69th Cannes Film Festival Announces Its Lineup / Maybe No Warren

Good Thursday Everyone and MTFB is back.

After an unplanned layoff, I'm back in the saddle to post this Thursday and glad to be back.

69TH CANNES FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES ITS LINEUP:

Here is the lineup announced from Thierry Fremaux in Cannes from early this morning (via Awards Daily):

Opening Night Film

Cafe Society – directed by Woody Allen

Competition

Toni Erdmann – directed by Maren Ade

Julieta – directed by Pedro Almodovar

American Honey – directed by Andrea Arnold

The Unknown Girl – directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

Personal Shopper – directed by Olivier Assayas

It’s Only The End Of The World – directed by Xavier Dolan

Ma Loute – directed by Bruno Dumont

Paterson – directed by Jim Jarmusch

Rester Vertical – directed by Alain Guiraudie

Aquarius – directed by Kleber Mendonca Filho

Mal de Pierres – directed by Nicole Garcia

I, Daniel Blake – directed by Ken Loach

Ma’Rosa – directed by Brilliante Mendoza

Loving– directed by Jeff Nichols

Bacalaureat – directed by Cristian Mungiu

Agassi – directed by Park Chan-Wook

The Last Face – directed by Sean Penn

Sieranevada – directed by Cristi Puiu

Elle – directed by Paul Verhoeven

The Neon Demon – directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

Un Certain Regard

Varoonegi – directed by Behnam Behzadi

Apprentice – directed by Boo Junfeng

Voir Du Pays – directed by Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin

La Danseuse – directed by Stephanie Di Giusto

Clash – directed by Mohamed Diab

La Tortue Rouge – directed by Michael Dubok de Wit

Fuchi Bi Tatsu – directed by Fukada Koji

Omar Shakhsiya – directed by Maha Haj

Me’Ever Laharim Vehagvaot – directed by Eran Kolirin

After The Storm – directed by Kore-Eda Hirokazu

Hymyileva Mies – directed by Juho Kuosmanen

La Large Noche de Francisco Sanctis – directed by Francisco Marquez & Andrea Testa

Caini – directed by Bogdan Mirica

Pericle Il Nero – directed by Stefano Mordini

The Transfiguration – directed by Michael O’Shea

Captain Fantastic – directed by Matt Ross

Uchenik – directed by Kirill Serebrennikov

Outside Competition

The BFG – directed by Steven Spielberg

Money Monster – directed by Jodie Foster

The Nice Guys – directed by Shane Black

Gok Sung – directed by Na Hong-Jin

Special Screenings

Gimme Danger – directed by Jim Jarmusch

The Train to Busan – directed by Yeon Sang-Ho

A Chad Tragedy – directed by Mahamat-Saleh Aroun

The Death of Louis XIV – directed by Albert Serra

L’Ultima Spiaggia – directed by Thanos Anastopolous and Davide Del Degan

Exile – directed by Panh Rithy

Le Cancre – directed by Paul Vecchiali

Some random thoughts regarding the announced films Telluride...remember that Cannes and TFF commonly share seven-ish films by average and that usually the majority of the films come from the competition slate.

Competition films that would seem to have the most likely chance of making the Telluride lineup are:

Arnold's American Honey

The Dardennes' The Unknown Girl

Assasyas" Personal Shopper 

Dolan's It's Only the End of the World

Nichols' Loving

Mungiu's Bacalaureat (Family Photos)

Penn's The Last Face

As of today none of the titles from Un Certain Regard or the Out of Competition or Special Screening selections jump out as big possibilities.  That could change when Cannes kicks off on May 11th.  We could also see  some titles show up in the Directors Fortnight that could intrigue T-ride programmers.

MAYBE NO WARREN

There was a good deal of speculation this week regarding the Warren Beatty Howard Hughes project. Reports that it was done.   Reports that it was NOT bound for Cannes but could be looking at the fall fests (intriguing!!!) and finally, word purportedly from Beatty himself that seems to cast doubt on ANY fest screening.  The last coming from ShowBiz411 quoting Beatty's response to a "fall festival" question with the response "Why would I want to do that?"

Sooo...it seems Beatty is either playing a bluff or...the film won't play any fest (most likely).  Perhaps Beatty might not regard New York or AFI a "fall fest; which might allow either of those fests to screen the film.

But taken at face value, it doesn't sound like the highly anticipated film will be at Telluride or anywhere else for that matter.

Here's the coverage from ShowBiz411:

http://www.showbiz411.com/2016/03/29/exclusive-warren-beattys-howard-hughes-movie-gets-a-distributor-fox-now-needs-a-title-release-date

http://www.showbiz411.com/2016/04/13/exclusive-warren-beatty-film-has-no-set-release-date-because-he-doesnt-want-to-do-film-festivals

 That's all for Thursday...come back for more on Monday...

Contact me at:

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to

Michael's Telluride Film Blog's Facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse/107846269309712

Cannes Poster Released / Multiple Sources Guess at the Cannes' Lineup

Good Thursday to Everyone...


CANNES POSTER RELEASED

The 69th Cannes Film Festival released its official poster this week as you can see above.  Many observers have noted that the poster art is inspired by Jean Luc Godard.

Variety covered the release of the poster here:

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/cannes-unveils-official-poster-with-nod-to-jean-luc-godard-1201735029/


MULTIPLE SOURCES GUESS AT THE CANNES' LINEUP

We've been seeing a good deal of speculation over the past couple of weeks about American films that might make their way to the Croisette for Cannes in May.  Money Monster, Cafe Society, The Nice Guys, The BFG, The Last Face and  Loving are among the American films already confirmed or that have serious heat about their chances.

As we get closer to the actual announcements, speculation is getting more detailed.  Screen Daily has a very extensive piece that spans the film world and offers a broad array of possibilities.  Among them that initially seem Telluride-ish are(grouped in the same fashion that Screen Daily has used):

UK/Irish: American Honey, The Sense of an Ending, The Secret Scripture
U.S.: Loving, The Story of Your Life, The Last Face, Sully (yes...Sully)
Canada: It's Only the End of the World
France: Personal Shopper
Germany: The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez
Spain: Julieta, A Monster Calls
Eastern Europe: Family Photos
Benelux: The Unknown Girl
Middle East: Oppenheimer Strategies
Latin America: Neruda
Australia: Lion

The complete Screen Daily post is here:

http://www.screendaily.com/news/cannes-whos-in-the-running/5101702.article#


Meanwhile, Pete Hammond from Deadline throws his two cents into the pot:

http://deadline.com/2016/03/cannes-film-festival-2016-movies-speculation-sean-penn-woody-allen-steven-spielberg-1201721737/

Similarly, Todd McCarthy from The Hollywood Reporter also covered the Cannes spec with a post this week:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/todd-mccarthys-cannes-preview-american-877068


And finally, The Jigsaw Lounge has posted "Odds for Winning" the Palme d'Or already.  One assumes that the odds also give some indication of the likelihood of specific films making the competition lineup.  Of note:

Almodovar's leading odds of 3-1 for Julieta
Arnold's American Honey at 18-1
Larrain's Neruda at 20-1
Penn's The Last Face at 22-1
The Dardennes The Unknown Girl at 25-1
Dolan's It's Only the End of the World also at 25-1
Mungiu's Family Photos at 28-1
Assassyas' Personal Shopper at 33-1
Nichols' Loving at 33-1
Eastwood's Sully at 35-1


The complete odds (and it's an extensive list) are here:

http://www.jigsawlounge.co.uk/film/reviews/cannes2016/

Contact me at:

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to

Michael's Telluride Film Blog's Facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse/107846269309712

More on the Cannes Film Festival / Creating a Journal / Jon Stewart's Latest Gig Goes to Tribeca

Good Thursday America; how are you?


MORE ON THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

Jeff Wells/Hollywood Elsewhere is the latest media pundit to chime in with a look at some of the films that he thinks could play in May at the Cannes Film Festival.  Wells' limits his post from yesterday to what he terms "the big bets-the possible awards-season contenders that may not open until the fall".

On his checklist of Cannes' possibles that fit that description are:

Martin Scorsese's Silence
Oliver Stone's Snowden
Damien Chazelle's La La Land
Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester-by-the Sea
Woody Allen's Untitled 1930's set comedy
Nicholas Winding Refn's Neon Demon
Juan Antonio Bayona's A Monster Calls
Warren Beatty's Untitled Howard Hughes film
Asghar Farhadi's The Salesman
Pedro Alamodovar's Julieta
Cristian Mungiu's Family Photos

Wells' also talks a good bit about Jodie Foster's Money Monster which will open later this spring.


I'd probably handicap The Salesman as the most likely Telluride prospect from the Wells' list.  Least likely would the Lonergan as it played Sundance as well as  Beatty's Hughes picture, Allen's comedy, Stone's Snowden and Scorsese's Silence but never say never.

Here's the link to the HE post:

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2016/03/hes-cannes-16-excitement-list-doesnt-include-money-monster/

Meanwhile, Roger Freidman from Showbiz 411 also comments on potential Cannes films and there is a good deal of crossover with the Hollywood Elsewhere list including Beatty, Allen, Stone and Foster.  Take a look at that post here:

http://www.showbiz411.com/2016/03/11/cannes-talk-not-just-warren-but-snowden-woody-george-julia-ryan-gosling-big-studio-hits


Finally, Awards Watch posted a Cannes piece earlier this week that, among other things, reflects a bit of confusion about exactly when they will be announcing their competition lineup.  It's probably April 14th but...

Linked here:

http://awardswatch.com/news/2016-cannes-film-festival-news-and-details/


CREATING A JOURNAL

I have undertaken to create a journal that categorizes the films that have played at each of the Telluride Fest that I have attended and provides information such as their distributor and what other fests that a film played at prior to and after their bow at Telluride.  Mostly this is so that I can use that as reference material in my detective work.  I'm about half way through (we began attending TFF in 2006).

One thing that I have discovered is that the occurrence of a film having appeared in the U.S. before playing at Telluride happens occasionally.  For instance, this past year's presentation of Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict played in a number of U.S. festivals including its premiere at the Tribeca Film Fest in April last year.

Other recent films that have appeared in the U.S. before playing at Telluride include:

2015's Sembene!
2014's Keep On Keepin' On (Tribeca)
2013's Sadourni's Butterflies (Seattle), Milius (SXSW) and My Dior (Tribeca)

So, the Telluride policy of North American premieres, which we knew was sometimes waived, may actually be waived a bit more often than I thought.


JON STEWART'S LATEST GIG

 And speaking of films from the Tribeca Film Fest, Jon Stewart who brought his feature film directing debut, Rosewater, to Telluride in 2014, is executive producing a Syrian refugee documentary that will be playing as a part of the Tribeca lineup.  The film is entitled After Spring and is set to World Premiere at Tribeca next month according to The Playlist.  Could Stewart play there and then return to Telluride with in September?

The Playlist post is here:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/after-spring-movie-trailer-poster-syrian-refugee-crisis-tribeca-20160306

Contact me at:

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to

Michael's Telluride Film Blog's Facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse/107846269309712

Opening the Cannes...Speculation / The Film Stage's 50 Top Films of the Decade (So Far)

Welcome to Monday...

OPENING THE CANNES...SPECULATION

Over the years of writing this blog I have made the repeated claim that we always need to pay attention to what the Cannes Film Festival selects for its various programs.  The connection between Cannes and Telluride runs deep every year so if you're serious about trying to get a handle on the films that could be featured over Labor Day weekend, the Cannes lineup is a great place t begin that meditation.  It's also wisest to focus on the films that are in Palme d'Or competition.  That's not to say that T-ride doesn't chose films that play in other programs at Cannes such as Un Certain Regard, Director's Fortnight, etc. but most of the films that crossover between the festivals are competition films.

Last year was unusual as it had the fewest films shared by the french fest and Telluride in many a year.  Only six films played both places. (Offsetting that was an increase in the number of films that played both Venice and Telluride- eight, which is way above the average).

Telluride and Cannes shared: Rams, Carol and Son of Saul from the Palme competition lineup as well as three films from Cannes' documentary section: Hitchcock/Truffaut, Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words and Sembene!

Here's a look at the crossover between the two fests in the period that I have been attending the complete TFF:

2014: Competition films: Two Days, One Night, Mommy, The Homesman, Mr. Turner, Foxcatcher, Wild Tales and Leviathan.  UCR film: Salt of the Earth and Red Army from Cannes' Special Screenings.  Total crossover: Nine films

2013: Competition: Blue is the Warmest Color (Palme d"Or winner), Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska, The Past.  UCR: Manuscripts Don't Burn, The Missing Picture, Out of Comp: All Is Lost, Director's Fortnight: Jodorowsky's Dune, International Critic's Week: The Lunchbox.  Total crossover: Nine films.

2012: Competition: Amour (Palme d'Or winner), Rust and Bone, Paradise: Love, The Hunt. Director's Fortnight: No, Midnight Madness: The Sapphires.  Special Screening: The Central Park Five.  Others: Final Cut, Me and Me Dad, Journal de France.  Total crossover: Ten films.

2011: Competition: Footnote, The Kid with a Bike, The Artist, Le Havre, We Need to Talk to Kevin. Total crossover: Five films.

2010: Competition: Of Gods and Men, Biutiful, Poetry, Another Year, The Prince of Montpensier.  Out of Competition: Carlos, Tamara Drewe.  Special Screening: Inside Job.  Total crossover: Eight films.

2009: Competition: The White Ribbon (Palme d'Or winner) Bright Star, Fish Tank, A Prophet and Vincere.  Total crossover: Five films.

2008: Competition: Gomorrah, Waltz with Bashir, UCR: Hunger, O'Horten, Tulpan.  Out of Competition: The Good, the Bad and the Weird.  Total crossover: Six films.

2007: Competition: 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (Palme d'Or winner) . The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Persepolis.  UCR: The Band's Visit, Terror's Advocate.  Total crossover: Five films.

So, over that space of time, the two film festivals average sharing 6-7 films each year with four of them being competition films.  So, you can see that knowing what plays at Cannes is really a very good list of films to begin working with if you're trying to figure out a possible Telluride lineup.

Consequently, speculation about the Cannes lineup from smart writers is where you should start your investigation.  The main Cannes announcement is expected to come sometime around Apr. 16-18 (there seems to be a bit of uncertainty about this).  We start this game with a list of 20 films from The Playlist that they suggest might be Cannes possibles.  That complete post is here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/20-films-we-hope-to-see-at-the-2016-cannes-film-festival-20160309

Telluride prospects from this list include:

American Honey

Family Photos

La La Land

Loving

Personal Shopper

Salt and Fire

The Unknown Girl

You can catch some Cannes speculation from The Guardian in this podcast:

http://www.theguardian.com/film/audio/2016/mar/11/cannes-predictions-and-anomalisa-reviewed-the-dailies-film-podcast

THE FILM STAGE'S 50 TOP FILMS OF THE DECADE (SO FAR)

The Film Stage posted this article this week with their evaluation of the 50 best films that have been released this decade.  It's fun.  Take a look at that list/article here:

http://thefilmstage.com/features/the-film-stages-top-50-films-of-the-decade-so-far/

Telluride films that make their list and their positions are:

48) The Turin Horse

39) Ida

33) Leviathan

30) Another Year

23) Shame

10) Inside Llewyn Davis

7) Amour

5) A Separation

2) Under the Skin

That's it for this Monday...come back for more on Thursday:

Contact me at:

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to

Michael's Telluride Film Blog's Facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse/107846269309712