One More Film Falls from Consideration (Maybe Two) / Canadians Announce Canadians / MTFB Makes Appearance at Awards Circuit /

Good Thursday Telluride Film Fans...

ONE MORE FILM FALLS FROM CONSIDERATION (MAYBE TWO)

The New York Film Festival named Julian Schnabel's At Eternity's Gate as its Closing Night Film yesterday and labeled it as a North American Premiere.  That effectively signals us that the film will not be making a stop at Telluride.

Schnabel has had a significant relationship with T-ride including acting as its poster artist (where's this year's poster?) in 2002:

His magnificent The Dining Bell and the Butterfly played TFF in 2007 but he hasn't been back since.

Additionally, Anne Thompson at Indiewire tweeted yesterday that Joel Edgerton's Boy Erased is likely to play the first weekend of Toronto which almost certainly means that it won't play T-ride:

Thompson later tweeted that the film's presence at TIFF is not confirmed as yet but The Playlist's Gregory Ellwood hinted last weekend that a Focus Feature film would be playing Toronto's opening weekend...and Boy Erased was speculated by some to be that film.

However, late yesterday afternoon and five and a half hours after the above tweet,  Thompson seemed to open the door back up for the potential of a play at Telluride revealing that director Joel Edgerton had screened the film for festivals "late" and, quoting Anne, "we may see it at Telluride".

Here's the story Thompson filed at Indiewire late yesterday afternoon.

I can't think of a reason that Thompson would have even done the story following her earlier tweet if there wasn't some possibility that still existed for the film to make the TFF #45 lineup.

Here's coverage of the Schnabel/NYFF announcement from: Variety and Deadline.

CANADIANS ANNOUNCE CANADIANS

The Toronto International Film Festival announced Canadian films that have been added to various portions of their program yesterday.  While the announced films didn't add or really eliminate films that we've been thinking about as Telluride potentials, the absence of an announcement for Xavier Dolan's The Death and Life of John F. Donovan made me think that another fall fest season is going to pass without that film showing up anywhere.

Then , yesterday afternoon, in a separate announcement, TIFF revealed that Dolan's film will World Premiere there thus removing it from Telluride consideration

The original TIFF Canadian announcement is here from Indiewire and Variety.

The story of the addition of John F. Donovan is here from The Playlist.

MTFB MAKES APPEARANCE AT AWARDS CIRCUIT

Mark Johnson of Awards Circuit posted his TFF #45 speculation piece yesterday and was kind enough to mention MTFB and link to the blog in the body of the article.

So a big thanks to Mark and the entire Awards Circuit crew for the shout out.  Those of you tuning in for the first time from A.C. ...Howdy!

Mark goes on to name 10 films he's predicting which mirror my latest Ten Bets closely but not 100%.

For example, Mark does name Backseat (The Adam McKay biopic about Dick Cheney that stars Christian Bale as the former Veep) which may be titled something else before its release.  I hope he's right because I would love to see that.

Mark's complete story is here.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

The Distributors: Cohen Media Group / Circuit Breaker Fall Film Guesses #2 / Telluride History: TFF #23

THE DISTRIBUTORS: COHEN MEDIA GROUP

One of the recent hard chargers at Telluride in terms of distribution firms that have made a splash is the Cohen Media Group.

CMG's history at Telluride:

2012-The Attack
2014-Magician
2015-Hitchcock/Truffaut, Marguerite, Rams
2016-Journey Through French Cinema

And CMG has a number of possible players for the 2017 edition of the Telluride Film Festival:

Francois Ozon's L'amant Double
Michel Hazanavicius' Redoubtable
Christian Carion's Mon Garcon
and even Pappi Corsicato's Julian Schnabel: A Private Portrait.

Of the four, the chances for L'amant Double and Redoubtable are virtually indistinguishable.  Both played Cannes with modset-to-good reviews.  Redoubtable's metascore-67, L'amant Double's 64.  Both directors have made a splash at previuos Tellurides.  Hazanavicius being more notable with Oscar Best Picture winner The Artist in 2011.  Ozon was at Telluride last year with Frantz.

I'm givng Redoubtable a slight edge with a 50% chance to SHOW.  L'Amant Double goes in at 45%.

As to Carion's Mon Garcon, I include it here as CMG is calling it a 2017 release and Carion's 2009 TFF film, Farewell, is enough to make me think it should be considered.  Give it a 30% chance.

FInally, despite the fact that Cosicato's Julian Schnabel documentary has played in the U.S. at Tribeca, it might end up at Telluride anyway.  The inclusion of Tribeca films in the T-ride lineup isn't frequent  but has happened more than once: Peggy Guggenheim in 2015, Keep On Keepin' On in 2014 and My Dior in 2013.

Schnabel's poster for TFF #29

Additionally, Schnabel has had a TFF history as poster artist in 2002 and presenting his fantastic The Diving Bell and the Butterfly in 2007.  So I wouldn't rule this film out even though it played Tribeca.




CIRCUIT BREAKER FALL FILM GUESSES #2

A week ago (June 19) I posted the link to Awards Circuit's Circuit Breaker podcast because they included a rundown of some guesses about where films might be headed to film festivals.

This week;s podcast includes another segment about the same topic.  The nearly half hour segment includes mentions of a couple of dozen films and those that are mentioned as having some possibility for Telluride (by at least one of the participants) are:

The Darkest Hour
Suburbicon
Downsizing
Battle of the Sexes
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
The Snowman
Stronger

The complete podcast can be heard here.  The discussion of fall film fest plays begins approximately at the 47:20 mark.


TELLURIDE HISTORY: TFF #23

Here's another installment of my on-going and fairly sporadic review of the history of the Telluride Film Festival.  Today a look at #23 which occurred  from Aug.30-Sept. 2, 1996.

Guest Director: B. Ruby Rich

Tributes: Shirley MacLaine, Mike Leigh, Alain Cavalier

SHOWS:

Actress
Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life
Beautiful Thing
Ben Johnson: Third Cowboy on the Right

Breaking the Waves
Cardiogram
Carmen's Pure Love
The Cloud Capped Star
Daisies
Drifting Clouds
Fly Away Home
Forgotten Silver
Gabbeh

Irma Vep
Kolya
La Recontre
Le Ciel est a Vous
Le Samuorai
Le Trou
Lillian's Story
Message to Love
Microcosmos
Riot
Secrets and Lies
Self Made Hero

Sling Blade
Swingers
Therese
Twelfth Night
Two Eyes, Twelve Hands
The Unknown

Guests:

Olivier Assasyas
Jacques Audiard
Carroll Ballard
Harry Carey, Jr.
Maggie Cheung
Jon Favreau
Don Hertzfeldt
Werner Herzog
Mike Leigh
Doug Liman
Leonard Maltin
Shirley MacLaine
Trevor Nunn
John Ritter
Stellan Skarsgaard
Billy Bob Thornton
Warwick Thornton
Vince Vaughn
Emily Watson


Of particular note were the short films from Warwick Thornton (Payback, now called From Sand to Celluloid: Payback) and Julie Delpy (Blah Blah Blah) both making their directing debuts and Don Hertzfeldt with his second short (Genre).

That's your Thursday from MTFB.

Come back tomorrow for 2017's first Ten Bets.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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COMMENT to the BLOG

Morris Makes a Movie/Schnabel on Miral/This Week's Ten Bets

Good Morning all.  Back from New Mexico and really hit in the face the last 24 hours with the fact that occasionally people read this space...gives one pause.

MORRIS MAKES A MOVIE

One of the highlights (at least for me) of last year's Telluride Film Festival was Errol Morris' "Tabloid".  The documentary is in the news lately as Morris makes the rounds and a trailer is out in preparation for it to be released.
In the flurry of activity has come a torrent of news about future projects from Morris and not necessarily from his position as an award winning documentarian.  The Playlist has isolated the latest Errol Morris plans in a couple of stories.  They report that Morris is involved in directing a project called "We Froze the First Man" that will feature actor Paul Rudd in the lead.  Steven Zaillian is producing and the script is to come from "Stranger than Fiction" scribe Zach Helm.
Morris has dabbled in non-documentary film work before and one could certainly say that he brings a lively approach to how he frames his documentary work.  The premise sounds humorous and I like Rudd a lot so I'll hope for the best.
The Playlist story is here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/paul_rudd_to_star_in_errol_morris_adaptation_of_we_froze_the_first_man/

Morris' other project  in the works would focus on biological weaponry.  Titled "The Demon in the Freezer," it is based on Richard Preston's book of the same name.  You can some detailed description of that project at The Playlist also at this link:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/exclusive_errol_morris_adapting_the_demon_in_the_freezer/

Finally, the link to the "Tabloid" trailer at IMDb is here:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi899914777/

SCHNABEL ON MIRAL

Yesterday I mentioned that Julian Schnabel and Johnny Depp were set to get together on a film project with Depp scheduled to star in a film that will explore Dante's Divine Comedy.  This comes in the midst of the DVD release of Schnabel's "Miral".  "Miral" stirred up a good deal of controversy last year and as I have said, I was fairly certain that we would see it in Telluride and was more than a little surprised that it was not on The SHOW's lineup.  I can't help but wonder if it got sidetracked as a consequence of the hoopla that it engendered and that's why we didn't see it (or maybe it was the lukewarm reviews).  Now Schnabel sits down with Jeff Otto of The Playlist and talks about the film.  That interview is here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/exclusive_director_julian_schnabel_discusses_blu-ray_dvd_release_of_miral/

I have to say that I loved Schnabel's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" when I saw it in Telluride in 2007 and have been waiting for the DVD release so that I could get a look at this film.

THIS WEEK'S TEN BETS

Last week's Ten Bets for Telluride List:

1) The Descendants

2) A Trip to the Moon
3) Young Adult
4) The Artist
5) The Kid with a Bike
6) Le Havre
7) Gazing Into the Abyss
8) Dark Horse
9) We Have to Talk About Kevin
10) Shame


This week's Ten Bets:
1) The Descendants
2) A Trip to the Moon
3) Young Adult
4) Gazing Into the Abyss
5) The Artist
6) Dark Horse
7) The Kid with a Bike
8) Shame
9) Le Havre
10) Coriolanus

Topping the Chinese/Schnabel's Got Depp/Dream Team

Good Morning from Santa Fe!

We're heading home today after a whirlwind "vacation" here in northern New Mexico.  Hate to leave, but things to do.

TOPPING THE CHINESE

The Long and Winding Road that leads to the Olympics?

I've mentioned in this space that Telluride favorite, director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours) has an unenviable next project.  Boyle is directing the ceremonies for the Summer Olympics in London next year.  I like Danny Boyle.  He's a clever, inventive director (and writer too).  He's always been very pleasant as he's presented his work at TFF in 2008 and last year.  I've gotten to rub shoulders and speak with him a couple of times as we've crossed paths at the Telluride Film Festival.  So, I was concerned that he was in a no win situation for him in this endeavor.  The Chinese in 2008 set the bar so incredibly high that I (and I'm sure many others) believed that whoever accepted this gig was starting from the bottom of an insurmountable mountain. 

Now comes word that Boyle and the London Olympic folks may be putting the pieces in place to present one of the few things that could electrify the world at the same level that the Chinese achieved 3 years ago.
"What could that possibly be?" you ask.  The Wrap has the potential answer...

Can you say "Fab  Four"?  Or, perhaps more accurately, the Fab Two and the closest thing we can get to the other two that are no longer with us.  The Wrap reports that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr would potentially be joined by Julian Lennon or Sean Lennon and Dhani Harrison to perform as part of the Olympic ceremonies.

You can read The Wrap's story here:
http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/report-beatles-reunion-works-2012-olympic-games-28962

Can you say (sing) "Let it Be"?

 SCHANBEL AND DEPP

The Playlist has the story that Julian Schnabel may have his next film project to develop and that it includes collaboration with Johnny Depp.  Schnabel has also been a Telluride participant.  He presented his best film "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" at Telluride in 2007 and has also been the festival's poster artist in the past.

Last year I was somewhat surprised that his "Miral" wasn't part of TFF#37.  I was relatively certain that it would be.  But nope.  Now comes news that Schnabel has a new film project that re-pairs him with his "Before Night Falls" star Johnny Depp.  The proposed project would pair the two in an adaptation of the Nick Tosches book "In the Hand of Dante". 

As you might expect from the title, the focus, in part, on Dante's "Divine Comedy".  The tenor of the story suggests that neither man is in a big hurry to get the project adapted and made and Depp has at least 2-3 films lined up currently including his expected turn as Tonto in "The Lone Ranger".  So don't expect to see this at TFF #39  or maybe 40...or...well, who knows.  But you have to believe that if it DOES get made, it would be a prime possibility for Labor Day in the San Juans (unless, of course, there's any bad blood over the "Miral" exclusion from last year).

The Playlist story is here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/exclusive_julian_schnabel_planning_in_the_hand_of_dante_with_johnny_depp/

DREAM TEAM

Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in "My Week with Marilyn"

Yesterday's post included a list of a few films that we have on our Telluride film list.  Today I'm flinging out into the Universe my wish list for individuals that I'd love to see on Colorado Avenue in September.

And I make no apology about still be entirely star struck.  Maybe that makes me uncool.  But I'm still stunned when I see, stand by, or exchange words with some of the people that I've run into in the last five years.  Passing words with Oscar nominees/winners like Boyle, Laura Linney, James Franco, Sean Penn, and  Jason Reitman (to shamelessly name drop) has been one of the highlights of my festival experience so forgive me my adolescent joy at being in the same room as Daniel Day-Lewis, Ed Harris, Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush.

All that aside, who would I love to see, bump into, pass words with at this year's SHOW?  I've tried to limit the list to those people who have at least a scintilla of a chance to have a film there ( and I realize that it all won't happen and that Telluride often has the director of a film on hand rather than any of the talent, but a guy can dream...right?)

This isn't a complete list, but a first pass.  I'm sure I'll add to it over the next six weeks as we get closer to Labor Day.

Meryl Streep/The Iron Lady
Glenn Close/Albert Nobbs
George Clooney/The Descendants and/or The Ides of March
Philip Seymour Hoffman/Moneyball
Brad Pitt/Moneyball (I'd like to talk to him about his connections to Oklahoma)
Colin Firth/Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Gary Oldman/Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Charlize Theron/Young Adult
Ralph Fiennes/Coriolanus
Vanessa Redgrave/Coriolanus
Michelle Williams/My Week with Marilyn
Jodie Foster/Carnage
Kate Winslet/Carnage
Christoph Waltz/Carnage
and, of course, my girl friend, Laura Linney...

Later!