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
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
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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This time around it's Erik Anderson of Awards Watch taking his stab at early Oscar predicting. Among his Best Picture possibilities, the films that seem to me to be to be worth keeping an eye over the summer for clues about the possibility that they could play TFF #48 are:
Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel was up yesterday with a piece about where Paul Thomas Anderson's highly anticipated untitled project (working title Soggy Bottom) might land if it is a aprt of a film festival debut.
There is a good deal of speculation about it screening at Cannes and Ruimy reports that the French fest wants the film badly. But Ruimy also reports that there is some hesitance to follow that path. Ruimy cites the possibility of the film needing more time for editing and a general feeling that Cannes may not draw a lot of American film due to ongoing Covid concerns.
Ruimy suggests that there is some feeling within among "distributors behind his latest film" should wait for "wait it out for the fall festivals instead (Toronto, Venice, Telluride, New York)".
That's the first solid inclusion of Telluride in the conversation as a possible landing spot for the film that I have run across.
Telluride fans are more than aware that the Aretha Franklin documentary Amazing Grace had a difficult legal path to its ultimate release including three different attempts to schedule it for a Telluride berth. The third time was the proverbial charm as it played as a part of the program for TFF #46.
Now new legal hubbub surrounds the film as director Allan Elliot pursues a law suit against Sydney Pollack's attorney for causing damage to the film's value upon its eventual release. A judge in California ruled earlier this week that the suit could continue.
In a normal year, I'd have made a hard turn from Oscar related stuff into serious tea-leaf reading about the possible films that we could see at TFF #48. The Oscars would have happened two-three weeks back and as such, I'd be knee deep in trying to parse spec pieces about possible Oscar players for the coming year. Which ones feel like TFF film choices? I'd be eye-balling stories about possible Cannes selections and which of them might make the Cannes/Telluride double play?
But, as you know, it's still not a normal year. Oscar is still five weeks away. Cannes plans are still unsettled. Maybe a version of that fest happens in July. Maybe it gets pushed to an even later date. So, speculation about what films might end up as a Cannes selection is a sea of shifting sand.
Nevertheless, I was perusing the internet for items of interest to this blog and came across a post that included some early thoughts on films that could be potential films for Oscar talk at the end of 2021. So, using that as a jumping off point, I've snagged some of those titles as worth at least thinking about as far as a TFF #48 play might be concerned. I've opted to list these alphabetically.
Bergman Island
Blonde
The Card Counter
Don't Look Up
Dune
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
The French Dispatch
The Last Duel
Next Goal Wins
Nightmare Alley
Petite Maman
The Power of the Dog
Soggy Bottom
Stillwater
The Tragedy of MacBeth
Some of the above have a really good chance of being Telluride films (Card Counter, Bergman Island, Power of the Dog). Others (Soggy Bottom, The French Dispatch, Dune) seem less likely.
SOGGY BOTTOM HAS A DATE
Bradley Cooper on the set of "Soggy Bottom" (via World of reel)
Of interest regarding "Soggy Bottom", which is still officially the "Untitled Paul Thomas Anderson Project", is the announcement this past week that the film has an announced release date. World of Reel reports the film is set for release on Sept. 10th which gives it time to play at Cannes (maybe), Venice (maybe) and/or Telluride. The date makes a bow at Toronto unlikely but not impossible, as TIFF starts on Sept. 9th.
I've written about this a couple of times before. I have a folder in the email account that I primarily use as the conduit for the news I think might be handy to have for the blog. Every now and then I clean it out.
I still have emails in the folder that date from as early as 2014...because you never know when an announced project will actually get up and go. The earliest thing in there right now is announcements that Brit director Steve McQueen's next project would be a Paul Robeson biopic. That project is still listed on my IMDb Pro account as a "project in development".
Anyway, Among the emails I just removed were tidbits for TFF selections The Way I See It, Charlatan, Mainstream, Judy and current Oscar frontrunner Nomadland.
I also dumped emails that at various points I had saved regarding The Trial of the Chicago 7, Mank, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and 1917 among others.
So what else is still sitting in there? The most recent announcements that I have culled are for:
Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Supporting Actress updated since I last posted this category on Nov. 30th. A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses. TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.
1) Amanda Seyfried/Mank (2)
2) Olivia Colman/The Father (1)
3) Yuh-jung Youn/Minari (5)
4) Ellen Burstyn/Pieces of a Woman (3)
5) Glenn Close/Hillbilly Elegy (4)
6) Maria Bakalova/Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (6)
7) Helena Zengel/News of the World (7)
8) Saoirse Ronan/Ammonite (8)
9) Jodie Foster/The Mauritanian (-)
10) Candace Bergen/Let Them Talk (-)
Other possibles: Dominique Fishback/Judas and the Black Messiah, Swankie/Nomadland
Hot: Yuh-jung Youn/Minari. Jodie Foster/The Mauritanian, Candace Berger/Let Them Talk
Not: Lily Collins/Mank, Swankie/Nomadland
Coming on Monday in the first MTFB post for 2021: Best Supporting Actor
DEADLINE'S MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS OF 2021 (with an emphasis on film festivals)
Andreas Wiseman and Tom Grater have curated a list of films thought to be likely to be released during the 2021 calendar year with particular emphasis on what might be probable/possible fare for film festivals. With Sundance already having released their lineup, these films are those that are most likely to be named for whatever form of fest that will exist for Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Toronto and, of course Telluride.
I have glanced through the list and come up with a Telluride possible list (some of which is also wishful thinking/hopes and dreams). They are:
Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog (Netflix)
Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth (A24)
Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Big Bug (Netflix)
Ari Folman's Where Is Anne Frank?
Asghar Farhadi's A Hero
Zhang Yimou's Impasse
Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch (Searchlight)
Mike Mills' C'mon C'mon (A24)
Paul Thomas Anderson's Untitled Project (MGM)
Michael Showalter's The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Searchlight)
I've been keeping it under wraps for a couple of weeks, but as the calendar is set to turn the page and mercifully bring 2020 to a close ( and because I've had a second email), I can reveal that I will be back for the third consecutive year as one of Movie City News' Gurus of Gold.
I'm not sure when our first post will be out...soon for sure, after the first of the year. I'm also not sure who my fellow Gurus will be this year. I'm interested in finding that out as well. At any rate, you can be sure that I'll let you know all that as quickly as I can.
I want to say thanks to head Guru Wrangler Ray Pride for asking me back.
Welcome back from the weekend. Hope yours was good. Mine was as I got to spend it in Jackson Hole, Wyoming...Gorgeous!
Now on to today's MTFB:
AND I'M BACK
Yes, it's true. I received my email notification from the Telluride Film Festival that I have been accredited as a journalist for the run of the fest. Here's the pictorial proof of that acceptance:
I want to thank the Telluride Film Festival and especially the folks that coordinate the press for the fest for accepting my application. It is an honor.
I'll try to make it work for those of you that read this space regularly.
30 ANTICIPATED FILMS AND TELLURIDE
Business Insider has posted a story that focuses on 30 films that they think are the most anticipated films for the fall season. Among them are films that I have had on my TFF #44 radar:
Battle of the Sexes
Blade Runner 2049
mother!
Call Me By Your Name
Mary Magdalene
Molly's Game
Untitled Paul Thomas Anderson Film (Phantom Thread)
The Dayton/Faris film Battle of the Sexes has a lot of potential TFF heat this last couple of weeks. Last Friday the film was at the #4 spot on my second edition of Ten Bets for 2017.
In the midst of the heat, I stumbled across this story from Entertainment Weekly in which Emma Stone, who plays Billie Jean King in the film, suggests that there are parallels between the film and our current social status.
To say that there has been only a slight relationship over the past few years between Focus Features and the Telluride Film Festival would be accurate. Since 2006 Focus has been repped at Telluride all of three times:
2006- Catch a Fire
2012- Hyde Park on Hudson
2015- Suffragette
In all three cases the directors involved had appeared with a film at TFF before. Phil Noyce who directed Catch a Fire had Rabbit Proof Fence there in 2002. Roger Michell who was the director of Hyde Park on Hudson had Venus in 2006 and Persuasion in 1995 and Suffragette was directed by Sarah Gavron who had been represented at Telluride in 2007 with Brick Lane, Losing Touch in 2000 and This Little Life in 2003. So, if you're looking to see if Focus might be back with a film in 2017, that could be a factor to look at and Focus has some films that might be on anyone's wish list.
Starting with the latest from Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Day Lewis, who suggests that he will retire from acting after this film. The film is currently called Phantom Thread and is scheduled for release on Dec. 25th.
PTA and DDL were in Telluride in 2007 for a tribute to Day Lewis but I fully expect that the film won't be finished in time for Labor Day. Chances: 0%.
Darkest Hour with what is said to be a star turn and Oscar play for Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill. Darkest Hour is directed by Jow Wright of Atonement fame. Wright has no T-ride connection that I can track down so despite a Nov. 22nd release date...Chances: 10%.
Victoria and Abdul starring Judi Dench as the British monarch and directed by Stephen Frears probably has the best shot as Frears has been at Telluride in the past with a tribute to him in 1987 that included Sammy and Rosie Get Laid as well as Walter and June and in 2010 with Tamara Drewe. Victoria and Abdul opens on Sept. 22nd. Chances: 35%.
FIRST PORTRAIT (TRAILER) FOR FIRST PORTRAIT
Outside contender for Telluride inclusion, Stanley Tucci's Final Portrait dropped a trailer yesterday. Here it is from YouTube:
Final Portrait stars Geoffrey Rush and Armie Hammer. It played Berlin back in February and is in Sony Pictures Classics stable. It currently has no U.S. release date.
Good Thursday to you. Here's some film stuff that may or may not have anything to do with TFF #44:
DOWNSIZING AND SUBURBICON AT CINEMACON: REACTIONS AND RELEASE DATES
George Clooney and Matt Damon at CinemaCon this week (via The Hollywood Reporter)
Both Alexander Payne's Downsizing and George Clooney's Suburbicon have been well received after the Paramount presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas this week.
Check here for the reactions coming out of Vegas for these two films which both feature Matt Damon and which could both find the Telluride program in September.
Suburbicon will be released Nov. 3rd. Downsizing will be released Dec. 22nd.
There it is. The official poster for the 2017 edition of the Cannes Film Festival. The poster features Cannes favorite Claudia Cardinale. Telluride fans may remember that Cardinale was a tribute recipient in T-ride in 2010.
His last film, The Search, played Cannes and was drubbed critically and resulted in a rather quiet disappearance and certainly no berth at Telluride but his latest, Redoubtable, which focuses on a real life love story from the life of film pioneer Jean Luc-Goddard has been getting significant pre-Cannes buzz.
Just this last couple of days, we began seeing stories focusing on the film, including some pics (see above). That indicates to me that Redoubtable is a likely Cannes selection. We'll find out, in all likelihood, on April 13th when the bulk of the Cannes lineup is announced.
Here's the latest...Paul Thomas Anderson's new film set in the world of high fashion and starring Daniel Day Lewis has been dated for release on Dec. 25th. The Film Stage reports that its working title is Phantom Thread.
Insert obligatory note here about its unlikelihood for Telluride (for a number of reasons) as well as the expected wish that it would magically screen there.
Various outlest reported yesterday that Cannes favorite Aquarius had been acquired for U.S. distribution by Netflix. The streaming service also picked up Divines, a thriller that also played Cannes in the Directors Fortnight. Aquarius earned strong reviews and a very solid combined 7.22 rating on the Reini Urban critics' collection.
The film also earned strong notices for its star Sonia Braga who, many Cannes observers thought, might well have been the best actress winner. That didn't happen but there has been some talk of Braga being a potential Oscar candidate this year for her work in the film.
The Netflix play may make Aquarius a serious Telluride consideration. Netflix had a substantail presence there last year with both Beasts of No Nation and Winter on Fire making the 2015 lineup. Up until this acquisition, I'm not really sure that Netflix had a truly strong candidate for T-ride. Maybe War Machine...maybe...
In as far as Divines is concerned, it could be a possible consideration, but it was substantially less well received critically than Aquarius. I'm not thinking that it's high on the list for T-ride.
Here's the coverage of the announcement from yesterday:
Updating a couple of stories that I covered within the last week. First, the news that Paul Thomas Anderson may be on the way to making a new film with Daniel Day Lewis set in the fashion industry in New York in the 1950's. Vulture.com published an interesting speculative piece about a possible fashion icon upon whose life and career the film might be based.
Late start to the day in NYC after a huge night. Enjoyed watching Shuffle Along Or The Making of the Musical Sensation and All That Followed with Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Billy Porter. The show has 10 Tony nominations including acting noms for Brandon Victor Dixon for Featured Male Performance as Eubie Blake and Adrienne Warren for Featured Female in the duel role of Gertrude Sanders and Florence Mills, The show is also nominated for Best New Musical and choreography from Savion Glover.
My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the spectacular performance and were then fortunate enough through the efforts of Richard Riaz Yoder (who is in the cast and is marvelous), former teacher Rose Mary Baker and her former student Erin McCracken to get backstage after the show.
As a result we met and/or spoke with cast members including Brain Stokes Mitchell who introduced himself as "Stokes". I said later Mitchell was cooler in that introduction than I will be my whole life. Here's me and Kristy meeting the Broadway legend:
We also had the good fortune to meet someone who was in the audience watching the show along with us (actually one row back and about half a dozen seats to my right). I told Kristy that I thought it was very likely that our fellow audience member was likely to go backstage after the show as well and he did. Consequently we also got to meet and speak with another Broadway legend: Mr. Tommy Tune:
Both gentlemen were gracious and kind. We exchanged words with Mitchell about our profession as teachers which lead him to reveal that an incredible number of his family are teachers as well, Tommy Tune and I talked about Oklahoma. His mother was born in a small, small town about 35 miles from were I grew up.
Kristy and I were dizzy. She also spoke briefly with Billy Porter and I got to rub elbows briefly with Audra McDonald who regular readers may remember that I have a crush on and have had for years. You might recall that I met her here in NYC two years ago:
Finally, here's a shot of our host last night who is phenom in the show and was so generous to bring a couple of small town teachers behind the scenes for one of the most moving and thrilling experiences of their lives. Thank you again a million times over Richard Riaz Yoder:
Admittedly, it's not Telluride related but it was very, very cool.
ANDERSON AND DAY LEWIS: TOGETHER AGAIN?
PTA and DDL via Indiewire/Shutterstock
Now to Telluride-y stuff. The interweb went crazy yesterday as news seeped out that Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Day Lewis who collaborated so brilliantly together in 2007 on There Will Be Blood may be getting ready to work together again.
Details from multiple sources suggest that the two are working on a film that would be set in the New York fashion world of 1950. Word also is that Megan Ellison's Annapurna Films will be producing.
The film, if it comes to fruition, would certainly be in high demand for any big name festival. Anderson and Day Lewis were in Telluride in 2007 for a tribute to Lewis that included a preview for TWBB.
Would they return to Telluride? That's unclear. Day Lewis has been a couple of times at least. 2007 as mentioned above and also 1989. Anderson has been rumored not have been enamored of his 2007 experience but who knows?
It would be a great "get" and I'll watch anything PTA does. we'll be keeping track of the buzz as the film goes forward...assuming that it does.
Less than a week before the announcement of the lineup for the Cannes Film Fest, Fox Searchlight has revealed that they will release Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Birdman" on October 17. Multiple source reported the news on Friday night/Saturday morning. In the midst of that reporting was a good deal of disagreement about whether the film is ready for a Cannes debut. Some reports indicated that the film will not be ready for the Croisette (late May/early June is mentioned as the likely time frame for the film to be finished by Deadline.com). I tend to fall into that camp, though there were a number of sources that suggested that they still believed that the dark comedy would show up on the Cannes list.
Ultimately, there was also a good bit of speculation that the film is very possible for a Telluride bow...including this line from Kris Tapley's report:
"...I certainly expect it to do at least Telluride..." and Tapley also writes that Inarritu has been, "...a big fan of (Telluride) since his first trip there."
I told Inarritu last fall in T-ride when I saw him just before the first ever screening of "12 Years a Slave" (also from Fox Searchlight) that I was in hopes that "Birdman" would be playing this year's fest. He just smiled.
Here are links to any number of posts focusing on "Birdman's" release date:
Jeff Wells/Hollywood Elsewhere published this weekend that Paul Thomas Anderson's highly anticipated "Inherent Vice" is also unlikely to be announced on Thursday as a part of the Cannes lineup. Wells claims, however, that its more likely to do fall festivals and he specifically mentions "Telluride/Venice and Toronto. I'm STILL keeping my anticipation to a minimum but it still raises the films Telluride profile from the "Near zero chance" category to at least a "low possibility".
Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice" starring Joaquin Phoenix continues to film in and around Los Angeles. PTA fan site Cigarettes and Redvines posted a slew of on-set photos in the last couple of days featuring Phoenix and Martin Short.
Probably the world's most important animated film festival has come to a conclusion in France. The Annecy Animation festival was a contributor to last year's Telluride fest. "Rio 2096" won the top prize, the Crystal Award. Other award winners and a complete wrap-up of the festival, check out this from Variety:
I had been thinking that the upcoming documentary on J.D. Salinger had a shot to be a Telluride film...but I have discovered that the release date is now set for Sept. 6...the weekend after TFF concludes. That doesn't make it impossible and I can actually see a scenario wherein The Weinstein Company might think the immediate opening after a Telluride weekend might make a lot of sense. So, don't rule it out completely.
All that to get to this...it has a trailer...
Here are a couple of posts that accompanied the release of the trailer this week:
I told you yesterday that the rumors were flying that Paul Thomas Anderson was going to sneak "The Master" in San Francisco tonight...and that's what's going to happen. It's showing at 8pm (PDT) at the Castro Theater in glorious 70mm. Congrats to you lucky "Golden Gaters" out there and particularly friend of the blog Eugene Novikov...
Look, I love San Fran...I was just there a couple of weeks ago...so couldn't you have sneaked it then , Mr. Anderson?
Here's the teaser trailer for the film that highlights tonight's presentation:
Wish I was there...
INVITATION
Please join me and our hosts, Mitzi and Larry Mallard of The River Club at the "Club" on Friday, Aug. 31 at 5:00pm for the Second ever "Guide to the 'Ride; Flow of the SHOW". Refreshments and conversation will ensue...
IMPOSSIBLE TRAILER
A film that could pop up at Telluride next week that has quietly gained some buzz is Juan Antonio Bayona's The Impossible" starring Ewan MacGregor and Naomi Watts. In previous posts I've been able to link to the international trailer. Now there is a U.S. specific trailer for the film. Here it is via the post yesterday from FirstShowing.net:
I'm hoping to be able to directly link to the trailer by tomorrow.
TEN THAT COULD
Over the next three days I'm going to look at an additional 30 films that could make the cut for Telluride this year...that's in addition to this week's "Ten Bets" (from yesterday's post: http://michaelstelluridefilm.blogspot.com/2012/08/ten-bets-9invitationmaster.html ) and I'll do it in 10 film increments...with comments!
"The Hunt" Thomas Vintenberg...well received at Cannes and an award winner for Mads Mikkelsen as Best Actor, "The Hunt" is the kind of film that certainly is often a choice for Telluride. Chances- 50%
"Reality" Matteo Garrone...were it not for Garrone's legal issues and middling reviews I'd probably still have this film in or near the "Ten Bets" list. As it is, it still stands a reasonable chance to play. A Cannes choice and Garrone has a Telluride pedigree...Chances-50%.
"Like Someone in Love"...This film also has been on the "Ten Bets" list earlier this summer and, just like "Reality" has that Cannes thing going for it and director Abbas Kiraostami's past presence at Telluride as another marker making it a possibility. Chances-40%
"The East" from Zal Batmanglij...(co-written and starring Brit Marling)...Sundance darlings for "Another Earth" and "Sound of My Voice" I could see this making a Telluride appearance as it is distributed from Fox Searchlight which is usually a serious player at Telluride but whose playlist as we approach Labor Day is slight. Chances-35%
"You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" From Alain Renais and a Cannes choice where it was modestly well received. The fact that it's a Cannes selection from a legend like Renais makes it a Telluride possible. Chances-35%
"Song for Marion" from Paul Andrew Williams. I have had this film on the Telluride list for a long time. It has spent a good chunk of the summer on the "Ten Bets" list and were it not Toronto's closer it would still be on the "Ten Bets" list. From The Weinstein Company, I still think it has an excellent shot at the lineup. Terrence Stamp and Vanessa Redgrave star. Maybe a Redgrave tribute??? Chances-65%
"The Sapphires" from director Wayne Blair and The Weinstein Company, this played out of competition in Cannes to good reviews and its sort of off beat subject matter...a girl group from the outback of Australia touring Vietnam during that war...makes me think it has a real shat at being included. Chances-45%
"The Angel's Share" from director Ken Loach. It's reception as Cannes makes me think it is at least possible for T-ride. Chances-25%
"Something in the Air" from director Olivier Assassyas. I'm still pretty bullish on this film that has spent a large portion of the summer on my "Ten Bets"...Assassyas' past with Telluride argues fro its inclusion. Chances-65%
"Hannah Arendt"...from director Margarethe Von Trotta. She's a past tributee...Barbara Sukova (playing the title roll) has been a T-ride guest as has co-star Janet McTeer. Its inclusion wouldn't surprise me. Chances- 50%
WINDOM
Actor William Windom died on Sunday. He was 88. Known for T.V. mostly, he also did film and stage work. Memorably, for me anyway, in "To Kill a Mockingbird" as the County Attorney who has to face off with Atticus Finch as he prosecutes the Brock Peters character and in the T.V. movie "The Homecoming" from the Earl Hamner story that would lead to "The Waltons"...he played a turkey thief.
I met Windom in the mid 1980's as he was booked to a Thurber retrospective by our local humanities council. He could do the Thurber as an outgrowth of his Thurber-based character/T.V. program "My World and Welcome to It". Windom was nothing short of kind to a young drama/debate teacher in the middle of the Oklahoma Panhandle and even taught my buddy and I a bar trick to cadge drinks from the unsuspecting. It involved tying a cigarette into a knot, untying it and still being able to smoke it...no kidding.
That's a memory I have always treasured and I have the autographed Thurber collection to prove he was actually in my auditorium.
You can tell that TFF #39 is closing in as the readership on the blog is increasing and I get more comments. Yesterday and anonymous reader pointed out that my note about a possible Clint Eastwood tribute was unlikely as Eastwood was a previous Telluride honoree. Um...yes...Clint was tributed in 1990 with "White Hunter, Black Heart" presented as a part of those festivities. So, no Clint tribute, but Tapley and Thompson still think the film (and probably Eastwood) have a reasonably good chance of being in Telluride next week.
A note or two news wise...Director Tony Scott appears to have committed suicide in Los Angeles last night and long time actor William Windom has died. Scott was 68 and Windom was 88.
I've got an interesting William Windom story I'll try to share tomorrow.
TEN BETS #9
By this time last year, I think I was posting up to 20 guesses...maybe not as sure this year...
Last week's "Ten Bets":
1) Rust and Bone
2) Hyde Park on Hudson
3) Midnight's Children
4) Amour
5) No
6) The Central Park Five
7) Bromberg's Chaplin
8) Pixar's "Rainy Day Tales"
9) On the Road
10) Beyond the Hills
This week's "Ten Bets":
1) Rust and Bone
2) Hyde Park on Hudson
3) Midnight's Children
4) Amour
5) No
6) The Iceman
7) The Central Park Five
8) Bromberg's Chaplin
9) On the Road
10) Beyond the Hills
If the past is any indication, this next ten days should see a definite pick up in chatter about the TFF #39 program.
INVITATION
Here's your reminder to come along to the party...The Second Annual(?) Guide to the 'Ride; Flow of the SHOW" is set for Friday, Aug. 31 at 5:00 pm at The River Club in Telluride (550 Depot). It should be fun.
MASTER SNEAKING
Paul Thomas Anderson continued over the weekend his semi-subversive sneak previews of "The Master". Saturday night included two screenings in different theaters in New York City. The rumor in the last 24 hours or so is that it pops up in San Francisco tomorrow night.
At this point I am this whole parade has shaken my attempts to clearly evaluate its chances of playing Telluride. Frankly, I don't know if the "sneaks" make it more or less likely that we see it at the Palm in a few days. This whole "sneak preview" road show is unlike anything I've ever encountered since I've been writing this blog. So...hope the peeps in Toronto and Venice enjoy and maybe us too?
TROUBLE
If there has been a film with some very quiet and very subtle buzz about its possibility of being in Telluride over the last 2-3 weeks or so, that would be "Trouble with the Curve" from writer-director Robert Lorenz and starring (possibly for the last time) Clint Eastwood as well as Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake. InContention's Kris Tapley is bullish on its chances and in the last few days Anne Thompson (Thompson on Hollywood) has suggested that it could be in T-ride.
A Clint Eastwood tribute would make a lot of sense...
