Independent Spirit Nominations/Predictions for NBR, AFI and NYFCC/Gurus of Gold

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone and welcome to this truncated version of MTFB/FAC.  The FAC is taking the day off and will return with an updated assessment of the Oscar race next Thursday.  Have a lovely holiday everyone!

2015 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS

BEST FEATURE
(Award given to the producer. Executive producers are not awarded.)
“Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Producers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole
“Boyhood”
Producers: Richard Linklater, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, Cathleen Sutherland
“Love Is Strange”
Producers: Lucas Joaquin, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron Sherman, Jay Van Hoy
“Selma”
Producers: Christian Colson, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Oprah Winfrey
“Whiplash”
Producers: Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, David Lancaster, Michael Litvak

DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle
“Whiplash”
Ava DuVernay
“Selma”
Alejandro G. Iñárritu
“Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Richard Linklater
“Boyhood”
David Zellner
“Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter”

SCREENPLAY
Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski
“Big Eyes”
J.C. Chandor
“A Most Violent Year”
Dan Gilroy
“Nightcrawler”
Jim Jarmusch
“Only Lovers Left Alive”
Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias
“Love Is Strange”

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)
“A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night”
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Producers: Justin Begnaud, Sina Sayyah
“Dear White People”
Director-producer: Justin Simien
Producers: Effie T. Brown, Ann Le, Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez, Lena Waithe
“Nightcrawler”
Director: Dan Gilroy
Producers: Jennifer Fox, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak
“Obvious Child”
Director: Gillian Robespierre
Producer: Elisabeth Holm
“She’s Lost Control”
Director-producer: Anja Marquardt
Producers: Mollye Asher, Kiara C. Jones

FIRST SCREENPLAY
Desiree Akhavan
“Appropriate Behavior”
Sara Colangelo
“Little Accidents”
Justin Lader
“The One I Love”
Anja Marquardt
“She’s Lost Control”
Justin Simien
“Dear White People”

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive producers are not awarded.
“Blue Ruin”
Writer-director: Jeremy Saulnier
Producers: Richard Peete, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani
“It Felt Like Love”
Writer-director-producer: Eliza Hittman
Producers: Shrihari Sathe, Laura Wagner
“Land Ho!”
Writers-directors: Aaron Katz & Martha Stephens
Producers: Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy
“Man From Reno”
Writer-director: Dave Boyle
Writers: Joel Clark, Michael Lerman
Producer: Ko Mori
“Test”
Writer-director-producer: Chris Mason Johnson
Producer: Chris Martin

FEMALE LEAD
Marion Cotillard
“The Immigrant”
Rinko Kikuchi
“Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter”
Julianne Moore
“Still Alice”
Jenny Slate
“Obvious Child”
Tilda Swinton
“Only Lovers Left Alive”

MALE LEAD
André Benjamin
“Jimi: All Is by My Side”
Jake Gyllenhaal
“Nightcrawler”
Michael Keaton
“Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
John Lithgow
“Love Is Strange”
David Oyelowo
“Selma”

SUPPORTING FEMALE
Patricia Arquette
“Boyhood”
CIO, CTO & Developer Resources
Jessica Chastain
“A Most Violent Year”
Carmen Ejogo
“Selma”
Andrea Suarez Paz
“Stand Clear of the Closing Doors”
Emma Stone
“Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”

SUPPORTING MALE
Riz Ahmed
“Nightcrawler”
Ethan Hawke
Boyhood
Alfred Molina
“Love Is Strange”
Edward Norton
“Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
J.K. Simmons
Whiplash

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Darius Khondji
“The Immigrant”
Emmanuel Lubezki
“Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Sean Porter
“It Felt Like Love”
Lyle Vincent
“A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night”
Bradford Young
“Selma”

EDITING
Sandra Adair
“Boyhood”
Tom Cross
“Whiplash”
John Gilroy
“Nightcrawler”
Ron Patane
“A Most Violent Year”
Adam Wingard
“The Guest”

DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
“20,000 Days on Earth”
Directors: Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard
Producers: Dan Bowen, James Wilson
“CitizenFour”
Director-producer: Laura Poitras
Producers: Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky
“Stray Dog”
Director: Debra Granik
Producer: Anne Rosellini
“The Salt of the Earth”
Directors: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and Wim Wenders
Producer: David Rosier
“Virunga”
Director-producer: Orlando von Einsiedel
Producer: Joanna Natasegara

INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
“Force Majeure”
(Sweden)
Director: Ruben Östlund
“Ida”
(Poland)
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
“Leviathan
(Russia)
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Mommy
(Canada)
Director: Xavier Dolan
Norte, the End of History
(Philippines)
Director: Lav Diaz
Under the Skin
(United Kingdom)
Director: Jonathan Glazer

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – (Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)
Inherent Vice
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Casting Director: Cassandra Kulukundis
Ensemble Cast: Josh Brolin, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short Serena Scott Thomas, Benicio Del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Michael Kenneth Williams, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon

SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD
Foxcatcher
Director/Producer: Bennett Miller
Producers: Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik
Writers: E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman
Actors: Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum

18th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 18th annual Producers Award, sponsored by Piaget, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.
Chad Burris
Elisabeth Holm
Chris Ohlson

21st ANNUAL KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 21st annual Someone to Watch Award, sponsored by Kiehl’s Since 1851, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851.
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
H.
Directors: Rania Attieh & Daniel Garcia
The Retrieval
Director: Chris Eska

20th ANNUAL LENSCRAFTERS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 20th annual Truer Than Fiction Award, sponsored by LensCrafters is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by LensCrafters.
Approaching the Elephant
Director: Amanda Rose Wilder
Evolution of a Criminal
Director: Darius Clark Monroe
The Kill Team
Director: Dan Krauss
The Last Season
Director: Sara Dosa

A big day for TFF #41 film "Birdman" which led all films with six nominations.  The Hollywood Reporter breaks down the nominations here:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/independent-spirit-awards-good-news-752291

PREDICTIONS FOR NBR, AFI AND NYFCC

Awards Daily's Sasha Stone takes a look at the first wave of year-end superlatives list of films from The National Board of Review, American Film Institute and the New York Film Critics that will be announced in the next few days and makes some predictions about what we might see when those are announced:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2014/11/predicting-afi-producers-guild

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2014/11/predicting-new-york-film-critics-national-board-of-review-and-los-angeles-film-critics/

GURUS OF GOLD

Here's the latest update from The Movie City News Gurus of Gold  predictions for Best Picture:

http://moviecitynews.com/2014/11/gurus-o-gold-thanksgiving-week/

Have a great weekend everyone...more on Monday!

The Film Awards Clearinghouse Vol. 3C: Foreign, Doc, Editing and Cinematography/"Birdman's" Beat/"Rosewater's" Tone/BIFA Loves " '71" and Others

Welcome to Thursday everyone...

THE FILM AWARDS CLEARINGHOUSE VOL. 3C

I thought I'd use the FAC this week to drop in on four Oscar races outside the Big Eight and see what's going on in them.  I'll return next Thursday with The FAC for Best Picture, Director, Actress and Actor.

The FAC uses the published predictions of the following (for these four categories) to develop its list of likely Oscar nominees:

Kristopher Tapley/InContention/HitFix
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Nathaniel Rogers/Film Experience
Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood
Peter Knegt/IndieWire
Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter

Telluride #41 films are Bold.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1) Citizenfour
2) Life Itself
3) Red Army
4) Keep On Keepin' On
5) The Overnighters
6) The Case Against 8
7) Salt of the Earth
8) Tales of the Grim Sleeper
9) Last Days in Vietnam
10) Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me


Comment: Telluride #41 boasts 2 possible nominees with another couple of possibles.  At this point, "Citizenfour" looks like the only lock.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

1) Ida*
2) Leviathan
3) Two Days, One Night
4) Mommy
5) Wild Tales
6) Winter Sleep
7) Force Majeure
8) Timbuktu
9) White God
10) Gett: The Trail of Viviane Amsalem

Comments:  The dream of an all Telluride slate of nominees in an Oscar category could happen this year in the Foreign Language category albeit with an asterisk for "Ida" which actually played Telluride #40.  Realistically, I believe it's unlikely that the current top five end up as the five nominees announced in February and looking at the numbers that I crunched, none of these five would be termed locks at this point.


FILM EDITING

1) The Imitation Game
2) Birdman
3) Boyhood
4) Interstellar
5) Gone Girl
6) Unbroken
7) Whiplash
8) Fury
9) American Sniper
10) Foxcatcher


Comment:  It says something that "The Imitation Game" sits at the top of the list.  Much has been over the past several years about the connection between Best Picture winners and a film editing nomination.  It happens a lot.  It happened last year with "12 Years a Slave".  The notion isn't that a film has to win editing to win Best Picture, but it almost always has to have a nomination.  The same could be said about the appearance of Richard Linklater's "Boyhood's" #3 spot on this first chart for Editing.

You wouldn't be surprised at the nomination of such "flashy" editing as "Birdman" or "Interstellar" so the pundits' inclusion of "Imitation" at the top makes you think that it's Best Picture chances are rather good.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) Birdman
2) Interstellar
3) Mr. Turner
4) Unbroken
5) The Theory of Everything
6) Gone Girl
7) Inherent Vice
8) The Imitation Game
9) The Grand Budapest Hotel
10) Wild

Comments:  Every film through the #8 Spot looks like a potential nominee.  "Birdman" is a lock.

Ultimately, in these four categories, Telluride #41 films (if The FAC is 100% accurate) would have 10 nominations plus another nomination for a TFF #40 film and an additional 5 possibilities.

In all, looking at the totality of Volume 3 FAC for the dozen categories suggests the following:

"Birdman" nominated for Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Film Editing and Cinematography. (Nominations in 8 of the 9 categories it could be nominated in...and realistically, there isn't a Lead Actress candidate in the film).

"The Imitation Game" nominated for Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actress and Film Editing with a possibility of a nomination for Cinematography.

"Foxcatcher" nominated for Best Picture, Actor and Supporting Actor with possibilities for Original Screenplay, Director and Film Editing.

"Mr. Turner nominated for Best Actor, Original Screenplay and Cinematography with a possibility for Best Director.

"Wild" nominated for Best Actress, Supporting Actress and Adapted Screenplay with possibilities for Best Picture and Cinematography.

Additional films with possibilities include "Rosewater" for Best Adapted Screenplay, The Homesman foe Best Actress and "Wild Tales" for Best Original Screenplay.

Totals for these ten categories plus Documentary Feature and Foreign Films have 29 nominations for TFF #41 films with an additional 12 possible nominations.  Of course, still not included are the remaining feature film categories.


BIRDMAN'S BEAT

One of the many distinctive qualities about Alejandro G. Inarritu's masterpiece, "Birdman", is the jazz percussion score.  Now, frankly, it is the one element of the film that I'm not crazy about but I also can't deny that it's propulsive and unique.  Matt Patches writing for HitFix posted an interview with Antonio Sanchez, the man behind the sounds.  That interview is here:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/how-alejandro-inarritu-directed-drummer-antonio-sanchezs-birdman-score


ROSEWATER'S TONE

Jon Stewart may well have a shot at an Oscar nomination for his adaptation of Maziar Bahari's book, "Then They Came for Me".  "Rosewater" had some champions critically coming out of Telluride but also some detractors (put me in the second camp...I thought it was a noble experiment that failed to connect and included too many warring impulses).

This week Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood posted interviews and Telluride panels that included Stewart and actor Gael Garcia Bernal as the film moves to theaters next week.  Here's that collection of material from Anne:


http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/watch-rosewaters-jon-stewart-and-gael-garcia-bernal-talk-purposeful-inauthenticity-exclusive-20140903


BIFA LOVES " '71" AND OTHERS

Nominations were announced this week for the British Independent Film Awards and a number of Telluride #41 films made the cut.  Best Indie Film nominations included " '71", "The Imitation Game" and "Mr, Turner".  As a matter of fact " '71" lead the pack with nine total BIFA nominations.  "Mr. Turner" was nominated for five BIFA's and "Imitation" was nominated for four.

The Playlist has the complete breakdown of the BIFA nominees here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/71-starring-jack-oconnell-leads-the-17th-british-independent-film-awards-nominees-20141103



More on Monday...hope your weekend is terrific!

The Foreign Candidates/"Birdman" Items/Imitation" UK Trailer/As "Rudderless" Gets Closer/Latest Feinberg Forecast (with bonus "American Sniper" trailer)

Welcome to Monday...


THE FOREIGN CANDIDATES

Argentina's entry and TFF fave "Wild Tales"

The deadline has come and gone for nations to nominate films for Academy Award consideration for Best Foreign Language Film.  HitFix/InContention reports that there are 70+ entrants for the 2014 competition and they list their ten most likely nominees in order plus a list of all the films nominated by their home countries for the Oscar.  Among the top ten contenders according to them are:

"Ida" from TFF #40 as well as,  "Leviathan",  "Wild Tales", "Mommy" and "Two Days, One Night" from TFF #41.

The complete listing and story are here:

http://www.hitfix.com/contenders/best-foreign-language-film


"BIRDMAN" ITEMS

Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood recently posted an interview with Antonio Sanchez, the man behind the percussive score for Alejandro Inarritu's "Birdman".  Check that out here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/watch-how-birdman-composer-antonio-sanchez-drummed-the-score-20141003

For those who didn't catch "Birdman" at the fest thus year, or even those who did, Yahoo Movies posted an exclusive clip fro m the film this weekend ahead of it's presentation as the closing night film for the New York Film Festival which concludes this coming weekend.  That's here:

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/given-hes-been-in-a-public-eye-for-three-decades-98980521627.html


"IMITATION" UK TRAILER

The British trailer for Morten Tyldum's very,very good and likely Oscar Best Picture nominee, "The Imitation Game" appeared at the end of the week.  If you follow this blog then you know that the film was the top selection among those responding to my "People's Telluride" poll of films.  Take a look at the story and the U.K. trailer form The Playlist here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-new-uk-trailer-for-the-imitation-game-starring-benedict-cumberbatch-keira-knightley-20141002


AS "RUDDERLESS" GETS CLOSER

"Rudderless" is just days away from release (Oct. 17th) and The Wall Street Journal has a nice interview with the film's lead, Billy Crudup.  Here's your link to that:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/billy-crudup-is-still-almost-famous-1412355022?google_editors_picks=true


LATEST FEINBERG FORECAST

The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg has updated his weekly Feinberg Forecast for this year's Oscar competition.  Looks like Scott really has been impressed with the "American Sniper" trailer as it makes a solid jump up.  Check the latest Forecast as well as that trailer below.

"American Sniper" trailer vie YouTube

The latest Feinberg Forecast:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/feinberg-forecast-updated-projections-as-738173

More on Thursday...

The FAC: Major Categories Part 1-A/New Looks at.../Foreign Affairs

Good Monday everyone...

THE FAC: MAJOR CATEGORIES PART 1-A

Last week, The Film Awards Clearinghouse laid out the first look at potential Oscar nominees from four major categories: Best Picture, Direction, Actress and Actor.  Today we'll add to that with the FAC analysis for the remaining four major categories: Best Supporting Actress and Actor as well as Best Adapted and Original Screenplay.

As always, The FAC uses the published predictions of the following to develop its list of likely Oscar nominees:

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

Telluride #41 films are Bold.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Patricia Arquette/Boyhood
2) Kiera Knightley/The Imitation Game
3) Laura Dern/Wild
4) Emma Stone/Birdman
5) Emily Blunt/Into the Woods
6) Katherine Waterston/Inherent Vice
7) Jessica Chastain/Interstellar
8) Jessica Chastain/A Most Violent Year
9) Carmen Ejogo/Selma
10) Anna Kendrick/Into the Woods

Comment:  Arquette seems to already be lock in the category.  The Telluride women: Knightley, Dern and Stone all appear to be in good shape but none of them cinches for a nomination yet.  There are a lot of women with a good shot to be one of the five nominees.  Another note, distributor A24 confirmed last week that J.C. Chandor's "A Most Violent Year" will open on Dec. 31 qualifying it for Oscar consideration for this year.  The buzz has been, however, that they will campaign Jessica Chastain in the lead category for that film.  Chastain has a slew of awards potential in both categories this year and the person that might benefit the most from this move might be...Jessica Chastain in Interstellar.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) J.K Simmons/Whiplash
2) Edward Norton/Birdman
3) Mark Ruffalo/Foxcatcher
4) Ethan Hawke/Boyhood
5) Josh Brolin/Inherent Vice
6) Logan Lehrman/Fury
7) Tom Wilkinson/Selma
8) Robert Duvall/The Judge
9) Channing Tatum/Foxcatcher
10) Domhnall Gleeson/Unbroken


Comment:

Both Simmons and Norton seem to be in good shape and very, very close.  Ruffalo is looking good but not assured.  After that, it's a free-for-all the rest of the way down the list (and we probably shouldn't rule out Tim Roth/Selma who sits just outside the list at #11).


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Unbroken
2) The Imitation Game
3) The Theory of Everything
4) American Sniper
5) Inherent Vice
6) Gone Girl
7) Into the Woods
8) Wild
9) Men. Women and Children
10) The Fault in Our Stars

Comment:

At this early point it appears that the five nominations will come from among the top six listed here.  The drop off between "Gone Girl" and "Into the Woods" is remarkably large in The FAC metric.  Also, none of the top six appear to be locks either.  Could be a fun category to track for the next few months.


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Birdman
2) Boyhood
3) Foxcatcher
4) The Grand Budapest Hotel
5) Mr. Turner
6) Interstellar
7) A Most Violent Year
8) Fury
9) Selma
10) Whiplash


Comment:

I was a little surprised to see "Birdman"sitting at the top of the list.  I had assumed that it would be "Boyhood".  Still, both of those films look solid for a nomination here.  "Foxcatcher" is in good shape and then after that it could be any of the remaining seven scripts in the top ten that end up with one of the last two nominations.


From these four categories, if The FAC is 100% accurate, TFF #41 films would grab nine nominations with an additional two possibilities.  Add that to the first FAC from last week that focused on the four major categories in which TFF #41 films are projected to have eleven nominations with another three possible.  Totals: 20 nominations in the Big Eight categories with another five in play.  Add to that the potential for "under the line" nominations and Foreign Language and Documentary possibilities and it appears that 2014 could well be another outstanding year for Telluride films come Oscar time.


Here's the breakdown of the 20 "nominations" and five possibles by film:

"Birdman" Noms: Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay.  Total: Six nominations.

"The Imitation Game" "Noms": Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay.  Total: Four nominations and another possible for Best Direction.

"Foxcatcher" Noms: Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay.  Total: Five nominations. Another possible nomination for Best Supporting Actor

"Wild" Noms: Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress and another possible for Best Adapted Screenplay.

"Mr. Turner": Noms for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture if the category goes nine deep as it has the last two years. Also a possible for Best Direction.

"The Homesman": Possible nomination for Best Actress.



NEW LOOKS AT....

Clips from "Birdman".  Set for release on Oct. 17th, the P.R. machine is rumbling to life from Fix Searchlight.  As a part of that we have a clip from the film.  I have linked to the Rope of Silicon site which has the clip:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/watch-first-clip-birdman-featuring-emma-stone-michael-keaton/

Clips from " '71"... From The Playlist, two clips from the Yann Demange directed film starring Jack O'Connell.  The film finished at #5 on MTFB's combined ratings.  The People had it at #6 while The Pros had it at #3.  Check the clips here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/xavier-dolans-mommy-selected-as-canadas-official-oscar-entry-20140919

And, a new poster for Morten Tyldum's "The Imitation Game" starring Benedict Cumberbatch.   The People's #1 film for TFF #41.

Accompanying the poster release, here's a brief story from Anne Thompson:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/benedict-cumberbatch-cracks-code-in-new-imitation-game-poster-20140918

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

A couple of announcements about intentions for Foreign Language Oscar submissions.  Belgium will put forth The Dardennes Brothers' "Two Days, One Night" and Canada has chosen Xavier Dolan's "Mommy" both of which played at Telluride this year.  Stories about the selections are linked below:

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/marion-cotillard-starrer-two-days-one-night-to-represent-belgium-in-foreign-language-oscar-campaign-1201309209/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscars-canada-picks-mommy-foreign-734318

More on Thursday...

Ten Bets #10/Dardennes' "Two Days" Has a Day/Mr. Burns in Town/Poland Calls on "Ida"

It's Friday in some parts of the World...and Telluride is one week away.


TEN BETS #9

Last week's "Ten Bets" was actually 15...here that list is:

15) The Homesman
14) Life May Be
13) Merchants of Doubt
12) 99 Homes
11) Red Army
10) Two Days, One Night
9) The Look of Silence
8) Rosewater
7) Wild Tales
6) Leviathan
5) Wild
4) The Imitation Game
3) Birdman
2) Mr. Turner
1) Foxcatcher

This week...the "Ten Bets" look like this:

15) Mommy
14) '71
13) 99 Homes
12) Red Army
11) Merchants of Doubt
10) The Look of Silence
9) Leviathan
8) Two Days, One Night
7) Rosewater
6) Wild Tales
5) Foxcatcher
4) Wild
3) The Imitation Game
2) Birdman
1) Mr. Turner


DARDENNE'S "TWO DAYS" HAS A DAY

We found out yesterday that "Two Days, One Night", from the Dardennes brothers and starring Marion Cotillard as a shift worker striving to keep her job has an announced U.S. release date.  Alex Billington at FirstShowing.net tweeted that the film will be released on Dec. 24.  That tweet linked to the story of the release by Artificial Eye of the UK Trailer for the film. Here's your path to the FirstShowing post:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2014/marion-cotillard-in-uk-trailer-for-dardenne-bros-two-days-one-night/


MR. BURNS IN TOWN

Documentarian and Telluride regular Ken Burns has made plans to start off the week of Film Fest in fine fashion with a meet up Sunday, Aug. 24th and a presentation of a portion of his multi-part doc "The War". That'll happen at The Palm Theater from 6:00-9:00 pm.  I've included a couple of stories with information about the evening:

http://www.tellurideinside.com/2014/08/telluride-museum-an-evening-with-ken-burns.html

http://www.telluridemuseum.org/event/an-evening-with-ken-burns/

Meanwhile, PBS is promoting Burns' latest project "The Roosevelts" which will soon appear there.  I suspect some portions of it will also appear in Telluride next week.  Here's the PBS/Roosevelt link:

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-roosevelts/map/


POLAND CALLS ON "IDA'

"Ida" photo via The Hollywood Reporter

Another TFF #40 film will be offered in competition for The Academy Awards Foreign Language Film Oscar.  Poland announced yesterday that "Ida" which made a splash at the fest last year will be its entry in the Oscar contest.  The Hollywood Reporter had that news:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nun-drama-ida-is-polands-726199


More on Saturday...

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

"Rudderless" Ever Closer/Toronto's Not as Big/Best of the Week: Ten Bets #7; Looks at: Rosewater, Big Eyes, She's Funny That Way, 99 Homes; Who Gets a Tribute? Tapley Muses; Maybe Mommy

Hello Saturday...

"RUDDERLESS" EVER CLOSER

"Rudderless" poster via IMDb

You know, if you've been reading this blog over time, that I have been following the development of William H. Macy's directorial debut "Rudderless" since before Macy was attached to the project.  That obsession continues.  It was rewarded yesterday as Macy tweeted that the film (which will be released on Oct. 17) had an official poster and that the trailer would be dropping next week.  Producers Unified Pictures also promised in their own tweet that there are other "fun surprises" in store.  Very exciting.

As you can see above, I have included the poster and will let all know when the trailer drops next week.

TORONTO'S NOT AS BIG THIS YEAR

Toronto will announce a number of additional Galas and Special Presentations on Tuesday and earlier this week I had written that we could expect 7 Galas and another 20-30 Special Presentations to be announced.

Yesterday, "Rich" reminded me via comment to the blog that Toronto has said that those sections will not be as large this year.  After the comment showed up, I remembered that I had read that in couple of places along the way this summer.  "Rich" says TIFF will top out at 18 Galas (so five more) and fewer Special Presentations.

Good to know...makes Tuesday's upcoming announcement even more interesting.


BEST OF THE WEEK

TEN (PLUS) BETS #7

We're down to three weeks and counting until we lift off the 41st Telluride Film Festival.and the anticipation is growing.  Each day I'm scouring the interweb and looking/listening for sources to come forward to dig out the best guess at what the lineup will be.  We should add more clarity on Tuesday as Toronto is scheduled announce another raft of films including, I believe, their additional Galas and Special Presentations.  If past trends hold we can expect another seven Galas and anywhere from 20-30 more Special Presentations.  That info should give us even more insight into Telluride's unannounced lineup.

At any rate, here's last week's "Ten Bets plus Two"

12) Red Army

11) The Look of Silence

10) Two Days, One Night

9) Leviathan

8) Rosewater

7) Wild Tales

6) Wild

5) The Imitation Game

4) Queen of the Desert

3) Mr. Turner

2) Foxcatcher

1) Birdman

And now THIS WEEK"S TEN (PLUS) BETS

15) 99 Homes

14) Life May Be

13) The Homesman

12) Two Days, One Night

11) Red Army

10) The Look of Silence

9) Wild Tales

8) Rosewater

7) Leviathan

6) Queen of the Desert

5) Wild

4) The Imitation Game

3) Birdman

2) Mr. Turner

1) Foxcatcher

Simmering just under these Ten (Plus) Bets:

Serge Bromberg's "Retour de Flamme/Brinton Documentary ( http://nitratediva.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/retour-de-flamme/ )

Ken Burn's "The Roosevelts"

"She's Funny That Way"

"One Day Since Yesterday" 

"The Price of Fame" 

"Winter Sleep"

"Whiplash"

"Mommy"

"Merchants of Doubt"***

"Clouds of Sils Maria"
"The Wonders"

"The Blue Room"

"Bird People"

"Juaja"

***Sony Pictures Classics just announced late yesterday that they were partnering with Participant Media for the release of "Merchants of Doubt".  That is almost enough to lift it to the #16 spot for this week's "Ten (Plus) Bets".  I've included links to a number of reports about the partnership including the first from Screen Daily which claims it IS headed to Telluride:

http://www.screendaily.com/news/distribution/spc-acquires-merchants-of-doubt/5076042.article

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/merchants-of-doubt-documentary-gets-distribution-from-sony-classics-1201277476/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/robert-kenners-doc-merchants-doubt-723991

http://www.indiewire.com/article/sony-pictures-classics-acquires-conspiracy-documentary-merchants-of-doubt-20140807

The jury is still out, but I'd like them to show up:

"Slow West"

"Suffragette"

"A Most Violent Year"
"Kill the Messenger"

Big 'uns that have no announced film fest as yet (and maybe won't at all):

"Fury"

"Unbroken"

"Big Eyes"

"Interstellar"

"Exodus: Gods and Kings"



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/

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/

A LOOK AT WHAT WAS "SQUIRREL"

Jennifer Aniston and Peter Bogdanovich via The Playlist

Last week Venice Film Fest officials said that they knew that they had five films scheduled that would roll on to Telluride.  One of those could be Peter Bogdanovich's "She's Funny That Way" which for a good long while was titled "Squirrels to the Nuts".  The comedy stars Owen Wilson, Imogen Poots, Jennifer Aniston and more.  Bogdo has often been a part of past Telluride fests and it wouldn't surprise me greatly if this was included on the program this year.

The Playlist dropped a number of photos of the film late yesterday one of which is posted above.

Check the story and the other photos:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/venice-first-look-owen-wilson-imogen-poots-jennifer-aniston-in-peter-bogdanovichs-shes-funny-that-way-20140804


EW LOOKS AT "99 HOMES"

"99 Homes" with Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon via Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly was up yesterday with a first photo from Ramin Bahrani's "99 Homes" as you can see above.  The film is scheduled to play the Venice fest in competition and I think, given its premiere status vis-a-vis Toronto that it's very likely to play Telluride as well.  Bahrani was at T-ride in 2012 with "At Any Price" with star Dennis Quaid in attendance as well.  "at Any Price" didn't exactly set the world on fire scoring a 60 rating at Metacritic and earning a reported $379,000 domestically.

"99 Homes" focuses on the U.S. housing crisis as Garfield plays a man who gets in over his head and ends up working with Michael Shannon who plays an unscrupulous realtor.

Stories are included here from Entertainment Weekly and The Playlist:

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/08/05/andrew-garfield-michael-shannon-99-homes/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/venice-first-look-michael-shannon-andrew-garfield-in-ramin-bahranis-99-homes-20140805


Couple of stray thoughts: "Spiderman vs. General Zod".

And one wonders if Garfield, who attended the fest 2010 with "Never Let Me Go" might return and if he does, if it's possible that his current significant other, Ms. Emma Stone, might be there as well as she's co-starring in Alejandro Inarritu's "Birdman".

WHO GETS A TRIBUTE?

I was noodling around the rising suspicion that Tommy Lee Jones "The Homesman" will be screened in just over three weeks in Telluride and as I was doing that, it struck me that a TLJ tribute in coordination with that film.  I can see it pretty clearly.  Maybe co-star and two time Oscar winner Hilary Swank attends as well. Makes a lot of sense to me.

And that got me to thinking seriously about other tribute possibilities.

Pete Hammond suggested a couple of weeks ago that Telluride might be dangling the tribute carrot in front of Chris Nolan in a play to get "Interstellar" on board.  I've never thought it was a big likelihood and recent buzz is that no fest may have the film on its lineup.

I have suggested Nicole Kidman as a tribute possible in conjunction with the almost certain play of "Queen of the Desert".

I have also mentioned a Juliette Binoche tribute should Olivier Assasyas "Clouds of Sils Maria" be a T-ride selection.

Some weeks back, I mentioned a Michael Keaton tribute as a possibility with the screening of "Birdman", although that does seem a little far fetched.

How about Tim Burton if Telluride gets "Big Eyes"...yeah. that would make some sense.

MAYBE IT'S BOGDO...

Earlier this week I speculated about who might get a tribute this year.  I mentioned Tommy Lee Jones, Juliette Binoche...others.  One name I should have included, but didn't, is Peter Bogdanovich.  Bogdo was a TFF Guest Director in 1998 and attended with frequency through 2006 but hasn't (to my knowledge) been back since.

This year he has a Venice competition film: "She's Funny That Way" which could make the Telluride lineup but he's also the focus of a documentary that is playing Venice as well: Bill Teck's "One Day Since Yesterday: Peter Bogdanovich and the Lost American Film".

I can see that being part of a Bogdo tribute in three weeks.

That would also mean that this doc is one f the "Venice Five" (Venice director Alberto Barbera is on record as having said that five films will play Venice and Telluride).

I've included a link to a story about the Venice goings-on here from Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/two-auteur-docs-play-venice-classics-on-bogdanovich-and-penn-20140806


MAYBE IT'S REESE

And in the same vein as Bogdo above, another good possibility for a tribute (as was pointed to me yesterday in a comment from "Anonymous" here on the blog) is Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon.  We're about 98% certain that her new film "Wild" is going to be seen for the first time at Telluride.  We know that she won her Oscar for 2005's "Walk the Line" which started her run to the win at TFF.

And don't discount the connection to Alexander Payne.  Payne directed her in what was a big breakout for them both in "Election" in 1999.

So, yes indeed, boys and girls...Reese Witherspoon is definitely a TFF tribute candidate.

TAPLEY MUSES

"Fury" trailer via YouTube

HitFix/InContention's Kristopher Tapley posted a fairly extensive look at the awards season last night that also included his thoughts about what is/might be/is unlikely to be Telluride bound.  As you might expect, he comes to a number of the same conclusions that you've already read here.

He does mention a few things that are of specific interest...some intriguing...some a little disappointing.  Tapley suggests that David Ayer's "Fury" might have a reasonable shot at playing T-ride but that Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken" is unlikely/unprepared for fests.

Tapley mentions a couple of films that I haven't had on my Telluride radar at all.  Tom McCarthy's Adam Sandler starer "The Cobbler" and William Monahan's "Mojave" starring Mark Wahlberg.  Additionally, he suggests a Telluride screening of "Whiplash" as he includes it on a list of Sony Pictures Classics "possibles/probables".

Tapley also says that J.C. Chandor is still editing "A Most Violent Year" which doesn't mean that the film is completely off the Telluride table...but it sure isn't encouraging.

Check the entire story here:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/off-the-carpet-will-it-be-brad-pitt-vs-angelina-jolie-this-oscar-season

ANOTHER TORONTO ANNOUNCEMENT-MAYBE "MOMMY"

The Toronto International Film Festival announced a slew of Canadian titles yesterday that have been added across many of the different sections that the fest features.  There was a film here and there that piqued my interest in terms of Telluride potential but none to the point that I'm ready to declare any of the films announced yesterday as Telluride likely.

Take a look at the new films announced here via Indie Wire:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/toronto-international-film-festival-reveals-slate-of-canadian-features-and-short-films-20140806

The Playlist looked at the same list yesterday and they claim that Xavier Dolan's "Mommy" (which played well at Cannes in May and is being distributed in the U.S. by Roadside attractions) by being a "Toronto" premiere "suggests that it'll be going to Telluride to make its North American debut".

The Playlist post is here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/xavier-dolans-mommy-leads-canadian-line-up-of-new-tiff-2014-announcements-20140806

So, "Mommy" is a maybe.

That's it for today...more on Monday...have a great weekend!

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