Latest Take from Toronto Reveals / Anything From Sundance? / No Jack for Toni

Good Thursday TFF fans...

LATEST TAKE FROM TORONTO REVEALS

The Toronto International Film Festival rolled out a significant number of additional films that they were adding to the various slates that make up their festival.  Of course that announcement provided us with new information about films that are probably headed to Telluride and, just as importantly, which films are not.

Added to the list of probable films for Telluride are Joel Edgerton's Boy Erased and Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra's Birds of Passage.  Additionally, Mike Leigh's Peterloo is now all but confirmed for TFF #45 as well.

Boy Erased is listed by TIFF as an International Premiere suggesting that its first public screening will be at T-ride.  Both Birds of Passage and Peterloo are labeled Canadian Premieres.

Films that look to be removed from the Telluride possibilities list because they were categorized as World, North American or International Premieres that have already screened in their country of origin are (some of these were confirmations of deductions we'd already made:

Paul Greengrass' 22 July

Peter Farrelly's Green Book

David Mackenzie's Outlaw King

Sebastian Lelio's Gloria Bell

Thomas Vintenburg's Kursk

Jonah Hill's Mid 90s

Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck's Never LookAway

Jafar Panahi's Three Faces

Jia Zhang-ke's  Ash Is the Purest White

Paolo Sorrentino's Loro

Jean Luc-Godard's The Image Book

Nuri Bilge Ceylan's The Wild Pear Tree

Christian Petzold's Transit

Sergei Loznitsa's Donbass

Luis Ortega's The Angel

Ali Abassi's Border-which I had thought might be bound for Telluride after that L.A. Fest classified it as a "California Premiere".  Looks like I was wrong.

I have to say that I am truly pleased that Boy Erased is going to make it to The SHOW.  It will be near the top pf my list of "must-sees" for Labor Day weekend.  Actually, that list is going to be too long to get in before the weekend is over.

Here's the TIFF rundown of Tuesday's additions from Indiewire.

ANYTHING FROM SUNDANCE?

I'm relatively confident that the normal practice of not programming films that played at Sundance will hold true this year.  I have also thought that the film most likely to make the very rare Sundance/Telluride double play that it would probably be Paul Dano's Wildlife.

However, I have overlooked the possibility that it could be Tamara Jenkins Private Life. 

Jenkins last film was 2007's Savages which was part of what I still regard as the strongest TFF lineup in the 12 years I've been going.  

So...I doubt that it plays, but if there is a Sundance/Telluride crossover, Private Life could be it.  Netflix produced the film and, as many of you know, Netflix is going to be a substantial presence at this year's fest.  Their recent decision to give the film a theatrical release on Oct. 5th might be an indicator that it could happen.

Private Life stars Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn.  

NO JACK FOR TONI

One of the big hits of Cannes and Telluride in 2016 was Maren Ade's Toni Erdmann.  I, myself, was a bit lukewarm about it BUT...I remember telling somebody (might have been Award Circuit's Mark Johnson...maybe...maybe not) after the screening I saw that I'd be glad to sign on to write the script for the Americanized version because I was already that sure that such a thing would come to pass.

And it seemed to be so when it was announced that would happen with Lisa Cholodenko directing Kristen Wiig and Oscar winner and legend Jack Nicholson reprising the roles created by Sandra Huller and Peter Simonisheck.

However, that dream partially came apart yesterday as we discovered that Nicholson is out.  The 80+ year old actor will not be a part of the project after all.

Cholodenko and Wiig appear to still be on board and the search is reportedly on to cast a replacement for Jack.

Here's the story from The Wrap.

That's your MTFB for this Thursday.  More to come tomorrow including a new Ten (20) Bets for TFF #45.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

A Weekend of Telluride Speculation / Continuing to Look at Cannes

Good Monday to All...

A WEEKEND OF TELLURIDE SPECULATION

Over the weekend I was in the midst of a good deal of Telluride speculation.  Fueled by mentions on Twitter and a couple of posts from various sources some very interesting and unlikely film titles made up the basis for the weekend's T-ride musings.

A Scott Feinberg/Hollywood Reporter piece about Cannes films and their Oscar potential included a Telluride reference late in the article that Sundance critical darlings Birth of a Nation and Manchester are "rumored" to be playing at Telluride.

If true, that would violate Telluride's "North American premiere" rule, although the fest has occasionally allowed that to happen in rare cases before.

I'm dubious but Feinberg has better ears on the ground than I ever will.  Check his post here:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/oscars-are-any-contenders-cannes-883959

Birth of a Nation teaser via YouTube

The other news of note focused on an interview with Cannes Artistic Director Theirry Fremaux with Screen Daily.  Fremaux talked about films that didn't make the Cannes lineup including a reference to Oliver Stone's Snowden.  Fremaux suggests that Snowden distributor Open Road is opting for a "different strategy" despite the fact that Fremaux says that Cannes would have liked to have the film.

Snowden's current release date is Sept. 16.

All of which suggests, at least to me, that we need to take the possibility of a Snowden screening at Telluride seriously.


The Fremaux interview is here:

http://www.screendaily.com/news/cannes-thierry-fremaux-interview/5102645.article


CONTINUING TO LOOK AT CANNES

Jeff Nichol's Loving

I have included here a couple of "Cannes breakdown" articles that seek to provide analysis about the films selected for the 69th edition of that festival:

http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/cannes/cannes-2016-the-critics-take/5102617.article

http://variety.com/2016/film/festivals/cannes-official-selection-numbers-1201753696/



That's it for this Monday...more on Thursday...

Contact me at:

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to

Michael's Telluride Film Blog's Facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse/107846269309712

A Look at Mr. Holmes/Jobs Has a Date/Trailer for Wild Tales/A Plea Like Mine

Good Thursday to Everyone...


Oscar Night is just 16 days away!

A LOOK AT MR. HOLMES

We have our first moving glimpse of Bill Condon's Mr. Holmes starring Sir Ian McKellan as a retired version of the famed detective.  The film also stars Laura Linney.  Best reasons to think it could play Telluride: Linney,  Condon and Roadside Attractions.  Damper: Condon has only played T-ride once.

"Mr. Holmes" Clip via YouTube

Coverage:

The Playlist, Rope of Silicon, HitFix

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-ian-mckellen-is-sherlock-holmes-in-first-clip-for-mr-holmes-20150204


http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/watch-ian-mckellen-talks-kid-new-clip-mr-holmes/


http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/first-look-ian-mckellen-is-an-old-sherlock-in-new-clip-of-mr-homes


JOBS HAS A DATE

Universal announced yesterday that Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs biopic "Jobs" will be released Oct. 19th which means that it could certainly be ready for a screening at Telluride.  It' still a close call but doable.  Best reason to think it will play: Boyle.  Damper: Universal

Coverage:

The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, FirstShowing:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/universals-steve-jobs-movie-gets-770209


http://variety.com/2015/film/news/steve-jobs-movie-release-date-1201423722/


http://www.firstshowing.net/2015/steve-jobs-biopic-is-coming-fast-as-universal-sets-october-release/


TRAILER FOR WILD TALES

"Wild Tales" trailer via YouTube

One of the hits of last year's festival and the highest flying foreign entry per the Telluride Peoples and Professionals polls reported here was Damian Szifron's Oscar nominated "Wild Tales".  NOw comes a trailer cut for the United States which is above.

Coverage from The Dissolve and FirstShowing:

http://thedissolve.com/news/4661-new-trailer-for-oscar-nominee-wild-tales-is-suitab/

http://www.firstshowing.net/2014/indie-trailer-sunday-brilliant-argentinian-anthology-film-wild-tales/

AND A PLEA LIKE MINE

HitFix's Greg Ellwood filed a story this week about potential 2016 Oscar contenders that screened at Sundance.  He points at two possible Best Picture candidates "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" and "Brooklyn"  We take note here as Ellwood makes a plea directly to the programmers at Telluride to make an exception to the "no Sundance/only North American first screenings" policy and sites the appearance of "An Education" in 2009 as I have done from time to time..  Ellwood suggests that "An Education" was an anamoly due to some connection to a tribute, though I can't find that.  TFF #36 tributed Viggo Mortensen, Margarethe von Trotta and Anouk Aimee that year.  Here's Elllwood's Sundance Oscar dispatch:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/did-the-2016-oscars-race-start-at-sundance-again

More on Monday.  Have a great weekend!

1,000 Posts/Variety Series/Sundance Stories

Good Monday Everyone...

A quick note here...Michael's Telluride Film Blog/Film Awards Clearinghouse will not post on Thursday this week or next week. I'll be holidaying on both of those days.  I will post a new MTFB next Monday, Dec. 29th and return to the normal twice a week posting on Monday, Jan. 5th  followed by a new post on Thursday, Jan. 8th.

Of course, if something blog-worthy pops, I could change all that.

Here's todays' MTFB/FAC:

1,000 POSTS

Today's post is MTFB/FAC's 1000th post!  The first post came on August 8, 2008.  Here it is in its entirety:

The festival opens three weeks from today and the Pattersons are uber excited. Last year's fest was such a great experience that we're really looking forward to whatever awaits us in the San Juans in a few days. See you there! When in Telluride, stay at the lovely River Club!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back to today:  This all started with the notion that someone might be able to decipher some of the films that would make the secret lineup each year with enough investigation.  I know I've written this before, but it's still difficult for me to believe that people actually read this; that it's been going for more than six years and that people seem to find it useful.

I'm not sure what the future holds for MTFB/FAC.  If you'd have asked me back in 2008 if it'd still be going 6 years and 1,000 posts later, I probably would have said that was nope, so predicting what happens with it over the next six years...

As always, huge gratitude to the people who have allowed me to indulge in this exercise:  Mitzi and Larry Mallard of Telluride who have made my attendance at the festival possibly each year since 2006.  Passes for me and my wife, Kristy, as well as sumptuous lodging for us and our guests for nine straight fests.  I'm guessing that the monetary value of this generosity would be around $100,000. You kids have changed my life.

Thanks also to the staff of TFF especially over the last four fests that MTFB/FAC has been accredited as a part of the official TFF press corps.  A specific shout out to Erica Gioga, Shannon Mitchell and Julie Huntsinger for their graciousness each time I've talked with them.

Thanks to the great friends that we have made along the way including those of you who attended the "Guide to the Ride" meet-ups in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

To those of you who have read and supported this experiment, my gratitude.  It means more to me than you can imagine when someone who reads the blog comes up to me at the fest to say hello.  It also constantly amazes me.

And finally, the biggest "thank you" to my wife and biggest fan, Kristy...at least I think she's the biggest fan.  She's endured this obsession of mine with patience and support for six years. Thank you!

Another six years and a 2,000th post?  Who knows, but I'm going to try.

VARIETY SERIES

Variety has been publishing/posting a series of conversations between people who are likely Oscar contenders which has necessarily included a number of Telluride #41 film participants.  You might have seen my link in an earlier post to the convo featuring Edward Norton (Birdman) and Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game).  There have been more and I have included links to several with T-ride connections here:

Michael Keaton (Birdman) and Reese Witherspoon (Wild):

http://variety.com/video/actors-on-actors-reese-witherspoon-and-michael-keaton-full-video/


Hilary Swank (The Homesman) and Tilda Swinton (TFF 2011 Tribute recipient):

http://variety.com/video/actors-on-actors-hilary-swank-and-tilda-swinton-full-video/


Producers Roundtable including producers for: "The Imitation Game", "Wild" and "Foxcatcher":

http://variety.com/video/producers-roundtable-at-the-variety-studio/


Another Variety feature called The Contenders; Directors on Directors has had contemporaries of various Oscar candidates write a bit about them.  Included are Alejandro Inarittu/Birdman (by Alfonso Curaon), Bennett Miller/Foxcatcher (by Andrew Dominik), Tommy Lee Jones/The Homesman (by Ron Shelton), Morten Tyldum/The Imitation Game (by Michael Roskam), Xavier Dolan/Mommy (by Damien Chazelle) and Jean Marc Vallee/Wild (by Jeff Nichols).


http://variety.com/gallery/contenders-directors-on-directors/#!1/birdman-fox/


SUNDANCE STORIES

Announcements within the last ten days about films that will play the Sundance Film Fest in and around Park City, Utah have moved some films that I have thought could be Telluride players into the "not very likely" camp.  "Slow West" (Michael Fassbender) and "True Story" (Jonah Hill, James Franco) have both been named as Sundance premieres.  Sundance founder and recent (2013) Telluride Tribute recipients Robert Redford's "A Walk in the Woods" starring Redford and Nick Nolte and directed by Ken Kwapis will also, unsurprisingly, play Sundance.

I've included some of that coverage here:

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/sundance-adds-robert-redford-drama-jonah-hill-and-james-francos-true-story-1201379800/

http://www.firstshowing.net/2014/a-walk-in-the-woods-true-story-are-also-headed-to-sundance/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/sundance-2015-lineup-includes-slow-west-z-for-zachariah-results-strangerland-and-more-20141203

Rudderless Rising/Cuaron Wins the DGA/Lupita Interview/TFF #41 and J.C. Chandor?/Making it in the Big Leagues

Welcome to Monday!

RUDDERLESS RISING

Standing ovation for William H. Macy's "Rudderless" at The Sundance Film Festival this past weekend.

Sundance's closing premiere, "Rudderless" premiered for Sundance audiences Friday night to a standing ovation.  The film was screened a second time on Sunday morning...also a standing ovation.  I have read half a dozen reviews of the film and five of the six range from good to ecstatic.  Variety is the one review that wasn't impressed with the film written by Casey Twenter and Jeff Robison and shot in Oklahoma last spring.

I am including links to reviews from The Hollywood Reporter, /Film, HitFix, The Playlist and WeLiveFilm:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/rudderless-sundance-review-674066

http://www.slashfilm.com/william-h-macys-directorial-debut-rudderless-is-a-tale-of-two-half-notes-sundance-14-review/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/sundance-review-rudderless-is-a-remarkable-directorial-debut-from-william-h-macy-20140124

http://welivefilm.com/sundance-2014-rudderless-review-moviemanmenzel/

There are plenty of blurb-worthy quotes to chose from and that you can expect to see in future marketing for the film.  As to The Variety review, I'm an unrepentant fan of the film...so you can google it yourself if you want to read it.

If you have seen other reviews of the film, please drop me a note via the comments and I'll post those as well.

In other Sundance news, the biggest prize winner in the competition section was for "Whiplash" which opened the festival.  The film stars Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons and was written and directed by Damien Chazelle and focuses on the world of music...in this case drumming.  "Whiplash" won the top dramatic prize and the audience award both on Saturday night.


CUARON WINS THE DGA

Also on Saturday night...late Saturday night, the Directors Guild of America named Alfonso Cuaron the best feature film director of the year for "Gravity".  That solidifies the thinking that he will likely win the Oscar for the same feat and also boosts the chance that "Gravity" wins Best Picture on Oscar night.

It will be interesting to see how much the DGA win moves the tone of the Oscar pundits.  Over the last week the very strong popular narrative has been that "12 Years a Slave" would win Best Picture and tat Cuaron would win Best Director.  After the PGA tie between the two films last week, there was also a lot of discussion about what effect the DGA winner might have.

Though a split between Best Picture and Best Director is rare, it does happen.  It happened last year when Ang Lee won directing for "Life of Pi" and "Argo" won Best Picture.

Lost i the shuffle, at least a little bit over the past week has been "American Hustle" which looked like a house on fire after the SAG and Golden Globes and also after nomination morning when it co-lead the field (along with "Gravity") with 10 nominations.  I personally don't think you can completely write off its chances of winning Best Picture as it seems to have a lot of love from actors and that's the largest branch, by far, of the Academy's membership.

I also have to say that a real left field surprise could happen too.  I can see these three top films splitting #1 votes enough to allow a "compromise" candidate to emerge victorious.  Some of the Oscar elite think that could be "Philomena".  My "surprise" winner is "Dallas Buyers Club".  It's likely winning at least statues on Oscar night for Best Actor and Supporting Actor (McConaughey and Leto).  In addition to Best Picture, it has two other important nominations: Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing.  It also has a nomination for Makeup/Hair.  It also appears to be adored by the actors.  I'm telling you that if had scored a Best Direction nomination, it would be a serious part of the conversation.

The other "surprise" possibility: Alexander Payne's "Nebraska".  It even has a Best Directing nomination.  It's weakness is that it will likely not win a single Oscar that it's nominated for.  In addition to Best Picture and Direction; it's nominated for Actor (Bruce Dern), Supporting Actress (June Squibb), Original Screenplay and Cinematography.  I think that had it picked up an Editing nomination, it might be a bigger topic of conversation as well.

Bottom line...I'm still of a mind that "12 Years" wins Best Picture but I have to accede to the dominant thinking at this point.   Up until Saturday night, I had still thought that Steve McQueen would win Best Director come Oscar night (and that could still happen...DGA and Oscar don't always agree on Direction) but too much points to Cuaron winning Best Director.  It seems the split is likely or even that "Gravity" may have a near "Titanic"/"Lord of the Rings; Return of the King" type night.

LUPITA INTERVIEW

Oscar nominated for "12 Years a Slave" (and perhaps a slight front runner), Lupita N'yong'o, spoke recently to The Carpetbagger/The New York Times.  Here's that interview:

http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/video-lupita-nyongo/

TFF #41 AND J.C. CHANDOR?

A24 films have acquired the rights to writer/director J.C. Chandor's third feature: "A Most Violent Year". The film stars Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain.  I think it has a real chance to play at Telluirde #41 this Labor Day.  Reasons:  I spoke briefly last to both Chandor and Isaac at last year's festival, and both men seem to be having a great time.  Additionally, A24 has emerged as an occasional presence at Telluride with films playing as a part of the program in 2012 with "Ginger and Rosa' and last year with "Under the Skin".

Biggest reason that it might not play TFF #41...it hasn't started shooting yet.


MAKING IT IN THE BIG LEAGUES

This is completely unnecessary, but...

As you might expect, The Telluride Film Festival has official photographers and videographers.  I have to admit that I've always hoped that somehow, Kris and I might find ourselves in one of their shots someday.   You know, sort of as tangible proof to the rest of the world (and maybe even to ourselves) that we were actually there. The Fest puts out an annual Yearbook, there are certainly a ton of pictures from the fest as it's going on but it's never happened.  Until this year.

I was perusing the Fest's website recently and trolling through the official photos when I found this one from the Patron's Brunch:

Ostensibly this is a photo of past Guest directors Michal Ondaatje (author of "The English Patient") and Salman Rushdie author of "The Satanic Verses").  If you look at the background, to the left of Rushdie, you can see me standing (dressed in blue)  and looking out over the crowd.  Kris is blocked by the very nice woman in the salmon shirt (not Salman-ha!).  She's the artist who makes the medallions each years for the tributees.

Yes, that's really me behind Ondaatje and Rushdie...and I'm looking at a crowd that included Robert Redford, Francis Ford Coppola, Bruce Dern, The Coen Brothers, T.Bone Burnett and others. 

Objective photographic evidence my friends...I guess it really did happen.

More on Thursday...

Save the Dates/And Speaking of Cannes...

Good Thursday everyone...

SAVE THE DATES

I make the case frequently that Telluride is one of the five most influential/important film festivals on the planet...and sometimes people will ask me what the other four are...which is a good question, because they all have ramifications in as far as Telluride is concerned.  Additionally, they've all announced their dates which can give you a rough template about how films will jockey about and when.

Sundance, of course, has already happened. 

Sundance and Venice tend to be exclusive...though there are usually 2-3 films the cross-pollinate between Venice and Telluride.

Toronto tends to be inclusive...there is usually a good deal of overlap between Toronto and T-ride although there have been rumbles that that might be less true in the future.

New York tends to act in both capacities.  The NYFF will often have Telluride overlap, but it will also seek to snag 2-3 films exclusively.

Cannes #66 is scheduled for: May 15-26.

Venice is set for: Aug. 28-Sept. 7.

and Toronto is scheduled for: Sept. 5-15.

I think you could plausibly make the case that The New York Film Festival is the other possible "one of the five most..." film festivals on the planet and it, too, has an impact on what does and doesn't play at Telluride.  It's dates are: Sept. 27-Oct. 13.

So, for now, it's all about the Cannes fest and the choices those programmers make primarily for competition and the "Un Certain Regard" section.  They're are likely to be a number of films in those two Cannes categories that we'll see over Labor Day weekend.


AND SPEAKING OF CANNES...

The organizers of the 66th edition announced this week that Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby" will open the festival.  Seems a little weird that it is the choice as it will have opened here in the U.S. the weekend before.  Curious.

Nevertheless, Cannes is two months away and we're starting to see some serious speculation about possible films for competition and other parts of the program.  I've included two that were just posted within the last few days:

Here's Deadline.com's speculation: http://www.deadline.com/2013/03/cannes-2013-lineup-predictions-films/

It includes Telluride possibles such as: "Nebraska", "Twelve Years a Slave", "Blood Ties", "Lowlife" and "The Past".

Brad Brevet at Rope of Silicon also posted a Cannes spec piece this week that builds on the Deadline post which I have linked here:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/what-movies-will-play-at-the-2013-cannes-film-festival/


And so we await the Cannes announcement of the actual lineups to see what insights we can draw about the potential TFF #40 list of films.

More on Monday...

Sundance Post Mortem/A Separation/TFF #39?

Good Morning!

I'm back after a couple of days away at my regular job...

SUNDANCE POST MORTEM

Well, The Sundance Film Festival is done for 2012 and it has been fun posting the musings of Cinema Bebop's Gnat Lee.  There were three films (as I have said) that seemed to me to be most intriguing: "Beasts of the Southern Wild", "The Surrogate" and "The Words"  IndieWire has a post up with the critical response to the films and performances that played Sundance this year.  You can find that here:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/criticwire-ranks-top-sundance-films-and-performances

Interestingly, "Beasts" and "Surrogate" got a lot of critical attention.  "The Words" not so much.

A SEPARATION

Asghar Farhadi's "A Separation" continues its American roll out this week.  It was featured with two Chicago outlets.

The Tribune:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/ct-ae-0122-separation-20120119,0,3068696.column

And also Roger Ebert's blog:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120124/PEOPLE/120129986

 AND LOOKING AHEAD

During the just completed Sundance Fest, IndieWire posted its list of most anticipated indie films for 2012, many of which played in Utah.  But the list also includes some serious Telluride #39 possibilities, so you might want to take a look.  I think of particular interest would be "The Door", "Foxfire", "A Late Quartet" and "Song for Marion".  I've already mentioned "Quartet" and "Marion" in an earlier post as TFF possibilities...

Later!

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

Final Thoughts from Our Man in Utah/Final Ballots in the Mail

Good Morning.

Sundance 2012 is in the books.  The three titles that emerged that seem to be the most intriguing: "The Surrogate", "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "The Words".

Our man in Utah who had the front row seat, Gant Lee of Cinema Bebop files his final report at:
 http://cinemabebop.tumblr.com/

I have reproduced it here:

Sundance 2012 Recap!

After a fun vacation in the mountains, life sped up and kept me from doing this. Even though I’m still busy, I’ve found the time to write this quick little bit full of goodies.
***********************************************************************************************
THE AWARDS
Taking home the big one is Beasts of the Southern Wild. It picked up the highest ranking award for dramatic films, the Grand Jury Prize, Dramatic. This really came as no surprise here. During my stay in Park City, I heard a lot of great things about this film, but I tried my hardest to stay away from too much info. At one point, I even stood in line for 4 hours to get a ticket into the film (with no success). The film got picked up by Fox Searchlight and will presumably be hitting theaters sometime later this year.
Taking home the Grand Jury Prize, Documentary was The House I Live In. The film is about the “war on drugs” and the way we view it. I’ve heard it’s quite gripping and oh, by the way, Danny Glover is an executive producer. It hasn’t been picked up yet for distribution, but I’m sure that it will given its award and positive responses.
A list of all of the awards can be found here ——-> http://www.sundance.org/press-center/release/2012-sundance-film-festival-awards/
***********************************************************************************************
HERE IS THE LIST OF WHAT I WATCHED AND HOW I SCORED EACH FILM
Simon Killer 8/10
The Comedy 7/10
Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie 8.5/10
Room 237 9/10
L 5.5/10
Red Lights 4.5/10
Wrong 6/10
SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS 8/10
Indie Game: The Movie 7.5/10
Smashed 9/10
I wasn’t unhappy to sit through any of these screenings. I may not care to sit through 2-3 of them again for a very long time, but it was a fun time nonetheless.
***********************************************************************************************
FINAL THOUGHTS
1) Independent film is great. In some instances, you can argue that the independent filmmaker is more creative and has the ability to do whatever they want. They answer to themselves, not a studio. What you get at Sundance is a truly unique and eclectic group of films and filmmakers that are trying to cater to a number of different audiences, not just one wide audience. This makes every film seem less generic and more original. This is the Mecca of independent film and I love it.
2) Volunteers are so helpful. In their instantly recognizable orange jackets, you could ask them just about any question about the festival and they will have the answer for you or they will know somebody who knows the answer. For every one nice person that approaches a volunteer, there are about 3 people who aren’t nice. The volunteers don’t get enough credit when it comes to running the festival. They have some really great crowd control skills and they’re doing it for free, out of the goodness of their hearts. I didn’t say “thank you” to them enough…
3) Next time, I will purposefully try to go see films that have not been picked up for distribution. There are plenty of great films that go through there that somebody may never see. I don’t want to miss out on those in favor of something I can see in theaters 6 months later. After missing both The Surrogate and Beasts of the Southern Wild at the end of one day, I decided to go to guaranteed screenings. The festival is more fun that way.
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SPECIAL THANKS
I would like to give a shout out to my mom for going with me to Park City. It was fun having her with me and talking about the films that we had seen. I wouldn’t have been there in Park City or blogging right now without her. So thank you Liz Lee!
Next, I want to thank Michael Patterson for promoting my writing on his Telluride film blog. If you wanna check out awards season talk or anything regarding Telluride, visit his website at http://michaelstelluridefilm.blogspot.com/. He’s great and very rich with information!
Lastly, I want to thank my readers for reading me! I can track how many times my links have been read, and I know there are a few of you! So thank you for your continued support. I really appreciate it.
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I’ll try making it back here every once in awhile to fill everybody in on details concerning future Sundance dealings and happenings. Until next time!


THEY'RE IN THE MAIL

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has the final Oscar ballots in the mail as of yesterday afternoon.  They must be returned no later than Feb. 21st at 5p.m.  The Oscars are Feb. 26th.

To my Academy member acquaintances...I say...vote well...with great ballots come great responsibility!

Later!

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

Special to MTFB/FAC: Hazanavicius Wins/Sundance Concluding

Good Morning, World!

The Director's Guild of America named "The Artist" director Michel Hazanavicius the winner of its award for directing feature films last night.  Needless to say, that throws more fuel on the "It's a lock" for Best Picture fire.  I think that notion is probably true.  I have been thinking that one could make a reasonable case for the chances of an upset by "Hugo" or "The Descendants" or possibly even "The Help".  But probably not.

The SAG awards are tonight.  We'll have those results for you in tomorrow's post and also the parsing of them to see if they reveal any surprises or new wrinkles for the conventional wisdom as we edge closer to Oscar Day/Feb. 26.

Here's the complete skinny on last night's DGA awards from Rope of Silicon:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/2012-directors-guild-awards-michel-hazanavicius/

SUNDANCE CONCLUDING

The Sundance Film Festival is ratcheting down and they announced their awards last night.  Again, it seemed that there were two big, buzzy films: "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "The Surrogate".  The awards list underscores that.  Here, from HitFix is the complete Sundance Awards rundown:
http://www.hitfix.com/articles/2012-sundance-film-festival-jury-awards-winners
IMDb page for "The Surrogate": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1866249/
and for "Beasts..": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125435/


I am hoping to receive another dispatch or two from Our Man in Utah, Gant Lee of Cinema Bebop to pass along about his Sundance experiences.
http://cinemabebop.tumblr.com/

Later...

Our Man in Utah: Sundance Review: Shut Up and Play the Hits

OUR MAN IN UTAH

Cinema Bebop's Gant Lee continues his Sundance Film Festival experience with a screening of "Shut Up and Play the Hits".  Here's his review...


SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS

Part concert film and part interview/documentary, SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS chronicles the ending of a band called LCD Soundsystem. It’s not a sad story full of heartbreak and disaster, but a story about a group of people that were literally in control of their own destiny. At the top of his career, James Murphy decided to walk away from rockstar status and not overstay his welcome. Although the film offers an extraordinary portrait of one of the most self-aware artists of the last decade, the film’s inability to show you the full Chuck Klosterman interview or the full concert keeps it from feeling complete. It feels like a short documentary with a few music videos in between or a short concert film with the DVD extras playing throughout. Regardless, you’ll be happy with anything you can get.





Concert film- If you’re a fan of the band, then you’ll obviously love it. If you’re new to the band but have the slightest interest in hybrid rock, the band is easy to get into, especially given the band’s passionate live performances. I’d suggest Youtube-ing the band before you make a judgment on whether or not you want to see this film (if/when it’s available). But the film completely hinges on it. So if you’re not on board with the music you’re hearing, then it’s best that casual audiences stand aside. As far as the concert footage goes, it’s great. I haven’t seen an awful lot of concert DVDs or films, but this is by far in the higher rankings of what I’ve seen. The footage is pretty standard and isn’t really anything out of the ordinary (besides a few choice shots and angles from Spike Jonze). I would say that the film accurately portrayed the experience of the concert, but we only see about a quarter of the four hour event. The concert is full of emotion, no doubt, but I’m sure it was more grand and epic than the film ultimately made it out to be. All of the editing and filmic shortcomings aside, the band can play. I mean, they can play really well. The volume was high and the screen was big. If the only problem with this part is that it was too short, I’d say that’s a pretty good problem. Good films (documentaries, especially) capture a moment of time and immortalize it. Credit directors Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern. By the way, awesome thank you music using the theme for Twin Peaks. I nearly cried……. :P


Documentary/Interview- I’m a little biased here because I love Chuck Klosterman. If you asked me to pick one writer that has influenced me, it’s him. Seriously, this guy is awesome. Although Real-life Klosterman and Writing Klosterman are different, I still cherish hearing him. The guy can interview like crazy and write even better. So I was happy to learn that he was going to be interviewing James Murphy throughout the movie. But like the concert portion of the film, I knew that something was missing. Chuck Klosterman asked about 7 questions during the film. While they were good questions that garnered interesting responses, there wasn’t enough there to seem like a full interview had taken place. Also, there is no denying that a guy like James Murphy deserves to get the majority of the film dedicated to him, but it may have been cool to get a take on the ending of events from some of the other band members. They’re there and you get little bits and pieces from them, but it was never in an interview setting. The non-interview parts of the documentary segments were full of character and, despite there not being a large story told, were appreciated.


When it comes to reviewing a film, I immediately have to force myself to find something wrong with what I just watched because I can sometimes get caught up in how great the experience was, perfect or not. With this film, it was pretty hard. I highly recommend this film to fans of the band. I slightly recommend this to potential fans. I don’t really recommend this to people I don’t see as potential fans. THE FILM IS GREAT. It just feels like there are two films about this story that I want to see: the entire concert film and a more in-depth documentary. It’s hard to imagine the two seperately, so hopefully there can be a big Special Edition Blu-ray release or something that compiles all of the extra footage and interviews. There is only so much good that you can pack into a feature-length film, and they did the best they could. 8/10

Later!

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

Sundancing/Unusual Lists/Oscar Confusion/A Separation/The Artist

Good Morning and Happy 2012!  I hope your start to the new year was entertaining.  My hope is that the whole of 2012 is entertaining.

SUNDANCING

I am very excited to announce that for the first time, Michael's Telluride Film Blog/The Film Awards Clearinghouse will have a presence at the Sundance Film Festival.  Not me (though I wish it was) but former student and active cinephile, Gant Lee of Cinema Bebop will be attending the back half of Sundance and has kindly agreed to allow this blog to share his experiences, impressions, reports and reviews...I am uber-pumped and not a little jealous.  Sundance is set to run from Jan. 19-29.  I believe Gant will be on the ground in Park City and vicinity from Jan. 24 or so until they close the place down. I'm  looking forward to seeing Gant's dispatches.

Also, if there's a Sundance title you have an interest in hearing about, drop me an email (mpgort@gmail.com) or tweet (twitter.com/@Gort2) and let me know.  No guarantees, but we'll see what we can do.

The Sundance website is here:
http://www.sundance.org/festival/

UNUSUAL LISTS

I ran across a couple of interesting lists this week that I thought I would pass along.  First is Scott Feinberg's list of films that were, at one point, thought to be potential players for the 2012 awards season.  He has 13 films on this list and one of them DID play Telluride (the fairly pedestrian "Butter", read my less than stellar review for The Playlist here: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/telluride_11_review_jennifer_garners_butter_churns_and_churns_but_doesnt_pr 
The other dozen are almost all films that at one point or another were on my Telluride 2012 radar.  Feinberg tells us what the status is for each of the films.  Here's the link to the article:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/2011-awards-contenders-friends-with-kids-268424

The other list comes from my Telluride buddy, Leonard Maltin and is comprised of 11 films that he suggests are really good, but have been fling under the radar.  Included on his list are Telluride players "Of Gods and Men"and "Incendies" from TFF #37.  the complete list is here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leonard-maltin/the-11-best-films-you-may_1_b_1170232.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

OSCAR CONFUSION

Another year, and another new Oscar Best Picture procedure.  After the two year "Ten Nominees" experiment, the Academy has instituted a new voting procedure designed to give us anywhere from 5 to 10 Best Picture nominees.  After such a drastic change just two years ago, this new wrinkle has apparently created some confusion among Academy voters.  This according to Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter as you can see here:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/oscar-ballots-academy-award-nominations-277034

I'd probably be confused too.

Incidentally, as we move into serious Oscar gear in the month of January, I am going to try to pick the brains of the few "insiders" I've come to know over the last few years and see what, if any, insight I might be able to glean from their wisdom.

A SEPARATION

A lot of heat continues for Asghar Farhadi's "A Separation" as reflected by continued and increasing media coverage.  Here is some of that:

From The Hollywood Reporter: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/a-separation-oscars-iran-asghar-farhadi-277083

Thompson on Hollywood: http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/farhadi-talks-iranian-oscar-entry-a-separation-divorce-drama-questions-irans-future

Metacritic: http://www.metacritic.com/movie/a-separation/critic-reviews

THE ARTIST:

The Guardian has a nearly five minute interview with the creators of the silent black and white Oscar favorite here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2011/dec/30/jean-dujardin-berenice-bejo-the-artist-video?CMP=twt_fd

FILM DETAIL

This website has posted its Best Of list for 2011 and i includes no less than six TFF #38 films.  Take a look here:
http://www.filmdetail.com/2011/12/31/the-best-films-of-2011/

That's a wrap for the first post of 2012...Again, Happy New Year and catch a new post on Thursday!  (should have some guild news to talk about).

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2