, though there does seem to be some belief that "Captain Phillips" might well play in the San Juans.

Should be interesting over the next 5 weeks as we try to figure this out.

Here are some links to this morning's Venice coverage:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/venice-international-film-festival-line-up/

http://networkedblogs.com/Nvj08

https://www.thewrap.com/awards/column-post/venice-film-festival-lineup-includes-terry-gilliam-james-franco-lindsay-lohan-offerings-

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/venice-film-festival-lineup-announced-592893

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/new-films-from-terry-gilliam-hayao-miyazaki-david-gordon-green-jonathan-glazer-top-70th-venice-film-festival-line-up-20130725

MULTIPLE PHOTOS

With the announcement of so much fall festival news, there has been a flood of new images from a number of films that have Telluride potential.  Here's a look at some of those that emerged this week:

Dallas Buyers Club:

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him/Her

Dom Hemingway

The Invisible Woman

Life of Crime

Prisoners

The Railway Man

You Are Here

*********************************************************************************************************************

ENOUGH SAID

The Los Angeles Times reports that Fox Searchlight has set the release date for "Enough Said" for Sept. 20th.  The film stars the late James Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and as directed by Nicole Holofcener was announced earlier this week as a selection of the Toronto International Film Festival.  The Times story does drop the hint that "the film is also considered a likely selection as a sneak preview for the Telluride Film Festival over Labor Day weekend."

Check "Enough said" out at IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2390361/?ref_=ttco_co_tt

Here's the link to the story in the L.A. Times:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-enough-said-among-gandolfinis-final-films-gets-a-sept-date-20130725,0,6354151.story

INVITATION

I've been holding back on this for a little bit because I/we weren't sure (and we really still aren't exactly sure) how we would configure it this year because of the added day for the festival but, nonetheless and after careful consideration, I can INVITE YOU to "The 3rd annual Guide to the Ride/Flow of the SHOW".  We will be doing our meet and greet for Telluride Film Festival fans who take an interest in this blog.  

Details are still to be worked out, though it is likely to be Thursday, Aug. 29th...the first day of the fest rather than on Friday.  Plans are to hold it at The River Club once again and I expect refreshments to be provided.

I'll pass on more as the weekend's organizational structure becomes clearer over the next few weeks.

Hope you can come.  We've had some fun and good conversation over the past couple of years and I'm pleased our hosts, Mitzi and Larry Mallard and The River Club have offered again.  

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More tomorrow...