The Critic's Begin to Weigh-in on Cannes / Clip from Die, My Love / Deliver Me from Nowhere Has a Date

THE CRTICS BEGIN TO WEIGH IN ON CANNES

We're not quite a week into Cannes but we do have some critical responses to take a gander at.  Initially, here is a look from Cannes-ratings.org regarding 13 films at Cannes that I have my eye on regarding a possible play at Telluride:

From the Palme Competition category (on a 10 point scale):

The Mastermind: 6.65

Die, My Love: 6.59

Young Mothers: 5.73

The History of Sound: 5.41

A Simple Accident: 6.12

From Un Certain Regard:

Eleanor the Great: 8.83

The Chronology of Water: 6.19

Out of Competition:

Splitsville: 8.67

Orwell: 2+2=5: 7.12

The Disappearance of Joseph Mengele: 6.11

The Wave: 5.88

The Love That Remains (Palmason) 7.79

The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol 6.16

Looking at the Palme competitors, the top five currently are:

1) Sentimental Value (Trier) 9.00

2) Sirat (Laxe) 7.95

3) Nouvelle Vague (Linklater) 7.27

4) Romeria (Simon) 7.20

5) Fuori (Martone (7.00) and Resurrection (Gan) 7.00 (tie)

The complete list is here.

FROM SCREEN DAILY

Plame Competition top five (on a 4 point scale)

1) Two Prosecutors 3.1

2) The Secret Agent 2.8 (Tie)

2) Sound of Falling 2.8 (Tie)

4) Nouvelle Vague 2.7

5) Sirat, Renoir and Die, My Love 2.5 (Tie) 

The complete grid is here.

FROM IONCINEMA

Palme Competition top five ( on a five point scale):

1) Sirat 3.9

2) Sound of Falling 3.2 (Tie)

2) Nouvelle Vague 3.2 (Tie)

4) Renoir 2.9

5) Dossier 137 2.8

The complete grid is here.

CLIP FROM DIE, MY LOVE

In conjunction with its screening in Palme competition at Cannes, we saw the release of a clip from Lynne Ramsay's Die, My Love. Here that is via YouTube and The Upcoming:

DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE HAS A DATE

Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen in Deliver Me from Nowhere (via IMDb)

20th Century Studios announced this past week that Scott Cooper's Bruce Springsteen biopic, Deliver Me from Nowhere, has been dated for an Oct. 24th release.  The date is very fall fest friendly leaving the door open for the film to screen at TFF #52 as well as Venice, Toronto and/or New York.  As I have mentioned here, Cooper has had a good relationship with Telluride over the years with Black Mass appearing at T-ride in 2015 and Hostiles in 2017. It also doesn't hurt that Searchlight is involved in the film's distribution.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

Cannes Looms / Clip from Eleanor the Great

CANNES LOOMS

The 78th Cannes Film Festival starts up on Tuesday and runs through May 24th.  As MTFB has done over the past few years, I'll continue to take snapshots of the critical reactions to films and pass those along with each post over the next couple of weeks.

One of  the things that can happen during the course of the festival is that I'll notice some films that I haven't really considered for TFF emerge with a strong critical endorsement.  In other words, a film can move onto my TFF list of possible choices with a strong critical endorsement.

Meanwhile, I took a look at a group of four outlets which have recently posted their "Most Anticipated" Cannes films.  I was looking for a couple of things.  First, what films already seem to be sparking heat and second, a look at the level of interest for films that I have already listed as TFF possibilities.

So, I looked at lists from Harper's Bazaar, W, The Film Stage and Screen Rant.  Five films were on all four lists:

Alpha/J. Ducournau/Neon

The History of Sound/O. Hermanus/Focus-Mubi

Eddington/A. Aster/A24

Die, My Love/L. Ramsay/No U.S. Distributor

Sentimental Value/Joachim Trier/Neon

From this list I have already been pointing at The History of Sound and Die, My Love as TFF #52 potentials.  Eddington is set for a July release here in the U.S. so no TFF play there but I may have to start considering both Alpha and Sentimental Value especially as they're both coming from Neon.

Films with three mentions were Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme (opening in the U.S. on June 6th so no T-ride) and Kristen Stewart's The Chronology of Water which I have had on my pre-Cannes watch list.

Films that made two of the lists included Eleanor the Great and The Mastermind.  Both have popped up here as TFF possibilities.  Michael Angel Covino's Splitsville would have made this list save for its August 22nd U.S. release date.

The Film Stage made mention of three other films that have been on my radar: It Was Just an Accident, The Love That Remains and The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol.

The Film Stage also has an "Honorable Mention" section that includes The Chronology of Water and Eleanor the Great.

Here's the link to the Harper's Bazaar list.

Here's the link to the W list.

Here's the link to The Film Stage list.

Here's the link to The Screen Rant list.

CLIP FROM ELEANOR THE GREAT

Deadline dropped an exclusive clip from Scarlett Johansson's directing debut and Cannes Un Certain Regard selection Eleanor the Great starring June Squibb.  The film is being distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.

Take a look at the Deadline post that includes the clip right here.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

And... More Titles Added to Cannes #78...Finally / New Images from Die, My Love and Chronology of Water

AND...MORE TITLES ADDED TO CANNES #78...FINALLY

Well, after a 24 hour delay the 78th Cannes Film Festival announced more than a dozen new titles to the fest yesterday scattered across various platforms. 

Three films that I had suggested on Monday that could be announced were, in fact, announced.  Lynne Ramsay’s Die, My Love was added to competition, Kristen Stewart’s The Chronology of Water went to Un Certain Regard and Hylnur Palmason’s The Love That Remains was added to the Cannes Premieres section.  I feel (and have felt) that those three films could potentially also screen at Telluride.

One other film of interest, at least to me, and isn’t really on my T-ride radar, is Ethan Coen’s Honey Don’t which was added to the Midnight section. The IMDb description is literally “Two women ( Margaret Qualley and Aubrey Plaza) take a road trip.”

The complete list of 16 films added to Cannes #78 is here from The Film Stage.

NEW IMAGES FROM DIE MY LOVE AND CHRONOLOGY OF WATER

DIE MY LOVE

CHRONOLOGY OF WATER

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

More Cannes Titles Tomorrow

MORE CANNES TITLES TOMORROW

Reportedly the 78th Cannes Film Festival will add some other films to their lineup in addition to those already announced.  Speculation centers on which films/directors will be added and to what sections.  The buzz suggests up to three more films might be added to the Palme d'Or competition.  A number of reports suggest that Lynne Ramsay's Die, My Love is locked for a competition slot.  After that, it's up in the air.

I've had the Ramsay film on the "Potential Cannes to Telluride" list for a good long while.  Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel reported late last week that the film had been screened for the fest and as Ruimy writes:

"Lynne Ramsay’s “Die, My Love” just screened for Cannes, and word on the Croisette is—they loved it. Two separate sources tell me the film, starring none other than Robert Pattinson and Jennifer Lawrence, is now officially locked for competition. Buckle up."

Here's the minimal description for the film from IMDb:

"In a remote forgotten rural area, a mother struggles to maintain her sanity as she battles with psychosis."

A couple of other titles that might pop up tomorrow that feel like a post-Cannes Telluride play is possible are Kristen Stewart's The Chronology of Water and Hylnur Palmason's The Love That Remains.

Stay tuned.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

Next Best Pictures Cannes Guesses / Interviews and Profiles: Naomi Watts on The Friend

NEXT BEST PICTURE'S CANNES GUESSES

We're almost there.  The Cannes lineup announcement is a week from today.  In today's post I dissect the Cannes lineup that Next Best Picture advocated the week before last with the intent of trying to guess which films will play in France in May then Telluride over Labor Day weekend.

From NBP's list, my best guesses would be:

Die, My Love/No Distribution/Lynne Ramsay

Eleanor the Great/Sony Pictures Classics/Scarlett Johansson

Orphan/No Distribution/Laszlo Nemes

The Chronology of Water/No Distribution/Kristen Stewart

The Disappearance of Joseph Mengele/No Distribution/Kirill Serebrennikov

The History of Sound/Mubi/Oliver Hermanus

The Mastermind/Mubi/Kelly Reichardt

The Wave/No Distribution/Sebastian Lelio 

The Way of the Wind/No Distribution/Terrence Malick

The Young Mother's Home/No Distribution/The Dardennes Brothers

NBP is also predicting films from Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater, Ari Aster, Jim Jarmusch and Spike Lee.  For various reasons I doubt any of those will be Telluride bound.

The complete list of Next Best Picture's Cannes' guesses can be found here.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Naomi Watts for The Friend from Indiewire (and MTFB acquaintance Tomris Laffly)

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

Cannes Announcement Draws Near / One Battle Trailer Drops / Something Else to Keep an Eye On

 CANNES ANNOUNCEMENT DRAWS NEAR

We'll get the bulk of the Cannes lineup for Palme competition as well as Une Certain Regard, Out-of-Competition and Special Screenings on April 10th.  Between now and then, I'll be adding Cannes Guesswork from Variety (today) and then Next Best Picture and World of Reel next week prior to the actual announcement.

For today, I've drawn from Variety's Cannes spec piece published March 14th.  From that piece here are ten Cannes to TFF possibilities:

After the Hunt/Amazon-MGM/Luca Guadagnino

Couture/No Distribution/Alice Winocour

Die, My Love/No Distribution/Lynne Ramsay

Orphan/No Distribution/Laszlo Nemes

The Chronology of Water/No Distribution/Kristen Stewart

The Disappearance of Joseph Mengele/No Distribution/Kirill Serebrennikov

The History of Sound/Mubi/Oliver Hermanus

The Mastermind/Mubi/Kelly Reichardt

The Way of the Wind/No Distribution/Terrence Malick

The Young Mother's Home/No Distribution/The Dardennes Brothers

Variety also unequivocally reports that Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia and Julian Schnabel's In the Hands of Dante will not be playing Cannes.

The entire Variety piece is linked here.

ONE BATTLE TRAILER DROPS

So remember a couple of week's ago when Warners moved Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another to a Sept. 26th release date opening the door to a potential selection by Telluride and/or Venice and/or Toronto?  That was followed by small teaser for a forthcoming full trailer.  Then, the full trailer dropped last week.

Here the trailer is from YouTube:

I'm intrigued.

On a related note, there is a good deal of hubbub about wrangling between PTA and Warners over the final cut of the film that may be related to reported test screenings.  

I'm keeping my eyes and ears open.

SOMETHING ELSE TO KEEP AN EYE ON

I'm sure a lot of you saw the news this past week that A24, Barry Jenkins and Zendaya are all on board for a biopic (of a sort) about the life of Ronnie (Bennett) Spector.  That combination is eye catching and could be Telluride material for, say, 2026?

Details are sparse but you can check out these stories from last week about the project:

Deadline.

The Hollywood Reporter.

The Playlist.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

Looking to Cannes Possibilities

LOOKING TO CANNES POSSIBILITIES

One of the more common connections that can inform us about potential TFF films is the pipeline between The SHOW and the Cannes Film Festival.  It is long and productive relationship.  In most years recently Cannes and Telluride have averaged sharing around 8 titles per year.  Just this last year the Cannes to Telluride list included Oscar Best Picture and Palme d'Or winner winner Anora as well as other Palme competition films:

Bird

Emilia Perez

The Apprentice

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

From Un Certain Regard:

Santosh

So looking at what is likely/might be at Cannes is an excellent exercise in predicting what could be in the San Juans on Labor Day weekend.

That said, I'm peeking at The Hollywood Reporters' Cannes take from March 10th and it reveals 17 titles as possible Cannes choices that seem to me to have some chance at making the Cannes/TFF double play.

Here they are:

After the Hunt/Amazon-MGM/Luca Guadagnino

Bugonia/Focus/Yorgos Lanthimos

The Chronology of Water/No Distribution/Kristen Stewart

Die, My Love/No Distribution/Lynne Ramsay

The Disappearance of Joseph Mengele/No Distribution/Kirill Serebrennikov

Eleanor the Great/Sony Pictures Classics/Scarlett Johansson

Hamnet/Focus Features/Chloe Zhao

The History of Sound/Mubi/Oliver Hermanus

In the Hand(s) of Dante/No Distribution/Julian Schnabel

Jupiter/No Distribution/Andrey Zvyaginstev

The Mastermind/Mubi/Kelly Reichardt

Musk/HBO/Alex Gibney

Orphan/No Distribution/Laszlo Nemes

Orwell/NEON/Raoul Peck

The Wave/No Distribution/Sebastian Lelio 

The Way of the Wind/No Distribution/Terrence Malick

The Young Mother's Home/No Distribution/The Dardennes Brothers

Here's the complete list from The Hollywood Reporter.

I'll have another look at Cannes possibilities on Thursday.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com