William Goldman 1931-2018 / Independent Spirit Nominations and TFF #45 (and #44) / Multiple Interviews / New Gurus of Gold

Good Monday before Thanksgiving ya'll.  Still can't believe MTFB rolled over half a million views last Wednesday.


WILLIAM GOLDMAN 1931-2018

"I couldn't do that.  Could you do that?  How can they do that?  Who ARE those guys?"

It was announced Friday that screen writer and novelist William Goldman had died at the age of  87.  Like a lot of film fans, I was an avid reader of a good deal of what Goldman wrote and an admirer of his screenplays.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
All the President's Men

He won Oscars for those scripts

The Princess Bride
Marathon Man

Read both novels and loved both films.

And the books about the film business...insightful, incisive and funny as hell.  That's what I admired about Goldman's writing as much as anything...his ability to cut swiftly and cleanly with a turn of phrase.  Funny, funny and honest.

87 is a good long run...but, damn, the film world and, really the whole place, as I wrote yesterday, is colder without William Goldman in it.

Think I'm going to grab my copy of adventures in the Screen Trade right now and re-read it...again.

"Nobody knows anything."



INDEPENDENT SPIRIT NOMINATIONS AND TFF #45 (AND #44)

Film Independent dropped the announcement for their 2018 Independent Spirit Awards on Friday.  Here's how that played out concerning films that played Telluride in 2018- and in the case of First Reformed- 2017.

TFF #45 nominations went to Can You Ever Forgive Me? for Richard E. Grant as Supporting Male and for Nicole Holofcener for Best Screenplay.

Roma, The Favourite and Shoplifters were each nominated for Best International Film (which was the only Indy Spirit Award they were eligible for).

The big TFF winner was TFF #44 film First Reformed which enjoyed four nominations for Best Feature, Direction (Paul Schrader), Screenplay (Schrader) and Best Male Lead-Ethan Hawke.

Indiewire has the entire list of nominees linked here.


MULTIPLE INTERVIEWS

Over the past few days a multiplicity of interviews with people from a number of films that played at TFF #45 have appeared.  Here's a sample of those interviews and profiles:

High Jackman/The Front Runner with Variety's Tim Gray


Emma Stone/The Favourite with Business Insider's Jason Guerrasio


The Crew behind The Other Side of the Wind and The Wrap's Steve Pond


The cast of First Man and The Hollywood Reporter's Tara Bitran


Marielle Heller, director of Can You Ever Forgive Me? on Variety's Playback Podcast with Kristopher Tapley


Sissy Spacek of The Old Man and the Gun with Pete Hammond of Deadline.com on The Actor's Side


NEW GURUS OF GOLD UP AT MOVIE CITY NEWS

Those of us who acting as Gurus for this Oscar season for Movie City News got the call last week to update Best Picture predictions and take a stab at Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.

That brand new Gurus chart is here.

Films and performers from Telluride that make the grade are:

Best Picture (through the top 12 spots): Roma, The Favourite, First Man, Can You Ever Forgive Me/ and Boy Erased.

Among the Best Actor picks Ryan Gosling/First Man sits at #5, Hugh Jackman/The Front Runner is at #8 and Robert Redford/The Old Man and the Gun is at #9.  TFF #44's Ethan Hawke for First Reformed is at #7.

Supporting Actor TFFers are Richard E. Grant/Can You Ever Forgive Me? at #3 and Russell Crowe at #10 for Boy Erased.



That's your Monday MTFB.  I'll have more on Thanksgiving morning!

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

Friday Done, Saturday Looms / TBAs for Saturday / The Other Big News

TBAs for Saturday:

Massons Hall

11:45am-Watergate
8:00pm-Great Expectations
10:30pm-Dogman

The Zog

10:00pm-Free Solo


MY FRIDAY

Things changed with the discovery that the Patron/Press screening would be The Old Man and the Gun.  I took that in and then caught the North American premiere of Damien Chazelle's First Man.

Robert Redford talks with John Horn after the world premiere of David Lowery's The Old Man and the Gun

Sissy Spacek

Old Man and the Gun- Pleasant.  Was like a warm blanket to see Redford in fine form playing a lovable character.  Sissy Spacek and Casey Affleck are capable in support.  Tom Waits damn near steals the film.  Honestly, I felt like the film suffered a bit from lack of depth.  Again, pleasant.

First Man-is first rate.  Gripping, pulse pounding but also moving with genuinely touching moments. Gosling and Foy are great and Jason Clarke as doomed astronaut Jason Clarke also does a bang up job in support.

I was a big fan of La La Land two years ago and First Man does not disappoint as a follow up.  The Venice raves were earned.  I think it's a "can't miss" for you Telluriders this weekend.

MY SATURDAY...depending on if I can make the appropriate moves around town and Mountain village: Roma (Cuaron tribute), Destroyer, Can You Ever Forgive Me and The Favourite (Stone tribute).


THE OTHER BIG NEWS

Tom Luddy is not here in Telluride this year.  Co-director Julie Huntsinger revealed during the opening press conference today that Luddy is back in Berkeley as a health pre-caution.  She says not serious or life threatening but rather a decision based on cautiousness.


That's it for today.

New Trailer for The Old Man / Neil Simon 1927-2018 / Tribute Clues / Too Much of a Good Thing / Ahead This Week / The People's Telluride

Welcome back from the weekend.  What are you doing next weekend?


NEW TRAILER FOR THE OLD MAN

Fox Searchlight dropped a second trailer for David Lowery's The Old Man and the Gun starring Robert Redford in what he has said is his last acting job.

Here's the trailer from YouTube:

Additionally, here is coverage of the trailer's release from Indiewire and Awards Circuit.

As an aside, here is my plea to Fox Searchlight-whatever entourage you're bringing to Telluride in support of this film, please include Tom Waits.  That is all.

NEIL SIMON 1927-2018

Photo via Getty Images

Neil Simon died yesterday.  He was the pre-eminent voice for Broadway comedy in the 20th Century.  Read a lot of "Doc" Simon's plays.  Directed some.  Acted in some as well.  

He was a giant that deserved to be regarded as such.  This world is a darker place without him in it.

Exeunt Doc...and rest ye well...

TRIBUTE CLUES

                                      

Was contacted last night by a couple of faithful followers of the blog (you know who you are) who passed along the news that Tellurideinside.com had published the free screenings that will occur at the Able Gance outdoor theater on Wednesday and Thursday nights.  Long time TFF fans know that those screening choices each year generally point to Tribute recipients.

Wednesday night's screening is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  That film was directed by a guy named Alfonso Cuaron.

Thursday night's film is Crazy, Stupid Love which stars both Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone either of which might be a Tribute recipient this week (and bravo to TFF organizers for this selection that leaves us guessing still).  I suppose there's also a 2% chance that it could be Steve Carell and that Welcome to Marwen pops up in the T-ride lineup...but I really don't think that's going to happen.  Just like Julianne Moore (the fourth of the five stars in Crazy, Stupid, Love) might be a candidate if Gloria Bell was going to play TFF but as it is scheduled by Toronto as a World Premiere, that's not going to happen either.

I suppose it's not outside the realm of possibility that both Gosling AND Stone get Tributes.

Here's the story from Tellurideinside.com

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING...

As we get to this moment every year a number of people will ask what I'm most excited to see during the weekend.  I always admit a couple of things: I don't live in L.A. or N.Y. or any major metropolitan area...so I am always interested in films that I know won't make it to my small berg until late in the year if at all and, of course, I am very interested in films that may be part of the Oscar conversation so those two things tend to inform my list of films to see.  I will also have to admit that I can be swayed by the personalities that accompany a film.  And, just like many of you, my choices can and likely will shift through the course of the weekend based on what the buzz is in lines.

This year, more than most, my pre-fest preferences have shifted from week to week.  At the moment, these eight films are in a constantly evolving rotation with each other as to my "must sees" in alphabetical order: Boy Erased, Destroyer, The Favourite, First Man, The Front Runner, The Old Man and the Gun, The Other Side of the Wind and Roma.  That said, I'm also pretty hot for Cold War, Non-Fiction and Shoplifters.  

Ultimately, if you look at last week's Ten Bets, I'd like to get in the top 16 or so and I know that's impossible.  Also, there is another film, that, should it pop up as has been indicated to me, then I'd be compelled to add it.

AHEAD THIS WEEK

MTFB goes into Fest Week mode...

Tuesday's post will include something I've been working on for a year and a half.

Wednesday...will have a special posting of the FINAL TEN (25) BETS FOR TFF #45.

Thursday...I'll post the official lineup as soon as it drops with some extra content.

Friday through Monday...I'll post each day with schedules, TBAs and whatever else seems interesting.

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

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.

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

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

The First Telluride Film Festival-1974 / Tribute Odds / Indiewire's Fall Movie Preview / The People's Telluride

Good Tuesday everyone... Ten Days until the 45th Telluride Film Festival...



THE FIRST TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL-1974

The long developing TFF history project comes to a way station today with a review of the first Telluride Film Festival which occurred in Telluride on Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 1974.

I started this with a post on April 13, 2017 with a look at the 32nd TFF.  That was the starting point as you can still access programs for the festival beginning with the one from 2006 on the official Telluride Film Festival website.

I plan to add this style of history for each of those years soon.  Ultimately, I plan to add pages to the History section of this space by permanently placing all of my synopses there in full.  My goal is to have a one stop spot where anyone can access a somewhat expanded history of the fest.  That's going to drop next week just prior to the beginning of this year's fest.

So, though today is a milestone, it's still not the completion of the project.

That said, here's the review of TFF #1:

Tributes: Francis Ford Coppola, Gloria Swanson, Leni Riefenstahl

SHOWS:

BBC Interview with Leni Riefenstahl
The Blue Light
The Chinese in Paris
The Conversation
Das Stahltier
Don't Touch the White Woman
Finian's Rainbow
Olympia
Peau Danne
Queen Kelly
The Rain People
Rivers of Sand
Sadie Thompson
Solaris
Stage Struck
Sunset Boulevard
Sweet Movie
The Thief of Baghdad
Triumph of the Will
White Hell of Pitz Palu
Why Change Your Wife
You're a Big Boy Now

In addition to the tribute recipients, British actress Julie Christie was reported to have attended the festival.


TRIBUTE ODDS

As the picture continues to get clearer about probable films that will part of the TFF #45 program, I thought it might be time to return to the contemplation of who might be tribute recipients this year.

I touched on this topic in a post on July 31st and since then, we've added some more film titles that are probable for Telluride...most notably Destroyer with Nicole Kidman starring.

So...here are ten people would could be tributed and what I guessing their odds are:

1) Nicole Kidman/Destroyer and Boy Erased Odds-2 to 1.
2) Sissy Spacek/The Old Man and the Gun Odds 3 to 1.
3) Alfonso Cuaron/Roma Odds- 3 to 1
4) Juliette Binoche/Non-Fiction Odds - 4 to 1
5) Hugh Jackman/The Front Runner Odds-5 to 1
6) Matthew McConaughey/White Boy Rick Odds-5 to 1
7) Ryan Gosling/First Man Odds- 10 to 1
8) Hirokazu Kore-eda/Sholifters Odds- 15 to 1
9) Rachel Wiesz/The Favourite Odds-20 to 1
10) Guillaume Canet/Non-Fiction Odds 25 to 1

Runner-up-Olivier Assayas/Non-Fiction Odds 30 to 1


INDIEWIRE'S FALL MOVIE PREVIEW

The staff at Indiewire have put together their "awards contenders" list of 25 films for the fall film season and listed them chronologically by release date.

If the latest Ten Bets list from last Friday is accurate (and I think it's pretty accurate) then nine TFF #45 films made their list:

White Boy Rick- Sept. 21
The Old Man and the Gun- Sept. 28
First Man- Oct. 12
Boy Erased- Nov. 2
The Other Side of the Wind- Nov.2
Peterloo- Nov. 9
The Favourite- Nov. 23
Cold War- Dec. 21
Roma- undated but likely a December release

On the list of the Indiewire films that could still land at Telluride: Mary Queen of Scots (Dec. 7), Welcome to Marwen (Dec. 21), Adam McKay's untitled Dick Cheney film (Dec. 21), Ad Astra (Dec. 21) and On the Basis of Sex (Dec. 25)

Check out the entire list at Indiewire.


THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

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

Spitballing Tributes / ScreenTalk Talks Fests / TIFF Second Wave Tomorrow

Welcome to Tuesday...running late today for a variety of reasons...

SPITBALLING TRIBUTES

2017 TFF Tributee Christian Bale

Although it's a little early, I thought we might take a quick stab today at considering who (or in some years it's been what) might be in line for a tribute at this year's TFF.  As a starting point, let's consider the films from latest Ten Bets-since I'm pretty confident about those titles making The SHOW lineup:

1) Roma
2) First Man
3) The Old Man and the Gun
4) Cold War
5) The Front Runner
6) Dogman
7) Shoplifters
8) Can You Ever Forgive Me?
9) Non Fiction
10) The Favourite

I also feel strongly about these making the lineup as well:

The Other Side of the Wind, White Boy Rick, Peterloo.

This group of 13 films gives us a rich list of potential tribute candidates.

Actors from the above films that could get the tribute treatment:

Ryan Gosling/First Man
Sissy Spacek/The Old Man and the Gun
Hugh Jackman/The Front Runner
Rachel Weisz/The Favourite
Emma Stone/The Favourite
Juliette Binoche/Non Fiction
Guillaume Canet/Non Fiction
Matthew McConaughey/White Boy Rick


Directors that could be feted:

Matteo Garrone/Dogman
Olivier Assasyas/Non Fiction
Alfonso Cuaron/Roma
David Lowery/The Old Man and the Gun
Hirokazu Kore-eda/Shoplifters


What do you think?


SCREENTALK TALKS FESTS

Anne Thompson and Eric Kohn of Indiewire sat down after last week's Toronto and Venice announcements to record their ScreenTalk podcast. 

The discussion was far-ranging and included specific mention of films they are willing to tag as Telluride films: The Favourite, Roma, First Man, White Boy Rick.  They also mention Can You Ever Forgive Me? and Peterloo though not in the context of Telluride.  They also spend some time talking about a theory that some distributors are now wary of Telluride suggesting that the four day weekend puts too much pressure on a film.

Could this explain the (at least so far) absence of any mention of films from Focus Features?  Boy Erased, Mary Queen of Scots and On the Basis if Sex?

Last weekend's ScreenTalk is here.


TORONTO'S SECOND WAVE TOMORROW

The Toronto International Film Festival will announce their second wave of films tomorrow morning.  It will be Canadian-centric, though they do sometimes make some other announcements in this wave, they are few. 

Last year I wasn't able to glean any truly useful Telluride info from their second announcement.  In 2016, I was able to eliminate Xavier Dolan's It's Only the End of the World because of TIFF's second wave so there is a occasionally some knowledge that can be gotten.  Perhaps we'll discover the status of Dolan's new film The Death and Life of John F. Donovan.


That's today's MTFB.  More will be forthcoming on Thursday!

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

New Things to Look At: The Old Man and the Gun (Trailer) / A Star Is Born (Trailer) / First Man (Stills)

Hello on this Thursday...


NEW THINGS TO LOOK AT:  Three films show us something about themselves and all of them could be in play on Labor Day weekend in southwest Colorado.

THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN (TRAILER)

We have a first trailer for the Robert Redford starring The Old Man and the Gun.  The film also features Sissy Spacek and Casey Affleck in what Redford has said will be his last acting gig.  David Lowery (A Ghost Story, Ain't Them Bodies Saints) directs.

Fox Searchlight is distributing and coming off of last year's Best Picture Oscar win for The Shape of Water combined with an announced release date of Sept. 28th and the fact that Redford is a fairly recent T-ride tribute recipient, you have to think that the film has a shot at a Telluride berth.  Maybe a Sissy Spacek tribute?

Also, the trailer's great.  Here it is from YouTube:

Coverage from:

Indiewire

The Wrap

Trailer Track

A STAR IS BORN (TRAILER)

The Internet lost its collective mind yesterday over the first trailer drop for the fourth (I think) version of A Star Is Born.  This version stars and is directed by Bradley Cooper.  Lady Gaga also stars as the star who gets born.  Sam Elliott and Dave Chapelle also are featured.

In fairness to the Internet...this trailer is also impressive.  There had already been good buzz building for the film and it seems the trailer has added fuel to the fire.

As a matter of fact, a few weeks back I started paying some serious attention to its Telluride chances because of the scuttlebutt I was seeing about test screenings.

There has been Oscar buzz and that also took a jump with the trailer's release yesterday. 

So...the factor to consider:  It could be Warner Brothers ticket back to Telluride.  Since 2012 WB has had: Argo, Prisoners, Gravity, Black Mass and Sully at the fest.

A Star Is Born is set for an Oct. 5th release.

Here's the trailer via YouTube:

Coverage from:

Awards Daily

Indiewire

Variety

Trailer Track

FIRST MAN (STILLS)

And also appearing yesterday, the first stills from Damien Chazelle's Neil Armstrong biopic First Man starring Ryan Gosling.  The La La Land pair could see this film book a return trip to Telluride for Chazelle (with Gosling, perhaps, attending this time around).

The film is under the Universal banner and is set for domestic release on Oct. 12th.

As you can see from the imprint, People magazine was the first to post the pics:

Coverage:

People

Coming Soon

Indiewire

Slash Film

That's going to have to do it for this Thursday.  I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up this first week in June.

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