The Distributors 2018: Big Dogs / Don Quixote Legal Woes Won't Stop It / Moore's New Doc at TFF? / For Your Consideration

Thursday...July 5, 2018


Welcome back to MTFB...

THE DISTRIBUTORS 2018: BIG DOGS

There are, each year, a number of films that feel like they could have some Telluride potential that are distributed by one of the big studios that often have a limited profile in as far as T-ride is concerned.  This year is no different.

For example, Steve McQueen's Widows is set up at 20th Century Fox and Damien Chazelle's First Man is set to come from Universal.

Because of the two directors, and their pasts with TFF, I have to consider them as possibles for TFF #45 despite the fact that 20th Century Fox and Universal have very limited histories at the fest.

Also included in the calculation are Robert Zemeckis' Welcome to Marwen and Bryan Singer's Bohemian Rhapsody.

I might also mention that Columbia has Jason Reitman's take on Gary Hart's 1988 presidential run in The Front Runner and the Matthew McConaughey starrer White Boy Rick directed by Yann Dannage (who, like Chazelle and McQueen has been to Telluride before).  It also falls into this category of films.

Of the six films listed here, my feel is that the most likely to make Telluride is Reitman's The FrontRunner.  Reitman used to be a regular at Telluride and this could be his ticket back to The SHOW.  Give it a 40% chance.

Widows is next in line simply because the Steve McQueen connection has been tight.  He screened Hunger, Shame and 12 Years a Slave at T-ride.  Give it a 35% chance to play.

Chazelle's First Man is next at 30%.

I give Welcome to Marwen a 25% shot, White Boy Rick a 20% chance and Bohemian Rhapsody seems the least likely at 10%.

Tomorrow I'll look at films that feel like they have a decent shot at Telluride from occasional specialty houses that make TFF appearances.

DON QUIXOTE'S LEGAL WOES WON'T STOP IT

After so much back and forth legally regarding Terry Gilliam's long awaited passion project, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, it now appears that the film is going to be around quite a lot in the next few months.

The Hollywood Reporter's Nick Holdsworth writes that the film (having just screened at the Karlovy Vary Film Fest) will screen in competition at the Munich Film Fest and Gilliam says it will open wide in Holland and Belgium soon.

This series of events seems to indicate that the film is fully possible to screen in the U.S. at any and all of the fall fests.

It should be noted that the film was, at one point, set to be distributed by Amazon Studios but that they dropped out when legal issues endangered its planned screening at Cannes.

The complete THR story is here.


MOORE'S NEW DOC AT TFF?

Michael Moore has made it clear that he's going to pushing his new Donald Trump documentary Fahrenheit 11/9 hard for the next few months insisting that he wants it seen by as many people as possible prior to November's midterm elections.

One has to suspect that will include some presence on the fall festival circuit and that could include seeing it pop up at Telluride.

Moore has been at Telluride by my count four times-1989, 1992, 2002 and as a guest in 2013 for the fest's 40th anniversary.  So, especially with how much Telluride's profile has increased over the last decade, you have to consider it a possibility.

Here's the Indiewire article from Michael Nordine reporting on Moore's recent appearance on Bill Maher.



FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Recent articles at both The Playlist and World of Reel highlight what seem to be a larger than normal pool of films that might have legitimate aspirations for Oscar glory and that seems to be opening a wide door for those films and where they could land for their premieres.

Both article authors (Jordan Ruimy-World of Reel and Greg Ellwood-The Playlist) mention Telluride in this context.


Interesting tidbits from the Ruimy piece:

Alfonso Cuaron's Roma has hot buzz.
Mike Leigh's Peterloo was submitted for Cannes but was not chosen
Test screening response for Damien Chazelle's First Man has been okay but not through the roof
He describes Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk as "artsy".

Meanwhile, Ellwood's article poses a number of questions about Oscar quirks for 2018.

Check the articles out.

World of Reel

The Playlist

That's today's MTFB.  Come back tomorrow for the week's NEW TEN BETS...


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

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This Year's Oscar Crop and TFF Regulars / More on Don Q

Welcome back from your weekend.  Hope you had a good one...


THIS YEAR'S OSCAR CROP AND TFF REGULARS

At the end of last week not one but three major Oscar prediction groups published articles focusing on the films that they see as possible players for awards season glory.  Writers for Awards Daily, Variety and Entertainment Weekly all provided lists.

Taking a look, I noticed, to little surprise, that a number of films appeared on all three lists and a number also will be directed by people with past appearances at Telluride which means they have to be considered among the films that could make the SHOW.  So...here are the films from all three lists that have a TFF legacy director:

Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk
Damien Chazelle's First Man
Steve McQueen's Widows

Making at least two of the lists:

Mike Leigh's Peterloo
Jacques Audiard's The Sisters Brothers
Jason Reitman's The Frontrunner
Alfonso Cuaron's Roma
Yann  Damange's White Boy Rick


And with one mention:

David Mackenzie's Outlaw King
Pawel Pawlikowski's Cold War
Julian Schnabel's At Eternity's Gate

The complete articles can be found here from Entertainment Weekly, Variety and Awards Daily



MORE ON DON Q

In light of last week's news that Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote has been programmed to screen at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival despite having lost a court case in France concerning the ownership of the film's rights, came another story at the end of last week from Indiewire's Michael Nordine.

The IW story focuses on the claims of producer Marilea Besuievsky who says  that Paulo Branco, who won the court case, may have over claimed the extent of the court victory.

Besuievsky, being quoted from a Spanish language publication, El Espanol, says that Gilliam has the right to release the film anywhere in the world.

So...back on the TFF watch list it goes...

The Indiewire article is here.


More to come tomorrow.

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The Distributors 2018: Amazon Studios / The Front Runner Looks at Awards Season / Welcome to Marwen Trailer Arrives / And Maybe The Don Is Back On

Thursday marks the return of MTFB for this week with an assessment of the chances of five films that are being distributed by Amazon Studios.

THE DISTRIBUTORS 2018: AMAZON STUDIOS

Amazon had Oscar nominee/winner Manchester by the Sea play in 2016.

Wonderstruck in 2017.

This year could see multiple entrants from Amazon Studios including Mike Leigh's Peterloo, Ritesh Batra's Photograph, Pawel Pawlikowski's Cold War. All of these directors have some TFF history, especially Leigh.  In addition, we have to consider Felix Van Groeningen's Beautiful Boy and Dan Fogelman's Life Itself.

Chances in order of likelihood for TFF #45:

Peterloo- 75%
Cold War- 50%
Beautiful Boy 40%
Photograph- 30%
Life Itself- 20%


As a matter of fact, Peterloo will almost certainly be on the opening Top Ten List coming out in a week or two.  Cold War could make that list as well.

I'll look at Netflix tomorrow.


THE FRONT RUNNER LOOKS AT AWARD SEASON

Sony has dated Jason Reitman's The Front Runner with a Nov. 7th limited release date putting it smack in the middle of the awards season.  A wider release will occur the following week on Nov. 14th.

The Front Runner re-visits the real story of Gary Hart's ill-fated 1988 presidential run.  Hugh Jackman stars as Hart.

Deadline reported the story on Wednesday.  Also reporting the dates was Clayton Davis's Awards Circuit.  Both sources suggest that Telluride is a real possibility for Reitman's film despite the fact that Sony/Columbia have a meager TFF profile. 



WELCOME TO MARWEN TRAILER ARRIVES

We passed along Trailer Track's Anton Volkov's news earlier this week that a trailer would be released for Robert Zemeckis's Welcome to Marwen and that trailer dropped yesterday.  Here it is via YouTube:

Further reporting on the film and its trailer release can be found at:

FirstShowing

SlashFilm

The Playlist

Trailer Track


AND MAYBE THE DON IS BACK ON

Reporting from the Czech Republic suggests that Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote will play at the Karlovy Vary Film Fest.  The news was reported by both The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.

That comes after the news reported here Monday that Gilliam had suffered a legal set back with a French court finding in favor of producer Paolo Blanco. 

I wondered  if that decision might nix the chances of Quixote playing T-ride. 

Now, with this latest news that TMWKDQ will screen at Karlovy Vary despite the court ruling, I am again considering that the Gilliam passion project might still have a shot at the San Juans in a couple of months.



That's all for today.  More tomorrow.

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The Distributors 2018: A24 / Guest Director Named / Don Gone?

Good Monday everyone.  I hope you survived the weekend...


THE DISTRIBUTORS 2018: A24

I continue my breakdown of film distribution companies and their films with a look toward what seems the most likely players for TFF #45.  Today we turn to relative newcomer A24.  A24 Appeared on the Telluride scene just a few years ago but has made a substantial splash in a short time.  Here's their TFF run:

2017: Lean on Pete, First Reformed, Lady Bird
2016: Moonlight
2015: Room
2014:  No film
2013: Under the Skin
2012: Ginger and Rosa

Seven films in six years with three Best Picture Oscar nominations and the win in 2016 for Moonlight.  So you have to think that A24 is a player for 2018 but it feels like their cupboard is a bit bare.  Two films that we might take a look at, Native Son and The Lighthouse are dated, at least currently, for 2019.

Maybe the biggest shot for A24 this year is the Jonah Hill directed and written Mid 90's.  The film purportedly went into post production in late July of last year and has had relatively good buzz.

I, however, am a tad leery about thinking a Jonah Hill debut is necessarily a likely event for T-ride.  Still, this film seems like A24's best shot at the fall fests including Telluride.  Maybe their only one.  Or, perhaps this year is like 2014 and A24 doesn't play this year.

Mid 90's chances to make TFF #45: 30%.

Tomorrow Sundance Selects and IFC Films.


GUEST DIRECTOR NAMED

We found out who will guest direct the 2018 edition of the Telluride Film Festival.  It's author Jonathan Lethem.

Here's the press release from the Fest:

BERKELEY, CA – Telluride Film Festival, presented by National Film Preserve LTD., is proud to announce its 2018 Guest Director, Jonathan Lethem. The award-winning novelist, essayist and short story writer is set to select a series of films to present at the 45th Telluride Film Festival running over Labor Day Weekend, August 31 - September 3, 2018.

Festival organizers annually select one of the world’s groundbreaking artists to join them in the creation of the Festival’s program lineup. The Guest Director serves as a key collaborator in the Festival’s programming decisions, bringing new ideas and overlooked films to Telluride. In keeping with Telluride Film Festival tradition, Lethem’s film selections, along with the rest of the Telluride lineup, will be kept secret until Opening Day.

“Tom and I first met Jonathan through Criterion Collection,” said Telluride Film Festival executive director Julie Huntsinger. “Since then, we have forever been impressed with his knowledge of and enthusiasm for cinema.  We are thrilled to have him join us for the 2018 Festival!”

One of America’s greatest contemporary writers, Jonathan Lethem was born in 1964 in Brooklyn, NYC to artist Richard Lethem and late political activist Judith Lethem. His impressive body of work spans 10 novels, five short story collections, a novella, two books of essays, a comic series and writings in The New Yorker, Rolling Stone and Mc Sweeny’s. Lethem’s first genre-defying novel, Gun with Occasional Music (1994) experimented with science fiction and crime and gained him a strong cult following. In 1999, Lethem’s fifth novel Motherless Brooklyn met with significant commercial and critical success winning the National Book Critics Circle Award, Macallan Gold Dagger for Crime Fiction, Salon Book Award and was named Esquire’s book of the year. The film adaptation of Motherless Brooklyn, directed by Edward Norton and starring Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, Willem Dafoe and Leslie Mann is currently in production and slated for a 2019 release. Lethem’s more recent novels include New York Times Bestseller The Fortress of Solitude (2003), You Don’t Love Me Yet (2007), Chronic City (2009), Dissident Gardens (2013) and A Gambler’s Anatomy (2016).  In 2005, Jonathan Lethem was the recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship.

“From the very beginning for me, my love for literature and my love for film were splendidly mixed-up and inextricable,” said Lethem. “I always saw the two great 20^th Century storytelling forms as speaking to and through one another. So, when by my great good luck I fell in with Tom Luddy and Julie Huntsinger, I immediately recognized them as being of my tribe; they feel the same resonance and have designed their wonderful festival in the mountains to reflect it. When I learned they’d involved writers I admire like Michael Ondaatje and Rachel Kushner and Geoff Dyer in the heart of the program, I was thrilled – and envious! I’m still pinching myself in disbelief that it’s my turn to play at programming the Dream Multiplex.”

Past Guest Directors include Joshua Oppenheimer, Volker Schlöndorff, Rachel Kushner, Guy Maddin, Caetano Veloso, Michael Ondaatje, Alexander Payne, Salman Rushdie, Peter Bogdanovich, B. Ruby Rich, Phillip Lopate, Errol Morris, Bertrand Tavernier, John Boorman, John Simon, Buck Henry, Laurie Anderson, Stephen Sondheim, G. Cabrera Infante, Peter Sellars, Don DeLillo, J.P. Gorin, Edith Kramer and Slavoj Žižek.

The Guest Director program is sponsored by FilmStruck, Turner’s subscription on-demand service that offers film aficionados a comprehensive and constantly refreshed library of films including an eclectic mix of contemporary arthouse, indie, foreign, cult and classic Hollywood films. FilmStruck is the exclusive streaming home to the Warner Bros. classic film library and the Criterion Collection. FilmStruck was developed by Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and is managed by TCM in partnership with Warner Bros. and the Criterion Collection.

And coverage of the announcement from Screen Daily and The Movie City News.


DON GONE?

Poor Terry Gilliam.

After winning the right to screen his more than 25 year-in-the-making passion project, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, at Cannes, French courts have now decided that producer Paolo Branco owns the film's rights which almost certainly means the film's future is back to limbo status.

Soooo...for those of us that thought, we might see the film in Telluride in 10 weeks or so...looks very doubtful.

Reporting from a number of sources indicates that Branco's company is the sole owner of the film's rights and that he/they are ready to sue about anyone and everyone that was apart of the film's Cannes screening and French release.

Here's the story from The Playlist.



That's it for this Monday.  Come back for more tomorrow.

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

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The Awards From the 71st Cannes Film Festival / Analyzing the Cannes Awards History for TFF Clues / The Last Round of Critics for Cannes 2018 / A Couple of Other Cannes Notes / A First Look at Beautiful Boy

Welcome back from your weekend...hope it was a good one...


THE AWARDS FROM THE 71ST CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

The Cannes Film Fest closed Saturday with the presentation of awards.  The winners were:

Main Competition:

Palme d'Or: Shoplifters
Grand Prix: BlacKkKlansman
Jury Prize: Capharnaum
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski-Cold War
Screenplay: Happy as Lazzaro and Three Faces
Actress: Samal Yeslyamova-Ayka
Actor: Marcello Fonte-Dogman
Special Palme: The Image Book

Here's the trailer for the Palme d'Or winner from YouTube:

Un Certain Regard:

UCR Prize: Border
Screenplay: Sofia
Best Performance: Victor Polster-Girl
Director: Sergei Loznitsa-Donbass
Special Jury Prize: The Dead and the Others

From among the Palme winners, I suspect every film is a potential TFF player at this point with the exception of Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman which Focus Features has set for release on Aug. 10th and I also have my doubts about Goddard's Image Book.

Another wrinkle is the acquisition of Happy as Lazzaro and Girl during the fest and, at this point, trying to divine what that will me for how those films get released and the implications for a possible Telluride play are difficult.

Netflix has been a presence at Telluride the past three years but that was prior to the brouhaha that played out in France this past few weeks that resulted in Netflix screening nothing in Cannes.  How that factors into their plans heading to the fall and if it has a residual effect regarding TFF programmers...I don't know.

In addition to the Cannes acquisitions, Netflix also has Martin Scorsese's The Irishman which one would think would be a major player come awards season if it's done... and that's a BIG IF.  And they also have Alfonso Cuaron's Roma and Orson Welles' The Other Side of the Wind (which I really believe will play TFF #45).

Stand by to hear what the Netflix plan is for releasing these acquisitions.  Maybe that will give us some insight.

Here is the official list of winners from Cannes.



ANALYZING THE CANNES AWARDS HISTORY FOR TFF CLUES

Regular readers of this space probably know from past posts that the Cannes/Telluride crossover averages between seven and eight films each year.  Most of those titles come from the main competition and Un Certain Regard sections that.  Occasionally titles will come from some part of the non-competition slate or even the Directors Fortnight presentations.

So, as I have said, the Cannes/Telluride crossover is strong and has a lengthy history but the connection to the Cannes prize winners is fairly tenuous.  Over the past decade, only three Palme d'Or winners have made the journey to Telluride: The White Ribbon ('10), Amour ('12) and Blue Is the Warmest Colour ('13).

Actually, in the last ten years, the film that wins the Grand Prix (second place essentially) is more likely to make the trip to the San Juans: Gomorrah ('08), A Prophet ('09), Of Gods and Men ('10), Inside Llewyn Davis ('13), Son of Saul ('15).

The other modestly successful predictor, weirdly, is Best Actor: Biutiful ('10), The Artist ('11), The Hunt ('12), Nebraska ('13), Mr. Turner ('14).

Other Cannes prizes and their TFF crossovers the past ten years are:

Jury Prize (third place): Fish Tank ('09), Loveless ('17)
Director: Foxcatcher ('14), Graduation ('16)
Actress: The Past ('13), Carol ('15)
Screenplay: Poetry ('10), Footnote ('11), Leviathan ('14)
UCR Prize: Tulpan ('08), Rams ('16), A Man of Integrity ('17)

This history suggests that the most likely Cannes plays for TFF #45 would be BlacKkKlansman but we know it won't be as it will be released three weeks before the festival which points us toward the Best Actor winner-Dogman.  That has a real shot.



THE LAST ROUND-UP OF CRITICS FOR CANNES 2018

Here's the final critical assessment of films that played these last two weeks in Cannes beginning with the behemoth from Reini Urban:

Overall from all sections the top five films critically were:

1) Dead Souls
2) Burning
3) Thunder Road
4) Shoplifters
5) Happy as Lazarro

(Note: the short film Ultra Purple/Apocalypse After actually would sit at #4 but was scored by only five critics.  Dead Souls was also only scored by 16 critics)


Top five from the Palme d'Or section:

1) Burning (8.10/10)
2) Shoplifters (7.67)
3) Happy as Lazarro (7.63)
4) The Wild Pear Tree (7.49)
5) Cold War (7.42)

Top three from the UCR section

1) Long Days Journey Into Night (7.40)
2) Girl (7.15)
3) The Dead and the Others (6.91)

Complete Reini Urban compilation of critics is linked here.


Todas Criticas...

Top Five from the Palme section:

1) Happy as Lazarro (8.31/10)
2) Burning (8.16)
3) The Image Book (8.13)
4) The Wild Pear Tree (7.44)
5) Ash Is The Purest White (7.23)

Top three in UCR:

1) Long Days Journey Into Night (7.98)
2) The Dead and the Others (7.17)
3) Girl (6.69)


The complete Todas Criticas board is here.


From Ioncinema's ratings of the Palme d'Or competition:

1) Burning (3.8/5-TIE)
1) The Wild Pear Tree (3.8)
3) Cold War (3.7)
4) Shoplifters (3.6)
5) Ash Is the Purest White (3.3 TIE)
5) Leto (3.3)
5) Three Faces (3.3)


The Ioncinema chart is here.


Screen Daily's grid at the completion of the Palme films:

1) Burning (3.8/4)
2) Shoplifters (3.2)
3) The Image Book (3.0)
4) Cold War (2.9 TIE)
4) Ash Is the Purest White (2.9)
4) Happy as Lazarro (2.9)

The Screen Daily grid is here.


The International Cinephile Society's ratings

Top five from the Palme d'Or comp:

1) Burning (4.50/5)
2) The Image Book (4.28)
3) Ash Is the Purest White (4.08)
4) Shoplifters (4.03)
5) Cold War (3.74)


The ICS critics' grid is here.


A COUPLE OF OTHER CANNES NOTES...

Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote has finally screened for live humans in a theater!!!

And now that it has...I can't say that I'm surprised that I have been seeing a number of reviews that have used words like "confused" and "missing a bit of soul".  As I type (with a small number of reviews counted, RT has it at 57% and Metacritic has it at a 50.

It sounds like what I've come to expect from Gilliam...

Does that mean it's off the table for TFF #45?  Can't say that yet.

Another note about the 71st Cannes:  I was a little alarmed at how often I saw the phrase "slow burn" in takes about films that played...which I sometimes think is code for "it's slow but important".

Now that Cannes is in the books, I'll pay attention to acquisition news and release dates concerning these titles for additional TFF clues.


 A FIRST LOOK AT BEAUTIFUL BOY

Felix Van Groeningen's Beautiful Boy will probably be on my first Ten Bets list (which is about six weeks away).  From Amazon Studios, the film features Timothee Chalamet (Oscar nominated last year for Call Me By Your Name) and Steve Carell (Oscar nominated for Foxcatcher) as son and father dealing with the youngsters addiction to meth.

It's likely going to be a part of our conversations for the next several months.

That said, this week, we saw the first footage for the film via a 30 second teaser which is here from YouTube:

Additionally, here is coverage from Indiewire and The Playlist of the release of the teaser.


That's your MTFB for this Monday.  Have a good week everyone...and more to come on Thursday.

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

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82 Women of Film Take a Stand in Cannes / First Critical Look at Cannes Films / The La Mancha Saga Gets Another Documentary Look / Panahi's Latest Has a Trailer

Good Monday to all...

82 WOMEN OF FILM TAKE A STAND IN CANNES

In an extraordinary moment Saturday, 82 women from all walks of the film world stood in solidarity to express their concern about female representation in the industry at large and Cannes in particular.  The group was led by Cate Blanchett, who is presiding over the Palme d'Or jury this year and film legend Agnes Varda who shred a microphone to deliver a statement in both English and French.  

The number of women was no accident as 82 is the number of females that have directed films that have screened at Cannes in its 71 year history.  Male directed films in that time-1,688.

Among the women in the group of 82-

Telluride Film Festival Executive Director Julie Huntsinger and:

Lea Seydoux

Ava DuVernay

Jane Fonda

Kristen Stewart

Claudia Cardinale

Marion Cotillard

Nandita Das

Patty Jenkins

Salma Hayek

Here's video of the moment from The News Channel and YouTube:

Additionally, here's Vanity Fair's coverage which includes the complete list of 82 women that were on the red carpet on Saturday (for the presentation of Eva Husson's Girls of the Sun):

  

Other coverage is linked here from:

Variety

Indiewire

FIRST CRITICAL LOOK AT CANNES FILMS

As I have done for the past several years, I am linking to several sites that are collecting samplings of critical reaction to the films that are screening at Cannes.

The most comprehensive is from Reini Urban who combines seven different critical collections.

As of this morning the top rated film (with at least a dozen responses recorded) among those in the Palme d'Or competition is Alice Rohrwacher's Happy as Lazzaro with 45 combined critic ratings and a 7.53 average.  Pawel Pawlikowski Cold War sits at second with a 7.41 average.

Also from Todas Criticas. Jean Luc Godard's The Image Book leads with an 8.32 with Happy as Lazzaro next at 8.13.

Ioncinema has Cold War out front with a 3.7 (on a five point scale) followed by Jia Zhangke's Ash Is the Purest White with a 3.2.  Jafar Panahi's Three Faces has a 4.3 but that comes from only three critics thus far.

Screen International's compilation is lead by both Cold War and Ash Is the Purest White with a tied 2.9 (on a four point scale).

And the ICS collection of critics has The Image Book on top with a 4.71 (of five) followed by Ash Is the Purest White at 3.92.

The links to the various critical takes are here:

Reini Urban

Todas Criticas

Ioncinema

Screen Daily

International Cinephile Society

THE LA MANCHA SAGA GETS ANOTHER DOCUMENTARY LOOK

As I have been dutifully reporting, it looks like Terry Gilliam's long-gestating The Man Who Killed Don Quixote will finally screen on Saturday as the closing night film for the 71st Cannes Film Festival.  The 20+ year ordeal is about to get to the next chapter...

In 2002, the efforts of Gilliam to make the film were chronicled in the doc Lost in La Mancha.  That film played TFF.

Now, as Gilliam is on the cusp of realizing the film's completion, word comes that the same crew that produce Lost in La Mancha has been collecting material for a follow on documentary that will cover the latest trials and tribulations that have led to the film's imminent presentation.

The film is currently titled He Dreams of Giants.

Variety originally reported the story which you can see here.

PANAHI'S LATEST HAS A TRAILER

Iranian film maker has managed to get another film out of that nation despite his status under house arrest.  Three Faces premiered at Cannes this week and the early critical response seems good.  

Three years ago Panahi's Taxi played Berlin, winning the Golden Bear,  and ultimately Telluride.

Could we see another Panahi film in the San Juans at the end of the summer?  I wouldn't count it out.

Here's the official trailer for the film prepped for Cannes and with English subtitles via YouTube:

That's your MTFB for a Monday.  More to come on Thursday...

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

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New Clips from The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

NEW CLIPS FROM THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE

CLIP #1

CLIP #2

CLIP #3

Clips via YouTube

The Don Quixote Saga Continued / Everybody Knows Goes Is in Focus / Cannes Will Honor Rissient

Good Thursday to everyone...

THE DON QUIXOTE SAGA CONTINUED

On our previous episode of "What Else Could Happen to The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" we were wondering how a French court would rule and if that would allow or prevent the film's screening as the closing night entertainment in Cannes...well...

Since Monday...Terry Gilliam had a "health episode" that was described as a possible stroke but was apparently not that...

Distributor Amazon Studios dropped plans to distribute the film and

The Court ruled and said, essentially, roll that film on May 19th.

It's been an eventful few days for the Don Quixote crew.

All of the sound and fury led one Twitter account to suggest that attending the screening on the 19th might be risky as it is likely to end in a disaster of biblical proportion.  Such has been the beleaguered history of the film.

Here's what I want to know:  Why did Amazon pull out?  And...what the hell else could happen to this production in the next 10 days?

Here's a sampling of the coverage for this past three days worth of developments:

The Court decision:

Indiewire

The Hollywood Reporter

Amazon's Decision:

Variety

The Hollywood Reporter

Indiewire

Gilliam's Health Scare:

Deadline

Indiewire

EVERYBODY KNOWS IS IN FOCUS

Asghar Farhadi's Everybody Knows opened the 71st Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday to mixed reviews (I'll start passing along links to various critics' compilation sites beginning with next Monday's blog post).

Despite the so-so nature of the critical reception, a reportedly significant battle ensued for U.S. distribution rights for the film among a number of players.  Netflix had been reported earlier in the week as a likely bidder and reportedly they were but in the end were bested by Focus Features.

Focus was said to gain an advantage die its traditional theatrical release structure meaning that the film could be aimed at awards season.

Additionally, the win by Focus probably still keeps the film in the convo for Telluride although, as astute friend of MTFB Patrick Pringle noted via Twitter, the recent decision by the Trump administration to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal could create problems for screenings of the film.

Here's coverage of the Focus deal from:

Deadline

Variety

Indiewire

CANNES WILL HONOR RISSIENT

As you might expect, the Cannes Film Fest will honoring the late Pierre Rissient, who died last weekend.  The film "warrior" was an incredible part of the fabric of both Cannes and Telluride.  I ran across this comment from former TFF co-director Gary Meyer in the comment section of the Eric Kohn/Indiewire story reporting Rissient's passing: 

Thank you for this wonderful and personal look at Pierre Rissient who was truly unique. His passion for the films and talent he loved was infectious. He was demanding in a way that a first timer might not embrace until they realized that he was usually right and listening to him would reveal things we didn’t know about cinema of the past and turn us on to filmmaking on the horizon. The two films about him are a great start to understanding Pierre. I am honored to have been among the lucky ones to have spent time learning and being inspired by one of the art’s true believers.

Additionally, I have linked reportage of Cannes decision to honor Rissient here from:

The Hollywood Reporter

And that;s a wrap for this Thursday.  Please come back for more on Monday including the first collective looks of the films that will premiere at Cannes over the weekend.

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New Trailer for Don Q / Cannes Supports The Don and Gilliam / Awards Watch Previews Foreign Language Oscar Hopefuls / The Wind Is Closer to Completion

Good first Thursday in May my friends...

NEW TRAILER FOR DON Q

Amidst all the legal brouhaha over Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote and whether it will actually screen to close Cannes on May 19th, we have a second trailer for the film, which, for my money is better and more enticing than the first.

Here it is from YouTube:

CANNES SUPPORTS THE DON AND GILLIAM

The top brass at the Cannes International Film Festival released a statement of support this week for Terry Gilliam and his beleaguered film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.  The film has taken two decades to complete and continues to be mired in legal woes.

A hearing is set to take place in Paris on May 7th concerning the claims of one of the past producers of the film.  The decision in that proceeding could determine whether Quixote actually screens as Cannes closing night feature on May 19th.  It's also entirely possible that the ruling could bar the film's screening.

Original reporting on this particular legal claim suggested that the ultimate court finding might not occur until June.

All of that means that the film's Cannes future is uncertain and certainly that would continue to be true in the context of a potential play at Telluride.

Here is coverage from Indiewire on Cannes' statement of support for Gilliam and the film.



AWARDS WATCH PREVIEWS FOREIGN LANGUAGE OSCAR HOPEFULS

Erik Anderson at Awards Watch posted a piece this week examining 16 films that will be playing the Cannes Fest that he thinks could be players in the Foreign Language Oscar race.

Among those 16 are several that I have my eye on as possible TFF #45 candidates:

Cold War
Everybody Knows
Dogman
Ash Is the Purest White
Burning
Three Faces
Ayka


The complete rundown of the 16 films is here from Awards Watch.


 THE WIND IS CLOSER TO COMPLETION

Producer Frank Marshall tweeted a photo on Monday with the caption explaining that the sound mix for Orson Welles' final film The Other Side of the Wind was "a wrap".  That moves the film one step closer to completion and potential screening.

Increasingly I am convinced that we're going to have the opportunity to catch a screening of the film over Labor Day weekend.

Additionally, I also think a screening of Mark Cousins' new Welles documentary, The Eyes of Orson Welles could show as a companion piece.

Here's the photo:

and the text of Marshall's tweet:

That's a wrap! An historic moment as we finish the sound mix for THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND, almost 50 years after Orson Welles began shooting his final picture. @OrsonWelles @netflix

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CinemaCon Reveals Some TFF Potential / Leigh's Peterloo Will Be on the Trail / No Cannes Screening But New Stills: Quixote / Payne Talks Downsizing Challenges

Good Monday Film Fans...


CINEMACON REVEALS SOME TFF POTENTIAL

The annual Las Vegas Show and Tell known as CinemaCon has opened and closed.  The event ran from Apr. 23-26 at Caesar's Palace in Sin City.  The event which traditionally focused on showcasing films that are expected or hoped to be big summer releases has also edged into offering glimpses of fall prestige releases.

That was certainly the case this year as a number of films that are already being buzzed about as potential awards contenders were featured.  That means we TFF fans probably ought to pay some attention to what was teased and the reactions that those teases evoked.

Variety posted a handy-dandy and comprehensive listing of films that showed up last week ands rated their assessment of the reactions from CinemaCon attendees.

The "hottest" film according to Variety that has been on my Telluride-radar is Damian Chazelle's First Man starring Ryan Gosling as American hero Neil Armstrong.  Variety has it as its third "hottest" title of the films teased in Vegas.  I have a comment about the films that Variety had as the two hottest below.

Other TFF possibles and their relative "hotness" position according to Variety:

Boy Erased at #7
Mary Queen of Scots at #9
Beautiful Boy at #20


The Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was listed at #2 and I still doubt that it's a likely Telluride fit but Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born re-make with Lady Gaga  was listed at #1 and I think I am going to have to start seriously thinking about it as a possible TFF inclusion.  I've resisted that up until now largely because I was reluctant to believe that there would be much excitement about a film on its fourth time around.  The buzz was already strong, however,  leading up to the CinemaCon presentation and with the strong reaction there...I'm beginning to think that I can't just reject the possibility of a San Juan play out of hand.

Warners has the distribution rights and over the last few years with Argo (12), Prisoners and Gravity (13), Black Mass (15) and Sully (16) their presence has been felt.   SO...maybe A Star Is Born (#4)...

Here is a smattering of coverage from CinemaCon focused on possible TFF films:

Indiewire on Beautiful Boy

Indiewire on Widows

Indiewire on First Man



LEIGH'S PETERLOO WILL BE ON THE TRAIL

Many (including myself) thought Mike Leigh's Peterloo would be on the list of Palme d'Or competition films.  It was a bit of a surprise when that didn't happen.

Deadline reports this week, though, that the film "will be making a play at the fall film festivals".  Past that there are no specific details but considering Leigh's lengthy history with Telluride, you still have to think that a play at The SHOW is likely one of the"fall festivals: where the film could land.

The complete Deadline post is here.


 NO CANNES SCREENING BUT NEW STILLS: QUIXOTE

SlashFilm (/Film) posted a story this week that, again , lays out the latest legal bump in the road of a Cannes screening of Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.  The story itself doesn't truly break any new ground or provide new legal details or nuance but it does include ten new photos from the film.

I've posted a couple of them here and you can take a look at all of them linked at /Film's story.

PAYNE TALKS DOWNSIZING CHALLENGES

Photo from Indiewire

It's no secret that Alexander Payne's Downsizing had a rocky release both commercially (IMDb says it was a $68 million budget and a $39 million global gross) and critically...his lowest Metacritic score of all of the seven feature films he has directed at a 63).

Payne, who has become a staple figure at Telluride since his inclusion as Guest Director in 2009, spoke recently to Dick Cavett at a presentation during the just concluded Tribeca Film Festival.  Michael Nordine of Indiewire covered the conversation.

You can peruse the Indiewire story here.

Payne was recently announced to direct The Burial.  The film is based on a true story about corporate corruption in the funeral industry from a script from Golden Globe and  nominated and Tony Award winning writer Doug Wright (Quills, I Am My Own Wife).

That's a wrap for this last Monday in April.  More to come on Thursday.

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Not So Fast Don / Welles Doc to Play Cannes / Chloe Zhao Talks The Rider / Late Breaking: Ed Lachman Honored by Cannes

Welcome my friends, to Thursday and MTFB...

NOT SO FAST DON

There is yet another snag in the ongoing drama concerning Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.  The film had been announced last week as the closing night presentation for the Cannes Film Festival on May 19th but is now again in Limbo.

I had thought with last week's announcement that the last legal hurdle had been cleared or at least that accommodations had been reached that would allow the film to play in France.  That doesn't seem to be the case at this point as Screen Daily reported that one time producer Paulo Branco has sought a "writ" to prohibit the screening from a court in Paris.

It appears from the Melanie Goodfellow reporting that there will be a hearing about the matter on May 7th which could result with the film being barred from screening.

Gilliam's saga continues and it seems that we will have to wait for the court proceeding to find out if the film will, in fact, close Cannes.

WELLES DOC TO PLAY CANNES

Orson Welles may not be represented at Cannes with The Other Side of the Wind due to the feud between the fest and Netflix but that doesn't mean that you won't have the opportunity to get your Orson fix.  The fest has announced that the documentary The Eyes of Orson Welles will play in the Cannes Classics section.  The film is directed by Mark Cousins who historically has had quite a connection to Telluride, though not recently.

Cousins has played TFF with films such as The Story of Film, What Is This Film Called Love and The Story of Children and Film which was his last Telluride visit in 2013.

Also of potential interest in the Cannes Classics selections is Magarethe Von Trotta's documentary Searching for Ingmar Bergman which I could see making the grade for TFF #45.

Coverage of the Cannes announcement of additional films is linked here:

Indiewire

Ioncinema

Awards Watch

CHLOE ZHAO TALKS THE RIDER

With the release a few days back of Chloe Zhao's The Rider came a flurry of P.R. materials including this interview with the writer/director with Gregory Ellwood at The Playlist.  

The film played very well at TFF last year ending up tied for the #2 spot on my collection of film ratings from film Pros.

You can find Ellwood's article and the recorded interview from The Playlist here.

LATE BREAKING: ED LACHMAN HONORED BY CANNES

Ed Lachman and Todd Haynes in Telluride last year (pic from Scott Foundas)

As I am getting ready to post this morning word is coming form France that TFF #44 tribute recipient Ed Lachman will be honored next month by the Cannes Film Fest for his contributions as a cinematographer.  Lachman will receive the Pierre Angenieux ExcelLens award.  The award began in 2013 and past winners include Vilmos Zsigmond and Roger Deakins.

Lachman was honored last September in Telluride for his career.  That tribute included screenings of Todd Haynes' Wonderstruck.

Lachman's credits also include Far From Heaven, Carol and The Virgin Suicides.

That's a wrap for this Thursday.  I'll have more on Monday.

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