Scorsese News / Norton Talks Motherless Brooklyn / Burns Country Blitz Continues

Tuesday...means I'm leaving the Big Apple and headed back to the real world...



SCORSESE NEWS

We had a couple of interesting nodes of Scorsese news in the past 24 hours.  The first, and most immediate in terms of TFF was the word yesterday that Scorsese's The Irishman will world premiere as the opening film for the New York Film Festival.  That happens three weeks after Telluride.  The world premiere designation means that the film will not have played at TFF #46.

The news isn't a shock and was what I expected to happen assuming the film was finished with the de-aging effects that were reported to be the thing slowing it down.

The Irishman is planned for a theatrical release and then is scheduled to begin streaming on Netflix, which produced the film.

Here are a couple of stories with the news of The New York selection from:

Indiewire

Awards Daily

In other Scorsese news I saw where he is in my home state of Oklahoma scouting locations for his upcoming adaptation of David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon.  Flower Moon news in the last day or two also included the revelation that Robert DeNiro will be joining Leonardo DiCaprio in the cast of the film.
.
Here's news of the casting announcement from Indiewire and also news of Scorsese beginning to scout from The Playlist


NORTON TALKS MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN

Edward Norton recently spoke with Rolling Stone about his upcoming directorial, acting and writing effort for expected TFF #46 film Motherless Brooklyn.  The Rolling Stone article focuses on the use of  a new song from Radiohead's Thom Yorke.

Norton stars as a detective who suffers from Tourette's Syndrome and who is tasked with solving the mystery of the murder of his mentor in 1950's New York.

The interview with Norton from The Stone is linked here.



BURNS COUNTRY BLITZ CONTINUES

Documentarian Ken Burns continues to plow the ground to prepare the way for his PBS doc, Country Music.  The latest is a Variety story that was posted yesterday.

That Variety story is linked here.

Burns was a part of a panel discussing the film that also included Roseanne Cash, Marty Stuart and Dwight Yoakam.

The film is set to bow on PBS on Sept. 15th.


That's the truncated MTFB for this Tuesday... I'm expecting Toronto to announce Canadian titles for their fest tomorrow but the likely impact of that announcement in as far as divining Telluride films is minuscule.

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/ken-burns-country-music-1203284222/


CURRENT TEN BETS...

10) The Truth
9) Ford v. Ferrari
8) The Two Popes
7) Pain and Glory
6) Uncut Gems
5) Judy
4) Motherless Brooklyn
3) Marriage Story
2) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
1) Parasite

That's the Monday MTFB.  More tomorrow...


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New Ad for Ad Astra / New Judy Trailer Coming Today / Netflix Re-Thinking

Welcome back from the weekend...hope yours was good.


NEW AD FOR AD ASTRA

The producers of the Brad Pitt starring As Astra launched a 30 second spot via the film's official Twitter account over the weekend.

For my money, it may do a better job of teasing the film than the full trailer that appeared four weeks back.

Ad Astra tells the story of astronaut Pitt who agrees to search for his father, also an astronaut, who disappeared years earlier while on a deep space mission that could still have far reaching consequences in terms of the survival of the solar system.

Ad Astra is directed by James Gray and Twentieth Century Fox is distributing.  It's due in theaters on Sept. 20th. 

Here's the link to the new spot on the Ad Astra Twitter feed.


NEW JUDY TRAILER COMING TODAY

Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland in Judy

Anton Volkov reported over the weekend that we'd see a new trailer for the Judy Garland biopic Judy.  The film stars Renee Zellweger in the title role.  Also appearing are Jessie Buckley, Finn Whitrock, Rufus Sewell and Michael Gambon.

The film is directed by Rupert Goold (True Story).  Roadside Attractions and LD Entertainment are distributing domestically with Sept. 27th scheduled for U.S. release.

The Trailer Track story is linked here and I hope to have the trailer here for the blog tomorrow.


NETFLIX RE-THINKING

Saw this story over the weekend as well.  Netflix is reportedly reviewing its big budget film approach and re-considering it all together.

Specifically mentioned in the coverage (which originated with TheInformation.com) were the hefty price tags for J.C. Chandor's Triple Frontier (est. $115 million) and, as you might expect, Martin Scorsese's The Irishman (est. 150 million).

I'd be curious about how or if  Roma's success but lack of a Best Picture win last year is factoring into the process.  Further, I wonder if Netflix will strive to be as much of a presence at Telluride as they were last year.  The streamer had half a dozen films playing as a part of the fest in 2018.

It also seems to be of a piece with recent shakeups at Amazon Studios who may also be re-evaluating how much money they are willing to pour into projects.

I have linked stories about the Netflix re-think here from Indiewire and The Playlist.




I'll have more tomorrow including the continuation of my series on the Telluride/Oscar connection.


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The Distributors 2019: Sony Plus / The Irishman Ping Pong / The Good Liar Has a Trailer

Good Thursday World...


THE DISTRIBUTORS: SONY PLUS

...And by "Sony Plus" I mean their affiliated companies Columbia and TriStar

The Sony Pictures group also includes Sony Pictures Classics, but as it is Sony's indie branch, I have dealt with it separately in an earlier post (June 11th).

Columbia has the U.S. distribution for Greta Gerwig's Little Women and though Columbia has a thin resume with Telluride, it's not invisible having just screened Jason Reitman's The Front Runner and Yann Damange's White Boy Rick last year at TFF #45.  In both cases, the director had previous work at Telluride.  Reitman a lot.

So the Gerwig connection could prove as potent this year after her success at Telluride with Lady Bird (2017- five Oscar nominations including Best Picture).  TFF also loved her as a guest as the star of Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha in 2012.


Meanwhile, the other Sony affiliate that has a film in the discussion for Telluride is Marielle Heller's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks as  children's television icon Fred Rogers.  Despite zero history between TriStar and TFF, Heller's presence (and perhaps Hanks') makes me think that it could be a consideration.  Last year Heller had a nifty run with Can You Ever Forgive Me? with that film debuting at Telluride and earning three Oscar nominations including one for Melissa McCarthy for Best Actress.

I'm currently putting their chances as:

Little Women 50%
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 40%


Tomorrow, I'll take a look at a bunch of smaller specialty houses that have films in play.


THE IRISHMAN PING PONG

I'd pretty much reached the conclusion and reported that Martin Scorsese's The Irishman was off the books as far as Telluride was concerned and that hasn't changed.  The last couple of days, however, have been a funny back and forth as to whether it has a release date and an Indiewire story that flat says no fall film fests.

First the release date hoody-hoo.  A number of outlets reported on Tuesday that one of the film's producers, Irwin Winkler, was on record as saying that the film would have a Thanksgiving release.  That gave rise to some speculation that the film's visual effects might be done in time for Scorsese to screen it at the New York Film Fest (which has seemed like the natural landing place all along).

But Netflix and Scorsese reps strongly stated that there are still no firm release plans.

I have linked the updated stories about the release date ping pong here from The Playlist and for The Film Stage.

And here is the Anne Thompson story from Indiewire that flat says no Telluride, Venice, Toronto or New York.



THE GOOD LIAR HAS A TRAILER

Starring Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren, Bill Condon's The Good Liar has been on my Telluride radar for a bit.  The film is set for release on Nov. 15th and is being domestically distributed by Warner Bros.

The film has McKellen as a con man and Mirren as his mark but things don't go according to his plans.

New Line Cinema dropped the first trailer for the film yesterday.  Here it is via YouTube:

It looks...good.

Condon is an Oscar winner for writing the screenplay for Gods and Monsters.  He also was nominated for Chicago.


The Good Liar's IMDb page is here.


That's your Thursday MTFB.  More tomorrow including the season's first Ten Bets.


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The Distributors 2019: 20th Century Fox / Lucy in the Sky and This Fall / Nuggets from Venice Speculation

Welcome...


THE DISTRIBUTORS 2019: 20TH CENTURY FOX

Or...you know...Disney.

I'm taking a look at films that were at 20th Century Fox that are now, due to Disney's acquisition...part of Disney.  It has meaning as Disney and Telluride really have no history (at least in the time I've been attending TFF).  20th Century Fox has only a small footprint in as far as Telluride is concerned.

But 20th Century Fox has three solid films that are probably going to be a part of the end of the year awards conversation and they may try to include Telluride in their plans for those films.  They are:

James Gray's Ad Astra (more about it below) dated for release on Sept. 20th
Joe Wright's The Woman in the Window dated Oct. 4th
James Mangold's Ford v. Ferrari dated Nov. 15th

Two of the three directors have played Telluride in the past with Joe Wright their most recently with Darkest Hour.  Mangold their many years back with Walk the Line and even James Gray was in Telluride in 2012 for the tribute to Marion Cotillard.

So, the factors I look at to make a determination about whether a film is a likely T-ride choice are a mixed bag.

Ultimately, call Ad Astra the most likely prospect (again, see below) at 40%.
The others...
The Woman in the Window 30%
Ford v. Ferrari 30%


LUCY IN THE SKY AND THIS FALL

Natalie Portman in Lucy in the Sky (via IMDb)

I've had my eye on this (back when it was Untitled Noah Hawley Project and then when it became Pale Blue Dot) and just in the last day or so noticed a little more heat on Lucy's Telluride chances.  Ben Travers writing for Indiewire reported on Sunday that "Fox Searchlight is targeting the fall festival circuit for the film's debut".

In my Fox Searchlight assessment back on June 13th, I had Lucy in the Sky listed as having a 40% chance of making the Telluride lineup.  I might have to bump that to 45% in light of the Indiewire story and Fox Searchlight's history with Telluride.

The Travers piece in Indiewire is linked here.

Here's the trailer for the film that is as yet undated for release.

NUGGETS FROM VENICE SPECULATION

As we edge closer to announcements of films for both Venice and Toronto the speculation about what films will go where is starting to grow.  Case in point was World of Reel's Jordan Ruimy spec piece about all the fall film fests that he originally posted on June 21st and has continued to update.  That's linked here.

Last week Roger Friedman reported at ShowBiz 411 that Venice was looking strongly looking at programming Roman Polanski's An Officer and a Spy not that I think that suggests a Telluride play for that film. 

What was interesting was the mention of a couple of other films in the article.  Friedman reports that we can all give up on The Irishman for Venice (and by extension Telluride) as Scrosese does not look like he'll be done with the visual effects in time.The other note is that the notion that James Gray's Ad Astra will play Venice is gaining traction.  Should that happen, that may signal an increased likelihood that the space epic starring Brad Pitt might land in the Rockies on Labor Day weekend.

Something to ponder.


Tuesday's MTFB is in the books back on Thursday.


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The Distributors 2019: Netflix / If I Had To... / Oscar Has Dates / The Return of Looney Tunes?

Good Friday everyone and welcome to the start of this weekend...


THE DISTRIBUTORS 2019: NETFLIX

This week's opening two entries in my annual rundown of distribution companies and the films each has that could be part of the Telluride lineup focused on the company with the longest and most ubiquitous recent history with the fest (Sony Pictures Classics) and another that has had the most Oscar success with films that have played the fest (Fox Searchlight).

Today we look at the company that has been very impressive over that past four years at Telluride both in terms of quality as well as in terms of increasing quantity as well as being the lightning rod in the conversation about what theatrical distribution may mean going forward and that, of course, is Netflix.

The streaming giant first showed up at T-ride in 2015 and has been a consistent presence at the fest since then.

Last year they made their biggest splash yet in regards to awards season with Alfonso Cuaron's Roma playing Venice and then Telluride on its way to three Oscars (Foreign Language Film, Direction and Cinematography) and seven other nominations including Best Picture.

Here's the Netflix history at Telluride for these past four years:

2018: Roma, Dovlatov, Girl, Reversing Roe, The Other Side of the Wind, They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
2017: First They Killed My Father, Wormwood
2016: The Ivory Game, Into the Inferno
2015- Beasts of No Nation, Winter on Fire

This is how I predicted their potential for Telluride last summer on June 26th.
The Other Side of the Wind- 80%
Girl and/or Happy as Lazzaro- 50%
Roma- 40%
Outlaw King- 25%
Triple Frontier- 15%
The Irishman- 5%

And, as you can see from above, Other Side of the Wind, Girl, and Roma all made the TFF #45 lineup.

So, I have to believe that it is very likely that Netflix returns to TFF this year with more than one film.

At this point here are the films under the Netflix umbrella that I think have some chance of being programmed for Labor Day weekend:

Atlantics (Diop)
The Irishman (Scorsese)
The King (Michod)
The Last Thing He Wanted (Rees)
The Laundromat (Soderbergh)
The Pope (Meirelles)
Untitled Noah Baumbach (Baumbach)

Scorsese, Baumbach, Soderbergh and Meirelles have all had films involved at Telluride in the past.
 
Of late, Scorsese's "presence" has been as a producer of documentaries that have been a part of the fest's lineup: Living in the Material World, The 50 Year Argument.  He was also a producer for Bleed for This.
Baumbach had Frances Ha and Margot at the Wedding. 
Soderbergh has had films play at TFF that he acted as a producer for including We Need to Talk About Kevin, Keane and I'm Not There. 
Meirelles City of God played in 2002.

Diop's Atlantics  might have the best chance of playing at TFF owing to its reception at Cannes.  It won the Jury's Grand Prize and was reasonably well received critically.

Honestly, on paper no one film stands out as being more or less likely to play.  Scorsese hasn't been to T-ride since back near the very beginning.  Baumbach has tended toward shying away.  Meirelles has only had the single film 17 years ago.

The biggest "get" would be Scorsese' The Irishman...which still might not be done with the de-aging visual effects come Labor Day weekend.  My expectation will be that Netflix will want to go all for the Oscars with The Irishman as they did with Roma last year but that other factors may mean that The Irishman bypasses everything until the New York Film Fest ( Sept. 27-Oct. 13).

So...my best guestimates at this time:

Atlantics 50%
Untitled Baumbach 40%
The Laundromat 35%
The Last Thing He Wanted 30%
The King 30%
The Irishman 25%
The Pope 20%


 IF I HAD TO...

As regular readers are aware, I won't have my first "real" predictions about what I'm guessing plays at Telluride for another couple of weeks.  But the last couple of years, I have done an early "spitball" as if I were being forced at gunpoint to make some guesses.

So here that is...

If I had to name ten films I thought might make the TFF #46 program as of today they would be (in alphabetical order not order of likelihood:

Atlantics
The Climb
Country Music
Family Romance LLC
The Goldfinch
Nomadland
Parasite
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Untitled Todd Haynes Project
Varda by Agnes

If the last couple of years are any indication...about half this list will actually make the T-ride grade.


OSCAR HAS DATES

After moving the Oscar awards ceremony up for 2020 to Feb. 9th, we learned this week that early time slot will be temporary.  AMPAS announced that Oscar will revert back to the final Sunday in February for its ceremony in 2021 and 2022.  That's Feb. 28, 2021 and Feb. 27, 2022.

Linked here are posts about the announcement from both

Indiewire

and

The Hollywood Reporter


THE RETURN OF LOONEY TUNES?

Photo via Warner Bros. and The Hollywood Reporter

The Annecy Animation Fest is ongoing in France and as I have noted on occasion here, there have been a number of animated films that have moved from that fest to a Telluride screening later.

That could happen again this year and in a very specific, nostalgic and Telluride-centric way.  Warner Brothers has resurrected the old Looney Tune brand and unveiled a number of animated shorts featuring Bugs, Daffy and this week in France.

Considering TFF's long association with WB animating legend Chuck Jones (there's a huge venue named in his honor!) you have to believe that a program of the new cartoons could be included as a part of TFF #46.

The Hollywood Reporter covered the screening in Annecy and you can find their post for that linked here.

Th...th...that's all folks!

I'll have more on Monday.  Have a great weekend.

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The Distributors 2019: Sony Pictures Classics / A Look at The Whistlers / Stone's First Assessment

Welcome to this first summer 2019 Tuesday edition of MTFB...



THE DISTRIBUTORS 2019: SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

Over the years I've been attending Telluride's Film Festival no other distribution company has placed more films at TFF than Sony Pictures Classics and it really isn't even close.  Look at the SPC/TFF history over the past 16 years:


2018: The White Crow (1)
2017: A Fantastic Woman, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, Foxtrot, Loveless, The Rider (5)
2016: The Eagle Huntress, Maudie, Norman, Toni Erdmann (4)
2015: Son of Saul (1)
2014: Foxcatcher, Leviathan, Red Army, Mr. Turner, Wild Tales, Salt of the Earth and Merchants of Doubt (7)
2013: The Invisible Woman, The Lunchbox, The Past, Tim's Vermeer and Jodorowsky's Dune (5)
2012: The Gatekeepers, At Any Price, Rust and Bone, No, Wadjda, Amour (6)
2011: A Dangerous Method, In Darkness, Footnote, A Separation (4)
2010: Incendies, Of Gods and Men, Tamara Drewe, Another Year, The Illusionist, Inside Job (6)
2009: The Last Station, The White Ribbon, Coco Before Chanel, A Prophet, An Education (5)
2008: Waltz with Bashir, I've Loved You So Long, O'Horten (3)
2007: Brick Lane, When Did You Last See Your Father, Persepolis, The Band's Visit, The Counterfeiters, Steep! (6)
2006: Jindabyne, The Lives of Others, Volver, The Italian (4)
2005: Breakfast on Pluto, Capote, Cache, The Child (4)
2004: Being Julia, House of Flying Daggers, Bad Education, Merchant of Venice, Up and Down, Yes (6)
2003: The Fog of War, My Life Without Me, The Triplets of Belleville, Young Adam (4)


That's 71 films over 16 festivals averaging an astonishing 4.4 films a year.  Last year and 2015 were anomalies with only a single SPC film making the TFF lineup.

When I posted the SPC assessment last summer I only had then  with two possibilities: Capernaum and The Fall of the American Empire.  I listed Capernaum with a 60% chance at TFF and American Empire at 30% and, as you may remember, neither film played The SHOW.

In my defense, I did say in last summer's post that 2018 could be a year wherein SPC might only have a single film at Telluride and they didn't acquire distribution rights to Ralph Fiennes' The White Crow until August 13th, more than two months after I posted the SPC assessment.

This year, SPC looks likely to be back at TFF but probably not at the 4-5 film level.  Right now, they list five films that I think could be in play.  Three of those are films from Cannes plus a documentary and World War II drama.

The Cannes films are Pedro Almodovar's Pain and Glory, Ira Sachs' Frankie and Michael Covino's The Climb.  Both the Almodovar and the Covino films were critically lauded at the French fest last month with Pain and Glory winning Best Actor for Antonio Banderas and The Climb winning a jury award in the Un Certain Regard section.  Frankie did not fare as well with critics or jurors.

As I have written here a few times, Almodovar was a common invitee to TFF in the past but hasn't screened a film there since 2006's Volver.  Perhaps Pain and Glory is the film that returns the Oscar winner to the San Juans.

The other two SPC films are a documentary about the life of musical legend John Prine entitled John Prine: Hello in There and the drama The Song of Names starring Clive Owen and Tim Roth.  SPC acquired The Song of Names in April.

My assessment at the moment is actually that The Climb might be the front runner for SPC's chances to be on the Telluride list.  Here's my best guestimate of the chances for each of the five films listed above to make The SHOW

The Climb 50%
Pain and Glory 40%
Frankie 30%
The Song of Names 30%
John Prine: Hello in There 20%

Thursday's  distribution spotlight will shine on Fox Searchlight.



A LOOK AT THE WHISTLERS

Still from The Whistlers via The Playlist

In 2006 Corneliu Porumboiu screened his Cannes award winning film 12:08 East of Bucharest at the 30th Telluride Film Festival.  He hasn't had a film return since.

That could change this year with his latest Cannes entrant The Whistlers.  IMDb describes the film as a comedy and a crime film.  The story centers on a policeman attempting to spring a crooked businessman from prison complicated by the need to use different languages.

The film played moderately well as a part of the Palme competition lineup at last month's Cannes fest but was not an award winner.

Earlier this week, a new international teaser trailer became available for the film.  Here that is from YouTube:

The Playlist posted an extensive story on the film on May 18th for the film's Cannes debut.  The post include multiple clips and stills from the film.  That Playlist story is linked here.


The Whistlers does not have U.S. distribution at this point.


STONE'S FIRST ASSESSMENT

Sasha Stone, who has been a good friend to me over the years, has her first assessment of the Best Picture landscape for this year at her website Awards Daily.

Sasha also includes as a part of her review Best Pic sentiments from Anne Thompson of Indiewire and Erik Anderson of Awards Watch.

Sasha's list ultimately includes ten films most of which could potentially be a part of the TFF #46 lineup. 

Among the ten films she lands on are: Scorsese's The Irishman, Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Gerwig's Little Women and Heller's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

Check out her entire article here.

That's a wrap for this Tuesday.  More on Thursday.

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Narrowing the Field / Nuggets About The Irishman / Fremaux and Cannes' Insights

Welcome back from the holiday weekend...

NARROWING THE FIELD

I teased on my April 11th post that I have been asked to be a part of a "Best of the Decade" project and posted the list of 20 films I came up with to work from.

The completed project is set to come out next month sometime and as the organizer has let the cat out of the bag, I am assuming that I can too.

If you're on Twitter you may have seen this tweet the last week from Jordan Ruimy who runs the World of Reel website:

So...connecting the dots...yes, I'm one of Ruimy's "200".

As you may remember from my earlier post, these were my top 20 2010 films:

2010- True Grit
2011- The Tree of Life, Shame, A Separation
2012- Lincoln, The Life of Pi
2013- 12 Years a Slave, Nebraska, Inside Llewyn Davis
2014- Birdman, Foxcatcher, The Grand Budapest Hotel
2015- Son of Saul, Spotlight, Mad Max: Fury Road
2016- Moonlight, La La Land
2017- Lady Bird, Dunkirk
2018- Roma


And further...time to winnow my list down from 20 to 10.  Chronologically, here are my 10 best of the 2010's:

2010- True Grit
2011- The Tree of Life, Shame, A Separation
2013- 12 Years a Slave, Inside Llewyn Davis
2014- Birdman
2015- Son of Saul
2017- Lady Bird, Dunkirk

I'll have my top five soon...


NUGGETS ABOUT THE IRISHMAN

Joe Pesci and Martin Scorsese on the set of The Irishman (via Phillip Vaughn/Shutterstock and Indiewire)

Perhaps the most anticipated film of 2019 is Martin Scorsese's The Irishman.  The film is being produced by Netflix which gives at least some hope that it could possibly make the Venice/Telluride couplet in a few months.

Recently Indiewire's Zack Sharf wrote about an interview with one of the film's producers: Jane Rosenthal.  Rosenthal revealed some small bits of information and insight about the upcoming mob flick from the director of Goodfellas and The Departed.

You can find that story linked here.


FREMAUX AND CANNES' INSIGHTS

Cannes Film Fest artistic director Thierry Fremaux had a conversation over the weekend with Indiewire's Eric Kohn about the 2019 lineup for the venerable festival. 

Among topics discussed: Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in ...Hollywood, The Truth and Rocketman.

And it should come as no surprise that there are further films that will be added to the various sections that make up the total program for Cannes #72.

The Kohn/Fremaux interview is linked here.

That's your MTFB for this Monday and I'll have more for you on Thursday...


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I'm Back / Netflix and Cannes: The Breakup Continues / Malick at Cannes and Then... / Schiller Talks Telluride and More / Lucy in the Sky Teaser / Burn's Country Music / New Pic of Hanks as Rogers

Spring Break has concluded...

I'M BACK

After a ten day hiatus MTFB is back today after having spent Spring Break doing this and that.  Spent some of the break in NYC.  Saw Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird with Jeff Daniels.  It's nearly perfect.  Saw Bryan Cranston in Network...Cranston is phenomenal.  Did some other stuff.

It was good to step away for a few days, but I'm back now as we head our way to the announcement of the films that will play at Cannes which really does begin the Telluride speculation season on some earnest.   Here we go...


NETFLIX AND CANNES: THE BREAKUP CONTINUES

While I was away we found out that Netflix will again have zero films playing at the Cannes Film Fest in May.  The impasse that created that situation last year has not been resolved and as such, Netflix apparently will not be bringing any films to France in any of the programs.

That was reported in a  number pf places this past week including this from Variety.

In addition, as it turns out, the big fish in Netflix's barrel this season, Martin Scorsese's The Irishman reportedly wouldn't be ready anyway.  It seems that there is still far too much effects work to be done.  That according to Zack Sharf writing at Indiewire.

Sharf writes that a Venice premiere at this point seems the safest bet.  That would still seem to leave the door open for a screening at Telluride much in the way Netflix played Cuaron's Roma last year (and Searchlight did Shape of Water the year before).

My take is still some serious wariness.  Scorsese hasn't been at Telluride in decades.  I wouldn't be surprised if it played Venice and Venice alone or skipped fests all together. 

Still, Collider's Adam Chitwood suggests a run for the film through the Venice, Telluride, Toronto (maybe New York) gauntlet.


MALICK AT CANNES AND THEN...

And speaking of Cannes...there's a growing consensus that  Terrence Malick will return to Cannes in May with his latest film Radegund.  It's a film I have been stalking for quite some time mostly because it's Malick doing a film with a reportedly more traditionally narrative structure that tells the true story of an Austrian conscientious objector during World War II.

I'm hoping, that after a spate of films that haven't exactly been embraced (since Tree of Life) that this will be the path back to critical success for the auteur. 

Charles Barfield writing for The Playlist suggests that Cannes will screen the new film. That story is linked here.

Should that come to pass, the questions would be: does it play any other fests and which distributor picks it up?

I'll keep an eye on it.

SCHILLER TALKS TELLURIDE, FILM AND MORE?

Friend of the blog and multi-hyphenate Christopher Schiller was featured this week on The Weekend Take podcast with Shawn Schaffer.  Schiller runs down a number of topics including a love letter to the Telluride Film Festival.

You can find Schiller's guest stint and The Weekend Take podcast at iTunes at this link.



LUCY IN THE SKY TEASER


Here's the teaser from YouTube:

The Hollywood Reporter

First Showing

The Playlist

Indiewire




BURNS' COUNTRY MUSIC

The Asheville, NC  Citizen Times reports that Ken Burns is going to screen some moments of his new documentary on country music in Asheville next week (on April 2 on the UNC-Asheville campus).  It's yet another sign that, although the entire 16 hour doc may not be ready in its entirety, there's plenty of it to show to an audience.

This roll out in various parts in various places continues to make me think that a presentation of some of it over Labor Day weekend in T-ride  is a realistic possibility.

The Citizen Times article is linked here.



NEW PIC OF HANKS AS ROGERS

And to celebrate what would have been Fred Rogers 91st birthday, TriStar released a new photo from the set of A Beautiful Day in the neighborhood starring Tom Hanks as Rogers.

Here's the new photo:

The film is directed by Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) and is set for U.S. release on Nov. 22nd.

That's your "Spring Break Is Over Return Issue" of MTFB.  I'll have more on Thursday.


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The Cannes Speculation Begins / But Not This One? / And on a Related Note...Venice-Netflix? / Early Oscar Analysis

Welcome back for the weekend...Did you Spring Forward?  I sort of shambled forward...


THE CANNES SPECULATION BEGINS

With the Cannes Film Festival just a couple of months away, it's time to start thinking in a serious fashion what could play as part of their programs with an eye, then. to those films that could bow in France and then have their North American unveiling over Labor Day weekend in the Colorado Rockies.

To that end, you may have notice The Hollywood Reporter's analysis this week of 50 films that their authors say have a shot at making the 2019 Cannes lineup.

Casting an eye over that moderately extensive list of films, these are the titles that jump out at me as worth a glance as we look for films that could make the TFF #45 program (click on the title to go to its IMDb page):

Against All Enemies dir: Benedict Andrews

Ahmed dir: The Dardennes Brothers

The Truth dir: Hirokazu Koreeda

Ema dir. Pablo Larrain

Radegund dir. Terrence Malick (admittedly more a wish than a prophecy)

First Cow dir: Kelly Reichardt

The Laundromat dir. Stephen Soderbergh

 Of course, there are a number of others listed in the THR article that intrigue and could certainly pop up both in France and Telluride.  The complete THR article is linked here.


BUT NOT THIS ONE?

One film listed in the preceding THR linked story is Martin Scorsese's much anticipated Netflix backed gangster drama The Irishman.  Interestingly, within a day of its publication, ShowBiz411 reported that The Irishman will NOT be ready to make an appearance at Cannes.

Roger Friedman headlines his story from Thursday with "Confirmed: No Irishman at Cannes".  In the body of the story Friedman writes "The film is shot...but the special effects will take months."  Friedman also implies that The Irishman might eschew fall fests altogether which would certainly fit Scorsese's recent M.O.

The complete ShowBiz411 post is linked here.


AND ON A RELATED AND GAME CHANGING NOTE...VENICE/NETFLIX?

Eric Kohn wrote a piece this last week at Indiewire which explores where the Cannes/Netflix relationship is and may be headed.  In it he reports that the Venice International Film Festival may be following Cannes path in regards to screening of Netflix films as the battle over how various entities, Festivals and the Oscars particularly, deal with the films that are produced by the streaming giant.

Kohn reports that a recently signed law in Italy that would establish guidelines for theatrical distribution of films there that are similar to the laws in France which have been the central issue in the ongoing Netflix-Cannes confrontation.

Kohn writes, "The Lido may off limits to Netflix in the coming year".  Additionally, he speculates  that that turn of events could conceivably benefit Telluride (and Toronto) writing that it "could be very good" for both fests.

The full paragraph from Kohn is a s follows:

"Netflix doesn’t necessarily need a bump from the festival for its most anticipated films. “Roma” found plenty of acclaim at Venice, Telluride, and Toronto. The Lido may be off-limits to Netflix in the coming year, as Italy’s Minister of Culture Albert Bonisoli signed a law in November requiring theatrical windows in the country similar to the rule in France. But Telluride and Toronto, both of which declined comment for this story, continue to maintain close relationships with Netflix and remain tangible fall launchpads for awards-season hopefuls."

The complete Kohn story is linked here.



EARLY OSCAR ANALYSIS

Also from Indiewire this week is a peak at early Oscar speculation from their resident Oscar guru Anne Thompson.  The article focuses specifically on directors that she perceives might be on the Oscar short list in the months after Telluride comes to a close but still gives us some good fodder for thinking about films that might make their way to the San Juans.

On her list that might be worth our contemplation (and, as above, linked to their IMDb page):

Noah Baumbach' Untitled Project (starring Adam Driver)

Greta Gerwig's Little Women

Noah Hawley's Lucy in the Sky

Marielle Heller's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Hirokazu Koreeda's The Truth (mentioned and linked above)

Dee Ree's The Last Thing He Wanted

Jay Roach's Fair and Balanced

Martin Scorsese's The Irishman (if it's ready and fall fests are even a part of its release strategy...see above)

Joe Wright's The Woman in the Window

Thompson's complete Indiewire story is linked here.


That's today's MTFB.  More on Thursday.


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

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Awards Circuit's First Predix for Oscar 2020 / A Tease for The Irishman / Inarritu to Preside Over Cannes / Trial by Fire Acquired

Good post-Oscar Thursday...


AWARDS CIRCUIT'S FIRST PREDIX FOR OSCAR 2020

Clayton Davis is all over it as he and his website, Awards Circuit, are already up with, what I believe is, the first serious pass at predicting Oscar nominees for Best Picture for next year.

Davis has a really good record of sniffing out Oscar potential this early and as such, gives us some hints about films that might have the pedigree necessary to be considered as possible TFF #46 selections.

Davis runs down a fairly substantial list of films and ends the article with a "pre-season" top ten of possible Best Picture nominees.  Without giving away the entire list of ten films, here are those included that, at first blush, feel like they have the most Telluride prospects:

Marielle Heller's Mr. Rogers biopic starring Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

John Crowley's The Goldfinch based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book starring Nicole Kidman.

Kasi Lemmon's Harriet based on the life of Underground Railroad pioneer Harriet Tubman starring Cynthia Erivo.

And...just because I think Netflix might try to follow the path they used with Roma, Martin Scorsese's The Irishman (see below).  The story of a mob hitman who may have killed Jimmy Hoffa.  For Scorsese, the old gang came back together as the film stars Robert DeNiro, Harvey Keitel and Joe Pesci with the addition of Al Pacino.

Among the other films that Davis discusses that didn't make it to his initial top ten list are these which also seem to make some sense for TFF:

Greta Gerwig's Little Women
Joe Wright's The Woman in the Window
Hirokazu Koreeda's The Truth
Scott Cooper's Antlers
Bill Condon's The Good Liar

Additionally, Davis makes predictions for each of the other 23 categories.

The entire article is linked here.


A TEASE FOR THE IRISHMAN

Perhaps this is Martin Scorsese' Great White Whale.  It's reportedly in post-production and there are rumors that it could well be headed to Cannes (if Cannes and Netflix can reach some sort of arrangement) or maybe Venice.

As I mentioned above, I think we have to at least consider the chance that the film makes its way to Telluride so I'll continue to keep an eye on it.

Consequently, if you didn't notice earlier this week, The Irishman and Netflix dropped a teaser.  Here it is via YouTube:

I also linked some of the coverage the came out with the teaser's release from:

Indiewire

The Playlist

Trailer Track


INARRITU TO PRESIDE OVER CANNES

Speaking of Cannes...the prestigious film festival announced this week that four time Oscar winning director/writer Alejandro Inarritu will preside over this year's Palme d'Or jury.  Inarritu has, over the years, been a staple of the Cannes' lineup in various sections and with multiple films.

Inarritu has also been a frequent presence at Telluride both in the capacity as presenting one of his own films but also as a fan and supporter of his fellow amigos Guillermo Del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron.

Inarritu was first represented at Cannes in 2000 with his first feature Amores Perros.

Here's Variety's story about the announcement.


TRIAL BY FIRE IS ACQUIRED

Roadside Attractions has acquired TFF #45 entrant Trial by Fire from director Ed Zwick.  The film stars Laura Dern and Jack O'Connell and is based on an article from author David Grann.  Trial by Fire was one of two films at last year's fest that was based on material written by Grann.  The other was David Lowery's The Old Man and the Gun starring Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek.

Coverage of the acquisition and plans to release the film this spring are addressed in the following:

The Hollywood Reporter

Deadline

The Wrap



That's today's MTFB.  I'll another go at this on Monday.

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

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Updated Oscar Predictions for Seven Categories / New Gurus of Gold / You Can't Rule It Out / First Look at Berlin's First Film

Good Thursday to all you TFF fans...


UPDATED OSCAR PREDICTIONS FOR SEVEN CATEGORIES

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

1) Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse
2) Incredibles 2
3) Isle of Dogs
4) Mirai
5) Ralph Breaks the Internet

ORIGINAL SCORE

1) If Beale Street Could Talk
2) Mary Poppins Returns
3) Isle of Dogs
4) Black Panther
5) BlacKkKlansman

ORIGINAL SONG

1) Shallow/A Star Is Born
2) All the Stars/Black Panther
3) I'll Fight/RBG
4) The Place Where Lost Things Go/Mary Poppins Returns
5) When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings/The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) Roma
2) Cold War
3) A Star Is Born
4) The Favourite
5) Never Look Away

COSTUMES

1) The Favourite
2) Mary Poppins Returns
3) Black Panther
4) Bohemian Rhapsody
5) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) The Favourite
2) Black Panther
3) Mary Poppins Returns
4) First Man
5) Roma

FILM EDITING

1) Vice
2) BlacKkKlansman
3) The Favourite
4) Bohemian Rhapsody
5) Green Book

NEW GURUS OF GOLD

Here's the link to the latest Oscar predictions from The Gurus of Gold at Movie City News.  They're linked here.  I'm in relatively good shape in as far as the collective predictions are concerned except in Film Editing where I'm way, way in a different place than the rest of the Gurus.

YOU CAN'T RULE IT OUT

I started seeing hints on Twitter the last couple of days that Martin Scorsese's The Irishman will likely have a theatrical release in September (perhaps late September) before its streaming release on Netflix, which is the money behind the film.  Jordan Ruimy of World of Reel tweeted this on Tuesday night:

Additionally, Ruimy posted a short story on his site which you can see here.

Of course, should this prove out, then the film, which is probably the most anticipated film of the year, has a window to screen at Telluride as well as Venice (if it doesn't screen in Cannes and my money says it screens at Cannes...assuming that fest and Netflix can come to some sort of mutually acceptable set of conditions-see my last post from Feb. 4th) and Toronto.

Making this all the more possible is the success this season of the Netflix produces Roma and should Roma ultimately win the Best Picture Oscar in two and a half weeks the chances of a T-ride play probably increase.

Stay tuned...

FIRST LOOK AT BERLIN'S FIRST FILM

Lone Scherfig's The Kindness of Strangers will open the Berlin Film Fest today.  The film is one of the Berlin titles that seems to me to have potential to be selected for The SHOW's 2019 lineup.

Deadline reported Tuesday that the film's producers have released a trailer for the film.  You can find that story and the embedded trailer here.

The Kindness of Strangers stars Zoe Kazan, Caleb Landry Jones, Andrea Riseborough and Bill Nighy and, in addition to opening the fest, will be one of the film's in competition for the Golden Bear.

Meanwhile, here is more coverage of the Berlinale from Indiewire with a story from David Ehrlich, Kate Erbland and Jude Dry looking at what they say are the ten most anticipated titles of the fest including several that are on my TFF #46 watch list including Mr. Jones, By the Grace of God, The Golden Glove and Varda by Agnes.


That's your MTFB update for this Thursday.  I'll have more on Monday.


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

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Screen Daily's Festival Temptations (Continued) / SAG Awards Handed Out Last Night / Ralph Fiennes' The White Crow Has a Trailer / Interviews / Michel LeGrand 1932-2019

Good Monday everyone.  Welcome back from your weekend...


SCREEN DAILY'S FESTIVAL TEMPTATIONS (CONTINUED)

In my last post I began looking at Screen Daily's series about films "to tempt festival directors".  That post focused on their take on Irish and UK films that might be chosen for film festivals from Cannes all the way to Venice, Toronto and of course Telluride as well as others.

Today we look at their lists for both the U.S., Canada and Latin America and then European selections.

Among the films from U.S., Canada and Latin America that seem like TFF #46 possibilities are:

Coming Home Again dir: Wayne Wang
The Irishman dir: Martin Scorsese (probably more a wish than a possibility)
The Last Thing He Wanted dir: Dee Rees
Little Women dir: Greta Gerwig
Ema dir: Pablo Larrain


The complete post for U.S., Canada and Latin America is linked here.


Here's are films from the Screen Daily European list of tempting titles that seem Telluride friendly:

Ahmed dir: The Dardennes Brothers
Bergman Island dir: Mia Hansen-Love
The County dir: Grimur Hakonarson
Pinocchio dir: Matteo Garrone

The complete article for Europe is linked here.


SAG AWARDS HANDED OUT LAST NIGHT

Winners from last night's Screen Actors Guild from last night:

Best Cast: Black Panther
Actress: Glenn Close/The Wife
Actor: Rami Malek/Bohemian Rhapsody
Supporting Actress: Emily Blunt/A Quiet Place
Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali/Green Book
Stunt Cast: Black Panther

Five performances from TFF #45 films were nominated but none came away with a trophy: Colman, Stone and Weisz for The Favourite and McCarthy and Grant for Can You Ever Forgive Me?


RALPH FIENNES' THE WHITE CROW HAS A TRAILER

Here's a trailer for director Ralph Fiennes under seen TFF #45 entrant The White Crow which tells the story of ballet dancer supreme Rudolf Nuryev:

Trailer posted via YouTube.

I have also linked an accompanying story from Deadline.com here.

The White Crow currently has no U.S. release announced. Sony Pictures Classics has the film for U.S. distribution.

INTERVIEWS

Linked here is an Entertainment Weekly interview with Oscar nominee Melissa McCarthy (who was lovely when I talked to her in Telluride) for her role in Marielle Heller's Can You Ever Forgive Me?  The interview was conducted by Joey Nolfi.

Here's that link.

Additionally, here's a link to Kris Tapley's Variety/Playback podcast with writer/director Jason Reitman (The Front Runner) who is making a lot of news in the last week as it was announced that Reitman will direct the next iteration of the Ghostbusters franchise.

Here's the link to that podcast.

 MICHEL LEGRAND 1932-2019

I felt I needed to write a quick note on the passing of musician/composer Michel Legrand.  Legrand was a Tribute recipient in 2007.  He won three Oscars for his musical additions to Yentl, The Thomas Crown Affair and The Summer of 42.  He was nominated an additional six times.

One of the most electrifying musical moments I ever saw on television was a duet with Legrand and Ray Charles on some talk show probably in the 70's sometime.  It was breathtaking to watch the two master from very different backgrounds and approaches play off one another.  Thrilling.

Legrand was 86.

Here is his obituary from The Guardian.

That's the MTFB for Monday, Jan. 28, 2019.  I'll have more on Thursday... (expecting a link to a new Gurus of Gold that will turn to predicting this year's Oscar winners)

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

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