It Was Just an Accident: Poster and Trailer / Guest Director Anyone? / New York and Toronto Re-visit / The 13th People's Telluride

 IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT: POPSTER AND TRAILER

11 days and counting to TFF #52.  As the fest approaches Neon released both a poster and a trailer for Jafar Panahi's Plame d'Or winner , It Was Just an Accident.  I've had  it on my Ten Bets list throughout the summer.  Last week's "Bets" had the film listed as the #2 Best Bet.  The film is described at IMDb  as this:

A small mishap triggers a chain reaction of ever-growing problems.

Fairly cryptic, eh?

The film opens in the U.S. on Oct 15th.

Here's the poster:

And the trailer from YouTube:

GUEST DIRECTOR ANYONE?

So it seems that TFF has established something of a new protocol about Guest Directors going forward.  for the third consecutive year the fest is down to the wire without having named a Guest Director.  as I wrote last year about this topic, for the past few years the fest announced the Guest Director usually in the third week of June.  But for TFF #50 and #51, they did not announce them until the big reveal of official film titles on the Thursday before the festival began.

Last year, that was the timing for the reveal of Kenneth Lonergan as Guest Director and for TFF #50 the announcement of multiple Guest Directors was also revealed the day before the fest.

So...I'm beginning to think that becomes the new normal.

Maybe we find out earlier, but I have my doubts.

NEW YORK AND TORONTO RE-VISIT

Poster for Sirat (which might still be in play for Telluride-see below)

I wrote last week about the premiere designations confusion that exists for three films announced for both the New York Fest and Toronto.  So, I thought I'd wander back to both festival's official online lineups to see if either fest had altered the premiere designations for any of the three films;

Landmarks: No change.

Blue Moon: No change.

A Private Life: No change.

 

Again all three films are listed as North American premieres by TIFF and as New York premieres for NYFF.  NYFF designating them as New York premieres is the real oddity.  It seems to me that if they're doing the North American premiere at Toronto then New York should have deemed them as U.S. premieres.

But there's more.  I went through all 18 non-revival films that New York labels as U.S. premieres and the 22 that they label as New York premieres and found that Sirat and Barrio Triste also are listed in the same weird and contradictory way as Blue Moon, Landmarks and A Private Life.  So, perhaps those two films are also actually still possible for Telluride.

Finally, a couple of other films are listed by NYFF as New York premieres and I can't detect why.  They are With Hasan in Gaza and Evidence.

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE-13TH EDITION

For the 13th year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

Report your ratings to: mpgort@gmail.com 

The deadline for this year to turn in your ratings will be Sept. 15th.

I'll compile all of your responses and post those a few days after the festival.

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Late Breaking: Springsteen Added to New York / Die My Love Still in Play? / Gold Derby Oscar Ratings for What We Think Is Headed to TFF #52

LATE BREAKING: NEW YORK ADDS SPRINGSTEEN

Just announced this morning after the blog's post time, the New York Film Festival has added Scott Cooper's Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere to its lineup as a Spotlight Gala.  Noteworthy is that the language of the press release refers to it as a premiere but does NOT indicate what level of premiere.

I have also been told that the original release may have suggested that it was a World premiere but that has been scrubbed for the current language.

All of this tends to support the notion that the film will, in fact bow initially at Telluride.

Here's the link to the NYFF announcement in its current form:

https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff/daily/scott-coopers-springsteen-deliver-me-from-nowhere-announced-as-nyff63-spotlight-gala/

DIE, MY LOVE STILL IN PLAY?

We haven't heard much about Lynne Ramsay and Die, My Love since Cannes.  But now, over the weekend, Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel sourcing from Screen Daily suggests that Ramsay has been re-editing the film since Cannes.  Ruimy also reminds us that the same scenario occurred when Ramsay screened We Need to Talk About Kevin at Cannes in 2011 and then worked on further editing it afterwards.  Of course that film went on to screen at Telluride.

Ruimy even suggests that a repeat of that scenario is not completely out of the question writing:

"IndieWire’s “Screen Talk” podcast seems to now be hinting that Ramsay went back to the editing room after Cannes to further shape “Die, My Love,” which might potentially explain its absence at the fall fests — although I still wouldn’t rule out a Telluride appearance."

The WOR story is linked here.

GOLD DERBY OSCAR RANKINGS FOR WHAT WE THINK IS HEADED TO TFF #52 

As many of you readers know, when the fest concludes on Sept. 1st and this space will then become focused on the awards season fortunes of the films that make up the TFF #52 lineup.  So I took a look at how the experts at Gold Derby had rated some of the films that we think may play T-ride in a few weeks.  Here's where they sit:

#3 Sentimental Value

#4 Jay Kelly

#7 Bugonia

#8 Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

#13 It Was Just an Accident

#15 Hamnet

#21 The Ballad of Small Player

#35 The History of Sound

#39 The Mastermind

#47 The Secret Agent

#48 Nouvelle Vague

If the Gold Derby experts are correct TFF #52 would have four films get Oscar nominated for Best Picture.

Here's the link to the latest Gold Derby line.

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Ten Bets (Plus) #8 for TFF #52 / Venice Schedule Is Up / Jay Kelly Has a Teaser and Posters / First Looks at Nouvelle Vague

TEN BETS (PLUS) #8 FOR TFF #52

Lots of information flying around earlier this week from Toronto and New York allows us to clean up the Ten Bets as well as "possibilities".  By way of review, here's last week's Ten Bets:

This week's new Ten Bets:

1) Hamnet/Zhao

2) It Was Just an Accident/Panahi

3) Sentimental Value/Trier

4) Ballad of a Small Player/Berger

5) The Secret Agent/Filho

6) Nouvelle Vague/Linklater

7) Tuner/Roher

8) Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

9) The History of Sound/Hermanus

10) Jay Kelly/Baumbach

Other possibilities: Bugonia, Blue Moon, The Young Mother's Home, The Love That Remains, The Drama, Pillion, Left-Handed Girl, Die My Love, Anemone, At the Sea, Late Fame, A Magnificent Life, Mother Mary, Pressure, The American Revolution, Ghost Elephants, Bucking Fastard, La Grazia, Orphan, Hand of Dante, Cover-Up, Megadoc, No Other Choice, The Wizard of the Kremlin, Train Dreams.

Now, in light of the week's info...the new Ten Bets (Plus):

This week's new Ten Bets (Plus):

1) Hamnet/Zhao

2) It Was Just an Accident/Panahi

3) Sentimental Value/Trier

4) Ballad of a Small Player/Berger

5) The Secret Agent/Filho

6) Nouvelle Vague/Linklater

7) Tuner/Roher

8) Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

9) The History of Sound/Hermanus

10) Jay Kelly/Baumbach 

11) Bugonia/Lanthimos

12) The Mastermind/Reichardt

13) Cover-Up/Poitras

14) Ghost Elephants/Herzog

15) Hamlet/Karia

Other possibilities: Resurrection, Nuestra Tierra, The Young Mother's Home, The Drama, Pillion, Die My Love, Anemone, At the Sea, A Magnificent Life, Mother Mary, Pressure, The American Revolution, Ghost Elephants, Bucking Fastard, La Grazia, Megadoc, Train Dreams.

I was shocked that Blue Moon was announced by Toronto as a North American Premiere.  I would have bet actual money that it was going to be at Telluride.  I was almost as certain that The Love That Remains would also make it to TFF#52 but it was also announced as a TIFF North American premiere.

Here's the list of films that I had been T-ride watching which got nuked for TFF#52 by announcements earlier this week:

Blue Moon

The Love That Remains

Late Fame

Magellan

Mirrors #3

No Other Choice

Two Prosecutors

The President's Cake

Unidentified

Left-Handed Girl

Orphan

Orwell 2+2=5

Films that moved up the Ten Bets based on this week's information:

The Mastermind

Cover-Up

Hamlet

Resurrection

Landmarks (Nuestra Tierra) is up in the air.  New York says it's a NY Premiere.  Toronto says it has the North American premiere.  If New York is correct means probably Telluride.  If Toronto is correct...no Telluride.

VENICE SCHEDULE IS UP

Early this morning the official public schedule for the Venice Film Festival was posted.  The schedule appears to confirm that theses films are screening early enough to make it to Colorado:

La Grazia (Opening night film)

From 8/28

Ghost Elephants

Orphan

Bugonia

Jay Kelly

Megadoc

From 8/29

Cover-Up

After the Hunt

From earlier announcements from other fests we believe that Orphan and After the Hunt are off the table for Telluride.  

We're  also pretty sure that this helps signal that Bugonia, Jay Kelly and Cover-Up are headed to Telluride.

Ghost Elephants...that's Werner Herzog...making me think that it's in the bag for Telluride.  Megadoc?  I'm not so sure.  Also that could be complicated Francis Ford Coppola's health situation.

You can take a look at the full Venice schedule here.

JAY KELLY HAS A TEASER AND POSTERS

Maybe the hottest buzz for now is coming from Jay Kelly which we feel very confident is going to TFF #52.  Here's the teaser via YouTube:

and posters of George Clooney and Adam Sandler:

Ans some stills from a Vanity Fair "First Looks" article:

Jay Kelly opens on Nov. 14th.

FIRST LOOKS AT NOUVELLE VAGUE

Three stills from Rotten Tomatoes:

 

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Ten Bets #7 for TFF #52 / Is This Thing Off ? / Blue Moon Has a Trailer / The Secret Agent and Left-Handed Girl Get Dates

TEN BETS #7 FOR TFF #52

Four weeks from today we'll see the actual lineup for TFF #52.  Until then it's all speculation.  So, let's speculate.  But first, a recap of last week's Ten Bets:

1) Hamnet/Zhao

2) It Was Just an Accident/Panahi

3) Sentimental Value/Trier

4) Ballad of a Small Player/Berger

5) The Secret Agent/Filho

6) Nouvelle Vague/Linklater

7) Tuner/Roher

8) Bugonia/Lanthimos

9) Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

10) The History of Sound/Hermanus

Other possibilities: Blue Moon, The Young Mother's Home, The Love That Remains, Jay Kelly, Left-Handed Girl, Die My Love, Anemone, Pressure, The American Revolution, Ghost Elephants, Bucking Fastard, La Grazia, A House of Dynamite, Orphan, Hand of Dante, Cover-Up.

With some new information over the last week, the new Ten Bets are so:

This week's new Ten Bets:

1) Hamnet/Zhao

2) It Was Just an Accident/Panahi

3) Sentimental Value/Trier

4) Ballad of a Small Player/Berger

5) The Secret Agent/Filho

6) Nouvelle Vague/Linklater

7) Tuner/Roher

8) Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

9) The History of Sound/Hermanus

10) Jay Kelly/Baumbach

Other possibilities: Bugonia, Blue Moon, The Young Mother's Home, The Love That Remains, The Drama, Pillion, Left-Handed Girl, Die My Love, Anemone, At the Sea, Late Fame, A Magnificent Life, Mother Mary, Pressure, The American Revolution, Ghost Elephants, Bucking Fastard, La Grazia, Orphan, Hand of Dante, Cover-Up, Megadoc, No Other Choice, The Wizard of the Kremlin, Train Dreams.

Jay Kelly moves into the Ten Bets on the strength of some reporting earlier in the week.  It bumps Bugonia.  New additions to the "Possibles" include: Pillion, The Drama, At the sea, Late Fame, A Magnificent Life, Mother Mary, Megadoc, No Other Choice, The wizard of the Kremlin and Train Dreams ( I know it played Sundance but maybe it'll be an exception like The Outrun last year).

IS THIS THING OFF?

It sure seems that way as the New York Film Festival announced yesterday that Bradley Cooper's Is This On? was announced as that fest's Closing Night film and will be a World Premiere which means it will not play Telluride or Toronto either for that matter.

It has been a film that I have had high hopes for vis-a-vis TFF #52 but, alas, Nope!

BLUE MOON HAS A TRAILER

Listed currently as a "Possibility" for TFF #52, Richard Linklater's Blue Moon is set for release  on Oct. 24th.  I've had Blue Moon in earlier iterations of the Ten Bets and still feel pretty good about its chances of making the lineup.

Anyway, Sony Pictures Classics released a trailer for the film on Tuesday.  here it is from YouTube:

I liked it.

THE SECRET AGENT AND LEFT-HANDED GIRL GET DATES

Kleber Mendonça Filho's The Secret Agent has been dated for U.S. release.  Neon has set a New York roll out for Nov. 26th followed by release in L.A. on Dec. 5th.  The Secret Agent was a big winner at Cannes gaining awards for Best Director and Best Actor among the films in competition for the Palme d'Or.  

Its description at IMDb is as follows:

In 1977, a technology expert flees from a mysterious past and returns to his hometown of Recife in search of peace. He soon realizes that the city is far from being the refuge he seeks.

Meanwhile...

Netflix announced yesterday that Shih-Ching Tsou's Left-Handed Girl has been dated for a Nov. 14th theatrical release allowing it to meet Academy Awards requirements for Oscar consideration should it be submitted.  The film played as a part of Cannes Critics Week and had a healthy Cannes-ratings.org average of 7.74 (8th best overall of all films that played in various sections of Cannes).  The film also picked up the Semaine Distribution Prize.

The film was produced, co-written and edited by Oscar winner Sean Baker (who won Oscars for each of those jobs for Anora last year).

Its IMDb description:

A single mother and her two daughters relocate to Taipei to open a night market stall, each navigating the challenges of adapting to their new environment while striving to maintain family unity.

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Ten Bets #6 for TFF #52 / This Year's Barbera "Mystery" / The History of Sound Poster / Maybe Some TV?

TEN BETS #6 FOR TFF #52

Well, here we are.  We probably know some things with a reasonable degree of certainty at this poinmt after reveals from Toronto, Venice and New York.

After Toronto's Monday announcement we think this is true:

These seven films appear locked into Telluride:

Hamnet

Ballad of a Small Player

It Was Just an Accident

Nouvelle Vague

Sentimental Value

The Secret Agent

Tuner

These are film's from Venice that feel like they might play there and then come over for TFF #52:

La Grazia

Jay Kelly

The Wizard of the Kremlin

House of Dynamite

Bugoina

Orphan

Hand of Dante

Ghost Elephants

Cover-Up

I had After the Hunt on this list right up until yesterday when New York announced it as its Opening Night film as a North American Premiere...so  no Telluride.

Other films that seem gone from Telluride consideration:

Sirat

Frankenstein

Eleanor the Great

Other films that could still play Telluride:

Bugonia

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

Blue Moon

The Young Mothers' Home

The History of Sound

The Love That Remains

Left-Handed Girl

Pressure

Die, My Love

The Mastermind

The American Revolution

Bucking Fastard

Last week's Ten Bets:

1) Hamnet/Zhao

2) It Was Just an Accident/Panahi

3) Sentimental Value/Trier

4) Bugonia/Lanthimos

5) Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere/S. Cooper

6) Blue Moon/Linklater

7) Sirat/Laxe

8) The Young Mothers' Home/Dardenne Brothers

9) The History of Sound/Hermanus

10) After the Hunt/Guadagnino

Other possibilities: The Ballad of a Small Player, The Love That Remains, The Secret Agent, Jay Kelly, Left-Handed Girl, Frankenstein, Eleanor the Great,  Pressure, Die My Love, The Mastermind, The American Revolution.

This week's new Ten Bets:

1) Hamnet/Zhao

2) It Was Just an Accident/Panahi

3) Sentimental Value/Trier

4) Ballad of a Small Player/Berger

5) The Secret Agent/Filho

6) Nouvelle Vague/Linklater

7) Tuner/Roher

8) Bugonia/Lanthimos

9) Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

10) The History of Sound/Hermanus

Other possibilities: Blue Moon, The Young Mother's Home, The Love That Remains, Jay Kelly, Left-Handed Girl, Die My Love, Anemone, Pressure, The American Revolution, Ghost Elephants, Bucking Fastard, La Grazia, A House of Dynamite, Orphan, Hand of Dante, Cover-Up.

Information that will further illuminate what could be at TFF #52:

*Waiting to hear from Toronto as they likely have other titles to add over the next few weeks.

*Waiting to see Venice's schedule.

*Waiting for the rest of New York's lineup.

All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about where this week's "Bets" are.

THIS YEAR'S BARBERA "MYSTERY"

Over the last couple of years Venice Film Fest chief Alberto Barbera has, unwittingly or not, let slip bits and pieces of information that have given away a couple of Telluride titles.  Tuesday as he was introducing the Venice lineup we referenced Josh Safdies' Marty Supreme saying that (it) "will screen in the autumn".

Now, we know that Marty Supreme is set for a Dec. 25th release which isn't "autumn".   Does that mean Barbera has, again revealed a Telluride play?  My guess is no.  I think New York seems more likely.  I;m not saying that the reference precludes Telluride but NYFF makes more sense as the film is set primarily in NYC and the "autumn" reference matches up with New York's Sept. 26-Oct. 13 time frame better than TFF just two days after the Venetian kickoff.

Here's a link to a video of Barbera's comment.

THE HISTORY OF SOUND POSTER

From distributor Mubi yesterday, a poster for Oliver Hermanus' The History of Sound, currently sitting at #10 on this week's Ten Bets. Word is that a trailer is coming today. I'll try to add that to this post before the end of the day should it be forthcoming. Here's the poster:

MAYBE SOME TV?

@Movielo10274449 posted on X yesterday the notion that Matthew Heineman's The Savant could play Telluride and it makes some sense.

Last year the fest programmed Apple TV+'s and Alfonso Cuaron's Disclaimer starring Cate Blanchett (currently Emmy nommed for the role) and Kevin Kline. The fest ran all seven of the series episodes.

Could this happen again this year with The Savant which is also from Apple+?

Maybe Jessica Chastain who stars in the series will be in town? Please...

You bet your buns! Heineman, as @Movielo10274449 points out has screened his last two projects at T-ride. 2022's Retrograde and 2023's fantastic American Symphony.

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Ten Bets #5 for TFF #52 / Toronto Adds 11 More Titles...We Deduce / After the Hunt Has a Trailer

TEN BETS #5 FOR TFF #52

Here's last week's Ten Bets:

1) It Was Just an Accident/Panahi

2) Sentimental Value/Trier

3) Bugonia/Lanthimos

4) Hamnet/Zhao

5) Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere/S. Cooper

6) Sirat/Laxe

7) Blue Moon/Linklater

8) After the Hunt/Guadagnino

9) The Young Mothers' Home/Dardenne Brothers

10) Rental Family/Hikari

Other possibilities: The History of Sound, The Ballad of a Small Player, The Love That Remains, The Secret Agent, Jay Kelly, Left-Handed Girl, Frankenstein, Eleanor the Great,  Pressure, Marty Supreme, Die My Love, The Mastermind, The American Revolution.

And now for the updated Ten Bets:

1) Hamnet/Zhao

2) It Was Just an Accident/Panahi

3) Sentimental Value/Trier

4) Bugonia/Lanthimos

5) Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere/S. Cooper

6) Blue Moon/Linklater

7) Sirat/Laxe

8) The Young Mothers' Home/Dardenne Brothers

9) The History of Sound/Hermanus

10) After the Hunt/Guadagnino

Other possibilities: The Ballad of a Small Player, The Love That Remains, The Secret Agent, Jay Kelly, Left-Handed Girl, Frankenstein, Eleanor the Great,  Pressure, Die My Love, The Mastermind, The American Revolution.

Changes in this week's Ten Bets informed by  announcements yesterday from Toronto (see below).  Marty Supreme falls out of "possibilities" amid reports that it will skipping all fall fests.

I'm expecting more announcements coming from other fests next week which should really begin to clear the picture for TFF #52.

TORONTO ADDS 11 MORE TITLES...WE DEDUCE!

Yesterday the Toronto International Film Festival announced 11 more titles for their 2025 edition.  Their premiere designations tell us about films that now seem to be (mostly) ruled out and one that seems to be confirmed for Telluride.  Per Variety here are those films and their designations.

Galas:

The Choral | Nicholas Hytner | UK

World Premiere | Gala Presentation

Homebound | Neeraj Ghaywan | India

North American Premiere | Gala Presentation

Hamnet | Chloé Zhao | UK

Canadian Premiere | Gala Presentation

A Private Life | Rebecca Zlotowski | France

North American Premiere | Gala Presentation

Roofman | Derek Cianfrance | USA

World Premiere | Gala Presentation

She Has No Name | Peter Ho-Sun Chan | China

North American Premiere | Gala Presentation

Special Presentations:

Franz | Agnieszka Holland | Czech Republic/Germany/Poland

World Premiere | Special Presentation

The Lost Bus | Paul Greengrass | USA

World Premiere | Special Presentation

Rental Family | HIKARI | USA/Japan

World Premiere | Special Presentation

Steal Away | Clement Virgo | Canada/Belgium

World Premiere | Special Presentation

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery | Rian Johnson | USA

World Premiere | Special Presentation

Takeaways:  Looks like Chloe Zhao's Hamnet is headed to Telluride.  Looks like Hikari's Rental Family is not.  I've had Hamnet in the Ten Bets from the jump this year.  I just put in Rental Family last week but its World Premiere designation means that it won't be at Telluride.  The question that raises is does that mean that Bradley Cooper's Is This Thing On? a real TFF #52 possibility from Searchlight?  Because it feels like that's Searchlight's best shot now.

Couple of other things:  A Private Life,  Roofman and Franz were films I had sort of considered as possible TFF candidates and aren't now.  

The mystery about Wake Up Dead Man's International Premiere designation for the BFI/London Fest remains...weird.  I've said it before...the International Premiere designation is "squishy".

None of the other films announced by Toronto were on my radar as Telluride candidates.

Here's the Variety story in its entirety.

AFTER THE HUNT HAS A TRAILER

Luca Guadagnino's After the Hunt moved  up into this week's Ten Bets.  Mostly because its Amazon-MGM's big shot this year and Rental Family dropped out. Now I'm sort of thinking that it does Venice early and then Telluride.  Maybe a Julia Roberts tribute?

World of Reel wrote about it yesterday saying:

“After the Hunt” is set to hit screens on October 10 via Amazon/MGM. As mentioned, it’ll probably hit Venice in September, and probably have a fall rollout in other fests, maybe Toronto and Telluride."

Also perhaps signaling that the film is soon to be announced for Venice, Amazon-MGM dropped a trailer yesterday.  Here that is from YouTube:

I think it looks intriguing.

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Ten Bets #4 for TFF #52 / Rental Family...Telluride Bound? / Next Best Picture Predicts T-Ride / Knives and Definitions

 TEN BETS #4 FOR TFF #52

With every week we get a little bit more backdoor info pointing to certain titles for TFF #52.  You'll see a little bit of that for this week in the stories posted below.  But let's lead off today's re-shuffle of the top ten bets on films for TFF.  Here's a look at last week's Ten Bets:

1) It Was Just an Accident/Panahi

2) Sentimental Value/Trier

3) Bugonia/Lanthimos

4) Hamnet/Zhao

5) Blue Moon/Linklater

6) Sirat/Oliver Laxe

7) Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere/S. Cooper

8) The Young Mothers' Home/Dardenne Brothers

9) The Ballad of a Small Player/Berger

10) After the Hunt/Guadagnino

Other possibilities: The Love That Remains/Palmason, Jay Kelly, Left-Handed Girl, Frankenstein, Eleanor the Great, After the Hunt, The History of Sound, Family Rental, Pressure, Marty Supreme, Die My Love, The Mastermind, The American Revolution.

And this is where I think we are this week:

1) It Was Just an Accident/Panahi

2) Sentimental Value/Trier

3) Bugonia/Lanthimos

4) Hamnet/Zhao

5) Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere/S. Cooper

6) Sirat/Oliver Laxe

7) Blue Moon/Linklater

8) After the Hunt/Guadagnino

9) The Young Mothers' Home/Dardennes Brothers

10) Rental Family/Hikari

Other possibilities: The History of Sound, The Ballad of a Small Player, The Love That Remains/Palmason, The Secret Agent, Jay Kelly, Left-Handed Girl, Frankenstein, Eleanor the Great, After the Hunt, Pressure, Marty Supreme, Die My Love, The Mastermind, The American Revolution.

RENTAL FAMILY...TELLURIDE BOUND?

Oscar winner Brendan Fraser who leads Hikari's Rental Family

Earlier this week I wrote that Hikari's Rental Family had about a 40% shot at playing at telluride  as a part of my assessment of what Searchlight films might be TFF possible.  That, I suggested. made it the most likely Searchlight property to play TFF #52.

Tuesday World of Reel's Jordan Ruimy reported that the film may be TFF bound.  In a story covering the test screenings of the film.  The thrust of the story is that it has been screening to very positive reactions.  As Ruimy is winding up the article he writes:

"What we might have here is the kind of low-key, but emotionally resonant indie that, if positioned well, could ride a wave of goodwill through the fall circuit and into awards season. 

Of course, it it’s too early to tell, but all signs point to a real crowd-pleaser, and there are already murmurs that it’s already clinched a spot at the Telluride Film Festival, which is known to be a major Oscar launchpad."

We can't know how certain Ruimy is, but it seems he has some serious insight.  Consequently Rental Family makes its way onto this week's Ten Bets list.  And for fun, I'll tease that there is at least one other "Bet" among the 10 that I am 90% sure of and another among the week's "possibilities" that I'm also at 90% on.  I really thought about moving the "possibility" into the Ten Bets for the week but had to make late breaking room for Rental Family.

Any guesses?

NEXT BEST PICTURE PREDICTS T-RIDE

Matt Neglia at Next Best Picture posted yesterday a substantial piece predicting where films would land this fall film fest season including TFF #52.  I have included Matt's Telluride predictions and indicated where he and I overlap as follows:

* On the the latest Ten Bets

**Included as a "Possibility"

***Might have been mentioned by MTFB

Here's Matt's list:

Blue Moon – dir. Richard Linklater*

Bugonia-dir. Yorgos Lanthimos*

Chocobar-dir. Lucretia Martel

The Chronology Of Water – dir. Kristen Stewart***

Hamnet (World Premiere) – dir. Chloe Zhao*

The History Of Sound – dir. Oliver Hermanus**

A House Of Dynamite (World Premiere) – dir. Kathryn Bigelow***

It Was Just An Accident – dir. Jafar Panahi*

Jay Kelly-dir. Noah Baumbach**

Left-Handed Girl – dir. Shih-Ching Tsou***

The Love That Remains – dir. Hlynur Pálmason**

A Magnificent Life – dir. Sylvain Chomet***

Mother Mary (World Premiere) – director. David Lowery

The Perfect Neighbor – dir. Geeta Gandbhir

The President’s Cake – dir. Hasan Hadi***

Rental Family (World Premiere) – dir. Hikari*

The Secret Agent – dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho**

Seeds – dir. Brittany Shyne

Sentimental Value – dir. Joachim Trier*

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (World Premiere) – dir. Scott Cooper*

Train Dreams – dir. Clint Bentley***

Urchin – dir. Harris Dickinson***

The Young Mothers’ Home – dir. Luc Dardenne & Jean-Pierre Dardenne*

Films that Matt predicts for Venice or Toronto that I want to be at Telluride:

Anemone

The Ballad of a Small Player

Eleanor the Great

Frankenstein

Is This Thing On?

One Battle After Another

Nuremburg

Orwell: 2+2=5

Pressure

You can find Matt's predictions for all four major fall fests here.

KNIVES AND DEFINITIONS

Word from Netflix yesterday that Rian Johnson's Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will open the BFI/London Film Festival on October 8th.  The interesting thing is that multiple sources reported that as being its International Premiere.  That means it will have World Premiered somewhere else before Oct. 8th.  

Some have speculated that means a Toronto World Premiere.  But hold up.  The traditional definition of "International Premiere" is that it is a first screening outside the film's nation of origin.  Okay.  It's just that Canada is not the "nation of origin" for Wake Up Dead Man.  According to IMDb Pro the nation of origin is the U.S.A.

So, what gives?  That set of circumstances seem to suggest that WUDM World Premieres at Telluride or Fantastic Fest.  The original Knives Out did world premiere at Toronto and followed that with a screening as a part of Fantastic Fest.  Glass Onion also World Premiered at Toronto and then followed that up with a number of high profile regional fests like Mill Valley, Middleburg and Hamptons.

So, again, what gives?  I think there are three possibilities:

1) Wake Up Dead Man plays Telluride.

2) Wake Up Dead Man plays Fantastic Fest and skips Toronto.

3) Wake Up Dead Man World Premieres at Toronto.

The third option is maybe the most likely because the "International Premiere" designation has been inconsistently applied for some time.

I'll keep an eye on this to see how it finally checks out.

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Ten Bets #3 for TFF #52 / Sentimental Value Trailer / The Mastermind Is Dated

TEN BETS #3 FOR TFF #52

We're creeping up on the time frame for rapid discovery of probable Telluride selections based on information as other major fall film festivals begin to announce their lineups.  For Telluride watchers that chiefly means Toronto, Venice and New York.  Fantastic Fest and BFI/London can also provide clues.  

When those announcements happen they can rapidly change the look of the Ten Bets.  It's all about how a fest frames the premiere status for the films that they include.  Designations that are key over the next few weeks are:

"World Premiere" which is exactly what it sounds like...some fest is telling you that they will be hosting the very first public screening of a film anywhere.  So when Toronto tells you they are "World Premiering" a film that means it won't play Telluride which occurs before TIFF.  

Almost all of Venice's titles are World Premieres.  The best info from Venice comes when they announce their actual screening schedule.  As Venice cranks up a couple of days before TFF starts, films that get scheduled the first three or four days of Venice have time to get to the Colorado Rockies for a portion of TFF.

"International Premiere" which means the first screening outside the films country of origin (though "country of origin" can be a slippery term).  This designation can cut both ways in as far as ruling a film in or out of the TFF lineup.  For example, an American film the screens at Telluride and then at Toronto could be designated by TIFF as an "International Premiere".  When TIFF frames their announcement that way it could be a predictor that the film will play T-ride.  On the other hand, if a French film screens at Cannes and  is announced as an International Premiere by Toronto, that means it is skipping Telluride.

"North American Premiere":  A very useful piece of information for announcements from Toronto or New York as it means no previous play at Telluride.

"Canadian" or "New York" premieres.  In each case this kind of  "local" premiere designation almost always means a Telluride play....but NOT 100% of the time.  You have to remember that Sundance, South by Southwest and Fantastic Fest film titles could also result in the "local" designation for either TIFF or NTFF.

Ultimately all of this explains why changes in the early versions of the Ten Bets are glacial and then become quite dynamic when we begin to see announcements from these other major fests. 

All that said, here's a review of last week's Ten Bets for TFF #52:

1) It Was Just an Accident/Panahi

2) Blue Moon/Linklater

3) Bugonia/Lanthimos

4) Sentimental Value/Trier

5) The Young Mothers' Home/Dardennes

6) Hamnet/Zhao

7) Sirat/Oliver Laxe

8) Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere/S. Cooper

9) The Ballad of a Small Player/Berger

10) The Love That Remains/Palmason

Other possibilities: Jay Kelly, Left-Handed Girl, Frankenstein, Eleanor the Great, After the Hunt, Family Rental, Pressure, Marty Supreme, Die My Love, The Mastermind.

And now, this week's Ten Bets:

1) It Was Just an Accident/Panahi

2) Sentimental Value/Trier

3) Bugonia/Lanthimos

4) Hamnet/Zhao

5) Blue Moon/Linklater

6) Sirat/Oliver Laxe

7) Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere/S. Cooper

8) The Young Mothers' Home/Dardenne Brothers

9) The Ballad of a Small Player/Berger

10) After the Hunt/Guadagnino

Other possibilities: The Love That Remains/Palmason, Jay Kelly, Left-Handed Girl, Frankenstein, Eleanor the Great, After the Hunt, The History of Sound, Family Rental, Pressure, Marty Supreme, Die My Love, The Mastermind, The American Revolution.

Comment: Sentimental Value and Hamnet both gain a couple of spots.  Sirat and Deliver Me from Nowhere move up one spot. Blue Moon and Young Mothers' Home lose some ground and, for now, After the Hunt supplants The Love That Remains in the #10 spot.

SENTIMENTAL VALUE TRAILER

Currently sitting at #2 in the Latest Ten Bets is Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value.  The film won the Grand Prix at Cannes in May and is considered a hot property moving through the fall fest season.  Neon is the film's distributor and they're larder is stacked with Cannes projects that they acquired during and after the festival.

Mubi released a trailer a couple of days ago.  Here it is from YouTube:

Sentimental Value is set to open in the United States on Nov. 7th.

THE MASTERMIND IS DATED

Nest Best Picture revealed this week that Mubi will release Kelly Reichardt's The Mastermind theatrically in the U.S. on Oct. 17th.

That date means it could line up potential plays at Telluride, Toronto and/or New York.  Reichardt was in Telluride in 2019 with the enigmatic First Cow.  

The Mastermind played the Cannes Fest in the Palme d'Or competition.  It stood somewhere in the middle of the competition group critically with a 6.29 average rating as reported by Cannes-Ratings.org.

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Distributor Monday #4: A24 / Bugonia Has a Teaser / Tidbits: Hedda, It Was Just and Accident, Two Prosecutors

 DISTRIBUTOR MONDAY #4: A24

We continue to look at film distribution outlets that have historically had a strong presence at the Telluride Film Festival to see what films they might be proffering to TFF for the 2025 edition.  Today's company is A24.  A24 first landed at Telluride in 2012 with Ginger and Rosa and followed the next year with Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin which made quite the splash.  Since then A24 has been an almost constant presence at TFF.  Since their debut at T-ride in 2012, A24 has only missed three times: 2014, 2018 and last year.  Last year's absence ended a four year run of A24 having multiple films at the fest including 2023 when it had four: Janet Planet, Occupied City, Tuesday and The Zone of Interest.

So, where does that put A24 on the possibility of being back at TFF in 2025?

The odds suggest that they will be back but...I'm not so sure.  A24 has two pretty big films set to come out this fall season.  Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme (Dec. 25th)  and Benny Safdie's The Smashing Machine (Oct. 3rd).  Pretty clearly with its Christmas Day release, A24 thinks that Marty Supreme is prime awards season catnip.  With Timothee Chalamet in the lead, they're probably right.  

The Smashing Machine is intriguing.  As attested to by what we've seen from photos from the set, Dwayne Johnson has managed a significant makeover.  I get the sense that this is Johnson's play for a prestige picture.

Trying to divine A24's release strategy for these and additionally any fall festival strategy is tough to do.  There are credible reports that The Smashing Machine will play Venice.  Not so much as regards Marty Supreme.

It's worth noting that the Safdie Brothers and A24 debuted Uncut Gems at Telluride in 2019.  It subsequently played Toronto, New York and London before opening in limited release on Dec. 13th followed by going wide on Christmas Day.

A24 also has a couple of other possibilities.  Here's the rundown for each listed in alphabetical order.  All participants who have attended TFF in the past are indicated with *.

Eternity.  Director: David Freyne.  Stars: Miles Teller*, Elizabeth Olsen, DaVine Joy Randolph. Release date: TBD.  IMDb description:

After death, everybody gets one week to choose where to spend eternity. For Joan, Larry, and Luke, it's really a question of who to spend it with.

This film is a true wild card from A24 at this point.

Marty Supreme.  Director: Josh Safdie*.  Stars: Timothee Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A'zion.  Release date: Dec. 25th.  IMDb description:

Marty Mauser, a young man with a dream no one respects, goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.

Marty probably is A24's best shot at an awards season contender.

Pillion.  Director: Henry Lighton.  Stars: Alexander Skarsgard, Henry Melling.  Won the Screenplay award for Cannes' Un Certain Regard section.  Release date: TBD.  IMDb description:

A directionless man is swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker takes him on as his submissive.

A24 acquired Pillion in October of 2024.  It was a critical success at Cannes with a combined of 7.30 on Cannes rating org's critics collective.  That was the 4th best among Un Certain Regard films and 15th best overall for the fest.  Based on this, Pillion might actually be A24's best bet for TFF #52.

The Smashing Machine.  Director: Benny Safdie*.  Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt.  Release date: Oct. 3rd.  IMDb description:

The story of mixed-martial arts and UFC champion Mark Kerr.

As mentioned above, The Smashing Machine is likely to premiere at Venice.  Does it make the jump from Venice to Telluride?  

Chances:

Pillion: 50%

Marty Supreme 25%

The Smashing Machine 25%

Eternity 20%

Next Monday we'll take a look at Searchlight.

BUGONIA HAS A TEASER

The latest collaboration between Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone has a teaser.  Here that is from YouTube:

Bugonia currently sits at #3 on MTFB's Ten Bets for TFF#52.  Most of that is because both Lanthimos films, The Favourite and Poor Things, played Venice and then came to Telluride.  The history is there.  I also think that star and producer Emma Stone really loves Telluride.

The film is a remake of a 2003 South Korean film titled Save the Green Planet.  That film played at the Cannes Film Festival.

TIDBITS: 

***The Toronto International film Festival announced five world premieres for its 2025 edition this past week.  Of the five only one had been among films that I thought had some shot at at TFF #52.  That was Nia DaCosta's Hedda.  With this announcement you can scratch it off your Telluride dance card.  Here's the gist from Variety.

***Current #1 on MTFB's Ten Bets, Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident has been dated for release in the U.S. on Oct. 15th.  The Gold Derby article post with that news notes that for distributor Neon it's essentially the same dating as last year's Palme and Oscar winner Anora.  Does that mean Neon will also follow the same strategy with regard to where the film plays during the fall fest circuit?  My bet, at least right now, is yup!

Here's the link to the Gold Derby post.

***Janus acquires Two Prosecutors.  The Hollywood Reporter reported last week that Janus films had acquired North American rights for Sergei Loznitsa's Two Prosecutors.  The film played in Palme d'Or competition at Cannes in May winning the Francois Chalais Prize.  Janus's play improves the film's profile for TFF consideration.

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Ten Bets #2 for TFF #52 / Variety 's Take on Venice / Roofman has a Trailer

TEN BETS #2 FOR TFF #52

It's Thursday so time to update MTFB's Teb bets for TFF #52.

Here's a review of last week's Ten Bets.

1) It Was Just an Accident/Panahi

2) Blue Moon/Linklater

3) Bugonia/Lanthimos

4) The Love That Remains/Palmason

5) Sentimental Value/Trier

6) The Young Mothers' Home/Dardennes

7) The Secret Agent/Filho

8) Hamnet/Zhao

9) Deliver Me from Nowhere/S. Cooper

10) The Ballad of a Small Player/Berger

And here's the updated Bets for this week:

1) It Was Just an Accident/Panahi

2) Blue Moon/Linklater

3) Bugonia/Lanthimos

4) Sentimental Value/Trier

5) The Young Mothers' Home/Dardennes

6) Hamnet/Zhao

7) Sirat/Oliver Laxe

8) Deliver Me from Nowhere/S. Cooper

9) The Ballad of a Small Player/Berger

10) The Love That Remains/Palmason

A little movement here and there from where things were last week.  For the moment The Secret Agent has dropped off the Ten Best...but it could return.  The Love That Remains drops down but stays on the list.  Sirat enters the list at #7.  The top three remain the same with other titles like Sentimental Value and Deliver Me from Nowhere moving up a spot.

Other possibilities: Jay Kelly, Left-Handed Girl, Frankenstein, Eleanor the Great, After the Hunt, Family Rental, Pressure, Marty Supreme, Die My Love, The Mastermind.

VARIETY'S TAKE ON VENICE

We're likely about four weeks away from the announcement of the Venice lineup and then another couple of weeks past that before we find out when the films selected will be scheduled.  Those two chunks of information can help illuminate the possible TFF lineup.

I've passed along a couple of sites that have speculated about potential Venice titles and today I add a piece from Variety with their take on what could play there.  I've scoured the article for possible TFF titles and here's what I came up with:

The Smashing Machine/B. Safdie

After the Hunt/Guadagnino

Bugonia/Lanthimos

Couture/Winocour

Jay Kelly/Baumbach

Frankenstein/Del Toro

A House of Dynamite/Bigelow

Father, Mother, Sister, Brother/Jarmusch

La Grazia/Sorrentino

Click on the link above for the full article.

ROOFMAN HAS A TRAILER

Derek Cianfrance's next film has a trailer and World of Reel suggests that it will have a presence on the fall film fest circuit including a possible play at Telluride.

WOR head honcho, Jordan Ruimy writes that:

"It’s been a long time coming, but Derek Cianfrance is finally back. His latest feature, “Roofman,” is already being positioned for a major festival run in fall 2025." 

 

And further along in the post from yesterday:

"As for where “Roofman” will land on the festival circuit, maybe Telluride? Definitely TIFF. Venice is an outside shot as Cianfrance has been on the Lido before, but isn’t a regular. It’ll all depend on the quality of the film."

The entire article can be accessed here.

The film stars Channing Tatum who was in Telluride in 2014 with Foxcatcher, Kirsten Dunst who was in T-ride in 2021 with The Power of the Dog and Peter Dinklage who was a TFF tribute recipient with Cyrano also in 2021.  Ben Mendelsohn, Juno Temple, Uzo Aduba and LaKeith Stanfield also star.  The IMDb description:

The story of the rooftop robber, Jeffrey Manchester, and his time on the lam evading capture.

And here's the trailer via YouTube:

Roofman is dated for release on Oct. 3rd.

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