Ten Bets #3/Le French Finale/Hope You Have Your Ticket/Sciretta's Reasons

Good Friday Everyone...

TEN BETS #3

Here's your weekly look at what I think are the ten most likely films to play at this year's Telluride Film Festival beginning with a look at last weeks' Ten Bets:

1) Nebraska
2) The Invisible Woman
3) The Past
4) The Unknown Known
5) A Story of Children and Film
6) Daughter of the Dawn
7) The Immigrant
8) Aguirre: The Wrath of God
9) Labor Day
10) The Selfish Giant

This weeks' Ten Bets are:

1) Nebraska
2) The Invisible Woman
3) The Story of Children and Film
4) The Past
5) The Unknown Known
6) Daughter of the Dawn
7) Aguirre: The Wrath of God
8) The Immigrant
9) Labor Day
10) The Lunchbox

The rotating tenth spot goes this week to a Sony Pictures Classic film.  Other films floating just below these Ten Bets are:

The Selfish Giant, Like Father Like Son, Life Itself, Only Lovers Left Alive, Blue is the Warmest Color, Young and Beautiful, 12 Years a Slave, Philomena, Heli and Quai d'Orsay.


LE FRENCH FINALE

A look at our final couple of French production companies that have had some Telluride connection in the past as I try to divine what they might have in store for us over Labor Day weekend.

CINE+ (CINECINEMA)...one and the same...

CineCinema changed over to Cine+ within the last two years or so but it's all the same.  This production company has often been represented at Telluride over the last few years:

2005: Lemming, Live and Become
2006: The Page Turner, Indigenes
2007: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
2008: With a Little Help from Myself
2009: Farewell, Coco Before Chanel, A Prophet, Inferno
2010: The Illusionist, The Princess of Montpensier, Of Gods and Men
2011: Goodbye First Love, The Kid with a Bike, Le Havre, The Artist
2012: Rust and Bone, Superstar, The Attack, Amour

Over eight years Cine+(CineCinema) has participated in 21 TFF films, an average of 2-3 per year but trending toward four in three of the last four years.  What do they have in the wings that could play this year?

"Blue is the Warmest Color", "Mood Indigo", "The Past", "Les Saluds", and "The Great Beauty" seem to be the most likely suspects.  Of the five I think "The Past" is the most likely followed by "Blue", "Great Beauty" then "Les Saluds" and "Mood Indigo".


ARTE FRANCE CINEMA

Another Franco production outfit that has had persistent presence in Telluride is arte France Cinema.  Their track record looks like this:

2003: Dogville
2004: The Weeping Meadow
2005: The Child, Cache, Paradise Now
2006: Day Night Day Night
2008: O'Horten
2011: Le Havre, Goodbye First Love

You can see that arte France Cinema has had a spotty history at T-ride but they do have their hand in four possible Telluride players for this year:

"Michael Kohlhaas"
"Bastards/Les Saluds"
"Camille Claudell: 1915"
"My Sweet Pepper Land"

I'd put all of these at 25% to show at The SHOW.

HOPE YOU HAVE YOUR TICKET

Word arrived from the SHOW last night that the tickets (passes) are SOLD OUT.  All of them.  Cinephile, Acme, Festival and Patron level.  The press release does say that Sponsor packages are still available.  It seems to me that the excitement about the 40th rendition has spurred attendance.

Here's the link to the press release:

http://telluridefilmfestival.org/news/2013-07

SCIRETTA'S REASONS

SlashFilms Peter Sciretta posted "Four Reasons I attend The Telluride Film Festival last year just prior to TFF#39.  This week someone re-tweeted the link to it and it seemed like a cool article to re-visit:

http://www.slashfilm.com/four-reasons-i-attend-the-telluride-film-festival-telluride-blog/


Follow/Like Michael's Telluride film Blog on Facebook.

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

More tomorrow...

More French Producers (Part Deux)/Considering Heli

God Thursday to Everyone.

MORE FRENCH PRODUCERS (PART DEUX)

Today I continue looking at French production houses that have been Telluride players in the recent past and also look at those films that they have been a part of that could make the upcoming list of TFF #40 films.

FRANCE2 CINEMA

Here are the films from France2 Cinema that have played Telluride in recent years:

2006: Indigenes
2009: A Prophet, Coco Before Chanel
2010: The Princess of Montpensier
2011: The Kid with a Bike
2012: Rust and Bone

As you can see, France2 has been a modest player and really only in the last four years.  Still, France2 has three films with some Telluride potential: "Blue is the Warmest Color", "Mood Indigo" and "The Great Beauty".

"Blue" has the best chance of playing T-ride.

FRANCE3 CINEMA

France3 has had a larger profile than France2 at Telluride over the past few years:

2003: Dogville, The Tripletts of Belleville
2004:
2005: Lemming, Live and Become, Cache
2006: The Page Turner, Indigenes
2007: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Persepolis
2008: I've Loved You So Long
2009: The White Ribbon
2010: The Illusionist, The Princess of Montpensier, Of Gods and Men
2011: The Artist
2012: Superstar, Amour

So France3 is very consistently at Telluride with one or two films a year.  Their current crop has two suspects: "The Past" and "Grigris".  I think "The Past" is very likely and "Grigris" is a 50/50 shot to make the program.


CONSIDERING HELI

Variety reported this past weekend that Amat Escalante's film "Heli" had won the top prize at the Munich Film Festival.  Up to that point I hadn't considered the film a likely Telluride prospect despite the face that it had played well in Cannes and Escalante had won Cannes' Best Director prize.  Further, the lineup of the films it outpaced to win in Munich include a number of high profile projects (some of which are sure to play in the San Juans come Labor Day): "The Past", "Blue is the Warmest Color" and "The Great Beauty" among them.

That isn't to say that it's a cinch to make the lineup.  The last Cannes Best Director prize winner to come to Telluride was in 2007 with Julian Schnabel's "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly".  Prior to that, however, past Cannes Best Director winners includes a bevy of individuals who have been a part of Telluride:

Werner Herzog, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Gus Van Sant, Michael Haneke, David Lynch, Pedro Almodovar, John Boorman, Mike Leigh, Wim Wenders, Martin Scorsese, Andrei Tarkovsky and Bertrand Tavernier.


With the Munich win, I think I've got to take Heli's chances of playing Telluride a lot more seriously.  Is it a "Ten Bets" film this week?  No, but it's a lot closer today than it was last Friday.

Here's the post from Variety:
http://variety.com/2013/film/news/heli-takes-the-top-prize-at-munich-film-festival-1200547589/

And Heli's IMDb page:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2852376/?ref_=sr_3


Follow/Like Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook.

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2.

More tomorrow...

Le French Part One/Pics from"Furnace"

Good Wednesday to All.

LE FRENCH PART ONE

Time to take a look at some of the more often Telluride represented French production houses in terms of their past with the festival and what those companies might have in store that have the potential to play over the Labor Day weekend.  We begin with:

CANAL +

Look at the history of Canal+ as a producer of films that played at Telluride over the last decade:

2003: The Barbarian Invasions, Dogville, Love Me If You Dare, The Tripletts of Belleville
2004: The Weeping Meadow
2005: The Child, Cache, Lemming, Live and Become
2006: Volver, Indigenes, The Page Turner
2007: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Terror's Advocate, Jellyfish
2008: With a Little Help From Myself, I've Loved You So Long
2009: Farewell, Coco Before Chanel, A Prophet, The White Ribbon
2010: The Illusionist, Carlos, Of Gods and Men, The Princess of Montpensier
2011: Crazy Horse, Albert Nobbs, Goodbye First Love, The Kid with a Bike, The Artist, Le Havre
2012: Rust and Bone, Superstar, The Attack

Canal+ averages 3 films each year at Telluride.  What do they have that might play this year?

"Blue is the Warmest Color", "Bastards (Les Saluds)", "The Great Beauty", "The Past", "A Castle in Italy", "Mood Indigo", "Camille Claudell: 1915". "The Past" and "Blue is the Warmest Color" have the greatest chance to be on Telluride's 2013 bill of fare.

These seem to be the most likely to me but Canal+ has their finger in a lot of pots, so there could be many others that play.  Check Canal+'s full lineup via IMDb here:
http://www.imdb.com/company/co0028557/?ref_=fn_co_co_1

STUDIOCANAL

Another French production outfit that sometimes plays at Telluride is StudioCanal.  Look at their ten year Telluride track record:

2003: Young Adam, Love Me If You Dare
2004:
2005: Cache
2006: Indigines, Catch a Fire
2007:
2008:
2009:
2010: The Princess of Montpensier
2011:
2012: Love, Marilyn

As you can see, StudioCanal's T-ride participation is hit and miss.  Of the films that StudioCanal has had a hand in, there are two that have some Telluride potential but it's low level potential:

The Coen Brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis" and Michel Gondry's "Mood Indigo".  I'd put both films chances at 20%.

More French information coming tomorrow.

PICS FROM FURNACE

We began seeing some stills from Scott Cooper's "Out of the Furnace" yesterday.  The pics were originally posted via USA Today.  I've linked to three stories from Rope of Silicon:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/first-out-of-the-furnace-pictures-featuring-christian-bale-and-woody-harrelson/

FirstShowing.net:
http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/first-look-christian-bale-woody-harrelson-in-out-of-the-furnace/

The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-images-of-christian-bale-woody-harrelson-in-out-of-the-furnace-20130708

"Out of the Furnace" opens Dec. 6th.

Follow/Like Michael's Telluride Film log on Facebook.

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2.

More tomorrow...

Sapphires/Frances Ha/Pilgrim Hill/Mood Indigo

Good Monday morning...the blog is running a little late today...

THE SAPPHIRES CONTINUED ROLLOUT

Interviews, articles and posts continue to pop up about Wayne Blair's "The Sapphires" to coincide with its release in the United States.  On this post I have included an interview with star Chris O'Dowd from The Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/the-sapphires-stolen-generation_n_2978688.html

and also an interview with director Wayne Blair from The Chicago Sun Times:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/foreignc/the-sapphires-interview-with-wayne-blair.html

FRANCES HA HAS A TRAILER

And we know this thanks to this report put up by Cinema Blend:

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Greta-Gerwig-Noah-Baumbach-Reteam-First-Trailer-Frances-Ha-36194.html


Here's the trailer via YouTube

PILGRIM HILL

Featured in the Great Expectations portion of the TFF #39 program this year, "Pilgrim Hill's" Gerard Barrett talked to The Irish Times this past week about his film:

http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/alone-on-the-hill-1.1341869


STILLS FROM "MOOD INDIGO"

A film that has an outside shot at being a part of the Telluride #40 extravaganza is Michel Gondry's "Mood Indigo" which The Playlist has featured in a post that highlights numerous images from the film.  Take a look here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/lots-of-new-wonderful-weird-images-from-michel-gondrys-mood-indigo-20130329


More on Thursday!