Guess the Guest/Fox Searchlight and Malala/Steve McQueen's Next Gig:Not So Fast/"Suffragette" Has a Date/Wenders on "Salt of the Earth"

GUESS THE GUEST

The 42nd Telluride Film Festival has named its Guest Director.  It's author Rachel Kushner.  Kushner continues a long line of literary choices that have been asked to Guest Direct the festival.  Past literary lions that have acted as Guest Directors are Salman Rushdie, Don DeLillo and Michael Ondaatje among others.  I have included the links to Telluride's official announcement as well as coverage from Variety, Thompson on Hollywood and The Wrap:

http://telluridefilmfestival.org/news/2015-03

http://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/rachel-kushner-set-as-telluride-film-fest-guest-director-1201463439/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/telluride-film-festival-taps-rachel-kushner-as-guest-director-20150331

http://www.thewrap.com/telluride-film-festival-flamethrowers-author-rachel-kushner-named-2015-guest-director/



FOX SEARCHLIGHT AND MALALA

We found out this week that distributor Fox Searchlight has acquired the rights to the documentary about Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager that was nearly shot to death because she wanted an education.  The doc is called "He Named Me Malala".  The deal means that FS could have the film available for Telluride in September.  That's an interesting thought.  Coverage is here:

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/malala-yousafzai-documentary-bought-by-fox-searchlight-1201462451/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fox-searchlight-acquires-malala-yousafzai-785269

http://www.indiewire.com/article/fox-searchlight-acquires-davis-guggenheim-doc-he-named-me-malala-20150330

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/fox-searclight-acquires-davis-guggenheims-malala-yousafzai-doc-20150330

http://www.thewrap.com/fox-searchlight-acquires-davis-guggenheims-malala-yousafzai-documentary-he-named-me-malala/



STEVE MC QUEEN'S NEXT GIG: NOT SO FAST

I reported in the last post that British director Steve McQueen had a project ready to go with "Gone Girl" scribe Gillian Flynn set to write the script.  Since Monday, The Playlist is reporting that McQueen will, instead, work on a television project for the BBC.  That story is here:


http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/after-hbos-codes-of-conduct-steve-mcqueen-to-direct-epic-series-for-bbc-20150330

Of course, that doesn't mean that we won't see a McQueen selection this year or next.  It just may mean that TFF goes with a presentation of either this or his ongoing HBO project rather than a feature film.


"SUFFRAGETTE" HAS A DATE

We've been expecting that, after its non-appearance last year, that Sarah Gavron's "Suffragette" would likely be held for release until the fall awards season and that seems to be true as it was announced this week with an October 23rd release date.  The Screen Daily report, linked below, even speculates Telluride as a possibility.  I've also linked the report from Variety.

http://www.screendaily.com/news/distribution/suffragette-lands-awards-slot/5085827.article

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/meryl-streeps-suffragette-set-for-awards-season-release-on-oct-23-1201461666/

WENDERS ON SALT OF THE EARTH

Vulture.com has a lengthy interview with director Wim Wenders about his Oscar nominated and TFF #41 presentation "The Salt of the Earth".  That's here:

http://www.vulture.com/2015/03/wim-wenders-on-salt-of-the-earth.html


That's all for now.  More on Monday.

More Guesses at Oscar 88/Salt of the Earth Trailer/Acquisitions of Interest

Good Monday World...hope you had a good weekend.


MORE GUESSES AT OSCAR 88

 Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood and Joey Magidson/The Hollywood News came out with their incredibly early crystal ball look at what films might be playing for Oscar glory for 2015.

Find those predictions here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/oscar_predicts_chart


http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2015/02/27/year-in-advance-oscar-predictions/

Thompson's picks that could have some Telluride play potential include: "45 Years", "Black Mass", "Carol", "The Danish Girl", "Demolition", "Icon", "The Last Face", "Midnight Special", "Our Brand is Crisis", "The Revenant", "Southpaw", "Steve Jobs", "Demolition" "Trumbo", "Macbeth",  "Truth" and "The Hateful Eight".

Magidson's lists each Oscar category and what he views as the most likely nominees with additional possibilities listed.  He lists 10 possible Best Picture nominees plus an additional 15 films that could get a BP nomination.  From that list, these are the films with the highest Telluride potential (Many of which you'll see above on Thompson's list):

"Our Brand is Crisis", "The Hateful Eight", "The Revenant", "Steve Jobs", "Demolition", "Carol", "Black Mass", "Freeheld", "Southpaw",and "Macbeth".


TRAILER FOR "SALT OF THE EARTH"

FirstShowing.net posted a story and the trailer for Wim Wenders TFF #41 Oscar nominated documentary "The Salt of the Earth"  Check the story and the trailer here:


http://www.firstshowing.net/2015/watch-trailer-for-sebastiao-salgados-the-salt-of-the-earth-doc/



ACQUISITIONS OF INTEREST

Two deals went down this week that could conceivably set the stage for films that are in the works to ultimately make their way to the San Juans in the next year or two.  we found out that The Weinstein Company has acquired the distribution for the upcoming McDonald's mogul (Ray Kroc) biopic starring recent Oscar nominee Michael Keaton (PS...saw "Theory of Everything" this weekend...Keaton was robbed).  The film is currently titled "The Founder" and is set to be directed by John Lee Hancock ("The Blind Side").

Here's that story from Variety:

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/weinstein-co-buys-michael-keatons-mcdonalds-movie-the-founder-1201443179/


Also of interest was the news that Kino Lorber had picked up distribution for Berlin film fest winner "Taxi" from Iranian guerrilla film maker Jafar Panahi.  Kino Lorber was last represented at Telluride in 2013 with "Manuscripts Don't Burn".

Here's the announcement from Variety and Ioncinema:

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/berlin-winner-taxi-bought-for-u-s-by-kino-lorber-1201441629/


http://www.ioncinema.com/news/acquisitions-foreign-films/kino-lorber-get-behind-the-wheel-of-panahis-taxi



More on Thursday...

Parsing the Oscars Through Telluride's Lense

The nominating is all done.  Now onto the ceremony on Feb. 22

PARSING THE OSCARS (THROUGH TELLURIDE'S LENSE

TFF #41 produces films that grab 33 Oscar nominations plus an additional two from TFF #40 title "Ida".

The breakdown:

Birdman-Nine- Picture, Direction, Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing.  Surprisingly NOT nominated for Film Editing (could tell you that it doesn't have a shot at winning Best Picture), or Production Design.

The Imitation Game- Eight-Picture, Direction, Actor, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, Production Design and Original Score.  That's exactly what The FAC had for this film.

Foxcatcher-Five- Direction, Actor, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay and Makeup/Hair. Foxcatcher really over-performed based on what The FAC expected but tell me how the film can be one of the five best directed, best written and best acted films and NOT be nominated for Best Picture?  More admired than loved, I guess.

Mr. Turner-Four- Original Score, Production Design, Cinematography and Costumes.  The score nomination was a surprise.

Wild-Two-Best Actress and Supporting Actress.  Laura Dern sneaks in ahead of Rene Russo.

Two Days, One Night-One-Marion Cotillard gets a nod ahead of Jennifer Aniston and Amy Adams.

Single nominations for: "Salt of the Earth" as Best Doc Feature and "Leviathan" and "Wild Tales" for Foreign Language.  "Feast" was nominated for Best Animated Short.

Overall, a remarkable year for Telluride films as far as Oscar recognition.

The FAC goes 75 out of 106 this morning or 71%...one of the least successful rates since I started doing this.  Lots of 3/5 categories.  The FAC's best category: Supporting Actor where I went 5/5 and Makeup...3/3.  Worst categories: Doc Feature and Sound Mixing -2/5 in each. In the "close but no cigar" dept.  Seven categories had nominations from a film that The FAC had as the #6 possibility.

Surprises and weirdness:

In addition to my amazement mentioned above vis-a-vis "Foxcatcher"...

The "American Sniper" trend turned out to be real...very real.  Six nominations...Picture, Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, Sound Editing and Mixing.  The Final FAC had "Sniper" getting one nomination for screenplay.

"Budapest" performed better than expected and "Boyhood" (which is still your favorite for Best Pic, Director, Original Screenplay and Supporting Actress...but...see below) did exactly what was expected.

"Birdman" underperformed. as The FAC had it getting 10 nominations including Film Editing and Production Design on which is missed.  It did get a Sound Mixing nomination, which was a bit of a surprise.

"Selma"  Only two nominations...Song and Picture...how very odd.

"The Imitation Game" The FAC predicted "The Imitation Game eight nominations exactly.  Picture, Actor, Supporting Actress, Direction, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, Production Design and Score.

Category notes:

The Bennett Miller directing nomination is really a surprise.
Let this be remembered: don't bet against Bradley Cooper for an acting nomination.
"Birdman's" lack of a film editing nomination is probably an indication it won't be a Best Picture winner.
Best Song: "Grateful" from "Beyond the Lights" wasn't even in The FAC's final ten.
No "LEGO Movie" for Animated Feature...it was easily #1 in The FAC...that's a huge surprise.
No one can figure out Documentary feature nominees...
"Ida" for cinematography...way to go Kris Tapley!


Finally..."Boyhood", as mentioned above, is still your favorite...but...clearly The Academy loves "Grand Budapest" and "Imitation Game".  At this point, if an upset is to occur, it'll be one of those two films.

Early faves in each major category:

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Imitation Game
Best Original Screenplay: Boyhood
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette/Boyhood
Best Supporting Actor: JK Simmons/Whiplash
Best Actress: Julianne Moore/Still Alice
Best Actor: Michael Keaton/Birdman
Best Direction: Richard Linklater/Boyhood
Best Picture: Boyhood.

More later...and on Monday!

Film Awards Clearinghouse Vol. 5A: Picture, Director, Actress, Actor/WGA Excludes/Oscar Doc List at 15/NYFCC and NBR Announce

FILM AWARDS CLEARINGHOUSE VOL. 5A

Here's the latest FAC focused on Best Picture, Director, Actress and Actor.

The FAC uses the published predictions of the following to develop its list of likely Oscar nominees:

Kristopher Tapley/InContention/HitFix
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Bred Brevet/Rope of Silicon
Nathaniel Rogers/Film Experience
Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood
Peter Knegt/IndieWire
Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter

Telluride #41 films are Bold (with their last rating in parentheses).

BEST PICTURE

1) Boyhood (1)
2) Selma (9)
3) Birdman (2)
4) The Imitation Game (3)
5) The Theory of Everything (4)
6) Unbroken (5)
7) Whiplash (6)
8) Gone Girl (8)
9) Foxcatcher (10)
10) Interstellar (7)
11) American Sniper (12)
12) Into the Woods (13)
13) Mr. Turner (11)
14) A Most Violent Year (14)
15) The Grand Budapest Hotel (15)

Hot: Selma's march to serious contender status is complete as it zooms past a number of serious Best Pic contenders to challenge "Boyhood".

Not: "Interstellar" takes the biggest slide which seems about right to me.  "Mr. Turner" also slides  a good bit.

It'll be interesting to see if this week's awards announcements from the New York critics, the Gotham Awards and The National Board of Review (in addition to the L.A. critics  and The American Film Institutes's list coming this weekend) have an effect when we next post these categories in a couple of weeks.  Additionally, all of the players have now been seen in some form by some people.

I'd expect that "Boyhood", "Birdman" and "A Most Violent Year" have had the best of it from NBR, NYFCC and The Gothams.  NBR's omission of "Theory" and "Selma" is curious.

BEST DIRECTION

Director Morten Tyldum/The Imitation Game

1) Richard Linklater/Boyhood (1)
2) Alejandro Inarritu/Birdman (2)
3) Ava DuVernay/Selma (7)
4) Morten Tyldum/The Imitation Game (3)
5) Angelina Jolie/Unbroken (5)
6) David Fincher (6)
7) Damien Chazelle/Whiplash (8)
8) James Marsh/The Theory of Everything (12)
9) Christopher Nolan/Interstellar (4)
10) Bennett Miller /Foxcatcher (9)

Hot: DuVernay

Not: Nolan

The director's race gives, I think, a real window as to the Best Picture race.  "Selma's" Ava DuVernay has also rocketed from the edge of consideration into the thick of the race.  Meanwhile, Chris Nolan's plunge here is even more precipitous than "Interstellar's" drop in the Best Picture category.


BEST ACTRESS

Hilary Swank/The Homesman

1) Julianne Moore/Still Alice (1)
2) Reese Witherspoon/Wild (2)
3) Felicity Jones/The Theory of Everything (3)
4) Rosamund Pike/Gone Girl (4)
5) Hilary Swank/The Homesman (6)
6) Amy Adams/Big Eyes (5)
7) Emily Blunt/Into the Woods (7)
8) Shailene Woodley/The Fault in Our Stars (8)
9) Jennifer Aniston/Cake (17)
10) Gugu Mbatha-Raw/Belle (12)


Hot:Aniston and Mbatha-Raw.  Aniston rises like a rocket over the last three weeks.  If she continues at this rate, she could sneak into the fifth spot.

Not: Cotillard.  It'll be interesting to see if Cotillard's NYFCC win has an impact on this chart in a couple of weeks.   Chastain also falls out with the realization that her role in "A Most Violent Year" is supporting.


BEST ACTOR

Steve Carell/Foxcatcher

1) Michael Keaton/Birdman (1)
2) Eddie Redmayne/The Theory of Everything (2)
3) Benedcit Cumberbatch/The Imitation Game (3)
4) David Oyelowo/Selma (5)
5) Steve Carell/Foxcatcher (4)
6) Bradley Cooper/American Sniper (8)
7) Timothy Spall/Mr. Turner (6)
8) Oscar Isaac/A Most Violent Year (7)
9) Jake O'Connell/Unbroken (9)
10) Jake Gyllenhaal/Nightcrawler (10)

Hot: Cooper.

Not: Nobody.

It says a lot about the toughness of this category that Oyelowo barely benefits from the rocket ship that "Selma" has become the last couple of weeks.  I'm also interested to see if Spall's NTFCC win translates into increased support.


Next week, the supporting and screenplay updates.


WGA GUIDELINES EXCLUDE SOME SCRIPTS

As is the case every year, some screenplays that will be Oscar eligible are not eligible for the Writers' Guild honors.  InContention posted this story outlining some of the Oscar favorites that won't be a part of the WGA awards: (including Telluride films: "Mr. Turner" and "Wild Tales"

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/exclusive-selma-theory-mr-turner-among-2014-scripts-not-eligible-for-wga-awards


OSCAR DOC LIST IS DOWN TO 15

The Academy pared the number of possible Best Documentary nominees to a list of 15 films this week.  I have linked Variety's story that provides the list of 15.  On the list are three TFF #41 films: "Keep on Keepin' On", "Tales of the Grim Sleeper" and "The Salt of the Earth".  Also included is "Jodorowsky's Dune" which was on the program at TFF #40.

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/15-documentaries-land-on-oscars-short-list-1201368807/


AWARDS REVIEW FROM THIS WEEK:  NYFCC AND NBR



Here's a re-post of results from the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review from earlier this week":

New York Film Critics Circle 2014 Awards

Best Animated Feature: “The Lego Movie”

Best Foreign Film: “Ida” (TFF #40)

Best Non-Fiction Film: “Citizenfour”

Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons/”Whiplash”

Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette/”Boyhood”

Best Screenplay: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Cinematography: “The Immigrant”

Best Actor: Timothy Spall/”Mr. Turner” (TFF #41)

Best Actress: Marion Cotillard/”The Immigrant” and “Two Days, One Night” (TFF #41)

Best First Film: “The Babadook”

Best Director: Richard Linklater/”Boyhood”

Best Picture: “Boyhood”

NBR'S BEST FILMS OF 2014

Telluride Films are Bold

Best Picture: A Most Violent Year

Top Ten Films:
Boyhood
Birdman
Gone Girl
The Imitation Game
American Sniper
Unbroken
Fury
The Lego Movie
Inherent Vice
Nightcrawler

Director: Clint Eastwood/American Sniper

Actor: Oscar Isaac/Most Violent Year and Michael Keaton/Birdman (Tie)

Actress: Julianne Moore/Still Alice

Supporting Actor: Edward Norton/Birdman

Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain/Most Violent Year

Original Screenplay: The Lego Movie

Adapted Screenplay: Inherent Vice

Ensemble: Fury

Breakthrough: Jack O'Connell (Starred Up/Unbroken)

Top Ten Indie Films:

Blue Ruin, Locke, A Most Wanted Man, Obvious Child, The Skeleton Twins, Snowpiercer, Stand Clear of Closing Doors, Starred Up, Still Alice

Foreign Film: Wild Tales

Top Five Foreign Films: Force Majuere, Gett: The Trial of Vivian Amsalem, Leviathan, Two Days One  Night" We Are the Best

Documentary: Life Itself

Top Five Documentaries: Art and Craft, Jodorowsky's Dune, Keep On Keepin' On, The Kill Team, Last Days of Vietnam

Animated Feature: How to Train Your Dragon 2

NBR Freedom of Expression Awards: Rosewater, Selma

LA AND AFI

I'll post the announcements from both the L.A. critics and The American Film Institute as they happen over the weekend...as always...More then, on Monday...

The Usual Suspects 2014 Part Three/Crave Online Takes a Stab/"Gone" to NYC/Coming Attractions: Mr. Holmes?

Good Thursday everyone...

Today I'm almost concluding my "Usual Suspects" rundown as it relates to TFF #41.  In parts one and two I looked at the prospects of "Usuals": Herzog, Burns, Payne, Cousins, Morris, Inarritu, Leigh, the Dardennes and Assayas.  Six more today and a small addendum for tomorrow.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS 2014 PART THREE

Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach in Telluride in 2012 (photo via Kristy Patterson)

Today we start with Noah Baumbach.  Baumbach is interesting "Usual Suspect" this year as he may...and I stress "may", have two potential projects that could play the fest.  Baumbach's past with Telluride includes "Margot at the Wedding" in 2007 and his collaboration with Greta Gerwig in 2012, "Frances Ha".

Baumbach has collaborated again with Ms. Gerwig in what is still being referenced as "Untitled Public School Project".  IMDb lists it as being in post-production as of late April.  If you'll recall, however, "Frances Ha" was similarly under-the-radar when it appeared at Telluride two years ago.

The other Baumbach project seems to be farther along and more is known about it.  Entitled "While We're Young" it stars Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts and Amanda Seyfried.  It is also listed by IMDb as being in post as of late February.

My expectation is that one of these two films play Telluride.  Each would have its merits.  I love me some Greta Gerwig, loved "Frances Ha" and am curious about what she and Baumbach might have cooked up. On the other hand,  the inclusion of "While We're Young" might also get Ben Stiller in town on Labor Day weekend and I would add him to my currently imaginary panel of comic actors working serious that at the moment would include Michaell Keaton from Inarritu's "Birdman" and Steve Carell from Miller's "Foxcatcher".

Again, I'll bet one if not both Baumbach's play.

IMDb pages for "While We're Young" and "Untitled Public School":

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1791682/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_1

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872462/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_2

Stephen Frears

Stephen Frears...if reports are to be believed, and I do believe them, was supposed to have been a late addition to Telluride last year with "Philomena".  That didn't work out.  There was even some rumor floating about that Frears might have been Guest Director or one of them but that didn't work out either.

Nevertheless, Frears has another project this year that could make appearance and that is his "Untitled Lance Armstrong Biopic" starring Ben Foster as the now disgraced bicyclist.

Frears was the recipient of a TFF tribute in 1987 that included a screening of "Sammy and Rosie Get Laid' and was back in 2010 with "Tamara Drewe".

My feeling is that this is an "iffy" proposition for Telluride.  IMDb lists it as being in post-production as of mid-January but Frears (despite my listing him as an "Usual") has a hit and miss record with T-ride.  It's also difficult to assess what effect the events of last year might have.

Ultimately, I think the chances of us seeing the Frears project this Labor Day is about 30%.

IMDb:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3083008/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_1

Next up is Wim Wenders.  Wenders was an early Telluride participant and then came back strong recently. Wenders, like Baumbach, has a couple of projects that could show at The SHOW.  First, his Cannes documentary "Salt of the Earth" that looks at the life of photographer Sebastiao Salgado.  The film won a couple of awards at Cannes and is in the Sony Pictures Classics stable so you have to think it's a very real T-ride possibility (I've already had it on my "Ten Bets" list this summer).

Wim Wenders

The other Wenders project is the feature film "Every Thing Will Be Fine" which stars James Franco and Rachel McAdams.  It is listed as being in post-production as of last month.  I think that it's much less likely to show up on the program.

"Salt" chances: 60%

IMDb:

 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3674140/?ref_=nv_sr_1

"Every Thing" chances: 20%

IMDb:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1707380/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_1

Lone Scherfig

Then there's Lone Scherfig.  Scherfig played Telluride in 2001 with "Italian for Beginners" in 2001 and was back again in 2009 with "An Education" (in one of those really rare instances where a film played at Sundance and then at Telluride...it happens about once a decade).  Scherfig has a new film in post-production called "Riot Club" starring Natalie Dormer which focuses on Oxford's "Riot Club".  The film is set to premiere in England and Ireland on Sept. 19th so a Telluride play would work nicely for it.  The lack of a U.S. distribution deal may slow its chances, however.

Right now I'd give "Riot Club" only a 25% chance of playing Telluride.

"Riot Club's" IMDb:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2717860/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Finally, today, two guys that used to be "Usuals" that might return to the party.

John Boorman is listed on Telluride's "Esteemed Council of Advisers" and has been for a good long time as has Peter Bogdanovich.

Peter Bogdanovich and John Boorman

Boorman has a sequel in the can of his Oscar nominated "Hope and Glory".  This film is entitled "Queen and Country".  Bogdanovich also has a film entitled "Squirrels to the Nuts" which reportedly hearkens back to the film maker's heyday of comedies like "Paper Moon" and "What's Up Doc?"  It stars Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson as well as past Bogdo stars Cybil Shepherd and Tatum O'Neal.

IMDb for "Queen and Country":

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2392810/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Of these two, I feel "Queen and Country" has a reasonable shot to make the lineup...say 40%.  "Squirrels" seems to be less likely to me.  Out its chances at 25%.

IMDb for "Squirrels":

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1767372/?ref_=nv_sr_1


Tomorrow, a small addendum to this year's "Usual Suspects"...


CRAVE ONLINE TAKES A STAB

Take a look at this CraveOnline video touting the upcoming Telluride Film Festival.  It's kind of entertaining.  "Crave's" film guy William Bibbiani takes a stab at prediciting the Telluride lineup.  He mentions Fincher's "Gone Girl" (see below) , Nolan's "Interstellar", Inarritu's "Birdman" and Scott's "Exodus".

Frankly, I don't know anyone who thinks that "Gone Girl"  or "Exodus" are likely and, though I have seen one mention of "Interstellar's " possibility for Telluride, I'd still be surprised if it is in the lineup.  I'd like that, but I'd be surprised.

"Birdman"...yes.  I think so as well.

I left a comment suggesting that they needed to check this space.

"GONE" TO NYC

"Gone Girl" trailer from YouTube

Variety posted last night that David Fincher's "Gone Girl" will open the New York Film Festival and though I have been consistent in saying it wasn't likely for Telluride, this announcement makes it all but official.  Check the Variety story here:

http://variety.com/2014/film/awards/gone-girl-to-open-new-york-film-festival-exclusive-1201263704/

Incidentally, the announcement stirred up some Twitter traffic about other possible NYFF possible choices for closing night and the mid-fest special screening and as a part of that there was some further mention that there is some buzz about Nolan's "Interstellar" playing Telluride.  Rumors are rumors, but it's still fun to think about,


COMING ATTRACTIONS: MR. HOLMES?

Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes in "Mr. Holmes" from Rope of Silicon

Earlier this week, we saw the first image from Bill Condon's "Mr. Holmes" starring Ian McKellen as a 93 year old version of Sherlock Holmes and Laura Linney as well.  The film is currently filming and is expected to be released in 2015.  Production companies on the film include See Saw Films, BBC Films and FilmNation, all of which have had a presence at past Tellurides.  It sounds like the kind of film that could make the TFF #42 lineup.

Take a look at the ROS story here:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/first-look-ian-mckellen-sherlock-holmes-bill-condons-mr-sherlock/

Taking a Look at Sony Pictures Classics Slate/The Playlist Seeks Fall Fest Clarity/Foxcatcher Poster Features Tatum/Tickets for TFF #41...Ummm...Not So Fast

LOOKING AT THE SONY PICTURES CLASSICS SLATE

No distributor has historically had a stronger presence at the Telluride Film Festival than Sony Pictures Classics.  Fest hondos usually tell people that they program between 24 and 30 feature films each year.  For the last ten years, SPC has averaged 4.6 films per festival...or somewhere in the neighborhood of 18% of the T-ride slate each year comes from the SPC stable.


Here's what SPC has shown in Telluride in the last 11 years :

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

Here are SPC's films listed by IMDb as of today:

"Leviathan" 

"Jimmy's Hall"

"The Salt of the Earth"

"Foxcatcher"

"Wild Tales"

"Saint Laurent"

"Coming Home"

"Red Army"

"Mr. Turner"

"Aloft"

Six of these films were listed on last week's first "Ten Bets" list.  (Those six are: "Leviathan", "The Salt of the Earth", "Foxcatcher", "Coming Home", "Red Army" and "Mr. Turner").  At this point the other four: "Jimmy's Hall", "Wild Tales", "Saint Laurent" and "Aloft" are less likely to my way of thinking, but none of these ten are impossible for TFF.

Regardless of which SPC films make the TFF #41 lineup, you can count on the distributor to be well represented again especially in light of SPC co-president's comments about the Telluride/Toronto dynamic.


THE PLAYLIST SEEKS FALL FEST CLARITY

IndieWire blog The Playlist posted "The Fall Festival 50: Our Wish list for the Venice, Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals" yesterday and there is a LOT to digest from the lengthy list of films (which actually edges over the 50 mark when "other possibilities" are included.

The Playlist specifically mentions Telluride in connection with six films:  "Unbroken", "While We're Young", "Men, Women and Children", "99 Homes", "True Story" and "Kill the Messenger".  Of that list, I'd agree on the Noah Baumbach "While We're Young".  All of the others have "issues" that may work against their inclusion.  I would love to see "Unbroken" make the trip to the San Juans though.

Four films that I think have some Telluride potential are listed in the article without any specific guess as to where they might end up: "Carol", "Suite Francais", "A Most Violent Year" and "Queen of the Desert"...though, if "Queen" is ready and doesn't play Telluride, I'll be stunned.

The post also suggests that Jon Stewart's "Rosewater" seems to be lock for Toronto and unlikely for Telluride.  It also says "The Imitation Game" is likely for TIFF and though they don't specifically rule out Telluride, an early slot for the Benedict Cumberbatch starrer at TIFF would close the door.  Finally, the Playlist Staff suggests that both Alejandro Inarritu's "Birdman" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice" are probably headed to Venice which doesn't preclude a Telluride play.  As regular readers of this space know, I'm high on "Birdman's" chances and less bullish on "Vice".

The whole Playlist post is here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-fall-festival-50-our-wishlist-for-the-venice-telluride-and-toronto-film-festivals-20140630


FOXCATCHER POSTER FEATURES TATUM

It was all over the Twitterverse yesterday.  A new poster for Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher" (#6 on last week's "Ten Bets" list) featuring Channing Tatum.  You see it above.  Below are a smattering of the posts from various sources with the poster from yesterday.

Awards Daily:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/new-foxcatcher-poster-puts-channing-tatum-out-front/

Rope of Silicon:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/channing-tatum-stares-us-first-domestic-foxcatcher-poster/

People:

http://www.people.com/article/channing-tatum-foxcatcher-trailer-photo-steve-carell-mark-ruffalo-oscar-buzz?

IndieWire:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/youll-take-channing-tatum-seriously-in-this-teaser-poster-for-oscar-bait-foxcatcher-20140630

The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/channing-tatum-stares-you-down-in-first-poster-for-bennett-millers-foxcatcher-20140630

TICKET NEWS

If you haven't got your TFF #41 tickets...you're out of luck.  The festival announced late last week that all passes are sold out.  The only way in now is through sponsorship or as a guest.  If you're set to be a guest...drop me a line.

More tomorrow...

Follow/Like Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook and Twitter (@Gort2)

TFF #40 Films Still Winning/Best of the Week: Ten Bets #1; Anne and Eric Talk Telluride and Toronto; More on the Toronto Ultimatum; What's Up Ken's Sleeve: The Roosevelts; Winter's Adopted

Hello on the last Saturday in June from beautiful Grand Haven, MI.  The boss and I are slinging some art in this lakeside community.

TFF #40 FILMS STILL WINNING

HitFix reported yesterday that the Saturn Awards have been announced and TFF #40 films "Gravity" "Prisoners" and "12 Years a Slave" continue to win plaudits.

"Gravity" won five awards including Best Direction while "12 Years" was names Best Independent Film.  "Prisoners" won recognition for Best Makeup.

Take a look at the entire slate of Saturn Award winners and the HitFix story here:


http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/2014-saturn-awards-winners

BEST OF THE WEEK

TEN BETS #1

Well, I've been teasing it for weeks now and it's finally time to take the plunge.  Here's the first "Ten Bets" list for the 41st Telluride Film Festival.  Here's your disclaimer...if the past is any indicator, only about half of these titles will actually end up on the TFF #41 program in two months.  Last year I my first "Ten Bets" list had six films that ended up playing as apart of TFF #40 ("Nebraska", "The Past", "Aguirre; The Wrath of God", "The Invisible Woman", "Labor Day" and "12 Years a Slave:). That being duly noted, here are your bets:

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)

Just under the "ten bets": "A Most Violent Year", "National Gallery" and "Queen of the Desert".


ANNE AND ERIC TALK TELLURIDE AND TORONTO

Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood and Eric Kohn of IndieWire (who is Anne's new podcast partner) posted their second edition of  "ScreenTalk".  In it they spend a reasonable amount of time talking about the Toronto ultimatum about North American premieres, which is a direct shot across Telluride's bow. They also talk a bot about Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Birdman", which I'm very excited about and which will almost certainly be on the first 2014 TFF "Ten Bets" list (coming Friday).   The discussion of Toronto/Telluride situation and "Birdman" starts at about the 16 minute mark.  You'll find the entire podcast here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/screen-talk-episode-2-boyhood-jersey-boys-telluride-vs-toronto-clash-more

MORE ON THE TORONTO ULTIMATUM

You've seen me writing about this quite a bit these past few months,  The Toronto International Film Fests demand that they will absolutely not program any film on their first four day weekend that isn't a world or North American premiere.  They've laid down that marker in an effort to prevent a repeat of the "12 Years a Slave" (and others) screenings that occurred in Telluride prior to screening at Toronto.

Well, yesterday the Toronto Star published a lengthy piece about the ultimatum.  What I found intriguing are the comments from Sony Pictures Classics co-president Tom Bernard in which he states that he thinks Toronto has made a mistake.

That implies (at least to me) a couple of things.  First, even though Bernard declines to talk about SPC's plans and hopes for the fall fest season, you have to think that it's a pretty big signal that SPC is going to play Telluride like they always have and that actually moved the needle on where I placed "Foxcatcher" on the initial "Ten Bets" list above.  I also think that the subtext is there to support the notion that Bernard thinks that other distributors are likely to follow suit.

Of course, the TIFF peeps are all upbeat in the article...but I think they sound just a little too chirpy.

I don't know...look at it and see for yourself:


http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2014/06/26/tiff_vs_telluride_tussle_turns_movie_premieres_into_a_battle_of_wills_peter_howell_column.html

WHAT'S UP KEN'S SLEEVE

Long time Telluride Film mainstay Ken Burns has "The Roosevelts" up his sleeve.  It's a seven hour documentary about the famed American family focusing on Teddy, Franklin and Eleanor.  PBS is set to begin the series on Sept. 14th and it's that 9/14 date that makes me think that there's a good chance that Telluride patrons will be able to see at least some of the doc on Labor Day weekend.  Burns has often premiered parts of his current projects in the TFF forum and this wouldn't be a surprise.  Catch up on some details of this enterprise from The Poughkeepsee Journal (of all places) here:

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/2014/06/12/ken-burns-roosevelt-library/10376967/

The article includes video of Burns talking about the project.

MORE ROOSEVELT/BURNS INFO

Yesterday I reported that Ken Burns latest project, "The Roosevelts" was a seven hour documentary.  That's wrong.  It's a seven PART, 14 hour doc about Teddy, Franklin and Eleanor.  That's according to the National Endowment for the Arts press release/story that came out yesterday afternoon.  I have linked it here:

http://www.neh.gov/events/2014/09/14/the-roosevelts-intimate-history

Despite the length of the project, I still think we're likely to see some portions of the project available for viewing in the San Juans over Labor Day weekend.


WINTER'S ADOPTED

"Winter Sleep" poster via IMDb.com

Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Cannes Palme d'Or winner has just been picked up for U.S. distribution by Adopt Films.  The acquisition probably increases the Telluride profile of the three hour plus film that won the Palme and was a critical darling last month.  Adopt has a rather short pedigree but it does include "Bethlehem" which played T-ride last year and "Barbara" which was a part of the 2012 TFF lineup.

I had been thinking that this might be one of those years where the Palme winner didn't make the Telluride lineup.  The Palme presence at Telluride is about 50/50.  Over the past 11 years T-ride has programmed these Palme winners: "Elephant" (Van Sant) '03, "The Child" (Dardennes Bros.) '05, "4 Months, Three Weeks, Two Days" (Mungiu) '07, "The White Ribbon" (Haneke) '09, "Amour" (Haneke) '12 and "Blue is the Warmest Color" (Kechechie) '13.But during that same span Palme winners "Fahrenheit 9/11", "The Wind that Shakes the Barley", "The Class", "Uncle Boonmee" and "The Tree of Life" did not play Telluride.

Ultimately, the news that Adopt Films has the U.S. distribution probably nudges "Winter Sleep" into the "more than 50% chance of playing Telluride" camp.  But just barely.

Here are a couple of posts about the Adopt acquisition:

Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/adopt-films-grabs-us-rights-to-palme-dor-winner-winter-sleep

The Dissolve:

http://thedissolve.com/news/2544-palme-dor-winner-winter-sleep-secures-stateside-di/

"Winter Sleep" IMDb page:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2758880/?ref_=nv_sr_1

More on Monday.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Ten Bets/Variety Looks at the Possible Oscar Field/More on the Toronto Ultimatum

Good Friday to All...


TEN BETS #1

Well, I've been teasing it for weeks now and it's finally time to take the plunge.  Here's the first "Ten Bets" list for the 41st Telluride Film Festival.  Here's your disclaimer...if the past is any indicator, only about half of these titles will actually end up on the TFF #41 program in two months.  Last year I my first "Ten Bets" list had six films that ended up playing as apart of TFF #40 ("Nebraska", "The Past", "Aguirre; The Wrath of God", "The Invisible Woman", "Labor Day" and "12 Years a Slave:). That being duly noted, here are your bets:

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)

Just under the "ten bets": "A Most Violent Year", "National Gallery" and "Queen of the Desert".

Of course, this could all be wrong.


VARIETY LOOKS AT THE OSCAR FIELD (and I make a few comments)

Variety posted an article yesterday looking at over 40 potential Oscar contenders.  I took a stroll through them all.  Of the films it listed, there are a number (as you might expect) of Telluride possibles including: "Birdman", "Foxcatcher", "A Most Violent Year", "The Imitation Game", "Mr. Turner" and "Men, Women and Children" although I personally still expect that the latter will skip T-ride and go directly to Toronto.

Check out the entire gallery of more than 40 films here:

http://variety.com/gallery/2014-oscars-this-years-potential-contenders/#!41/other-contenders/


MORE ON THE TORONTO ULTIMATUM

You've seen me writing about this quite a bit these past few months,  The Toronto International Film Fests demand that they will absolutely not program any film on their first four day weekend that isn't a world or North American premiere.  They've laid down that marker in an effort to prevent a repeat of the "12 Years a Slave" (and others) screenings that occurred in Telluride prior to screening at Toronto.

Well, yesterday the Toronto Star published a lengthy piece about the ultimatum.  What I found intriguing are the comments from Sony Pictures Classics co-president Tom Bernard in which he states that he thinks Toronto has made a mistake.

That implies (at least to me) a couple of things.  First, even though Bernard declines to talk about SPC's plans and hopes for the fall fest season, you have to think that it's a pretty big signal that SPC is going to play Telluride like they always have and that actually moved the needle on where I placed "Foxcatcher" on the initial "Ten Bets" list above.  I also think that the subtext is there to support the notion that Bernard thinks that other distributors are likely to follow suit.

Of course, the TIFF peeps are all upbeat in the article...but I think they sound just a little too chirpy.

I don't know...look at it and see for yourself:


http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2014/06/26/tiff_vs_telluride_tussle_turns_movie_premieres_into_a_battle_of_wills_peter_howell_column.html


More tomorrow from Grand Haven, Michigan...

Follow/Like Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook/Twitter (@Gort2)