European Film Producers / Film Stars is Officially SPC / Gathering the Forces of Light / UPDATED: New York Film Fest Announcement

Welcome to your Tuesday...23 days...

EUROPEAN PRODUCTION COMPANIES

I thought I'd take an abbreviated look at the four European production firms that seem to have had the most pronounced Telluride connection over the past decade: Film4, Canal+, France 3 Cinema and Cine+.

Here's the breakdown of what films they have aided in producing that played TFF and then a quick look at the films they have this year that are most likely to make the grade for The SHOW:

FILM4

2007: When Did You Last See Your Father?, Brick Lane
2008: Happy-Go-Lucky, Hunger, Slumdog Millionaire
2009
2010: Another Year, Never Let Me Go, 127 Hours
2011: Shame
2012
2013: Under the Skin, Starred Up, 12 Years a Slave
2014: Mr. Turner, '71
2015: Carol, Suffragette, Room, 45 Years
2016: Una

19 films in ten years.  1.9 per year.

Possibles: The Killing of a Sacred Dear, You Were Never Really Here, Lean on Pete, Mary Magdalene


CANAL+

2007: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Terror's Advocate, Jellyfish
2008: With a Little Help From Myself, I've Loved You So Long
2009: Farewell, Coco Before Chanel, A Prophet, The White Ribbon
2010: The Illusionist, Carlos, Of Gods and Men, The Princess of Montpensier
2011: Crazy Horse, Albert Nobbs, Goodbye First Love, The Kid with a Bike, The Artist, Le Havre
2012: Rust and Bone, Superstar, The Attack
2013: Blue is the Warmest Color", Le Maison de la Radio", "The Past"
2014: The Price of Fame, Two Days One Night, Diplomacy
2015: Marguerite
2016: Frantz, Lost in Paris, My Journey Through French Cinema, Things to Come

33 films in ten year.  3.3 films per year.

Possibles: L'amant Double, Happy End


FRANCE 3 CINEMA

2007: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Persepolis
2008: I've Loved You So Long
2009: The White Ribbon
2010: The Illusionist, The Princess of Montpensier, Of Gods and Men
2011: The Artist
2012: Superstar, Amour
2013: The Past

2014: The Gate, The Price of Fame, Mr. Turner
2015: Marguerite

No film in 2016.

15 films in ten years. 1.5 films per year

Possibles: Happy End, Redoubtable

CINE+

2007: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
2008: With a Little Help from Myself
2009: Farewell, Coco Before Chanel, A Prophet, Inferno
2010: The Illusionist, The Princess of Montpensier, Of Gods and Men
2011: Goodbye First Love, The Kid with a Bike, Le Havre, The Artist
2012: Rust and Bone, Superstar, The Attack, Amour
2013: The Past, Blue is the Warmest Color, Le Maison de la Radio
2014: The Gate. The Price of Fame, Two Days One Night, Diplomacy
2015: Marguerite
2016: Frantz, Lost in Paris, My Journey Through French Cinema

28 films in ten years.  2.8 films per year.

Possibles: L'amant Double, Happy End


FILMS STARS IS OFFICIALLY SPC

We had heard a couple of weeks back that Sony Pictures Classics was close to a deal to acquire Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool.  That deal was announced as complete yesterday according to multiple reports including from Deadline.com, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

The film is on our Telluride list due to its status as a Canadian Premiere at Toronto.  I re-checked that status last night in light of the breaking news because the reports indicated that the film is "premiering" at Toronto.  I noticed, however, that the premiere status was not specifically identified.  So, for the moment, I still think it's playing TFF #44.

One other note about the film-I have made the point a few times that Annette Bening will be tied up with her Venice Jury President's duties which begs the question: Will any talent from the film accompany the film in addition to director Paul McGuigan?  The most likely suspect would be Bening's young co-star Jamie Bell but it could include Vanessa Redgrave and/or Julie Walters either of which should probably have been included in yesterday's "Let's Talk Tributes" section on this blog.

Redgrave please.

GATHERING THE FORCES OF LIGHT

It's never too early to start to remind readers that MTFB will again send out the call to rate the films that you see at TFF #44.

The system is simple.  Contact me with a rating of 0-5 for each film you see.  You can send those to me via any of the methods listed at the bottom of this blog.

MTFB will, again this year, also be collecting ratings from a number of the professional film critics and bloggers who will be in town.  Many fine folks have agreed to participate again this year including Indiwire's Eric Kohn, Anne Thompson and David Ehrlich, Awards Daily's Sasha Stone and The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg among others.

At the conclusion of the fest I'll publish the results from the Pros, The People and a combination rating.  It's kind of interesting and can even be illuminating.

Last year, Moonlight broke a trend that had been going for a number of years in that the Oscar Best Picture winner had finished in the #2 spot in The People's Ratings.  Moonlight broke that after finishing in the top spot.

Still, for five straight years now, The People's Telluride has been very predictive bout where the BP Oscar would go.


LATE BREAKING: NEW YORK FILM FEST ANNOUNCEMENT (AND FANTASTIC FEST)

The New York Film Fest announcement dropped at 11am (EDT) and here's the quick takeaway as far as Telluride is concerned:

Apparently headed to Telluride that we didn't already think:

Agnes Varda's Visages/Villages
Aki Kaurismaki's The Other Side of Hope
and it would seem Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish

What appears to be conformed among films we were already fairly sure about:

Wonderstruck
Lady Bird
The Rider

Off our list for TFF #44

The Florida Project
The Meyerowitz Stories
Spoor

Fantastic Fest also released their first wave of titles which included the U.S. Premiere of  Yorgos Lanthimos' The Killing of  A Sacred Deer which means no Telluride for it.  Of interest also, the U.S. Premieres of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri and for Cannes Palme d'Or winner The Square.

More to come on Thursday.

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

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

The Euro Producers: The French-France 3 Cinema / NYFF Opener is a Surprise / A Venice Tidbit

Welcome to Wednesday...

THE EURO PRODUCERS: THE FRENCH

FRANCE 3 CINEMA

Here's the France 3 Cinema track record at Telluride for the past several years.  As you can see, they have been a fairly active presence.


2003: Dogville, The Tripletts of Belleville
2004:
2005: Lemming, Live and Become, Cache
2006: The Page Turner, Indigenes
2007: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Persepolis
2008: I've Loved You So Long
2009: The White Ribbon
2010: The Illusionist, The Princess of Montpensier, Of Gods and Men
2011: The Artist
2012: Superstar, Amour
2013: The Past

2014: The Gate, The Price of Fame, Mr. Turner
2015: Marguerite

France 3's best shot at TFF #43 is the animated Ma Vie de Courgette (My Life as a Zucchini).  It's actually a pretty reasonable shot after its successful debut at the Annecy Animation Film Festival.

Here's the poster for the film:

And its IMDb page:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2321405/?ref_=nv_sr_1



NYFF OPENER IS A SURPRISE

It was all over the internet yesterday that the New York Film Festival had chosen Ava DuVernay's documentary The 13th to open that fest on Sept. 30.  Reports list it as the film's world premiere which means a couple of things for readers of this space,  First, we know that it won't be playing Telluride-it's "world" premiere status tells us that.  Second, it might open the door to Telluride for some other major films that could have conceiveably played that opening night slot for NYFF.

The film focuses on the discriminatory nature of the American justice system.

Last year's opener was Robert Zemeckis' The Walk.


Linked here are stories about the NYFF opener:

http://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2016/daily/ava-duvernay-the-13th-new-york-film-festival/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ny-film-fest-ava-duvernay-912321

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/20/movies/ava-duvernay-new-york-film-festival-the-13th.html?_r=2


 A VENICE TIDBIT

As I mentioned yesterday, the announcement for the lineup for Venice's Film Fest is two weeks from tomorrow.  We may have learned a bit more via Twitter yesterday as a couple of tweets suggested that Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals (Focus Features) will world premiere there.

That follows news from a month ago that Damien Chazelle's La La Land will open the Venetian soiree.

The Venice shot for Nocturnal Animals does not preclude a play at Telluride as it has become fairly common for a number of films to play both fests.  Last year eight films played both: Oscar winner Spotlight, Beasts of No Nation, Anomalisa, Black Mass, Heart of a Dog, Marguerite, Winter on Fire and Taj Mahal.  In 2014 Oscar winner Birdman, 99 Homes, The Look of Silence and The Price of Fame played the same duet.

Nocturnal Animals is set to open in the U.S. on Dec. 9.


Tis all for this Wednesday.  More tomorrow...

Contact MTFB at:

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OR on Twitter @Gort2

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OR leave a comment...

"Ten Bets" #4/European Producers: Le French Part Deux/First Trailer for "The Revenant"/Trailer and Interview for "The Assassin"

It's finally Friday...where has the summer gone?

LATEST "TEN BETS" (#4 for 2015)

Here's this week's installment of my weekly guess as to what are the ten most likely films to play as a part of this year's Telluride Film Festival.

First, a look at last week's "Ten Bets":

10) "The Club"
9) "Suffragette"
8) "13 Minutes"
7) "Queen of the Desert"
6) "45 Years"
5) "I Saw the Light"
4) "Carol"
3) "Youth"
2) "Son of Saul"
1) "Dheepan"

  

And now, "Ten Bets" #4

10) "The Club"

9) "Truth"

8) "Queen of the Desert"

7) "Suffragette"

6) "Youth"

5) "45 Years"

4) "I Saw the Light"

3) "Carol"

2) "Dheepan"

1) "Son of Saul"

SPC's "Truth" rejoins the "Ten Bets" replacing their "13 Minutes".  Also, "Mountains Amy Depart" drops a bit farther as its director is on the new "Program" jury for Toronto.  "The Measure of a Man" moves to "near Ten Bets" status.

EUROPEAN PRODUCERS: LE FRENCH PART DEUX

I'm continuing my look at European/French film production firms today with looks at Telluride legacies for France2 Cinema and France 3 as a way of looking for possible shows for The SHOW.

FRANCE2 CINEMA

Here are the films from France2 Cinema that have played Telluride in recent years:

2006: Indigenes
2009: A Prophet, Coco Before Chanel
2010: The Princess of Montpensier
2011: The Kid with a Bike
2012: Rust and Bone

2013: Blue is the Warmest Color
2014: Two Days One Night

TFF #42 possibilities:

"Youth"
"Mon Roi"
"Lolo"
 are the best bets from France2.

FRANCE 3

Here's the track record from France 3 at Telluride for the past several years:

2003: Dogville, The Tripletts of Belleville
2004:
2005: Lemming, Live and Become, Cache
2006: The Page Turner, Indigenes
2007: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Persepolis
2008: I've Loved You So Long
2009: The White Ribbon
2010: The Illusionist, The Princess of Montpensier, Of Gods and Men
2011: The Artist
2012: Superstar, Amour
2013: The Past

2014: Mr. Turner, The Price of Fame, The Gate

Their 2015 slate that might be Telluride possible includes:

"Diary of a Chambermaid"
"Disorder"
"Valley of Love"
 These films seem like the best bets from France 3.

FIRST TRAILER FOR "THE REVENANT"

"The Revenant" trailer via YouTube

Let me be clear, Alejandro Inarritu's "The Revenant" starring Leonardo DiCaprio is almost certainly NOT going to make it to Telluride.  The film is, the buzz says, NOT ready and WILL NOT be ready in time.

With a Dec. 25th release date, Inarritu has plenty of time before its theatrical release to get finished up...maybe.  Honestly, I wouldn't be all that surprised if this didn't get held until 2016 with a play at Cannes and then a 2016 Telluride play.

Nevertheless, we have a trailer that dropped this morning as you can see above and here are some of the related stories from other outlets that accompanied the trailer this morning:

http://www.slashfilm.com/the-revenant-trailer-leonardo-dicaprio/

http://www.thewrap.com/leonardo-di-caprio-does-not-fear-death-in-first-trailer-for-the-revenant-video/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-leonardo-dicaprio-tom-hardy-star-in-the-first-trailer-for-alejandro-inarritus-revenge-thriller-the-revenant-20150717

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/17/revenant-trailer-leonardo-dicaprio?hootPostID=f03a2f8aeed55cacf06a1c7f883a2b2b

http://thefilmstage.com/trailer/first-trailer-for-alejandro-gonzalez-inarritus-the-revenant-with-leonardo-dicaprio-and-tom-hardy/

TRAILER AND INTERVIEW FOR "THE ASSASSIN

Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "The Assassin" won the Best Directing prize at Cannes last May and that might be enough to see it make the Telluride 2015 program.  Last year's Cannes Best Director made the trip to T-ride-Bennett Miller and "Foxcatcher'.  Other Cannes Best Direction winners of recent years that have then played Telluride include: Gus Van Sant ("Elephant" '03), Michael Haneke ("Cache" '05) Alejandro Inarritu ("Babel '06) and Julian Schnabel ("The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" '07). Additionally, the critical response was very, very good.

The film is being distributed by Well Go Entertainment which has no real Telluride history but that might not matter.  The film also still has no U.S. release date but will have played half a dozen international festivals by the end of August.


I have linked an interview with Hsiao-Hsien from Mubi and the story from The Playlist that includes the trailer for the film:

https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/a-love-story-without-love-hou-hsiao-hsien-discusses-the-assassin/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-trailer-for-hou-hsiao-hsiens-cannes-award-winning-the-assassin-20150704


That's all for Friday.  Have a great weekend and look for a new post Monday.

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Bad News on the "St. Vincent" and "Violent Year" Fronts/New Interstellar Trailer/More from France

Good Thursday to All...


BAD NEWS ON THE ST. VINCENT AND VIOLENT YEAR FRONTS

"St. Vincent" photo via yahoo.com

Deadline.com reported yesterday that a Toronto World Premiere Gala is all but a done deal for "St. Vincent" starring Bill Murray.  I have been holding out some hope that it and Murray would make the trip to Telluride but if the Mark Fleming, Jr. report is accurate...it looks unlikely now.

Read the story from Deadline.com here:

http://m.deadline.com/2014/07/mr-bill-murray-toronto-st-vincent-gala-but-cannot-find-you/

And speaking of bad news...there's some buzz that J.C. Chandor's "A Most Violent Year" which I was thinking was a pretty good Telluride bet (and I was hoping would make the trip as well) may not be ready in time for the festival.

Gotta say that I'm bummed if both of these films miss the fest.

NEW INTERSTELLAR TRAILER

Much was made of the reveal at Comic Con last week by Christopher Nolan of a new trailer for his "Interstellar".  The film remains a way way outside possibility for Telluride, although I've become all but convinced that it won't happen.  Nevertheless, the new trailer can be accessed at the official Interstellar website by typing in the access code 7201969...the date U.S. astronauts landed on the moon.  Here's the site:

http://www.interstellarmovie.com/

It's a cool trailer too.

MORE FROM FRANCE

I'm continuing to look at the French production houses that have had a Telluride Film Fest history and their current connections to films to attempt to uncover some of the other films that are possibles for a screening in the San Juans.

FRANCE 3 CINEMA

2003: Dogville, The Tripletts of Belleville
2004:
2005: Lemming, Live and Become, Cache
2006: The Page Turner, Indigenes
2007: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Persepolis
2008: I've Loved You So Long
2009: The White Ribbon
2010: The Illusionist, The Princess of Montpensier, Of Gods and Men
2011: The Artist
2012: Superstar, Amour
2013: The Past

Though France3 has had a larger profile than France2 at Telluride over the past few years, their pool of films this year seems thin with no one film standing out as a likely suspect.

Perhaps "Le Temps des Aveux" or, more likely "Caricaturistes, fantassins de la démocratie" the documentary about cartoonists and democracy that played at Cannes.



ARTE FRANCE CINEMA

Another Franco production outfit that has had persistent presence in Telluride is arte France Cinema.  Their track record looks like this:

2003: Dogville
2004: The Weeping Meadow
2005: The Child, Cache, Paradise Now
2006: Day Night Day Night
2008: O'Horten
2011: Le Havre, Goodbye First Love
2012: No films at Telluride
2013: Le Maison de la Radio, The Lunchbox

After no Telluride presence in 2012, arte France Cinema came back in 2013 fairly strong.  In 2014 their best chance at playing Telluride is the yet unannounced for any fall fest, Olivier Assayas' Cannes competition piece "Clouds of Sils Maria" starring Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart and Chloe Grace Moretz.

As we haven't seen it in Toronto's list yet, I am inching a little closer to thinking that it could actually play at Telluride and, perhaps a Juliette Binoche tribute?


CINECINEMA/CINE+

CineCinema changed over to Cine+ within the last three years or so but it's all the same.  This production company has often been represented at Telluride over the last few years:

2005: Lemming, Live and Become
2006: The Page Turner, Indigenes
2007: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
2008: With a Little Help from Myself
2009: Farewell, Coco Before Chanel, A Prophet, Inferno
2010: The Illusionist, The Princess of Montpensier, Of Gods and Men
2011: Goodbye First Love, The Kid with a Bike, Le Havre, The Artist
2012: Rust and Bone, Superstar, The Attack, Amour
2013: The Past, Blue is the Warmest Color, Le Maison de la Radio

Cine+ has four projects that they're involved in that could well make the Telluride playlist:  "The Blue Room", "Bird People", "Two Days, One Night" and "Clouds of Sils Maria".

More tomorrow including this year's "Unified Clooney Theory"

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More French Producers (Part Deux)/Considering Heli

God Thursday to Everyone.

MORE FRENCH PRODUCERS (PART DEUX)

Today I continue looking at French production houses that have been Telluride players in the recent past and also look at those films that they have been a part of that could make the upcoming list of TFF #40 films.

FRANCE2 CINEMA

Here are the films from France2 Cinema that have played Telluride in recent years:

2006: Indigenes
2009: A Prophet, Coco Before Chanel
2010: The Princess of Montpensier
2011: The Kid with a Bike
2012: Rust and Bone

As you can see, France2 has been a modest player and really only in the last four years.  Still, France2 has three films with some Telluride potential: "Blue is the Warmest Color", "Mood Indigo" and "The Great Beauty".

"Blue" has the best chance of playing T-ride.

FRANCE3 CINEMA

France3 has had a larger profile than France2 at Telluride over the past few years:

2003: Dogville, The Tripletts of Belleville
2004:
2005: Lemming, Live and Become, Cache
2006: The Page Turner, Indigenes
2007: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Persepolis
2008: I've Loved You So Long
2009: The White Ribbon
2010: The Illusionist, The Princess of Montpensier, Of Gods and Men
2011: The Artist
2012: Superstar, Amour

So France3 is very consistently at Telluride with one or two films a year.  Their current crop has two suspects: "The Past" and "Grigris".  I think "The Past" is very likely and "Grigris" is a 50/50 shot to make the program.


CONSIDERING HELI

Variety reported this past weekend that Amat Escalante's film "Heli" had won the top prize at the Munich Film Festival.  Up to that point I hadn't considered the film a likely Telluride prospect despite the face that it had played well in Cannes and Escalante had won Cannes' Best Director prize.  Further, the lineup of the films it outpaced to win in Munich include a number of high profile projects (some of which are sure to play in the San Juans come Labor Day): "The Past", "Blue is the Warmest Color" and "The Great Beauty" among them.

That isn't to say that it's a cinch to make the lineup.  The last Cannes Best Director prize winner to come to Telluride was in 2007 with Julian Schnabel's "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly".  Prior to that, however, past Cannes Best Director winners includes a bevy of individuals who have been a part of Telluride:

Werner Herzog, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Gus Van Sant, Michael Haneke, David Lynch, Pedro Almodovar, John Boorman, Mike Leigh, Wim Wenders, Martin Scorsese, Andrei Tarkovsky and Bertrand Tavernier.


With the Munich win, I think I've got to take Heli's chances of playing Telluride a lot more seriously.  Is it a "Ten Bets" film this week?  No, but it's a lot closer today than it was last Friday.

Here's the post from Variety:
http://variety.com/2013/film/news/heli-takes-the-top-prize-at-munich-film-festival-1200547589/

And Heli's IMDb page:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2852376/?ref_=sr_3


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More tomorrow...

Best of the Week/Master Templates

Good Saturday Everyone!


BEST OF THE WEEK

Here's a re-post of what I thought was the best material from the last week here on MTFB/FAC.

This week's Ten Bets for TFF #39


1) Amour
2) Rust and Bone
3) Beyond the Hills

4) Hyde Park on Hudson
5) Song for Marion
6) No
7) Something in the Air
8) The East
9) Midnight's Children
10) The Central Park Five (see below)

Floating just below: "Like Someone in Love", "Reality", "On the Road and "The Hunt".

I'm a little more bullish on Olivier Assasyas' "Something in the Air" this week and a little less on Walter Salles' "On the Road".


IFC

Continuing what I started last week with a view toward distribution/production companies that have some connection to Telluride in the past and what that could portend for 2012.  Today it's IFC.

Past IFC films that have played TFF:

2011: Into the Abyss, Pina
2010: Carlos, The Princess of Montpensier
2009: Life During Wartime, Vincere, Fish Tank, Red Riding Trilogy
2008: The Good, The Bad and The Weird, Gomorrah, Hunger, Flame and Citron
2007: 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
2006: Jar City

So IFC has evolved into a consistent presence with films at Telluride over the past 5 years.  Based on the recent past, one might expect 2-3 IFC distributed films in the San Juans over Labor Day weekend.  What's in their quiver that has some Telluride-y essence?

Olivier Assasyas' "Something in the Air".  Assasyas has been repped at T-ride in the past with "Irma Vep" in 1996 and with "Carlos" in 2010. IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1846472/

Walter Salles' "On the Road".  Salles' T-ride resume: "Central Station" in 1998 and "The Motorcycle Diaries" in 2004.  IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337692/

Abbas Kiorstami's "Like Someone in Love".  Kiorstami at Telluride: 1997 with "Taste of Cherry".
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1843287/

There are other films in the IFC stable but these appear to be the 3 with the best chance of being in Telluride.


CENTRAL PARK FIVE

Don't be surprised if Ken Burns' "The Central Park Five" Doc shows up at Telluride.  His "Dust Bowl" was shown as a part of Mountainfilm so that takes it off the table in all likelihood.  But CPF looks primed to be on the TFF slate.  CPF was co-written, co-produced and co-directed by Burns, David McMahon (his son-in -law) and Sarah Burns (his daughter).

CPF looks at a case of criminal system malfeasance in NYC in 1989.

CPF's IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2380247/



CANAL+

Today our focus on production companies turns overseas as I begin to look at European firms that have had films on the program at Telluride and what their past participation may mean for 2012.

Today we look at the French firm Canal+

Canal+'s recent Telluride presence includes:

CANAL+ (French production company)

2011: Crazy Horse, Goodbye First Love, Le Havre, The Kid with a Bike, The Artist

2010:  Carlos, Of Gods and Men, The Princess of Montpensier, The Illusionist

2009:  Farewell, The White Ribbon, Inferno, A Prophet, Coco Before Chanel

2008:  Flame and Citron, I’ve Loved You So Long

2007: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Terror’s Advocate

2005: Cache

As you can see, Canal+ has increased its presence over the last 3 years with 4-5 films on the program.  So what do they have their fingers in that could provide a signal as to what we'll see Labor Day weekend?

Here's the most likely Telluride-ish films on the Canal+ 2012 slate:

Leo Carax's "Holy Motors"

Walter Salles' "On the Road"

Alain Renais' "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet"

Michael Haneke's  "Amour"

Matteo Garrone's "Reality"

Jacques Audiard's "Rust and Bone"

As regular readers are aware, I think that the Haneke and the Audiard are locks for Telluride.  Any of the other 4 (and perhaps all of them) could well be on the T-ride playlist as well.

FRANCE 2 CINEMA

I continue the procession through European film production companies that have had a presence at Telluride festivals lately as a means to assessing what films could play there this year and today's examination focuses on France 2 Cinema.

Here's their recent track record at TFF:

2011: The Kid with a Bike
2010: The Princess of Montpensier
2009: Farewell, Inferno, Coco Before Chanel, A Prophet

Prior to that I can't find any other films prior to 2004.

As you can see, a big year for France 2 Cinema in 2009 with 4 films then just one in 2010 and 2011.  What's got Telluride potential on the F2C plate:

Olivier Assasyas' "Something in the Air", Walter Salles' "On the Road", Alain Renais' "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" and Jacques Audiard's  "Rust and Bone".

All are real possibilities with "Rust" and "Something"  the more likely (I think).

NEW VIEW OF DJANGO

Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" continues its steady drip of publicity with the release of a new TV spot that grabbed a good deal of attention the last few days.  Here it is:

FRANCE 3 CINEMA

Today's European film production house to focus on is France 3 Cinema.  F3C's recent Telluride past looks like this:


2011: The Artist
2010: The Princess of Montpensier, Of Gods and Men, The Illusionist
2009: The White Ribbon
2008: I've Loved You So Long
2007: Persepolis, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
2006: The Page Turner
2005: Cache

F3C generally has one film in play at Telluride and rarely two.  This year they are involved with Michael Haneke's "Amour" so my bet is that will be the one (and only) F3C film in Telluride...but it's a good bet.  Haneke's previous two films ( The White Ribbon, Cache)  played T-ride and F3C had a hand in both.

Tomorrow a look at British firm Film4.


THE MASTER AS PRISM

"The Master" is Paul Thomas Anderson's take on, among other things, a "belief system" that may or may not (but probably does) seem something like Scientology and with the recent implosion of the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes marriage and Cruise's high profile position within Scientology, Kris Tapley naturally wonders if "the Master" will be the "zeitgeist" movie of the year.


Seems like a reasonable question.  Check his musings from HitFix yesterday:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/could-tom-cruise-and-katie-holmess-divorce-make-the-master-this-years-zeitgeist-movie

Come on PTA/TWC and TFF...let's get "the Master" locked down for this year's festival!

FILM4

We start today with British film producing companies and specifically with Film4.  Film4's track record at Telluride recently looks like this:

2011: Shame
2010: Never Let Me Go, Another Year, 127 Hours
2008: Slumdog Millionaire, Happy Go Lucky
2007: Brick Lane, When Did You Last See Your Father

Film4 had no presence in 2008 and only began producing in 2004.

For 2012 the only film that seems like a Telluride fit is Walter Salles "On the Road" which actually might boost its profile enough to be back on my "Ten Bets" list for next week.  We'll see on Monday.

CANNES LURKERS

The Playlist highlighted two Cannes competition films yesterday.  Both of them have some potential to be on Telluride's program this year.


Thomas Vintenberg's "The Hunt" features Cannes Best Actor winner Mads Mikkelsen as a teacher accused of abuse.  It is probably the more likely of the two.  As a matter of fact I have it floating just below the "Ten Bets" list.

Here's The Playlist review about it from the ongoing Karlovy Vary Film Fest:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/karlovy-vary-film-fest-review-the-hunt-a-20120705

The Hunt's IMDb page is here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2106476/

The other film that The Playlist featured is Xavier Dolan's "Laurence Anyways" which is looking for distribution (which could be a key as to whether we see it in the San Juans.  "Laurence" deals with roles and identity following a sex change operation.

Here's The Playlist post:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/new-images-for-xavier-dolans-laurence-anyways-is-someone-going-to-pick-up-this-movie-20120705#

and "Laurence Anyways" IMDb page:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1650048/

That's the Best of this week!

THE MASTER TEMPLATE

TQS Magazine has a substantial post up about the influences on Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master".  You might find it interesting:

http://www.tqsmagazine.co.uk/the-master-inquisition/


Have a great weekend!

More later...


Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

France 3 Cinema/The Master as Prism/Oz and Franco/Finally, the Facebook

Good Thursday Everyone.  I hope it was a safe and sensational Fourth of July.

Fireworks from July 4, 2011 in Telluride (photo by Larry Mallard)

The Pattersons celebrated with family, food and fireworks...oooohhhh....aaaaahhhh...  It was a nice day!

FRANCE 3 CINEMA

Today's European film production house to focus on is France 3 Cinema.  F3C's recent Telluride past looks like this:


2011: The Artist
2010: The Princess of Montpensier, Of Gods and Men, The Illusionist
2009: The White Ribbon
2008: I've Loved You So Long
2007: Persepolis, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
2006: The Page Turner
2005: Cache

F3C generally has one film in play at Telluride and rarely two.  This year they are involved with Michael Haneke's "Amour" so my bet is that will be the one (and only) F3C film in Telluride...but it's a good bet.  Haneke's previous two films ( The White Ribbon, Cache)  played T-ride and F3C had a hand in both.

Tomorrow a look at British firm Film4.


THE MASTER AS PRISM

"The Master" is Paul Thomas Anderson's take on, among other things, a "belief system" that may or may not (but probably does) seem something like Scientology and with the recent implosion of the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes marriage and Cruise's high profile position within Scientology, Kris Tapley naturally wonders if "the Master" will be the "zeitgeist" movie of the year.


Seems like a reasonable question.  Check his musings from HitFix yesterday:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/could-tom-cruise-and-katie-holmess-divorce-make-the-master-this-years-zeitgeist-movie

Come on PTA/TWC and TFF...let's get "the Master" locked down for this year's festival!


FRANCO IN OZ

I met James Franco briefly in 2009 when he was in Telluride with Danny Boyle's "127 Hours".  As almost everyone has been in the years I have been going, Franco was very pleasant to talk to and accessible and seemed to be genuinely having a good time.

He's next big project is NOT a T-ride 2012 possible (it's scheduled to drop in March 2013) but seems intriguing.  Franco stars as the man who will become the Wizard of Oz in a prequel to the classic film.

Above is the newly released poster for the film and here are some posts from a variety of sources that went up on the internet in the last 24 hours:

FirstShowing.net:
http://www.firstshowing.net/2012/disney-unveils-sam-raimis-oz-the-great-and-powerful-teaser-poster/?uid=3c15781e107635391d32fe24096f9f9497945b21

The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-official-poster-for-sam-raimis-oz-the-great-and-powerful-20120704

Rope of Silicon:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/oz-the-great-and-powerful-movie-poster/

"Oz the Great and Powerful's" IMDb page:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1623205/

THE FACEBOOK

And finally, in an attempt to branch out a bit more, this blog now has a Facebook page.  I'm not really sure what that will mean other than you're supposed to "like" it...but only if you actually do "like" it.


More later...


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