MTFB EXTRA: FINAL BETS FOR TFF #51 / Emila Perez Trailer / Tidbits: Potential Guests, Tributes?, Guest Director???, Another Sundance Title? / The People's Telluride

FINAL BETS FOR TFF #51

Well, here we are.  24ish hours from Telluride's big reveal for the 2024 SHOW.  I'm driving somewhere in New Mexico as you read this.  Here is your final list of "Bets" to make the SHOW:

1) Anora/Baker

2) Conclave/Berger

3) Emilia Perez/Audiard

4) The End/Oppenheimer

5) All We Imagine as Light/Kapadia

6) The Piano Lesson/Washington

7) Nickel Boys/Ross

8) Saturday Night/Reitman

9) Maria/Larrian

10) The Outrun/Fingscheidt

11) Bird/Arnold

12) Disclaimer/Cuaron

13) Separated/Morris

14) Better Man/Gracey

15) Piece by Piece/Neville

16) September 5/Fehlbaum

17) The Seed of the Sacred Fig/Rasoulof

18) The Friend/Siegel and McGeehee

19) Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight/Davitz

20) The Apprentice/Abassi

21) No Other Land/Adra, Ballal, Abraham and Szor

22) Leonardo DaVinci/Burns, Burns and McMahon

23) Memoir of a Snail/Elliot

24) Apocalypse in the Tropics/Costa

25) Misrecordia/Guiraudie

Other possibilities:

Santosh/Suri

Chain Reactions/Philippe

Homegrown/Premo

A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things/Cousins

A Real Pain/Jesse Eisenberg

One on One: John and Yoko/ Macdonald and Rice-Edwards

Napoleon (new restoration)/Gance

Parthenope/Sorrentino

Hand of Dante/Schnabel

The Actor/Johnson

Last year I was 24/25 on the final bets.

Previous years of "Bets" track record:

2023: 24 of 25

2022: 24 of 25

2021: 24 of 25

2020: No fest

2019: 24 of 25

2018: 25 of 25

2017: 24 of 25

2016: 20 of 20

That's 165 0f 170 for a correct percentage of  97.05%

Come back tomorrow to see how I did.

 EMILIA PEREZ TEASER/TRAILER (with english subtitles)

TIDBITS

A REMINDER OF POTENTIAL GUESTS

Anora: Sean Baker, Mikey Madison

Conclave: Edward Berger, Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini

Emilia Perez: Jacques Audiard, Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez, Karla Sofia Gascon, Adriana Paz

The End: Joshua Oppenheimer, Tilda Swinton, Michael Shannon, George MacKay

The Piano Lesson: Malcolm Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Dedwyler, John David Washington, Denzel Washington

Nickel Boys: RaMell Ross, Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Aunjunue Ellis-Taylor

Piece by Piece: Morgan Neville, Pharrell Williams

The Apprentice: Ali Abassi, Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong

The Friend: Scott McGeehee, David Siegel, Carla Gugino, Naomi Watts, Bill Murray

Maria: Pablo Larrain, Angelina Jolie

Saturday Night: Jason Reitman, Gabriel LaBelle, Cooper Hoffman, Nicolas Braun, Jon Batiste

Bird: Andrea Arnold, Barry Keoghan, Frank Rogowski

Better Man: Robbie Williams

Disclaimer: Alfonso Cuaron, Cate Blanchett, Sasha Baron Cohen, Kevin Kline

The Outrun: Saoirse Ronan

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight; Embeth Davitz

A Real Pain: Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin

TRIBUTES?

Here are what feel like your possibilities:

1) Saorise Ronan

2) Thelma Schoonover

3) Jason Reitman

4) Jacques Audiard

5) Samuel L. Jackson

6) Ralph Fiennes

7) Angelina Jolie

8) Denzel Washington

9) Michael Shannon

10) Naomi Watts

Alternatives: John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini, Stanley Tucci

GUEST DIRECTOR???

I don't know what to tell you.  

Multiple directors like last year?  I don't feel that.  That's an approach that the Fest took in anniversary years #40 and #50.

No Guest Director?  Maybe.  The Guest Director position hasn't always existed.  Its inception was 1988.  I just don't think that's likely.

A BIG NAME?  Maybe.  Spielberg?  Scorsese? Nolan?  If you wanted to make a big splash, holding that name for your official announcement would sure be a way to achieve that.  Cautiously, that's where I'm going to place my money.

ANOTHER SUNDANCE TITLE?

I'm not saying it's in for TFF #51 but I've been seeing/hearing low level background noise about a possible play for Jesse Eisenberg's A Real Pain.  I already think that The Outrun which played at Sundance is likely to screen at T-ride this weekend.  So, is a second "big" Sundance film possible?

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE-12TH EDITION

For the 12th 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

FINAL BETS FOR TFF #49 / Tribute Guesses? / What Does Ellwood Know? / Pugh? Maybe Not / The People's Telluride

FINAL BETS FOR TFF #49

This is my last stab at what's going to play at Telluride this week.  Of course we'll all find out the actual lineup on Thursday morning at 11:00 EDT/8PDT.  I'll wake up Thursday morning in Gunnison, Co. with about a 22 and 1/2 to 3 hour drive into Telluride.  My plan is to post the lineup when it lands Thursday morning and then skeedaddle to T-ride fairly quickly after.

Here's a reminder of what I had listed as my Ten (Plus) Bets last Thursday:

1) Empire of Light/Mendes

2) Women Talking/Polley

3) The Wonder/Lelio

4) Bardo/Iarritu

5) TAR/Field

6) Broker/Kore-eda

7) Holy Spider/Abbasi

8) Armageddon Time/Gray

9) Bones and All/Guadignino

10) One Fine Morning/Hansen-Love

11) Godland/Palmason

12) A Compassionate Spy/James

13) Good Night Oppy/White

14) Theatre of Thought/Herzog

15) Sr./Smith

16 The U.S, and the Holocaust/Burns

17) All the Beauty and the Bloodshed/Poitras

18) Close/Dhont

19) Something from Mark Cousins*

20) Aftersun/Wells

Others Possibilities: Living/Hermanus, Tori and Lokita/Dardennes, The Forger/Peren, Tuesday/Oniunas-Pusic, The Fire Within/Herzog, Dreamin' Wild/Pohlad, Argentina 1985/Mitre, The Story of Film: A New Generation/Cousins*,  My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock/Cousins*,  March on Rome/Cousins*, Athena/Gavras, Anastasia/McCarthy, The Pupils/Rohrwacher

AND HERE ARE MY FINAL BETS FOR TFF #49

The last few years I average about 23 of 25 correct... 

2021: 24 of 25 correct.

2020: No fest

2019: 24 of 25

2018: 25 of 25

2017: 24 of 25

2016: 20 of 20

So, out of the last five years of Bets... 117 of 120.

We'll see what the 2022 rate is. 

And now the actual "Final Bets":

1) Empire of Light/Mendes

2) Women Talking/Polley

3) The Wonder/Lelio

4) Bardo/Iarritu

5) TAR/Field

6) Broker/Kore-eda

7) Holy Spider/Abbasi

8) Armageddon Time/Gray

9) Bones and All/Guadignino

10) One Fine Morning/Hansen-Love

11) Godland/Palmason

12) A Compassionate Spy/James

13) Good Night Oppy/White

14) Theatre of Thought/Herzog

15) Sr./Smith

16 The U.S. and the Holocaust/Burns

17) All the Beauty and the Bloodshed/Poitras

18) Close/Dhont

19) March to Rome and/or My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock/Cousins

20) Aftersun/Wells

21) Living/Hermanus

22) Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy/Buirsky

23) The Pupils/Rohrwacher

24) Anastasia/McCarthy

25) Athena/Gavras

Others Possibilities:Tori and Lokita/Dardennes, The Forger/Peren, Tuesday/Oniunas-Pusic, The Fire Within/Herzog, Dreamin' Wild/Pohlad, Argentina 1985/Mitre, The Story of Film: A New Generation/Cousins

I'm still somewhat shaky on All the Beauty..., Aftersun, Living, Athena and the new adds of Anastasia and The Pupils.  We'll see what happens there.

World of Reel's Jordan Ruimy, who has worked this beat tirelessly this season, has reported this list of 23 films as of last Friday.  Jordan writes:

These are the 23 films that we know are Telluride-bound:

Tar (Field)

Bones and All (Guadagnino)

Bardo (Inarritu)

The Wonder (Leilo)

Empire of Light (Mendes)

Women Talking (Polley)

A Compassionate Spy (James)

My Name is Alfred Hitchcock (Cousins)

Theatre of Thought (Werner Herzog)

Aftersun (Charlotte Wells)

Godland (Hylnur Pálmason)

The US and the Holocaust (Ken Burns)

Sr. (Smith)

Good Night Oppy (White)

Holy Spider (Abbasi)

Armageddon Time (Gray)

One Fine Morning (Hansen-Løve)

Broker (Kore-eda)

Close (Dhont)

Living (Hermanus)

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Poitras)

Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy (Buirsky)

As you can see, our lists are almost exactly the same.

We'll know more in about 75 hours.

TRIBUTE GUESSES???

Bill Night/Living

Cate Blanchett/TAR

Olivia Colman/Empire of Light

Alejandro Inarritu/Bardo

Anne Hathaway/Armageddon Time

Anthony Hopkins/Armageddon Time

Jessica Chastain/Armageddon Time

Mark Rylance/Bones and All

Michael Stuhlbarg/Bones and All

If I get some solid intell on this before Thursday's announcement...I'll pass it on in a special post.

WHAT DOES ELLWOOD KNOW?

Last Friday Gregory Ellwood of The Playlist tweeted:

And my brain went..."What's that mean?"  

Ellwood had a couple of responses that guessed that Steven Spielberg's The Fableman's had been grabbed by TFF #49.  Ellwood said "No." to that.  So it got me wondering what it COULD mean.

Back on Aug. 8th I posted "Star Gazing at TFF #49 which was a listing of possible "names" that might be attending based on what films I thought at that time would play TFF.  I've added some further possibilities to that list:

Armageddon Time: Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Anthony Hopkins (who may have been a Tribute recipient had there been a TFF #47) and Jessica Chastain.

Bones and All: Timothee Chalamet, Taylor Russell***, Michael Stuhlbarg, Mark Rylance, Chloe Sevigny***.

Empire of Light: Colin Firth*** (Tribute 2010), Olivia Colman, Toby Jones.

One Fine Morning: Lea Seydoux***.

TAR: Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong, Nina Hoss

Women Talking: Jesse Buckley, Rooney Mara*** (Tribute 2015), Clare Foy, Ben Whishaw, Frances McDormand.

The Wonder: Florence Pugh (see story below), Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds.

Living: Bill Nighy

Sr.: Robert Downey, Jr.

Desperate Souls, Dark City...: Jon Voight

Is that "Starry" enough for Ellwood's characterization?  Maybe.  Or is Ellwood hinting about an additional film or two that would pump up the list of guests?

PUGH? MAYBE NOT

Lots of buzz around Florence Pugh this week.  The young actress who is starring in Venice selection Don't Worry Now as well as TFF #49 selection The Wonder is described as "doing limited press" for Venice.  Explanations and conjectures center on her shooting schedule for Dune 2 as well as a controversies swirling around Don't Worry Now involving director Olivia Wilde, actors Shia LaBeouf and Harry Styles and Wilde's ex-husband, actor Jason Sudeikis.

I have assumed that there was a reasonably chance the the young and rising star might break free with her Dune 2 counterpart, Timothee Chalamet, star of Luca Guadagnino's Bones and All (which I expect to be at Telluride) and do a bit of time in the San Juans...but that looks relatively unlikely at the moment.

Pugh currently sits at #23 on IMDb's STARmeter which tracks the current popularity status of people in the biz.  My current STARmeter status is: 1,180,574.  Totally serious about that number.

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

For the tenth 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 with any of the following contact methods:

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com