Obsessing about the Telluride Film Festival and the film awards season since 2008!
"The best blog out there for predicting what will be going to Telluride."-Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
"The Nostradamus of Telluride"
-Tim Appelo, Movies for Grownups
AFI IS IN FULL SWING AND FEATURES FILMS FROM TFF#43
The American Film Institutes's Film Festival began late last week and will continue through the 17th. The fest is the last festival to feature premieres of films that could find their way into the Oscar conversation before we start to hear from critic's groups. Films such as Miss Sloane and Rules Don't Apply that have gotten a good deal of awards speculation will screen or have screened at AFI.
The National Board of Review announces their list of films in just over two weeks (Nov. 29) with the New York Critics announcing on Dec. 1 and LA critics on Dec. 4. AFI will announce their top films on Dec. 8. Golden Globe nominations are announced on Dec. 12 and Screen Actors Guild nominations are announced Dec. 14. The British Academy announces nominees on Jan. 10.
Oscar voters begin voting for nominees on Jan. 5 and that closes Jan. 13. Oscar nominees are announced Jan. 24.
Thanks to Sasha Stone's Awards Daily for the comprehensive calendar of awards dates. You can find that complete list here.
At any rate, Telluride 2016 films are a significant presence at this year's AFI fest: Included in the AFI schedule from TFF #43 are: La La Land, Bright Lights: Starring Debbie Reynolds, Fire at Sea, Toni Erdmann, Graduation, Neruda, Things to Come and Mifune: The Last Samurai.
Werner Herzog, not surprisingly premiered his Volcano Around the World documentary, Into the Inferno, at Telluride. Herzog's doc travels the globe and seeks to place volcanic natural phenomena into the contexts in which various cultures have interacted with them.
Additionally, here's the official trailer for the film:
Into the Inferno opened on Oct. 28 and is available to stream on Netflix.
OSCAR PUNDITS UPDATE
I've got a new FAC update coming for Thursday's post that will update the acting races but until then, here are the latest updated Oscar pics from two of the Oscar experts that are used for The FAC metric.
Sasha Stone's weekly update on Friday has TFF #43 films La La Land, Manchester by the Sea, Moonlight and Arrival as the top four films contending for Best Picture. She also has Sully at #9. Best Actor candidates include: Casey Affleck/Manchester and Tom Hanks/Sully. Actress: Emma Stone/La La Land, Amy Adams/Arrival. Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali/Moonlight and Lucas Hedges/Manchester. Supporting Actress: Naomie Harris/Moonlight and Michelle Williams/Manchester, Best Director: Damien Chazelle/La La Land, Kenneth Lonergan/Manchester and Denis Villeneuve/Arrival. Check the link above for the rest of Stone's updated predictions.
Good Monday Space Cadets...Hope your weekend was out of this world.
MANY A TRAILER COME OUR WAY
Over the end of the week and into the weekend we saw a bevy of new trailers released for films that played at this year's Telluride Film Festival. Included in the onslaught were new views of Denis Villenueve's Arrival, Pablo Larrain's Foreign Language Oscar contender Neruda and Keif Davidson, Steven Okazaki's Mifune: The Last Samurai and Richard Ladkani's The Ivory Game.
Let' start with the final Arrival trailer (the film is set for release in the U.S. on Nov. 11):
The coverage for Arrival's final trailer was vast Here are links to that coverage from:
Lots of interviews and profiles are flooding the internet as we move into prime release territory for films that playing at TFF in 2016. Here's a sampling focused on the emerging indie hit (more about that below) Moonlight as well as the perceived Oscar frontrunner, Damien Chazelle's La La Land:
And Entertainment Weekly introduces La La Land's Emma Stone and her "73 Questions" Vogue story. Here's the video from Vogue:
OSCAR BIZ BUZZ
The Gotham Award nominations were announced on Thursday and TFF #43 films Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight were very much represented. Manchester was nominated for four of the awards that are presented by the Independent Film Project. Included in Manchester's haul: Best Feature, Best Actor (Casey Affleck), Best Screenplay and Best Breakthrough Performer (Lucas Hedges).
Moonlight was right behind with nominations for Best Feature, Best Screenplay and will receive a special cast award for its ensemble.
Other Best Feature nominees were: Paterson, Certain Women and Everybody Wants Some.
The Gothams will be handed out on Nov. 28.
Here's coverage of the nomination announcement from Variety.
Also today in Oscar Biz Buzz, Moonlight made other waves over the weekend including a ridiculous monetary haul from just four theaters. Indiewire reports on the stunning success of Moonlight on incredibly limited release.
The latest edition of the ScreenTalk podcast featuring Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson of Indiewire also focuses, in large measure, on Moonlight's burgeoning Oscar profile. Here's your link to the story and the podcast.
In other Oscar Biz Buzz, there have been any number of reports yesterday that Viola Davis will be campaigned for Best Supporting Actress for the Screen Actor's Guild. Although the Academy does not have to follow suit for the Oscars, that would become the more likely scenario. The decision will open up an almost certain slot for the Best Actress race which many regard as the most competitive acting category (and maybe the most competitive Oscar category...period). It would also make the Best Supporting Actress category (which has been seen to a three way race between Naomie Harris/Moonlight, Michelle Williams/Manchester and Nicole Kidman/Lion) a much tougher proposition.
THE FAC UPDATES SUPPORTING ACTING AND SCREENPLAY CATEGORIES
Last Thursday I updated the four major categories as the New York Film Festival was drawing to a close. That fest has concluded and it's time to update the Supporting Acting and Screenplay categories and assess whether the screenings in New York shifted the landscape (they did...a bit).
Kris Tapley maybe summed it up best when he tweeted earlier this week:
Though Tapley doesn't mention the film by name, it seems pretty obvious that he's talking about Ang Lee's Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. And you'll see some of the effect of its NYFF reception as we go through the categories I'm updating today. So without further dithering...
Here's the latest FAC snapshot for four major Oscar categories that I originally posted back on Sept. 29th.
I have used the publicly available Oscar predictions from the following pundits:
Erik Anderson/Awards Watch
Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit
Greg Ellwood/The Playlist-Awards Campaign
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Joey Magidson/Hollywood News
Nathaniel Rogers/Film Experience
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Kristopher Tapley/Variety-InContention
Anne Thompson/Indiewire
The number in parenthesis is the position the film held three weeks ago.
TFF #43 films are inBold. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1) Naomie Harris/Moonlight (1) 2) Michelle Williams/Manchester by the Sea (2)
3) Nicole Kidman/Lion (3)
4)Greta Gerwig/20th Century Women (6)
5) Kristen Stewart/Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (4)
6) Octavia Spencer/Hidden Figures (5)
7) Janelle Monae/Hidden Figures (NR)
8) Lupita N'yong'o/The Queen of Katwe (7)
9) Helen Mirren/Eye in the Sky (10)
10) Felicty Jones/A Monster Calls (8)
On the Cusp: Molly Shannon/Other People
Dropping Off: Margo Martindale/The Hollars
Hot: Gerwig and Monae.
Cold: N'yong'o
Comment: The NYFF Billy Lynn response doesn't seem to have hurt Stewart much (but wait until you get to Adapted Screenplay below). Gerwig definitely benefits from a strong positive NYFF response to 20th Century Women.
Harris and Williams seem like locks even this early in the scheme of things. Kidman is close to lock status as well.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
1) Liam Neeson/Silence (1)
2) Hugh Grant/Florence Foster Jenkins (2)
3) Jeff Bridges/Hell or High Water (6) 4) Lucas Hedges/Manchester by the Sea (4)
5) Michael Shannon/Nocturnal Animals (5)
6) Mahershala Ali/Moonlight (3)
7) Stephen Henderson/Fences (7) 8) Aaron Eckhardt/Bleed for This (8)
9) Peter Saarsgard/Jackie (9)
10) Steve Martin/Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (10)
On the Cusp: Kevin Costner/Hidden Figures
No Drops
Hot: Bridges
Cold: Ali
Comment: Steve Martin also not affected by Billy Lynn's NYFF response...yet. I don't think anyone is a lock in this category just yet. The top six look like where the nominees will come from and are tightly bunched using The FAC metric but positions 7-9 are definitely possible.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
1) Fences (2)
2) Silence (3)
3) Lion (4) 4) Arrival (5)
5) Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (1)
6) Hidden Figures (6)
7) Love and Friendship (8)
8) Live by Night (10) 9) Sully (9)
10) Nocturnal Animals (7)
On the Cusp: Indignation
No Drops
Hot: ?????
Cold: Billy Lynn, Nocturnal Animals
Comment: Here's your first solid evidence that Oscar experts are factoring in the NYFF reactions to Billy Lynn as the film's screenplay drops a precipitous four spots. I fully expect that when check back into this category next time that Billy Lynn will have slid even further.
Fences, Silence and Lion are very, very tightly bunched.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
1) Manchester by the Sea (1) 2) La La Land (2) 3) Moonlight (3)
4) 20th Century Women (6)
5) Loving (4)
6) Jackie (5)
7) Hell or High Water (7)
8) The Lobster (8)
9) Captain Fantastic (10)
10) Florence Foster Jenkins (9)
On the Cusp: Miss Sloane
No Drops
Hot: 20th Century Women
Cold: Nada
Comment: Another sign that 20th Century Women made some waves in New York evidenced by its rise in this category.
For now Manchester seems the only lock and has a sturdy lead over La La Land, which is near lock status.
If The FAC is 100% accurate then Telluride 2016 films will add the following:
Manchester by the Sea adds three nominations.
Moonlight adds two nominations with a possible third.
La La Land adds one nomination.
Arrival adds one nomination.
Sully adds a possible nomination.
Bleed for This adds a possible nomination.
If all goes according to plan, next Thursday's post will include an early look at Film Editing, Cinematography, Original Score and Original Song categories.
HERZOG'S INFERNO HAS A TRAILER
Werner Herzog's volcanic documentary, Into the Inferno, dropped a new trailer this week. Here it is from YouTube:
"THE NEXT BIG THING"?...MOONLIGHT'S BARRY JENKINS (SAYS INDIEWIRE... AND THEY'RE RIGHT)
One of the hottest titles critically since Telluride has been Barry Jenkins' Moonlight. The film has captivated film goers at every stop it has made along the way. It could well turn into one of the two or three best reviewed films of the fall season before it's all said and done. Currently the film has a 98 at both Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes.
Will that translate to Oscar success? The stories above and below seem to indicate that it probably will earn several nominations.
All of this has led Indiewire's Eric Kohn to proclaim that Jenkins is "the next big thing". I've been telling my students the same thing since I got back from the festival.
Now, as Moonlight gets ready tom open for general audiences (it opens tomorrow) a number of outlets are doing pieces about Jenkins and the film including the Indiewire article. Those are linked below:
At the start of this week we got Oscar nomination updates from two of the nine experts that I use for The FAC. Both Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter and Clayton Davis of Awards Watch posted new predictions in the wake of the conclusion of the New York Film Festival. Those very recent predictions are factored into the latest FAC listings above.
Feinberg is currently predicting the 21 feature categories with most categories divided into Frontrunners, Major Threats, Possibilities and Long Shots. I'm focusing on the Frontrunners and Major Possibilities here.
According to Feinberg, La La Land would land 13 nominations and is listed as a Major Threat for two others. The nominations would be: Best Picture, Director, Actress, Actor, Original Screenplay, Original Score, two for Original Song, Film Editing, Cinematography, Production Design, Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. The two other Major Threats are an additional Original Song possibility and also Best Costumes. My personal count has been at 12. I haven't been thinking about a nomination for Production Design.
Manchester by the Sea would grab six nominations: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor and Original Screenplay. Feinberg also says it's a Major Threat for two other nominations: Film Editing and Original Score.
Moonlight would earn six nominations for Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay and Film Editing. It also is a Major Threat for nominations for Cinematography and Original Score.
Sully could two nominations for Best Picture, and Best Actor and is a Major Threat for five more: Director, Adapted Screenplay, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects.
Feinberg says that Telluride documentary features with the best shot at a nomination are: The Eagle Huntress, The Ivory Game and Fire at Sea.
Best chances for Best Foreign Language Film from TFF #43 are Fire at Sea and Toni Erdmann. He lists Neruda as a Major Threat.
Feinberg has Arrival on the outside looking in with no listing stronger than a "Possibility".
Feinberg's Telluride tally would be 32 nominations with an additional 12 Major Threats.
Meanwhile, Clayton Davis at Awards Watch could not have a more different take on Denis Villenueve's Arrival.
Awards Watch currently has the Oscar race predicted as follows:
La La Land with 12 nominations: Best Picture, Director, Actress, Actor, Original Screenplay, Production Design, Cinematography, Film Editing, Costumes, Sound Editing and two for Best Song. AW also suggests that another three nominations are possible: Another for Best Song as well as Original Score and Sound Mixing.
Arrival rivals La La Land in Davis' estimation with ten predicted nominations: Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Cinematography, Film Editing, Original Score, Visual Effects, Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. Arrival also is listed with a "possible" nomination for Best Actress.
Manchester by the Sea would have four nominations: Best Picture, Actor, Supporting Actress and Original Screenplay. It's also suggested as a possible nominee for Director, Supporting Actor and Film Editing.
Moonlight would be nominated for three Oscars: Best Picture, Supproting Actor and Original Screenplay. It has another couple of possibilities: Director and Original Screenplay.
Sully would have a single nomination for Film Editing but be a possible nominee for five other categories including Best Picture, Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing.
Toni Erdmann is suggested as a Best Foreign Language Film nominee as well as a possibility for Original Screenplay.
Neruda would be nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.
The Eagle Huntress would be a Best Doc nominee with Fire at Sea a possibility.
The Awards Watch Telluride tally would be 33 nominations with an additional 14 possibilities.
Welcome to the next the third Monday in October...
A MASTER PASSES
Pierre Etaix in The Dardennes' Le Havre-TFF #38-2011
Film aficionados from around the world paused in sadness this week as French film comedy master Pierre Etaix died Indiewire reported on Friday. Etaix was one of Telluride's tribute recipients in 2011. Etaix won an Oscar in 1963 for his short film Happy Anniversary. Etaix was venerated by film makers from Jerry Lewis to Woody Allen and is frequently compared to Chaplin, Keaton and Tati.
Here's the text from TFF's 2011 program about Etaix and the tribute:
OSCAR BIZ BUZZ: BUSINESS INSIDER, VARIETY LOOKS AT FOREIGN AND AWARDS DAILY UPDATES
As we count down the second half of October, we're beginning to finally see the plans studios have for their Oscar possibles. We learned, for example, just this past week that 20th Century Fox has dated Hidden Figures for a limited (and therefore Oscar qualifying release) on Dec. 25th.
We also found out that Martin Scorsese has trimmed the running time for Silence , which was originally going to run over three hours, to a meager 2 hrs. 39 min. Reportedly more than a half an hour of the original cut has disappeared. Wow. That's a lot of film to have been edited out.
Ang Lee's much anticipated Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk received decidedly mixed reviews at its premiere at the New York Film Festival. A lot of Oscary types think that it's probably toast in the major categories but Awards Daily's Sasha Stone says "not so fast" reminding everyone that Lee's Life of Pi also opened to mixed responses and was discounted by Oscar pundits and ended up with 11 nominations and four wins.
In as afar as Oscar Biz Buzz that relates to Telluride films this week, I offer the following...
Business Insiders Entertainment section offered their take on what they believe are the most likely Oscar winners in several categories at the midpoint of October. To wit:
Best Picture: La La Land. Also in contention according to BI: Arrival, Moonlight, Manchester by the Sea and Sully.
Best Director: Damien Chazelle/La La Land. Others in the mix: Eastwood/Sully, Jenkins/Moonlight, Lonergan/Manchester, and Villenueve/Arrival
Best Actress: Emma Stone/La La Land. Also in play from TFF #43: Amy Adams/Arrival
Best Actor: Casey Affleck/Manchester by the Sea. In the running: Ryan Gosling/La La Land, Tom Hanks/Sully
Supporting Actress: Naomie Harris/Moonlight. Also in play: Michelle Williams/Manchester
Supporting Actor: Michael Shannon/Nocturnal Animals. TFFers: Mahershala Ali/Moonlight
Original Screenplay: Hell or High Water. TFF #43 peeps: Chazelle/La La Land, Jenkins and
McCraney/Moonlight and Lonergan/Manchester
Adapted Screenplay: Lion. BI lists no TFF candidates for Adapted Screenplay although I think they're overlooking Eric Heisserer fro Arrival.
Animated Feature: Zootopia. Nada from TFF.
Cinematography: Billy Lynn. TFF possibles; La La Land, Moonlight, Arrival
Documentary Feature: OJ: Made in America. Telluride docs in the mix: Into the Inferno and The Eagle Huntress
Also in the Oscar Biz Buzz today...Variety's Guy Lodge takes an impressive deep look at the possible players for Best Foreign Language Film. He does make mention of the three TFF #43 films that have the best shot at making the final five: Toni Erdmann, Neruda and Fire at Sea. Check Lodge's assessment here.
And, as she always does, Sasha Stone at Awards Daily put up her latest Oscar assessment of Friday. Her focus this week was on the Best Actor race. Look at Sasha's latest Oscar musings here.
TELLURIDE FILMMAKERS IN NY
I have appended a couple of interviews that have occurred as a result of TFF #43 films that have played at the New York Film Festival over the past two weeks. Two form Moonlight's writer/director Barry Jenkins and another from Manchester by the Sea writer/director Kenneth Lonergan;
I posted the first set of Film Awards Clearinghouse predictions for the four most major Oscar categories three weeks ago. Now, 21 days later and with the New York Film Festival winding down, I thought it would be good to update where the race seems to be.
I have used the publicly available Oscar predictions from the following pundits:
Erik Anderson/Awards Watch
Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit
Greg Ellwood/The Playlist-Awards Campaign
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Joey Magidson/Hollywood News
Nathaniel Rogers/Film Experience
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Kristopher Tapley/Variety-InContention
Anne Thompson/Indiewire
The number in parenthesis is the position the film held three weeks ago.
TFF #43 films are inBold.
BEST PICTURE
1) La La Land (1)
2) Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2) 3) Manchester by the Sea (3)
4) Fences (5) 5) Moonlight (8)
6) Silence (4)
7) Lion (6)
8) Jackie (10) 9) Arrival (9)
10) Loving (9) 11) Sully (11)
12) 20th Century Women (NR)
Dropping Out: Hidden Figures
Hot: Moonlight, Jackie, 20th Century Women
Not: Silence, Loving
Comment: Barry Jenkins' Moonlight is the biggest mover of any film in either direction. If the nominations were announced today, it has moved from "barely probable" to a much more solid position. La La Land has actually solidified its grasp of the top spot. Call the top eight films "likely" nominees with the 9-12 spots as possibles.
BEST DIRECTION
1) Damien Chazelle/La La Land (1)
2) Ang Lee/Billy Lynn (2) 3) Kenneth Lonergan/Manchester (4)
4) Martin Scorsese/Silence (3) 5) Barry Jenkins/Moonlight (5)
6) Pablo Larrain/Jackie (10)
7) Denzel Washington/Fences (6) 8) Denis Villenueve/Arrival (8)
9) Garth Davis/Lion (9)
10) Jeff Nichols/Loving (7)
Hot: Larrain
Not: Nichols
Comment: No switch outs among the top ten but a big charge for Pablo Larrain. Larrain could also be a nominee for Best Foreign Language Film for Neruda and I don't think that has ever happened in Oscar history (see below)
BEST ACTRESS
1) Emma Stone/La La Land (1)
2) Natalie Portman/Jackie (3)
3) Viola Davis/Fences (2)
4) Annette Bening/20th Century Women (6)
5) Ruth Negga/Loving (4)
Dropping Out: Emily Blunt/The Girl on the Train
Hot: Bening
Not: Blunt
Comment: Still thought to be the toughest category. Viola Davis continues to be rumored as a possible candidate for Supporting Actress instead of lead.
BEST ACTOR
1) Casey Affleck/Manchester by the Sea (1)
2) Denzel Washington/Fences 3) Ryan Gosling/La La Land (3) 4) Tom Hanks/Sully (5)
5) Joel Edgerton/Loving (4)
6) Dev Patel/Lion (7)
7) Andrew Garfield/Silence (6)
8) Michael Keaton/The Founder (8)
9) Viggo Mortensen/Captain Fantastic (NR)
10) (Tie) Jake Gyllenhaal/Nocturnal Animals (NR) and
Ben Affleck/Live by Night (NR)
Dropping Out: Gordon-Levitt/Snowden and Alwyn/Billy Lynn
Hot: Gyllenhaal and B. Affleck as well as Mortensen
Not: See the "dropping Out" list above.
Comment: This looks like a real race between Casey and Denzel. It's the tightest bunching of the top two from any of these categories.
Should these predictions hold for TFF #43 films...
La La Land would be nominated in all four categories.
Manchester by the Sea in three.
Moonlight in two.
Sully in one.
Other possibles: Arrival for three and Sully for an additional nomination.
Also, not to put too fine a point on it, TFF #43 films would win in all four categories.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILMS REACH RECORD
Arecord number of 85 films have been submitted for Oscar consideration for the Foreign Language category. Included in the submissions were these Telluride 2016 films:
Neruda/Chile
Toni Erdmann/Germany
Fire at Sea/Italy
Other major players include films that I thought, at least at some point, might play Telluride:
It's Only the End of the World/Canada
Elle/France
The Salesman/Iran
Sand Storm/Israel
Desierto/Mexico
Ma' Rosa/Philippines
Sieranevada/Romania
Julieta/Spain
My Life as a Zucchini/Switzerland
Variety awards co-editor and founder of InContention, Kristopher Tapley posted a meditation this week on this year's Best Actress Oscar race. as I mentioned above, it's regarded as one of the toughest races in years. As you can see above, there are a number of TFF #43 actresses in the conversation: Stone and Adams. Isabelle Huppert is also mentioned for Things to Come in addition to Elle and we shouldn't rule out Rooney Mara for Una.
The New York Film Festival opened over the weekend with Ava DuVernay's documentary 13th as the opening night film. NYFF will run through Oct. 16th and will double up on a number of films that played at TFF #43 including: Fire at Sea, Graduation, Manchester by the Sea, Moonlight, Neruda. Things to Come and Toni Erdmann among their Main Slate presentations. Here is the complete NYFF Main Slate lineup.
Additionally, in its Retrospective section you will find Bertrand Tavernier's Journey Through French Cinema which also played TFF #43.
Tavernier and Journey Through French Cinema was recently profiled in this piece from Variety.
Other Telluride 2016 selections playing in NYFF are included in its Spotlight on Documentary section. Included there from Telluride are: The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography, Bright Lights; Starring Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher and I Called Him Morgan.
MAUDIE HAS A HOME
A small film at Telluride that gained some notoriety and a bit of buzz for Sally Hawkins' performance was Aisling Walsh's Maudie about real life artist Maud Walsh. As a matter of fact, TFF filmgoers rated the film in MTFB's People's Telluride ratings at a very respectable 4.29 (out of 5) and it finished as the third highest rated film of this year's fest only trailing current Oscar buzzy films La La Land and Moonlight.
The film played T-ride without having been picked up for domestic distribution but that changed over the weekend as Sony Pictures Classics announced that they had grabbed the rights to the film.
There's no word yet on whether SPC is planning to release the film this year but there is plenty of speculation that they might to get Hawkins into the conversation for the Best Actress Oscar. However, that field is crowded this year.
SCREEN TALK
As the New York Fest gets underway, Indiewire's Anne Thompson and Eric Kohn take aim at the films playing there in the context of the Oscar race with a special focus in this week's podcast on Oscar and film diversity. Figuring into their conversation is Barry Jenkin's Telluride selection Moonlight. Check out the latest version of ScreenTalk here.
That'll be a wrap for Monday. More on Thursday!
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com
I think we have another Toronto announcement today...we'll see what we see...
WHEN THEY DO YOUR JOB FOR YOU
It doesn't get easier than this though the confirmation comes from a surprising source. Werner Herzog's Into the Inferno, which I had penciled into last Friday's Ten (Plus) Bets as probable for Telluride owing to its announced premiere status from Toronto is confirmed by...wait for it...Werner Herzog.
Herzog, speaking on Mark Maron's podcast pronounced that the film would be a part of the TFF #43 lineup. The admission was reported by a number of film outlets (see below).
It's something of a shocker, as Herzog, who has a lengthy history with the fest, has to be abundantly aware that Telluride doesn't reveal the lineup until the day before the festival begins.
Still, I'll take the confirmation and move on.
Reports of the admission from Mr. Herzog are here:
Hot on the heels of its Olympic debuting trailer the Theodore Melfi film Hidden Figures revealed a poster yesterday:
Again, you have to figure that it's not really a likely Telluride play...as Melfi (or someone purporting to be Melfi) said himself on Twitter over the weekend but there is a difference between "Not likely" and "never gonna happen".
Hidden Figures is currently scheduled to open on Jan. 13, 2017.
THE PLAYLIST'S 50 FALL FILMS
The Playlist was up yesterday with a list of 50+ films that they say are their most anticipated for this coming fall/awards season. Probable Telluride films are well represented in the article:
Moonlight, Arrival, Manchester by the Sea, La La Land, Things to Come, Neruda, Julieta and Toni Erdmann all make the list.
Also included are a number of films with no fall film fest agenda for the moment:
Sully, Rules Don't Apply, The Accountant, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, Allied, Silence, Miss Sloane, Fences, Collateral Beauty, Passengers, Gold and The Founder.
Some of these films aren't ready for screening. Some will almost certainly be announced for The AFI Fest. Some won't play a major festival at all. I can see anywhere between none and five still showing at The SHOW.
RATE FILMS FROM THE SHOW AND FOLLOW...FOLLOW...FOLLOW
It's your annual call to rate the films you see at the Telluride Film Festival. MTFB is once again asking YOU to participate in The People's Telluride...a gathering of film ratings from the ticket buying public at the fest.
It's simple...rate the films you see on a 1 to 5 scale (1 being awful and 5 being masterpiece) and then send those to me via email: mpgort@gmail.com or michael_speech@hotmail.com OR via the comments section here on the blog or to my twitter account @Gort2.
IT'S EASIER TO FOLLOW MTFB NOW
I've added a "FOLLOW" button to the blog page. You'll see it in the upper right hand area of the page. Just click on it and you can make it much easier to keep up with what's going on here.
Contact MTFB at:
mpgort@gmail.com
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Here is my weekly update focused on what appear to be the most probable films to play the 43rd Telluride Film Festival.
Last week's Ten (Plus) Bets:
15) Defying the Nazis (Ken Burns PBS Doc)
14) High Summer (Animated short)
13) The Red Turtle
12) Manchester by the Sea
11) Moonlight
10) Fire at Sea
9) Maudie
8) Frantz
7) Una
6) Things to Come
5) Neruda
4) Bleed for This
3) Arrival
2) La La Land
1) Toni Erdmann
And here is this week's Ten (Plus) Bets:
20) Journey Through French Cinema
19) Defying the Nazis
18) The B-Side
17) Into the Inferno
16) Julieta
15) Graduation
14) High Summer
13) Manchester by the Sea
12) Maudie
11) Una
10) Frantz
9) The Red Turtle
8) Fire at Sea
7) Moonlight
6) Bleed for This
5) Neruda
4) Things to Come
3) La La Land
2) Toni Erdmann
1) Arrival
Still in play: The Circle, The Promise. Miss Sloane. Hidden Figures, The Sense of an Ending, Exile, Peshmerga, Gold, Norman, Eternity, The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez, The Founder
MOONLIGHT TRAILER IMPRESSES
As I mentioned here yesterday, Barry Jenkins Moonlight (A24) got a trailer release late yesterday morning. Here it is from YouTube:
The response to the trailer was nothing short of rapturous. We may have a serious stealth Oscar player. Here's coverage of the trailer drop:
Despite The PLaylist's claim that the film is world premiering in Toronto, I'm still relatively confident it will actually screen at Telluride first. The story below underscores my belief.
TORONTO PLATFORM LINEUP PROVIDES CLUES
Toronto's International Film Festival revealed their competitive young film makers Platform section yesterday. Included in the list of films were two that have been on the TFF #43 radar. Pablo Larrain's Jackie, which I had concluded will not be making the trip from Venice to T-ride was listed as a North American Premiere thus buttressing my conclusion.
Barry Jenkins Moonlight was also named to the section and listed as an International Premiere, which, I believe indicates a film's first play outside its nation of origin which comports perfectly with a Telluride screening.
The complete Platform lineup and film descriptions are here:
TELLURIDE #43 TEN BETS #6-TORONTO-VENICE AFTERMATH
After hearing form Toronto, Venice and even a tidbit from New York gave me a lot of fuel to mix for this week's Ten Bets. It also allows me to expand the Ten Bets to include more than ten films predicted for Telluride in 2016.
Last week's Ten Bets (which I updated on Monday before the TIFF announcement) looked like this:
10) The Unknown Girl
9) Arrival
8) Things to Come
7) American Honey
6) Moonlight
5) La La Land
4) The Salesman
3) Toni Erdmann
2) The Red Turtle
1) Fire at Sea
Close: Lion, Aquarius, Denial, A Monster Calls, 20th Century Women, Paterson, Dog Eat Dog, Manchester by the Sea, Bleed for This, The Sense of an Ending.
Now, here's the latest Ten Bets for TFF #43:
13) Fire at Sea
12) Moonlight
11) The Red Turtle
10) Manchester by the Sea
9) Maudie
8) Frantz
7) Una
6) Neruda
5) Bleed for This
4) Arrival
3) Things to Come
2) La La Land
1) Toni Erdmann
Close: Aquarius, Dog Eat Dog, The Sense of an Ending, The Unknown Girl.
OTHERS TAKE A LOOK AT TIFF AND VENICE
I'm passing along a couple of posts from yesterday that broke down the information that we've gleaned over the past few days. I have included the analysis from Variety's Kristopher Tapley and Greg Ellwood from AwardsCampaign.com
Tapley suggests a good deal of the same things you'll have read here. Additionally, he writes that we might additionally see Cannes Palme d'Or winner I, Daniel Blake as well as The Unknown Girl. He also suggests that Warner Brothers is likely to return to TFF with something from the slate of The Accountant, Live by Night or Sully. I'd like that.
Ellwood tells us that he believes the possibility of some "sneaks" may be back in play for Telluride and suggests that the premiere designation status, after having been a very clear indicator for the past three years, might not be as clear cut this time around.
The first exception he mentions is for Garth O'Connor's Lion form The Weinstein Company. Jim Sheridan's The Secret Scripture, Ewan McGregor's American Pastoral and Paul Verhoeven's Elle. He also questions both Telluride passes of Herzog's Salt and Fire and Farhadi's The Salesman.
I'd happily endorse any and all of these "exceptions" but my feeling is that the "honest" premiere status designation is probably still strongly in play.
I mentioned in yesterday's post that Pablo Larrain's Jackie, which was announced for Venice, could be a TFF possibility that would mean that Larrain was presenting two films at the same fest. You have to be a bit dubious about the chances as it is a very rare case over Telluride's history when a film maker has done that. Not impossible, but extremely rare. I think Werner Herzog has done it. Maybe David Lynch.
SO it could happen...
Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere suggested yesterday that he thought it could/would happen:
Wells wasn't the only one thinking it could happen as the theory was bandied about on the interweb yesterday. We'll see. I'm hoping that it DOES make the trip between T-ride and Venice.
COULD TELLURIDE SEE EIGHT DAYS A WEEK?
A second trailer for Ron Howard's Beatles documentary, Eight Days a Week, dropped yesterday and though I have discounted the chance that it could play in the San Juans in September. But...
The timing works. The film is to be released on Sept. 15. The Playlist, reporting on the trailer release yesterday suggested that in might play "a couple of fall festivals before then". That only includes Telluride, Venice and Toronto. Venice seems to be out since the doc wasn't announced yesterday. So...
TFF has had a Beatles-esque presence at past fests with the refurbished Help in 2007 and the George Harrison doc Living in the Material World in 2011.
Hulu...the T.V. Hulu...is distributing and I'm not sure what that means but I do think that Netflix opened the door to that kind of distrib being a part of the fest last year and Amazon looks to be joining that group this year so why not Hulu too?
So...bring it on along with former Beatle and one of the producers of the film, Sir Paul McCartney.
