SPECIAL: NO NETFLIX FOR FALL FESTS

SPECIAL: NO NETFLIX FOR FALL FESTS

It is rare that I deviate from the publishing schedule for MTFB but this news justifies and additional post today.  Anne Thompson at Indiewire has reported that Netflix has determined that they will be sending no films to any of the major fall fests Telluride included.

That report came late yesterday.

The news means that a number of high profile projects are no longer in play for TFF as well Venice, Toronto and New York.

Titles from Netflix that have been a part of the conversation:  Mank, Hillbilly Elegy, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and White Tiger.

The news could impact Telluride considerably as Netflix has been a major presence at the fest over the last few years:

2015: Beasts of No Nation, Winer on Fire
2016: The Ivory Game, Into the Inferno
2017: First They Killed My Father, Wormwood
2018: Roma, Dovlatov, Girl, Reversing Roe, The Other Side of the Wind, They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
2019: Marriage Story, The Two Popes, Tell Me Who I Am, Inside Bill's Brain

Thompson's claim is pretty definitive as she writes:

"As awards groups adjust to the evolving post-pandemic reality, so will the studios. And the first up is everyone’s favorite Oscar insurgent, Netflix: While it will provide sponsorship for some major festivals in 2020, it’s not planning to send any of their films or talent to attend them."

Thompson's complete article is linked here.

L.A. Times Looks at Films That Could Still Be in Play / Annecy Proceeds Online

L.A. TIMES LOOKS AT FILMS THAT COULD STILL BE IN PLAY

Frances McDormand in Nomadland (via Indiewire)

Earlier this week The Los Angeles Times' Glenn Whipp assessed the field of films that he thinks could still be in the sites of FIlm Fests and in Oscar play.  Whipp essentially comes down to three pieces of information about each of the 29 films that make it into his story: Distributor, production status and whether the film currently has a scheduled release date.

So, let's take a look at Whipp's list and talk about what titles based on his information and assessments might be festival bound...and, more specifically, Telluride-possible.

First...films that don't seem probable for Telluride:

Two Sundance films on the list meaning, if tradition holds, that no Telluride play would be in the cards: Florian Zeller's The Father starring Anthony Hopkins and Lee Issac Chung's Minari.

Then there are a dozen films from the Whipp list that have never really felt like Telluride films.  They're films that I don't feel as if they ever planned a fall film fest appearance.

Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods (Netflex/locked/unscheduled)

Denis Villeneuve's Dune (Warner Bors./post-prod/Dec. 18)

Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch (Searchlight/locked/Oct. 16)***

Ridley Scott's The Last Duel (20th Century/production suspended)

George C. Wolfe's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Netflix/post-prod/unscheduled)

Paul Greengrass' News of the World (Universal/post-prod/Dec. 25)

Ryan Murphy's The Prom (Netflix/post-prod/unscheduled)

Liesl Tommy's Respect (MGM, post-prod/Dec. 25)

Docter and Powers' Soul (Disney/post-prod/Nov. 20)

Joanna Hogg's The Souvenir: Part II (A24/post-prod/unscheduled)

Christopher Nolan's Tenet (Warner Bros./locked/July 17)

Steven Spielberg's West Side Story (20th Century/post-prod/Dec. 18)

That said...within an unclear pandemic universe...who knows?  Maybe some of these films end up playing at a festival.

The next categorization are films that are locked that feel like they could be Telluride and/or other fall film fest entrants:

Francis Lee's Ammonite (Neon/unscheduled)

Charlie Kaufman's I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Netflix/unscheduled)

Edoardo Ponti's The Life Ahead (Netflix/unscheduled)

Chloe Zhao's Nomadland (Searchlight/unscheduled- a note here, the article actually says its production status is uncertain...my feeling is that it's likely complete)

Then there are the films listed as being in post-production that, should they be completed in time, seem like Telluride and fall film fest possibles (included here is the post-production start date according to IMDb):

Leos Carax's Annette (Amazon/post-11-22-19/unscheduled)

Michael Showalter's The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Searchlight/post 12-23-19/unscheduled)

Ron Howard's Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix/post-IMDb says the film is complete/unscheduled)

David Fincher's Mank (Netflix/post-2-3-20/unscheduled)***

Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Memoria (Neon/post-10-13-19/unscheduled)

George Clooney's The Midnight Sky (Netflix/post-1-2-20/unscheduled)

Sofia Coppola's On the Rocks (A24/post-7-4-19)

Glen Keane's Over the Moon (Netflix/post-1-2-20/unscheduled)

Tom McCarthy's Stillwater (Focus Features/post-1-2-20/unscheduled)

Aaron Sorkin's Trail of the Chicago 7 (Paramount/post-12-17-19/unscheduled)***

Joe Wright's The Woman in the Window (20th Century/post-10-29-18/unscheduled...though it has been dated for release a couple of times)

***I have read somewhere that both Mank and Trial of Chicago 7 will likely not be ready for any of the fall fests.

Additionally, you'd have to expect that films that went into post after the start of 2020 are suspect simply because those films would only have been in post for a few weeks before the shutdown happened: The Midnight Sky, Over the Moon, Stillwater.  

Even The Eyes of Tammy Faye with a Dec. 2019 post-production start date seem iffy to me.

Finally, for fun, let's factor in in directors who have been to Telluride in some capacity (director, writer or star) from these last two groups: Kaufman, Zhao, Fincher, Clooney, Coppola, McCarthy, Sorkin, Wright and I'll take a stab at five of these films making a Telluride lineup for 2020:

1) Nomadland

2) I'm Thinking of Ending Things

3) On the Rocks

4) Hillbilly Elegy

5) Ammonite

Whipp's complete article with his commentary is linked here.

ANNECY PROCEEDS ONLINE

The Annecy Animation Film Fest, the largest animated film festival on the planet announced a few weeks back that this year's event had been cancelled but the fest will move forward with a completely online version of the event.  The online fest will run June 15-20.

The details were reported by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang for Variety last Thursday.

Over the years, several films that have played the Annecy Fest have gone onto to play over the Labor Day weekend in Telluride.  Examples that come to mind include: Loving Vincent and Chico and Rita.

The Variety story includes claims by the fest organizers that many of its customary players will be back for the virtual event.

May 18th is the date for the fest to announce its competition lineup.

The full story is here.

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Gone, Gone, Gone / Gold Derby Looks at Oscar 2021...

GONE, GONE, GONE

Indiewire's Ryan Lattanzio wrote a piece that went up on Sunday afternoon...after passes went on sale for TFF #47.  Of most import to MTFB readers was the inclusion of some title speculation for this year's iteration of TFF.  Some of those titles you've seen consistently in this space.  Some are new...

Among the films mentioned in the article:

Mank
Nomadland
Hillbilly Elegy
Dune
Minari
Passing

I was able to purchase mine after a tense few minutes and a couple of hiccups.  That means that my wife and I will be attending our 15th consecutive fest.

The entire Lattanzio post is linked here.


You may notice that friend of MTFB Chris Schiller's tweet about the pass sale made the article.


GOLD DERBY LOOKS AT OSCAR 2021...

I've been dipping into the early Oscar speculation for the coming year as a way of gathering clues fro films that could also be on the lineup announcement for TFF #47 six months from now.  Gold Derby's look is among the most thorough around and provides us with a multiplicity of candidates to consider.

Their 2021 preview provides release date info, director and distributor.  All of those items can help as we try to sniff out some Telluride potentials.

So, what can we find that seems like it's worth contemplating for TFF from the Gold Derby list.  Among their "Leading Contenders:

The Father/Zeller/Sony Pictures Classics/Fall
Hillbilly Elegy/Howard/Netflix/Fall
MacBeth/Coen/A24/Fall
Mank/Fincher/Netflix/Fall
News of the World/Greengrass/Universal/Dec. 25
Next Goal Wins/Waititi/Searchlight/Fall
Nightmare Alley/Del Toro/Searchlight/Fall
Trial of the Chicago 7/Sorkin/Paramount/Sept. 25

Among their "Strong Contenders":

Ammonite/Lee/Neon/Fall
Dune/Villeneuve/Warner Bros./Dec. 18
Good Morning, Midnight/Clooney/Netflix/Fall
Ironbark/Cooke/Lionsgate/Fall
On the Rocks/S. Coppola/A24/Fall
Prisoner 760/Macdonald/BBC/Fall
Stillwater/McCarthy/Focus/Nov. 6


And from their "Possible Contenders":

Annette/Carax/Amazon/Fall
Blonde/Dominik/Netflix/Fall
The Eyes of Tammy Faye/Showalter/Searchlight/Fall
French Exit/Jacobs/Sony Picture Classics/Fall
Nomadland/Zhao/Searchlight/Fall
Red, White and Water/Neugebauer/A24/Fall

The complete Gold Derby post is linked here.


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Anticipation / Oscar 2021 Thoughts / Sale Time / And Now: Berlin...

ANTICIPATION

The Hollywood Reporter has put together their list of 77 "most anticipated" films for 2020 and it continues the trend begun at the end of the 2019 to offer some films that one would think will be under consideration and/or will be offered as a possible choice for TFF #47.

THR has organized their list chronologically, at least to the extent possible.  Some highly anticipated films are not yet dated for release and are either listed as TBD's or not listed at all.

Soooo...TFF #47 options?  In chronological order:

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (10/7)

Stillwater (11/6)

Dune 12/18

News of the World (12/25)

Mank (TBD)

Hillbilly Elegy (TBD)

On the Rocks (TBD)

Half tempted to include Ridley Scott's The Last Duel and Ben Wheatley's Rebecca remake.

The complete THR list is here.

OSCAR 2021 THOUGHTS

Variety's Brent Lang and Mark Malkin got into the early Oscar prediction sweepstakes this week with an article posted on Tuesday.  They peer into their crystal ball to contemplate which films might be in serious contention for Academy Award glory a year from now.

Consequently, here's a look at their list of films through the prism of what seems the most likely Telluride players in the order presented in the article:

Ron Howard's Hillbilly Elegy

Sofia Coppola's On the Rocks

Joel Coen's MacBeth

Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7

Francis Lee's Ammonite

Kimberly Pierce's This Is Jane

David Fincher's Mank

The complete Variety post is linked here.

SALE TIME

As a public service, this reminder that TFF #47 passes go on sale on Sunday, March 1.  Here's the reminder directly from the TFF #47 website:

AND NOW:  BERLIN...

The 70th Berlin International Film Festival is opening tonight and will run through Mar. 1st.  And if past os prologue, you can expect that a film or two that will premiere there will probably end up in southwest Colorado in early September.  

Last year it was Varda by Agnes.  In 2018 it was Dovlatov.  In 2017: Hostages and The Other Side of Hope.  2016: Fire at Sea and Things to Come.

The 2020 edition hs a number of films that offer tantalizing possibilities for Telluride programmers.

Indiewire posted a list of 15 films that will play the Berlinale that they say are Their most anticipated.  Among that list, I can point to a few that could be TFF #47 potentials:

Agnieszka Holland's Charlatan

Rithy Pahn's Irradiated

Matteo Garrone's Pinocchio

Phillipe Garrel's The Salt of Tears

Abel Ferrara's Siberia

Christian Petzold's Undine

You can check out all of Indiewire's Berlin Most Anticipated by clicking here.

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Oscar 2020-This and That / Other Oscar Takes: Analysis of What Went Down Sunday Night / An Early Look at Oscar for 2020 Films / Blog Updates

OSCAR 2020-THIS AND THAT

The dizziness from the Best Picture win for Bong Joon-ho's Parasite on Sunday night has begun to subside leaving a little clear-headedness to think about what occurred.

- Are the Oscars changed forever?  Does the diversification of the membership account for Parasite's success?  Maybe.  Perhaps the Oscars became a truly international award on Sunday.  You might argue that the internationalization has been creeping into the Oscar ceremony over the past decade.  Think of the Oscar Best Directors of recent years:

Hazanavicius/The Artist 2011
Lee/Life of Pi 2012
Cuaron/Gravity and Roma 2013 and 2018
Inarritu/Birdman and The Revenant 2014 and 2015
Del Toro/The Shape of Water 2017
and now Bong for Parasite.

Only Damien Chazelle  who won for La La Land (2016) hales from the USA.

It will be interesting to see if this trend continues.

-Parasite became the first film to win both International (or Foreign Language) Feature and Best Picture.

- Fully subtitled, I think it's the first Best Picture for which that is true although a friend of mine pointed out that past winners have included some sub-titling: Slumdog Millionaire, The Godfather films, Dances With Wolves.

- Parasite becomes the first Best Picture/Palme D'or combination winner since Marty in 1955.

- I took a look at how Telluride films have fared over the last decade in terms of total Oscar wins for each year.  Here's how that breaks down:

2019- 8
2018- 6
2017- 7
2016- 13 (this was the year of Moonlight, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea and Arrival)
2015- 4
2014- 7
2013- 10 (Gravity and 12 Years a Slave)
2012- 5
2011- 7
2010- 7

That's 74 Oscar wins over the decade meaning that TFF films win 7.4 Oscars per year.  That means, thanks to Parasite, Ford v Ferrari, Marriage Story and Judy, that this year's Oscar haul was better than average.  Best year, as you can see above, was 2016 with 13 , followed by 2013 with 10.  The most meager Oscar year was 2015 with four wins-that was the year of Spotlight.


OTHER OSCAR TAKES: ANALYSIS OF WHAT WENT DOWN SUNDAY NIGHT

In addition to my commentary about Oscar 2020 above I have also included some analysis posted this week from a couple of others.  Here they are:

Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter

Ben Travers/Indiewire

Zack Sharf/Indiewire



AN EARLY LOOK AT OSCAR FOR 2020 FILMS

Photo from IMDb

Matt Neglia/Next Best Picture seemed to be the first up from an Oscar watching website with a rundown of films he thinks we'll be talking about a year from now as Oscar contenders.  There willy, be others coming soon and I'll include some of those early, early looks through the prism of what are films that might land at Telluride for TFF #47.

Among the films that Matt includes:

Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7- IMDb says that it went into post-production last December.  Distrib: Paramount.  Release date: Sept. 25th

Paul Greengrass' News of the World- in post production last November.  Distrib: Universal.  Release: Dec. 25th.

David Fincher's Mank- in post this month.  Distrib: Netflix.  Release: TBA

Ron Howard's Hillbilly Elegy- in post last August. Distrib: Netflix.  Release November

Denis Villenueve's Dune- in post starting in July, 2019.  Distrib: Warner Bros.  Release: Dec. 18th.

Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho- in post in August.  Distrib: Focus Features.  Release: Sept. 25th.

Lila Neugebauer's Red, White and Water- in post production in August.  Distrib: A24. Release: TBA

Francis Lee's Ammonite- in post since last April.  Distrib: Neon (coming off of Parasite this year).  Release: TBA

Guillermo Del Toro's Nightmare Alley- currently filming.  Distrib: Searchlight.  Release: TBA.

Chloe Zhao's Nomadland- in post since last March.  Distrib: Searchlight.  Release: TBA

The complete article is linked here including Matt's opening predictions for six major categories.


BLOG UPDATES

A Couple of bits of info.  I have updated the "Unofficial TFF Oscar History" page to reflect what occurred during the just concluded Oscar season.  Additionally, the "Selected TFF History" page has been updated to include the information from TFF #46.  Check those pages out. 

Still to come are the updates to the "Expanded Telluride Film Festival History-Part Two: 1996 to the Present.  I still have to synthesize the material from TFF programs for Fests from 2006-2019.  The links to the official online version of each of those programs are still on that page.



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