The FAC Supporting and Screenplays October Update / Oscar Matters: Podcasts and Predictions / Todd Haynes on "Carol" and More / Future Telluride?: Coens and Clooney

Welcome back fro the weekend fellow wanderers...


THE FILM AWARDS CLEARINGHOUSE SUPPORTING AND SCREENPLAYS OCTOBER UPDATE

Our first run through for these categories was three and a half weeks ago (Oct. 1) and as you might expect, some things have changed over that time.  Here's our latest snapshot of Best Supporting Actress and Actor and Adapted and Original Screenplays.

For the purpose of The FAC I gather data from the publicly posted predictions of the following:

Erik Anderson/Awards Watch
Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Peter Knegt/Indiewire
Joey Magidson/Hollywood News
Nathaniel Rogers/Film Experience
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Kristopher Tapley/Variety-InContention
Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood

TFF #42 films are in Bold.

The positions that these possible nominees had in our last look at these categories is indicated in parenthesis.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Alicia Vikander/The Danish Girl (4)
2) Rooney Mara/Carol (2)
3) Kate Winslet/Steve Jobs (1)
4) Jennifer Jason Leigh/The Hateful Eight (3)
5) Jane Fonda/Youth

6) Rachel McAdams/Spotlight (5)
7) Elizabeth Banks/Love and Mercy (6)
8) Joan Allen/Room (9)
9) Julie Walters/Brooklyn (10)
10) Kristen Stewart/Clouds of Sils Maria (8)

Hot: Vikander and Fonda
Cold: Winslet and Stewart

Comment:

The news that Alicia Vikander will be campaigned for Supporting Actress for "The Danish Girl" really boosted her profile in the last three weeks.  Also. it will be very interesting to see how the box office bad news from this past weekend for Danny Boyle's "Steve Jobs" will affect Winslet, Fassbender, Sorkin and the rest of the "Steve Jobs" Oscar prospects.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Michael Keaton/Spotlight (1)
2) Tom Hardy/The Revenant (3)
3) Mark Ruffalo/Spotlight (2)
4) Mark Rylance/Bridge of Spies (5)
5) Idris Elba/Beasts of No Nation (4)

6) Jacob Tremblay/Room (NR)
7) Paul Dano/Love and Mercy (7)
8) Benicio Del Toro/Sicario (6)
9) Joel Edgerton/Black Mass (8)
10) Harvey Keitel/Youth (9)

Hot: Tremblay
Cold: Del Toro and Samuel L. Jackson who dropped way out of the top ten.
Commnet: The last three weeks has seen a strong surge of belief that young Jacob Tremblay is a very serious candidate for an Oscar nomination.  I am still stumping for Jeff Daniels in "Steve Jobs" and Peter Sarsgaard in "Black Mass".


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Steve Jobs (1)
2) Brooklyn (5)
3) Room (3)
4) The Revenant (4)
5) Carol (2)

6) The Martian (6)
7) Anomalisa (NR)
8) The Danish Girl (7)
9) The Big Short (10)
10) Beasts of No Nation (8)


Hot: "Brooklyn" and "Anomalisa".
Cold: "Carol", "Beasts of No Nation" and "45 Years".
Comment:  "Anomalisa" jumps onto the chart in a big way and might well be in the top five save for some still on-going confusion among some of the Oscar prognosticators about whether it's an Adapted or Original screenplay.  Also, "The Martian", "Carol" and "The Revenant" are very tightly bunched at the 4-5-6 spots.

As I said above concerning the Best Supporting Actress race, it'll be interesting to see if Aaron Sorkin's "Steve Jobs" screenplay will lose any steam the next time we check this category because of that film's dismal box office this past weekend.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Spotlight (1)
2) Inside Out (2)
3) Joy (4)
4) The Hateful Eight (3)
5) Bridge of Spies (5)

6) Youth (6)
7) Sicario (7)
8) Son of Saul (10)
9) Love and Mercy (9)
10) Suffragette (NR)

Hot: "Son of Saul" and "Suffragette".
Cold: "Ex Machina".
Comment: The top five are substantially ahead of the other scripts in this category.


Overall, if these predictions were 100% accurate, Telluride #42 films would see a total of  nine nominations in these categories with another eight possibilities.  Added to last Thursday's update of four categories (Picture, Director, Actress and Actor) the T-ride 2015 totals for these eight major categories would be 19 nominations and 11 other possibilities.


OSCAR MATTERS

PODCASTS:

Here are links to awards season podcasts from Awards Watch, The Hollywood Reporter and Screentalk:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2PBurUmckg&feature=youtu.be&a

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/awards-pundits-chris-rock-hosting-834143

http://www.indiewire.com/article/podcast-whos-losing-steam-in-oscar-season-20151023


AND PREDICTIONS:


And here's the link to Sasha Stone's weekly (Friday) update of her Oscar predictions from Awards Daily:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/2015/10/23/predictions-friday-folding-sag-ensemble-and-best-picture/


TODD HAYNES ON "CAROL" AND MORE

Todd Haynes "Carol" continues to be a central part of the awards season discussion and so I have included this link to Rodrigo Perez's profile of the writer/director based on Haynes' appearance at the New York Film Festival.  That post is linked here from The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/nyff-todd-haynes-talks-carol-exploring-desire-identity-giving-himself-creative-assignments-much-more-20151011


FUTURE TELLURIDE:  COENS AND CLOONEY

George Clooney on the set of the Coen Brothers' "Hail Caesar"

We got word over the weekend that past Telluride participants George Clooney and The Coen Brothers ("The Descendants" for Clooney, "Inside Llewyn Davis" for The Coens) are planning to collaborate again but in a slightly different set of circumstances.

Clooney, who has an extensive history with the Coens ("O Brother, where Art Thou", "Intolerable Cruelty" and "Burn After Reading") and is starring in the upcoming "Hail Caesar" (set for release in early February) will apparently direct a Coens script that's been in development for more than a decade.  The film is currently titled "Suburbicon".

The SlashFilm report makes it sound as if the film could well begin shooting as early as next year.  Bring it to TFF #43 or 44, I say.

 Check that story from here:

http://www.slashfilm.com/new-george-clooney-coen-brothers-collaboration-coming/



That's all for Monday.  There'll be more on Thursday....


Contact me at:

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mpgort@gmail.com OR

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The Good Lie Comes to Life/Coens and More Semi-Coens News/Late News: Goodbye Eli Wallach

Good Wednesday Everyone...

The Mrs. and I head east today...for a long, long art extravaganza.  We'll be in Grand Haven, MI. for their Art Fest this weekend and then in Great Barrington, MA. on the July 4th weekend for The Berkshires Art Festival.  If you're Telluride Film Fans and are in the area...come by and see us at The Flying Shoes Studio Booth at either festival.  Say "Hi!"...buy some of Kristy's art.  It's good stuff.  Here's a reminder:

THE GOOD LIE COMES TO LIFE

"The Good Lie" trailer from joblo.com via YouTube

Last year, toward the end of summer, we got word that Reese Witherspoon's "The Good Lie" was in the can.  There was some fleeting speculation that it might be a possible Telluride film, but that was clearly never in the cards.  Now, in the last 24 hours, we've seen the release of a trailer along with some discussion of Witherspoon's Oscar prospects from the film.

The film is described (via IMDb) as a story in which:

"A Sudanese refugee is taken in by a straight-talking American woman in their new home in the United States."



Is it a likely play at T-ride.  Probably not, but you can't rule it out completely either.  It's release date was recently moved from a non-Telluride friendly Sept. 10th to a much more T-ride friendly (and award friendly and Venice and Toronto friendly) Oct. 3.  Additionally, it's under the Warner Brothers banner and they've tun a couple of pretty good years in a row at Telluride with "Argo", "Gravity" and "Prisoners".  Frankly, Witherspoon's other big film for this fall, "Wild" (from Fox Searchlight) might be the likelier Telluride play.

I have linked to a couple of posts about the film and the trailer release here:

Variety:

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/reese-witherspoon-the-good-lie-trailer-1201239103/

IndieWire:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/watch-keep-your-eye-on-oscar-contenders-beginning-with-trailer-for-the-good-lie-starring-reese-witherspoon-20140624

Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/reese-witherspoon-looks-towards-oscar-gold-with-wild-the-good-lie-trailer


COENS NEWS AND MORE SEMI-COENS NEWS

George Clooney in "O Brother, Where Art Thou" (from fineartamerica.com)

Lots of new and surprising casting news out yesterday for the Coen Brothers next enterprise' "Hail Caesar.  It had been previously announced that George Clooney and Josh Brolin would star in the film about a Hollywood "fixer".  Yesterday the interweb lit up with news of the casting of Channing Tatum, Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes (who I finally caught in "The Grand Budapest Hotel" this past weekend and it lived up to lofty expectations).

I have linked three different stories about the casting:

Variety:

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/channing-tatum-in-talks-to-join-the-coens-hail-caesar-exclusive-1201245179/

The Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/channing-tatum-tilda-swinton-ralph-714566?utm_expid=19303748-46.c16wOsTPSwa4UOZ_HM0mmw.0

Rope of Silicon:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/channing-tatum-ralph-fiennes-tilda-swinton-join-coens-hail-caesar/


Meanwhile, in other Coens-related news, The Playlist reported yesterday that frequent Coens Brothers cast member John Turturro reportedly wants to make a feature based on the character he played for the brothers in their classic "The Big Lebowski".  Turturro reportedly has a story in mind and would write, direct and star... if he can get the "go-ahead" from Joel and Ethan.  I'd go see that.

John Turturro as Jesus Quintana in "The Big Lebowski" (from getthebigpicture.net)

The Playlist story is here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/john-turturro-wants-to-direct-jesus-centric-big-lebowski-spinoff-next-year-if-the-coens-give-him-permission-20140624

LATE NEWS: GOODBYE ELI WALLACH

Eli Wallach from spaghettiwesterns.com.ar

Eli Wallach, a terrific character actor who had a six decade career in film and on stage has died.  He was 98.  Wallach starred in innumerable films including: "The Magnificent Seven", "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "The Misfits" among others.  His range was extraordinary.

His lengthy IMDb.com entry is here:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0908919/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


More from the road tomorrow...

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

Some Shuffling at the Top/The Coens, Clooney and...Brolin/Beatty's Hughes Project Making Progress

Good Wednesday to Everyone...

SOME SHUFFLING AT THE TOP

I reported here yesterday that Anne Thompson (Thompson on Hollywood) had dropped a line or two in a story she ran about the Telluride/Toronto "rivalry" for films that indicated that TFF co-director Gary Meyer will have a new/different role with the fest beginning this year.  I reached out to TFF VP for P.R. Shannon Goodwin Mitchell who responded with this statement:

"Gary Meyer remains working with Telluride Film Festival as a consultant. In order to serve the changing needs of the festival and to pursue his own projects, Gary, under his new title of Senior Curator, will continue contributing on programming, scheduling and creating the Program Guide."


My thanks to Mitchell for her quick response to my query.



THE COENS, CLOONEY AND...BROLIN

Brolin and Clooney via Screencrush.com

We've reported here previously that the Coen Brothers' next project is "Hail Caesar".  We had also previously reported that George Clooney was onboard.  News broke yesterday that Josh Brolin has been added to the cast.  the film is expected to be ready for a late 2015 release.  Is it a Telluride 2015 possible?  Probably not.  But, then again, I originally thought that "Inside Llewyn Davis" was unlikely last year so...never say never.  Here's a plethora of coverage of the Brolin announcement (and the news that Universal has the film):

HitFix:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/george-clooney-and-josh-brolin-reuniting-with-coens-for-hail-caesar-at-universal

The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/josh-brolin-joins-george-clooney-in-coen-brothers-hail-casesar-20140609

Variety:

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/josh-brolin-to-co-star-with-george-clooney-in-coen-brothers-hail-caesar-1201216912/

Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/coen-brothers-hail-caesar-george-clooney-josh-brolin-universal-pictures#

Screencrush:

http://screencrush.com/george-clooney-josh-brolin-joel-ethan-coen-hail-caesar/


BEATTY'S HUGHES PROJECT MAKING PROGRESS

Warren Beatty and Annette Bening via Thompson on Hollywood

Thompson on Hollywood reports that Warren Beatty has wrapped principal photography on his untitled and very secretive Howard Hughes project.  The TOH post speculates that a Cannes 2015 screening is a possibility.  Here's the post, which does have some useful detail/information:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/warren-beatty-wraps-filming-on-untitled-howard-hughes-project

More on Thursday...

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

Cannes at Half Time/Cannes and the Critics/Foxcatcher Clip/Cannes Acquisitions/Outside Llewyn Davis

Welcome to Monday...

CANNES AT HALF TIME

As I post this morning, the 67th Cannes Film Festival has reached the halfway point as measured by the number of films in the Palme d'Or competition section have screened.  Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher" rolled out in France this morning...which for us here in the States means about six-ish hours ago.  As I type, David Cronenberg's "Maps to the Stars" should just about be finished with its first screening.  The two films will have been the ninth and tenth of the 18 competition films to play.  I'm very interested to see the critical reaction for both of them as the day progresses.  Both films have some possibility of playing in Telluride this Labor Day.

The films that I will be closely tracking in the second half of the Palme eligible films are:

Michel Hazanvicius' "The Search", The Dardennes Brothers' "Two Days, One Night", Jean Luc Godard's "Goodbye to Language" and Olivier Assayas' "Clouds of Sils Maria"

Looking back on the first half of the fest, here's what has jumped out at me.

Lots of people early on have speculated that Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "Winter Sleep" might be the picture to beat for the Palme and it seems to have a substantial critical reception as well (this for a three+ hour, dialogue driven film...).  Also faring well in the early going critic-wise: Mike Leigh's "Mr. Turner" and "Timbuktu".  Pilloried by the critics: Opening Night (non-competition film) "Grace of Monaco" and Atom Egoyan's "Captives"

In the Un Certain Regard section, films that seem to have done well: Mathieu Amalric's "The Blue Room" and Lisandro Alonso's "Jauja" starring Viggo Mortensen.


CANNES AND THE CRITICS

And speaking of critical reaction, here are the cumulative critical responses so far as collected by Ioncinema, Critic's Roundup,  todaslascriticas.com.ar. and http://cannes-rurban.rhcloud.com/2014:

http://www.ioncinema.com/news/film-festivals/2014-cannes-critics-panel-day-4-homesman-is-strong-marriage-material-rohrwacher-farms-a-solid-sophomore-pic-with-the-wonders

http://criticsroundup.com/cannes-2014/

http://www.todaslascriticas.com.ar/cannes

http://cannes-rurban.rhcloud.com/2014



FOXCATCHER CLIP

Concurrent with its premiere in Cannes as a part of the Palme d'Or competition slate, Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher" has a new clip.  I have to tell you that every time I see a little something more on this film I get increasingly excited.  Sony Pictures Classics is distributing, so I'm cautiously optimistic about its chances of making the Telluride program.  Here's the new clip...(Carell for the win!)

 Late note:  This morning as I prepare to publish, the first reviews for "Foxcatcher"  are coming out of Cannes and they're generally very good.  I have linked Variety, HitFix and Indiewire reviews here:

http://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/cannes-film-review-foxcatcher-1201185646/

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/review-tatum-ruffalo-and-carell-excel-in-evocative-unsettling-foxcatcher

http://www.indiewire.com/article/cannes-review-channing-tatum-anchors-bennett-millers-icy-foxcatcher-but-the-revelation-is-steve-carrell

CANNES ACQUISITIONS OF NOTE

Sundance Selects has picked up Mathieu Amalric's "The Blue Room" for U.S. distribution and Sony Pictures Classics has grabbed "Wild Tales" from director Damain Szifron.  Those actions increase the chances for both films as potential players at Telluride this year.

SPC was represented last year at Telluride with: "Tim's Vermeer", "The Invisible Woman", "The Lunchbox", "Jodorowsky's Dune" and "The Past".

Sundance Selects/IFC had "Blue is the Warmest Color" in the TFF #40 lineup.


http://www.indiewire.com/article/cannes-sony-pictures-classics-acquires-palme-dor-contender-wild-tales

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/the-blue-room-mathieu-amalric-cannes-sundance-selects


OUTSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

"You can't stop what's coming"...that's a line from the Coen Brothers 2007 Oscar winner "No Country for Old Men" but it pertains to the latest Coen Brothers news out this week that I and others have mentioned in the past.  Also pertaining, the title of this segment...they're really going to go away from "Inside Llewyn Davis".

Word this week was that the Coens' next project will be "Hail Caesar".  The film will probably star George Clooney and is described as the third film in their collaboration called "The Numbskull Trilogy".  "O Brother, Where Art Thou? " and "Intolerable Cruelty" representing the first 2/3rds of said trilogy.  Various reports this week indicated that the film will feature Clooney as a 1950's era Hollywood "fixer".  No word from any source that I could find about when shooting might commence...but I'm hoping for a late 2015 release date.

Here are links to some of the stories that came out this week about the project:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/coen-brothers-set-hail-caesar-next-george-clooney-likely-star/

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/the-coen-brothers-inside-llewyn-davis-follow-up-will-be-hail-caesar

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-coen-brothers-next-film-will-be-hail-caesar-new-plot-details-revealed-20140516

More on Thursday!

Peter O'Toole/Nomination Hangover/Awards Circuit Says/Oscar Talk/Inside Llewyn Interviews/Winslet on Labor Day

Good Monday Everyone...

PETER O'TOOLE

One of the great regrets that I have had about my Telluride experiences over this past 8 years is that we didn't start attending until 2006 which meant that we missed the 2002 tribute to Peter O'Toole.  O'Toole was the last of that Richard Harris, Richard Burton triumvirate and a tremendous story teller.  He was always fascinating whenever you could catch him in an interview.  In 2006, we saw his performance in Telluride in "Venus" and marveled at how fine an actor he remained that late in his lifer/career.  It is a crime he never won the Oscar he was nominated 8 times for.  Fortunately for us, we have so many of his performances on film to watch for generations.

Peace, Mr. O'Toole, peace...

NOMINATION HANGOVER

Last week was a little dizzying with Screen Actors Guild nominations and Golden Globe nominations.  One thing that I didn't note about the GG noms on Thursday was the incredible leap in the number of total GG nominations for Telluride films from last year.  As I did note on Thursday, there were 25 nominations this year for TFF #40 films plus an additional 2 for TFF #39 films.  Compare that to the results from the recent past:

2012: 10 GG nominations, led by 5 for "Argo".  Of course you could add the nominations for "The Hunt" and Greta Gerwig for "Frances Ha" could be added to the 2012 total.
2011: 19 GG nominations led by 6 for "The Artist"
2010: 16 GG nominations led by 7 for "The King's Speech"
2009: 11 GG nominations led by 6 for "Up in the Air"

The "average" number of Golden Globe nominations for Telluride films over the past 4 years has been 14.

So, you can see that TFF #40 is an astounding jump in numbers of Globe nominations.  It's nearly double the average.

Now, I don't think that the number of Golden Globe nominations really tell us anything about the quality of TFF from year to year.  I mean, it is The Globes and as any number of people in the business have noted, The HFPA has an agenda that sometimes rewards names over quality.  Nonetheless, the jump from 10 last year to 27 this year is astounding.

I attribute this circumstance to the 40th anniversary lure of this year's fest and the phenomenal programming that the staff at TFF did to make the anniversary very, very special.

And I'm going to go ahead and make a solid prediction for Oscar nominations.  This year, in an amazing coincidence, TFF #40 films will earn exactly 40 nominations...and there will be 2-4 for TFF #39 films as well.


AWARDS CIRCUIT SAYS

I recently ran through the Oscar nomination predictions from Oscar prognosticator Clayton Davis from his site Awards Circuit to see where he puts the films from TFF #40 (and #39) in this years race.  Here's the results of what Davis was saying:

"12 Years a Slave"-11 nominations: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Cinematography, Costumes, Film Editing, Score.

"Gravity"-9 nominations: Best Picture, Director, Actress, Cinematography, Film Editing, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects, Score.
"Nebraska"-5 nominations: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay.

"Inside Llewyn Davis"- 7 nominations: Best Picture, Director, Supporting actor, Original Screenplay, Production Design, Cinematography, Sound Mixing.

"Nebraska"-5 nominations: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay.

"All is Lost"-4 nominations: Best Actor, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Original Song.

Single nominations for:

"Blue is the Warmest Color"-Adapted Screenplay
"The Wind Rises: Animated Feature
"Tim's Vermeer": Documentary Feature
"Prisoners"-Cinematography
"The Invisible Woman": Costumes

Also from TFF #39:
"Stories We Tell": Documentary Feature
"The Hunt": Foreign Language Film
"Wadjda": Foreign Language Film

Totals: 41 nominations for TFF #40 films and an additional 3 for TFF #39 films.

OSCAR TALK

The latest episode of the Oscar Talk Podcast with Anne Thompson and Kristopher Tapley is up at both of their websites (Thompson on Hollywood and HitFix/InContention:

You can find it linked here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/oscar-talk-ten-best-films-of-2013

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/oscar-talk-hustle-wall-street-precursors-and-the-10-best-films-of-2013


INSIDE LLEWYN INTERVIEWS

As the "Inside Llewyn Davis" roll out continues (it opens wide on Dec. 20th) the ILD P.R. campaign continues as well.  Here's Anne Thompson's interview with the Coen Brothers:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/oscar-isaac-t-bone-burnett-inside-llewyn-davis-interview

Also, from The Hollywood Reporter, a clip of the Coens talking about how Oscar Isaac came to be Llewyn:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/inside-llewyn-davis-how-ensemble-664351


WINSLET ON LABOR DAY

And surprise Golden Globe nominee Kate Winslet (also newly recent mom for the third time) talks to Kris Tapley at HitFix about Jason Reitman's "Labor Day":

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/kate-winslet-talks-new-challenges-and-portraying-a-fragile-character-in-jason-reitmans-labor-day


More on Thursday...

Another Llewyn Davis Trailer/Blue Views/Payne Now and Later/Gravity and Oscar/All is Lost About to Set Sail

Good Thursday to Everyone...

ANOTHER LLEWYN DAVIS TRAILER

Well, you can't say that CBS Films hasn't been about making sure to provide plenty of opportunities to sneak a peak at The Coen Brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis".  The newest trailer (and a longish one at that) dropped this week and one blogger noted that it was the fifth trailer for the film.  Seems like a lot.

Nevertheless, here's the trailer from YouTube and a few posts that accompanied it this week:

And here are the posts:

Thompson on Hollywood:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/new-second-trailer-inside-llewyn-davis

The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-inside-llewyn-davis-doesnt-just-want-to-exist-in-new-trailer-for-the-coen-brothers-film-20131007

Hollywood Elsewhere:
http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2013/10/snow-scarves-chilly-winds/


BLUE VIEWS

We also saw this week some new stills and a new clip from Abdellatif Kechiche's controversial "Blue is the Warmest Color" set for a limited release here in the U.S. on Oct. 25.

Catch those at The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/blue-is-the-warmest-colour-lea-seydoux-felt-like-a-prostitute-director-says-sex-scenes-didnt-go-far-enough-20131007

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/lea-seydoux-adele-exarchopoulos-share-a-kiss-in-new-clip-from-blue-is-the-warmest-color-20131008

PAYNE NOW AND LATER

 

I loved Alexander Payne's "Nebraska".  It doesn't hurt that I seems like I know the people and the place that the story focuses on.  It also doesn't hurt that Bruce Dern was unflaggingly kind to me and my folks during the festival this year.  All that aside, I still think it's a fine film and, personally, I suspect that it's going to get a good bit of Oscar attention before it's all said and done.

Its roll out continued this week with its presentation at the New York Film Festival.  Steve Zeitchik writes about that for The New York Times:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-nyff-2013-alexander-payne-nebraska-bruce-dern-20131008,0,2863351.story

Meanwhile, director Payne is apparently on the cusp of a new project which will immediately go into the "Coming Attractions" collection.  The Playlist reports that Payne will direct "The Judge's Will" with Fox Searchlight producing.  The post for that is here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/alexander-payne-signs-the-judges-will-with-fox-searchlight-20131008


GRAVITY AND OSCAR

Awards Daily's Sasha Stone offered this meditation this week on the possibility that "Gravity" might break new ground come Oscar night on Mar. 2:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/the-state-of-the-race-gravity-changes-the-game-but-will-it-change-the-academy/

ALL IS LOST ABOUT TO SET SAIL

The Fantastic J.C. Chandor/Robert Redford collaboration, "All is Lost" opens next week.  Go see it.  I'm likely to see it again (along with second viewings of "12 Years", "Llewyn Davis", "Gravity" and "Nebraska").  Maureen Dowd at The New York Times posted an interview with Redford yesterday.  You can catch that here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/movies/robert-redford-goes-to-sea-in-all-is-lost.html?smid=tw-nytmovies&seid=auto&_r=0

Also, here's Kris Tapley's (HitFix/InContantion) chat with writer/director Chandor from Telluride:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/telluride-jc-chandor-on-the-multiple-metaphors-of-all-is-lost#~ojS1L3AvezAHs8


More on Monday.  Have a great weekend!

Inside Llewyn News/12 Years Honored/Nebraska and the AFI

Good Thursday to Everyone...

INSIDE LLEWYN NEWS

The Coen Brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis" mad a big splash this past week with its unveiling as a part of The New York Film Festival.  The highlight may have been the benefit concert that happened on Sunday night.

Many of the musicians (Marcus Mumford, The Punch Brothers) and actors (Oscar Issac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman) that are a part of the soundtrack were a part of the show.  The concert also included appearances from musical stars of the early-60's era that the film portrays including Joan Baez.

The film is scheduled for release on Dec. 20.

Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood reveals the man behind Llewyn Davis: actor Oscar Issac.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/oscar-isaac-talks-acting-and-guitar-picking-for-the-coens-inside-llewyn-davis

Issac is making some noise concerning the Best Actor race but the category is loaded with possible contenders this year.  Alex Billington of FirstShowing.net addresses that issue:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/where-do-oscar-isaac-inside-llewyn-davis-fit-into-the-oscar-race/

The "Another Day, Another Time" concert featuring the music that inspired the film as well as music from the film itself was a big hit last weekend.  I have linked stories from Variety and The Playlist:

http://variety.com/2013/film/news/joan-baez-patti-smith-carey-mulligan-oscar-isaac-celebrate-the-music-of-inside-llewyn-davis-1200681682/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-marcus-mumford-oscar-isaac-elvis-costello-more-perform-songs-from-inside-llewyn-davis-in-concert-20131001#


12 YEARS A SLAVE HONORED

The announcement came earlier this week that director Steve McQueen and actress Lupita Nyong'o will be feted as a part of the Hollywood Film Awards for their work on "12 Years a Slave".  The film's profile has increased steadily since its premiere at Telluride and is aimed at a New York Film Festival screening within the week.  The Grio and The Hollywood Reporter both filed stories about the HFA that will include McQueen and Nyong'o:

http://thegrio.com/2013/10/01/12-years-a-slave-director-actress-to-be-honored-at-hollywood-film-awards/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/12-years-a-slave-director-638862

NEBARSKA AND THE AFI

Alexander Payne's "Nebraska" was one of three films named this week as centerpieces for the American Film Institutes's Film Fest.  The other films announced were Ben Stiller's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and Scott Cooper's "Out of the Furnace".  At least one of the films were likely added as a replacement for Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher" which has now been pushed to a 2014 release. AFI also announced that Bruce Dern will be honored as a part of the festival as well.  HitFix has the story here:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/out-of-the-furnace-and-walter-mitty-set-to-screen-as-afi-fest-centerpieces#~oj7ii1zRqGPAxJ

More on Monday...Have a great weekend.

The First FAC for 2013/12 Years Revealed/Llewyn Sings Dink's Song/Bethlehem Has a Home

Good Thursday Everyone...

THE FIRST FILM AWARDS CLEARINGHOUSE FOR 2013

I’m starting the annual collation of Oscar predictions from well known experts for this season with my expected emphasis on the films that played as a part of the TFF #40 program.  As usual, I’ll begin with the Big Eight categories and expand the FAC to the other categories as we move through the season.

As I have for the last couple of years, I use the publicly posted predictions of these Oscar experts:

Sasha Stone/Awards Daily

Kris Tapley/HitFix-InContention

Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood

Peter Knegt/IndieWire

Alex Carlson/Film Misery

Nathaniel Rogers/Film Experience

Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter

Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit

Brad Brevet/Rope of Silicon

And here’s what they say as we conclude September...

BEST PICTURE

Last year, the initial Best Picture FAC had all nine eventual nominees listed in the top ten so that’s a good omen for the films that are at the top of this poll.  There have been 9 Best Picture nominees the last two years.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we get 10 this year.  Telluride #40 films are Bold.

1) 12 Years a Slave

2) Gravity

3) American Hustle

4) Captain Phillips

5) Saving Mr. Banks

6) The Wolf of Wall Street***

7) Inside Llewyn Davis

8) Lee Daniel’s The Butler

9) Foxcatcher

10) Nebraska

Others:

11) The Monuments Men

12) All is Lost

13) August: Osage County

14) Blue Jasmine

15) The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

***Rumors have been flying this week that Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” mind end up being pushed to a 2014 release date which could have a significant impact on the Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor and Adapted Screenplay races.

Other thoughts:  I’m personally dubious about “Saving Mr. Banks”.  Also, I’m really hot to see “American Hustle”, “Captain Phillips”, “Foxcatcher” and “The Monuments Men”.  “Walter Mitty” could really be a sleeper as could Spike Jonze’s “Her” and Jean Marc Vallee’s “Dallas Buyers Club”.

BEST DIRECTION

1) Steve McQueen/12 Years a Slave

2) Alfonso Cuaron/Gravity

3) David O. Russell/American Hustle

4) Paul Greengrass/Captain Phillips

5) Martin Scorsese/The Wolf of Wall Street (***see note above)

Others:

6) Alexander Payne/Nebraska

7) John Lee Hancock/Saving Mr. Banks

8) Lee Daniels/Lee Daniels’ The Butler

Thoughts: It seems to me that the most likely people to disrupt the parade of these eight possible nominees would be the Coen Brothers for “Inside Llewyn Davis”.  Possibly J.C. Chandor for “All is Lost” or Spike Jonze for “Her”.

BEST ACTRESS

1) Cate Blanchett/Blue Jasmine

2) Meryl Streep/August: Osage County

3) Sandra Bullock/Gravity

4) Judi Dench/Philomena

5) Emma Thompson/Saving Mr. Banks

Others:

6) Amy Adams/American Hustle

7) Berenice Bejo/The Past

Thoughts: Blanchett is the early (and big) favorite.  Adele Excharopoulos/Blue is the Warmest Color and Kate Winslet/Labor Day seem the most likely to break into the race.

BEST ACTOR

1) Chiwetel Ejiofor/12 Years a Slave

2) Robert Redford/All is Lost

3) Matthew McConnaughey/Dallas Buyers Club

4) Bruce Dern/Nebraska

5) Forest Whitaker/Lee Daniels’ The Butler

Others:

6)  Leonardo DiCaprio/The Wolf of Wall Street (***see note above)

7) Tom Hanks/Captain Phillips

Thoughts:  For a race that’s supposed to be tight and competitive, I was surprised at how few men were dominating the nine experts that I use.  Who else might challenge?  Steve Carell in “Foxcatcher” and Idris Elba in “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” seem to be the only others at this point getting much interest.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Oprah Winfrey/Lee Daniels’ The Butler

2) Lupita Nyong’o/12 Years a Slave

3) June Squibb/Nebraska

4) Margo Martindale/August: Osage County

5) Octavia Spencer/Fruitvale Station

Others:

6) Jennifer Lawrence/American Hustle

7) Julia Roberts/August: Osage County

8) Cameron Diaz/The Counselor

9) Sally Hawkins/Blue Jasmine

Thoughts: Winfrey and Nyong’o have sucked all the oxygen up in this contest and I doubt that will change between now and Oscar night.  Others that could sneak in: Sarah Paulson/12 Years a Slave or Carey Mulligan/Inside Llewyn Davis

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) American Hustle

2) Inside Llewyn Davis

3) Blue Jasmine

4) Saving Mr. Banks

5) Her

Others:

6) Nebraska

7) Fruitvale Station

8) Lee Daniels’ The Butler

Thoughts: Screenplay categories are notoriously dodgy to puzzle out.  No script in this category has a clear edge in the early going.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) 12 Years a Slave

2) Before Midnight

3) Captain Phillips

4) The Wolf of Wall Street (***see note above)

5) Foxcatcher

Others:

6) Philomena

7) The Monuments Men

Thoughts: It’s telling to me that “August: Osage County” has almost no early support in this category.

Overall, in the Big Eight categories, the experts collectively have "12 Years a Slave" with five nominations, "Gravity" with four, Nebraska with three and two other possibles, "Inside Llewyn Davis" with two, "All is Lost" with one and one other possible and "The Past" with one possible nomination.  That has TFF #40 films with 14 nominations and four other possibilities.

AND ON THE "WOLF OF WALL STREET" NOTE...

 *** As a matter of fact, here's one of the posts from earlier this week that suggests that "The Wolf of Wall Street" maybe on the way out of a 2013 release date and off of this year's Oscar charts (from The Playlist):

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/oscar-race-may-grow-slimmer-as-grace-of-monaco-bumped-to-spring-wolf-of-wall-street-debates-move-to-2014-20130924

12 YEARS A SLAVE REVEALED

Journos and bloggers continue to unearth information from the film makers and cast members of Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" as is evidenced by the following:

Alex Billington at FirstShowing.net interviews McQueen and his star Chiwetel Ejiofor in this post from earlier this week:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/interview-12-years-a-slave-star-chiwetel-ejiofor-on-solomon-northup/

Shadow and Act's Tambay A. Obenson profiles newcomer (and Likely Best Supporting Actress nominee) Lupita Nyong'o.  That profile and teases of future interviews to come are linked here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/get-familiar-w-lupita-nyongos-past-work-before-seeing-her-lauded-performance-in-12-years-a-slave

LLEWYN SINGS DINK'S SONG

It's n secret that I loved the Coen Brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis" and I also loved the music that is the backbone of the film.  The soundtrack doesn't drop until Nov. 12 but those of us that attended the Patron brunch this year were lucky enough to score a vinyl EP that includes 6 songs from the film ("Five Hundred Miles", "The Death of Queen Jane", "The Auld Triangle", "Green Green Rocky Road", "Farewell" and "Fare the Well/Dink's Song").

Tuesday, a number of press outlets and blogs included a link to the Marcus Mumford/Oscar Issac collaboration "Fare the Well (Dink's Song" that has been featured in the "ILD" trailer.

You can hear it here from Rope of Silicon or The Playlist:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/listen-marcus-mumford-oscar-isaac-sing-fare-thee-well-dirks-song-inside-llewyn-davis/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/listen-marcus-mumford-oscar-isaccs-beautiful-fare-thee-well-dinks-song-from-inside-llewyn-davis-20130924

BETHLEHEM GETS A HOME

Israeli thriller "Bethlehem" that played as a part of TFF 340 to generally warm reception has reportedly been acquired by Adopt Films according to this post from The Star Tribune:

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/blogs/224894082.html

More on Monday...hope you all have a fantastic weekend!