SUNDAY SPECIAL: GOLDEN GLOBE PREDICTIONS FROM THE EXPERTS

SUNDAY SPECIAL: GOLDEN GLOBE PREDICTIONS FROM THE EXPERTS

Welcome to a special additional post to MTFB.  I've put together a set of predictions today for tonight's Golden Globes ceremony from a bunch of the best people in the film awards business.  We'll see how this all pans out tonight.  TFF #44 films are Bold.

Kristopher Tapley/Variety/InContention

Best Picture-Drama-The Shape of Water
Best Picture-Musical or Comedy-Lady Bird
Best Direction-Guillermo Del Toro/The Shape of Water
Best Actress-Drama-Frances McDormand/Three Billboards
Best Actress-Musical or Comedy-Margot Robbie/I, Tonya
Best Actor-Drama-Timothee Chalamet/Call Me By Your Name
Best Actor-Musical or Comedy-James Franco/The Disaster Artist
Best Supporting Actress-Laurie Metcalf/Lady Bird
Best Supporting Actor-Sam Rockwell/Three Billboards
Best Screenplay-Three Billboards
Best Animated Feature-Coco
Best Foreign Language Film-First They Killed My Father
Best Original Score-Dunkirk
Best Song-Mighty River/Mudbound

Tapley's complete article is here.

Sasha Stone/Awards Daily (and AD's Oscar Squad)

Best Picture-Drama-The Shape of Water
Best Picture-Musical or Comedy-Get Out
Best Direction-Guillermo Del Toro/The Shape of Water
Best Actress-Drama-Sally Hawkins/The Shape of Water
Best Actress-Musical or Comedy-Saoirse Ronan/Lady Bird
Best Actor-Drama-Gary Oldman/Darkest Hour
Best Actor-Musical or Comedy-James Franco/The Disaster Artist
Best Supporting Actress-Allison Janney/I, Tonya
Best Supporting Actor-Christopher Plummer/All the Money in the World
Best Screenplay-Lady Bird
Best Animated Feature-Coco
Best Foreign Language Film-First They Killed My Father
Best Original Score-The Shape of Water
Best Song-Mighty River/Mudbound

Stone's complete article is here.

Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter

Best Picture-Drama- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Picture-Musical or Comedy-Lady Bird
Best Direction-Guillermo Del Toro/The Shape of Water
Best Actress-Drama-Frances McDormand/Three Billboards
Best Actress-Musical or Comedy-Judi Dench/Victoria and Abdul
Best Actor-Drama-Timothee Chalamet/Call Me By Your Name
Best Actor-Musical or Comedy-James Franco/The Disaster Artist
Best Supporting Actress-Allison Janney/I, Tonya
Best Supporting Actor-Sam Rockwell/Three Billboards
Best Screenplay-Three Billboards
Best Animated Feature-Coco
Best Foreign Language Film-First They Killed My Father
Best Original Score-Dunkirk
Best Song-This Is Me/The Greatest Showman

Feinberg's complete article is here.

Anne Thompson/Indiewire

Best Picture-Drama-The Shape of Water
Best Picture-Musical or Comedy-Lady Bird
Best Direction-Guillermo Del Toro/The Shape of Water
Best Actress-Drama-Frances McDormand/Three Billboards
Best Actress-Musical or Comedy-Saoirse Ronan/Lady Bird
Best Actor-Drama-Gary Oldman/Darkest Hour
Best Actor-Musical or Comedy-James Franco/The Disaster Artist
Best Supporting Actress-Allison Janney/I, Tonya
Best Supporting Actor-Willem Dafoe/The Florida Project
Best Screenplay-Lady Bird
Best Animated Feature-Coco
Best Foreign Language Film-First They Killed My Father
Best Original Score-The Shape of Water
Best Song-Remember Me/Coco

Thompson's complete article is here.

Erik Anderson/Awards Watch

Best Picture-Drama-The Shape of Water
Best Picture-Musical or Comedy-Lady Bird
Best Direction-Guillermo Del Toro/The Shape of Water
Best Actress-Drama-Sally Hawkins/The Shape of Water
Best Actress-Musical or Comedy-Saoirse Ronan/Lady Bird
Best Actor-Drama-Timothee Chalamet/Call Me By Your Name
Best Actor-Musical or Comedy-James Franco/The Disaster Artist
Best Supporting Actress-Allison Janney/I, Tonya
Best Supporting Actor-Christopher Plummer/All the Money in the World
Best Screenplay-Three Billboards
Best Animated Feature-Coco
Best Foreign Language Film-The Square
Best Original Score-The Shape of Water
Best Song-Remember Me Coco

Anderson's complete article is here.

Steve Pond/The Wrap

Best Picture-Drama-The Shape of Water
Best Picture-Musical or Comedy-Get Out
Best Direction-Guillermo Del Toro/The Shape of Water
Best Actress-Drama-Frances McDormand/Three Billboards
Best Actress-Musical or Comedy-Saoirse Ronan/Lady Bird
Best Actor-Drama-Gary Oldman/Darkest Hour
Best Actor-Musical or Comedy-James Franco/The Disaster Artist
Best Supporting Actress-Laurie Metcalf/Lady Bird
Best Supporting Actor-Willem Dafoe/The Florida Project
Best Screenplay-Lady Bird
Best Animated Feature-Coco
Best Foreign Language Film-The Square
Best Original Score-The Shape of Water
Best Song-This Is Me/The Greatest Showman

Pond's complete article is here.


Greg Ellwood/Awards Campaign/The Playlist

Best Picture-Drama-Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Picture-Musical or Comedy-Lady Bird
Best Direction-Guillermo Del Toro/The Shape of Water
Best Actress-Drama-Frances McDormand/Three Billboards
Best Actress-Musical or Comedy-Saoirse Ronan/Lady Bird
Best Actor-Drama-Gary Oldman/Darkest Hour
Best Actor-Musical or Comedy-James Franco/The Disaster Artist
Best Supporting Actress-Laurie Metcalf/Lady Bird
Best Supporting Actor-Christopher Plummer/All the Money in the World
Best Screenplay-Lady Bird
Best Animated Feature-Coco
Best Foreign Language Film-A Fantastic Woman
Best Original Score-Dunkirk
Best Song-This Is Me/The Greatest Showman

Ellwood's complete article is here.

Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit

Best Picture-Drama-The Shape of Water
Best Picture-Musical or Comedy-Lady Bird
Best Direction-Guillermo Del Toro/The Shape of Water
Best Actress-Drama-Sally Hawkins/The Shape of Water
Best Actress-Musical or Comedy-Margot Robbie/I, Tonya
Best Actor-Drama-Daniel Day Lewis/Phantom Thread
Best Actor-Musical or Comedy-James Franco/The Disaster Artist
Best Supporting Actress-Laurie Metcalf/Lady Bird
Best Supporting Actor-Sam Rockwell/Three Billboards
Best Screenplay-Lady Bird
Best Animated Feature-Coco
Best Foreign Language Film-A Fantastic Woman
Best Original Score-Phantom Thread
Best Song-This Is Me/The Greatest Showman

Davis' complete article is here.

Here's the consensus of these eight experts with the number predicting each winner in parentheses:

Best Picture-Drama: The Shape of Water (6), Three Billboards (2)
Best Picture-Musical or Comedy: Lady Bird (6), Get Out (2)
Best Direction: Guillermo Del Toro/The Shape of Water (8)
Best Actress-Drama: Frances McDormand/Three Billboards (5), Sally Hawkins/The Shape of Water (3)
Best Actress-Musical or Comedy: Saoirse Ronan/Lady Bird (5), Margot Robbie/I, Tonya (2), Judi Dench/Victoria and Abdul (1)
Best Actor-Drama: Gary Oldman/Darkest Hour (4), Timothee Chalamet/Call Me By Your Name (3), Daniel Day Lewis/Phantom Thread (1)
Best Actor-Musical or Comedy: James Franco/The Disaster Artist (8)
Best Supporting Actress: Allison Janney/I, Tonya (4), Laurie Metcalf/Lady Bird (4)
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer/All the Money in the World (3), Sam Rockwell/Three Billboards (3), Willem Dafoe/The Florida Project (2)
Best Screenplay: Lady Bird (5), Three Billboards (3)
Best Animated Feature: Coco (8)
Best Foreign Language Film: First They Killed My Father (4), A Fantastic Woman (2), The Square (2)
Best Original Score: The Shape of Water (4), Dunkirk (3), Phantom Thread (1)
Best Song: This is Me/The Greatest Showman (4), Remember Me/Coco (2), Mighty River/Mudbound (2)

The experts predict Telluride 2017 films to win anywhere between 3 (Feinberg) to 8 (Stone) Globes.  It is possible for TFF #44 films to win in every category except Original Song.

I'll be tweeting (or re-tweeting) results tonight during the Globe broadcast (on Twitter @Gort2).  I'll also have a full rundown of the Globe results tomorrow morning.


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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

SPECIAL POST: GOLDEN GLOBE PREDICTIONS

GOLDEN GLOBE PREDICTIONS

Here's  a special post to Michael's Telluride Film Blog and the associated Film Awards Clearinghouse:  a round-up of Golden Globe nomination predictions for tomorrow morning.

The HFPA is set to announce their nominees for 2017's awards at 8:30am EST/5:30am PST- Monday morning.

I'll be posting a bit later tomorrow morning with the complete rundown of the actual nominees with particular attention, as you might expect, to the films that played as a part of TFF #44 (or #43 in a couple of possible cases).

I am passing along the picks from some of the best in the business.  All four of them think the TFF #44 films collectively will land nearly 20 nominations but there are some disagreements about how those 30 nominations will be spread.  Here they are:

SASHA STONE/AWARDS DAILY:

The Shape of Water (6): Best Picture-Drama, Actress-Drama (Hawkins), Supporting Actress (Spencer), Director, Screenplay, Score.

Lady Bird (5): Best Picture-Musical/Comedy, Actress-Musical/Comedy (Ronan), Supporting Actress (Metcalf), Director, Screenplay.

Darkest Hour (3): Best Picture-Drama, Actor-Drama (Oldman), Supporting Actor (Mendelsohn)

Downsizing (3): Best Picture-Musical/Comedy, Actor-Musical Comedy (Damon), Supporting Actress Chau).

Battle of the Sexes (2): Actress-Musical/Comedy (Stone), Actor-Musical/Comedy (Carell).

Loving Vincent: Animated Feature.

TOTAL NOMINATIONS FROM TFF #44-20

Stone does not include picks for Foreign Language Film or Song.

Her complete picks are here at Awards Daily.


KRISTOPHER TAPLEY/VARIETY-IN CONTENTION

The Shape of Water (7): Best Picture-Drama, Actress/Drama (Hawkins), Supporting Actress (Spencer), Supporting Actor (Jenkins), Director, Screenplay, Score.

Lady Bird (4): Best Picture-Musical/Comedy, Actress-Musical/Comedy (Ronan), Supporting Actress (Metcalf), Screenplay.

Hostiles (1): Actor/Drama (Bale)

Darkest Hour (1): Actor/Drama (Oldman)

Battle of the Sexes (1): Actress-Musical/Comedy (Stone)

Downsizing (1): Supporting Actress (Chau)

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (1): Song

Foreign Language Films (4): First They Killed My Father, A Fantastic Woman, The Insult, Loveless

TOTAL NOMINATIONS FROM TFF #44- 20

His complete picks are here from Variety.


ANNE THOMPSON/INDIEWIRE

The Shape of Water (6): Best Picture-Drama, Actress-Drama (Hawkins), Supporting Actress (Spencer), Director, Screenplay, Score.

Lady Bird (5): Best Picture-Musical/Comedy, Actress (Ronan), Supporting Actress (Metcalf), Director, Screenplay.

Darkest Hour (2): Actor-Drama (Oldman), Supporting Actor (Mendelsohn).

Battle of the Sexes (2): Actress-Musical/Comedy (Stone), Actor-Musical/Comedy (Carell)

Loving Vincent (1): Animated Feature

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (1): Song

Foreign Language Films (3): First They Killed My Father, A Fantastic Woman, Foxtrot


TOTAL NOMINATIONS FROM TFF #44- 20

Her complete predictions from Indiewire.



STEVE POND/THE WRAP

The Shape of Water (6): Best Picture-Drama, Actress-Drama (Hawkins), Supporting Actress (Spencer), Supporting Actor (Jenkins), Director, Score.

Darkest Hour (1): Actor-Drama (Oldman)

Lady Bird (5): Best Picture-Musical/Comedy, Actress-Musical Comedy (Ronan), Supporting Actress (Metcalf), Director, Screenplay.

Battle of the Sexes (2): Actress-Musical/Comedy (Stone), Actor-Musical/Comedy (Carell).

Loving Vincent (1): Animated Feature.

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (1): Song.

Foreign Language Films (3): First They Killed My Father, Foxtrot, A Fantastic Woman.


His complete predictions are here from The Wrap.


Things I am hoping for in the morning (some more realistic than others);

Harry Dean Stanton gets nominated for the non-Telluride film Lucky.

Richard Jenkins is nominated for Supporting Actor for The Shape of Water.

Greta Gerwig is nominated for Best Director for Lady Bird.

Tracy Letts is nominated for Supporting Actor for Lady Bird.

All five Foreign Language nominees are from TFF #44: First They Killed My Father, A Fantastic Woman, Foxtrot, The Insult and Loveless.


CHECK BACK TOMORROW MORNING FOR HOW IT ALL ACTUALLY GOES DOWN.

TFF #44 and The Critic's Choice / TFF #45 Anyone? / Deadline Talks To Lady Bird

Hello to everyone on this Thursday...


TFF #44 AND THE CRITIC'S CHOICE

The Broadcast Film Critics Association announced their nominations for end of the year superlatives in both film and television on Tuesday and TFF #44 film The Shape of Water lead all films with 14 nominations.  Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird was among a group of films with the second highest total of nominations with eight.

Here's the rundown of all 33 nominations received by films that played at Telluride in 2017:

The Shape of Water (14): Best Picture, Actress-Sally Hawkins, Supporting Actress-Octavia Spencer, Best Supporting Actor (Richard Jenkins), Direction, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Production Design, Film Editing, Costume Design, Makeup, Visual Effects, Score and Best SciFi/Horror Film.

Lady Bird (8): Best Picture, Actress-Saoirse Ronan, Supporting Actress-Laurie Metcalf, Ensemble, Direction, Actress in a Comedy-Ronan and Best Comedy Film

Darkest Hour (4): Best Picture, Actor-Gary Oldman, Makeup and Score

Battle of the Sexes (2) Best Actress in a Comedy(Emma Stone), Best Actor in a Comedy (Steve Carell)

Downsizing (1): Best Supporting Actress (Hong Chau)

Wonderstruck (1): Best Young Actor/Actress (Millicent Simmonds)

Loving Vincent (1): Best Animated Feature

A Fantastic Woman (1): Best Foreign Language Film

First They Killed My Father (1): Best Foreign Language Film

Other films that snagged eight nominations were: Call Me By Your Name, Dunkirk and The Post.  Blade Runner 2049 had seven nominations.

The announcements were something of a bounce back for The Shape of Water which had not gotten much love in earlier key announcements from the National Board of Review or the New York or Los Angeles film critics organizations.

I was also personally thrilled to see Richard Jenkins name among the Supporting Actor nominees for The Shape of Water as I have been stumping for his inclusion since the lights came up after the film screened in Telluride back over Labor Day weekend.

Sad, though, that my other awards choice, Harry Dean Stanton in the non-Telluride film Lucky, didn't land a nod for Best Actor.

The next big awards splash happens later today with the announcement of accolades from The American Film Institute.  Then, next Tuesday, Golden Globe nominations will be revealed.

The complete list of Critic's Choice nominations is here.

The Critic's Choice Awards will be handed out on Jan. 11th at 8:00om EST on The CW network.


TFF #45 ANYONE?

The Playlist has dropped the annual 100 Most Anticipated Films list.  That was posted on Tuesday.

I have made it a habit over the last several years to use that list as a starting point for serious TFF speculation for the upcoming year.  Sure, we're nine months away from Labor Day weekend 2018 and a lot can change between now and then but, hey, "why not take a shot?" says I.

Last year when the list came out I named 20 films that might make the TFF #44 program.  Of those 20, nine made The SHOW: A Fantastic Woman, Battle of the Sexes, Lady Bird, The Other Side of Hope, Lean on Pete, Downsizing, Loveless, The Shape of Water and Wonderstruck.  An additional film that I didn't name also made The SHOW: Darkest Hour.

In 2016, from the 100 films that The Playlist mentioned, seven made the TFF lineup: Neruda, Una, Things to Come, Moonlight, Manchester by the Sea, La La Land and Arrival (which was titled The Story of Your Life at the time).  The only film among them that I named: Neruda. 

In 2015 the list included: Carol, Beasts of No Nation, Black Mass, Suffragette and Spotlight which I included on my Telluride-possibles as well as Room, 45 Years and Steve Jobs which I did not list.

In 2014 the list included: The Lunchbox, Mommy, Tracks and Wild that I didn't name for TFF but did include three films that I did pick: Birdman, Foxcatcher and Mr. Turner.

So the averages suggest that the list below will contain 4-5 films that will actually make the TFF #45 lineup (unless I replicate the success I had for this year)  and the eight films total that are on the complete list of 100 films will make the T-ride program.

So...here are 20 films that appear on The Playlist's 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2018 that I think have the best shot at making it to the San Juans next Labor Day.

Initially, begin with five films that the post itself suggests could play Telluride:

#83-Mid-90's-Jonah Hill directs a coming of age comedy.  Key reason it plays: Distribution from A24.

#72-The Front Runner-The true story of the downfall of Presidential aspirant Gary Hart played by Hugh Jackman and directed Jason Reitman.  After running two hits through Telluride: Juno and Up in the Air, Reitman did not have Young Adult there and then did have the critical and commercial misfire Labor Day, Reitman is due for a return to his original form and consequently a return to T-ride.

#38-Untitled Noah Baumbach Project,  Baumbach had Margot at the Wedding at The SHOW in 2007 and the fantastic Frances Ha in 2012 (which may have helped lay the groundwork for Greta Gerwig's solo directing debut, Lady Bird) but hasn't been back since.  This might be the project that marks his return.

#25-First Man-The story of astronaut Neil Armstrong from director Damien Chazelle starring Ryan Gosling (two collaborators on last year's La La Land).  The high profile expected for this film plus the undeniable success of La La Land suggests that Chazelle would probably be up for a return to TFF.  The picture is from Universal, however, which hasn't exactly been a familiar player at the fest over the years.

#1- If Beale Street Could Talk-The Playlist's #1 most anticipated film is Barry Jenkins' followup to his Oscar winning and Telluride debuting Moonlight.  Just like The Playlist, I fully expect the film to bow at TFF #45.  The film is distributed by Annapurna which is getting into the portion of the business after having been a production firm until now.

In addition to these five films I have zeroed in on another 15 that could make an appearance at Telluride:

#76-Kursk
#75-Private Life
#71-Cold War
#52-E-Book
#40-Fahrenheit 451
#31-Peterloo
#22-The Other Side f the Wind
#21-The Death and Life of John F. Donovan
#19-Sunset
#17-The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
#13-Maya
#12-Everybody Knows
#11-The Sisters Brothers
#8-Widows
#3- Roma

 Let's see how many of these we actually do see when the TFF #45 schedule is unveiled on Aug. 30th.


DEADLINE TALKS TO LADY BIRD

As a part of their "Contender Series" videos, Deadline recently sat down with Greta Gerwig, Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf (all recognized with nominations from the BFCA this week) to talk about Lady Bird.  Here it is from YouTube:

That's it for today.  Come back for more on Monday.


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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT to the blog.

New Red Band Trailer for The Shape of Water / Lady Bird In the Spotlight / The Early FAC for Foreign and Animated

It's Monday, Nov. 13th and November continues apace...


NEW TRAILER FOR THE SHAPE OF WATER


We have a new and final trailer for Guillermo Del Toro's "adult fairy take" The Shape of Water.  Fair warning, it is a Red Band trailer...

The Shape of Water stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer and Michael Stuhlbarg.  It is set to open domestically on Dec. 8th.

Here's Indiewire's coverage of the trailers' release.



LADY BIRD IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The onslaught of publicity for Greta Gerwig's solo directing debut, Lady Bird, gained incredible momentum this week as a ton of film sources posted interviews and profiles with Gerwig and cast members including Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf.

Lady Bird continues to be a dark horse in as far as Oscar speculation goes.  Laurie Metcalf is generally agreed upon as a nearly certain nominee for Supporting Actress and possibly your winner (though Alison Janney is generally regarded as a co-front runner for her performance in I, Tonya).

Personally, I've been saying that Lady Bird could be a much more serious player for a couple of weeks now.  I'm thinking nominations for Metcalf, Ronan, Gerwig for Original Screenplay and Picture with Gerwig having an outside shot at Best Directing.

Just yesterday Sasha Stone of Awards Daily publically made the case I've been contemplating on her website.

Check out these posts from the past week:

Variety's Screening Series presented by Film Struck.

Indiewire's Kate Erbland with Saoirse Ronan.

The Hollywood Reporter's Mia Galuppo writing about Gerwig.

Indiewire's Jenna Marotta on Laurie Metcalf.

The Gold Derby talks with Gerwig and Ronan.


AN EARLY LOOK AT THE FAC FOR FOREIGN FILMS AND ANIMATED FEATURE

Here is the initial take of The Film Awards Clearinghouse for the Foreign Language Film  and Animated Feature categories.

As is my custom, TFF #44 films are Bold.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILMS

1) Loveless
2) First They Killed My Father
3) In the Fade
4) Foxtrot
5) A Fantastic Woman

Others: The Square, BPM, The Insult


ANIMATED FEATURE

1) Coco
2) The Breadwinner
3) Loving Vincent
4) The Lego Batman Movie
5) Ferdinand

Others; The Bass Baby, The Girl Without Hands, Cars 3


That's your wrap for this Monday.  More will appear here on Thursday...

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

The FAC's Oscar Screenplay Predix / Back in Time: The 17th Telluride Film Festival / Todd Haynes Talks Wonderstruck and More

It's a Thursday...and MTFB is back...


THE FAC'S SCREENPLAY OSCAR PREDIX

I am continuing to roll out the first wave of Oscar 2018 predictions from The Film Awards Clearinghouse (FAC) with today's focus on the race for success in both Adapted and Original Screenplays.

As always, films that played Telluride are in Bold.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Call Me By Your Name
2) Mudbound
3) Molly's Game
4) Last Flag Flying
5) Wonderstruck

Others in contention: Stronger, The Disaster Artist, First They Killed My Father

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Three Billboards
2) The Shape of Water
3) Darkest Hour
4) Get Out
5) Lady Bird

Other in contention: The Post, The Big Sick, I Tonya


BACK IN TIME: THE 17TH TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL

My slow roll back through past Telluride Film Festivals continues today as we go back to the 17th Fest that ran from Aug. 31-Sept 3, 1990

Guest Director: Bertrand Travernier

Tributes: Clint Eastwood, John Berry, Gerard Depardieu

SHOWS:

All the Vermeers in New York
Antonia and Jane
Archangel
The Big Man
The Civil War
Coma
The Comfort of Angels
Cyrano de Bergerac
Daddy Nostalgia
Doctor Petiot
The First Spring of Youth
Freeze-Die-Come to Life
Havana
He Ran All the Way
I Walked with a Zombie
Industrial Symphony
Ju Dou
Justin de Marsielle
The King of New York
L'Atalante
The Long Walk Home
The Nasty Girl
Pursued
Reversal of Fortune
The Roof of the World
Stanto Tutti Bene
White Hunter Black Heart

Guests:

Ken Burns
Julee Cruise
Manny Farber
Abel Ferrera
Taylor Hackford
Chuck Jones
Guy Maddin
Helen Mirren
Liam Neeson
Paul Schrader
Barbet Schroeder
Sissy Spacek
Christopher Walken


TODD HAYNES TALKS WONDERSTRUCK AND MORE

Nick Newman of The Film Stage had a semi-in-depth interview with writer/director Todd Haynes that was posted on Tuesday.  Haynes talks Wonderstruck, which opens on October 20th as well as a mention of the late David Bowie.

Catch up on the Haynes' interview here.


TRACY LETTS ON LADY BIRD



Tracy Letts plays Lady Bird's (Saoirse Ronan) father in the film of the same name written and directed by Greta Gerwig.  Recently he was interviewed as a part of a series sponsored by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.  The interview is conducted by Indiewire's Eric Kohn and was posted to YouTube.

You can see their conversation here:

That's your Thursday MTFB.  More on Monday...


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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Reprising TFF #44 / Stone's Take on the Oscar Race / Shape of Water and Wonderstruck Views / Foreign Language Field Is Set

Welcome back from the weekend everyone...

REPRISING TFF #44

Was perusing Gary Meyer's Eat, Drink Films website over the weekend and discovered a fine wrap-up of this year's Telluride Film Festival from Risa Nye.  I have linked it here.

Risa hits many of the highlights of the weekend and specifically talks Downsizing, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, Darkest Hour, Lean on Pete, Lady Bird, Jamaica Man, The Rider, Hostiles, Love Cecil, An Inconvenient Sequel, Wonderstruck, The Cotton Club Encore and Battle of the Sexes.


STONE'S TAKE ON THE OSCAR RACE

Awards Daily's Sasha Stone updates her Oscar prediction every Friday so I thought I'd take a look at last Friday's list and sort of get a feel for where this year's Telluride crop might be headed.  I t should be noted that Stone doesn't list all 24 categories as yet but does mention 14 of them.

Currently she has Joe Wright's Darkest Hour and Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water leading the way with 10 nominations each.

She has Darkest Hour with:  Picture, Direction, Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Costumes and Makeup.

The Shape of Water would have these nominations: Picture, Direction, Actress, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor (Jenkins), Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Costumes and Makeup.

Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird would land three nominations: Picture, Supporting Actress and Original Screenplay.

Battle of the Sexes gets a nomination for Emma Stone for Best Actress.

Hostiles gets a nomination for Adapted Screenplay as does Wonderstruck.

Faces/Places gets nominated for Documentary Feature.

Loving Vincent gets a nom for Animated Feature.

She also lists "Contenders", films/performers that she doesn't currently list as nominees but which could get in. 

That potential exists for other nominations for:

The Shape of Water: Supporting Actor (Shannon)

Lady Bird: Direction, Actress

Battle of the Sexes: Picture, Direction

Hostiles: Picture

Wonderstruck: Picture, Direction

Downsizing: Picture, Direction, Actor, Supporting Actress

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool: Actress

The complete "Awards Daily Predictions Friday" post is here.
 

SHAPE OF WATER AND WONDERSTRUCK

We got a new "inside look" at Del Toro's The Shape of Water this weekend from SlashFilm.  The story and the video are both here.

Additionally, we also got a new clip from Todd Haynes Wonderstruck that runs just over four minutes.  The new clip is below from YouTube:

The Shape of Water opens on Dec. 8 and Wonderstruck opens on Oct. 20.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILED OS SET

The deadline has passed for the submission of films for consideration for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.  The Playlist reports that a record 92 nations submitted films for consideration.  

Among them are five films that played as a part of the TFF #44 lineup:

First They Killed My Father (Cambodia)

A Fantastic Woman (Chile)

Foxtrot (Israel)

The Insult (Lebanon)

Loveless (Russia)

The complete list and The Playlist story are here.

That's your MTFB for this Monday...more on Thursday.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Foreign Language Field Grows / Views of Downsizing and First They Killed My Father / Lady Bird Flies a Little Earlier / More Harry Dean Stanton Goodness / Hostiles: Still No Distrib But a Trip to Rome

Good Thursday Film Fans...



FOREIGN LANGUAGE FIELD GROWS

Thus week Russia announced that its official entrant into Oscar's Best Foreign Language race will be Andrey Zvyaginstev's Loveless.  The choice is a, perhaps, a bit of a surprise because the film, as was Zyvaginstev's previous Oscar nominated Leviathan, offers a critique of modern day Russia.

The film had a great response at Cannes and Telluride did nothing to diminish that.  Loveless will screen at the London, Hampton and Mill Valley Film Fests soon.
 
Other TFF #44 films in announced for the FLF race:

Cambodia: First They Killed More Father
Chile: A Fantastic Woman
Israel: Foxtrot
Lebanon: The Insult

Other non-TFF #44 films of note announced:

Austria: Happy End
France: BPM
Poland: Spoor
Sweden: The Square


Details and a complete list can be found here from Awards Watch.


VIEWS OF DOWNSIZING AND FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER

This week we were treated to a new clip from Alexander Payne's Downsizing and a new trailer for Angelina Jolie's Oscar Foreign Language contender First They Killed My Father.

Downsizing is set to open in the U.S. on Dec. 22nd:

Meanwhile, First They Killed My Father has begun screening on Netflix on Sept. 15th.  The film was theatrically released as well:

Both videos are posted via YouTube.


LADY BIRD FLIES A WEEK EARLIER

A24 has announced that they are moving the initial limited release of Greta Gerwig's Telluride smash, Lady Bird up a week to Nov. 10th.  The film had been set for Nov. 17th and will go wider that weekend and even wider as Thanksgiving weekend.

Details and the story are here from Deadline.com.



MORE HARRY DEAN STANTON GOODNESS

The MTFB push to get Harry Dean Stanton into the awards conversation for his final film, Lucky continues today with a couple of articles from this week.  The film opens tomorrow in limited release in New York and Los Angeles.

First, The Hollywood Reporter had this story this week that focused on a gathering of a number of his close friends in Stanton's s favorite L.A. watering hole.

And Variety filed this report with the cast and crew of Lucky celebrating the L.A. premiere of the film.


HOSTILES: STILL NO DISTRIBUTOR BUT A TRIP TO ROME

As of my typing this on Thursday morning Scott Cooper's Hostiles is still without a distributor.  The name Netflix keeps buzzing about but there's nothing solid.  Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter says that the film will open the Rome Film Fest on Oct. 26th.

That report is here.


Last note for the day is that we are expecting a Darkest Hour trailer later today.  I'll be looking for that.


Until Monday, my friends...

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Telluride History Book: TFF #19 / More on Harry Dean Stanton / Cambodia Choses Jolie's Film, Israel Will Foxtrot / Trouble in Iran

Hello to all on this Thursday...


TELLURIDE HISTORY BOOK: TFF #19-1992

My retrospective of the history of Telluride Film Festival continues today as I resume after a six week hiatus with a look at the 19th TFF.  Now that TFF #44 has concluded, I'll get back to this project with the hope that I can conclude it episodically between now and the Oscar ceremony on Mar. 4th.

Here's a look at TFF #19:

Guest Direct: C. Cabrera Infante

Tributes: Harvey Keitel, Elmer Bernstein, Cy Endfield

SHOWS:

Bad Lieutenant
The Chosen One
Close to Eden
The Cranes Are Flying
The Crying Game
The Donner Party
El Mariachi
Feed
The Firm
From Hollywood to Hanoi
The Godless Girl
Homeland
I Am Cuba
I Want to See Angels
La Virgen de la Caridad
Laughter
Leolo
Lessons of the Darkness
The Letter That Was Never Sent
Life in Shadows
The Long Day Closes
The Loveless
Made in Britain
The Magnificent Seven
Momento Mori
Nail in the Boot
The Oak
Olivier Olivier
Peter's Friends
Reservoir Dogs
Road
The Sound of Fury
Strictly Ballroom
Tous Les Matins Du Monde
Victim of Sin
Visions of Light


Guests:

Kathryn Bigelow
Werner Herzog
Chuck Jones
Michael Moore
Gary Oldman
Robert Rodriguez
Tim Roth

1992's lineup seems amazing to me as it included: Reservoir Dogs, The Crying Game, Bad Lieutenant, El Mariachi and Strictly Ballroom.  Mike Leigh also had his short film A Sense of History at the fest.


MORE ON HARRY DEAN STANTON

I wrote in Monday's post about the loss of the great Harry Dean Stanton.  Yes...I am the one man campaign for a Best Actor nomination for him this year for Lucky.

But I also pointed out that I wasn't certain that Stanton was in Telluride for the screening of Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas in 1984.  I couldn't confirm or deny based on the official program from that year.  I asked for further information from MTFB readers and my request was rewarded.

Long time Telluride Film Festival staffer Jim Bedford confirmed via email that Stanton was, in fact, in Telluride in 1984.  From Jim's email:

From 1973-1983 I ran the Sheridan Opera House for Bill Pence's small chain of Denver and ski town theatres. In the early years Bill would do the programming from Denver and give us three-month schedules with three films a week, two for three days each and an art film on Wed only. Anything that worked would be brought back (think THE KING OF HEARTS, CHINATOWN, MCCABE, etc.) for rep runs. Boy, did I see a bunch of great movies during those years.

In 1975 we showed RANCHO DELUXE which our Telluride audience fell in love with and my love of Harry Dean Stanton (which was reinforced by Stella Pence, who was also a fan) continued from that time on. My guess is that we showed RANCHO at least a half dozen times over those years and it never failed to draw a quite pleased audience. Our little town embraced this film's quirky ethic, great one-liners and indelible characters (including clearly HDS).

In 1981 when Bill, Stella, Tom Luddy and Bill Everson did the second year of the Santa Fe Film Festival as a tribute to the Western Film and I convinced Bill that RANCHO was a Modern Western, a perfect foil for the real end of the Old West (sort of an anti-THE WILD BUNCH). It was included in the program and I got to present it at the Lensic Theatre and give Santa Fe Festival sterling silver belt buckles to Tom McGuane and Harry Dean on stage (pictures are available).

Two years later at the TFF, HDS was certainly in town for PARIS, TEXAS. Bill had also scheduled a by-then out-of-circulation REPO MAN in 16mm in the Community Center (it had premiered  in Berlin earlier that winter and died after a short March release). (Meanwhile, the TFF early arrival staff had screened REPO MAN on 16mm on the TFF office wall two weeks before so we were all nuts about it already.)

It was my job to get Harry Dean from the New Sheridan Hotel to the CC for the screening so I picked him up and we walked up the hill while I think he smoked 2-3 cigs on the way. It was a packed show at the CC that included Roger Ebert. After the screening Roger talked to HDS and later that week gave REPO MAN (which he had not seen or reviewed yet) a 3.5 star review. Universal then gave the film another release and the rest is history; REPO MAN became one of the great Cult Films from then on.

(PARIS, TEXAS wasn't bad either. I got to watch its premiere sitting on the SOH floor and then watch Wim Wenders take the stage after the film joined by Kit Carson, Hunter Carson, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell [a surprise visitor up from Santa Fe], and of course, Harry Dean.) 

Jim also kindly included two photos.  A still of Stanton from Telluride as well as one from the ceremony at the 1981 Santa Fe Fest:

CAMBODIA CHOOSES JOLIE'S FILM, ISRAEL WILL FOXTROT

Since my last post on Monday there have been some moves from various nations to put forth their films for consideration for the Foreign Language Film Oscar.  Cambodia jolted the race and the calculations with regard to nominations by announcing that their choice is Angelina Jolie's First They Killed My Father.

Jolie holds citizenship in Cambodia.

The film ranked # 10 on MTFB's Composite Ratings of Telluride films with a decent 7.05 combined rating.

Coverage is here from:

Variety

The Hollywood Reporter and

Deadline

Meanwhile, Israel's Ophir Awards have determined that Foxtrot will be their entry in the FLF Oscar sweepstakes.  The Samuel Maoz directed film dominated the Israeli "Oscars" winning 8.

Coverage from Variety.


TROUBLE IN IRAN

Though it didn't receive enough ratings from wither the Pros or the People to establish a rating last week, Mohammad Rasoulof's A Man of Integrity seemed to be well received by the TFF patrons that I ran into and that had seen it.  The film also won the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes last May.

Rasoulof was detained by Iranian authorities this past week as he returned to Iran from Telluride.  The film maker had to surrender his passport and has been ordered to court.

Here's the story from The Hollywood Reporter. 


That's your MTFB filing for Thursday, Sept. 21st.  I'll have more on Monday.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

The People's Telluride 2017 / Official Downsizing Trailer / Awards Daily Oscar Podcasts- All This and the Oscars Too-Have Begun / Foreign Language Oscar Candidates / Jolie's Film Gets an Oscar Run

Welcome back to MTFB for this Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017.

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

For the sixth consecutive Telluride Film Festival I have solicited film ratings from the readers of this space for the films they saw last week.  This year I had responses from more than 40 film patrons.  It has been said that TFF fans are some of the most discerning film goers on the world and I think that the results of this poll over the past few years bares that out.  Up until last year the film that finished as the #2 People's film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.  Moonlight upset that apple cart for 2016 by topping The People's chart (it edged out La La Land by 4/100ths of a point) and then winning Best Picture.

Here's your brief People's history of the top three films for each year:

2012:

1) Stories We Tell- 4.80
2) Argo- 4.75
3) The Attack- 4.70

2013:

1) Tim's Vermeer (4.67)
2) 12 Years a Slave (4.55)
3) Gravity (4.40)

2014:

1) The Imitation Game (4.73)
2) Birdman (4.46)
3) Wild Tales (4.23)

2015:

1) Room (4.47)
2) Spotlight (4.45)
3) Beasts of No Nation (4.35)

2016:

1) Moonlight (4.37)
2) La La Land (4.33)
3) Maudie (4.29)

And now, the 2017 People's Telluride results...16 films received enough responses to be included in the poll...

1) Lady Bird (4.38)
2) The Shape of Water (4.22)
3) Darkest Hour (4.04)
4) Hostiles (3.99)
5) Faces Places (3.71)
6) Battle of the Sexes (3.68)
7) Lean on  Pete (3.66)
8) Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (3.57)
9) The Other Side of Hope (3.45)
10) Wonderstruck (3.43)
11) The Rider (3.38)
12) Loving Vincent (3.37)
13) First Reformed (3.33)
14) A Fantastic Woman (3.32)
15) First They Killed My Father (3.27)
16) Downsizing (3.07)

The single most rated film was Darkest Hour which had 35 respondents rate it.

The Peeps response probably bodes well for Oscar chances for Lady Bird, The Shape of Water and Darkest Hour.  Battle of the Sexes may be in some trouble Oscar-wise.

I was struck at how The People reacted to big time films from big name film makers as Angelina Jolie's First They Killed My Father, Todd Haynes' Wonderstruck and Alexander Payne's Downsizing all finished in the bottom half of the list.

I'll have The Composite Telluride, the combination of The Peeps and The Pros in Monday's blog post.  I might note that The Composite may now be a better indicator of possible Oscar success than the stand alone People's ratings have been.


OFFICIAL DOWNSIZING TRAILER

After screening at Telluride Venice and Toronto Alexander Payne's Downsizing and Paramount released a trailer for the film this week.  Here it is from YouTube:

And a story about the trailer's release from Indiewire.



AWARDS DAILY OSCAR PODCASTS HAVE BEGUN

Sasha Stone has started recording and posting the Awards Daily Oscar Podcasts for the coming season.  The first two are up with yours truly making an appearance on the first one recorded in Telluride (and also a special appearance from both my wife, Kristy, and a guy named Guillermo Del Toro.  That podcast is here. 

I show up around the 19 minute mark and Del Toro follows right after.

The second podcast gets to the business of the season and was recorded after Telluride and features not only Stone but also Mark Johnson of Awards Circuit and Tomris Laffly who freelances for many publications including Film Journal and Film School Rejects.

That podcast is linked here.


FOREIGN LANGUAGE OSCAR SUBMISSIONS

Two TFF #44 films have already been named by their host countries for consideration for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.  Chile has submitted Sebastian Lelio's A Fantastic Woman and Lebanon has submitted Ziad Douieri's The Insult.

A number of other films have also been announced with many more scheduled to be named in the next couple of weeks.

Awards Watch has a very good article up that has an up to date list of films as well as a schedule for the rest of September for FLF Oscar submissions.

Check that article here.


ANGELINA JOLIE'S FILM GETS AN OSCAR QUALIFYING RUN

The Wrap reports that Netflix will open Angelina Jolie's First They Killed My Father will get a contemporaneous theatrical release in a number of U.S. cities this week coinciding with its availability on the streaming service.

The film will screen in Los Angeles and New York as well as eight other major markets on Friday.

The Wrap's story is here.


And that's going to do it for this Thursday.  Come back for Monday's post which will include the 2017 Composite Telluride Film Ratings that combine the ratings from both the people and the professionals.  I've been doing this since 2013 and the film that has topped the Composite Poll has won the Best Picture Oscar each year.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Wormwood Trailer Lands / Foundas Finds a New Cotton Club / Sorrow About Sea Sorrow / Views from the Film Field: Awards Season / Views from the Film Field: The Women Directing / Venice and Telluride / Reminders

You're staring at Tuesday, August 29, 2017...TFF #44 cranks up in three days!


WORMWOOD TRAILER LANDS

Maybe the most mysterious likely inclusion in the TFF #44 lineup is Errol Morris' Wormwood.  We got more info about it yesterday including the notes that it will be six episodes and that Netflix will drop it on Dec. 15th.

Oh, and there is also a trailer via YouTube:

Included here is Wormwood coverage from:

The Hollywood Reporter

Entertainment Weekly

Deadline

FOUNDAS FINDS NEW COTTON CLUB

Scott Foundas, who has been a Telluride festival or three Tweeted out a big surprise and reveal late last night.

TFF#44 will program a restoration of Francis Ford Coppola's Cotton Club.  Here's the screen grab of two Foundas Tweets with the reveal:

And the second:

So if you have a yen for a restoration, looks like Telluride has your answer.  Also, you have to think that Coppola would likely be in town to present.  

SORROW ABOUT SEA SORROW

After reading the NYFF announcement stories in a number of different places, I concluded that Vanessa Redgrave's directing debut, the documentary Sea Sorrow, could be Telluride bound.  That was based on the lack of any premiere status designation in the stories.  Last night I discovered that the actual NYFF/Film Society of Lincoln Center website does, in fact, list it as a U.S. Premiere meaning that it will NOT be a player at TFF #44 after all.  

Here's your evidence:

So...no Sea Sorrow.  Apologies to all.

VIEWS OF THE FILM FIELD: AWARDS SEASON

The Playlist's awards guru Greg Ellwood has published a story that focuses on 13 films that he has highlighted as possible awards season dominators.  Among them he has included Alexander Payne's Downsizing, Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water, Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird and Joe Wright's Darkest Hour.

Ellwood also sprinkles in some Telluride intimations ahead of Thursday's lineup reveal so you might to look for those.

The entire post is here.


VIEWS OF THE FILM FIELD: THE WOMEN DIRECTING

I came across a couple of stories that were focused on female directors that look to have films in the end of the year awards conversation and naturally I was interested in which of those films included by the authors could make a splash this weekend at Telluride.

Both Tomris Laffly writing for Film School Rejects and Kate Erbland at Indiewire examine the group of films from directors such as Angelina Jolie, Chloe Zhao and others that seem, at least as we stand on the precipice of the fall film festival season, could make the most awards noise.

Both writers include these films in their musings that I am thinking will be announced as part of the TFF #44 lineup on Thursday: First They Killed My Father, The Rider, Visages/Villages (Faces/Places) and Lady Bird.

Laffly also includes Battle of the Sexes which is co-directed by Valerie Faris.

Take a look at the complete articles.  The Laffly/FSR article is here and the Erbland/Indiewire article is here.


VENICE AND TELLURIDE

Nick Vivarelli writing for Indiewire last week examined the dynamic between the three fall film fests that are set to launch over the next ten days with a particular focus on Venice and an ancillary focus on Telluride.

Vivarelli interviews Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera who talks considerably about the current state of the two fests and Toronto as well.

Vivarelli confirms that this year may have the largest crossover between the two fests that anyone can remember.  Venice reportedly wanted both Last Flag Flying which will open the New York Fest in a few weeks and Hostiles which we believe will first screen at Telluride this weekend.

Read the entire Vivarelli piece here.



DON'T FORGET...THE FINAL LIST OF TELLURIDE PREDICTIONS WILL BE UP TOMORROW MORNING IN A SPECIAL EDITION OF MTFB.

ALSO, WE MAY GET ONE MORE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM TORONTO TODAY...STAY TUNED...



JOIN MTFB AND RATE THOSE FILMS

Don't forget, my friends, I want your ratings of the films you see next weekend.  Use a 0-5 scale with 0 being "putrid" and 5 being "best film since..."


Have a great weekend and get rested up for next week.  More on Monday!

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

New Toronto Titles Reveal Little / First They Killed Trailer / Early Oscar and TFF #44

It's Thursday, Aug. 4, 2017...TFF #44 begins four weeks from tomorrow!

NEW TORONTO TITLES REVEAL LITTLE

The Toronto International Film Fest announced its slate of Documentaries, Midnight Madness and Short Cuts Tuesday and none of those announcements added as single title to TFF #44.  They did, however, take a player off the TFF #44 table after we were under the impression that Frederick Wiseman's Ex Libris: The New York Public Library.  We had that impression due to this Ioncinema story:

But despite what seemed to be a claim that Ex Libris would do the same path that Human Flow is looking like it will do, the TIFF announcement lists Ex Libris as a North American Premiere.  Ex Libris is currently listed as opening in NYC on Sept. 13.

This likely means that the film isn't playing T-ride but there is still enough to be a bit tentative about making a definitive call.  The most probable explanation is that it will premiere at TIFF sometime before its NYC bow on Sept. 13.

In terms of other news from the TIFF reveal Tuesday was that every film announced was a World or North American Premiere except for one and that was a seven minute film from the Midnight Madness section named Great Choice which was listed as a Canadian Premiere.  Investigation revealed that the film bowed in February at the Borscht Film Fest in Miami.

JUST BREAKING: TIFF'S PLATFORM SELECTIONS

It might be noted that Moonlight played the Platform section last year and was the only Platform selection that was shared by both TFF and TIFF and this year that will NOT be replicated as no film in the section will play both fests.

The TIFF announcement lists all twelve films as either a World or North American Premiere which means that none of them will have played TFF the week before.

While we can infer no additions to the Telluride lineup, we can glean films that won't make the trip to the San Juans.

Among the films announced this morning that I thought had a shpt at T-ride:

The Death of Stalin

Brad's Status 

Sweet Country

I am particularly disappointed that The Death of Stalin won't be playing Telluride.  It was relatively high on my wish list.

FIRST THEY KILLED TRAILER

In all the hubbub the last week or so about the casting methods used or not used for Angelina Jolie's First They Killed My Father, which we believe will play TFF #44 owing to its listing for Toronto as a Canadian Premiere, came the release yesterday of the first trailer for the film:

(trailer via YouTube)

I have also linked coverage of the film and the trailer's release here from:

Variety

Indiewire


HOSTILES CONFIRMED

After playing this game for awhile, I can tell you none of this prediction stuff is ever 100% certain. That goes as well for trying to read the TIFF tea leaves.  I'm pretty sure about those claims but as you can see above in the case of Ex Libris, sometimes things are confused or mis-labeled or just wrong.

That's why I continue to look for information that validates what we think we know and I had a fine example of how that works since my last post on Tuesday.

Combing through social media on Tuesday night I came across this reference on Twitter:

That's Native American actor and activist Wes Studi (a fellow Oklahoman by the way).  So naturally, I followed up:

Looks good to me.  Hostiles will be making the trip along with Mr. Studi.




EARLY OSCAR AND TFF #44

The big Oscar prognosticators seem to be getting their ducks lined up prior to the start of the fall film fest Trifecta (and now after lineup announcements from TIFF and Venice).

Tuesday we included Sasha Stone's assessment of the Picture, Director and Lead Acting fields. Today, here is the link to her view of the screenplay races.

Stone mentions probable Telluride players The Shape of Water, Downsizing, Battle of the Sexes and Wonderstruck as screenplay possibilities.

Meanwhile, Clayton Davis and his crew at Awards Circuit are up with another edition of their podcast: Circuit Breaker that surveys the field as well as a number of other items including some talk about TFF #44 that might well feature a massive reference to a certain Telluride Film Fest blog.  That happens at the 18 minute mark.  Take a listen.


That's your Thursday.

A reminder, I will update this post today should we find out anything of interest regarding TFF #44 from Toronto and don't forget, tomorrow...a new Ten Bets list...

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG