Between New York and Release, Birdman Gets a Lot of Attention/Rosewater Trailer

Good Thursday Everyone...


BETWEEN NEW YORK AND RELEASE, BIRDMAN IS GETTING A LOT OF ATTENTION

Alejandro Inarritu's "Birdman" closed the New York Film Festival last weekend and opens in a limited release beginning tomorrow and between those two poles, the dramatic comedy is getting a lot of notice this week in the press.

For example, I have provided double coverage of the NYFF press conference for the film.  Below is a link to the video of that as well as a list to an IndieWire compilation of portions of the conference:

The entire 45 min. press conference is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEf3i6U7Txo&list=PLdLHQX1t7hV2wDlOmA4jBzkQOPjtTR1wE

Meanwhile, excerpts from IndieWire are here:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/ed-norton-jabs-at-critics-naomi-watts-reveals-nightmares-and-more-from-birdman-nyff-premiere-20141012

Additionally, the British outlet SciFiNow posted images of a series of "Birdman" promotional posters featuring U.S. landmarks.  Attendees to Fox Searchlight's party in Telluride got one of these and I'm looking at mine right now.  It is a screened and numbered print that looks as if the Birdman may be in the mountains around Telluride.  Take a look at the ten posters SciFiNow has posted here:

http://www.scifinow.co.uk/news/birdman-brilliant-new-art-posters-and-new-clips/


Finally, Variety's Janelle Reilly says that the Birdman, himself, might be the one to beat come Oscar night.  That's what I've been thinking since I walked out of The Zog in T-ride.  Here's the Variety story:

http://variety.com/2014/film/awards/oscars-is-michael-keaton-the-actor-to-beat-1201326113/


ROSEWATER TRAILER

Jon Stewart's directing debut is set for Nov. 14 and we now have a new trailer.

https://amp.twimg.com/v/8799ff35-6d07-43af-8606-975b96387c11


More on Monday...after the Wedding!

The People's Telluride/Scenes from TFF #41/Catching Foxcatcher

Good Thursday to all...

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

After about ten days of polling and a couple pf dozen responses, here are this year's results of The People's Telluride.  I asked readers of this space to rate the films they saw at TFF #41 on a 0-5 scale with "0" being "abysmal" and "5" being a "Masterpiece".  I then collated that information and divided by the number of respondents for each film.  To make the list, a film had to have ratings from at least 25% of the respondents.  That's the methodology.  Here are the results with the average rating in parenthesis:

1) The Imitation Game (4.73)
2) Birdman (4.46)
3) Wild Tales (4.23)
4) Foxcatcher (4.20)
5) Merchants of Doubt (4.04)
6) '71 (3.90)
7) Red Army (3.63)
8) Wild (Tie 3.50)
8) Escobar: Paradise Lost (Tie 3.50)
8) Mommy (Tie 3.50)
11) 99 Homes (3.47)
12) Rosewater (3.46)
13) Two Days, One Night (3.31)
14) Mr. Turner (3.00)
15) Madame Bovary (2.88)
16) The Homesman (2.58)

Notes:

Joshua Oppenheimer's "The Look of Silence" had a 4.9 rating but not enough respondents to surpass the 25% threshold.

"Merchants of Doubt", "99 Homes" and "Escobar: Paradise Lost" all were rated by enough of "The People" to make it onto today's list but were not seen by enough of "The Professionals" to make that list which I posted Tuesday.

"Leviathan" was the one film on "The Professionals" list that wasn't seen by enough of "The People" to make today's list.

The biggest disconnect this year between "Pros" and "Peeps"; "Mr. Turner".  The pros rated it at 4.10 which put it at #6 on that list.  The Peeps rated it at 3.00 which made it 14th out of the 16 films on today's list.

There was also a fairly astounding separation between the choice of the Peeps #1-"The Imitation Game" and The Pros which, though rated by them at an over "4" average, ended up at #7 on The Pros listing.

And, yeow...the Peeps did not care for Tommy Lee Jones "The Homesman".

Monday, I'll have the combination listing from all the Pros and Peeps...13 films make that list.


SCENES FROM TFF #41

The official Telluride Film Festival website has posted four filmed tidbits of conversations/interviews from this year's fests.  I have linked to them here:

Reese Witherspoon on "Wild"

http://telluridefilmfestival.org/showroom/show/144

Jon Stewart Q & A after the initial "Rosewater" screening:

http://telluridefilmfestival.org/showroom/show/142


Francis Ford Coppola on "Apocalypse Now" Tribute:

http://telluridefilmfestival.org/showroom/show/143


Hilary Swank on "The Homesman" during her tribute:

http://telluridefilmfestival.org/showroom/show/145


CATCHING FOXCATCHER

"Foxcatcher" Teaser trailer via YouTube

Mark Ruffalo kindly tweeted a link to an in depth story that Vulture.com did about the genesis and development of Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher".  The Mark Harris piece was posted originally on Aug. 24th but provides such detail that I have linked it here:


http://www.vulture.com/2014/08/the-making-of-foxcatcher.html

"Foxcatcher" opens nationally on Nov. 14th.


Coming next week to MTFB/FAC:  The Combination Ratings of The Peeps and The Pros and the first look at major Oscar categories as The Film Awards Clearinghouse returns to this blog!


Follow me on Twitter @Gort2.

Have a great weekend!

The People's and The Professionals Telluride/Stewart and Rosewater/Telluride Wrap Up/Oscars: Feinberg and Tapley/Music from Rudderless

Welcome to Friday everyone...

THE PEOPLE'S AND THE PROFESSIONALS' TELLURIDE

We're coming down to the last few days that I will still be collecting film ratings from last week's 41st edition of the Telluride Film Festival.  I expect that I will continue to accept ratings through the weekend.  My hope is to post The Professionals ratings on Monday and The People's on Thursday next week with a combination set of ratings to follow.  That's the plan, at least for the moment.  So get those ratings to me ASAP.  Send to via Twitter (@Gort2), email: michael_speech@hotmail.com or as a comment to this blog.  HURRY...time is running out.

STEWART AND ROSEWATER

(Getty Images)

Although I wasn't all that enamored of the film, I am enamored of Jon Stewart and it seems I'm not the only one.  Stewart seemed to be greeted with a hero's welcome all last weekend and I suspect that has as much to do with his career before becoming a film director as it did with the actual film he was in Telluride presenting.  That said, he's the subject of a couple of profiles as a result of "Rosewater's" premiere at T-ride last weekend and I have linked them here.  First a piece from The Hollywood Reporter and Scott Feinberg in which Scott interviews Stewart:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/jon-stewart-embracing-film-festival-729418

And also from the Los Angeles Times, this profile of the comedian turned director:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/filmfestivals/la-et-mn-jon-stewart-rosewater-20140904-story.html


TELLURIDE WRAP UP

Friend of the blog, and I think I can safely say just "friend" without the added "of the blog" Christopher Schiller posted his thoughts of the festival weekend yesterday at ScriptMag.com.  Chris and I don't always agree (ex: he loved "Two Days, One Night"...me...not so much) but he's always got an interesting and well reasoned take.  Here's his review of what we experienced last week:'

http://www.scriptmag.com/festivals-2/telluride-film-festival-report

OSCARS: FEINBERG AND TAPLEY

The above mentioned Scott Feinberg takes a look at the post-Telluride awards alignment and offers his assessment of how things shook out after the four days in the San Juans:


http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/telluride-postmortem-some-contenders-climbed-729395

Meanwhile, Oscar expert Kristopher Tapley reports that the Best Actor race just including the performances from Telluride is already intense...and he's right:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/best-actor-oscar-race-heats-up-in-telluride

I'm campaigning for Michael Keaton...it's my blog, I don't have to be impartial.

MUSIC FROM RUDDERLESS

My countdown to the release of William H. Macy's set in Oklahoma Sundance drama "Rudderless" continues.  It's set to release on Oct. 17th.  News came yesterday that music form the film...and it's cool music...will be available within the month.  One of the things that was said after the Oklahoma City screening of the film last June was how good the music was.  Now you'll soon have a chance to hear for yourself.  The Playlist posted the release story online and here's the link to that:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/exclusive-listening-preview-songs-from-the-rudderless-soundtrack-performed-by-selena-gomez-eef-barzelay-ben-kweller-more-20140904


More tomorrow...

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

Continued Responses to TFF #41/Rate Those Films

Good Wednesday Everyone...

As you might expect, the real world (two days removed from TFF) isn't as much fun as the Reel world...

CONTINUED RESPONSES TO TFF #41

Gathered for this year's "Class Photo" Hilary Swank, Jon Stewart, and Channing Tatum (Getty Images)

I have continued to gather reactions to this year's group of films from critics and those that roam the awards season landscape.  Included in a couple of the wrap-ups and reviews are kind mentions of MTFB...to Alex Billington/First Showing and Sasha Stone/Awards Daily...thanks!  They're two of the best in the business and are always encouraging about this small enterprise.  So we'll start there:

Sasha reviews the weekend here:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2014/09/telluride-diary-glory-in-the-hour/

Alex also provides a summary of the four days here:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2014/telluride-2014-cinema-thrives-in-colorado/

Anne Thompson offers her take with some really interesting background on the Toronto issue:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/telluride-wrap-the-little-festival-that-could-20140903

Variety's Justin Chang and Scott Foundas filed this dialogue that looks at the weekend that was:

http://variety.com/2014/film/festivals/telluride-from-birdman-to-mommy-festival-soars-above-the-fray-1201295912/

And from a number of places, the continued assesment of Oscar:

Gold Derby:

http://www.goldderby.com/news/7189/oscars-birdman-foxcatcher-telluride-boyhood-unbroken-entertainment-13579086-story.html

The Wrap:

http://www.thewrap.com/reese-witherspoons-odd-f-bombs-michael-keaton-mania-weird-tales-show-stealing-7-takeaways-from-telluride-film-fest/

Cinema Blend:

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Benedict-Cumberbatch-Imitation-Game-Win-Telluride-Battle-Oscar-Buzz-67015.html


RATE THOSE FILMS

The ratings from readers have begun to come in and this is your reminder to be a part of the annual rating compilation of  the films you saw at Telluride.  Please drop me a line with your rating of each of the films you saw using a 0-5 scale with "0" for the atrocious and "5" for the sublime.  Send them to me via Twitter @Gort2 or email:  michael_speech@hotmail.com or as a comment to this post.  I'll collate them and publish the results in the next week or so.  It's fun!


More tomorrow...

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

Chang and Variety Dissect Telluride and Toronto (And Venice Too)/Not So Fast on "Foxcatcher"/New Views of Stewart's "Rosewater"/"Also New Looks at "Kill the Messenger"

Welcome to Thursday...

In one week I WILL BE IN TELLURIDE!

CHANG AND VARIETY DISSECT TELLURIDE AND TORONTO (AND VENICE TOO)

Variety's Justin Chang was up yesterday with a lengthy piece that goes to great lengths to outline the current skirmish between film festivals.  The article/story/post zinged around the Internet with great velocity so there's a good chance you've already seen it.  If not it's linked here:

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/new-toronto-fest-strategy-puts-telluride-on-the-defensive-in-awards-buzz-films-battle-1201286444

Makes for an interesting read.

NOT SO FAST "FOXCATCHER"

"Foxcatcher" trailer from YouTube and Coming Soon

Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere was commenting at his site on the same Justin Chang/Variety story reference above.  In a piece called "Close Tabs" he says that he's heard " 'Foxcatcher' wasn't going to Telluride".

Now, that flies in the face of most of what we've been seeing/hearing for a long while.  "Foxcatcher" has been at or near the top of this summer's "Ten Bets" but, remember, this enterprise is still mostly guesswork and deduction...so you never know.

That said, I still feel pretty good about our chances to see the Bennett Miller film next week.  It was just last week that we inferred from a Deadline.com post that it was likely to make the trip to the San Juans.

Still, you can expect that "Foxcatcher" may not be in the #1 spot on tomorrow's "Ten Bets".

Here's the complete Jeff Wells story:

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2014/08/53721/


NEW PICS OF STEWART'S "ROSEWATER"

Director Jon Stewart on the set of "Rosewater" via The Playlist

A much anticipated potential Telluride title is this directorial debut from comedian and Daily Show host Jon Stewart.  "Rosewater" tells the true story of Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari and his detention in Iran in 2009. The Playlist had a couple of new photos from the film yesterday.  I have reposted them above and below.

Stewart also reveals that he picked the brains of Ron Howard and J.J. Abrams in his preparation for the film. Check The Playlist story here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/new-pics-from-rosewater-jon-stewart-says-he-got-input-on-the-script-from-jj-abrams-and-ron-howard-20140820

NEW LOOKS AT "KILL THE MESSENGER"

Jeremy Renner in "Kill the Messenger" from Rope of Silicon

The last few days I think the blog has drawn more questions about the possibility of "Kill the Messenger" playing at Telluride than any other film.  And I don't know any really useful info about the film.  It could play.  It could not.  Its distributor, Focus Features, has occasionally played the fest but isn't a presence every year.  Nevertheless, a Rope of Silicon post splashed several new photos from the film onto the web yesterday and so I pass them along here:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/new-pictures-kill-messenger-starring-jeremy-renner/

More tomorrow...

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

Views of "Rosewater"/New Friends in Crested Butte/Looking at "Big Eyes"

Welcome to Monday...

VIEWS OF "ROSEWATER"

Over the weekend Entertainment Weekly put out two photos from Jon Stewart's "Rosewater" starring Gael Garcia Bernal as real life journalist Maziar Bahari who was arrested in Iran in 2009 as he was reporting the election in that country.  Any number of outlets reported the photos with an accompanying story.  We believe fairly strongly that "Rosewater" will make the Telluride lineup owing to its designation by the Toronto film fest as a Canadian premiere.

Here are those photos:

Stories/Posts that went with these photos this weekend:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2014/open-road-sets-jon-stewarts-film-rosewater-to-open-in-november/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-look-gael-garcia-bernal-in-jon-stewarts-directorial-debut-rosewater-20140801

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/first-look-gael-garcia-bernal-jon-stewarts-rosewater-release-date-announced/

NEW FRIENDS IN CRESTED BUTTE

As I'm sure you're aware, I have posted most recently from Crested Butte, CO. as the CEO and I have been Art Festivaling this past weekend.  Interestingly, I met Michael Brody who is the co-head honcho of the Crested Butte Film Festival.  Michael is in his fourth year re-constructing a festival that was defunct for about six or seven years.

I took a look at their program form last year and ;let me tell you, they've got things going in the right direction.  Last year's lineup included "20 Feet from Stardom", "After Tiller" and "Rust and Bone" among other offerings.

Michael also shared some of the films that they've planned for this year's fest which runs Sept. 25-28, and they've got some quality lined up.  If you're in the neighborhood the last weekend in September, run to Crested Butte and catch a film.

Check their website:

cbfilmfest.org

LOOKING AT "BIG EYES"

We have our first photos of Tim Burton's "Big Eyes" starring Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams in a true story about the art of Margaret Keane and her husband Walter who was credited for a good long while with the artwork of characters with "big eyes".  The film has not been announced for any festival to date and Burton did play "Ed Wood" AT TFF in 1994 so it's not a complete impossibility that we could see it pop up in three and a half weeks in the San Juans.  Here from The Playlist and FirstShowing are the pics:

And the link to The Playlist's story:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-look-amy-adams-and-christoph-waltz-in-tim-burtons-big-eyes-20140803

And from FirstShowing.net:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2014/first-look-amy-adams-as-margaret-keane-in-tim-burtons-big-eyes/

More on Tuesday...

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2