More on Ad Astra / Pierre Rissient: One Year Gone / Indiewire's 15 Anticipated Cannes Films

Hello all on this Thursday...

MORE ON AD ASTRA

In my Monday post I passed along the story that Disney/Fox looked like they were going to push James Gray's space drama, Ad Astra, into the fall schedule from its previously announced release date of May 24th.

Well, it didn't take long for that uncertainty to dissipate as multiple sources reported on Tuesday that Ad Astra's new release date will be Sept. 24th. That likely means some premiere at Venice, Toronto and/or Telluride.  New York is removed from consideration as it will run from Sept 28th to Oct. 14th.

Zack Sharf writing for Indiewire specifically suggests that the film's chances at playing one or more of the fests has increased saying: "The move most likely means that Disney will target a launch for the drama at the fall film festivals, be it Venice, Telluride or TIFF."

Ad Astra stars Brad Pitt as an astronaut who goes searching for his father (Tommy Lee Jones) who was also an astronaut but who has been missing for years.

The Sharf story from Indiewire is here.

PIERRE RISSIENT: ONE YEAR GONE

Telluride favorite Pierre Rissient died a year ago ( May 5, 2018) and earlier this week Scott Foundas, who is now an executive for Amazon Studios and who has had a significant past with TFF, wrote a tribute on the one year anniversary of Rissient's passing that appeared this week.

That tribute appeared at Cinema Scope (cinema-scope.com) and you can find that piece linked here.

Foundas is currently credited as the Executive in charge of Production for Amazon's Radioactive from director Marjane Satrapi (Perspolis) which could be a film in the conversation for a spot at TFF #46.

INDIEWIRE'S 15 ANTICIPATED CANNES' FILMS

This week the folks at Indiewire put together a  list of 15 films that are about to premiere over the next couple of weeks at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival.

The article and complete list are linked here.

On their list are a number of films that I think have a chance of making the TFF #46 lineup including:

Family Romance, LLC (Herzog)

Frankie (Sachs)

A Hidden Life (Malick)

The Lighthouse (Eggers)

The Cannes Fest opens on Tuesday evening with Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die.

That's today's MTFB.  More on Monday.

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The Don Quixote Saga Continued / Everybody Knows Goes Is in Focus / Cannes Will Honor Rissient

Good Thursday to everyone...

THE DON QUIXOTE SAGA CONTINUED

On our previous episode of "What Else Could Happen to The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" we were wondering how a French court would rule and if that would allow or prevent the film's screening as the closing night entertainment in Cannes...well...

Since Monday...Terry Gilliam had a "health episode" that was described as a possible stroke but was apparently not that...

Distributor Amazon Studios dropped plans to distribute the film and

The Court ruled and said, essentially, roll that film on May 19th.

It's been an eventful few days for the Don Quixote crew.

All of the sound and fury led one Twitter account to suggest that attending the screening on the 19th might be risky as it is likely to end in a disaster of biblical proportion.  Such has been the beleaguered history of the film.

Here's what I want to know:  Why did Amazon pull out?  And...what the hell else could happen to this production in the next 10 days?

Here's a sampling of the coverage for this past three days worth of developments:

The Court decision:

Indiewire

The Hollywood Reporter

Amazon's Decision:

Variety

The Hollywood Reporter

Indiewire

Gilliam's Health Scare:

Deadline

Indiewire

EVERYBODY KNOWS IS IN FOCUS

Asghar Farhadi's Everybody Knows opened the 71st Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday to mixed reviews (I'll start passing along links to various critics' compilation sites beginning with next Monday's blog post).

Despite the so-so nature of the critical reception, a reportedly significant battle ensued for U.S. distribution rights for the film among a number of players.  Netflix had been reported earlier in the week as a likely bidder and reportedly they were but in the end were bested by Focus Features.

Focus was said to gain an advantage die its traditional theatrical release structure meaning that the film could be aimed at awards season.

Additionally, the win by Focus probably still keeps the film in the convo for Telluride although, as astute friend of MTFB Patrick Pringle noted via Twitter, the recent decision by the Trump administration to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal could create problems for screenings of the film.

Here's coverage of the Focus deal from:

Deadline

Variety

Indiewire

CANNES WILL HONOR RISSIENT

As you might expect, the Cannes Film Fest will honoring the late Pierre Rissient, who died last weekend.  The film "warrior" was an incredible part of the fabric of both Cannes and Telluride.  I ran across this comment from former TFF co-director Gary Meyer in the comment section of the Eric Kohn/Indiewire story reporting Rissient's passing: 

Thank you for this wonderful and personal look at Pierre Rissient who was truly unique. His passion for the films and talent he loved was infectious. He was demanding in a way that a first timer might not embrace until they realized that he was usually right and listening to him would reveal things we didn’t know about cinema of the past and turn us on to filmmaking on the horizon. The two films about him are a great start to understanding Pierre. I am honored to have been among the lucky ones to have spent time learning and being inspired by one of the art’s true believers.

Additionally, I have linked reportage of Cannes decision to honor Rissient here from:

The Hollywood Reporter

And that;s a wrap for this Thursday.  Please come back for more on Monday including the first collective looks of the films that will premiere at Cannes over the weekend.

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

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RIP Pierre Rissient 1936-2018 / Views from Long Days Journey Into Night / Trailer for Portman's Eating Animals

Good Monday


RIP PIERRE RISSIENT 1936-2108

Photo via Institut Lumiere and Variety

News from France yesterday that film friend and Telluride staple Pierre Rissient has died.  He was 81.  Rissient has been described as a "warrior of cinema" as tributes and remembrances have poured in over the past 24 hours.

Rissient's presence has been such in Telluride's film history that the La Pierre Theater (adjoining the Palm) was named in his honor.   Rissient received Telluride's Silver Medallion in 1992.  The earliest reference I can find to Rissient and Telluride is his participation in 1983 with a presentation called "Lino Brocka: Cinema's Robin Hood".  Rissient, as of last year's fest, was still named a "resident curator".

IMDb lists Rissient as the director of two films Alibis in 1977 ans Five and the Skin in 1982.  Rissient was to have presented a restored version of Five and the Skin at Cannes this year.

The death of Rissient was noted throughout the film community.  I have linked stories from:

Variety

The Hollywood Reporter

Indiewire

[Correction: An earlier version of this post had Rissient's birth year as 1926-my apologies]

VIEWS FROM LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT

The film Stage posted a story this week about Bi Gans' Cannes competition film Long Day's Journey Into Night which The Film Stage calls its most anticipated film of the Canes Palme competition.  The article which went up on Saturday includes multiple stills from the film.

As it is on my Telluride/Cannes list of potential crossover films, I have included a few of those here:

Long Days Journey is scheduled to premiere at Cannes on May 16.

The complete article from The Film Stage is here.



TRAILER FOR PORTMAN'S EATING ANIMALS


Making a splash at TFF #44 last Labor Day was the Natalie Portman produced documentary Eating Animals.  The doc is scheduled for release on June 15th and focuses on the effects globally of the reliance on animal flesh as a food source.

The film is being distributed by IFC Films and Sundance Selects and a trailer for it appeared this last week:

Trailer via YouTube

The Playlist included this coverage of the film this past week.

That's a wrap for this Monday.  More to come on Thursday.

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

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