Paper Tiger (and Others) Announced for Cannes / Meanwhile...Herzog NOT Cannes Bound / The Story That Won't End

PAPER TIGER (AND OTHERS) ANNOUNCED FOR CANNES

Adam Driver on the set of Paper Tiger

As expected, the Cannes Film Festival  added a number of films to several different sections on Wednesday.  Most notable is the addition of James Gray's Paper Tiger to the Palme d'Or competition.  That addition had been widely expected.

14 other films were added to various sections but, at first blush, none of those jumps out as a TFF #53 candidate.  Of them, Diego Luna's Ashes, added as a Special Screening, intrigues me the most and if I had to point at one other film beyond Paper Tiger that could be in play for a Labor Day date in Telluride, that would be it.

Additionally, Variety reported yesterday that Paper Tiger has been acquired by NEON for North American distribution.  NEON has been on tear in recent years as far as the Palme d'Or competition, winning every one since Parasite.  The NEON acquisition doesn't hurt the film's chances of a TFF screening.  Gray's last film, Armageddon Time, played TFF in 2022.

There are two articles from Variety from yesterday:

Variety article #1

https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/cannes-victorian-psycho-maika-monroe-1236727917/

Variety article #2

https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/james-gray-paper-tiger-johansson-driver-cannes-neon-1236727770/

MEANWHILE...HERZOG NOT CANNES BOUND

Per World of Reel, earlier reporting that Werner Herzog's Bucking Fastard was headed to the Premiere section at Cannes haven't proven out.  Purportedly yesterday's Cannes announcement completes the films for all sections.  Herzog's film was not among them.

In WOR's story from yesterday:

"Notably absent is Werner Herzog, whose “Bucking Fastard” came very close to entering the official competition but was ultimately offered a slot in the Cannes Premiere section — it now looks like the film will be headed to Venice in September."

The possible inclusion of Bucking Fastard at Venice certainly doesn't preclude its possible selection for TFF #53.

The complete World of Reel story is here.

https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2026/4/22/cannes-2026-adds-16-titles-including-zachary-wigons-victorian-psycho-no-werner-herzog

THE STORY THAT WON'T END

You all remember the strife that the fest had in its efforts to eventually secure and screen the Aretha Franklin documentary Amazing Grace in 2019.

In 2022 director Adam Elliott brought suit against distributor NEON focused on claims of breach of contract and fraud.

You can find the details in this story from The Hollywood Reporter.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/neon-lawsuit-film-accounting-1236560710

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MTFB Oscar Update: First Winner Predictions Part Four / Visitations: Polley, Whishaw, Buckley and More

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE FIRST WINNER PREDICTIONS PART FOUR

Here's the last of my first pass at predicting what films and performances will win Oscars on March 12th.  Over the past two weeks I have predicted the other 18 categories.  Going forward I will continue to update categories at the same intervals culminating in a final set of predictions on Oscar morning.  Today's initial predictions for the final five categories follow.  TFF films in Bold.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1) Avatar: The Way of Water

2) Top Gun: Maverick

3) All Quiet on the Western Front

4) The Batman

5) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

BEST SOUND

1) Top Gun: Maverick

2) Elvis

3) All Quiet on the Western Front

4) Avatar: The Way of Water

5)The Batman

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

1) The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

2) An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake...

3) The Flying Sailor

4) My Year of Dicks

5) Ice Merchants

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

1) How Do You Measure a Year?

2) The Elephant Whisperers

3) The Martha Mitchell Effect

4) Stranger at the Gate

5) Haulout

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

1) Le Pupille

2) An Irish Goodbye

3) The Red Suitcase

4) Ivalu

5) The Night Ride

Comments:

The Visual Effects win for Avatar/Water and Sound win for TG: Maverick seem pretty likely at this point. 

As always the Short Films categories are really anyone's guess, though the buzz for The Boy, the Mole etc. has it feeling like the most certain winner in any of the three shorts categories.  The Doc and Live Action Shorts categories are totally up in the air.

After the initial prognostications over the past two weeks I have TFF films winning four statues on March 12th:

Cate Blanchett/Best Actress/TAR

Women Talking/Adapted Screenplay

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed/Best Doc

Le Pupille/Best Live Action Short

And among the 20 feature categories, win totals predicted:

Films with multiple predicted wins:

Everything Everywhere wins three Oscars for Best Picture,  Ke Huy Quan/Supporting Actor and Original Screenplay.

Elvis with four: Cinematography, Production Design, Costumes and Makeup/Hair.

The Fabelmans with one: Steven Spielberg/Best Direction.

Top Gun: Maverick with two: Editing and Sound

Films with single predicted wins:

TAR: Cate Blanchett/Lead Actress.

The Whale: Brendan Fraser/Lead Actor.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: Angela Bassett/Supporting Actress.

Women Talking: Adapted Screenplay.

Babylon: Original Score.

RRR: Original Song.

All Quiet on the Western Front: International Feature.

Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio: Animated Feature.

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed: Documentary Feature.

Avatar: The Way of Water: Visual Effects.

I can still see the possibility of Everything Everywhere winning up to six.  The three I have predicted at this point plus Direction, Actress and Editing.

I have Banshees being shut out, but it's still very much alive for Original Screenplay and Colin Farrell is still a viable Best Actor winner.  We'll see how that evolves over the next few weeks.

VISITATIONS

WOMEN TALKING: Sarah Polley and Ben Whishaw for London Live.  Jesse Buckley on the BBC Women's Hour.

ARMAGEDDON TIME: James Gray for FLC Luminaries (YouTube).

ONE FINE MORNING: Mia Hansen-Love for FLC Luminaries (YouTube).

SR.: Chris Smith for FLC Luminaries (YouTube).

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BAFTA Longlists and TFF / MTFB Oscar Update: Screenplays and More / The National Society of Film Critics and TFF / Visitations: Bill Nighy and More

BAFTA LONGLISTS AND TFF

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced their longlist of finalists for potential nominations for the films of 2022.  13 films from TFF were longlisted in at least one category with Charlotte Wells' Aftersun and Todd Field's TAR the leaders from TFF with eight mentions each.  All told TFF films landed 40 mentions.  Here's the rundown:

Aftersun (8): Best Film, Best British Film, Best Debut, Direction, Original Screenplay, Actor (Mescal), Casting and Editing.

TAR (8): Best Film, Direction, Original Screenplay, Actress (Blanchett), Casting, Cinematography, Score and Sound.

Living: (6): Best Film, Best British Film, Adapted Screenplay, Actor (Nighy), Supporting Actress (Wood) and Casting.

Women Talking (4): Direction, Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor (Whishaw) and Score.

Empire of Light (4): Best British Film, Supporting Actor (Ward), Score and Production Design.

The Wonder (3): Best British Film, Adapted Screenplay and Score.

Single mentions for the following:

Lady Chatterley's Lover: Best British Film.

Bardo: Best Film not in the English Language.

Close: Best Film not in the English Language.

Holy Spider: Best Film not in the English Language.

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed: Best Documentary.

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song: Best Documentary.***

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On: Best Animated Film.***

(*** from TFF #48)

Edward Berger's All Quiet on the Western Front led all films with 15 mentions.

Takeaways: I think that Aftersun and Living stealth possibilities for a Best Picture Oscar nomination.

Women Talking continues to underperform and looks less and less likely of a Best Picture nomination or any acting nominations (Whishaw's inclusion on the shortlist notwithstanding.).

The complete BAFTA longlists are linked here.

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: SCREENPLAYS AND MORE

Today I am updating predictions in the categories of Best Original and Adapted Screenplay.  These were last predicted on Dec. 26th.  In addition, I have included my first attempts to predict nominees in Makeup/Hair, Costumes and Visual Effects.  Past ranking is to the right of the performer in parentheses.  Films from TFF #49 are in Bold.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Women Talking (1)

2) Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2)

3) Living (3)

4) She Said (4)

5) All Quiet on the Western Front (7)

6) The Whale (5)

7) Top Gun: Maverick (-)

Out: White Noise

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) The Banshees of Inisherin (2)

2) Everything Everywhere All at Once (1)

3) The Fabelmans (3)

4) TAR (4)

5) Triangle of Sadness (5)

6) Aftersun (6)

7) Babylon (7)

MAKEUP/HAIR

1) Elvis (1)

2) The Whale (2)

3) The Batman (3)

4) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (4)

5) Babylon (5)

6) All Quiet on the Western Front (6)

7) Blonde (7)

COSTUME

1) Elvis (1)

2) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2)

3) Babylon (3)

4) Living (6)

5) The Woman King (5)

6) The Fabelmans (4)

7) Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (7)

VISUAL EFFECTS

1) Avatar: The Way of Water (1)

2) Top Gun: Maverick (2)

3) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (3)

4) The Batman (4)

5) Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (5)

6) All Quiet on the Western Front (6)

7) Nope (7)

THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS AND TFF

Five TFF films earned various degrees of notoriety from the National Society of Film Critics over the weekend.  Todd Field's TAR was the most decorated of all films as it was named Best Film as well as Cate Blanchett winning as Best Actress and Fields winning Best Screenplay.  Nina Hoss was first runner-up for Best Supporting Actress.

Charlotte Wells' Aftersun also did well as Wells was named Best Director.  The film was also the runner-up to TAR for Best Picture and Paul Mescal was first runner-up for Best Actor.

Laura Poitras' All the Beauty and the Bloodshed was named Best Documentary.

Bill Nighy was named second runner-up for Best Actor for Living and James Gray was second runner-up for Best Screenplay for Armageddon Time.

The complete NSFC winners are linked here.

VISITATIONS

LIVING: Bill Nighy from The Desert Sun.

EMPIRE OF LIGHT: Roger Deakins from A. Frame.

AFTERSUN: Charlotte Wells from MUBI.

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MTFB Oscar Update: Screenplays / Marcel Is Eligible / Trailer for The Corridors of Power / Visitations: Pugh, Polley, Gray and More

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: SCREENPLAYS

Today I am updating predictions in the categories of Best Original and Adapted Screenplay.  These were last predicted on Oct. 31st.  Past ranking is to the right of the performer in parentheses.  Films from TFF #49 are in Bold.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Women Talking (1)

2) Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2)

3) She Said (3)

4) The Whale (4)

5) White Noise (5)

6) Living (6)

7) Top Gun: Maverick (7)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) The Banshees of Inisherin (2)

2) Everything Everywhere All at Once (1)

3) The Fabelmans (3)

4) TAR (4)

5) Triangle of Sadness (5)

6) Armageddon Time (7)

7) Babylon (6)

MARCEL IS ELIGIBLE

News this past week that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has deemed Dean Fleischer Camp's Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (TFF #48) will be eligible for consideration for the Best Animated Feature Oscar.  

There had been some discussion that it would not be eligible because of the significant amount of live action that exists in the films but those concerns were allayed with the decision this week from AMPAS's Short Film and Animation Branch Executive Committee according to reporting from Carolyn Giardina writing for The Hollywood Reporter.

Marcel still faces a challenging set of competitors including the soon-to-be-released Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio out on Dec. 9th which has been garnering rave reviews.

TRAILER FOR THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Here's the first trailer for Dror Moreh's TFF #49 documentary The Corridors of Power.  The film focuses on U.S. foreign policy and its players in the 1990's and how it still resonates today. 

Here's the trailer from YouTube:

VISITATIONS

Sarah Polley and crew on Women Talking from Variety

Actor Michael Ward on Empire of Light from Entertainment Weekly

Writer/Director James Gray on Armageddon Time from Deadline and Academy Conversations on YouTube

Director Ryan White on Good Night Oppy from Solzy at the Movies and Prime Video

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MTFB Oscar Take: Updated Screenplay Predix / Magidson's Oscar Predictions and TFF #49 / Visitations: Hathaway and Gray

MTFB OSCAR TAKE: UPDATED SCREENPLAY PREDIX

Today I am updating predictions in the categories of Best Original and Adapted Screenplay.  These were last predicted on Oct. 17th.  Past ranking is to the right of the performer in parentheses.  Films from TFF #49 are in Bold.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Women Talking (1)

2) Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2)

3) She Said (4)

4) The Whale (3)

5) White Noise (5)

6) Living (6)

7) Top Gun: Maverick (7)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Everything Everywhere All at Once (1)

2) The Banshees of Inisherin (2)

3) The Fabelmans (3)

4) TAR (4)

5) Triangle of Sadness (5)

6) Babylon (7) 

7) Armageddon Time (6)

JOEY MAGIDSON'S OSCAR PREDICTIONS AND TFF #49

I am continuing my series wherein I check the Oscar predictions of a number of experts and how they have situated films that played at TFF #49.  Previously I have passed along predictions from Variety's Clayton Davis, The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg and Awards Watch's Erik Anderson,  Entertainment Weekly's Dave Karger, Next Best Picture's Matt Neglia and Nathaniel Rogers of The Film Experience. 

Today I'm highlighting Joey Magidson who runs Awards Radar.  Magidson has 17 of the 23 feature categories listed.  Here's what Joey currently has predicted at his site for TFF #49 films (total predicited nominations in parentheses):

Women Talking (7): Best Picture, Direction (Polley), Supporting Actress (Buckley), Supporting Actress (Foy), Supporting Actor (Whishaw), Adapted Screenplay and Costumes.

TAR (7): Best Picture, Direction (Field), Actress (Blanchett), Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing and Original Score.

Armageddon Time (3): Supporting Actress (Hathaway), Supporting Actor (Hopkins) and Original Screenplay.

Empire of Light (1): Best Picture.

Living (1): Best Actor (Nighy).

Bardo (1): Best Cinematography

AND...from TFF #48: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (1): Best Animated Feature.

So Magidson has 20 nominations going to TFF #49 films plus Marcel from TFF #48.

The complete Awards Radar predictions can be found here.

VISITATIONS

Insider.com with Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong on Armageddon Time

Indiewire with James Gray on Armageddon Time

The Playlist with James Gray on Armageddon Time

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Same Headline You've Seen Before / Toronto Weirdness / MTFB Shows Up Other Places / Indiewire's Screen Talk Talks Fall Fests / In Case You Missed It-POSTER! / More Marcel

SAME HEADLINE YOU'VE SEEN BEFORE

I have been refused journalist accreditation for TFF #49.  Again.  The last time I was accredited was 2018.  Regular readers have seen this before and my annual commentary.   I'm going to forgo that this year.  Suffice to say, I must really be persona non grata vis-a-vis the festival. 

TORONTO WEIRDNESS

The Toronto International Film Festival is being a bit cagey and unconventional this summer.  TIFF has already announced four World Premiere films that they have scheduled. Meaning they won't be at Telluride:

Green Onions: A Knives Out Mystery-which is the big get of the four announced films

Brother

Bros

On the Come Up

It nearly goes without saying that I haven't had any of these four titles on my watchlist/guess list for TFF #49.

I haven't yet heard when TIFF will drop an announcement with a big chunk of their slate.  History suggests that is likely on June 26th.  But with this new strategy of easing out a single title every few days...who knows?

MTFB SHOWS UP IN OTHER PLACES

Over the past few days a couple of outlets that you have seen mentioned here in the past have mentioned MTFB on their sites.  Both Sasha Stone at her Awards Daily site and Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel refenced and linked to yours truly as they both posted pieces that looked at Telluride and possible films that will play for TFF #49.

Here's the link to the Awards Daily post.

Here's the link to the World of Reel post.

Jordan also reports that Noah Baumbach's White Noise, which I had thought would be  slam dunk for TFF #49, seems to be off the table.  Jordan had previously reported that the film was shaky for fall fests and it appears that it has become even shakier. Check his story on that here.

INDIEWIRE'S SCREEN TALK TALKS FALL FESTS

Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson in this week's Indiewire's weekly Screen talk podcast spent a good amount of time discussing the looming fall fest landscape.  They talk about several films and fests.  Of interest to MTFB readers is that the mention Alejandro Inarritu's Bardo and James Gray's Armageddon specifically on the context of TFF #49.  

Both films currently sit on the latest incarnation of  MTFB's Ten Bets.  Bardo at # 6 and Armageddon time at #8.

Check out this edition of Screen Talk here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT-POSTER!

The TFF #49 poster drop happened last Thursday after my regular MTFB posting.  I added a special additional post later in the day on Thursday but of you didn't see that, here's that announcement again:

BERKELEY, CA - Telluride Film Festival (September 2-5, 2022) today presents its 2022 Festival poster, designed by Leanne Shapton.  

Leanne Shapton is a Canadian author, artist, graphic novelist and publisher living in New York City with her daughter. She is the art editor at The New York Review of Books and co-founder of J&L Books, a non-profit publisher specializing in art and photography. Shapton’s first work, Was She Pretty?, was a nominee for the Doug Wright Award in 2007. Her second book, Important Artifacts and Personal Property From the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion and Jewelry, was optioned by Plan B/Paramount in 2009 with Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman attached to star. Shapton’s book Swimming Studies won the 2012 National Book Critic’s Circle Award for autobiography and was long-listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2012. She is a fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

“I was delighted to be asked to make a poster for the 49th Festival. Some of my favorite artists have done one, and I think my favorite is by the incredible production designer Dean Tavoularis,” remarks Shapton. “I was in the middle of a book cover assignment when Julie Huntsinger asked, and leapt at the instruction to include the word SHOW. I love hand-painted letterforms and the strength single words can have and how they name, and so wrote out the word about twenty-five times in my favorite green.”

“If a breath of fresh air could be conveyed in an image, this is what Leanne has accomplished in our beautiful poster for TFF 49,” comments Festival executive director Julie Huntsinger. “Without even indicating that this was the hoped-for point of view, she delivered our sentiment for this year. Leanne has conjured an elegance that is neither fussy nor contrived, not unlike the very best films. We’re thrilled to introduce her gorgeous work to our SHOW community and the world.”

Posters are an annual tradition of the Festival, and Shapton joins a prestigious list of artists who have been selected by, and who have shared their talents with Telluride Film Festival. Past poster artists include Yann Legendre, Laurent Durieux, Christian Marclay, Dean Tavoularis, Ed Ruscha, John Mansfield, Julian Schnabel, Dottie Attie, Doug and Mike Starn, David Lance Goines, Chuck Jones, David Salle, Alexis Smith, Jim Dine, Seymour Chwast, Frederic Amat, Francesco Clemente, Dave McKean, Gary Larson, Chip Kidd, John Canemaker, Mark Stock, Laurie Anderson, William Wegman, Ralph Eggleston, Maira Kalman, Dave Eggers, Lance Rutter, Edwina White and Luke Dorman. 

49th Telluride Film Festival posters are available for purchase now on the TFF website at www.telluridefilmfestival.org.

MORE MARCEL

Entertainment Weekly

Deadline

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75 Films That Could Make the TFF #46 Lineup / Venetian Choices / Varda By Agnes English Trailer / Beautiful Day News / New Stills for Ada Astra /

Hope you had a good weekend... and also a big thank you to all of you that reached out in some fashion to offer condolences regarding the denial of my request for media accreditation for this year's Telluride Film Festival.


75 FILMS THAT COULD MAKE THE TFF #46 LINEUP

From the "Throw Everything Against the Wall and See What Sticks" Dept.: here, in alphabetical order, are 75 titles that could be named to the lineup for The SHOW:

1917
Ad Astra
The Aeronauts
Ahmed
Atlantics 
Bacurau
Bad Education
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Bergman Island
Blackbird
By the Grace of God
The Climb
Country Music/Ryman Concert
Dry Run (Todd Haynes film)
Ema
Fair and Balanced
Falling
Family LLC
First Cow
Ford vs. Ferrari
Forman vs. Forman
Frankie
The Goldfinch
The Good Liar
Harriet
A Hidden Life
John Prine: Hello in There
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Judy
Just Mercy
Kajillionaire
The Kindness of Strangers
The King
The Last Thing He Wanted
The Laundromat
Les Miserables
Light of My Life
The Lighthouse
Little Women
Long Time Coming
Lucy in the Sky
Mainstream
Marriage Story
Matthias and Maxime
Mr. Jones
Molly
Motherless Brooklyn
The Nest
Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always
Nomadland
Pain and Glory
Parasite
The Personal History of David Copperfield 
The Pope
Port Authority
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Queen + Slim
Radioactive
The Report
Sebring
Sorry We Missed You
Synonyms
Torrance
The True History of the Kelly Gang
The Truth
The Two Glorias: Life on the Road
Uncut Gems
Untitled Miranda July Film
Varda by Agnes
Wasp Network
Wendy
Where Is Anne Frank?
The Whistlers
Who You Think I Am


And bonus...New Looney Tunes Cartoons...


VENETIAN CHOICES?

World of Reel's Jordan Ruimy thinks he's got the bead on Venetian titles due to what seemed like an errant Tweet yesterday from what Ruimy deems a very credible source.

Among titles he rattles off that also could make the Venice/Telluride connection are:

Soderbergh's The Laundromat, Reichardt's First Cow, Gray's Ad Astra, Waititi's Jojo Rabbit, Larrian's Ema and Baumbach's Marriage Story.

Jordan's full story is linked here.



VARDA BY AGNES HAS AN ENGLISH TRAILER


Ahead of announcements this week that I suspect will reveal where this final film from Agnes Varda lands comes an English dubbed trailer.


Here that is from YouTube:

And a poster as well:

Here's coverage of the trailer release from:

FirstShowing.net

The Playlist

The Film Stage

BEAUTIFUL DAY NEWS

Over the weekend I ran across a couple of articles about Marielle Heller's upcoming A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers.  Also, coming later today we should see the first trailer for the film.  That, to me, pre-sages the likelihood that some festival is going to announce the film in the next few days.  Toronto announces its first wave tomorrow and Venice announces on Thursday.

Here's the articles from the weekend from Entertainment Weekly  and The Wrap.

I am anticipating that I'll be able to tweet the trailer later today and also expect to include it in tomorrow's post.

NEW STILLS FOR AD ASTRA

On the Red Carpet tweeted new photos from James Gray's Ad Astra-again, another film that we should know more about by the time we get to the end of the week in terms of where it lands or if it lands fest-wise.

Here's a sample of a couple of the new looks:

That's your Monday...more tomorrow including news from Toronto.

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

New Ad for Ad Astra / New Judy Trailer Coming Today / Netflix Re-Thinking

Welcome back from the weekend...hope yours was good.


NEW AD FOR AD ASTRA

The producers of the Brad Pitt starring As Astra launched a 30 second spot via the film's official Twitter account over the weekend.

For my money, it may do a better job of teasing the film than the full trailer that appeared four weeks back.

Ad Astra tells the story of astronaut Pitt who agrees to search for his father, also an astronaut, who disappeared years earlier while on a deep space mission that could still have far reaching consequences in terms of the survival of the solar system.

Ad Astra is directed by James Gray and Twentieth Century Fox is distributing.  It's due in theaters on Sept. 20th. 

Here's the link to the new spot on the Ad Astra Twitter feed.


NEW JUDY TRAILER COMING TODAY

Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland in Judy

Anton Volkov reported over the weekend that we'd see a new trailer for the Judy Garland biopic Judy.  The film stars Renee Zellweger in the title role.  Also appearing are Jessie Buckley, Finn Whitrock, Rufus Sewell and Michael Gambon.

The film is directed by Rupert Goold (True Story).  Roadside Attractions and LD Entertainment are distributing domestically with Sept. 27th scheduled for U.S. release.

The Trailer Track story is linked here and I hope to have the trailer here for the blog tomorrow.


NETFLIX RE-THINKING

Saw this story over the weekend as well.  Netflix is reportedly reviewing its big budget film approach and re-considering it all together.

Specifically mentioned in the coverage (which originated with TheInformation.com) were the hefty price tags for J.C. Chandor's Triple Frontier (est. $115 million) and, as you might expect, Martin Scorsese's The Irishman (est. 150 million).

I'd be curious about how or if  Roma's success but lack of a Best Picture win last year is factoring into the process.  Further, I wonder if Netflix will strive to be as much of a presence at Telluride as they were last year.  The streamer had half a dozen films playing as a part of the fest in 2018.

It also seems to be of a piece with recent shakeups at Amazon Studios who may also be re-evaluating how much money they are willing to pour into projects.

I have linked stories about the Netflix re-think here from Indiewire and The Playlist.




I'll have more tomorrow including the continuation of my series on the Telluride/Oscar connection.


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Barry Jenkins Has a New Project / Ad Astra Trailer and Poster

Hello to everyone on this Thursday...


BARRY JENKINS HAS A NEW PROJECT

Barry Jenkins has his next project and it seems like a great fit.  Jenkins has signed on to direct a feature film based on the life of legendary choreographer Alvin Ailey.  Multiple sources reported the move on Monday.

The film will be distributed and, in part, produced by Fox Searchlight.  No timeline was revealed in any of the stories about the deal on Monday.

Perhaps we might see that film sometime down the road at a not too distant TFF.  I'll certainly be keeping an ear open for further news concerning the film and its development.

Here is some of the reporting that came down on Monday about the project from:

Deadline

Variety

The Hollywood Reporter

Indiewire

The Playlist



AD ASTRA TRAILER AND POSTER

James Gray's Ad Astra is set for U.S. release on Sept. 20th.  The highly anticipated film starring Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones is an outside possibility for a TFF play.  That release date suggests the chance exists for it to make some combination of screenings at any or all of the T-ride/Venice/Toronto fests.

Beginning to plow the way for that release began in earnest yesterday with the release of the first trailer for the film.  Here that is via YouTube:

We also have our fist poster for the film as well:



Ad Astra tells the story of a son (Pitt) searching for his missing father (Jones) set in space.  The film is from 20th Century Fox.

Multiple sources reported on the trailer and poster release with many ( Indiewire, Deadline, The Playlist) suggesting that a fall festival berth or two could be in the cards.

Here's a generous sampling of those stories:

Indiewire

The Playlist

Deadline

Entertainment Weekly

The Hollywood Reporter

The Film Stage


That's today's MTFB.  I'll have more on Monday when I'll start up the summer posting schedule (Mon. Tues. Thurs. Fri.)...

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More on Ad Astra / Pierre Rissient: One Year Gone / Indiewire's 15 Anticipated Cannes Films

Hello all on this Thursday...

MORE ON AD ASTRA

In my Monday post I passed along the story that Disney/Fox looked like they were going to push James Gray's space drama, Ad Astra, into the fall schedule from its previously announced release date of May 24th.

Well, it didn't take long for that uncertainty to dissipate as multiple sources reported on Tuesday that Ad Astra's new release date will be Sept. 24th. That likely means some premiere at Venice, Toronto and/or Telluride.  New York is removed from consideration as it will run from Sept 28th to Oct. 14th.

Zack Sharf writing for Indiewire specifically suggests that the film's chances at playing one or more of the fests has increased saying: "The move most likely means that Disney will target a launch for the drama at the fall film festivals, be it Venice, Telluride or TIFF."

Ad Astra stars Brad Pitt as an astronaut who goes searching for his father (Tommy Lee Jones) who was also an astronaut but who has been missing for years.

The Sharf story from Indiewire is here.

PIERRE RISSIENT: ONE YEAR GONE

Telluride favorite Pierre Rissient died a year ago ( May 5, 2018) and earlier this week Scott Foundas, who is now an executive for Amazon Studios and who has had a significant past with TFF, wrote a tribute on the one year anniversary of Rissient's passing that appeared this week.

That tribute appeared at Cinema Scope (cinema-scope.com) and you can find that piece linked here.

Foundas is currently credited as the Executive in charge of Production for Amazon's Radioactive from director Marjane Satrapi (Perspolis) which could be a film in the conversation for a spot at TFF #46.

INDIEWIRE'S 15 ANTICIPATED CANNES' FILMS

This week the folks at Indiewire put together a  list of 15 films that are about to premiere over the next couple of weeks at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival.

The article and complete list are linked here.

On their list are a number of films that I think have a chance of making the TFF #46 lineup including:

Family Romance, LLC (Herzog)

Frankie (Sachs)

A Hidden Life (Malick)

The Lighthouse (Eggers)

The Cannes Fest opens on Tuesday evening with Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die.

That's today's MTFB.  More on Monday.

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

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Ad Astra Flies Back Into Consideration / Frankie: SPC Has It and Some Images

The first weekend of May 2019 is in the books.  Hope you had a good one!

AD ASTRA FLIES BACK INTO CONSIDERATION

I've had James Gray's Ad Astra on the radar for quite some time.  The film combines high concept and prestige plus a notable cast (Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, Ruth Negga) to have created quite a  stir.  Also creating a stir has been its shifting release dates.  At one point it was set for a Jan. 2019 release and its latest official release date has been May 24th.  That date will also reportedly go by the wayside according to a number of sources over the past few days and I mention that here because the scuttlebutt now is that Disney/Fox has settled on a fall release for the film which may well include the fall festivals.  

"Fall Festivals" usually refers to Venice, Toronto, New York and, of course, Telluride.  Gregory Ellwood writing at The Playlist reported that "it's likely that Fox will aim for a Venice debut" which would make a good deal of sense...and perhaps the film would follow what has become a not uncommon move of transferring directly from Venice to Telluride.  The Shape of Water, Gravity, Birdman and La La Land have all been recent travelers of that path.

The Ellwood article is linked here.

I, for one, am pleased that this film is back in the conversation and will be looking over the summer for other clues about its ultimate fate regarding where it play and if that could include TFF #46.

FRANKIE: SPC HAS IT AND SOME IMAGES

Ahead of its premiere at Cannes in the next week or two came news late last week that Ira Sachs' Frankie starring former TFF Tribute recipient Isabelle Huppert has been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics.  SPC's claim moves Frankie right into consideration for possible TFF #46 inclusion.  SPC has historically had a very solid relationship with TFF.  As a matter of fact, it has been the strongest distributor relationship with TFF over the near decade and a half I have been attending.

Last year was a bit of an aberration as SPC only had Ralph Fiennes' The White Crow in the TFF lineup.  In the 2017, more characteristically, SPC had five films on the TFF #45 program: Fantastic Woman, Loveless, The Rider, Foxtrot and Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool.  Over my time at TFF, SPC has averaged 4.4 films per year.

Penelope Cruz in Pedro Almodovar's Pain and Glory

I honestly expect SPC to be back at TFF with more than one film in 2019.  Perhaps Pedro Almodovar returns with a TFF film for the first time since 2006's Volver with his Cannes entry Pain and Glory?  Could we see the documentary about John  Prine (John Prine; Hello In There)?  Or the Clive Owen, Tim Roth starrer The Song of Names?

And who knows what SPC might acquire in the next couple of months as a result of Cannes?

Both The Film Stage and Deadline have stories about the SPC acquisition of Frankie as well as numerous images released prior to its Cannes' bow.  You can find The Film Stage story here and the Deadline story here.

Done for Monday.  More on Thursday.

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

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