Showing posts with label One Battle After Another. Show all posts
Showing posts with label One Battle After Another. Show all posts

Monday, March 16, 2026

Oscar 2026 and TFF

OSCAR 2026 AND TFF




Just a brief TFF check this morning post-Oscar.

TELLURIDE FILMS EARN SEVEN OSCARS

Guillermo Del Toro's was the most honored film that played Telluride last Labor Day with three wins last night: Best Production Design, Best Makeup/Hair Design and Best Costume design.

Four other TFF films won single Oscars:

Hamnet: Best Actress-Jesse Buckley
Sentimental Value (Norway): Best International Feature
All the Empty Rooms: Best Documentary Short
Two People Exchanging Saliva: Best Live Action Short (in a tie, unbelievably, with The Singers)

OVERALL

One Battle After Another was the big winner of the evening with six Oscars: Best Picture, Direction, Supporting Actor (Sean Penn) Adapted Screenplay, Editing and Casting.
Sinners was next with four wins: Best Actor (Michael B. Jordan), Original Screenplay, Score and Cinematography.
Frankenstein with three...listed above
K-pop Demon Hunters with two: Best Animated Feature, Original Song

Single wins for:

Hamnet, Sentimental Value, All the Empty Rooms and Two People Exchanging Saliva listed above.  And...

Weapons: Best Supporting Actress; Amy Madigan
Mr. Nobody Against Putin: Best Documentary Feature
Avatar: Fire and Ash: Best Visual Effects
F1: Sound
The Singers: Best Live Action Short (tie)

AND THE BLOG...

2026 might have been my best year for predicting ever. 20.5 (that's how I'm counting the Live Action tie) out of 24 categories for a 85.4% accuracy rate.  I missed Best Casting, Documentary Feature and Cinematography.  And in each of those three categories, I had the winner listed as the "Could Be".

In as far as where I would have ended up with regard to comparison with Gold Derby's Experts... Well, they counted an answer of  either Two People or The Singers as fully correct.  Using that same metric I would have tied their experts for the top spot.  They counted those as 87.5% accurate.  Had I been listed I would have tied with Mark Johnson (Awards Watch and The Contending), Tomris Laffly (Freelance), Gregory Ellwood (The Playist), Scott Feinberg (The Hollywood Reporter) and Pete Hammond (Deadline).


Again, for the third year...Gold Derby...I'm awaiting my invitation to join your crew of experts for next year.

Now...onto puzzling out the 2026 version of Telluride.  For those who are curious, for whatever reasons, I am planning to be in The Ride for the festival again this year.





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Monday, July 21, 2025

Toronto Announces Today/ Distributor Monday #7: Focus Features / Venice Set to Announce-Many Possibilities / No Battle After Another / Eleanor Has a Date

TORONTO ANNOUNCES TODAY

We expect to see a bunch of titles announced by the Toronto International Film Festival this morning and them clues as to what films will have been selected for Telluride.  Stay tuned to MTFB social Media for those revelations.  

On X: @Gort2 and/or @TheMTFB on Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

Of course I'll have a full re-cap on Thursday when I post next.  That will also include the news from Venice (coming tomorrow) and a new Ten Bets list.


DISTRIBUTOR MONDAY #6: FOCUS FEATURES



While I have been running through the major distribution players based on recent appearances at the Telluride Film Festival I'm sure that many of you have noticed that in some instances the pickings seem lean.  That's not the case with Focus Features.  I count six films that Focus Features has that could possibly be playing Telluride.

Over the last nine fests, Focus has landed a film at T-ride in seven of those years.  They missed in 2016 and 2019.  They would have had at least one film in the Covid cancelled 2020 fest. Overall 10 Focus films have screened at Telluride since 2015 (11 if you count the 2020 TFF).  Additionally, the Focus presence has increased recently with 7 of these titles playing with the last four years.

Here's their track record at Telluride since 2015:

2015: Suffragette
2017: Darkest Hour
2018: Boy Erased
2020: TFF #47 would have screened The Way I See It
2021: Belfast, The Card Counter
2022: Armageddon Time
2023: The Holdovers, The Bikeriders
2024: Conclave, Piece by Piece

So it's been a pretty solid run and I expect that Focus will have a robust presence at TFF #52.  The six films that might make the lineup: Hamnet-which we think is locked as they have been announced as Canadian Premiere for Toronto-, Bugonia, The History of Sound, Anemone, Pressure and Song Sung Blue.  Here's some info on each.  Participants who have been to TFF previously are indicated with *. The films presented in alphabetical order:

Anemone.  Dir. Ronan Day-Lewis.  Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis*, Sean Bean, Samantha Morton.  Release date: Oct. 10th.  IMDb description:

Family bonds between fathers, sons, and brothers are explored as complex relationships unfold through personal journeys and generational conflicts.

Three rime Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis comes out of retirement as both acts and co-wrote the script.  Of course, Day-Lewis was one of the tributees at TFF in 2007.  Brad Pitt is one of two listed producers on the film.  If you're not excited to see what this film is...well...


Bugonia. Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos*.  Stars: Emma Stone*, Jesse Plemons*, Alicia Silverstone.  Release date: Oct. 31st.  IMDB description:

Two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.

After having screened The Favourite and Poor Things at Telluride both starring Emma Stone you have to think the chances are good that Bugonia will follow the same path from a Venice premiere to a Telluride play.  A couple of notes, though.  Lanthimos' Kinds of Kindness did not go that direction in 2024 having played Sundance and then Cannes.  Also, all three of those films were distributed by Searchlight so what path Focus might desire.


Hamnet. Dir. Chloe Zhao*.  Stars: Jesse Buckley*, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson*, Joe Alwyn.  Release date: Dec. 12th.  IMDb description:

The story of Agnes - the wife of William Shakespeare - as she struggles to come to terms with the loss of her only son, Hamnet. A human and heart-stopping story as the backdrop to the creation of Shakespeare's most famous play, Hamlet.

As mentioned above, this film seems to be lock for Telluride based on the Toronto Fest announcing it as a Canadian Premiere this past week.


The History of Sound. Dir. Oliver Hermanus*.  Stars: Paul Mescal, Chris Cooper, Josh O'Connell.  Release date: Sept. 12th..  IMDb description:

Two young men during World War I set out to record the lives, voices and music of their American countrymen.

Mescal and O'Connor are two of the hottest tickets around right now.  I had been pretty high on its chances of a Telluride play what with the distributor and Oliver Hermanus having previously hacing Living at TFF #49,  but the announced Sept. 12th release date is awfully soon after T-ride.  Also, the lukewarm critical reception at Cannes also made me less bullish.  Of late, I'm thinking it's still possible.  A quick note: Mubi is also listed by IMDb as a domestic distributor of the film.


Pressure.  Dir. Anthony Maras.  Stars: Andrew Scott, Kerry Condon, Brendan Frasier, Damian Lewis, Chris Messina.  Release date: TBD.  IMDb description:

A ticking clock thriller based on the extraordinary true story of the 72 hours leading up to D-Day.

The more detailed plot summary reads:

In the seventy two hours leading up to D-Day, all the pieces are in place except for one key element--the British weather. Britain's chief meteorological officer James Stagg (Scott) is called upon to deliver the most consequential forecast in history, locking him into a tense standoff with the entire Allied leadership. The wrong conditions could devastate the largest ever seaborne invasion, while any delay risks German intelligence catching on. With only his trusted aide Captain Kay Summersby to confide in, and haunted by a catastrophic D-Day rehearsal, the final decision rests with Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower. With only hours to go, the fate of the war and the lives of millions hang in the balance.


To be honest, this is more a "wish for" than an expectation.  Its lack of an announced release date makes it questionable but I am very intrigued by the premise and it's Andrew Scott.


Song Sung Blue.  Dir. Craig Brewer.  Stars: Hugh Jackman*, Kate Hudson, Fisher Stephens*.  Release date: Dec. 25th.  IMDb description:

Lightning and Thunder, a Milwaukee husband and wife Neil Diamond tribute act, experience soaring success and devastating heartbreak in their musical journey together.

Look, this is doubtful as a TFF play but it sounds interesting.  the Dec. 25th release date signals that Focus has some confidence that it will play well with audiences.  So, you now...maybe.


Overall, could this be the first year that Focus lands more than two films at TFF?  That's possible.  Hamnet's in.  Bugonia seems likely and maybe History of Sound.  I'd love, love, love for Anemone to show up at T-ride as well as Pressure but they're chances are much more tenuous.

Chances:

Hamnet 95%
Bugonia 60%
The History of Sound 40%
Anemone 25%
Pressure 20%
Song Sung Blue 20%


VENICE SET TO ANNOUNCE-MANY POSSIBILITIES




The Venice Film Fest will announce the bulk of its lineup tomorrow.  As close observers know, over the years there has usually been a substantial overlap between films that play Venice and then Telluride.  So the information we get on what Venice will screen this year will, by itself neither rule in or rule out a T-ride play.  Of more import to our Telluride calculus is Venice's schedule which will be announced in about three weeks.  Films that screen in the first 2-4 days have a shot at also getting set up to play TFF.

Still what they choose is a nice piece of info to know.


This what he has with what I think are Telluride possibles indicated with ***

MAIN COMPETITION CONTENDERS

After the Hunt (Luca Guadagnino)***
A House of Dynamite (Kathryn Bigelow)***
Jay Kelly (Noah Baumbach)***
Bugonia (Yorgos Lanthimos)***
Frankenstein (Guillermo del Toro)***
The Smashing Machine (Benny Safdie)
Father Mother Brother Sister (Jim Jarmusch) 
The Ballad of a Small Player (Edward Berger)***
No Other Choice (Park Chan-wook)
La Grazia (Paolo Sorrentino)***
The Wizard of the Kremlin (Olivier Assayas)***
In the Hands of Dante (Julian Schnabel)***
Ann Lee (Mona Fastvold) 
Hamnet (Chloe Zhao)*** 
Orphan (Laszlo Nemes)*** 
Untitled/Gaza (Kaouther Ben Hania)
One Year of School (Laura Samani)
Mother Bhumi (Chong Keat Aun) 
Below the Clouds (Gianfranco Rosi)
Duse (Pietro Marcello)
I Wanted to Kill Her (Leonardo Di Costanzo)
The Stranger (Francois Ozon)*** 
À pied d’œuvre (Valérie Donzelli)
Chocobar (Lucrecia Martel) 

OTHER POSSIBILITIES

The Fence (Claire Denis)
Wake of Umbra (Carlos Reygadas)
Chocobar (Lucrecia Martel)
At the Sea (Kornél Mundruczó)
Caught Stealing (Darren Aronofsky)
Deux Pianos (Arnaud Desplechin)
Anemone (Ronan Day-Lewis)***
Tre Ciotole (Isabel Coixet)
El Ser Querido (Rodrigo Sorogoyen)
The Way of the Wind (Terrence Malick)***
Switzerland (Anton Corbijn)
Deliver Me From Nowhere (Scott Cooper)***
Redoubt (John Skoo)
& Sons (Pablo Trapero)
Occupation (Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi)
Dao (Alain Gomis)
Rosebush Pruning (Karim Ainouz)
Une Illusion (Naomi Kawase)
The Dreamed Adventure (Valeska Grisebach)
Yellow Letters (Ilker Çatak)
Unidentified (Haifaa al-Mansour)***
Silent Friend (Ildiko Enyedi)
Rose (Markus Schleinzer)
Untitled (Abu Bakr Shawky)
Calle Malaga (Maryam Touzani)
Musk (Alex Gibney)***


NO BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER




Frequent readers will know that I have flirted in recent posts about the outside possibility that Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another might end up screening at Telluride.  Well...

World of Reel put that notion to rest Sunday afternoon.

Jordan Ruimy writes:

"A source close to the situation tells me that Warner Bros. has made the decision to skip all the major fall festivals for “One Battle After Another,” including Venice, Telluride, and TIFF."


Unless this is great cover for a TFF "sneak" it looks like to PTA at TFF.



ELEANOR HAS A DATE




Sony Pictures Classics has dated the release of Scarlett Johannsson's directorial debut, Eleanor the Great.  The film will be released nationwide on Sept. 26th which feels right for a potential TFF play OR a TFF/TIFF combo OR Toronto only.  That's according to Deadline.  The film stars 95year old actress June Squibb who might find herself in the Oscar race for Best Actress for this film.

The film screened at Cannes as a part of  the Un Certain Regard section.  It earned a reasonable 6.64/10 composite rating from Cannes-Ratings.org.

The description from IMDb:

After a devastating loss, witty and proudly troublesome Eleanor Morgenstein, 94, tells a tale that takes on a dangerous life of its own.


Here's a clip from the film via YouTube:







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Monday, July 14, 2025

Distributor Monday #6: Amazon-MGM / One Battle...No Venice?

 DISTRIBUTION MONDAY #6: AMAZON-MGM



Today we take a look at the sixth distributor that has a common appearance profile at the Telluride Film festival and that is Amazon-MGM.  

Since starting this series of reviews of frequent TFF distribution companies I have been taking them in the order of the outfits that have been most prevalent at Telluride over the last nine years.  Amazon-MGM (Amazon Studios) has screened a dozen films at T-ride in that time.  Actually, it's been eight years in a row with at least one film being screened at TFF:

2016: Manchester by the Sea
2017: Wonderstruck
2018: Cold War, Peterloo
2019: The Aeronauts, The Report
2020: No Fest but would have screened All In: The Fight for Democracy
2021: Encounter
2022: Goodnight Oppy, Wildcat
2023: Saltburn, Cassandro
2024: Nickel Boys

So one or two films per year consistently since 2016 but trying to decipher what Amazon-MGM might have for the 2025 edition of TFF is challenging.

The big film for them this year is Luca Guadagnino's After the Hunt.  The other was Nia DaCosta's  Hedda but we now know that it will World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.  Once you get past those two there are a few other projects that just don't seem to have a lot of TFF juice.

Here's the rundown:

After the Hunt.  Dir. Luca Guadagnino*.  Stars: Julia Roberts, Ayo Ediberi, Andrew Garfield*, Chloe Zevigny*, Michael Stuhlbarg*.  Release date: Oct. 10th.  IMDb description:

A college professor finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star pupil levels an accusation against one of her colleagues and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come to light.

Guadagnino was at TFF in 2022 with Bones and All after it premiered at Venice.  Since then his two big 2024 releases- Challengers and Queer -both did not play Telluride.  Notably, Queer did play Venice.  So...

A Julia Roberts tribute would be cool though.


Preparation for the Next Life.  Director: Bing Liu.  Stars: Sebiye Behtiyar, Fred Hechinger.  Release date: TBD  IMDb description: 

Upon her release from a detention center, undocumented Uyghur immigrant Aishe moves to New York City, vowing to outrun the many things chasing her. In Queens, she falls in love with Skinner, a recently discharged army vet, and they help each other combat the complexities of starting a new life in America. A gritty love story about two unforgettable people the world forgot..

The thing that makes me list this title is that T-ride regular Barry Jenkins is a producer on the film as is Plan B's Dede Gardner.  Could be  a real sleeper choice.


The Map that Leads to You.  Director: Lasse Hallstrom.  Stars: Madelyn Cline, Josh Lucas.  Release date: TBD.  IMDb description:

A woman meets an enigmatic stranger on a European trip. Their instant attraction faces challenges from life, duty and secrets that change her life forever.

I include this mostly because of director Lasse Hallstrom's past films: The Cider house Rules, Chocolat and What's Eating Gilbert Grape.  Currently, it appears that Amazon-MGM may just send this direct to streaming.

Amazon-MGM has a couple of comedies (Oh.What.Fun. and The Pickup) neither of which seem TFF possibilities. 

Overall, After the Hunt probably has the best TFF shot but I just don't feel it.  At the moment I expect a Venice play and then to Toronto just as Queer did.  

Chances:

After the Hunt 30%
Preparation for the Next Life 25%
The Map that Leads to You 0%

Update as of 10:47 am EDT on 7-14-25-Amazon-MGM has dated The Map that Leads to You streaming debut on August 20th.

Up next Monday...Focus Features...and wooooo....they are loaded for 2025.


ONE BATTLE...NO VENICE?




World of Reel reported Saturday that Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another is likely to miss the Venice Film Festival.  It has been frequently mentioned that the film would probably World Premiere there.

Jordan Ruimy, who runs WOR, made clear that there is no official word as yet regarding One Battle but also claims that the source from Italy is reliable.

The post also talks a bit about whether that means the the film plays Toronto, which Ruimy suggests is the most likely scenario but which he also admits isn't a cinch either.  As for Telluride, Ruimy doesn't entirely rule it out writing, "Telluride? Probably not in the cards." but that's a 100% denial of the possibility.  Ruimy also writes the thinks the film almost has to land somewhere in the fall fest and it can't be New York as OBAA opens the same day as NYFF opens.

So where?  If at all?

Warners, who has the film, has had a fairly regular presence at Telluride.  Including the now defunct Warner Independent Pictures, here's what they have screened at Telluride in the time thatI've been attending:

2006: Infamous
2007: Rails and Ties
2012: Argo
2013: Gravity
2015: Black Mass
2016: Sully
2019: Motherless Brooklyn
2022: King Richard

And, of course, PTA was in Telluride in 2007 for the Daniel  Day-Lewis Tribute and screening of some of There Will Be Blood.

So...who knows?  Not me, but I'll keep my ear to the ground.


 


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Thursday, April 17, 2025

Cannes' Director's Fortnight and Crtitics' Week / Is This Thing On? a Telluride Possibility? / MegaDoc at T-ride? / Posters for One Battle

CANNES DIRECTOR'S FORTNIGHT AND CRITICS' WEEK



The Cannes Film Festival announced further titles this week for its 78th edition.  Both the films for the Director's Fortnight Section as well Cannes' Critics' Week  were named.  However in both instances no films immediately jump out as Telluride possibilities.  See what you think.

Here are the films announced for the Director's Fortnight section:

“Enzo” (Robin Campillo) 
­”Amour Apocalypse” (Anne Émond)
­”Brand New Landscape” (Yuiga Danzuka) 
­”Classe Moyenne” (Anthony Cordier)
­”Dangerous Animals” (dir. Sean Byrne)
­”La Danse Renards” (Valéry Carnoy) 
­”L’Engloutie” (Louise Hémon) 
­”Les Filles Désir” (Prïncia Car) 
­”Girl on Edge” (Jinghao Zhou) 
­”Indomptables” (Thomas Ngijol)
­”Kokhuo” (Lee Sang-il)
­”Lucky Lu” (Lloyd Lee Choi) 
­”Militantropos” (Smith/Gorlova/Mozgovyi)
­”Miroirs No. 3″ (Christian Petzold)
­”La Mort N’Existe Pas” (Félix Dufour-Laperrière)
­”The President’s Cake” (Hasan Hadi)
“Que Ma Volonté Soit Faite” (Julia Kowalski)
“Sorry Baby” (Eva Victor)

And for Critics' Week:

COMPETITION
Imago – Dir. Déni Oumar Pitsaev
Kika – Dir. Alexe Poukine
Left-Handed Girl – Dir. Shih-Ching Tsou
Nino – Dir. Pauline Loquès
Reedland – Dir. Sven Bresser
Sleepless City – Dir. Guillermo Galoe
A Useful Ghost – Dir. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke

SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Adam’s Interest – Dir. Laura Wandel (OPENING)
Baise en ville – Dir. Martin Jauvat
Love Letters – Dir. Alice Douard
Dandelion’s Odyssey – Dir. Momoko Seto (CLOSING)


IS THIS THING ON? A TELLURIDE POSSIBILITY

Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel reports that Bradley Cooper's next directorial effort, Is This Thing On? has wrapped production and:

"Searchlight is reportedly “really liking what they’ve seen so far,” and they’re planning a fall 2025 release. The movie is expected to make the rounds at fall festivals, including TIFF and Telluride."

Theis is the IMDb description for the film:

"A couple's marriage crumbles as they pursue separate paths - he explores stand-up comedy in NYC while she rediscovers herself. Together, they learn to redefine their relationship and family dynamics amid major life changes."

The film stars Cooper as well as Will Arnett (who co-wrote) and Laura Dern.  No release date has been offiically announced.



MEGADOC AT T-RIDE?

World of Reel also reports that Mike Figgis' documentary about the making of Francis Ford Copplola's Megalopolis, MegaDoc may also be in play for TFF#52.  In his story from yesterday he quotes Figgis as saying:

"Last month, “MegaDoc” was privately screened in London for “friends” and “family,” and the event included a post-screening Q&A with Figgis, conducted by filmmaker Gareth Evans (“The Raid”). In case you’re wondering, Figgis says that he aims to officially premiere the film at “Venice or Telluride.” 



POSTERS FOR ONE BATTLE AFTER THE OTHER

This week saw the release of posters for Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After the Other.  Up until last week this news wouldn't have likely made it into the Blog but with the release date being moved to Sept. 26th, well, a guy can dream, can't he?

Here's a couple:





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Monday, March 31, 2025

Cannes Announcement Draws Near / One Battle Trailer Drops / Something Else to Keep an Eye On

 CANNES ANNOUNCEMENT DRAWS NEAR




We'll get the bulk of the Cannes lineup for Palme competition as well as Une Certain Regard, Out-of-Competition and Special Screenings on April 10th.  Between now and then, I'll be adding Cannes Guesswork from Variety (today) and then Next Best Picture and World of Reel next week prior to the actual announcement.

For today, I've drawn from Variety's Cannes spec piece published March 14th.  From that piece here are ten Cannes to TFF possibilities:


After the Hunt/Amazon-MGM/Luca Guadagnino
Couture/No Distribution/Alice Winocour
Die, My Love/No Distribution/Lynne Ramsay
Orphan/No Distribution/Laszlo Nemes
The Chronology of Water/No Distribution/Kristen Stewart
The Disappearance of Joseph Mengele/No Distribution/Kirill Serebrennikov
The History of Sound/Mubi/Oliver Hermanus
The Mastermind/Mubi/Kelly Reichardt
The Way of the Wind/No Distribution/Terrence Malick
The Young Mother's Home/No Distribution/The Dardennes Brothers

Variety also unequivocally reports that Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia and Julian Schnabel's In the Hands of Dante will not be playing Cannes.



ONE BATTLE TRAILER DROPS

So remember a couple of week's ago when Warners moved Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another to a Sept. 26th release date opening the door to a potential selection by Telluride and/or Venice and/or Toronto?  That was followed by small teaser for a forthcoming full trailer.  Then, the full trailer dropped last week.

Here the trailer is from YouTube:



I'm intrigued.

On a related note, there is a good deal of hubbub about wrangling between PTA and Warners over the final cut of the film that may be related to reported test screenings.  

I'm keeping my eyes and ears open.


SOMETHING ELSE TO KEEP AN EYE ON




I'm sure a lot of you saw the news this past week that A24, Barry Jenkins and Zendaya are all on board for a biopic (of a sort) about the life of Ronnie (Bennett) Spector.  That combination is eye catching and could be Telluride material for, say, 2026?

Details are sparse but you can check out these stories from last week about the project:







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Monday, March 24, 2025

Another Look at Early Oscar Predictions / First Look at One Battle After Another

ANOTHER LOOK AT EARLY OSCAR PREDICITONS






I decided to switch things up a bit and go back to early Oscar predictions as a way to mine for possible TFF #52 films.  I'll use that metric again on Thursday and then return to Cannes speculation next week.

Today we take a look at the 2026 Oscar predictions from Mark Johnson, The Awards Alchemist, housed at Awards Watch.  These are the films Mark has in the mix for Oscar that I feel are possible choices for Telluride:

After the Hunt/Amazon-MGM/Luca Guadagnino
Anemone/Focus/Ronan Day-Lewis
The Ballad of a Small Player/Netflix/Edward Berger
Bugonia/Focus/Yorgos Lanthimos
Deliver Me from Nowhere/Searchlight/Scott Cooper
Die My Love/No Distribution/Lynne Ramsay
Eleanor the Great/Sony Pictures Classics/Scarlett Johansson
Eternity/A24/David Freyne
Frankenstein/Netflix/Guillermo Del Toro
Hamnet/Focus/Chloe Zhao
The History of Sound/Focus/Oliver Hermanus
Is This Thing On?/Searchlight/Bradley Cooper
Jay Kelly/Netflix/Noah Baumbach
Marty Supreme/A24/Josh Safdie
Pressure/Focus/Anthony Maras



FIRST LOOK AT ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

We got a brief glimpse of Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another with a teaser that dropped last Thursday.  I got interested in the new PTA film after its release date was moved to September 26th which means that it could play Telluride (or Venice or Toronto or all of them or none of them).  The teaser was released as a morsel to chew on prior to the release of what is expected to be a full trailer sometime this week.  I'll be eagerly anticipating that and hope to have it here in my next post.

Here's the teaser from YouTube:



More on Thursday...





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Thursday, March 20, 2025

Another View of Cannes / A New Date Spurs Speculation

 ANOTHER VIEW OF CANNES



Here's another look at films that could play Cannes in May and then Telluride in June.  This rumination comes from Jordan Ruimy of World of Reel.  He's been steadily tracking Cannes title possibilities for months.  

Die, My Love/No Distribution/Lynne Ramsay
The Disappearance of Joseph Mengele/No Distribution/Kirill Serebrennikov
In the Hand(s) of Dante/No Distribution/Julian Schnabel
The Love That Remains/No Distribution/Hylnur Palmason
The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol/Sony Pictures Classics/Sylvain Chomet
The Mastermind/Mubi/Kelly Reichardt
Orphan/No Distribution/Laszlo Nemes 
The Way of the Wind/No Distribution/Terrence Malick
The Young Mother's Home/No Distribution/The Dardennes Brothers




A NEW DATE SPURS SPECULATION




Warner Brothers dropped a stunner of a piece pf news yesterday that Paul Thomas Anderson's latest, One Battle After Another has been re-dated from August 8th to September 26th.  The announcement opened a door to speculation about the reasons for the move including the possibility of a fall film festival premiere.

Anderson attended TFF in 2007 for the tribute to Daniel Day-Lewis which included a screening of a few minutes of There Will Be Blood.  His track record with fests shows no favoritism regarding any particular fest.  Here's the track record:

Hard Eight-Sundance
Boogie Nights-Toronto
Magnolia-No fest
Punch Drunk Love-Cannes
There Will Be Blood-Telluride (sort of) then Fantastic Fest
The Master-Venice
Inherent Vice-New York Film Fest
Phantom Thread-Premiered in New York then the Palm Springs Film Fest
Licorice Pizza-Premiered in Los Angeles then the Santa Barbara International Film festival


Gold Derby name checked T-ride specifically as a possible film fest destination for the new film saying:

"It (the new date) also positions Anderson’s highly anticipated movie in the heart of awards season and opens up the possibility of a fall festival launch at either the Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, or Toronto International Film Festival."

Both World of Reel and The Film Stage suggest the possibility of an appearance at a "fall film festival".

As you might expect, I'll be keeping up with developments in this matter.  Frankly, I think it's a long shot at best, but...




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