Looking at Distribution: Sony Pictures Classics / Wells Gives Us Hints / Osiason Updates His Predictions

Good Monday All...


LOOKING AT DISTRIBUTION: SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

Each year at about this time I begin to break down three categories of film makers to look at the most probable of Telluride Film Fest lineup choices.  Those categories being Overseas Producers, The "Usual Suspects"...people with a very clear history with the fest and Distirbutors.

Today I begin the breakdown of distribution companies that have had films play at Telluride.  It's worth noting that not every film that makes the lineup each year has a distribution deal in place when it screens in Telluride but most do and by looking at a distribs past record and what they have in their stable, we can try to make some educated guesses about what films might make the trip to southwest Colorado over the Labor Day weekend.


So we begin by looking at Sony Pictures Classics.


SPC has historically been the largest distribution presence at Telluride for more than a decade and it's really not even close.  No other company has as long and consistent track record of having films selected for The SHOW program as Sony Pictures Classics.

Here's what SPC has shown in Telluride in the last 13 years:


2015: Son of Saul (1)
2014: Foxcatcher, Leviathan, Red Army, Mr. Turner, Wild Tales, Salt of the Earth and Merchants of Doubt (7)
2013: The Invisible Woman, The Lunchbox, The Past, Tim's Vermeer and Jodorowsky's Dune (5)
2012: The Gatekeepers, At Any Price, Rust and Bone, No, Wadjda, Amour (6)
2011: A Dangerous Method, In Darkness, Footnote, A Separation (4)
2010: Incendies, Of Gods and Men, Tamara Drewe, Another Year, The Illusionist, Inside Job (6)
2009: The Last Station, The White Ribbon, Coco Before Chanel, A Prophet, An Education (5)
2008: Waltz with Bashir, I've Loved You So Long, O'Horten (3)
2007: Brick Lane, When Did You Last See Your Father, Persepolis, The Band's Visit, The Counterfeiters, Steep! (6)
2006: Jindabyne, The Lives of Others, Volver, The Italian (4)
2005: Breakfast on Pluto, Capote, Cache, The Child (4)
2004: Being Julia, House of Flying Daggers, Bad Education, Merchant of Venice, Up and Down, Yes (6)
2003: The Fog of War, My Life Without Me, The Triplets of Belleville, Young Adam (4)

It was truly weird to see SPC with only one film on the Telluride list last year.  It's just uncharacteristic for a company that has averaged around five films at TFF over the past decade-plus. I suspect that last year will prove to be an anomaly and that SPC will be back to Telluride with a larger set of films.  Perhaps not the five that they have averaged, however.

So, what does SPC have and will those films play at Telluride?

According to IMDb these are the films that SPC currently has in place for distribution that seem most likely:

Elle

Julieta

The Red Turtle

Toni Erdmann

  

All four of these films played Cannes in May.

Any other SPC films scheduled for 2016 have already opened or played Sundance.

My expectations are very high on both The Red Turtle and Toni Erdmann.  I had them on last Friday's first Ten Bets list for this year at #8 and #3 respectively.

Both Elle and Julieta could make the TFF #43 lineup as well but I feel both are less likely. Alomdovar hasn't had a film play TFF since 2006's Volver and despite Elle's critical reception at Cannes, which was very good, I still can't bring myself to buy into a Paul Verhoeven film at T-ride. Maybe I'm just a snob.

As to Toni Erdmann and The Red Turtle...I feel relatively confident that their critical reception at Cannes  makes them likely .

Toni Erdmann trailer with English subs via YouTube

Chances for each:

Toni Erdmann-80%

The Red Turtle-80%

Elle- 50%

Julieta-25%

Tomorrow a look at Sundance Selects/IFC Films.

WELLS GIVES US HINTS

I was looking through some posts here and there over the weekend and ran across two recent entries from Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere that give serious insight to at least one potential Telluride selection and maybe two.

First, in a post from June 20 titled Open Letter to Personal Shopper Loyalists Wells reveals that he has been told that TFF's directors weren't that keen on the film.  Quoting now from the post:

"...two or three days ago Tom Luddy and Julie Huntsinger of the Telluride Film Festival were telling me how they didn't care for it (Personal Shopper)".

Taken at face value, it seems that we aren't probably going to see that film at the Labor Day soiree in Telluride.

The complete post is here:

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2016/06/open-letter-to-personal-shopper-loyalists/

Additionally, in a post from HE on June 24 titled I Wasn't Much, Now I Feel Differently Wells talks about Ewan McGregor's directing debut American Pastoral.  The film was featured here on MTFB last week when it released its first trailer.

Wells suggests that the film might be Telluride material at the end of his piece.  I hadn't even had it really on my radar until last week's look.  Now I'm thinking that it's a real possibility.  

The Wells mention, the fact that it's under the Lionsgate banner for distribution...which doesn't make it a lock but also doesn't rule it out...the fact that Kris Tapley (InContention/Variety) mentioned last week on Twitter that he's "Been hearing this was amazing since like March" and that it "Could be a real surprise later this season."  Finally, the film is slated to open on Oct. 21st which would certainly allow for plays at any of the big fall fests : Telluride, Venice, Toronto, New York.

As of this post, I'm warming to the notion that American Pastoral is a now a real candidate for Telluride inclusion.

American Pastoral trailer via YouTube

Wells speculation is here:

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2016/06/i-wasnt-expecting-much-now-i-feel-differently/

OSIASON UPDATES HIS PREDICTIONS

Tower poster from IMDb

Last week I posted Telluride predictions from film fan and expert prognosticator Jason Osiason. Since then Jason has added a couple of films to his "Likely" for Telluride list.  His original list looked like this:

20th Century Women
Aquarius
Arrival
Bleed for This
Elle
Fire at Sea
Loving
Manchester-by-the -Sea
Moonlight
Risk
The Eagle Huntress
The Red Turtle
The Salesman
Things to Come
Toni Erdmann
Wilson
How to Talk to Girls at Parties

He also lists as "possible":

Good Time
My Life as a Courgette (just won the top prize at the Annecy Fest)
Neruda
Nocturnal Animals
The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez
The Meyerowitz Stories
The Son of Joseph
The Mercy
Birth of a Nation
Girl on a Train

Since that post, Osiason has communicated that he also feels that Andrea Arnold's American Honey is likely as is Keith Maitland's Tower.

That's a wrap for this Monday.  Tune in again tomorrow as I take a look at what Sundance Selects and IFC have that could make a play at this year's SHOW.

Contact MTFB at:

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Cannes Prizes Announced / The Critics and Cannes / Cannes and TFF #43

Good Monday world...

CANNES PRIZES ANNOUNCED

I, Daniel Blake from Screen Daily

Palme d'Or: I, Daniel Blake
Grand Prix: It's Only the End of the World
Jury: American Honey
Director: Tie- Mungiu/Graduation and Assayas/Personal Shopper
Screenplay: The Salesman
Actress: Jaclyn Jose/Ma' Rosa
Actor: Shahab Hosseini/The Salesman

Analysis:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/cannes-awards-wrap-george-miller-jury-winners-mads-mikkelsen-20160522

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-i-daniel-blake-wins-895315

http://www.indiewire.com/article/cannes-2016-award-winners-list-palme-dor

THE CRITICS AND CANNES

The critics loved Maren Ade's Toni Erdmann and hated Sean Penn's The Last Face.  Everything else fell somewhere between those two.  Here's the critical consensus.

Beginning with the massive critical collation from Reini Urban who collects the Cannes critical response from a vast number of sources (including two listed below).  Some sources include: Screen Daily, Ioncinema, Metacritic and Indiewire.

The top five from Urban:

1) Toni Erdmann (8.24)
2) Elle (7.94)
3) Sieranevada (7.35-tie)
43 Paterson (7.35-tie)
5) Aquarius (7.18)

The three biggest bombs: The Last Face, From The Land of the Moon, and It's Only the End of the World.

Urban also has collected critical responses for films playing in other sections for the festival.  The top films from Un Certain Regard were: Hell or High Water, The Red Turtle and After the Storm.

Urban's compilation is here:

http://cannes-rurban.rhcloud.com/2016

Meanwhile, Todas Las Criticas compiles over 40 critical responses to Cannes.  Their top five films were:

1) Elle (8.87)
2) Sieranevada (8.46)
3) Toni Erdmann (8.21)
4) Paterson (7.98)
5) Aquarius (7.64)

Bombs: The Last Face, and It's Only the End of the World and From the Land of the Moon.

The complete Todas Las Criticas chart is here:

http://www.todaslascriticas.com.ar/cannes/2016

UCR high score: The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis, Hell or High Water and The Red Turtle.

From Screen Daily which was focused on the Palme competition films:

1) Toni Erdmann (3.7)
2) Paterson (3.5)
3) Graduation (3.0-tie)
3) Sieranevada (3.0-tie)
3) Elle (3.0-tie)

Bombs: The Last Face, It's Only the End of the World and The Neon Demon

The complete Screen Daily chart is here:

http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/cannes/cannes-sean-penns-the-last-face-sets-jury-grid-low/5104244.article


And from Ioncinema-which also focuses exclusively on the films in competition for the Palme d'Or:

1) Toni Erdmann (4.0)
2) Aquarius (3.6-tie)
2) Elle (3.6 -tie)
4) Paterson (3.5)
5) Graduation (3.4-tie)
5) Slack Bay (3.4-tie)

Bombs: The Last Face, Ma Rosa and From the Land of the Moon.

In Thursday's post I'll spend some time analyzing this year's disconnect between the critics and the jury.  I'll also look back at the past several Cannes to see how anomalous this year was or if it was an anomaly at all.


CANNES AND TFF #43

As we assess what has happened in France over the last couple of weeks in the context of what it means (if anything) for the lineup of films the make The SHOW on Sept. 2-5 remember that over the last 10 years that an average of 7-8 (7.5 to be exact) films double between Cannes and Telluride.  Of that number and average of 4.1 come from the main competition slate and 1.2 from Un Certain Regard.  The remaining 2.2 come from other sections of the festival.

Films that seem to have become very likely Telluride plays: Toni Erdmann and The Red Turtle.  Their critical reception plus acquisition by both films for U.S. distribution by Sony Pictures Classics make them likely additions to The SHOW.

Films that seemed like they had some Telluride chops that took a turn for the worst include Sean Penn's critically pilloried The Last Face, Xavier Dolan's poorly received It's Only the End of the World and Nicole Garcia's From the Land of the Moon.

Films that seemed hot prospects for Telluride that now seem a little less hot are Olivier Assayas' Personal Shopper, Asgahr Farhadi's The Salesman and The Dardennes Brothers The Unknown Girl, though the awarding of prizes to both Salesman and Personal Shopper may keep them warm enough to make the lineup.

Other T-ride possibles that seem to have neither increased nor decreased their status are Cristian Mungiu's Graduation (formerly Family Photos) and Jeff Nichol's Loving.

In addition to The Red Turtle from the UCR segment, David Mackenzie's Hell or High Water (once called Comancheria) seems to have scored a significant reception and certainly stays in the T-ride convo.

More about all of this in Thursday's post.

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Warren's Coming Nov. 11 and the Rules Don't Apply / Checking the Critics at Cannes / The Salesman Makes a Sale / Views from Cannes / Latebreaking: The Red Turtle Goes to SPC

Welcome to Thursday from Michael's Telluride Film Blog...



WARREN'S COMING ON NOV. 11 AND THE RULES DON'T APPLY

Warren Beatty as Howard Hughes in Rules Don't Apply (from Entertainment Weekly)

Taking a break from the incessant Cannes coverage (at least until a little bit later in this post) news splashed across the internet yesterday that the long-awaited Warren Beatty "Untitled Howard Hughes Project" has both a title and a release date.

The title: Rules Don't Apply
The date: Nov. 11, 2016.

The film has been something of a hit-or-miss obsession here at MTFB.

The Nov. 11 date would be perfect timing for plays at fests like Telluride, Venice, Toronto and New York.  However, remember that Beatty is reported to sluiced cold water all over that notion in a ShowBiz411 story back in the middle of April.

I wrote at the time that Beatty might be bluffing.  His personality as such that I wouldn't be surprised if he responded that fall fests were unlikely simply as a way of having some fun with the press.

Additionally, there appears to be some negative buzz about the films quality and rumors that it was even possibly turned down by Cannes.

Finally, 20th Century Fox is distributing and they have virtually zero history with Telluride save for releases through their Fox Searchlight division.

All of which leads one to believe that the chances that we'll see Rules Don't Apply at T-ride are ridiculously small.  No Warren Beatty Tribute seems in the offing.

Still, the whole thing is fascinating...

Here's a bunch of links of the coverage from yesterday, most of which stemmed from an original story from Entertainment Weekly:


http://www.ew.com/article/2016/05/18/warren-beatty-howard-hughes

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/warren-beatty-howard-hughes-movie-release-date-1201778002/

http://www.indiewire.com/article/rules-dont-apply-pictures-warren-beatty-film-lily-collins-alden-ehrenreich-20160518

https://thefilmstage.com/news/first-look-at-warren-beattys-rules-dont-apply-starring-alden-ehrenreich-and-lily-collins/

http://www.hitfix.com/motion-captured/rules-dont-apply-to-the-long-rumored-howard-hughes-film-by-warren-beatty



CHECKING THE CRITICS AT CANNES

As we make the turn toward the last few days of the Cannes Fest (it closes on Sunday)...here's what the various critic collectives have told us seem to be the consensus quality films in competition for the Palme d'Or

Screen Daily critics panel says the top three films thus far are (ratings are on a 0-4 scale):

1) Toni Erdmann 3.7
2) Paterson 3.5
3) Aquarius 3.1
Just outside: Sieranevada

Ioncinema's critics panel top three (using a 0-5 scale)

1) Toni Erdmann 4.0
2) Aquarius 3.6
3) Paterson 3.5
Close: Loving and Slack Bay

Todas Las Criticas top three (on a scale of 1-10)

1) Sieranevada 8.38
2) Toni Erdmann 8.21
3) Paterson 7.97
Close: Aquarius

Reini Urban Collation (scale of 1-10)

1) Toni Erdmann 8.23
2) Paterson 7.41
3) Sieranevada 7.33
Close: Aquarius

Check the current critical line for all of the films playing in competition and in the rest of the Cannes Fest at these links:

http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/cannes/cannes-aquarius-debuts-strongly-on-screen-jury-grid/5104129.article

http://www.ioncinema.com/news/film-festivals/2016-cannes-critics-panel-day-8-brillante-mendozas-slumdog-manila-in-ma-rosa

http://www.todaslascriticas.com.ar/cannes/2016

http://cannes-rurban.rhcloud.com/2016


So...what films win the Palme and other prizes?


THE SALESMAN MAKES A SALE

Ahead of its World and Cannes premiere as the last film in the Palme d'Or competition, Asghar Farhadi's The Salesman has picked up distribution for the United States.  Amazon and The Cohen Media Group have teamed up to take the distrib rights for the film.

That's a departure for Farhadi whose Academy Award winning A Separation and The Past were both distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.  SPC had both of those films make the T-ride lineup.

Despite the switch of distributor, however, I suspect that the sake yesterday doesn't diminish the film's chances of making kits way to the San Juans on Labor Day weekend.  The Cohen group had the largest distrib presence at Telluride last year with three films in the SHOW: Hitchcock/Truffaut, Marguerite and Rams.  Additionally, I'm already on record having said that I expect that Amazon will follow the trail blazed by Netflix last year and have some presence at Telluride this year.  The Salesman seems made to order.

Here's coverage of the sale:

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/cannes-amazon-cohen-media-group-nab-asghar-farhadis-the-salesman-1201777693/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-amazon-cohen-media-take-895317


VIEWS FROM CANNES

A collection of clips, teasers and trailers that have dropped for films playing at Cannes:

Personal Shopper:

via YouTube

http://www.indiewire.com/article/personal-shopper-trailer-kristen-stewart-ghosts-olivier-assayas-cannes-2016-20160517

https://thefilmstage.com/trailer/kristen-stewart-sees-a-ghost-in-first-trailer-for-olivier-assayas-personal-shopper/


The Unknown Girl:

https://thefilmstage.com/news/watch-first-trio-of-clips-for-dardennes-cannes-drama-the-unknown-girl/



American Honey:

https://thefilmstage.com/news/watch-first-clip-and-full-cannes-press-conference-for-andrea-arnolds-american-honey/


Dog Eat Dog:

via YouTube

https://thefilmstage.com/news/new-images-and-clips-from-paul-schraders-dog-eat-dog-starring-nicolas-cage-and-willem-dafoe/


LATE BREAKING: THE RED TURTLE GOES TO SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

News very early this morning is that Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the very well received Cannes animated film The Red Turtle.  The film is currently sitting with a 6.32 composite critics score which is fourth best among Un Certain Regard films that have screened in France thus far.

The SPC acquisitions places The Red Turtle into the Telluride conversation in a big way.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-sony-pictures-classics-takes-895659

http://www.thewrap.com/sony-classics-buys-animated-movie-the-red-turtle/

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The Playlist Looks at 25 Cannes Films / The Pre-Cannes Peep Show Continues

Welcome back from the weekend and Welcome to Monday...


THE PLAYLIST'S LOOK AT 25 CANNES FILMS

The Playlist (at their new web address www.theplaylist.net) put up a lengthy piece this weekend examining 25 films playing Cannes in various segments of the festival.  They are:

American Honey
The BFG
Cafe Society
Dog Eat Dog
Elle
Graduation (was Family Photos)
The Handmaiden
It's Only the End of the World
Julieta
The Last Face
Loving
Money Monster
The Neon Demon
Neruda
The Nice Guys
Paterson
Personal Shopper
Risk
The Salesman
Sieranevada
Slack Bay
Staying Vertical
Toni Erdmann
Two Lovers and a Bear
The Unknown Girl

On The Playlist's Honorable Mention list are:

I, Daniel Blake
Blood Father
Hell or High Water
Sweet Dreams
Endless Poetry
After the Storm
From the Land of the Moon
Ma Rosa
Gimme Danger
The Wailing
Aquarius


What does The Playlist's list mean for Telluride?

Start with the films that you don't/can't consider: Cafe Society, The BFG, The Nice Guys and Money Monster.

One group of films is that which come from film makers that have had a significant presence at Telluride in the past:

The Dardennes (The Unknown Girl) at least three Telluride appearances: The Child (05)...at which they were recipients of a Tribute,  The Kid with a Bike (11), Two Days, One Night (14).

Asghar Farhadi (The Salesman)...two T-ride appearances: A Separation (11) and The Past (13).

Pedro Almodovar (Julieta) has screened multiple films at Telluride: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and a tribute in 1988, Talk to Her in 2002, Bad Education in 2004, Volver in 2006.

Paul Schrader (Dog Eat Dog) has been a frequent attendee/presenter at Telluirde: He was a guest in 1980, 1988, 1990, 1997 with Affliction, 2000, was tributed in 2002, 2003 and screened and Adam Resurrected in 2008.

Olivier Assayas (Personal Shopper) who has played T-ride with Irma Vep in 1996 and Carlos in 2010.


Then there are the Telluride single players:

Sean Penn (The Last Face) who played T-ride in 2007 with Into the Wild

Andrea Arnold (American Honey) Telluride in 2009 with Fish Tank (and has guested before as well)

David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water) his Starred Up was at Telluride in 2013)

Xavier Dolan (It's Only the End of the World) TFF #41 with Mommy in 2014

Pablo Larrain (Neruda) No at Telluride in 2012

Cristian Mungiu (Graduation/Family Photos) who was at TFF #34 in 2007 with 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days


That's a bunch (10) of directors from the Playlist 25 (plus Honorable Mentions) that have played Cannes/Telluride before.

If recency indicates anything that would point the finger at The Dardennes, Farhadi, Dolan and Mackenzie have the best shot at coming back.  I'm feeling bullish about Farhadi and The Dardennes Brothers.

Check the complete Playlist article here:

http://theplaylist.net/25-anticipated-films-2016-cannes-film-festival-20160505/



THE PRE-CANNES PEEP SHOW CONTINUES


As we count down the days to the opening of Cannes #69...we continue to get views/stills. teasers/trailers for films playing in France and, as a result, looks at films that could end up in southwest Colorado over Labor Day weekend.

I have collected more of those for your pleasure here.

It's Only the End of the World (clips):

https://thefilmstage.com/news/watch-first-clips-from-xavier-dolans-cannes-bound-its-only-the-end-of-the-world/


Personal Shopper (stills):

http://www.indiewire.com/article/kristen-stewart-cafe-society-personal-shopper-new-images-20160503


Multiple posters including: American Honey, Slack Bay, Julieta:

https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/movie-poster-of-the-week-the-posters-of-the-2016-cannes-competition/

Stills and poster for Hell or High Water:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/hell-or-high-water-first-look-chris-pine-jeff-bridges-cannes-2016


Stills from Neruda, Dog Eat Dog, Endless Poetry and more:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/cannes-film-festival-2016-preview-directors-fortnight-risk-sweet-dreams-neruda-dog-eat-dog

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michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to

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69th Cannes Film Festival Announces Its Lineup / Maybe No Warren

Good Thursday Everyone and MTFB is back.

After an unplanned layoff, I'm back in the saddle to post this Thursday and glad to be back.

69TH CANNES FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES ITS LINEUP:

Here is the lineup announced from Thierry Fremaux in Cannes from early this morning (via Awards Daily):

Opening Night Film

Cafe Society – directed by Woody Allen

Competition

Toni Erdmann – directed by Maren Ade

Julieta – directed by Pedro Almodovar

American Honey – directed by Andrea Arnold

The Unknown Girl – directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

Personal Shopper – directed by Olivier Assayas

It’s Only The End Of The World – directed by Xavier Dolan

Ma Loute – directed by Bruno Dumont

Paterson – directed by Jim Jarmusch

Rester Vertical – directed by Alain Guiraudie

Aquarius – directed by Kleber Mendonca Filho

Mal de Pierres – directed by Nicole Garcia

I, Daniel Blake – directed by Ken Loach

Ma’Rosa – directed by Brilliante Mendoza

Loving– directed by Jeff Nichols

Bacalaureat – directed by Cristian Mungiu

Agassi – directed by Park Chan-Wook

The Last Face – directed by Sean Penn

Sieranevada – directed by Cristi Puiu

Elle – directed by Paul Verhoeven

The Neon Demon – directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

Un Certain Regard

Varoonegi – directed by Behnam Behzadi

Apprentice – directed by Boo Junfeng

Voir Du Pays – directed by Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin

La Danseuse – directed by Stephanie Di Giusto

Clash – directed by Mohamed Diab

La Tortue Rouge – directed by Michael Dubok de Wit

Fuchi Bi Tatsu – directed by Fukada Koji

Omar Shakhsiya – directed by Maha Haj

Me’Ever Laharim Vehagvaot – directed by Eran Kolirin

After The Storm – directed by Kore-Eda Hirokazu

Hymyileva Mies – directed by Juho Kuosmanen

La Large Noche de Francisco Sanctis – directed by Francisco Marquez & Andrea Testa

Caini – directed by Bogdan Mirica

Pericle Il Nero – directed by Stefano Mordini

The Transfiguration – directed by Michael O’Shea

Captain Fantastic – directed by Matt Ross

Uchenik – directed by Kirill Serebrennikov

Outside Competition

The BFG – directed by Steven Spielberg

Money Monster – directed by Jodie Foster

The Nice Guys – directed by Shane Black

Gok Sung – directed by Na Hong-Jin

Special Screenings

Gimme Danger – directed by Jim Jarmusch

The Train to Busan – directed by Yeon Sang-Ho

A Chad Tragedy – directed by Mahamat-Saleh Aroun

The Death of Louis XIV – directed by Albert Serra

L’Ultima Spiaggia – directed by Thanos Anastopolous and Davide Del Degan

Exile – directed by Panh Rithy

Le Cancre – directed by Paul Vecchiali

Some random thoughts regarding the announced films Telluride...remember that Cannes and TFF commonly share seven-ish films by average and that usually the majority of the films come from the competition slate.

Competition films that would seem to have the most likely chance of making the Telluride lineup are:

Arnold's American Honey

The Dardennes' The Unknown Girl

Assasyas" Personal Shopper 

Dolan's It's Only the End of the World

Nichols' Loving

Mungiu's Bacalaureat (Family Photos)

Penn's The Last Face

As of today none of the titles from Un Certain Regard or the Out of Competition or Special Screening selections jump out as big possibilities.  That could change when Cannes kicks off on May 11th.  We could also see  some titles show up in the Directors Fortnight that could intrigue T-ride programmers.

MAYBE NO WARREN

There was a good deal of speculation this week regarding the Warren Beatty Howard Hughes project. Reports that it was done.   Reports that it was NOT bound for Cannes but could be looking at the fall fests (intriguing!!!) and finally, word purportedly from Beatty himself that seems to cast doubt on ANY fest screening.  The last coming from ShowBiz411 quoting Beatty's response to a "fall festival" question with the response "Why would I want to do that?"

Sooo...it seems Beatty is either playing a bluff or...the film won't play any fest (most likely).  Perhaps Beatty might not regard New York or AFI a "fall fest; which might allow either of those fests to screen the film.

But taken at face value, it doesn't sound like the highly anticipated film will be at Telluride or anywhere else for that matter.

Here's the coverage from ShowBiz411:

http://www.showbiz411.com/2016/03/29/exclusive-warren-beattys-howard-hughes-movie-gets-a-distributor-fox-now-needs-a-title-release-date

http://www.showbiz411.com/2016/04/13/exclusive-warren-beatty-film-has-no-set-release-date-because-he-doesnt-want-to-do-film-festivals

 That's all for Thursday...come back for more on Monday...

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Cannes Poster Released / Multiple Sources Guess at the Cannes' Lineup

Good Thursday to Everyone...


CANNES POSTER RELEASED

The 69th Cannes Film Festival released its official poster this week as you can see above.  Many observers have noted that the poster art is inspired by Jean Luc Godard.

Variety covered the release of the poster here:

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/cannes-unveils-official-poster-with-nod-to-jean-luc-godard-1201735029/


MULTIPLE SOURCES GUESS AT THE CANNES' LINEUP

We've been seeing a good deal of speculation over the past couple of weeks about American films that might make their way to the Croisette for Cannes in May.  Money Monster, Cafe Society, The Nice Guys, The BFG, The Last Face and  Loving are among the American films already confirmed or that have serious heat about their chances.

As we get closer to the actual announcements, speculation is getting more detailed.  Screen Daily has a very extensive piece that spans the film world and offers a broad array of possibilities.  Among them that initially seem Telluride-ish are(grouped in the same fashion that Screen Daily has used):

UK/Irish: American Honey, The Sense of an Ending, The Secret Scripture
U.S.: Loving, The Story of Your Life, The Last Face, Sully (yes...Sully)
Canada: It's Only the End of the World
France: Personal Shopper
Germany: The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez
Spain: Julieta, A Monster Calls
Eastern Europe: Family Photos
Benelux: The Unknown Girl
Middle East: Oppenheimer Strategies
Latin America: Neruda
Australia: Lion

The complete Screen Daily post is here:

http://www.screendaily.com/news/cannes-whos-in-the-running/5101702.article#


Meanwhile, Pete Hammond from Deadline throws his two cents into the pot:

http://deadline.com/2016/03/cannes-film-festival-2016-movies-speculation-sean-penn-woody-allen-steven-spielberg-1201721737/

Similarly, Todd McCarthy from The Hollywood Reporter also covered the Cannes spec with a post this week:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/todd-mccarthys-cannes-preview-american-877068


And finally, The Jigsaw Lounge has posted "Odds for Winning" the Palme d'Or already.  One assumes that the odds also give some indication of the likelihood of specific films making the competition lineup.  Of note:

Almodovar's leading odds of 3-1 for Julieta
Arnold's American Honey at 18-1
Larrain's Neruda at 20-1
Penn's The Last Face at 22-1
The Dardennes The Unknown Girl at 25-1
Dolan's It's Only the End of the World also at 25-1
Mungiu's Family Photos at 28-1
Assassyas' Personal Shopper at 33-1
Nichols' Loving at 33-1
Eastwood's Sully at 35-1


The complete odds (and it's an extensive list) are here:

http://www.jigsawlounge.co.uk/film/reviews/cannes2016/

Contact me at:

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

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