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
The 68th Cannes Film Festival completed its lineup this week by announcing nine more titles to its Palme competition section, Un Certain Regard and Special Screenings. I had expected that when these additional films were announced there would be one or two that seemed like possible or even probable Telluride/Cannes crossover films but after parsing the list for a couple of days, I have to say...ummm. not really.
What it leaves us with, at least initially and until the films actually start screening next month, is the same list we had on April 16th with the original Cannes announcement:
Audiard's "Dheepan"
Villeneuve's "Sicario"
Garoone's "The Tale of Tales"
Schroeder's "Amnesia"
Haynes' "Carol"
Kurzel's "Macbeth"
and
Van Sant's "The Sea of Trees"
Of course this will all change and shift when the festival actually kicks in and three factors begin to enter into my analysis: critical response, distribution deals and ultimately the awards presented by the Coen Brother's led jury.
The announcement of the additional nine films is covered here:
Cinemacon, the trade event in Las Vegas that was held last week allows a spring peak at a number of films that are scheduled to be released through the summer and fall. It also gives journalists the first glimpses of footage of eagerly anticipated titles and this year, two, which I have on my Telluride watch list made big impressions: Scott Cooper's "Black Mass" with Johnny Depp and Benedict Cumberbatch and Alejandro Innaritu's "The Revenant" with Leonardo DiCaprio. Coverage for both is below...including the teaser for "Black Mass":
WINTERBOTTOM AND FERRELL MEET EBERT AND MEYER And news this week that Michael Winterbottom will direct a film based on the development and collaboration that brought the cult classic "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" to the big screen. Will Ferrell is reportedly on board to star as director Russ Meyer while Winterbottom and producers are still looking for an actor to play film critic Roger Ebert, who co-wrote the screenplay for the "Valley of the Dolls" sequel.
Could it be a future Telluride prospect. As it will feature Ebert and will be directed by Winterbottom, at least initially...maybe. I'll keep an eye on its development.
The Patterson Express to Telluride, Colorado departs the station later today. The CEO and I will make about 2/3 of the journey this afternoon/evening and then finish the drive into The 'Ride tomorrow morning. We have plans and errands that must be completed Thursday before the whole shebang kicks off on Friday morning with the Patron brunch...
FINAL "TEN BETS" LIST...
I'll be posting my final "Ten Bets" on the road tomorrow morning. I hope I'm ahead of the curve here. Last year, the full lineup was leaked way early and if that happens again tonight or early tomorrow morning the final Ten Bets will become superfluous really fast.
Here's hoping that doesn't happen.
"BIRDMAN" HAS PREMIERED IN VENICE
As I type this, reports and reviews are coming in for Alejandro Inarritu's "Birdman" starring Michael Keaton and the general tenor seems to be overwhlemingly positive...some bordering on ecstatic. I'm staying away from reading the body of reviews as I want to experience the film, should it play in Telluride, with as clean a pallette as I can muster...
ALREADY THINKING OSCAR
Movie City News has its first Gurus of Gold up for the 2014-15 edition of Oscar. Gold Derby has also weighed in with a pre-festival stab at guessing which films Oscar will favor this year. MCN's Gurus list David Fincher's "Gone Girl", Alejandro Inarritu's "Birdman", Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken" and Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" all tied in the top spot. Meanwhile, the Gold Derby handicappers have "Boyhood" with the best odds to win Best Picture.
From the MCN Gurus, other probable Telluride films listed in consideration for Best Picture are: "Foxcatcher", "Wild", "The Imitation Game", "Mr. Turner" and "Rosewater".
Gold Derby lists: "Foxcatcher", "Birdman", "Wild", "The Imitation Game", "Mr. Turner", "The Homesman" and "Rosewater".
Added note: Gold Derby also lists "Whiplash" which, while not on my list of likely T-ride films, persistently shows up in predictions by others as a Telluride possibility.
Soundonsight.org provides an overview of the Telluride Film Festival and makes some guesses about films they feel might play. Here's what they get wrong: "Unbroken", "Queen of the Desert", "The Theory of Everything" and "Winter Sleep". They get a couple right. Take a look here:
Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter will be talking Telluride today for The Huffington Post. I expect he'll have a pretty good bead on what's likely to play at this year's fest so you might want to tune in. The link for that is here:
Now that we're down to Telluride week, here's your reminder...Don't forget to join in on "The People's Telluride". Rate the films you see this week on a 0-5 scale ( 0 being just abysmal and 5 being a masterpiece). You can rate each day or do them all at the end of the fest. Send film ratings to me via Twitter (@Gort2) or email me at michael_speech@hotmail.com or in the comments section of this blog.
I'll collect all of that data and post the collective ratings from we, The People.
SHOW IN THE PARK
Two or three local websites out of Telluride posted late yesterday that the Roger Ebert documentary "Life Itself" will be shown in Elks Park on Thursday night (so, it finlly shows at Telluride a year after I was just certain that it would...I don't get 'em all). Those films are often a harbinger of one of the Tributes. But for the life of me, I can't quite figure this thing out. I have my ear to the ground on this one and if I get it puzzled out, I'll let you know in tomorrow's post...or Friday's...
Here's the Facebook post from The Telluride Festivarian with the lowdown on the Thursday presentation:
Welcome to Independence Day everyone from Great Barrington, MA. By the time you read this I will already be selling art at the 13th Annual Berkshires Art Festival. If you're nearby, come by Tent #48 and say hello...and buy some art!
TEN BETS 2014 #2
Here's your second edition of "Ten Bets" for films that I expect to appear at the 41st Telluride Film Festival. Last weeks list looked like this:
10) Salt of the Earth (Wenders)
9) Winter Sleep (Ceylan)
8) Red Army (Polsky)
7) Coming Home (Yimou)
6) Foxcatcher (Miller)
5) The Roosevelts (Burns)
4) Leviathan (Zvyagintsev)
3) Birdman (Inarritu)
2) Two Days, One Night (Dardennes)
1) Mr. Turner (Leigh)
After a week of tracking any Telluride news/rumors, here's your new "Ten Bets" (also, see the next story below):
10) Coming Home
9) Winter Sleep
8) Red Army
7) The Roosevelts
6) Queen of the Desert
5) Foxcatcher
4) Leviathan
3) Two Days, One Night
2) Mr. Turner
1) Birdman
NEWS FROM WELLS
"Birdman" trailer via YouTube
Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere posted a Telluride piece on Wednesday. He claims that Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Birdman" is a Telluride lock...which I have suspected for over a year. Also a lock, according to Wells: Werner Herzog's "Queen of the Desert" which has also been anticipated here, as long as it was finished. Wells also says that Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice" and David Fincher's "Gone Girl" are locked for the New York Fest and necessarily pre-empted for T-ride.
The really interesting tidbit is the possibility of a Telluride presentation of Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar". Up until last year, I would have thought this unlikely in the extreme but with the success of Telluride landing Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity" last year...I could believe this. I'm not there yet...but I don't rule it out either.
Wells also has a couple of comments about the Toronto Film Fests ultimatum vis-a-vis Telluride and you can find the entire piece here:
IndieWire reports that Frederick Wiseman's "National Gallery" a documentary about London's National Gallery has a stateside release date for November. The Telluride possibility will be released on Nov. 5th. Take a look at the post here:
And in the midst of all the hoopla about the release of the Roger Ebert doc "Life Itself" (which I was just sure would play last year at TFF #40) came this re-tweet/re-post of Ebert's Telluride interview with Peter O'Toole. I had to post the link:
MARK COUSINS IS THE NEW MR. PEABODY (WELL, SO IS KEN BURNS)
Over the past couple of Telluride Film Fests, Mark Cousins has become a familiar face around town. He presented "The Story of Children in Film" last year and previously had presented "The Story of Film". The latter earned TCM and Mr. Cousins a Peabody Award this past week.
Congratulations to him and Turner Classic Movies and the Telluride programmers as well for providing we film goers the opportunity to see what has been hailed as a high quality production.
Ken Burns "The Central Park Five" (PBS?Florentine Films) was also named a Peabody recipient. CP5 also appeared at TFF #39.
Other programs named Peabody winners this year included: "Breaking Bad", "The Bridge", "House of Cards", "Key and Peele", "Orange is the New Black" and "How to Survive a Plague". You can find the complete list of Peabody winners here:
With the death of Mickey Rooney this week, Chaz Ebert tweeted a link to a piece that her husband roger had done about Mr. Rooney at the 2005 Telluride Fest. Rooney was tributed that year and Ebert did the Q & A. Here's the link to the piece Roger wrote made all the more moving because they're both gone now...
The 67th Cannes Film Fest announcement of the bulk of its lineup is a week from today. As a public service, here's a link to IndieWire's 40 film Cannes wish list:
"Birdman"
"Clouds of Sils Maria"
"Coming Home"
"Eden"
"Everything Will Be Fine"
"Far From the Madding Crowd"
"Foxcatcher"
"The Imitation Game"
"Inherent Vice"
"Maps to the Stars"
"A Most Violent Year"
"Mr. Turner"
"A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence"
"Rosewater"
"The Search"
"Squirrel to the Nuts"
"Suite Francaise"
"Two Days One Night"
"While We're Young"
Three tributes (and occasionally an additional "Special Medallion")...who could they be for this year's 40th Telluride Film Festival.
I've been batting this around in my head for a while now and some friends of the blog have given it some serious thought too. So, as a way to organize some thoughts about this, let's look at some of my "Ten Bets" films (and some others as well) to see who some possible Tribute candidates are:
Like Alexander Payne's "Nebraska". You have to believe Bruce Dern is a real Tribute possibility.
"The Invisible Woman"...Ralph Fiennes seems like a possibility.
"Inside Llewyn Davis"...The Coen Brothers...and here's a crazy thought: John Goodman.
"Labor Day"...Kate Winslet (Josh Brolin doesn't feel right).
From other films just below the "Ten Bets"
"12 Years a Slave"...Brad Pitt...if you can fete Clooney...you can fete Pitt. The rest of the cast and Steve McQueen need more on their resumes...but watch for future tributes for Cumberbatch and Fassbender.
"All is Lost"...Redford...seems like a natural choice.
"Philomena"...Judi Dench would also seem to be a very likely candidate.
With this week's surge that "Gravity" is a very real possibility...Sandra Bullock becomes a part of the tribute conversation.
Then there's Roger Ebert. I am a firm believer that the Festival will recognize him this year. My guess is a "Special Medallion"...but it's not a crazy thought that he could be tributed.
Other less likely scenarios:
Julia Roberts if "August: Osage County" makes the lineup.
Ridley Scott with "The Counselor"
Nicole Kidman with "Grace of Monaco" or "The Railway Man"
Matthew McConnaughey with "The Dallas Buyers Club"
Jessica Chastain with "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby"
Philip Seymour Hoffman with "A Most Wanted Man"
Paul Giamatti or Billy Bob Thornton with "Parkland"
So those are my thoughts about the most likely candidates. I have a reader who suggests that there will a third "out of nowhere" selection that non one can see coming...and I'll bet he's absolutely right.
COUNSELING VIEWS
The release came yesterday of new clips from Ridley Scott's "The Counselor" which stars Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt. I'm still holding a dwindling hope for this to make the Telluride lineup.
Here are links to the new clips via The Playlist and Rope of Silicon:
Also dropping yesterday was a trailer for the James Gandolfini starring "enough said". There has been a good deal of buzz that this film could very well play Telluride. The film also stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Catherine Keener. Stories linked below from HitFix, FirstShowing and The Playlist:
Scott Cooper's "Out of the Furnace" has a small Telluride possibility that has grown a bit in the past month and yesterday's announcement that its release date was being moved to a more awards-centric date (November) makes it a slightly larger possible.
Director Jason Reitman penned this recent remembrance of critic Roger Ebert who would have turned 71 this week. Roger was a huge fan of TFF and Reitman has been a player there with some frequency and is likely to return again this year with his new film, "Labor Day".
Normally I have published this morning but it's State Tournament week. If you know mw, you know what that means. Anyway, here's today's installment:
GOODBYE ROGER
Screenwriter of "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" Roger Ebert died this week. He was also a film critic. Won a Pulitzer Prize for that, in fact.
I don't have a degree from a film school. I didn't major in film studies so a lot of my view of cinema has been pieced together in a haphazard fashion. I'd like to think that I have a better-than-average knowledge and appreciation for the medium and I'd be less than honest if I didn't admit that a bunch of my film "education" came from watching and reading Mr. Ebert.
If you paid attention, you could learn a lot from Mr. Ebert about almost every aspect of film making. I think I paid attention. He never knew it, but in many ways he was my inadvertent teacher about film. I suspect that there are a good number of people that feel that he was their teacher too.
You could argue (and I would) that Mr. Ebert had more positive influence on real people's real lives than most politicians/clergy/business leaders and moguls. What he did; what he said and what he wrote allowed people to understand the movies they were about to watch or whether to watch them at all or to appreciate them after they had watched them. Think about that for a minute...
Almost from the beginning of my Telluride experience, which for me started in 2006, I was aware that Mr. Ebert had been a big part of the festival in past. I had always hoped that he would recover enough good health that he might make one more trip to TFF and that I'd finally get a chance to meet him and maybe say thanks for being my inadvertent teacher. My anticipation was that 2013/TFF #40 might be the last best shot for that to happen as it is clearly going to a special fest to celebrate the 40 years of TFF's existence. Add to that the expected presentation of the film version of his autobiography "Life Itself" (exec. produced by Martin Scorsese) and I thought the increased the possibility even more.
As you'll see below, the film is still likely to be a part of the Telluride lineup or this year and almost assuredly the TFF honchos will tribute him in some fashion and that is fitting. But I rue the fact that my chance to meet the man in front of The New Sheridan or in the lobby at The River Club is never going to happen.
So, small and humble as it is, here's my thank you, Mr. Ebert. You made a difference in millions of people lives. You made us all smarter about the movies and, after all, for a medium that is the most ubiquitous form of art on the planet...that is no small thing. Immense as a matter of fact.
I often tell friends and acquaintances that aren't going to be able to make it to Telluride for Film Festival that I'll be sure to raise a glass to them the first night I'm back in town. This year, I'll raise one for you Roger.
Here is the story of Mr. Ebert's passing from The Hollywood Reporter:
And while we're dealing with difficult news, this also happened the last few days. The Nugget-Telluride's full time movie theater and very cool venue for TFF will be undergoing some changes. Operators Luci Reeve and Jim Bedford are bowing out and The Nugget will close its doors for at least some period of time. TFF Managing Director Julie Huntsinger does say that the show will go on though.
Meanwhile, the Festival has announced that Acme level passes are already sold out for this year. Here's the update from TFF about pass sales which opened March 1:
The convoluted story about "Jane Got a Gun" the film that was originally to be directed by Lynne Ramsay and as such was on my watch list as a potential future Telluride film took another turn late this week with the announcement that Bradley Cooper had signed on to replace the departed Jude Law.
As you may remember, I was in Santa Fe, NM a few weeks back and confirmed that despite the turmoil, filming was going on in the Santa Fe area.
Cooper's addition is a little amazing to me as he would appear to be a red hot commodity in light of the success of "Silver Linings Playbook" and his Oscar nomination for it. That Copper was available stuns me a bit. I have linked a number of posts about the Cooper signing:
We have a poster and a trailer...in french. Asghar Farhadi's "A Separation" was a sensation 2 years ago and deservedly so. It stands as one of the most beautifully written and structured films of the past decade. I've had his follow up project on the Telluride radar as long as we've known he was working on it. "The Past" seems likely to be a part of the Cannes lineup which should be announced in the next two weeks. If it's remotely close to the quality of "A Separation" then I think it's a very real possibility for this year's TFF.
This week saw the release of a poster and a trailer linked below:
A documentary based on Roger Ebert's autobiography and executive produced by Martin Scorsese. This article claims that it's coming to TFF #40. Sounds very plausible. The big question...will Ebert and/or Scorsese attend?
Back on Aug. 29th I reported that the first known film would be a restoration of a silent film focused on Native Americans that has Ken Burns attached as one of the producers. Here's the link to that blog post:
Best Directorial Debut: Benh Zeitlin, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
Best Foreign Language Film:AMOUR
Best Documentary:SEARCHING FOR SUGARMAN
William K.Everson Film History Award: 50 YEARS OF BOND FILMS
Best Ensemble:LES MISÉRABLES
Spotlight Award: John Goodman (ARGO, FLIGHT, PARANORMAN, TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE)
NBR Freedom of Expression Award:CENTRAL PARK FIVE
NBR Freedom of Expression Award:PROMISED LAND
OTHER TOP TEN FILMS: ARGO, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, DJANGO UNCHAINED, LES MISERABLES, LINCOLN, LOOPER, PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, PROMISED LAND, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK.
BEST FOREIGN FILMS: BARBARA, THE INTOUCHABLES, NO, THE KID WITH A BIKE, WAR WITCH.
BEST INDEPENDENT FILMS: ARBITRAGE, BERNIE, COMPLIANCE, END OF WATCH, HELLO, I MUST BE GOING, LITTLE BIRDS, MOONRISE KINGDOM, ON THE ROAD, QUARTET AND SLEEPWALK WITH ME.
BEST DOCUMENTARIES: AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY, DETROPIA, THE GATEKEEPERS, THE INVISIBLE WAR AND ONLY THE YOUNG
Telluride films recognized today: Argo, The Gatekeepers, Amour, Central Park Five, and from TFF #38: The Kid with a Bike.
Biggest surprise(s) to me...Bradley Cooper over Day-Lewis and Phoenix and no mention of "Life of Pi" anywhere...which I'm OK with...Also a little surprised that neither the NYFCC on Monday or NBR today gave a shout out to Anne Hathaway in Les Miz...
NEW YORK'S CRITICS SAY...
The New York Film Critics Circle named their "Best of" for 2012 on Monday...
(Telluride #39 film(s) in Bold)
Best First Film: How to Survive a Plague
Best Documentary: The Central Park Five
Best Cinematography: Zero Dark Thirty
Best Supporting Actress: Sally Field/Lincoln
Best Supporting Actor: Mathew McConnaughey/Magic Mike and Bernie
Best Animated Film: Frankenweenie
Best Foreign Language Film: Amour
Best Actress: Rachel Weisz/The Deep Blue Sea
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis/Lincoln
Best Screenplay: Tony Kushner/Lincoln
Best Direction: Kathryn Bigelow/Zero Dark Thirty
Best Picture: Zero Dark Thirty
The Los Angeles Film Critics announce their awards this weekend and the Golden Globe nominations come out next Thursday...
AMOUR DOMINATES THE EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS
The Michael Haneke directed and written film won awards for Best European Film, Direction, Actor and Actress last weekend. Also scoring well, TFF #38 feature (and my Best of 2011) Steve McQueen's "Shame". TFF #39's "The Hunt" was also honored. Check the full report from The Playlist here:
Just days after I posted the list of ten "most likely nominees" for, among other categories, Best Doc...the Academy releases its list of 15 semi-finalists and The FAC's #1 (The Central Park Five), #4 (West of Memphis) and #9 (The Queen of Versailles) and #10 (Jiro Dreams of Sushi) all ailed to be named to the final 15. The complete list of semi-finalists is here and does include Telluride #39 entrant "The Gatekeepers"
The first year I was at Telluride my wife and I were sitting at The Chuck waiting for some screening and Kris struck up a conversation with the young man to her left. I really don't know how they got to it, but at one point she was telling him (and he claimed to be a minion at Universal...but who said his dad was some big VP there) about MY idea that I've had for years for GB#3...that Dr. Pete Venkman (Bill Murray his own self) IS...DEAD... and must be raised from the Great Beyond to help solve some existential threat from beyond the grave. Really...that's MY idea. Now with Murray's acquiescence to the project, I'm telling you...even if the film isn't parked at Universal...I'm going to think I need a civil attorney if that plot point shows up.
Remember, you read it here first...
THE NIGHTINGALE (PREVIOUSLY "LOW LIFE")
One of the surprise highlights of this year's Telluride Fest was the super sneak peak at a few minutes of James Gray's "The Nightingale" starring tributee Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix and Jeremy Renner. Its brief appearance makes me think that it's a very real possibility for TFF #40 (and a Cannes appearance in May, I'll wager).
James Franco as Aron Ralston in Danny Boyle's "127 Hours"
A couple of notes...
"127 Hours" which some have suggested is a film which will show at Telluride has a trailer out. Here's a link to it(thanks to The New Yorker Magazine):
And I was in Telluride last weekend and there's a rumor floating around that a well-known Chicago film critic who was once a frequent visitor to the festival may very well return this year. Hope it's true because we would love to meet Mr. E.
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