New York Announces Main Slate: What It Tells Us/Reese Is Busy/"Fury" Is Playing Some Festival

Hello on a Thursday...

The legend, Lauren Bacall

Today's sadness is the passing of 89 year old legend Lauren Bacall...you know how to whistle, don't you?

NEW YORK ANNOUNCES MAIN SLATE: WHAT OT TELLS US

The New York Film Festival announced its main slate of films yesterday and we can read their choices and the designations of their premiere status and come to some conclusions...most of which we had already come to.  "New York Premiere" status seems to be the key designation and it essentially confirms "Birdman", "Foxcatcher" (after a brief bit of confusion yesterday about the way the NYFF folks listed its premiere status-the email that was sent to the media listed it as a NY Premiere but for a few minutes, the fest's website listed it as a U.S. premiere.  That was corrected quickly.), "Mr. Turner" and "Two Days, One Night".

There were a couple of "New York premieres" that still seem doubtful for Telluride: "Listen Up Phillip" played Sundance, so that explains its status.  Alian Resnais "Life of Reilly" is also listed as a NY Premiere but is closing the Montreal fest on Sept. 1...seems like a close shave...but also a possible Telluride play.

Another "NY Premiere" that seems to now have Telluride potential is "71" starring Jack O'Connell (who will also be starring this Oscar season in Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken" and who was in last year's TFF selection "Starred Up".  I had mentioned the possibility of "71" a couple of times.  I said on July 8th that "I could see it popping up as a part of the TFF #41 program".  I also mentioned it way back in February as I was evaluating what had transpired at the Berlin Festival.


Finally, there's Jean Luc Godard's "Goodbye to Language 3D" that New York chose today (it played at Cannes) and is listed as a "NY Premiere".  Seems like it could be headed to Telluride as well.


Here's the complete main slate from the NYFF email today:

The 52nd New York Film Festival Main Slate

Opening Night Gala Selection
GONE GIRL
Director: David Fincher

Centerpiece Gala Selection
INHERENT VICE
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Closing Night Gala Selection
BIRDMAN OR THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE 
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu

BELOVED SISTERS (Die geliebten Schwestern)
Director: Dominik Graf

THE BLUE ROOM (La chambre bleue)
Director: Mathieu Amalric

CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA
Director: Olivier Assayas

EDEN
Director: Mia Hansen-Løve

FOXCATCHER
Director: Bennett Miller

GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE (Adieu au langage)
Director: Jean-Luc Godard

HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT
Directors: Josh & Benny Safdie

HILL OF FREEDOM (Jayuui Eondeok)
Director: Hong Sang-soo

HORSE MONEY (Cavalo Dinheiro)
Director: Pedro Costa

JAUJA
Director: Lisandro Alonso

LIFE OF RILEY (Aimer, boire et chanter)
Director: Alain Resnais

LISTEN UP PHILIP
Director: Alex Ross Perry

MAPS TO THE STARS
Director: David Cronenberg

MISUNDERSTOOD (Incompresa)
Director: Asia Argento

MR. TURNER
Director: Mike Leigh

PASOLINI
Director: Abel Ferrara

THE PRINCESS OF FRANCE (La Princesa de Francia)
Director: Matías Piñeiro

SAINT LAURENT
Director: Bertrand Bonello

LA SAPIENZA
Director: Eugène Green

’71
Director: Yann Demange

TALES OF THE GRIM SLEEPER
Director: Nick Broomfield

TIMBUKTU
Director: Abderrahmane Sissako

TIME OUT OF MIND
Director: Oren Moverman

TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT (Deux jours, une nuit)
Directors: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne

TWO SHOTS FIRED (Dos Disparos)
Director: Martín Rejtman

WHIPLASH
Director: Damien Chazelle

THE WONDERS (Le meraviglie)
Director: Alice Rohrwacher

Finally, notice the absence of the absent.  By that I mean that the entirety of the list that I published  Tuesday as being MIA from Toronto are also MIA for New York.  That list again is:

"Unbroken"
"Big Eyes"
"Fury"
"Interstellar"
"Trash"
"Slow West"
"Suffragette"
"Kill the Messenger"
"St. Vincent"
"Winter Sleep"

Meanwhile, in Anne Thompson's story about the NYFF announcement, she adds fuel to the notion that "The Homesman" could also play Telluride.  Check her story here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/new-york-film-festival-slate-of-30-cherry-picks-world-fests-20140813

New York also tells us that some things that we have thought might be potential Telluride choices will not be. For example, Mathieu Amalric's "The Blue Room", Alice's Rohrwacher's "The Wonders" and Bertrand Bonello's "Saint Laurent".

Finally, there are still nascent whisperings that Sony Pictures Classics Sundance presentation "Whiplash" has a chance to play Telluride.  Would be cool with me.

REESE IS BUSY

We're pretty sure that Jean Marc Vallee's "Wild" starring Reese Witherspoon is going to play at The SHOW.  I've been saying that I think that there is a real possibility that she gets one of the three tributes. She could also end up Oscar nominated thrice this season...yup...three times.  "How?" you ask.  Think of her as a producer as well as an actress.  HitFix/InContention's Kristopher Tapley explains:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/how-reese-witherspoon-could-end-up-with-three-oscar-nominations-this-year


FURY IS PLAYING SOME FESTIVAL

Brad Pitt and "Fury" will assault London

The London Film Festival has announced that David Ayers "Fury" will close that festival on Oct. 19.  That's the first announced/scheduled fest date for the film starring Brad Pitt.

I had reported yesterday that Kristopher Tapley had reported that he has been told that "Telluride and Toronto was never in the cards" but any number of other film news outfits still think it's a possibility.

There was some flurry of speculation on social media yesterday that the London announcement signaled that "Fury" might still be in the cards for either Telluride or Toronto or both especially with the note in the announcement that London would be its "European Premiere".

Of course, Sony moved its domestic release date up to Oct. 17th earlier this week so the "European Premiere" designation doesn't really provide any tea leaf to read.

Overall, I still think it's rather unlikely for The SHOW.

Here are stories about the selection from The Hollywood Reporter and Variety:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/brad-pitt-bringing-his-fury-725502

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/brad-pitt-starrer-fury-to-close-london-film-festival-1201282744/


More tomorrow...including an updated "Ten Bets" list...

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

Cannes in the Can/The Cannes Critique/Cannesalysis

Welcome to Monday!

CANNES IN THE CAN

They're done in France.  The 67th Cannes Film Festival came to a close Sunday with re-screenings of films from throughout the week.  Saturday evening the Jane Campion-led Palme jury announced its choices for prizes:

Palme d'Or: "Winter Sleep" dir: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Grand Prix: "The Wonders" dir: Alice Rohrwacher
Jury Prize: (Tie) Goodbye to Language" dir; Jean-Luc Godard and "Mommy" dir: Xavier Dolan
Director: Bennett Miller, "Foxcatcher"
Screenplay: "Leviathan"
Best Actress: Julianne Moore, "Maps to the Stars"
Best Actor: Timothy Spall, "Mr. Turner"

Un Certain Regard prizes included:

UCR Prize: "White God" dir: Kornel Mundruczo
Jury Prize: Turist (Force Majeure) dir: Ruben Ostland
Special Prize: "Salt of the Earth" dir: Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribiero Salgado
Ensemble: "Party Girl"
Actor: David Gulpilil, "Charlie's Country"


Check the complete list of all prizes for all sections here from Variety:

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/winter-sleep-wins-palme-dor-cannes-1201191262/


THE CANNES CRITIQUE

Here are the final critical compilations for the 67th Cannes Film Fest  with the top three films listed for each source:

Ioncinema:

1) Two Days, One Night
2) (tie) Mr. Turner
2) (tie) Winter Sleep

http://www.ioncinema.com/news/film-festivals/2014-cannes-critics-panel-day-9-assayas-doubles-down-with-sils-maria-zvyagintsev-drinks-to-sweet-tragic-notes-with-leviathan

From http://cannes-rurban.rhcloud.com/2014

1) Goodbye to Language
2) Winter Sleep
3) Two Days, One Night

From http://www.todaslascriticas.com.ar/cannes

1) Goodbye to Language
2) Winter Sleep
3) Clouds of Sils Maria

And from http://criticsroundup.com/cannes-2014/

1) (tie) Two Days, One Night
1) (tie) Wild Things
3) Goodbye to Language


Critically, the big winners seem to have been: Godard's "Goodbye to Language" (Jury Prize), "Winter Sleep" (Palme d'Or) and "Two Days, One Night" (bupkes). The Dardennes snub seems curious.  I would have thought Cotillard was a lock for Best Actress if the jury wasn't awarding the film an overall prize.

"Out of Competition" films that did well in critical analysis:

From the Un Certain Regard section both "The Blue Room" and "Juaja" did very well with critics...neither were prize winners.

"How to Train Your Dragon 2", "Silver Watered-Syria Self Portrait", "The Owners", "Maidan", "Cold in July", "Gett" , "National Gallery", "A Hard Day", "Mange Tes Mort", "Le Counte De La Princesse Kaguya", "P'tit Quinquin", "It Follows", "Red Army" and "The Kindergarten Teacher" all received steady critical acclaim.

CANNESALYSIS

And after the two weeks at Cannes are done...what do we know vis-a-vis the 41st Telluride Film Festival.  Mostly that the films that I thought were likely are probably still likely.  The acquisitions of Sony Pictures Classics of "Leviathan", "Jimmy's Hall", "Saint Laurent" and "Wild Tales" during the festival raises their T-ride profile. As of yesterday, SPC had also acquired "Salt of the Earth".

Going into Cannes, I had been pointing at certain films that, assuming they played well, had a reasonably good Telluride profile.  It seems to me that "Mr. Turner" and "Two days, One Night" fit that bill.  Through the course of the I think "Leviathan" and "Red Army" both became very real possibilities.

I suspect that both Dolan's "Mommy" and Cronenberg's "Maps to the Stars" will exclusive to the Toronto fest.  I don't have any insider info, it just feels that way to me.

"Foxcatcher" remains something of an enigma.  It all depends on how SPC perceives its Oscar chances as a result of a Telluride play and the expectation that should they play the film at Telluride that it will play Toronto in a less-than -prime slot.

Of course, they could chose to bypass Toronto altogether as "Nebraska", "Inside Llewyn Davis" and "All is Lost" did last year (all three played in Cannes as well).  Though you could make a strong case that that strategy didn't work particularly well.

As to Oscar repercussions...from Cannes...."Foxcatcher" and "Mr. Turner" seemed to be the most likely films with that potential before and after the fest.  I expect a number of films to be a part of the Foreign Language film Oscar convo depending on what countries make which choices.  For example, "Leviathan" seems like a no-brainer as the choice for Russia in terms of quality but its critique of the Mother country is not likely to sit well in Putin's "throwback" Russia.

It'll be fun to watch this summer.

SPEAKING OF SUMMER

I'll be back to a six-post-a week schedule beginning next Monday, June 2.  Let the full tilt Telluride obsession begin!

More on Thursday!

The Cannes Countdown Speeds Up/Trailering "The Wonders"/"Madding Crowd" Moves Out of the Crowd

Welcome to Monday...and a belated Happy Mother's Day!

THE CANNES COUNTDOWN SPEEDS UP

"Two Days,One Night" Marion Cotillard directed by The Brothers Dardennes

I'm continuing to link to Jake Howell's capsules of each of the Cannes Palme d'Or competition films in today's post for Movie City News.  Howell and MCN have added several since my last post on Thursday including a couple of films that have some serious Telluride potential (thinking the Dardennes brothers and Hazanavicius).  Here are the links:

"Timbuktu" dir: Abderrahmane Sissako

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/05/countdown-to-cannes-abderrahmane-sissako/

"Levathan" dir: Andrey Zvyagintsev

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/05/countdown-to-cannes-andrey-zvyagintsev/

"Two Days, One Night" dir: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardennes

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/05/countdown-to-cannes-jean-pierre-and-luc-dardenne/

"Saint Laurent" dir: Betrand Bonello

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/05/countdown-to-cannes-bertrand-bonello/

"Goodbye to Language" dir: Jean Luc Godard

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/05/countdown-to-cannes-jean-luc-godard/


"The Search" dir: Michel Hazanavicius

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/05/countdown-to-cannes-michel-hazanavicius/

"Jimmy's Hall" dir; Ken Loach

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/05/countdown-to-cannes-ken-loach/


TRAILERING "THE WONDERS' OR "THE MARVELS"

Photo via The Playlist

Depending on which translation you read the title of Alice Rohrwacher's competition film at Cannes is either "Wonders" or "Marvels".  Either way, The Playlist posted a trailer for the film this week and I am passing it on to you here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-trailer-for-cannes-competition-drama-the-wonders-starring-monica-bellucci-20140506


"MADDING CROWD" MOVES OUT OF THE CROWD

Photo via Thompson on Hollywood

Fox Searchlight announced this past week that Thomas Vintenberg's "Far From the Madding Crowd" has been dated for limited release on May 1, 2015.  That pretty much nukes the notion that it will be a Telluride choice.  After the splash Vintenberg's "The Hunt" had made in Telluride in 2012 I thought there was a good chance that we'd see this film.  The fact that it's in the hands of Fox Searchlight prodded me to think of it as a possibility as well.  Finally, there had been a lot of speculation that it would be a Cannes selection led me to think that we could see it at the end of August but the release date tends to make me believe that it's off the tale.

Here's the story from Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/far-from-the-madding-crowd-to-open-from-fox-searchlight-next-may-video


More on Thursday...