Ten (Plus) Bets #8 / Moonlight Trailer Impresses / Toronto Platform Lineup Provides Clues

It's Friday everyone...aren't you glad?


TEN (PLUS) BETS #8

Here is my weekly update focused on what appear to be the most probable films to play the 43rd Telluride Film Festival.

Last week's Ten (Plus) Bets:

15) Defying the Nazis (Ken Burns PBS Doc)
14) High Summer (Animated short)
13) The Red Turtle
12) Manchester by the Sea
11) Moonlight
10) Fire at Sea
9) Maudie
8) Frantz
7) Una
6) Things to Come
5) Neruda
4) Bleed for This
3) Arrival
2) La La Land
1) Toni Erdmann


And here is this week's Ten (Plus) Bets:

20) Journey Through French Cinema
19) Defying the Nazis
18) The B-Side
17) Into the Inferno
16) Julieta
15) Graduation
14) High Summer
13) Manchester by the Sea
12) Maudie
11) Una
10) Frantz
9) The Red Turtle
8) Fire at Sea
7) Moonlight
6) Bleed for This
5) Neruda
4) Things to Come
3) La La Land
2) Toni Erdmann
1) Arrival

Still in play: The Circle, The Promise. Miss Sloane. Hidden Figures, The Sense of an Ending, Exile, Peshmerga, Gold, Norman, Eternity, The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez, The Founder



MOONLIGHT TRAILER IMPRESSES

As I mentioned here yesterday, Barry Jenkins Moonlight (A24) got a trailer release late yesterday morning.  Here it is from YouTube:

The response to the trailer was nothing short of rapturous.  We may have a serious stealth Oscar player.   Here's coverage of the trailer drop:

https://thefilmstage.com/trailer/first-trailer-for-barry-jenkins-moonlight-shows-a-life-in-three-parts/

http://www.indiewire.com/2016/08/moonlight-trailer-barry-jenkins-trevante-rhodes-a24-1201715487/

http://www.awardscircuit.com/2016/08/11/watch-first-breathtaking-trailer-moonlight-a24/

http://theplaylist.net/gorgeous-first-trailer-barry-jenkins-moonlight-love-heartbreak-20160811/

http://www.firstshowing.net/2016/must-watch-first-trailer-for-barry-jenkins-moonlight-set-in-miami/


Despite The PLaylist's claim that the film is world premiering in Toronto, I'm still relatively confident it will actually screen at Telluride first.  The story below underscores my belief.


TORONTO PLATFORM LINEUP PROVIDES CLUES

Toronto's International Film Festival revealed their competitive young film makers Platform section yesterday.  Included in the list of films were two that have been on the TFF #43 radar.  Pablo Larrain's Jackie, which I had concluded will not be making the trip from Venice to T-ride was listed as a North American Premiere thus buttressing my conclusion.

Barry Jenkins Moonlight was also named to the section and listed as an International Premiere, which, I believe indicates a film's first play outside its nation of origin which comports perfectly with a Telluride screening.

The complete Platform lineup and film descriptions are here:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tiff-2016-platform-lineup-natalie-918884

http://www.indiewire.com/2016/08/tiff-2016-platform-lineup-jackie-moonlight-daguerrotype-1201715395/

https://thefilmstage.com/news/tiff-2016-reveals-platform-line-up-with-jackie-nocturama-moonlight-and-more/

http://www.thewrap.com/natalie-portmans-jackie-kennedy-drama-jackie-added-to-toronto-film-festival-slate/

Contact MTFB at:

mpgort@gmail.com

OR on Twitter @Gort2

OR check out Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse-107846269309712/

Or leave a comment.

Friday Business Part One-Dreams of Jackie / Friday Business Part Two-Eight Days a Week / MTFB Shows Up on Awards Circuit

Good Monday to All and welcome back from the weekend.

FRIDAY BUSINESS PART ONE-DREAMS OF JACKIE

Last Friday's post included some speculation concerning Pablo Larrain's Jackie.  The film was announced for Venice on Thursday and the thinking was that, as we are already relatively certain that his Neruda is going to play Telluride that, perhaps, Jackie might play T-ride as well.  The thought was echoed at Hollywood Elsewhere by Jeffrey Wells.

Wells, however, appears to have re-thought the proposition.  He posted on Friday that he head re-evaluated and that he doubts that scenario will occur.

Here's the relevant section of the HE post:

Yesterday I wrote that “with Larrain already slated to attend the Telluride Film Festival with Neruda, it would be strange — a head-scratcher — if Jackie doesn’t wind up screening at Telluride also.” Convinced as I am that Telluride is the end-all and be-all of the domestic, ultra-refined, beginning-of-awards-season film festival experience, I asked “what possible strategy on the part of Jackie‘s producers could result in their film not playing Telluride?”

Answer: Jackie is looking to land a U.S. distributor, and Toronto, where it’ll screen after Venice, is much more of an acquisitions environment than Telluride. Plus a choice promotional berth at Toronto can be mighty tempting to a film in Jackie‘s position. So the decision to bypass Telluride has been made for the most practical of reasons. Fine.

I suspect that Wells has some serious inside industry dope when he concludes with that final sentence.

You can see the entire post here:

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2016/07/wasnt-thinking-strategically/



FRIDAY BUSINESS PART TWO-EIGHT DAYS A WEEK

I suggested Friday the admittedly way, way outside possibility that Ron Howard might chose to bring his new Beatles documentary to Telluride.  The thin evidence that I cited included The Playlist's guess that the film might play a couple of fall film fests, that Hulu might try to follow in the footsteps of Netflix and Amazon, that the release date of 9/15 really means that if it does play a fest it can only be among the Telluride/Venice/Toronto triumvirate.

Over the weekend I added a couple of other pieces of circumstantial evidence.  Variety's story about the release of the second trailer for the film revealed that the theatrical distribution is being handled by Abramorama which had Laurie Anderson;s Heart of Dog at T-ride last year and Particle Fever in 2013.  So, you have a distib that's not unfamiliar with Telluride and vice versa.

The Variety report is here:

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/beatles-documentary-eight-days-shea-stadium-concert-1201825054/


The other piece of circumstantial evidence...Sir Paul's concert schedule is open for any or all of the three fall fests as he has no shows scheduled between Aug. 18th and Oct. 4th according to Pollstar:

Paul McCartney 

Artist Website | Headline Shows: 10 | Date: All

46 |  83

Concert Schedule 

Date		City	Venue	Event Info
Sun 08/07/16		East Rutherford, NJ	MetLife Stadium
Tue 08/09/16		Washington, DC	Verizon Center
Wed 08/10/16		Washington, DC	Verizon Center
Sat 08/13/16		St. Louis, MO	Busch Stadium
Mon 08/15/16		Grand Rapids, MI	Van Andel Arena
Wed 08/17/16		Cleveland, OH	Quicken Loans Arena
Thu 08/18/16		Cleveland, OH	Quicken Loans Arena
Tue 10/04/16		Sacramento, CA	Golden 1 Center
Appearing at "Desert Trip"
Sat 10/08/16		Indio, CA	Empire Polo Club
Sat 10/15/16		Indio, CA	Empire Polo Club

MTFB disclaimer:  DO I think this is going to happen?  Not really but it's fun to make the suggestion.



MTFB SHOWS UP ON AWARDS CIRCUIT

When MTFB turns into The Film Awards Clearinghouse after TFF #43 concludes and focuses on the business of tracking the Telluride films that end up having an effect on this year's Awards season, one of the sources that I have included is Clayton Davis' Awards Circuit.

Now, AC has returned the favor as Davis posted a Toronto lineup piece on Saturday that referenced yours truly:

We haven’t commented on the recent Toronto Film Festival lineup this past week, with Oscar Predictions being updated.  The great thing about sussing out the lineup is that we are able to almost identify the films that will not be going to the Telluride Film Festival vs. what may or may not be.

You can bet on films like “Toni Erdmann” from Sony Pictures Classics, “Arrival” from Paramount Pictures, and “Manchester by the Sea” from Roadside Attractions popping up.  Michael Patterson of Michael’s Telluride Film Blog suggests films like “Bleed for This” from Open Road, “Moonlight” from A24, and the still undistributed “Una” could be lining up for a strong premiere.

My thanks to Mr. Davis for the shout out and linkage.

You can see the entirety of the post here:

http://www.awardscircuit.com/2016/07/30/oscars-toronto-film-festival-lineup-telluride-guesses/

Contact MTFB at:

mpgort@gmail.com

OR on Twitter @Gort2

OR check out Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse-107846269309712/

Or leave a comment...