"Mr. Holmes" is Off the Case/Jake Howell's Cannes Considerations/20 Anticipated Foreign Films/Ethan and Seymour

Good Monday World,


"MR. HOLMES" IS OFF THE CASE

Admittedly, Bill Condon's "Mr. Holmes" starring Sir Ian McKellen and Laura Linney has been a film that I thought had the right pedigree to be considered for the TFF #42 schedule.  It is also a film that I have unashamedly been hoping would make a stop in Telluride over Labor Day weekend.  I had even envisioned an Ian McKellen tribute a possibility.  After all, the film has a stellar set of characteristics to mark it as a Telluride film: Bill Condon's been to T-ride before.  Laura Linney has been to Telluride a lot.  It's produced, in part, by See Saw Films and BBC Films, both of which are often represented by films at Telluride and it's being distributed by Roadside Attractions (and Miramax) which has a serious Telluride profile over the past few years:

2014: "Mommy:, "The Homesman" and " '71"
2013: "All is Lost" and "Gloria"
2012: "Stories We Tell"
2011: "Albert Nobbs"
2010: "Biutiful"

There was a lot of smoke there but those flames were doused this week with the announcement that the film will be released in the U.S. on July 17th.

Here's the story from Awards Circuit:

http://www.awardscircuit.com/2015/03/12/release-date-set-for-mr-holmes-starring-ian-mckellen-directed-by-bill-condon/

So...no "Mr. Holmes" at Telluride or Toronto or any other fall film fest.  It seems very odd to me especially if you're thinking that Sir Ian might have an Oscar play here.  I'd love to know what the internal process was that led to this decision.

CANNES CONSIDERATIONS

The next few weeks should see an uptick in the speculation about what films will be announced as a part of the Cannes lineup.  I snagged the link to Jake Howell's Cannes speculation this week.  I believe this is the third year consecutively that I have featured Jake's analysis and detective work. Find it here at Movie City News:

http://moviecitynews.com/2015/03/divining-cannes-2015/


Jake's Cannes musings about "Likely Subjects"  that also might foreshadow a Cannes/Telluride connection seem to me to include:

Jacques Audiard's "Dheepan" (which has been called "Erran" until very recently)
Matteo Garrone;s "The Tale of Tales"
Walter Salles "Jia Zhhang-ke by Walter Salles"
Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" (though, I can't believe it would be finished in time for Cannes)
Gus Van Sant's "The Sea of Trees"

Among the other possibilities that Howell entertains are these films that could make the Telluride grade:

Sean Penn's "The Last Face"
Todd Haynes "Carol"

Take a look at the entirety of Jake's post and see what you think.


20 ANTICIPATED FOREIGN FILMS

Also out this week was a post from The Playlist with their 20 most anticipated foreign films for 2015. That seemed like an excellent companion piece to Howell's Cannes spec piece and you can find it here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-20-most-anticipated-foreign-films-of-2015-20150114


Perusing the list I found that the most likely Telluride players didn't appear until very near the top. Making the list and mine are:

at #7: Jacques Audiard's Dheepan (Erran)
#5 Wim Wenders "Every Thing Will Be Fine"
#3 Abdellafit Kechiche's "La Blessure"
#1 Michael Haneke's "Flashmob"



ETHAN AND SEYMOUR

Ethan Hawke's TFF #41 Documentary "Seymour: An Introduction" opened on Friday.  As a part of the rollout, Ethan Hawke spoke with The Dissolve:

http://thedissolve.com/features/interview/954-ethan-hawke-tries-to-figure-it-out/



More on Thursday...

Warming Up the Crystal Ball: Cannes and 2016 Oscars/See More of Seymour

Good Monday Everyone.


WARMING UP THE CRYSTAL BALL: CANNES AND OSCARS 2016

As the 2015 Oscar ceremony continues to get smaller in our rear view, I increasingly turn my attention to the process of trying to puzzle out some of the likely film suspects for the 2015 Telluride lineup.  It's the time of year when that detective work is focused on speculation about which films will make the various sections of the Cannes lineup and the early, early speculation about films that may become Oscar campaigners once the fall film festivals occur.

CANNES

The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy put up a massive Cannes spec piece over the weekend that you can find here:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-todd-mccarthy-possibilities-probabilities-779894


The Cannes/Telluride overlap is significant so the ultimate choices for Cannes' lineup should give us plenty to mull in terms of the eventual T-ride set of selections.  McCarthy's list includes a number of films that seem to be Telluride possibles including "Carol", "Macbeth" "The Tale of Tales" and "Erran" among a lengthy list of titles.


OSCAR 2016

Meanwhile, The Playlist posted a substantial Oscar 2016 guess piece that also includes a number of Telluride possibilities.  That post is here:


http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/premature-oscar-predictions-the-2016-best-picture-contenders-20150302


Titles that writer Oliver Lyttleton includes that might make the trip to the San Juans on Labor Day weekend include:

"Our Brand is Crisis" (which Lyttleton flat says to expect at Telluride), "The Revenant", "The Hateful Eight" and the above mentioned "Carol".


SEE MORE OF SEYMOUR

One of the best buzzed films at last year's TFF was Ethan Hawke's documentary "Seymour: An Introduction".  The film is on the verge of release and as a part of the rollout, The Playlist included a new clip from the film in a story they ran over the weekend.  Find the story and the clip here:



http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/exclusive-ethan-hawke-talks-art-and-success-in-clip-from-seymour-an-introduction-20150306




That's it for now, more on Thursday...