I'm Back!/Odds and Ends/More Lists/Oscar at Midpoint

Good Thursday!

I'M BACK

Confirmation came yesterday afternoon that I/The Blog have been accredited as an honest to God "journalist" for the 39th Telluride Film Festival.  This is my second year to get the yellow lanyard that comes with accreditation.

This year I was able to get confirmation a full month earlier than last year.  It will be interesting to see if that makes some difference.  I felt like last year that I might have missed out on some material from the fest and from distributors because of the late accreditation.

Also,last year,  there were no party invites...so maybe that changes this year.  Fingers crossed!

ODDS AND ENDS


As I get to the end of this week, I'm winding down the comprehensive look at distributors and producers that have had recent connections to the Telluride Fest and if that portends anything for 2012.  Today I'm taking a look at peripheral players and their connections...

Like Lipsync Productions (UK)
2011: Shame, We Need to Talk About Kevin
2010: The First Grader
2009: Red Riding Trilogy

2012 possibles: Now Is Good, Great Expectations

Pathe (Fr)
2010: 127 Hours, The Illusionist
2009: Farewell

2012 possibles: Nous York, David and Madame Hansen

CineCinema (Fr)
2011: Goodbye First Love, Le Harve, The Artist, The Kid with a Bike
2010: The Princess of Montpensier, Of Gods and Men, The Illusionist
2009: Farewell, Inferno, A Prophet, Coco Before Chanel
2007: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

2012 possible: An Open Heart

Medienboard Berlin-Brandenberg (De)
2011; Goodbye First Love, The Turin Horse, In Darkness
2010; Le Quattro Volte
2008: Waltz with Bashir, Flame and Citron

2012 possible: Holy Motors

Paramount Vantage (US)
2007: There Will Be Blood, Into the Wild, Margot at the Wedding
2006: Babel

2012 possible (yes, after all this time) Not Fade Away



MORE LISTS

A couple of the film bloggers I tend to obsess over have posted their lists of 20-25 films they're hot for that are expected by the end of the year.  You might enjoy a look at them.

FirstShowung.net:
http://www.firstshowing.net/2012/20-movies-you-can-still-look-forward-to-in-the-second-half-of-2012/

Among this list of 20 are included Telluride possibles such as: "Argo", "The Master" and "Life of Pi"

Rope of Silicon:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/top-25-most-anticipated-movies-for-the-second-half-of-2012/2/

Among this list of 25 are included Telluride possibles such as: "Gambit", "The Silver Linings Playbook", "The Sessions" (come on programmers!), "Life of Pi", "Zero Dark Thirty", "Argo", "The Master", "Anna Karenina" and "Seven Psychopaths".

Of course there is mention of the BIG DOGS that are unlikely Telluride Selections: "Lincoln", "Cloud Atlas", "Les Miserables", "The Great Gatsby" and "Django Unchained".

OSCAR AT MID-POINT OF 2012

Mark Harris and Zach Baron/Grantland Oscarmetrics takes a look at where the Oscar race might be half way through the year.  Take a look:
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8157008/academy-awards-summer-movies-prometheus-hunger-games-avengers

more later...


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Diablo Directs/Tinker Tailor Has A Trailer/Pathe at Telluride

Diablo Cody purportedly the morning after her Oscar win for Juno (via Thompson on Hollywood)

DIABLO WILL DIRECT

We have been speculating for a long time that we're pretty likely to see "Young Adult," the Diablo Cody penned, Jason Reitman directed dramedy featuring Charlize Theron at this year's Telluride Film Festival.  The Pair teamed up in 2007 at T-ride to put "Juno" on the path to success.  And Reitman returned to Telluride in 2009 with "Up in the Air."  So, although I don't think that it's a lock, I do think it's very likely. 

In the midst of all of this speculation came the news last week that Reitman was already set for his next project..."Labor Day."  I immediately slated it as a possible selection for TFF #39. 

Now word all over the Internet yesterday that Cody will slide into the director's chair herself for her next script.  Cody has penned a comedy entitled "Lamb of God" that she will calling the shots for (word is that Reitman will also be a producer for this film).  Consequently, I'll be adding it to the "possibles" list for next year's Telluride Film Festival.

Here are a couple of links to posts about the announcement yesterday:

From HitFix:
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/awards-campaign/posts/diablo-cody-will-make-her-directorial-debut-with-lamb-of-god

The Wrap:
http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/diablo-cody-make-feature-directorial-debut-lamb-god-28699

Thompson on Hollywood:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2011/06/29/mandate_buys_diablo_cody_script_lamb_of_god_for_her_to_direct

And from Cody herself:
http://honesttoblr.tumblr.com/post/7073255285/change-of-direction

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER TRAILER

Tomas Alfredson's "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" has already started to generate a lot of buzz for possible Oscar love, especially Gary Oldman who plays the role of George Smiley.  There has been some thought that it could possibly be on the list of films for the 38th Telluride Film Festival or perhaps a "sneak".  Yesterday, a teaser/trailer started popping up in many places and it looks terrific. 

I have included the link for the embedded trailer at The Playlist.  Playlist also says that TTSS is a virtual lock for the Venice Film Festival, which, as I've said before in this space, isn't a death sentence in as far as playing at T-ride, but probably reduces the chances that will happen.  Expect one or two films to make the crossover between Venice and Telluride.

Here's the link to The Playlist post and the trailer...enjoy.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/watch_get_all_kinds_of_goosebumps_with_outstanding_teaser_trailer_for_tinke/

The TTSS IMDb page is here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340800/

OUR CONTINUING LOOK AT STUDIOS/PRODUCTION HOUSE/DISTRIBUTORS

I've been looking this week at various film companies and their recent connections to TFF to attempt to expose links and make deductive guesses at what we could see in September.  Today let's examine the French film outfit Pathe...

Pathe films at the Telluride Film Festival over the past 4-5 years:

2006: Volver
2007: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
2008: Slumdog Millionaire
2009: Farewell, Bright Star
2010: The Illusionist, 127 Hours

So what do they have their fingers on that could play in 2011?  Two films are possible.  Both played at the Cannes Film Festival, but neither is a cinch.  More likely is probably Pedro Almodovar's "The Skin I Inhabit."  It was generally well received at Cannes and Almodovar films have had a significant presence at Telluride over the years...but remember, his last film "Broken Embraces" did NOT play at TFF.

The other Pathe possibility is "Pater" (Father) directed by Alain Cavalier which was a virtual non-entity as far as response from Cannes was concerned.  "Lukewarm" might be the best way to sum up the reaction it received there.  Ioncinema's collective critical scorecard had it with an anemic 2.1.  So, my feeling s that it is an unlikely presence at TFF #38.

Tomorrow we'll look at another French film company that also plays at Telluride and see what they have to offer as TFF #38 possibilities.