Agnes Varda 1928-2019 / Garrone's Big Weekend

I hope it is a good day for you today...


AGNES VARDA 1928-2019

Hard news over the weekend as cinephiles the world over learned of and mourned the passing of  revered filmmaker Agnes Varda.

Varda was a giant of European cinema as one of the prominent voices that emerged with the French New Wave.

Varda was an Oscar nominee for Best Documentary for her 2017 collaboration with artist JR: Faces Places which played at TFF #43.  Varda also was a recipient of an Honorary Oscar.  She was among TFF's first tribute recipients being recognized at the 4th Telluride Film Festival.  Here's a snap of the entry for her tribute from the official TFF #4 program:

Tributes and reminiscences poured in from the film community from around the world over the weekend and I have linked several of those below:

Peter DeBruge/Variety

Mekado Murphy/The New York Times

Melanie Goodfellow/Screen Daily

Zack Sharf/Indiewire

Rhett Bartlett/The Hollywood Reporter

Jordan Raup/The Film Stage

Peter White/Deadline

MOMA Curator Laurence Kardish writing for Indiewire

Multiple sources from The Guardian

And here is Varda's IMDb page with video tribute

It wouldn't surprise me that Varda could have the TFF #46 program dedicated to her in five months much like Pierre Rissient last year.  I had already thought that some version of her latest and last film, Varda by Agnes (listed by IMDb as a television series),  which screened at the Berlin Fest in February, might show up as a part of the TFF #46 program and with her death, I suspect that becomes even more likely.  That is unless the producers/distributors choose to release it in the U.S. before Labor Day weekend.

One other note...among my favorite things to stumble across as I was preparing this story was the IMDb entry for Varda's 1967 documentary short Uncle Yanco which featured none other than Tom Luddy.  Yes.  There's a picture and a credit and the description mentions that the two were friends.  Here's the pictorial evidence:

               

GARRONE'S BIG WEEKEND

Word this weekend that Matteo Garrone's Dogman, which played TFF #45 fared very well at the David di Doantello Awards picking up nine trophies out of a total of 15 nominations including Best Picture, Direction and Screenplay.  The David di Donatello Awards are described by Varitey as Italy's equivalent of the Oscars.

Variety's coverage of those awards is linked here.

Meanwhile, almost simultaneously, we got our first glimpse of Garrone's next project...a live action version of Pinocchio starring Oscar winner Roberto Begnini.

Here's a pic of Begnini as Pinocchio's creator Geppeto:

Still via Greta De Lazzaris via The Hollywood Reporter

THR reports that Garrone plans to wrap principal photography by May... which could mean that with a quick turnaround...maybe people might see it as early as Labor Day...just saying...

Coverage is linked here from:

The Hollywood Reporter

The Playlist

That's a wrap for this sad Monday.  I'll have more on Thursday...


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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

The Usual Suspects Part Three/"Dheepan" International Trailer Appears/New Views of "45 Years"

Welcome to Thursday... Children of the Corn...


THE "USUAL SUSPECTS" PART THREE

Today's look at the "Usuals" is a bit different than Parts One and Two.  We begin with two directors who might be on their way to "Usual" status but aren't quite there yet.

Starting with Ariel Vromen who had "The Iceman" at Telluride in 2012.  His latest is "Criminal" starring Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Costner.  It's distributed from Summit Entertainment which, to the best of my abilities to research. has never had a film at T-ride but they've also had plenty of films that would have been T-ride worthy: "50/50", "The Hurt Locker", "Michael Clayton".  The film is scheduled for release in January 2016.  Chances to play: 10%.

The other potential "Usual" is Matteo Garrone who played Telluride in 2008 with his "Gomorrah".  His 2012 film "Reality" played Cannes but was not on the SHOW program.  This year his "Tale of Tales" also played Cannes.  It's his English feature debut and stars Selma Hayek and John C. Riley among others.  I actually think this has a decent shot of making the Telluride lineup.  Chances for The SHOW: 40%.

The individuals in today;s discussion qualify for "Usual Suspect" status but if they attend Telluride this year, it will be in some unusual circumstances.

For example, Alejandro Inarritu.  Inarritu would normally be right at the top of this year's "Ten Bets" list of his "The Revenant" was ready but it will NOT be ready in time for Labor Day.  Instead, if Alejandro is in town, and I wouldn't be all that surprised if he is, it'll be as a fan or in support of a friend, as he was in 2013 for Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity".  I've speculated in this space before that this could be the year that Guillermo Del Toro joins the Telluride club following in the path of his "Tres Amigos" brothers, Inarritu and Cuaron with the highly anticipated "Crimson Peak".  Now, there are more reasons to think that it won't happen than there are to think it will but I don't think it's a completely crazy proposition either and if Del Toro does SHOW and Inarritu is done with re-shoots of "The Revenant" (reportedly he will be) then I believe Alejandro might be in town.

Another "Usual" that has come back to the Telluride fold after having been away for a long time is Francis Ford Coppola.  Coppola has come back the past two years and could return this year with some presentation of the project he began in Oklahoma City this spring: "Distant Vision" his "live cinema" experiment.  It wouldn't stun me if that were to happen.

Finally, there's Steve McQueen who doesn't have a feature film in play but has been working on his own HBO limited series "Codes of Conduct'.  McQueen has clearly been a favorite of the festival with "Hunger" ('08), "Shame" ('11)and "12 Years a Slave" ('13) all making the SHOW.  I could see the fest featuring the HBO show.  The fest has dipped its toe into television long form presentations in the past with "Red Riding" "Burning Bush" and "Carlos" so this wouldn't be the craziest of guesses.  Again, the first key is it if it's ready.


"DHEEPAN" INTERNATIONAL TRAILER APPEARS

I'd be shocked if Jacques Audiard's Palme d'Or winner, "Dheepan" doesn't play Telluride.  It has been riding high on my "Ten Bets" list all summer and barring some strange news from the announcement of the Toronto film lineup over the next few weeks, that won't change.

The film's first trailer appeared online from both The Film Stage and The Playlist yesterday.  It's an international trailer meaning that the subtitles are in French.  Still, it's intriguing.  Here it is:

"Dheepan" trailer via YouTube

And here are the stories from The Film Stage and The Playlist:

http://thefilmstage.com/trailer/first-trailer-for-jacques-audiards-palme-dor-winner-dheepan/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-international-trailer-for-jacques-audiards-palme-dor-winner-dheepan-20150722

And, also from The Film Stage, "Dheepan" has a new poster as well:

NEW VIEWS OF "45 YEARS"

Andrew Haigh's "45 Years" has been high on my list of possible Telluride films since it debuted in Berlin in February.  The film has won rave reviews fro the performances of Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay.  It's distribution is being handled by Sundance Selects.  Perhaps the only reason that suggests that it isn't a Telluride possibility is that it has and will have had played a pretty substantial number of fests (Berlin, Istanbul, Edinburgh, Karlovy Vary...others).

Late last week, The Playlist posted a couple of new clips and the film's poster.  Take a look at the clips and the article here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-2-clips-and-new-poster-for-andrew-haighs-berlin-award-winner-45-years-20150720

That's enough for today...more tomorrow...including the last "Ten Bets" list before the first Toronto announcement on Tuesday.

Leave a comment here at the blog.

Email me at michael_speech@hotmail.com or mpgort@gamil.com

Tweet/Follow at me @Gort2 on Twitter

You can also message me on Facebook (and "Like" me too) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse/107846269309712

Organized Crime/Another Django/More Knight/Al on Stage

Good Wednesday!


ORGANIZED CRIME

In 2009 Matteo Garrone made quite a splash at Telluride with "Gomorrah" a film set in the world of Italy's organized crime.  Garrone, last  month, made another splash at Cannes with his new film "Reality" which won the Grand Prix.  Under normal circumstances, I would have "Reality" down with about a 60% chance of being in Telluride...but now there are complications.

Reports from Italy tell us that Garrone may be in serious legal trouble for having consorted with the mob in Italy in order to make "Gomorrah".  That could put the film's T-ride chances in jeopardy and the director in prison.  Here are two stories with details:

The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gomorrah-mob-collaboration-335913

The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/matteo-garrone-accused-of-getting-mixed-up-in-the-mob-to-make-gomorrah-20120612


ANOTHER DJANGO

"Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" was all over the place last week as it released its first teaser/trailer.  Now comes an international version which reportedly has some extra/different footage.  I have linked to it via  The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-international-trailer-for-django-unchained-puts-new-footage-into-the-chamber-20120613


MORE KNIGHT

Pictures from the set of Terrence Malick's on-going effort called "Knight of Cups" continues to ooze online.  Today shots include Cate Blanchett.  From The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/cate-blanchett-dons-scrubs-in-new-set-photos-from-terrence-malicks-knight-of-cups-20120611

AL ON STAGE

And finally, I saw Al Pacino on stage a couple of years ago  in Central Park on the closing night of Shakespeare on the Park's production of "Merchant of Venice".  At the time I thought it could be the last time Pacino was ever on a stage doing live theater.  Of course, they transferred that production onto Broadway. Still, I said to myself, "it might be the last play he does".  Until yesterday, that might have been true.  Yesterday came the news that Pacino will be appearing in a new mounting of David Mamet's classic "Glengarry Glen Ross"...playing the role Jack Lemmon played in the 1992 film.

Here's the story from Te Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/al-pacino-heads-to-broadway-for-revival-of-glengarry-glen-ross-this-time-as-shelley-the-machine-levene-20120612

More later...

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2