Wonderstruck Will Strike in October / First Look at Haneke's Happy End / Redoutable Teaser Gets Meta / The Future for Past Telluriders / Amazon Rewards Manchester

Welcome to Thursday on MTFB...



WONDERSTRUCK WILL STRIKE IN OCTOBER

The case for Todd Haynes being a Telluride contender got another supportive piece of evidence yesterday as the peeps at Amazon and Roadside Attractions, who have paired to distribute the film, have announced a limited release date of October 20th.   The film will then proceed to be opened wider in November.

It wasn't long yesterday before journos pointed out that that time frame has served as the launchpad for four of the last five Oscar BP winners: Argo 10/12/12, 12 Years a Slave 10/18/13, Birdman 10/17/14, and Moonlight 10/21/16.  Only Spotlight has broken that pattern opening on 11/6/15.  Of course, all of those films played Telluride on their way to the Best Picture prize.

Honestly, when I get serious about posting a rough first guess at what will make the T-ride 2017 lineup, Wonderstruck might be the film on the top of that list.

Linked below is coverage of the release announcement from:

Variety

Indiewire

Awards Watch

The Playlist

The Wrap



FIRST LOOK AT HANEKE'S HAPPY END

Another film that will be in the hunt for the Cannes' Palme d'Or in a couple of weeks (and it could be an unprecedented third for its director...lots of predictors think that's a very real possibility) is Michael Haneke's Happy End.  Haneke hasn't made a film since his last Palme winner in 2012.  Amour also won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

We got our first photo from the secretive film yesterday as you see above.  The still shows, among others Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Toby Jones.  Further coverage of the image and the film is here from Indiwire and here from The Playlist.



REDOUBTABLE TEASER GETS META

This week we got a new glimpse of Michel Hazanavicius' newest film, Redoubtable, which is set to debut at Cannes this month in the Palme d'Or competition.  The teaser includes some references to the festival that should elicit a chuckle or two.  Check the teaser below (from YouTube):

Redoubtable is based on the life of film pioneer Jean-Luc Godard.

More on the teaser release for Redoubtable is here from Entertainment Weekly as well as here from The Playlist.

THE FUTURE FOR PAST TELLURIDERS

I've mentioned with some frequency the next project for Moonlight's Barry Jenkins which is the multi-part adaptation of Colson Whitehead's National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winning
Underground Railroad for Amazon Studios.

In the last few days we have seen the plans of two other notable and recent past Telluriders come into focus.

Indiewire reports that Oscar winning director Damien Chazelle is lining up another musically oriented project.  The story was originally reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

Titled The Eddy, the story centers around a Paris music club.  As with Jenkins, the project is being set up as an episodic project and is being shopped around to streaming services and networks.  Reports suggest that Chazelle would direct his next feature film project, First Man starring Ryan Reynolds as Neil Armstrong, and then get to work on The Eddy.

The other news of note regarding a new project involving a recent Tellurider and Oscar winner was news yesterday that Laszlo Nemes is set to begin filming Sunset.  Nemes made a huge splash in 2015 with his debut film Son of Saul which played Cannes (winning Nemes the Grand Prix award) and then Telluride.  Son of Saul went on to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

The Playlist reports  that Sunset will begin filming next month and that the plan is that it would play Cannes which would make it a prime TFF #45 possibility.

Stay tuned.


AMAZON REWARDS MANCHESTER

How do you say thank you to a community that serves as the backdrop and title of your Oscar award winning film (and TFF #43 selection)?

Amazon Studios has gifted the citizens of Manchester, Massachusetts a year's worth of free Amazon Prime memberships.  They even threw in the popcorn.

Amazon announced the gift this week according to The Hollywood Reporter.



And that will do it for this Thursday.  Have a good weekend and come back here Monday for more...

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

Aquarius Acquired by Netflix / Following Up: Anderson and Haneke

Welcome to Wednesday...


AQUARIUS ACQUIRED BY NETFLIX...

Various outlest reported yesterday that Cannes favorite Aquarius had been acquired for U.S. distribution by Netflix.  The streaming service also picked up Divines, a thriller that also played Cannes in the Directors Fortnight.  Aquarius earned strong reviews and a very solid combined 7.22 rating on the Reini Urban critics' collection.

The film also earned strong notices for its star Sonia Braga who, many Cannes observers thought, might well have been the best actress winner.  That didn't happen but there has been some talk of Braga being a potential Oscar candidate this year for her work in the film.

The Netflix play may make Aquarius a serious Telluride consideration.  Netflix had a substantail presence there last year with both Beasts of No Nation and Winter on Fire making the 2015 lineup. Up until this acquisition, I'm not really sure that Netflix had a truly strong candidate for T-ride.  Maybe War Machine...maybe...

In as far as Divines is concerned, it could be a possible consideration, but it was substantially less well received critically than Aquarius.  I'm not thinking that it's high on the list for T-ride.

Here's the coverage of the announcement from yesterday:

http://variety.com/2016/film/global/netflix-snaps-up-camera-dor-winner-divines-cannes-competing-aquarius-exclusive-1201780205/

https://thefilmstage.com/reviews/cannes-review-aquarius/



FOLLOWING UP: ANDERSON AND HANEKE

Updating a couple of stories that I covered within the last week.  First, the news that Paul Thomas Anderson may be on the way to making a new film with Daniel Day Lewis set in the fashion industry in  New York in the 1950's.  Vulture.com published an interesting speculative piece about a possible fashion icon upon whose life and career the film might be based.

Check that here:

http://www.vulture.com/2016/06/paul-thomas-anderson-movie-charles-james.html

 And we learned additional news about upcoming Michael Haneke project, Happy End, starring Isabelle Huppert.

The Film Stage reports:


https://thefilmstage.com/news/casting-updates-for-michael-hanekes-happy-end-and-steven-spielbergs-ready-player-one/


That's a wrap for Wednesday...

Contact MTFB at:

mpgort@gmail.com

OR on Twitter @Gort2

OR check out Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse-107846269309712/

OR leave a comment in the comment section.

Haneke's Plans Change/Future Telluride: "It's Only the End of the World"/"Elser" becomes "13 Minutes" and Drops a Trailer

Hello on a Tuesday in June...



HANEKE'S PLANS CHANGE

In the run up to this year's Cannes Film Fest there was some thought in some quarters that auteur Michael Haneke's secretive "Flashmob" might show up as a part of one of the programs during the fest.  I also had it as an outside shot film to keep an eye out for at Telluride because Haneke has made a home there with frequency.  But the Cannes screening did not happen, of course, and now we know why.

Haneke has abandoned the project and moved on according to a number of reports.  Apparently, things did not come together to his liking and thus, after having postponed the film for some time, Haneke has turned the page and moved on to something new.

Here's the reporting from The Playlist and Rope of Silicon:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/michael-haneke-drops-flashmob-working-on-new-film-set-in-france-20150609


http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/michael-haneke-wont-incite-flashmob-working-something-else/




FUTURE TELLURIDE: "IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD"

Marion Cotillard in the first image from Xavier Dolan's "It's Only the End of the World" via The Playlist

Xavier Dolan joined the ranks of Telluride alumni with the presentation of his film "Mommy" in 2014.  In 2012, Marion Cotillard was feted as a recipient of a TFF tribute which was accompanied by Jacques Audiard's "Rust and Bone".  We found out the last 24 hours that Dolan and Cotillard are teaming for a new film: "It's Only the End of the World" which focuses on a family dealing with a member with a terminal illness.  

The film is expected to be released in 2016 and IMDb lists it as currently filming.  One could reasonably expect that the film might make its way to TFF #43 next year.  

Parenthetically, one also might see both Audiard and Cotillard return to Telluride this year.  Audiard with "Dheepan" and Cotillard with Justin Kurzel's "Macbeth"  (yes please!)

Here's reporting on the Dolan film from The Playlist and Rope of Silicon:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-look-marion-cotillard-in-xavier-dolans-its-only-the-end-of-the-world-20150613


http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/first-picture-of-marion-cotillard-in-xavier-dolans-next-film-plus-tom-at-the-farm-coming-to-u-s-theaters/



"ELSER" BECOMES "13 MINUTES" AND DROPS A TRAILER

UK Trailer for "13 Minutes" (formerly "Elser") via YouTube

One of the films that emerged as a result of the Berlin International Film Festival back in February was Oliver Hirschbiegel's "Elser".  The film was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics and was generally well received critically.

We found out yesterday that the film has changed titles.  It is now called "13 Minutes".

The film is based on a true story about a lesser known attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1939 (as opposed to the more well known attempt immortalized by Tom Cruise in Bryan Singer's 2008 film "Valkyrie".

I may have "13 Minutes" on the very first "Ten Bets" list for 2015 which is coming in about 10 days...

"13 Minutes" reporting is linked here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-trailer-for-downfall-director-oliver-hirschbiegels-hitler-assassination-thriller-13-minutes-20150615

http://www.firstshowing.net/2015/must-watch-first-trailer-for-13-minutes-from-oliver-hirschbiegel/


And its IMDb page is here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1708135/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1



More on Wednesday...

Follow Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse/107846269309712


And on Twitter @Gort2

Acquisition News/Trailers and Clips from Cannes/Another Critical Take on Cannes/TFF #42?

Good Thursday to all...


ACQUISITION NEWS

Still from "Clouds of Sils Maria"

Post Cannes there has been considerable movement toward distributors buying the rights for U.S. distribution of a number of Cannes titles.  Some of those acquisitions may boost a film's chances at a Telluride play while others probably diminish that potential.

Case in point of the latter...Magnolia picked up two very well received titles in the past few days:  "Force Majeure" (Turist) and "White God", the top prize winner from the Un Certain Regard section.  While their representation by Magnolia doesn't eliminate those films from Telluride consideration, I can find only two films from them that have played Telluride in the last five years: "The Hunt" and "A Royal Affair" both played in 2012 (also both featured Mads Mikkelsen who was tributed that year).  So, you know, it's possible that we'd see one or both of these films...but if history is any guide; it's not incredibly likely.

I've linked the story about the "White God" acquisition from Variety:

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/cannes-prize-winner-white-god-fetches-north-american-distribution-1201193008/


and from IndieWire for "Force Majeure":

http://www.indiewire.com/article/magnolia-pictures-wins-distribution-for-un-certain-regard-winner-force-majeure

Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Kristian Levring's "The Salvation" starring the aforementioned Mads Mikkelsen has been acquired by IFC films.  IFC also has distribution for other Cannes #67 titles including "Clouds of Sils Maria" and  "Bird People".  IFC also has Richard Linklater's Sundance hit "Boyhood".  The IFC profile at Telluride independently is noticeable (and their connection/partnership with Sundance Selects opens the door a bit more).  IFC had "Frances Ha" at TFF in 2012, "Into the Abyss" and "Pina" in 2011 and "Carlos" and "The Princess of Montpensier" in 2010.  Those films featured directors who have had a history with Telluride.  All of which may mean that "Clouds" is a more likely prospect today than it has been up to now.

Here's the news about IFC for "The Salvation":

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-ifc-films-nabs-kristian-706178

Meanwhile, THR also reports that "Timbuktu" which was critically well received but shut out of the prizes at Cannes has been picked up by The Cohen Media Group.

This probably reduces chances of Telluride attendees seeing the film as I can find no mention of any film distributed by CMG that has played Telluride previously.  Too bad, as I had become a bit intrigued by the film after reading about it in the reports from Cannes.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-cohen-media-group-takes-706990


Finally...reiterating some reporting from earlier, Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the documentary "Salt of the Earth" as well as Cannes screenplay winner "Leviathan".  Most years I would tell you that that news would move both films right to the top of the Telluride "possibles" list (and it does make their presence at TFF #41 more likely) but SPC has such a large stable of films on their plate that parsing what makes the trip to the San Juans becomes a difficult task.  At present IMDb lists these titles as SPC properties (that have no set release date or a release date that would accommodate a T-ride screening);

"Salt of the Earth"
"Leviathan"
"Red Army"
"Jimmy's Hall"
"Foxcatcher"
"Wild Tales"
"Coming Home"
"Mr. Turner"
"Saint Laurent"
"Aloft"

SPC had five films at TFF #40: "Tim's Vermeer", "The Invisible Woman", "The Lunchbox", "Jodorowsky's Dune" and "The Past". Five films per year is roughly the SPC average at T-ride. Their TFF footprint is always substantial (check out their ten year track record from my June 24th post from last summer).  The challenge is which five of these ten films make the trip?

Here are the stories on the acquisitions of "Salt of the Earth" and "Leviathan":

http://variety.com/2014/film/festivals/sony-pictures-classics-buys-cannes-favorite-leviathan-exclusive-1201191129/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-sony-pictures-classics-acquires-707058


TRAILERS AND CLIPS FROM CANNES

I've put together a quick section of links to stories/posts and trailers that have been late releases at the end of the Cannes fest:

"Two Days, One Night" from Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/two-days-one-night-trailer-dardennes-marion-cotillard

"Winter Sleep" from The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-trailer-for-longest-cannes-contender-nuri-bilge-ceylans-winter-sleep-plus-5-minute-making-of-video-20140505

"Clouds of Sils Maria" from The Dissolve:

http://thedissolve.com/news/2321-olivier-assayas-cannes-competition-title-clouds-of/

Clips from "The Blue Room" also from The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/cannes-review-mathieu-amalric-directs-and-stars-in-elegant-but-airless-the-blue-room-20140526


ANOTHER CRITICAL TAKE ON CANNES

IndieWire published its critical takeaway from Cannes #67 this week.  You can find it here:

http://www.indiewire.com/survey/best-films-and-performances-from-cannes-2014/

A quick summary:  Their critic's panel chose "Two Days, One Night" as Best Film,   Anne Dorval as Best Lead Performance for "Mommy", Kristen Stewart for Best Supporting Performance for "Clouds of Sils Maria", Xavier Dolan for Best Director for "Mommy" and "Leviathan" for Best Screenplay.

TFF 42?

Michael Haneke via IMDb

And word the last couple of days that Michael Haneke has new film project planned to begin shooting this summer.  Should it come to pass, put it on your Telluride watch list for 2015 as Haneke films have made a number of appearances at the festival over the years including "White Ribbon " and "Amour".  The new film is entitled "Flashmob" and at least for the time being and sounds like an unlikely project for the auteur.

From The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/michael-hanekes-next-film-flashmob-reportedly-shoots-this-summer-20140527

More on Monday as I'll begin the six-posts-a -week schedule for MTFB as we move into the final three month  countdown to TFF #41.

Rust and Bone/Amour/Paperman/Oscar Take/Coming Attractions

Good Thursday Everyone...

RUST AND BONE

Jacques Audiard's film starring Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenearts is two weeks away from its U.S. open and has certainly kept Cotillard in the thick of the conversation for a Best Actress Oscar nomination.  Sony Pictures Classics is accelerating publicity for the film and I have posted some of this week's material for you.

Included is new video from The Playlist and Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/marion-cotillard-matthias-schoenaerts-talk-rust-and-bone-creating-characters-with-jaques-audiard-video-interview#.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-cotillard-the-whale-new-clip-from-rust-and-bone-20121105

AMOUR

Michael Haneke's "Amour" starring Jean Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva...both of whom are getting some Oscar mention as is Haneke and the film itself...is not set for U.S. release for another month, but SPC is keeping its promotional efforts underway.

The Hollywood Reporter logged this interview with Haneke this week:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/afm-2012-amour-director-michael-386893

And "Amour" has its own Facebook page as of this week here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amour/366356313450679


PAPERMAN

Among the highlights of the Annecy Animation presentation at this year's Telluride fest was Disney's "Paperman" which may be the frontrunner for Animated Short Oscar glory.  The film is now preceding the giant "Wreck It Ralph" in theaters and enchanting audiences across the country as it did in Colorado.

Serge Bromberg, who brought the annual animation presentation to TFF #39 told me that the Disney folks had let him have a sneak peak and that he had begged them to allow him to include it in the Telluride program...which is what happened.

Kris Tapley at InContention/HitFix takes a look at the possible Oscar favorite:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/disneys-paperman-an-early-favorite-for-the-best-animated-short-oscar


OSCAR TAKE

Movie City News has just posted (as of this morning) their latest Gurus of Gold Oscar forecast.  You can find that here:

http://moviecitynews.com/2012/11/gurus-o-gold-the-first-returns-are-in/


Brad Brevet has updated a number of his Oscar predictions.  Take a look at those from Rope of Silicon here:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/oscar-predictions-update-picture-director-actor-animated-and-more/


COMING ATTRACTIONS

TFF #38's Best Film may well have been Asghar Farhadi's Oscar winning "A Separation".  The Iranian film maker was well received at Telluride 14 months ago and rode that wave of good feeling to tremendous success.  I have to believe that he's very likely on the radar for future Telluride inclusion which leads to this week's "Coming Attraction" which is poetically currently titled "The Untitled Asghar Farhadi Project".  I suspect he'll come up with something better.

The film was originally set to star Marion Cotillard, but that changed due to scheduling conflicts and it is now said to have "The Artist" star Berenice Bejo in the role.

IMDb says it's filming and is planned for a 2013 release.

Limited information is available, but here's what I have, all from The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/marion-cotillard-to-star-in-asghar-farhadis-next-paris-set-feature-matthias-schoenaerts-lines-up-thriller-the-treatment-20120517

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-artist-star-berenice-bejo-replaces-marion-cotillard-in-a-separation-director-asghar-farhadis-next-film-20120823

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/tahar-rahim-to-star-opposite-marion-cotillard-in-a-separation-helmer-asghar-farhadis-upcoming-french-language-effort-20120521

Its IMDb entry is here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404461/


More on Monday.  Have a good weekend, everyone!

Follow me on Twitter @Gort.

"Like" Michael's Telluride Film Blog and The Film Awards Clearinghouse on Facebook.

FAC Update: Picture, Director/EFA's = Telluride/Amour and Royal/

Good Monday to Everybody!  Hope it was a good weekend.

The most hilarious tidbit I ran across this weekend was the news that John Cusack is putting together a biopic about Rush Limbaugh.  And, you know, I couldn't resist.  I have begun suggesting titles for the film via Twitter.  Look for the hashtag #rushlimbaughmovietitles.  No word yet from John Cusack's people if they like my suggestions...Here's one of them: "Life of (eating) Pie"...

FAC UPDATE: PICTURE/DIRECTOR

After last week's massive 10 category post to update the Film Awards Clearinghouse, I'm back to updating 2-3 categories per week.  I expect to drop another full view of the Big Ten categories sometime between Thanksgiving and the end of the year.


The FAC reviews the Oscar predictions of the following to arrive at its "predictions":

Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Scott Feinberg/The Feinberg Forecast-The Hollywood Reporter
Kristopher Tapley/InContention-HitFix
Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood-IndieWire
Peter Knegt/IndieWire
Brad Brevet/Rope of Silicon
Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit
Nathaniel Rogers/Film Experience
Alex Carlson/Film Misery

 As always the number in parenthesis to a title is its position vis-a-vis the last posting for that category on The FAC updates. Telluride #39 films are indicated in Bold. [ *** ='s HOT, ### ="s NOT].

BEST PICTURE

1) Argo (1)
2) Silver Linings Playbook (2)
3) Lincoln (3)
4) Life of Pi (4) (see above Rush Limbaugh biopic joke)
5) Les Miserables (5)
6) The Master (6)
7) Beasts of the Southern Wild (7)
8) Amour (8)
9) Hitchcock (9)
10) Flight (10)
11) Zero Dark Thirty (11)
12) Django Unchained (12)
13) Moonrise Kingdom (New-ish)***
14) The Sessions (13)
15) Promised Land (14)

Dropping out (again) Anna Karenina

Comments;

As you'd expect, a lot of stability as the prognosticators positions harden and a s there are fewer and fewer films that have yet to be seen (no changes in the 1 thru 12 spots).   "Moonrise" probably is getting a little kick from its DVD/VOD release last week (I finally saw it and thought it was terrific...very Wes Anderson-y...which I usually like).  Joe Wright's "Anna Karenina" is the film the suffers from that.

BEST DIRECTION

1) Ben Affleck/Argo (1)
2) Steven Spielberg/Lincoln (2)
3) Ang Lee/Life of Pi (3)
4) David O. Russell/Silver Linings Playbook (4)
5) Paul Thomas Anderson/The Master (5)
6) Tom Hooper/Les Miserables (6)
7) Michael Haneke/Amour (7)
8 ) Kathryn Bigelow/Zero Dark Thirty (8)
9) Benh Zeitlin/Beasts of the Southern Wild (9)
10) Sacha Gervasi/Hitchcock (10)

Comment: No changes at all here from last week.

Next week I'll update Picture and the Best Actress and Best Actor races.


EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS AND TELLURIDE

"Amour" director Michael Haneke

It isn't a secret that there is usually a good deal of European cinema represented from year to year at Telluride. Cannes titles sprout like weeds and there is also usually a decent representation from the Berlin Festival.  Those connections were forcefully underscored this last weekend with the announcement of nominations for the European Film Awards...Here's what I mean...

EFA Best Picture includes: "Amour", "Shame", "The Hunt" and "Barbara"..4 of 6 nominees have Telluride pedigrees...

Best Direction: Haneke/Amour, Vinterberg/The Hunt, McQueen/Shame (3 of 5)

Best Actor: Fassbender/Shame, Mikkelsen/The Hunt, Trintignant/Amour (3 of 5)

Best Actress: Hoss/Barbara, Riva/Amour, Tiesel/Paradise Love (3 of 5)

Screenwriter: "Amour" and "The Hunt" (2 of 5)

Cinematography: "Amour" and "Shame" (2 of 5)

Editor: "Shame" and "The Hunt" (2 of 3)

Production Design: "A Royal Affair" (1 of 3)

Composer: "A Royal Affair" (1 of 4)

Overall 21 Telluride nominations in these 9 categories out of 41 possible nominations.

The Hollywood Reporter posted this story about the EFA's this weekend:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/michael-hanekes-amour-steve-mcqueens-386205

The complete field of EFA nominees can be found here:
http://www.europeanfilmawards.eu/en_EN/nominations/films


AMOUR AND ROYAL

Interviews with "Amour" writer/director Michael Haneke with Gold Derby and Alicia Vikander of "A Royal Affair"  with David Poland of The Movie City News:

Haneke: http://www.goldderby.com/films/news/3542/michael-hanake-amour-entertainment-news-528174926.html

Vikander: http://moviecitynews.com/2012/10/dp30-alicia-vikander-actor-a-royal-affairanna-karenina/

And speaking of "A Royal Affair" (btw...met Mads Mikkelsen at The New Sheridan on the Saturday night of the festival...very quiet and unassuming...which was great.  He was flying under the radar, but when "Hannibal" starts airing on NBC with him as the title character, Hannibal Lecter himself, I suspect his days of U.S. anonymity are soon to be over), here's a post from The Hollywood Reporter with a clip from the film:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/a-royal-affair-sneak-peek-384862


OSCAR ANALYSIS

Both Film Experience and Deadline.com have posted Oscar analysis for where we are at this point in the season.  Check those out here:

Film Ex: http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2012/11/4/november-oscar-updates.html

Deadline: http://www.deadline.com/2012/11/awards-season-oscars-campaigns-toronto-telluride-sundance-cannes/

Kris Tapley and Anne Thompson's Oscar Talk podcast is here:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/oscar-talk-ep-94-disney-buys-lucasfilm-as-hitchcock-opens-afi-fest

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/oscar-talk
 
Sasha Stone and Erik Anderson have their Oscar Podcast up here:
http://www.awardsdaily.com/podcasts/oscarpodcast/episode6.mp3

Jeff Wells and Ed Douglas have their Oscar Poker up here:
http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2012/11/return_of_dougl.php

And here's the latest Feinberg Forecast of the Oscar race from THR analyst Scott Feinberg:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/afflecks-argo-spielbergs-lincoln-oscar-386198

More on Thursday...

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2.

"Like" Michael's Telluride Film blog/The Film Awards Clearinghouse on Facebook.

Cannes Out of the Gate/The Master Teases

Good Morning!

CANNES OUT OF THE GATE

The 65th edition of the Cannes Film Festival is off and running as it opened yesterday with the premiere of Wes Anderson's "Moonlight Kingdom" a film that is in the Cannes competition but will open long before Labor Day...

Among Cannes news that impacts films that have a shot at TFF #9:

Critic's got a preview of Jacques Audiard's "Rust and Bone" and some reviews from folks that we customarily cite are in and posted below.  Generally the early word from these friends of Telluride is positive to very positive.  Check them out.

The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/cannes-review-jacques-audiards-rust-bone-marion-cotillard-matthias-schoenaerts-20120517

Rope of Silicon:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/rust-and-bone-movie-review-2012-cannes-film-festival-2012/

Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/cannes-audiards-anti-romance-rust-bone-showcases-cotillard

MEANWHILE...

As it did last year, Ioncinema has created a critic's panel that they will collate for a collective reaction to the competition films that are playing in Cannes and, as I did last year, I will make sure to keep you posted and provide links so that we can all handicap the Palme D'Or chances of all 22 films.  Last year, this service was invaluable in highlighting films that became Telluride possibilities.  I expect that to be true again this year.  Take a look at this Ioncinema post that introduce this year's critic's panel:

http://www.ioncinema.com/news/live-from-cannes-2012-introducing-our-cannes-critics-panel

ALSO...

Admittedly, "Rust and Bone" is one film I am very, very interested in and which I believe has about a 75% chance (now) of playing Telluride.  Another Cannes #65 film I am stoked about is Michael Haneke's "Amour".  It has an English subtitled trailer out this week and I have linked it here from Rope of Silicon:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/cannes-2012-english-subtitled-trailer-for-michael-hanekes-amour/

THE MASTER TEASES

And finally, this year's Great White Whale of obsession (for me anyway), Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" has continued to titillate and tease.  This week a tweet from PTA himself to PTA fan site Cigarettes and Red Vines with a slice of film negative from the film;

http://cigsandredvines.blogspot.com/2012/05/exclusive-65mm-filmstrip-reveals-first.html?m=1

And also word from the same source that someone other than PTA has eyeballed at least some of the film and found it good:

http://cigsandredvines.blogspot.com/2012/05/pta-joins-robert-downey-sr-in.html

Man, Harvey Weinstein, Tom Luddy, Gary Meyer and Julie Huntsinger...let's get together on this and premiere this film in Telluride in September...

That is all.

More later...

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

Cannes Lineup in the Can (Mostly)/Another Notch for Amour/More Posters for the Road/The Paperboy/Old Hands on the Croisette

Good Morning!

CANNES IN THE CAN (MOSTLY)

The announcement of the lineup for the 65th Cannes Film Festival came early Thursday morning as promised and included a number of films that we had been anticipating, including a good number that have a reasonably good Telluride pedigree. 

Again, the most likely films from the Cannes list for TFF #39 at least at this point seem to be:

Amour
Rust and Bone
Reality
Beyond the Hills
On the Road
Cosmopolis

Of course, almost anything that plays Cannes has some potential to play at T-ride as long as it hasn't had its North American premiere prior to Labor Day. 

I'll be interested to see how the above list changes depending on the reaction the films receive as they play out next month in France and which films that aren't currently on my Telluride watch list emerge as a result of their reception.

One other note, the Cannes Fest is likely to add a few more films to their selection in the run-up to the Fest...most likely in the Un Certain Regard section.  So stay tuned.

ANOTHER NOTCH FOR AMOUR

I have had this Michael Haneke project on my Telluride radar for more than a year.  Haneke has had a presence in Telluride's festival before and that was enough for me to believe that it could easily be a part of TFF #39.  Within the last week that conviction has grown stronger with the announcement of its inclusion in the competition at Cannes and just as telling the pre-Cannes announcement that the film had been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics.  I'm telling you that unless it's just not very good (poorly received critically in Cannes) it will be on the program in Telluride come Labor Day.  The Ioncinema post linked below says to flat out expect it.

Here are links to this past week's SPC announcement from The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/sony-pictures-classics-picks-up-michael-hanekes-amour-20120417

Thompson on Hollywood:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/sony-pictures-classics-scoops-up-michael-hanekes-amour-before-cannes

and Ioncinema:
http://www.ioncinema.com/film-news/sony-pictures-classics-in-love-with-amour-haneke



MORE POSTERS FOR THE ROAD

Character posters have been doled out for Walter Salles "On the Road" for some time now, but Rope of Silicon has the latest couple and the earlier releases all in one place.  Check them here for a look at a film that has a reasonable chance of playing in Telluride:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/ten-posters-for-walter-salles-cannes-selection-on-the-road/


THE PAPERBOY

Publicity stills are out for the Lee Daniels follow up to his very successful Sundance film Precious (did I mention Oscar winning?).  Daniels film is in competition at Cannes.  I don't have a real sense that it has a high likelihood of making the program for Telluride...but you never know.  Take a look at Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey and Zac Efron via The Playlist.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/new-look-at-nicole-kidman-zac-efron-matthew-mcconaughey-in-lee-daniels-the-paperboy-20120422

OLD HANDS ON THE CROISETTE

And finally, The Hollywood Reporter has a photo essay about the Cannes veterans who are returning in some form or fashion for this year's 65th edition.  Check it here:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/cannes-film-festival-veterans-ready-314675


More later...

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2