The British Are Coming Part Two/Werner Interview on the Queen/TWC Slate Nixes Two/Bailey and "The Policy" Interview/Speaking of Toronto

A good Tuesday to everyone...


THE BRITISH ARE COMING PART TWO

Yesterday I began my annual recap of European Production companies that have had some history of films that make the T-ride program form year to year.  I started with the Brits with a look at BBC Films, The British Film Institute and The UK Film Council.  Today, we close the British review by taking a peak at Film4 and See-Saw Films.

FILM4

Film4 has been a fairly constant presence at Telluride over the past few years and often when they are represented, they're represented with multiple titles:

2006: Deep Water
2007: When Did You Last See Your Father, Brick Lane
2008: Happy-Go-Lucky, Hunger, Slumdog Millionaire
2009: No film
2010: Another Year, Never Let Me Go
2011: Shame
2012: No film

2013: Under the Skin, 12 Years a Slave, Starred Up

This year, Film4 is associated with many titles that have the potential to play at TFF #41 including the all but certain Mike Leigh film "Mr. Turner".

Also in the Film4 basket:

"Slow West", "Suffragette", "Jimmy's Hall" and "Carol".  

There seem to be some questions about whether either "Suffragette" and "Carol" will be ready for a festival play.  "Jimmy's Hall" screened at Cannes, so it's clearly ready and "Slow West" has been listed on IMDb in post-production since December...so you'd think it should be ready.

Film4's IMDb page:

http://www.imdb.com/company/co0197272/?ref_=ttco_co_3

SEE-SAW FILMS

See-Saw has only been producing since 2009 but in that short time they have been a part of a few films that have made an impact at Telluride.  The first film they were associated with that made a splash at The SHOW was "The King's Speech" in 2010.  They were also involved with:

"Shame" in 2011 and 

"Tracks" in 2013.

In 2014, See-Saw has involvement with two Michael Fassbender starring vehicles: Justin Kurzel's "Macbeth" and John Maclean's "Slow West" (see above).  Macbeth also stars Marion Cotillard and is listed as being in post-production by IMDb as of April.  Could See-Saw be part of a Fassbender double play?  Possibly.  

Of the two, my guess is that "Slow West" might be the more likely play and that's based on nothing more than conjecture.  Note this, however:  Fassbender seemed to have a really great time in Telluride last year and he is an executive producer on the film.

And on a late note...it appears that Macbeth isn't ready to roll.  See the Thompson on Hollywood story below.

See-Saw's IMDb page:

http://www.imdb.com/company/co0230132/?ref_=ttco_co_1

TWC SLATE NIXES TWO

Benedict Cumberbatch in "The Imitation Game"

Anne Thompson reported yesterday that The Weinstein Company has settles on release dates for a number of their films going into the fall.  Among information to be gleaned are that both Justin Kurzel's "Macbeth" and Saul Dibb's "Suite Francaise" are likely out of the running for 2014 and that means that they're unlikely for Telluride.

Looking at the release sked that Thompson includes in the story, it appears that TWC has three films positioned for the fall film fest/awards run:  "The Imitation Game" which most think is on the Telluride program due to its classification last week by the Toronto film fest as a "Canadian" premiere.  Additionally, Theodore Melfi's "St.Vincent" starring Bill Murray is set for late October and Tin Burton's "Big Eyes" starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz is set for Christmas Day.

Interestingly, Ned Benson's "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them" (the combination version of what was originally the two films subtitled "Him" and "Her" is set for a Sept. 19th release.  Had it not played Toronto last year, I might be thinking about it as a Telluride possibility.  Perhaps I shouldn't dismiss that possibility completely out of hand.

The complete Thompson post is here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/weinstein-co-awards-plans-come-into-focus-what-are-their-oscar-frontrunners-20140728

WERNER INTERVIEW ON THE QUEEN

James Rocchi recently interviewed auteur Werner Herzog and The Playlist excerpted that back a week or two ago.  In that post, The Playlist focuses on the upcoming "Queen of the Desert" starring Nicole Kidman, Robert Pattinson, James Franco and Damian Lewis.  As I am at about 95% certainty that it will play at Telluride in a month, I have linked that post here:


http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/werner-herzog-talks-queen-of-the-desert-makes-ominous-prediction-about-nicole-kidmans-performance-20140714


CAMERON BAILEY AND "THE POLICY" INTERVIEW

Steve Zeitchik of the Los Angeles Times sat down with Toronto International Film Festival Artistic Director Cameron Bailey recently to talk about the new Toronto premiere/screening policy.  That interview went up yesterday.  I have included the link here:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-tiff-2014-toronto-schedule-premieres-change-telluride-20140727-story.html#page=1

AND SPEAKING OF TORONTO...

TIFF has clarified their intent about announcing additional films over the next few weeks.  As previously reported, Vanguard and Masters sections will be announced today and additional Galas and Special Presentations are set to be announced in two weeks on Aug. 12.  Organizers are also saying that they will have the schedule available on Aug. 19th.

It seems to me that the announcements on both of those dates will bring even more deductive information about the prospective Telluride lineup.

For those interested, I will attempt to post the Vanguard and Masters section announcement a little later today with some analysis where and if warranted.


More later...probably today!

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

More from Toronto Tomorrow/The British are Coming Part One/Rumor Central: Venice

It's Monday and will be all day...


MORE FROM TORONTO TOMORROW

The Toronto International Film festival will announce more titles tomorrow.  According to sources, they will be announcing their Vanguard and Masters sections.  I'm assuming that there will also be additional announcements regarding Galas and Special Presentations.  That assumption is based on the fact that TIFF has done 20 Galas in each of the last three years and somewhere between 70 and 80 Special Presentations in that same time frame.  Last Tuesday they announced 13 Galas and 46 Special Presentations.  So, unless they have radically downsized, there are a lot more of that type of announcement to come as well and that's important to our attempt to sniff out Telluride-bound films.

In 2011 T-ride and TIFF shared 21 titles...8 were either Galas or Special Presentations.  In 2012 the two fests shared 22 titles with 15 as Galas/Special Presentations and in 2013 they shared 23 films with 16 as Galas/Special Presentations.

In 2011 there was a higher concentration of T-ride films in the Contemporary World Cinema and Masters sections (9).  Additionally, the two fests have commonly shared three or four documentaries.

We are already are assuming that two of the 13 Galas will have played Telluride first ("Foxcatcher" and "Wild") and five of the 46 Special Presentations ("99 Homes", "The Imitation Game", "Mr. Turner", "Rosewater", and "Wild Tales").  What that would mean in a "normal" year is that there are still about seven Galas and maybe 30-ish Special Presentations to be announce yet and that 8-10 of those additional films would play both festivals...but it's NOT a "normal" year.

All of this could be skewed this year as a result of TIFF's new "World/North American" premiere policy meaning that the Toronto program may not be as large as it customarily has been (and I have seen that suggestion in a couple of places) and/or there may not be as much overlap between the two fests as has been the norm.

At any rate, if past trends hold for the size of TIFF, they still have about a third of their program to announce as regards their Galas and Special Presentations and with TIFF's predilection to announce a film's premiere status, we'll probably be able to do some more Telluride guesswork based on what we hear tomorrow.

Finally, this note...I have a feeling that someone is going to test Toronto's mandate.  I have no real reason for that, it's just an intuition but I'm thinking someone is going to attempt the Telluride "sneak preview" that is slated as a World/North American premiere at Toronto.


EUROPEAN PRODUCERS: THE BRITISH ARE COMING PART ONE.

For the last couple of summers I have included an analysis of certain European production companies focusing on the Brits and the French companies that are consistently connected to films that end up on the Telluride playlist.  I'm doing it again this week beginning with some of the British companies.

BBC FILMS

Here's what I have been able to track down from the last half decade vis-a-vis BBC Films at Telluride:

2008: Millions
2009: Fish Tank, Bright Star, An Education
2010: The First Grader, Tamara Drewe
2011: We Have to Talk About Kevin
2012: Ginger and Rosa
2013: The Invisible Woman

Up until Tuesday, the best guess I would have had for Telluride from what BBC Films has in its stable this year would have been Alan Rickman's "A Little Chaos" but that was announced as TIFF's closing night film so that's off the table now.  Perhaps the best BBC Film shot for Telluride this year is Michael Winterbottom's "The Face of an Angel" starring Kate Beckinsale and Daniel Bruhl.

Carol Morley's "The Falling" starring Greta Scacchi is also a possibility.

"The Face of an Angel's "IMDb page:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2967008/

BBC Film's IMDb page:

http://www.imdb.com/company/co0103694/?ref_=ttco_co_1


THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE

BFI's past Telluride history includes:

2012: Ginger and Rosa
2013: Under the Skin

They have some involvement with the already assumed Telluride title "Mr. Turner".  Additionally, BFI also has a hand in the above mentioned "The Falling".  An additional title that might have some legs for Telluride is Debbie Tucker Green's "Second Coming" starring Idris Elba.

The best BFI shot this year is probably Ken Loach's Cannes competition piece "Jimmy's Hall" that's being distributed here in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics.

"Jimmy's Hall's" IMDb page:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3110960/?ref_=ttco_co_tt


THE UK FILM COUNCIL

This British production house has an even more prevalent profile for Telluride over the past decade than BBC Films does, although they were shut out in 2012.

The UK Film Council track record over the past decade:

2003: Intermission, Touching the Void
2004: Enduring Love, Merchant of Venice
2006: Venus, The Last King of Scotland, Deep Water
2007: When Did You Last See Your Father, Brick Lane
2008: Happy-Go-Lucky
2009: Fish Tank, Bright Star
2010: Tamara Drewe, The King's Speech
2011: Shame, We Need to Talk About Kevin
2013: Under the Skin

Here's the thing...the UK Film Council has no film listed that seems remotely ready for a 2014 play date.

Tomorrow a look at Film4 and See-Saw Films...


RUMOR CENTRAL: VENICE

I'm doing the due diligence folks.

In an interview with Nancy Tartaglione published by Deadline.com last Thursday Venice head honcho Alberto Barbera told her that "He  knows that there are five titles that will world premiere in Venice this year with the filmmakers immediately hopping a plane after the screening to get to Colorado."

Venice has announced 55 films and opens Aug. 27th (two days before Telluride) with Alejandro Inarritu's "Birdman or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance".  Count that as one of the five.  Also count Ramin Bahrani's "99 Homes" as another.  So what might the other three be?

I'll eat my hat if Joshua Oppenheimer's "The Look of Silence" isn't one of them.

 Best bets after that (at least as far as I can guess them) are:

Xavier Beauvois' "La Rancon de la Glorie" ('The Price of Fame") starring American actor Peter Coyote.

Peter Bogdanovich's "She's Funny That Way" (the now re-titled "Squirrels to the Nuts") starring Imogen Poots, Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson.

Roy Andersson's "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence".

Lisa Cholodenko's HBO mini-series "Olive Kitteridge" which stars Bill Murray and Frances McDormand. It would pair nicely if Murray's "St. Vincent" also comes to town and maybe Ms. McDormand would be inclined after her husband was one of Telluride's tribute recipient's last year..Joel Coen.

Ulrich Seidl's documentary "In the Basement".

Of course, all of this speculation could be 100% wrong...

 Barbera's interview is here:

http://www.deadline.com/2014/07/venice-chief-alberto-barbera-i-dont-like-the-idea-of-a-war-amongst-festivals/#more-787416

Cannes Down the Homestretch/Acquisition News from France/Early Oscar Talk: Foxcatcher

Good Thursday to Everyone...

CANNES DOWN THE HOMESTRETCH

As I type this morning the Cannes Film Festival is leaning toward its finish line.  About the time I publish this morning, the first non-press screening of Xavier Dolan's "Mommy" should just about be finished screening which just leaves two more films to screen in competition.  Award winners are set to be announced Saturday evening in France which is mid-day Saturday here in the States.

Of key concern to those of us with an eye toward Telluride are three things from the two week "granddaddy of all film fests"...1) The critical reactions, 2) the award winners and 3) the deals made by distributors that might be inclined to push a film for T-ride.

So...the critical reaction thus far...

I have been tracking four different Cannes critic trackers these last ten days or so.  Here's where they are in terms of the "top five" films in the Palme d'Or competition category.


Cannes Critics Ratings top five thus far:

1) "Goodbye to Language"/Godard (8.67)
2) "Two Days, One Night"/Dardenne Brothers (7.75)
3) "Winter Sleep"/Ceylan (7.61)
4) "Mommy"/Dolan (7.10)
5) "Timbuktu"/Sissako (6.93)

That complete chart is here:

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

Ioncinema's Critics Panel has (which hasn't registered enough response yet for either "Mommy" or "Goodbye to Language):
1) "Two Days, One Night"/Dardenne Brothers (4.0)
2) (tie) "Mr. Turner"/Leigh (3.5)
2) (tie) "Winter Sleep"/Ceylan (3.5)
4) "Timbuktu"/Sissako (3.3)
5) "Foxcatcher"/Miller (3.2)

The complete chart from Ioncinema is here:

http://www.ioncinema.com/news/film-festivals/2014-cannes-critics-panel-day-6-dardennes-receive-a-bonus-with-two-days-one-night-still-the-water-floats

Total Critics from South America has it looking like this:

1) "Goodbye to Language"/Godard (9.25)
2) "Winter Sleep"/Ceylan (7.71)
3) "Two Days, One Night"/Dardennes Brothers (7.35)
4) "The Wonders"/Rohrbacher (6.79)
5) "Timbuktu"/Sissako (6.68)

Check the full roundup here:

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


Finally, Critics Round Up has it this way:

1) Two Days, One Night"/Dardennes Brothers (94)
2) "Wild Tales"/Szifron (93)
3) "Timbuktu"/Sissako (84)
4) "The Wonders"/Rohrbacher (83)
5) "Mr. Turner"/Leigh (81)

Their complete look at Cannes is here;

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


I have also collected all of these ratings for the 13 films (of the 18 in competition) to arrive at a consensus chart.

1) "Two Days, One Night"
2) "Winter Sleep"
3) "Timbuktu"
4) ""Mr. Turner"
5) "The Wonders"
6) "Foxcatcher"
7) "Wild Tales"
8) "Maps to the Stars"
9) "Saint Laurent"
10) "The Homesman"
11) "Still the Waters"
12) "Captives"
13) "The Search"

Note:  Late news this morning is that Dolan's "Mommy" is getting good reviews across the board and Jean Luc Godard's "Goodbye to Language" is getting great reviews.


Meanwhile, the three highest praised films from the festival's Un Certain Regard section have been Mathieu Amalric's "The Blue Room", Lisandro Alonso's "Jauja" and Jessica Hausner's "Amour Fou".


ACQUISITION NEWS FROM FRANCE

In a move that signals that we might want to to put Ken Loach's "Jimmy's Hall" on our Telluride radar, Sony Pictures Classics has picked up the U.S. distribution for that film.  "Jimmy's Hall" screened at Cannes in the Palme competition section this morning.  Here are reports about the SPC acquisition from The Hollywood Reporter and Variety:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-ken-loachs-jimmys-hall-705840

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/cannes-sony-classics-acquires-ken-loachs-jimmys-hall-1201187214/

"Jimmy's Hall" trailer via YouTube/Coming Soon

SPC has also acquired the Yves St. Laurent biopic "Saint Laurent" during the festival and "Wild Tales".

EARLY OSCAR TALK...FOXCATCHER

Steve Carell in "Foxcatcher" via The Hollywood Reporter

IndieWire/CriticWire have echoed the claim that we've already seen in a lot of laces which is that Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher" is likely the most Oscar-y film from the Cannes films.  Take a look at their compendium of critical response from Cannes:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/criticwire/foxcatcher-steve-carell-channing-tatum-bennett-miller-cannes-review

I'll have Cannes updates through the next few days via this space and Twitter (@Gort2), otherwise...More on Monday...

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

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

THE CANNES COUNTDOWN SPEEDS UP

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

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

"Timbuktu" dir: Abderrahmane Sissako

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

"Levathan" dir: Andrey Zvyagintsev

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

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

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

"Saint Laurent" dir: Betrand Bonello

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

"Goodbye to Language" dir: Jean Luc Godard

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


"The Search" dir: Michel Hazanavicius

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

"Jimmy's Hall" dir; Ken Loach

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


TRAILERING "THE WONDERS' OR "THE MARVELS"

Photo via The Playlist

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

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


"MADDING CROWD" MOVES OUT OF THE CROWD

Photo via Thompson on Hollywood

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

Here's the story from Thompson on Hollywood:

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


More on Thursday...