First, my apologies. For not posting/tweeting nearly enough yesterday. Meant to. Intended to. Was committed to it. DROVE 560 miles! I have to figure out a better way to handle this Thursday before the Festival starts in the future. Anyway, I am really sorry that I wasn't better in the loop yesterday...sincerely.
A FINAL INVITATION...
I am very pleased to invite all blog readers to an intimate and reflective moment or two this afternoon at 5:00PM at The River Club at 550 Depot St. in Telluride. My hosts, Larry and Mitzi Mallard are being generous enough to provide me with a forum to do a little meeting and greeting and they're throwing in a nosh and a drink or two. So come by, say hi, and we'll talk a little film before the ball really gets rolling...
PLAYLIST GIG
You may have seen a quick tweet and/or post yesterday afternoon concerning me, The Playlist and film reviews. Yes. It's true. I'm going to attempt to provide a review here and there this weekend for The Playlist. It's a very real and impressive cinema blog hosted by IndieWire.com and regular readers of this blog know that I reference them constantly. They're very good.
Soooo, maybe I get published, maybe not, but a BIG thank you to The Playlist for giving me a shot...
WELL, HAVE YOU HEARD???
I arrived in Telluride at about 9:00 PM local time after about 10 hours on the road...and through the entire journey and even after arrival, I was constantly monitoring Rumor Central...because, let's be real...rumors fly around like untethered kites in the 72 hours before the Telluride Film Festival actually kicks off.
Here's what I think is really real at this point:
1) GEORGE CLOONEY IS IN TOWN AND WILL BE TRIBUTED. "The Descendants" will play but the best info right now is the "Ides of March" will not.
2) THe RUMOR is that Johnny Depp IS IN TOWN....possibly for a sneak of "The Rum Diary." Now, I haven't actually seen Mr. Depp...a lot of sources say it's true...BUT, you know...IT'S A RUMOR.
Of course he could be here for the Lauren/Bush wedding...which leads me to
3) 2 former Presidents (Clinton and GW Bush) will be within 10 square miles of me before the weekend is over. Purportedly Clinton is already here in Mountain Village. Both for the aforementioned wedding. Oh, and Oprah too...
4) Glenn Close has been reported. in town....nice...
5) Tilda Swinton is here...another Tributee ( a side note...TFF...very sneaky on the playing of "Michael Clayton" in Elks Park Thursday night...so cagey. I love it!
6) Eugene Hernandez of IndieWire cryptically tweets that there will be 2 and only 2 "Sneaks" and that one will be a comedy and one is a film set for the New York Film Fest...and that these clues could be about the same film or not...thanks, Mr. Hernandez! My guess is that "Butter" is the comedy...after that...the NYFF presentation could be: "My Week with Marilyn," "Carnage," "The Skin I Live In," "Miss Bala," "Martha, Marcy May Marlene," or "4:44: Last Day on Earth"...or something else entirely.
[My "no guts, no glory" prediction is "Butter" and "Miss Bala"]
7) Keira Knightley rumored in town in support of "A Dangerous Game." Just a RUMOR!
I will live tweet and blog from the Patron Brunch later this morning...that should settle some things...
AND NOW FOR THE REAL DEAL:
Here's the official announced lineup for the 38th Telluride Film Festival:
38TH TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2011 FESTIVAL LINEUP
George Clooney, Pierre Étaix and Tilda Swinton to receive Silver Medallion Awards
Over twenty-five new features plus revival programs and unique programming from Guest Director Caetano Veloso will be presented as part of the 2011 exhibition
Telluride, CO (September 1, 2011) – Telluride Film Festival (September 2-5, 2011), presented by the National Film Preserve, announces its program for the 38th Telluride Film Festival. Featuring diverse programming from around the globe, TFF once again sets the stage for some of the year’s most highly anticipated films.
TFF opens its 38th year with over twenty-five new feature films plus special artist tributes, Guest Director programs selected by Caetano Veloso, Backlot programs, classics and restorations, shorts, student films, seminars and conversations, each introduced or proceeded with a Q&A by its filmmaker, actors, writer or producer. Telluride Film Festival opens Friday, September 2 and runs through Labor Day, Monday, September 5.
THE ‘SHOW’
38th Telluride Film Festival is proud to present the following new feature films to play in its main program, the ‘SHOW’:
· ALBERT NOBBS (d. Rodrigo Garcia, U.S., 2011)
· THE ARTIST (d. Michel Hazanavicius, France, 2011)
· BECOMING BERT STERN (d. Shannah Laumeister, U.S., 2011)
· BITTER SEEDS (d. Micha X. Peled, U.S., 2011)
· BONSÁI (d. Cristián Jiménez, Chile, 2011)
· A DANGEROUS METHOD (d. David Cronenberg, U.K.-Switzerland-U.S.-Canada, 2011)
· THE DESCENDANTS (d. Alexander Payne, U.S., 2011)
· DIANA VREELAND: THE EYE HAS TO TRAVEL (d. Lisa Immordino-Vreeland, U.S., 2011)
· FOOTNOTE (d. Joseph Cedar, Israel, 2011)
· THE FORGIVENESS OF BLOOD (d. Joshua Marston, U.S.-Albania-Denmark-Italy, 2011)
· GOODBYE FIRST LOVE (d. Mia Hansen-Løve, France, 2011)
· LE HAVRE (d. Aki Kaurismäki, Finland, 2011)
· HOLLYWOOD DON’T SURF (d. Greg Macgillivray, Sam George, U.S., 2011)
· IN DARKNESS (d. Agnieszka Holland, Poland, 2011)
· INTO THE ABYSS: A TALE OF DEATH, A TALE OF LIFE (d. Werner Herzog, U.S., 2011)
· THE ISLAND PRESIDENT (d. Jon Shenk, U.S., 2011)
· THE KID WITH A BIKE (d. Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Belgium, 2011)
· LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD (d. Martin Scorsese, U.S., 2011)
· PASSERBY (d. Eryk Rocha, Brazil, 2011)
· PERDIDA (d. Viviana García Besné, Mexico, 2011)
· PINA (d. Wim Wenders, Germany, 2011)
· A SEPARATION (d. Asghar Farhadi, Iran, 2011)
· SHAME (d. Steve McQueen, U.K., 2011)
· THE STORY OF FILM: AN ODYSSEY (d. Mark Cousins, U.K., 2011)
· TARGET (d. Alexander Zeldovich, Russia, 2011)
· THE TURIN HORSE (d. Béla Tarr, Hungary, 2011)
· THE WAY HOME (d. Dr. Biju, India, 2010)
· WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (d. Lynne Ramsey, U.K., 2011)
Here's the "Twenty Bets" that MTFB made last night with confirmed plays indicated with 3 asterisks ***
2) Into the Abyss***
3) We Have to Talk About Kevin***
4) The Ides of March (I look silly...)
5) A Dangerous Method***
6) Shame***
7) Goodbye First Love***
8) The Skin I Live In (still could be a "sneak")
9) The Artist***
10) Footnote***
11) A Trip to the Moon***
12) The Birds Upstairs
13) Prohibition
14) Le Havre***
15) The Lady
16) Dark Horse
17) Butter
18) Miss Bala
19) Drive
20) Martha Marcy May Marlene
I'm still greedy enough to pull for "Coriolanus," "The Kid with a Bike,"*** "Wuthering Heights" "W.E." and the Georgre Harrison Doc*** directed by Martin Scorsese.
Additionally, I think MTFB could fairly claim to have been at least marginally aware that "Albert Nobbs" could play as well as "A Separation."
FINAL NOTE (before the fest takes flight...)
I am HOT to see:
"The Descendants"
The Artist"
"Le Havre"
"Living in the Material World"
"A Dangerous Method"
"Shame"
"Albert Nobbs"
"The Kid with a Bike"
"We Need to Talk About Kevin"
"A Separation"
"The Turin Horse"
And whatever the "sneaks" are...
It makes me sad that...
Clooney is a Tributee but no "Ides of March" (Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood @ IndieWire is adamant that Ides is not playing...
No "Tinker, Tailor....I'm too tired to finish the title...
No "Drive"....man, I am really bummed..."Drive" lost traction after its Comic Con screening but I was hoping...
Kind of sad about no "The Lady" or "Dark Horse"
Still and all...no real complaints. I think TFF #38 looks like a colossal win from the start!
More later today...from the Patron Brunch!
