3 Days...and it's getting closer...
YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED
Come and join me for a Michael's Telluride Film Blog soiree called: "The Guide to the Ride; The Flow of the SHOW" on Friday, Sept. 2 from 5:00 to 5:30 PM in The River Club in Telluride. Larry and Mitzi Mallard of the Club will be our hosts and I am told that refreshments will be provided. The River Club is located at 550 Depot in Telluride. That's 4 blocks west of the Gondola station. Come by and say hello and we'll talk a little film.
TAPLEY'S TAKE
Film blogger Kristopher Tapley at Incontention.com had his latest fall festival preview post up yesterday and it focused specifically on 25 films that will be a big part of the conversation over the next three weeks as we move from Venice (opens tomorrow), Telluride (come on, baby!) and Toronto opening Sept. 8. He tackles his best stab at what he thinks, feels, intuits or plays heads and tails with as far as the Telluride lineup is concerned.
You can read the complete (and it is fairly comprehensive) article here:
http://incontention.com/2011/08/29/off-the-carpet-fall-fests-look-to-boost-early-oscar-hopes/#more-41266
Breaking down the specific references to T-ride, here's a thumbnail of the films he references in regard to our 38th fest and what he has to say:
Albert Nobbs- "The film could stop off in Telluride..."
The Artist- "I think The Weinstein Company will bring it to Telluride..."
Carnage- "The high profile New York berth means IT'S OUT for Telluride..." (my emphasis added)
Coriolanus- TWC "picked it up and might stop it off in Telluride..."
A Dangerous Method- "Cronenberg's latest looks to drop early at Telluride, I'm hearing..."
The Descendants- "The most sense for a Telluride bow (and I'm hearing that it will show up there)"
The Ides of March- "Fingers crossed for this to show up in Telluride, though it seems doubtful..."
The Lady- "Telluride is looking like a possibility..."
Shame- "It looks to be Fassbender's second film at Telluride this year."
Take This Waltz- Paraphrasing here...Tapley wonders if the lack of a big gala for this film means that it "was due to Telluride scheduling."
Tinker, Tailor...-"...doesn't look like this...will be making the Telluride trip..."
W.E.- "I don't think Telluride is in the cards, but maybe it'll surprise."
We Need to Talk About Kevin- "Telluride looks like a definite possibility..."
Wuthering Heights- "Arnold really dug Telluride...so maybe we'll get first dibs there."
So of the 25 Tapley mentions in the post, he references Telluride in respect to 14 of them. By my estimation Tapley feels pretty confident about:
The Artist, A Dangerous Method, The Descendants, Shame, and We Need to Talk About Kevin (#3, #11, #1, #7, #5 respectively on this week's MTFB Ten Bets list)
Those that seem to be in his 50/50 club:
Albert Nobbs, Coriolanus, The Lady, Take This Waltz, and Wuthering Heights.
(All of these have been in my Telluride conversation at various times since spring. Currently The Lady is at #17 on my list...the other three have floated in and out and around the Ten Bets).
Those that seem unlikely but that Tapley hasn't completely ruled out:
The Ides of March, W.E.
And the two that he shoots through the heart (as I pretty much have as well):
Carnage and Tinker, Tailor...
My take away is optimism that we still have a decent shot at Albert Nobbs and Coriolanus and that Tapley still thinks that their is a sliver of hope for both Ides and W.E.
Check out Tapley's post for the other 11 films he lists (and which he doesn't rule in or out for Telluride...so, you know...those could be possibles as well). None of them are currently on the Ten Bets list, but all have been at least a part of the conversation up to this point.
CONNECTING SOME DOTS
So, as I was working last night on this morning's post I came across an entry from Telluride Inside and Out concerning how to do the festival on a shoestring (relatively speaking). I thought, "that would be a useful article to link to for my readers." So I pull it up and peruse it.
"Hey," I say to myself, "they got some pre-SHOW film info. Cool. Then I get to this line:
"Thursday's film is "Michael Clayton," starring George Clooney..."
My interior monologue goes: "Hmmm, that's interest....wait a minute..."
I flash back to last year's Thursday night pre-SHOW film..."Once Upon a Time in America" which featured Claudia Cardinale...one of the three TFF TRIBUTEES last year...so does this mean???
Could George Clooney BE one of the three Tributees this year?
Food for thought, isn't it? Of course, I could be completely wrong, too...
Here's the link to the complete TIO article:
http://www.tellurideinside.com/2011/08/this-festival-the-telluride-film-festival-is-characterized-by-its-small-size-and-friendly-atmosphere-if-there-were-a-few-k-1.html
SKIN IS SHOWING
Pedro Almodovar's "The Skin I Live In" (#9 on the List this week) is close to a lock as far as I can tell. It stars Antonio Banderas and showed at Cannes in May. You can take a look at the new trailer for the film at Yahoo Movies and also a The Playlist (at IndieWire)
Yahoo here:
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810221069/trailer#26453309
Playlist here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/watch_antonio_banderas_strange_contribution_to_human_progress_in_new_the_sk/
Incidentally, The American Film Institute has announced that Almodovar will betheir guest director for their fest in November. Busy fall for Pedro!
Check that here from Deadline Hollywood's Pete Hammond:
http://www.deadline.com/2011/08/pedro-almodovar-to-be-guest-artistic-director-at-afi-fest/
EYEING TILDA
An Oscar winner and potential Oscar nominee who could (and I stress "could") be in Telluride this weekend in support of her film is Tilda Swinton (Kevin). Hollywood News is profiling films and stars that will be playing Toronto and these are, of course, also films we could see this weekend at 9000 feet. Check their entry for:
We Need to Talk About Kevin:
http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2011/08/29/tilda-swinton-in-we-need-to-talk-about-kevin-tiff-2011/
OSCAR, OSCAR, OSCAR
Man, everybody and their dog is doing "fall previews' and "Oscar watch" articles and as you might expect, they are loaded with Telluride possibilities. Take a look at some of these overviews of the coming fall crop of films:
The Atlantic Monthly highlights 12 films including: Moneyball, The Ides of March, Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Descendants, A Dangerous Method, The Artist, W.E., Albert Nobbs and Rampart.
It's here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/08/fall-movies-preview-12-oscar-contenders-to-watch-for/244246/#slide1
IndieWire has a really interesting article up entitled: "For Your Consideration: 10 Things the Fall Fests Can Tell Us About Award Season". Read it here:
http://www.indiewire.com/article/2011/08/29/for_your_consideration_10_things_the_fall_fests_might_tell_us_about_award_s
And Pete Hammond at Deadline Hollywood asks," Can Indies Steal Oscars Again?" as he breaks down the pre-Oscar field studio by studio. You can find that here:
http://www.deadline.com/2011/08/hammond-big-names-in-small-films-can-indies-steal-the-oscars-again/
And in an interesting bit of counter coverage, The Playlist posts an article concerning the wisdom of NOT playing the festival circuit. Interesting stuff here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/2011/08/29/the_amazing_race_is_hiding_your_films_til_dec_anti-_film_festival_circuit_b/
AND FINALLY...
On the basis of a random tweet I mined late last night, put "Butter" (dir. Jim Field Smith, Stars: Jennifer Garner, Hugh Jackman and Olivia Wilde) on the Ten Bets list at #19...I think it may be in Telluride...
More on the morrow, boys and girls...
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