Peter Bogdanovich 1939-2022 / NSFC and The Golden Globes / MTFB Oscar Update: Best Picture, Direction and More / The Film Stage's Most Anticipated / Interviews and Profiles

PETER BOGDANOVICH 1939-2022

Peter Bogdanovich died on Thursday.  Over the past 20+ years he was a frequent presence at The SHOW beginning with his choice to Guest Direct the festival in 1998.  That year he programmed: Orson Welles Touch of Evil.  Bogdanovich's own Directed by John Ford was also featured at the 25th TFF.

Bogdanovich returned to T-ride a number of times thereafter including 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2018.  He was part of my first Telluride in 2006 as he was back at the fest with Directed by John Ford again.

His film legacy included: The Last Picture Show, What's Up Doc? Paper Moon, Saint Jack and Mask among others.  He was twice Oscar nominated for The Last Picture Show as Best Director and co-writer with Larry McMurtry.

On a different note, although never an attendee (at least to my knowledge) of the Telluride Film Festival, I have to also note the passing of Sidney Poitier.  Truly a giant in the world of film.

NSFC AND THE GOLDEN GLOBES

The National Society of Film Critics and The Golden Globes announced their winners for films from 2021 over the weekend.

THE NSFC 

The NSFC announces winners and runners-up through third place (and the vote totals for each).  Here are the TFF #48 films/performers that were named winners or runners-up.

Best Picture: #2 Petite Maman #3 The Power of the Dog (Drive My Car was named Best Picture.

Best Direction: #2 Jane Campion/The Power of the Dog, #3 Celine Sciamma/Petite Maman

Best Nonfiction Film: #1 Flee, #2 Procession, #3 The Velvet Underground

Best Cinematography #2 The Power of the Dog

Best Supporting Actress: #1 Jesse Buckley/The Lost Daughter

Best Actor: #2 Benedict Cumberbatch/The Power of the Dog, #3 Simon Rex/Red Rocket

TFF regulars Bertrand Tavernier and Peter Bogdanovich both received notice being named winners of the NSFC Film Heritage Award.

The complete list of winners and runners-up is linked here from The NSFC.

THE GOLDEN GLOBES WINNERS

A modified version of the Golden Globes was held last night as The Hollywood Foreign Press Association continues to try to rehabilitate itself into the awards power that it has been over the last several years.  Absent a television presentation, the HFPA "announced" their awards via social media.  TFF #48 winners in Bold.

Best Picture/Drama: The Power of the Dog

Best Picture/Musical or Comedy: West Side Story

Best Direction: Jane Campion/The Power of the Dog

Best Actress/Drama: Nicole Kidman/Being the Ricardos

Best Actor/Drama: Will Smith/King Richard

Best Actress/Musical or Comedy: Rachel Zegler/West Side Story

Best Actor/Musical or Comedy: Andrew Garfield/tick, tick...BOOM

Best Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose/West Side Story

Best Supporting Actor: Kodi Smit-McPhee/The Power of the Dog 

Best Screenplay: Kenneth Branagh/Belfast

Best Non-English Language Film: Drive My Car

Best Animated Film: Encanto

Best Score: Dune

Best Song: No Time to Die/No Time to Die

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: BEST PICTURE, DIRECTION AND MORE

Here's the MTFB latest update on predictions for Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, International Feature, Animated Feature and Documentary Feature.  These categories were last predicted here on Dec. 27th.  As always TFF #48 films are indicate in Bold and the film's previous position is indicated to the right in parentheses.

BEST PICTURE

1) Belfast (1)

2) The Power of the Dog (2)

3) West Side Story (3)

4) Dune (4)

5) Licorice Pizza (5)

6) King Richard (6)

7) CODA (7)

8) Don't Look Up (8)

9) tick, tick...BOOM (9)

10) The Tragedy of Macbeth (Alt.)

Alternates: Being the Ricardos and The Lost Daughter

BEST DIRECTION

1) Jane Campion/The Power of the Dog

2) Kenneth Branagh/Belfast

3) Denis Villenueve/Dune

4) Steven Spielberg/West Side Story

5) Paul Thomas Anderson/Licorice Pizza

Alternates: Ryusuke Hamaguchi/Drive My Car and Maggie Gyllenhaal/The Lost Daughter

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

1) Drive My Car/Japan (1)

2) The Worst Person in the World/Norway (3)

3) A Hero/Iran (2)

4) Flee/Denmark (4)

5) The Hand of God/Italy (5)

Alternates: Compartment #6/Finland  and I'm Your Man/Germany

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

1) Encanto (1)

2) Flee (2)

3) The Mitchells vs. The Machines (3)

4) Luca (4)

5) Raya and the Last Dragon (5)

Alternates: Belle and Sing 2

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1) The Rescue (2)

2) Flee (1)

3) Summer of Soul (3)

4) Attica (4) 

5) Ascension (Alt.)

Alternates: Procession and Faya Dayi

THE FILM STAGE'S 100 MOST ANTICIPATED

The Film Stage posted its list of 100 films for 2022 (maybe).  As you might expect, I have culled it for TFF #49 possibilities.  Here they be:

100) Babylon

94) Peter Von Kant

89) Red, White and Water

83) All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt

81) The Wonder

72) Monica

68) The Son

66) Maestro

63) The Holdover

51) Bones and All

48) Poor Things

45) R.M.N.

43) White Noise

28) The Killer

26) The End

24) Asteroid City

21) The Zone of Interest

20) Broker

15) The Master Gardener

12) One Fine Morning

11) Blonde

10) Women Talking

8) Tar

3) Showing Up

1) Killers of the Flower Moon

The complete list of 100 films plus some honorable mentions is linked here.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Actress Kirsten Dunst on The Power of the Dog from Awards Daily  and also from Awards Watch.

Writer/Director Asghar Farhadi on A Hero from Deadline.com

Writer/Director Kenneth Branagh on Belfast fromVulture

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

TWITTER @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

The Other Side of the Wind Confirmed / It Looks Like No Eyes / Aretha Franklin and Telluride / The People's Telluride Rides Again

Good Monday everyone.  We're down to the last few days to TFF #45 and I can feel the excitement building...tapping my foot here...


THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND CONFIRMED

Ray Kelly at Wellesnet.com wrote this weekend that what we have been thinking is true and that is that Orson Welles' final film The Other Side of the Wind will bow at Telluride following its screening in Venice.

Kelly cites a "festival source speaking on condition of anonymity" as revealing that the first showing in the United States  for the long gestating film project will be at Telluride.  I can also tell you that I have been assured that Kelly's source is well placed.

I will certainly have it on my list of films to catch at some point during the weekend and am curious which film makers will be part of the film's entourage.  At a guess, I'd venture Frank Marshall and Peter Bogdanovich.  Both of whom have been instrumental in finishing the project.  Additionally, Bogdanovich acts in the film as well.

You can read Kelly's entire story at Wellesnet.com here.


IT LOOKS LIKE NO EYES

In other Orson Welles/Telluride news, it appears that we will not be seeing Mark Cousins' The Eyes of Orson Welles next week.  I ran across a listing of Cousin's screenings including those at which he is scheduled to do question and answer sessions and it seems that the film and he are booked in Europe during Labor Day weekend.

The Eyes of Orson Welles examines Welles and his career through the lense of  little known artwork that Welles created.

On a brighter note, I still have a good deal of confidence that the "making-of" documentary about The Other Side of the Wind will play at TFF #45.



ARETHA FRANKLIN AND TELLURIDE

With this week's passing of the Queen of Soul I have had a number of folks reach out to me asking if I think that this turn will change the status of the documentary Amazing Grace.  The film was twice seemingly set to play Telluride in 2015 and 2016 only to be thwarted by legal issues at the last minute both years.

The doc was shot during two days as Franklin live recorded the songs that would become the album Amazing Grace.

My feeling is that we may eventually see it and even at Telluride but that isn't likely to be this year by any means.  Franklin's family and estate will now have to decide what they think about the situation.

Chris Willman writing for Variety posted a lengthy story on Friday about the status of Amazing Grace as well an authorized biopic at MGM that reportedly would cast Jennifer Hudson as Aretha.

Take a look at that story here for a deep dive into where both of those projects are in terms of seeing the light of day.

Nick Allen also had a piece about the doc this past weekend in The Telegraph.


THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE RIDES AGAIN!

For the seventh consecutive year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

When the time comes, you can send those ratings to me in any of the following ways listed as contact info for me listed below.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Building a Mystery / "Steve Jobs" T.V. Spot / "The Revenant" Fnally Finished Shooting? / Toronto News Tomorrow? / MTFB in Other Places

Welcome back from what I hope was a fantastic weekend...

BUILDING A MYSTERY

Concept poster via Indiegogo

A couple of weeks back (July 27 MTFB post) I wrote that I had come across a tantalizing tease from Showbiz411 about the outside shot that Warren Beatty might chose to unveil his long gestating, untitled Howard Hughes film at one of the upcoming fall festivals.

That really would shake up the buzz surrounding the fests but it's also, I suspect, incredibly unlikely. Then, this weekend Showbiz411 tweeted this on Friday and then I re-tweeted it:

"A very surprising film is headed to Telluride and Toronto, and it’s not Warren Beatty’s but does involve a late director-producer."

Which led me to spend a significant amount of time on Saturday and Sunday trying to puzzle out what it might be.

My best guess-and I do mean guess...some version of Orson Welles final, unfinished film "The Other Side of the Wind". That film was the subject of a crowd funding effort to raise the money for final editing into releasable form.  The funding goal fell short with just over $400,000 raised of a million dollar goal. Backers that were/are behind the push to finish the film included Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach, Frank Marshall and Bret Ratner.

The organizers of the Indiegogo campaign to raise funds have pledged to finish the film despite falling short of the goal.

Admittedly, the film isn't a perfect fit for the Showbiz411 tease as it seems like it would be really pushing it hard to have a complete version ready for Telluride/Toronto.  A couple of friends/colleagues that I shared this with this weekend are also dubious that "Wind" is really what is being referenced.  That said, none of us could come up with another film that fit the brief description in the tease, so...

Clearly, a premiere of the last unseen full length feature from the a legend of Welles' stature would be astounding and Telluride would be the perfect venue for such an animal.  I can envision the Telluride return of Peter Bogdanovich, who used to attend T-ride regularly, as a presenter of the film along with producer Frank Marshall.  Both men still have ties to TFF.  Bogdo and Marshall are listed on TFF's  list of "Esteemed Advisors" as of last year's program.

Marshall is producing the film and Bogdo acts in it and was a Welles confidant and protege.

Finally, I just would like this to be true.  Imagine the electricity of that screening...a brand new, never-before-seen full length feature from Orson Welles.  It would be magical.

This disclaimer, however...when I contacted Showbiz411 and asked if there was any further information that could be shared I found that-whatever the project is- it isn't a sure thing at this point for either Telluride or Toronto.  All of this frothing over the original tweet may well be for naught.

If you have any insight or maybe you have another candidate for a film that fits the limited info from the Showbiz411 tease, provide a comment, email or message.

IMDb for "The Other Side of the Wind";

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069049/?ref_=ttco_co_tt


Here's a piece Vanity Fair ran about the film, its history and the effort to finish it that ran originally in May 2015:

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/04/orson-welles-the-other-side-of-the-wind-making-of

"STEVE JOBS" T.V. SPOT

A new television spot for Danny Boyle's "Steve Jobs" appeared last Thursday.  It's somewhat different from the previous couple of teaser/trailers that have appeared.

I have "Steve Jobs" listed as the #10 film on the latest "Ten Bets" list.

via YouTube

Here's coverage of the T.V. spot release:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2015/watch-new-extended-tv-spot-for-danny-boyles-steve-jobs-movie/

http://www.slashfilm.com/steve-jobs-tv-spot/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/fassbender-tv-spot-for-steve-jobs-with-new-footage-plus-pics-from-macbeth-trespass-against-us-20150807

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/07/steve-jobs-tv-spot

"THE REVENANT" FINALLY FINISHED SHOOTING?

The Film Stage tweeted Sunday morning that Alejandro Inarritu has finished additional photography for "The Revenant".



The film had to head to South America to get snowy, cold weather to finish the last bit of shooting after having had a difficult time with the primary shoot in Canada.  The film has zero chance of being ready for a play at Telluride, there's just still too much to get done.

Until its limited release on Dec. 25th we'll all have to continue to survive on the trailer:

TORONTO NEWS TOMORROW?

After having been off by a day last week concerning the announcement of Canadian films for the Toronto Film Festival, I'm a little hesitant to write this but I believe we will be hearing from TIFF with more revelations of their lineup tomorrow.

If that is the case, it will, in all probability provide us with a few more clues about what could take place in the San Juans on Labor Day weekend.  That's my hope anyway.


MTFB IN OTHER PLACES

I had a kind of interesting weekend as MTFB ended up in some different places.  Screencraft.org's John Rhodes asked me to write up a pre-Telluride piece for their, which I did and was up Friday and then Sasha Stone of Awards Daily also published a story that referenced the blog considerably.  My thanks to both of them for their generosity in allowing me to expose MTFB to a wider audience.

Links to both posts are here:

https://screencraft.org/2015/08/07/prediction-telluride-film-festivals-2015-lineup/

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2015/08/on-the-hunt-for-best-picture-telluride-predictions/



That's your Monday...more coming tomorrow...


Please feel free to leave a comment or question here at the blog.

Email me at michael_speech@hotmail.com or mpgort@gmail.com

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Toronto's Tuesday Announcement Tells Very Little/"Goodbye to "Fury"?/Shrinking Tribute Pool

Good Day on Wednesday...

TORONTO'S TUESDAY ANNOUNCEMENT TELLS VERY LITTLE

Marion Cotillard in "Two Days One Night"

The Toronto International Film Festival announced its next wave of films (over 75 titles added) and here are the primary takeaways as far as Telluride is concerned:

"Tow Days, One Night" from the Dardnnes Brothers seems a lock for T-ride now as Toronto lists it as a Canadian premiere.  Meanwhile, Olivier Assasyas "Clouds of Sils Maria" is a North American premiere so won't be playing Telluride.

Other films that I have had an occasional Telluride vibe for that will not play after all are:

"Girlhood"
"Charlie's Country"
"Bird People"
"Pride"
"The Search"
"Juaja"
"Maidan"

Still no inclusion at Toronto for:

Unbroken

"Unbroken"
"Big Eyes"
"Fury"
"Interstellar"
"Trash"
"Slow West"
"Suffragette"
"Kill the Messenger"


And nothing about Bill Murray's "St. Vincent"...hmmm...

I had reported last week that the buzz was that "St. Vincent" was on the verge of being announced as a Big Gala that would fete Murray in the process.  That could still happen next week but it's a little weird that we didn't hear about it this morning.

Meanwhile...


GOODBYE TO "FURY"?

Brad Pitt in "Fury"

Sony announced that David Ayers "Fury" has moved up its release date yesterday from November to Oct. 17th, which, I knew, meant that the AFI Fest became a non-issue for that film.  In my research about that announcement, I ran across Kris Tapley's article about it and he says no "Fury" at Telluride.

However, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety imply that a festival play could still be in the cards:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/brad-pitts-world-war-ii-724942

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/brad-pitt-wwii-drama-fury-moves-to-october-1201281186/


After having watched the trailer and not seeing it announced for TIFF I was thinking that we might well see it in T-ride.

Still, Tapley says that "Telluride and Toronto were never in the cards".  Tapley is really good at this stuff...so for all practical purposes...probably check "Fury" off your Telluride wish list.

Here's the link to the HitFix/InContention post:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/brad-pitt-wwii-drama-fury-moves-to-october


SHRINKING TRIBUTE POOL

Tommy Lee Jones and Hilary Swank in "The Homesman"

News in the last couple of days about the unreadiness of Werner Herzog's "Queen of the Desert" and the announcement that Olivier Assayas' "Clouds of Sils Maria" will World Premiere at Toronto means that at least two names that I have speculated might be potential tribute candidates are off that list.  Nicole Kidman and Juliette Binoche both seemed like very good candidates to me but absent "Queen" and "Clouds" those options seem to be off the table.

Personally, at this point, I'm thinking the best shots are Tommy Lee Jones, Reese Witherspoon and Peter Bogdanovich with a reminder about the story I ran on Monday that suggested Italian film preservationist Gian Luca Farinelli might be in that mix as well.

I'll keep an ear to the ground...16 DAYS!

More tomorrow...

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

"Rudderless" Ever Closer/Toronto's Not as Big/Best of the Week: Ten Bets #7; Looks at: Rosewater, Big Eyes, She's Funny That Way, 99 Homes; Who Gets a Tribute? Tapley Muses; Maybe Mommy

Hello Saturday...

"RUDDERLESS" EVER CLOSER

"Rudderless" poster via IMDb

You know, if you've been reading this blog over time, that I have been following the development of William H. Macy's directorial debut "Rudderless" since before Macy was attached to the project.  That obsession continues.  It was rewarded yesterday as Macy tweeted that the film (which will be released on Oct. 17) had an official poster and that the trailer would be dropping next week.  Producers Unified Pictures also promised in their own tweet that there are other "fun surprises" in store.  Very exciting.

As you can see above, I have included the poster and will let all know when the trailer drops next week.

TORONTO'S NOT AS BIG THIS YEAR

Toronto will announce a number of additional Galas and Special Presentations on Tuesday and earlier this week I had written that we could expect 7 Galas and another 20-30 Special Presentations to be announced.

Yesterday, "Rich" reminded me via comment to the blog that Toronto has said that those sections will not be as large this year.  After the comment showed up, I remembered that I had read that in couple of places along the way this summer.  "Rich" says TIFF will top out at 18 Galas (so five more) and fewer Special Presentations.

Good to know...makes Tuesday's upcoming announcement even more interesting.


BEST OF THE WEEK

TEN (PLUS) BETS #7

We're down to three weeks and counting until we lift off the 41st Telluride Film Festival.and the anticipation is growing.  Each day I'm scouring the interweb and looking/listening for sources to come forward to dig out the best guess at what the lineup will be.  We should add more clarity on Tuesday as Toronto is scheduled announce another raft of films including, I believe, their additional Galas and Special Presentations.  If past trends hold we can expect another seven Galas and anywhere from 20-30 more Special Presentations.  That info should give us even more insight into Telluride's unannounced lineup.

At any rate, here's last week's "Ten Bets plus Two"

12) Red Army

11) The Look of Silence

10) Two Days, One Night

9) Leviathan

8) Rosewater

7) Wild Tales

6) Wild

5) The Imitation Game

4) Queen of the Desert

3) Mr. Turner

2) Foxcatcher

1) Birdman

And now THIS WEEK"S TEN (PLUS) BETS

15) 99 Homes

14) Life May Be

13) The Homesman

12) Two Days, One Night

11) Red Army

10) The Look of Silence

9) Wild Tales

8) Rosewater

7) Leviathan

6) Queen of the Desert

5) Wild

4) The Imitation Game

3) Birdman

2) Mr. Turner

1) Foxcatcher

Simmering just under these Ten (Plus) Bets:

Serge Bromberg's "Retour de Flamme/Brinton Documentary ( http://nitratediva.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/retour-de-flamme/ )

Ken Burn's "The Roosevelts"

"She's Funny That Way"

"One Day Since Yesterday" 

"The Price of Fame" 

"Winter Sleep"

"Whiplash"

"Mommy"

"Merchants of Doubt"***

"Clouds of Sils Maria"
"The Wonders"

"The Blue Room"

"Bird People"

"Juaja"

***Sony Pictures Classics just announced late yesterday that they were partnering with Participant Media for the release of "Merchants of Doubt".  That is almost enough to lift it to the #16 spot for this week's "Ten (Plus) Bets".  I've included links to a number of reports about the partnership including the first from Screen Daily which claims it IS headed to Telluride:

http://www.screendaily.com/news/distribution/spc-acquires-merchants-of-doubt/5076042.article

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/merchants-of-doubt-documentary-gets-distribution-from-sony-classics-1201277476/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/robert-kenners-doc-merchants-doubt-723991

http://www.indiewire.com/article/sony-pictures-classics-acquires-conspiracy-documentary-merchants-of-doubt-20140807

The jury is still out, but I'd like them to show up:

"Slow West"

"Suffragette"

"A Most Violent Year"
"Kill the Messenger"

Big 'uns that have no announced film fest as yet (and maybe won't at all):

"Fury"

"Unbroken"

"Big Eyes"

"Interstellar"

"Exodus: Gods and Kings"



VIEWS OF "ROSEWATER"

Over the weekend Entertainment Weekly put out two photos from Jon Stewart's "Rosewater" starring Gael Garcia Bernal as real life journalist Maziar Bahari who was arrested in Iran in 2009 as he was reporting the election in that country.  Any number of outlets reported the photos with an accompanying story.  We believe fairly strongly that "Rosewater" will make the Telluride lineup owing to its designation by the Toronto film fest as a Canadian premiere.

Here are those photos:

Stories/Posts that went with these photos this weekend:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2014/open-road-sets-jon-stewarts-film-rosewater-to-open-in-november/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-look-gael-garcia-bernal-in-jon-stewarts-directorial-debut-rosewater-20140801

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/first-look-gael-garcia-bernal-jon-stewarts-rosewater-release-date-announced/

LOOKING AT "BIG EYES"

We have our first photos of Tim Burton's "Big Eyes" starring Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams in a true story about the art of Margaret Keane and her husband Walter who was credited for a good long while with the artwork of characters with "big eyes".  The film has not been announced for any festival to date and Burton did play "Ed Wood" AT TFF in 1994 so it's not a complete impossibility that we could see it pop up in three and a half weeks in the San Juans.  Here from The Playlist and FirstShowing are the pics:

And the link to The Playlist's story:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-look-amy-adams-and-christoph-waltz-in-tim-burtons-big-eyes-20140803

And from FirstShowing.net:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2014/first-look-amy-adams-as-margaret-keane-in-tim-burtons-big-eyes/

A LOOK AT WHAT WAS "SQUIRREL"

Jennifer Aniston and Peter Bogdanovich via The Playlist

Last week Venice Film Fest officials said that they knew that they had five films scheduled that would roll on to Telluride.  One of those could be Peter Bogdanovich's "She's Funny That Way" which for a good long while was titled "Squirrels to the Nuts".  The comedy stars Owen Wilson, Imogen Poots, Jennifer Aniston and more.  Bogdo has often been a part of past Telluride fests and it wouldn't surprise me greatly if this was included on the program this year.

The Playlist dropped a number of photos of the film late yesterday one of which is posted above.

Check the story and the other photos:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/venice-first-look-owen-wilson-imogen-poots-jennifer-aniston-in-peter-bogdanovichs-shes-funny-that-way-20140804


EW LOOKS AT "99 HOMES"

"99 Homes" with Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon via Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly was up yesterday with a first photo from Ramin Bahrani's "99 Homes" as you can see above.  The film is scheduled to play the Venice fest in competition and I think, given its premiere status vis-a-vis Toronto that it's very likely to play Telluride as well.  Bahrani was at T-ride in 2012 with "At Any Price" with star Dennis Quaid in attendance as well.  "at Any Price" didn't exactly set the world on fire scoring a 60 rating at Metacritic and earning a reported $379,000 domestically.

"99 Homes" focuses on the U.S. housing crisis as Garfield plays a man who gets in over his head and ends up working with Michael Shannon who plays an unscrupulous realtor.

Stories are included here from Entertainment Weekly and The Playlist:

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/08/05/andrew-garfield-michael-shannon-99-homes/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/venice-first-look-michael-shannon-andrew-garfield-in-ramin-bahranis-99-homes-20140805


Couple of stray thoughts: "Spiderman vs. General Zod".

And one wonders if Garfield, who attended the fest 2010 with "Never Let Me Go" might return and if he does, if it's possible that his current significant other, Ms. Emma Stone, might be there as well as she's co-starring in Alejandro Inarritu's "Birdman".

WHO GETS A TRIBUTE?

I was noodling around the rising suspicion that Tommy Lee Jones "The Homesman" will be screened in just over three weeks in Telluride and as I was doing that, it struck me that a TLJ tribute in coordination with that film.  I can see it pretty clearly.  Maybe co-star and two time Oscar winner Hilary Swank attends as well. Makes a lot of sense to me.

And that got me to thinking seriously about other tribute possibilities.

Pete Hammond suggested a couple of weeks ago that Telluride might be dangling the tribute carrot in front of Chris Nolan in a play to get "Interstellar" on board.  I've never thought it was a big likelihood and recent buzz is that no fest may have the film on its lineup.

I have suggested Nicole Kidman as a tribute possible in conjunction with the almost certain play of "Queen of the Desert".

I have also mentioned a Juliette Binoche tribute should Olivier Assasyas "Clouds of Sils Maria" be a T-ride selection.

Some weeks back, I mentioned a Michael Keaton tribute as a possibility with the screening of "Birdman", although that does seem a little far fetched.

How about Tim Burton if Telluride gets "Big Eyes"...yeah. that would make some sense.

MAYBE IT'S BOGDO...

Earlier this week I speculated about who might get a tribute this year.  I mentioned Tommy Lee Jones, Juliette Binoche...others.  One name I should have included, but didn't, is Peter Bogdanovich.  Bogdo was a TFF Guest Director in 1998 and attended with frequency through 2006 but hasn't (to my knowledge) been back since.

This year he has a Venice competition film: "She's Funny That Way" which could make the Telluride lineup but he's also the focus of a documentary that is playing Venice as well: Bill Teck's "One Day Since Yesterday: Peter Bogdanovich and the Lost American Film".

I can see that being part of a Bogdo tribute in three weeks.

That would also mean that this doc is one f the "Venice Five" (Venice director Alberto Barbera is on record as having said that five films will play Venice and Telluride).

I've included a link to a story about the Venice goings-on here from Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/two-auteur-docs-play-venice-classics-on-bogdanovich-and-penn-20140806


MAYBE IT'S REESE

And in the same vein as Bogdo above, another good possibility for a tribute (as was pointed to me yesterday in a comment from "Anonymous" here on the blog) is Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon.  We're about 98% certain that her new film "Wild" is going to be seen for the first time at Telluride.  We know that she won her Oscar for 2005's "Walk the Line" which started her run to the win at TFF.

And don't discount the connection to Alexander Payne.  Payne directed her in what was a big breakout for them both in "Election" in 1999.

So, yes indeed, boys and girls...Reese Witherspoon is definitely a TFF tribute candidate.

TAPLEY MUSES

"Fury" trailer via YouTube

HitFix/InContention's Kristopher Tapley posted a fairly extensive look at the awards season last night that also included his thoughts about what is/might be/is unlikely to be Telluride bound.  As you might expect, he comes to a number of the same conclusions that you've already read here.

He does mention a few things that are of specific interest...some intriguing...some a little disappointing.  Tapley suggests that David Ayer's "Fury" might have a reasonable shot at playing T-ride but that Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken" is unlikely/unprepared for fests.

Tapley mentions a couple of films that I haven't had on my Telluride radar at all.  Tom McCarthy's Adam Sandler starer "The Cobbler" and William Monahan's "Mojave" starring Mark Wahlberg.  Additionally, he suggests a Telluride screening of "Whiplash" as he includes it on a list of Sony Pictures Classics "possibles/probables".

Tapley also says that J.C. Chandor is still editing "A Most Violent Year" which doesn't mean that the film is completely off the Telluride table...but it sure isn't encouraging.

Check the entire story here:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/off-the-carpet-will-it-be-brad-pitt-vs-angelina-jolie-this-oscar-season

ANOTHER TORONTO ANNOUNCEMENT-MAYBE "MOMMY"

The Toronto International Film Festival announced a slew of Canadian titles yesterday that have been added across many of the different sections that the fest features.  There was a film here and there that piqued my interest in terms of Telluride potential but none to the point that I'm ready to declare any of the films announced yesterday as Telluride likely.

Take a look at the new films announced here via Indie Wire:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/toronto-international-film-festival-reveals-slate-of-canadian-features-and-short-films-20140806

The Playlist looked at the same list yesterday and they claim that Xavier Dolan's "Mommy" (which played well at Cannes in May and is being distributed in the U.S. by Roadside attractions) by being a "Toronto" premiere "suggests that it'll be going to Telluride to make its North American debut".

The Playlist post is here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/xavier-dolans-mommy-leads-canadian-line-up-of-new-tiff-2014-announcements-20140806

So, "Mommy" is a maybe.

That's it for today...more on Monday...have a great weekend!

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

Ten (Plus) Bets #7/Maybe It's Bogdo/Maybe It's Reese

Welcome to Friday...

TEN (PLUS) BETS #7

We're down to three weeks and counting until we lift off the 41st Telluride Film Festival.and the anticipation is growing.  Each day I'm scouring the interweb and looking/listening for sources to come forward to dig out the best guess at what the lineup will be.  We should add more clarity on Tuesday as Toronto is scheduled announce another raft of films including, I believe, their additional Galas and Special Presentations.  If past trends hold we can expect another seven Galas and anywhere from 20-30 more Special Presentations.  That info should give us even more insight into Telluride's unannounced lineup.

At any rate, here's last week's "Ten Bets plus Two"

12) Red Army

11) The Look of Silence

10) Two Days, One Night

9) Leviathan

8) Rosewater

7) Wild Tales

6) Wild

5) The Imitation Game

4) Queen of the Desert

3) Mr. Turner

2) Foxcatcher

1) Birdman

And now THIS WEEK"S TEN (PLUS) BETS

15) 99 Homes

14) Life May Be

13) The Homesman

12) Two Days, One Night

11) Red Army

10) The Look of Silence

9) Wild Tales

8) Rosewater

7) Leviathan

6) Queen of the Desert

5) Wild

4) The Imitation Game

3) Birdman

2) Mr. Turner

1) Foxcatcher

Simmering just under these Ten (Plus) Bets:

Serge Bromberg's "Retour de Flamme/Brinton Documentary ( http://nitratediva.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/retour-de-flamme/ )

Ken Burn's "The Roosevelts"

"She's Funny That Way"

"One Day Since Yesterday" 

"The Price of Fame" 

"Winter Sleep"

"Whiplash"

"Mommy"

"Merchants of Doubt"***

"Clouds of Sils Maria"
"The Wonders"

"The Blue Room"

"Bird People"

"Juaja"

***Sony Pictures Classics just announced late yesterday that they were partnering with Participant Media for the release of "Merchants of Doubt".  That is almost enough to lift it to the #16 spot for this week's "Ten (Plus) Bets".  I've included links to a number of reports about the partnership including the first from Screen Daily which claims it IS headed to Telluride:

http://www.screendaily.com/news/distribution/spc-acquires-merchants-of-doubt/5076042.article

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/merchants-of-doubt-documentary-gets-distribution-from-sony-classics-1201277476/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/robert-kenners-doc-merchants-doubt-723991

http://www.indiewire.com/article/sony-pictures-classics-acquires-conspiracy-documentary-merchants-of-doubt-20140807

The jury is still out, but I'd like them to show up:

"Slow West"

"Suffragette"

"A Most Violent Year"
"Kill the Messenger"

Big 'uns that have no announced film fest as yet (and maybe won't at all):

"Fury"

"Unbroken"

"Big Eyes"

"Interstellar"

"Exodus: Gods and Kings"

MAYBE IT'S BOGDO...

Earlier this week I speculated about who might get a tribute this year.  I mentioned Tommy Lee Jones, Juliette Binoche...others.  One name I should have included, but didn't, is Peter Bogdanovich.  Bogdo was a TFF Guest Director in 1998 and attended with frequency through 2006 but hasn't (to my knowledge) been back since.

This year he has a Venice competition film: "She's Funny That Way" which could make the Telluride lineup but he's also the focus of a documentary that is playing Venice as well: Bill Teck's "One Day Since Yesterday: Peter Bogdanovich and the Lost American Film".

I can see that being part of a Bogdo tribute in three weeks.

That would also mean that this doc is one f the "Venice Five" (Venice director Alberto Barbera is on record as having said that five films will play Venice and Telluride).

I've included a link to a story about the Venice goings-on here from Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/two-auteur-docs-play-venice-classics-on-bogdanovich-and-penn-20140806


MAYBE IT'S REESE

And in the same vein as Bogdo above, another good possibility for a tribute (as was pointed to me yesterday in a comment from "Anonymous" here on the blog) is Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon.  We're about 98% certain that her new film "Wild" is going to be seen for the first time at Telluride.  We know that she won her Oscar for 2005's "Walk the Line" which started her run to the win at TFF.

And don't discount the connection to Alexander Payne.  Payne directed her in what was a big breakout for them both in "Election" in 1999.

So, yes indeed, boys and girls...Reese Witherspoon is definitely a TFF tribute candidate.

More tomorrow including the "Best of the Week".

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2