Directors Guild Announcement and BAFTA Means Oscar Looming/Films Making Noise from 41/Looking Ahead to 42

Good Monday to All...

DIRECTORS GUILD ANNOUNCEMENT AND BAFTA MEANS OSCAR LOOMING

Alejandro G. Inarritu was named the awarded the Best Direction prize last night by the DGA for "Birdman".  With that and wins from the PGA and SAG (ensemble) it might now be the real favorite for Best Picture on Oscar night.

Alejandro G. Inarritu with The DGA via HitFix/InContention

Here's some of the coverage and analysis from last night's announcement:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/alejandro-g-inarritu-wins-directors-guild-award-for-birdman/1

http://deadline.com/2015/02/birdman-dga-win-oscar-1201368817/

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/dga-prize-boosts-birdman-in-oscar-race-analysis-1201427652/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/dga-feature-award-goes-to-birdman-gaining-oscar-momentum-20150208

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/dga-awards-alejandro-g-inarritu-771156

But a "Birdman" win is not foreordained.  "Boyhood" rocked three BAFTA awards Sunday including Best Picture, Director and the expected Best Supporting Actress.  That closed the 24 hour cycle that had all but anointed "Birdman".  At this point, it seems to me that the "Bird" is flying a little higher than the "Boy" but neither film has this locked up.  Also, with a preferential ballot, despite that fact that it has been essentially a no-show throughout the Oscar run-up, I still think "The Imitation Game" could sneak onto enough ballots as #1, #2 and #3 to surprise come Oscar night.

Eddie Redmayne picked up the BAFTA Best Actor award.  He has to be considered the front runner, but I still stubbornly insist that a Michael Keaton win is possible.

I have linked BAFTA coverage and analysis here:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/bafta-awards-boyhood-shows-signs-771273

http://deadline.com/2015/02/bafta-awards-analysis-baftas-winners-losers-1201368766/

http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2015/02/08/and-the-winners-of-the-2015-british-academy-film-awards-are/

http://moviecitynews.com/2015/02/20-weeks-to-oscar-what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-best-picture-2/

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2015/02/the-state-of-the-race-boyhood-is-honored-in-england-while-hollywood-sends-a-message-to-studios/

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/off-the-carpet-how-to-look-at-what-the-guilds-and-bafta-awards-have-told-us

Oscar voting has begun and is ongoing.



FILMS MAKING NOISE FROM 41

Quick looks here at three films that were highlighted by stories on the web since my last post.  first, an interview from Gold Derby with "The Imitation Game" screen writer Graham Moore:

http://www.goldderby.com/news/8416/graham-moore-interview-imitation-game-oscars-entertainment-13579086-story.html

Andrea Gronvall profiles Gabe Polsky, the director of the documentary "Red Army":

http://moviecitynews.com/2015/02/the-gronvall-report-gabe-polsky-on-red-army/

Brad Brevet at Rope of Silicon passes on a story of the original ending for Alejandro G. Inarritu's "Birdman".  It might have been very, very different:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/original-birdman-ending-revealed-feature-johnny-depp/

Finally, this from FirstShowing.net...a trailer for Eyhan Hawke's very well received documentary "Seymour: An Introduction":

http://www.firstshowing.net/2015/must-watch-trailer-for-ethan-hawkes-seymour-an-introduction/


LOOKING AHEAD TO 42

The Berlin International Film Festival is underway.  In the run up to the fest IndieWire posted a piece highlighting nine films that they were excited about.  The list includes a few films that I've been thinking are real Telluride possibilities:  "Queen of the Desert" (although the reviews aren't rocking the film world after its premiere, so maybe this is a Herzog that doesn't play at The Zog), "Mr. Holmes" and "The Club".  MTFB/FAC friend Christopher Schiller opined last weekend that "45 Years" might make the T-ride lineup.  Actually, almost any one of the nine films on IndieWire's list could pop up over Labor Day weekend.  Here's the post:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/berlin-2015-the-9-films-indiewire-cant-wait-to-see-20150205

Furious Cinema has posted an interesting piece on the influences that Quentin Tarantino is likely playing with as he films "The Hateful Eight" just outside Telluride.  It's fun.  Take a look:

http://www.furiouscinema.com/2015/01/hateful-eight-primer/

Finally, Sir Ian McKellen tweeted the first poster for the above-mentioned Berlin film and possible Telluride choice "Mr. Holmes":

More on Thursday...Have a great week...

The Film Awards Clearinghouse Vol. 3C: Foreign, Doc, Editing and Cinematography/"Birdman's" Beat/"Rosewater's" Tone/BIFA Loves " '71" and Others

Welcome to Thursday everyone...

THE FILM AWARDS CLEARINGHOUSE VOL. 3C

I thought I'd use the FAC this week to drop in on four Oscar races outside the Big Eight and see what's going on in them.  I'll return next Thursday with The FAC for Best Picture, Director, Actress and Actor.

The FAC uses the published predictions of the following (for these four categories) to develop its list of likely Oscar nominees:

Kristopher Tapley/InContention/HitFix
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Nathaniel Rogers/Film Experience
Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood
Peter Knegt/IndieWire
Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter

Telluride #41 films are Bold.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1) Citizenfour
2) Life Itself
3) Red Army
4) Keep On Keepin' On
5) The Overnighters
6) The Case Against 8
7) Salt of the Earth
8) Tales of the Grim Sleeper
9) Last Days in Vietnam
10) Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me


Comment: Telluride #41 boasts 2 possible nominees with another couple of possibles.  At this point, "Citizenfour" looks like the only lock.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

1) Ida*
2) Leviathan
3) Two Days, One Night
4) Mommy
5) Wild Tales
6) Winter Sleep
7) Force Majeure
8) Timbuktu
9) White God
10) Gett: The Trail of Viviane Amsalem

Comments:  The dream of an all Telluride slate of nominees in an Oscar category could happen this year in the Foreign Language category albeit with an asterisk for "Ida" which actually played Telluride #40.  Realistically, I believe it's unlikely that the current top five end up as the five nominees announced in February and looking at the numbers that I crunched, none of these five would be termed locks at this point.


FILM EDITING

1) The Imitation Game
2) Birdman
3) Boyhood
4) Interstellar
5) Gone Girl
6) Unbroken
7) Whiplash
8) Fury
9) American Sniper
10) Foxcatcher


Comment:  It says something that "The Imitation Game" sits at the top of the list.  Much has been over the past several years about the connection between Best Picture winners and a film editing nomination.  It happens a lot.  It happened last year with "12 Years a Slave".  The notion isn't that a film has to win editing to win Best Picture, but it almost always has to have a nomination.  The same could be said about the appearance of Richard Linklater's "Boyhood's" #3 spot on this first chart for Editing.

You wouldn't be surprised at the nomination of such "flashy" editing as "Birdman" or "Interstellar" so the pundits' inclusion of "Imitation" at the top makes you think that it's Best Picture chances are rather good.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) Birdman
2) Interstellar
3) Mr. Turner
4) Unbroken
5) The Theory of Everything
6) Gone Girl
7) Inherent Vice
8) The Imitation Game
9) The Grand Budapest Hotel
10) Wild

Comments:  Every film through the #8 Spot looks like a potential nominee.  "Birdman" is a lock.

Ultimately, in these four categories, Telluride #41 films (if The FAC is 100% accurate) would have 10 nominations plus another nomination for a TFF #40 film and an additional 5 possibilities.

In all, looking at the totality of Volume 3 FAC for the dozen categories suggests the following:

"Birdman" nominated for Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Film Editing and Cinematography. (Nominations in 8 of the 9 categories it could be nominated in...and realistically, there isn't a Lead Actress candidate in the film).

"The Imitation Game" nominated for Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actress and Film Editing with a possibility of a nomination for Cinematography.

"Foxcatcher" nominated for Best Picture, Actor and Supporting Actor with possibilities for Original Screenplay, Director and Film Editing.

"Mr. Turner nominated for Best Actor, Original Screenplay and Cinematography with a possibility for Best Director.

"Wild" nominated for Best Actress, Supporting Actress and Adapted Screenplay with possibilities for Best Picture and Cinematography.

Additional films with possibilities include "Rosewater" for Best Adapted Screenplay, The Homesman foe Best Actress and "Wild Tales" for Best Original Screenplay.

Totals for these ten categories plus Documentary Feature and Foreign Films have 29 nominations for TFF #41 films with an additional 12 possible nominations.  Of course, still not included are the remaining feature film categories.


BIRDMAN'S BEAT

One of the many distinctive qualities about Alejandro G. Inarritu's masterpiece, "Birdman", is the jazz percussion score.  Now, frankly, it is the one element of the film that I'm not crazy about but I also can't deny that it's propulsive and unique.  Matt Patches writing for HitFix posted an interview with Antonio Sanchez, the man behind the sounds.  That interview is here:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/how-alejandro-inarritu-directed-drummer-antonio-sanchezs-birdman-score


ROSEWATER'S TONE

Jon Stewart may well have a shot at an Oscar nomination for his adaptation of Maziar Bahari's book, "Then They Came for Me".  "Rosewater" had some champions critically coming out of Telluride but also some detractors (put me in the second camp...I thought it was a noble experiment that failed to connect and included too many warring impulses).

This week Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood posted interviews and Telluride panels that included Stewart and actor Gael Garcia Bernal as the film moves to theaters next week.  Here's that collection of material from Anne:


http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/watch-rosewaters-jon-stewart-and-gael-garcia-bernal-talk-purposeful-inauthenticity-exclusive-20140903


BIFA LOVES " '71" AND OTHERS

Nominations were announced this week for the British Independent Film Awards and a number of Telluride #41 films made the cut.  Best Indie Film nominations included " '71", "The Imitation Game" and "Mr, Turner".  As a matter of fact " '71" lead the pack with nine total BIFA nominations.  "Mr. Turner" was nominated for five BIFA's and "Imitation" was nominated for four.

The Playlist has the complete breakdown of the BIFA nominees here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/71-starring-jack-oconnell-leads-the-17th-british-independent-film-awards-nominees-20141103



More on Monday...hope your weekend is terrific!

Combination Ratings The Peeps and The Pros/Toronto and 2015/First Feinberg Forecast/Assessng the Post Fall Festival Landscape: Deadline; The Hollywood Reporter; Screen Talk/Imitation Wins Toronto/Eat, Drink, Film Reports on TFF #41

Good Monday all.  I hope everyone had a stellar weekend.

COMBINATION RATINGS: THE PEEPS AND THE PROS

I'm closing out the posts for this year's ratings of films that played at Telluride with the annual combining of the two polls.   I've combined the ratings averages from the People and the Professionals' poll to arrive at the following list.  13 films had enough viewers/raters from both groups to make it to the combined ratings.  They are listed below followed by their combined rating, the People's rated position and then the Professionals rated position:

1) Birdman                        (9.18)  (2)  (1)
2) Foxcatcher                    (8.83)  (4)  (2)
3) The Imitation Game     (8.79)  (1)  (7)
4) Wild Tales                    (8.43)  (3)  (4)
5) '71                                 (8.15)  (6)  (3)
6) Mommy                        (7.42)  (8)  (8)
7) Red Army                     (7.30)  (7)  (11)
8) Two Days, One Night   (7.21)  (13)  (9)
9) Mr. Turner                     (7.10)  (14)  (6)
10) Wild                             (6.71)  (8)  (13)
11) Rosewater                    (6.52)  (12)  (14)
12) The Homesman           (6.38)  (16)  (11)
13) Madame Bovary          (6.18)  (15)  (12)


TORONTO AND 2015

The Hollywood Reporter says that Toronto will continue this year's policy regarding World Premieres and scheduling the first four days of their festival.  That's what the bulk of the article says.

The last sentence is the devious one though as both TIFF head man Piers Handling and Artistic Director Cameron Bailey "said it was too early to decide whether the Telluride premiere policy will be tweaked, but they will consult the industry before next year's event".  That sounds to me like some wiggle room after an article that mostly goes on about how they're sticking with the policy and how well it worked.  Here's the full story:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/toronto-festival-head-holding-firm-732712


FIRST FEINBERG FORECAST

The Hollywood Reporter's Oscar expert Scott Feinberg has his first "Feinberg Forecast" posted.  His look at a number of the "major" Oscar categories was posted last night.  Of films that played the Telluride Fest a couple of weeks ago, Feinberg predicts the following:

"Birdman" and "The Imitation Game" and "Foxcatcher" would lead the way with four nominations apiece:

"The Imitation Game" : Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay

"Birdman": Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay

I personally think that Morten Tyldum is going to get into the Director's race for "Imitation" and that Edward Norton and Emma Stone get into the Supporting races for "Birdman".

"Foxcatcher": Best Picture, Actor and Supporting Actor.  That's Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo respectively.

I personally think that Morten Tyldum is going to get into the Director's race for "Imitation" and that Edward Norton and Emma Stone get into the Supporting races for "Birdman".  I'd add Bennett Miller for Direction for "Foxcatcher".

Feinberg forecasts two nominations for "Wild".  One for Reese Witherspoon in the Lead category and the other for Laura Dern as Supporting.

He also has Hilary Swank as Best Actress nominee for "The Homesman".

Among documentaries, Feinberg says: "Keep on Keepin' On" and "Red Army" get nods and for Foreign Language film: "Wild Tales" and "Two Days, One Night".  He also says TFF #40 hit "Blue is the Warmest Color" will get a nod as well.

That total for TFF #41 from these categories would be 19 nominations.

The complete Feinberg Forecast is here:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/feinberg-forecast-awards-landscape-telluride-715823


ASSESSING THE POST FALL FESTIVAL LANDSCAPE:

DEADLINE

Pete Hammond at Deadline.com takes a look at the aftermath of Telluride, Toronto and Venice and draws some conclusions.  Hammond specifically discusses Telluride features: "Foxcatcher", "Birdman", "The Imitation Game" , "Mr. Turner", "Wild",  "Rosewater" and "99 Homes".

Here's the link to that post:

http://deadline.com/2014/09/2014-fall-festival-verdict-toronto-film-festival-and-2014-0scar-race-833893/


THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter posted an article called "Critic's Roundup: The Ten Best Films from Major Fall Festivals (So Far).  Of the ten, Telluride lands three films on the list: "Birdman" (also listed as Venice), "Seymour: An Introduction" and "Wild" (both listed with Toronto as well).  It's worth noting that films that played Cannes are NOT included on their "Fall Fest" list so no "Foxcatcher" or "Mr. Turner".  Missing: "The Imitation Game".

The complete post here:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/best-films-at-toronto-venice-731526


SCREEN TALK


And I've also linked to the latest installment of Screen Talk, podcast from Anne Thompson and Eric Kohn who also provide their insight in the immediate aftermath of the conclusion of all three major fests that have just concluded.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/screen-talk-what-happened-at-toronto-hits-misses-oscar-contenders-20140912


TORONTO AUDIENCE AWARD GOES TO "THE IMITATION GAME"

Telluride player, Morten Tyldum's "The Imitation Game" won The Toronto International Film Festival's Grolsch Audience Award yesterday.  The film follows in the footsteps of such recent past winners as "Slumdog Millionaire", ":The King's Speech" and "12 Years a Slave" that played T-ride and then followed up with the audience award at TIFF (and also went on to win the Oscar Best Picture).  Does this make "The Imitation Game" your Oscar front runner?  Maybe not, but it doefinitely continues the great momentum that started two weeks ago in the Rockies.

Here's coverage of yesterday's Toronto announcement:

http://www.thewrap.com/the-imitation-game-wins-toronto-audience-award/


http://deadline.com/2014/09/toronto-film-festival-2014-awards-audience-award-winner-834100/


http://variety.com/2014/film/news/toronto-imitation-game-wins-festivals-peoples-choice-award-1201305517/

http://www.indiewire.com/article/the-2014-toronto-international-film-festival-winners-as-they-come-in-20140914

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-imitation-game-wins-tiff-peoples-choice-award-watch-40-minute-press-conference-for-the-film-20140914

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/toronto-imitation-game-audience-award-732710

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/the-imitation-game-with-benedict-cumberbatch-wins-torontos-peoples-choice-award


EAT, DRINK, FILM TFF #41 COVERAGE

TFF #41 Class Photo (Getty Images)

We have mentioned in this space previously that TFF Senior Program Curator Gary Meyer has been at work at Eat, Drink, Film...a relatively new website devoted to...well... the three activities that comprise the websites name.  Eat, Drink, Film had its report about TFF #41 posted recently, complete with cool photos from this year's "class photo" session from Getty Images.  It's worth a look.  Here:

http://eatdrinkfilms.com/2014/09/11/the-41st-telluride-film-festival-into-the-dark-and-the-light/


More on Thursday...

Sunday TBAs and Sneaks/ Quick Takes of Day Two Films/Name Drops/Day Three/Rate Films

Hope your Festival is going as well as mine is...I have had a great first two days of TFF #41.


SUNDAY TBA'S AND SNEAKS

Sunday TBAs

CJC/Sun 12:15PM       (SNEAK) ESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST - Q&A

Masons/Sun 1:30PM     MAGICIAN     FREE    

SOH/Sun 3:30PM        TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT 

Nugget/Sun 3:30PM     RED ARMY     Q&A

Galaxy/Sun 4PM          ROSEWATER        

Pierre/Sun 6:30PM      50 YEAR ARGUMENT                           

Nugget/ 8:45PM         MOMMY   Q&A                                                     

Masons/Sun 9PM    WILD TALES       

Pierre/Sun 9:15PM      Student Prints  FREE

CJC/Sun 11:55PM       KEEP ON KEEPIN’ ON   FREE

Seminar

FROM REAL TO REEL: HOW DOES A FILM SHAPE FACT?

with Jon Stewart, Bennett Miller, Gael García Bernal, Yann Demange, Regis Wargnier, Jean-Marc Vallée

Moderated by Annette Insdorf

SNEAK PREVIEW   ESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST   Chuck Jones/Sun 12:15PM Q&A

Nick (Josh Hutcherson) and Dylan (Brady Corbet), two Canadian brothers, discover an idyllic surfing beach on the coast of Colombia, where Nick eyes Maria (Claudia Traisac), an idealistic local girl who works with the poor. But this love story has a dark side: Maria’s wealthy, very protective uncle is Pablo Escobar (Benicio Del Toro), the country’s biggest narco-trafficker, and one of the most dangerous men alive. Writer-director Andrea Di Stefano ingeniously mixes fact and fiction in this disturbing thriller, with Hutcherson (Jennifer Lawrence’s love interest in the Hunger Games movies) giving a touching performance as an ordinary guy stumbling headlong into terror and violence, holding his own opposite one of the most charismatic actors alive. And Del Toro, with his mixture of avuncular sweetness, self-mythologizing grandiosity and cobra-like cruelty, may well have been born to play Escobar. (France-Spain-Belgium, 2014, 120m) In person: Andrea Di Stefano

MONDAY SNEAK PREVIEW     THREE SHORT FILMS ABOUT PEACE    Herzog/Monday 9:15AM Q&A

Errol Morris is best known for his interrogations of humanity's dark complexity, including portrayals of two American engineers of war, Robert McNamara, in THE FOG OF WAR (TFF 30) and Donald Rumsfeld, in THE UNKNOWN KNOWN (TFF 40). Here, Morris turns his camera 180 degrees, creating three inspiring portraits of courageous figures who dare to confront the worst Goliaths of our times. In THE DREAM, the Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee recounts the coalition of Liberian women whom, without brandishing a weapon or uttering a word of disrespect, stopped one of the longest, most vicious wars in modern history. THE SHIPYARD shows how Lech Walesa, a Polish electrician and Nobel Laureate, rallied workers to challenge the repressive Soviet Union, succeeding where 30-plus years of Cold War aggression failed. And in THE MOMENT, rockstar Bob Geldof tells how he transformed his commitment and some guilt (along with a phenomenal Rolodex) into an ongoing, 30-year struggle to eradicate hunger in Africa. Morris, one of cinema’s most insightful, inquisitive and expressionistic artists, reminds us of his deep, heartful comprehension of the indomitable human spirit. He created these films in conjunction with the New York Times’ Op-Docs series. (U.S., 2014, 49m total) In person: Errol Morris

   

QUICK TAKES OF DAY TWO FILMS

FOXCATCHER:  Bennett Miller directs with such assuredness as to be a little unworldly.  Fantastic performances from the three leads, Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo.  Truly wonderful work all around. 4.5/5

RED ARMY: Solid doc work from Gabe Polsky focusing on the Russian Men's Hockey team from the 1980's Cold war era through perestroika and the fall of then wall right up to today.  Stirring and often funny.  3.5/5

WILD TALES: Argentinian episodic film of mostly comic aspirations.  The opening sequence is the funniest and strongest.  Thereafter, it's sporadically comic.  3.5/5

BIRDMAN:  Authentic genius and Alejandro Inarritu's best film (and that's saying something).  Venice raves are dead on.  Beautifully realized from start to finish on all fronts.  Michael Keaton is a revelation. OSCAR thy name is KEATON or it should be.  Great work from the rest f the cast but special mention for Edward Norton and Emma Stone..  It's Inarritu's masterpiece. 5/5

NAME DROPS

I had really kept this largely quiet, but the Mrs. and I were invited to Fox Searchlight's party this year and stopped in for about an hour Saturday night.  Persons of Interest: Jon Stewart, Gael Garcia Bernal, Alejandro Inarritu, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Morten Tyldum (director of The Imitation Game) Cheryl Strayed (the author of "Wild").

Also got to hang with buds: Sasha Stone, Tomris Laffley and Chris Schiller.

DAY THREE

Plans are to catch the Hilary Swank tribute at 8:30 at the Chuck and the ensuing presentation of "The Homesman".  After that the day is kind of open.  In consideration: "Magician", "Two Days, One Night", "Leviathan", "Escobar: Paradise Lost", "The Look of Silence", "The Price of Fame", and "Merchants of Doubt".  Also wouldn't mind catching at least some of the Justin Kauffin concert in Elks Park and maybe laying eyes on the master: Quincey Jones.

RATE THOSE FILMS

Now that we're down to Telluride weekend, here's your reminder...Don't forget to join in on "The People's Telluride".  Rate the films you see this week on a 0-5 scale ( 0 being just abysmal and 5 being a masterpiece).  You can rate each day or do them all at the end of the fest.  Send film ratings to me via Twitter (@Gort2) or email me at michael_speech@hotmail.com or comment to the blog itself.

I'll collect all of that data and post the collective ratings from we, The People.

More tomorrow...

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

Toronto's Second Wave/Vive Le France: Canal+, Studiocanal, France 2 Cinema

Good Wednesday Everyone...


TORONTO'S SECOND WAVE (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

Tuesday morning the Toronto International Film Festival announced its second wave of titles and again, reading between the lines, we can make some educated guesses about films that will have appeared at Telluride prior to TIFF...Here's what I can surmise:

In the Documentaries section:

There appear to be three or four of TIFF's announced docs that look to be Telluride bound:

Joshua Oppenhimer's "The Look of Silence"
Gabe Polsky's "Red Army"
Robert Kenner's "Merchants of Doubt"


These three appear solid as they are listed as Canadian Premieres.  Ethan Hawke's "Seymour: An Introduction" is listed as an International Premiere and I can't find an instance of it having played yet anywhere else.

Frederick Wiseman's "National Gallery" which I had considered a real Telluride possibility, looks like it will not play at The SHOW.

In the Masters section it appears that we can plan to see Andrey Zvyaginsyev's "Leviafan" (Leviathan) as I have suspected since Cannes.  It is listed as a Canadian premiere.

It also seems we can write off Roy Andersson's "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch...", "Jean Luc Goddard's "Goodbye to Language" and Michael Winterbottom's "The Face of an Angel" as they are all listed as either World or North American premieres.

In the Vanguard and Midnight madness sections there are a couple of films that are listed as International premieres but I'm not prepared to claim any status for them regarding Telluride.  There are two films with Canadian premieres listed but they both played Sundance.

So, ultimately, we believe we know at least four more titles that are probably Telluride bound after this morning's TIFF announcement.

You can check the entire list of new films announced this morning form TIFF here from IndieWire:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/tiff-adds-ethan-hawke-robert-kenner-docs-announces-masters-midnight-madness-and-vanguard-programs-20140729


VIVE LE FRANCE

This week, I've been looking at the films coming with attachemnts to production companies in Europe that have had some presence at Telluride over the last decade or so.  Monday and Tuesday it was the British and today and tomorrow I'll be looking at French production houses and the films that they have been a part of that might be Telluride bound.

CANAL+

Look at the history of Canal+ as a producer of films that played at Telluride over the last decade:

2003: The Barbarian Invasions, Dogville, Love Me If You Dare, The Tripletts of Belleville
2004: The Weeping Meadow
2005: The Child, Cache, Lemming, Live and Become
2006: Volver, Indigenes, The Page Turner
2007: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Terror's Advocate, Jellyfish
2008: With a Little Help From Myself, I've Loved You So Long
2009: Farewell, Coco Before Chanel, A Prophet, The White Ribbon
2010: The Illusionist, Carlos, Of Gods and Men, The Princess of Montpensier
2011: Crazy Horse, Albert Nobbs, Goodbye First Love, The Kid with a Bike, The Artist, Le Havre
2012: Rust and Bone, Superstar, The Attack
2013: Blue is the Warmest Color", Le Maison de la Radio", "The Past"

There are a title or two that we can eliminate from the Canal+ canon as Telluride material based on what we know from Toronto's announcements.  However, still in play are "Clouds of Sils Maria", "The Blue Room". "Bird People" and "Two Days, One Night".


STUDIO CANAL

Another French production outfit that sometimes plays at Telluride is StudioCanal.  Look at their ten year Telluride track record:

2003: Young Adam, Love Me If You Dare
2004:
2005: Cache
2006: Indigines, Catch a Fire
2007:
2008:
2009:
2010: The Princess of Montpensier
2011:
2012: Love, Marilyn
2013: Inside Llewyn Davis

2014 seems to be a fairly sketchy title list for Studio Canal.  "Before I Go to Sleep" starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth is a way, way outside shot.  Also with a very outside shot "El Nino" starring Ian McShane. Nothing else on their schedule appears to be likely.  This may be one of those years where StudioCanal just doesn't have a play at Telluride.


FRANCE2 CINEMA

Here are the films from France2 Cinema that have played Telluride in recent years:

2006: Indigenes
2009: A Prophet, Coco Before Chanel
2010: The Princess of Montpensier
2011: The Kid with a Bike
2012: Rust and Bone

2013: Blue is the Warmest Color

As you can see, about one film per year plays that has been co-produced by France 2.  This year, their best chances are two Cannes films (and one of them is a pretty good chance, I think):  "Two Days, One Night" and "Bird People".  I have a strong feeling that "Two Days" makes the T-ride lineup.

More French tomorrow...

BREAKING: Toronto's Second Wave: Docs, Vanguard, Masters and Midnight Madness

BREAKING: TORONTO ANNOUNCES SECOND WAVE

This morning the Toronto International Film Festival announced its second wave of titles and again, reading between the lines, we can make some educated guesses about films that will have appeared at Telluride prior to TIFF...Here's what I can surmise:

In the Documentaries section:

There appear to be three or four of TIFF's announced docs that look to be Telluride bound:

Joshua Oppenhimer's "The Look of Silence"
Gabe Polsky's "Red Army"
Robert Kenner's "Merchants of Doubt"


These three appear solid as they are listed as Canadian Premieres.  Ethan Hawke's "Seymour: An Introduction" is listed as an International Premiere and I can't find an instance of it having played yet anywhere else.

Frederick Wiseman's "National Gallery" which I had considered a real Telluride possibility, looks like it will not play at The SHOW.

In the Masters section it appears that we can plan to see Andrey Zvyaginsyev's "Leviafan" (Leviathan) as I have suspected since Cannes.  It is listed as a Canadian premiere.

It also seems we can write off Roy Andersson's "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch...", "Jean Luc Goddard's "Goodbye to Language" and Michael Winterbottom's "The Face of an Angel" as they are all listed as either World or North American premieres.

In the Vanguard and Midnight madness sections there are a couple of films that are listed as International premieres but I'm not prepared to claim any status for them regarding Telluride.  There are two films with Canadian premieres listed but they both played Sundance.

So, ultimately, we believe we know at least four more titles that are probably Telluride bound after this morning's TIFF announcement.

You can check the entire list of new films announced this morning form TIFF here from IndieWire:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/tiff-adds-ethan-hawke-robert-kenner-docs-announces-masters-midnight-madness-and-vanguard-programs-20140729

Taking a Look at Sony Pictures Classics Slate/The Playlist Seeks Fall Fest Clarity/Foxcatcher Poster Features Tatum/Tickets for TFF #41...Ummm...Not So Fast

LOOKING AT THE SONY PICTURES CLASSICS SLATE

No distributor has historically had a stronger presence at the Telluride Film Festival than Sony Pictures Classics.  Fest hondos usually tell people that they program between 24 and 30 feature films each year.  For the last ten years, SPC has averaged 4.6 films per festival...or somewhere in the neighborhood of 18% of the T-ride slate each year comes from the SPC stable.


Here's what SPC has shown in Telluride in the last 11 years :

2013: The Invisible Woman, The Lunchbox, The Past, Tim's Vermeer and Jodorowsky's Dune.
2012: The Gatekeepers, At Any Price, Rust and Bone, No, Wadjda, Amour
2011: A Dangerous Method, In Darkness, Footnote, A Separation
2010: Incendies, Of Gods and Men, Tamara Drewe, Another Year, The Illusionist, Inside Job
2009: The Last Station, The White Ribbon, Coco Before Chanel, A Prophet, An Education
2008: Waltz with Bashir, I've Loved You So Long, O'Horten
2007: Brick Lane, When Did You Last See Your Father, Persepolis, The Band's Visit, The Counterfeiters
2006: Jindabyne, The Lives of Others, Volver, The Italian
2005: Breakfast on Pluto, Capote, Cache, The Child
2004: Being Julia, House of Flying Daggers, Bad Education, Merchant of Venice, Up and Down, Yes
2003: The Fog of War, My Life Without Me, The Triplets of Belleville, Young Adam

Here are SPC's films listed by IMDb as of today:

"Leviathan" 

"Jimmy's Hall"

"The Salt of the Earth"

"Foxcatcher"

"Wild Tales"

"Saint Laurent"

"Coming Home"

"Red Army"

"Mr. Turner"

"Aloft"

Six of these films were listed on last week's first "Ten Bets" list.  (Those six are: "Leviathan", "The Salt of the Earth", "Foxcatcher", "Coming Home", "Red Army" and "Mr. Turner").  At this point the other four: "Jimmy's Hall", "Wild Tales", "Saint Laurent" and "Aloft" are less likely to my way of thinking, but none of these ten are impossible for TFF.

Regardless of which SPC films make the TFF #41 lineup, you can count on the distributor to be well represented again especially in light of SPC co-president's comments about the Telluride/Toronto dynamic.


THE PLAYLIST SEEKS FALL FEST CLARITY

IndieWire blog The Playlist posted "The Fall Festival 50: Our Wish list for the Venice, Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals" yesterday and there is a LOT to digest from the lengthy list of films (which actually edges over the 50 mark when "other possibilities" are included.

The Playlist specifically mentions Telluride in connection with six films:  "Unbroken", "While We're Young", "Men, Women and Children", "99 Homes", "True Story" and "Kill the Messenger".  Of that list, I'd agree on the Noah Baumbach "While We're Young".  All of the others have "issues" that may work against their inclusion.  I would love to see "Unbroken" make the trip to the San Juans though.

Four films that I think have some Telluride potential are listed in the article without any specific guess as to where they might end up: "Carol", "Suite Francais", "A Most Violent Year" and "Queen of the Desert"...though, if "Queen" is ready and doesn't play Telluride, I'll be stunned.

The post also suggests that Jon Stewart's "Rosewater" seems to be lock for Toronto and unlikely for Telluride.  It also says "The Imitation Game" is likely for TIFF and though they don't specifically rule out Telluride, an early slot for the Benedict Cumberbatch starrer at TIFF would close the door.  Finally, the Playlist Staff suggests that both Alejandro Inarritu's "Birdman" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice" are probably headed to Venice which doesn't preclude a Telluride play.  As regular readers of this space know, I'm high on "Birdman's" chances and less bullish on "Vice".

The whole Playlist post is here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-fall-festival-50-our-wishlist-for-the-venice-telluride-and-toronto-film-festivals-20140630


FOXCATCHER POSTER FEATURES TATUM

It was all over the Twitterverse yesterday.  A new poster for Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher" (#6 on last week's "Ten Bets" list) featuring Channing Tatum.  You see it above.  Below are a smattering of the posts from various sources with the poster from yesterday.

Awards Daily:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/new-foxcatcher-poster-puts-channing-tatum-out-front/

Rope of Silicon:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/channing-tatum-stares-us-first-domestic-foxcatcher-poster/

People:

http://www.people.com/article/channing-tatum-foxcatcher-trailer-photo-steve-carell-mark-ruffalo-oscar-buzz?

IndieWire:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/youll-take-channing-tatum-seriously-in-this-teaser-poster-for-oscar-bait-foxcatcher-20140630

The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/channing-tatum-stares-you-down-in-first-poster-for-bennett-millers-foxcatcher-20140630

TICKET NEWS

If you haven't got your TFF #41 tickets...you're out of luck.  The festival announced late last week that all passes are sold out.  The only way in now is through sponsorship or as a guest.  If you're set to be a guest...drop me a line.

More tomorrow...

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

TFF #40 Films Still Winning/Best of the Week: Ten Bets #1; Anne and Eric Talk Telluride and Toronto; More on the Toronto Ultimatum; What's Up Ken's Sleeve: The Roosevelts; Winter's Adopted

Hello on the last Saturday in June from beautiful Grand Haven, MI.  The boss and I are slinging some art in this lakeside community.

TFF #40 FILMS STILL WINNING

HitFix reported yesterday that the Saturn Awards have been announced and TFF #40 films "Gravity" "Prisoners" and "12 Years a Slave" continue to win plaudits.

"Gravity" won five awards including Best Direction while "12 Years" was names Best Independent Film.  "Prisoners" won recognition for Best Makeup.

Take a look at the entire slate of Saturn Award winners and the HitFix story here:


http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/2014-saturn-awards-winners

BEST OF THE WEEK

TEN BETS #1

Well, I've been teasing it for weeks now and it's finally time to take the plunge.  Here's the first "Ten Bets" list for the 41st Telluride Film Festival.  Here's your disclaimer...if the past is any indicator, only about half of these titles will actually end up on the TFF #41 program in two months.  Last year I my first "Ten Bets" list had six films that ended up playing as apart of TFF #40 ("Nebraska", "The Past", "Aguirre; The Wrath of God", "The Invisible Woman", "Labor Day" and "12 Years a Slave:). That being duly noted, here are your bets:

10) Salt of the Earth (Wenders)
9) Winter Sleep (Ceylan)
8) Red Army (Polsky)
7) Coming Home (Yimou)
6) Foxcatcher (Miller)
5) The Roosevelts (Burns)
4) Leviathan (Zvyagintsev)
3) Birdman (Inarritu)
2) Two Days, One Night (Dardennes)
1) Mr. Turner (Leigh)

Just under the "ten bets": "A Most Violent Year", "National Gallery" and "Queen of the Desert".


ANNE AND ERIC TALK TELLURIDE AND TORONTO

Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood and Eric Kohn of IndieWire (who is Anne's new podcast partner) posted their second edition of  "ScreenTalk".  In it they spend a reasonable amount of time talking about the Toronto ultimatum about North American premieres, which is a direct shot across Telluride's bow. They also talk a bot about Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Birdman", which I'm very excited about and which will almost certainly be on the first 2014 TFF "Ten Bets" list (coming Friday).   The discussion of Toronto/Telluride situation and "Birdman" starts at about the 16 minute mark.  You'll find the entire podcast here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/screen-talk-episode-2-boyhood-jersey-boys-telluride-vs-toronto-clash-more

MORE ON THE TORONTO ULTIMATUM

You've seen me writing about this quite a bit these past few months,  The Toronto International Film Fests demand that they will absolutely not program any film on their first four day weekend that isn't a world or North American premiere.  They've laid down that marker in an effort to prevent a repeat of the "12 Years a Slave" (and others) screenings that occurred in Telluride prior to screening at Toronto.

Well, yesterday the Toronto Star published a lengthy piece about the ultimatum.  What I found intriguing are the comments from Sony Pictures Classics co-president Tom Bernard in which he states that he thinks Toronto has made a mistake.

That implies (at least to me) a couple of things.  First, even though Bernard declines to talk about SPC's plans and hopes for the fall fest season, you have to think that it's a pretty big signal that SPC is going to play Telluride like they always have and that actually moved the needle on where I placed "Foxcatcher" on the initial "Ten Bets" list above.  I also think that the subtext is there to support the notion that Bernard thinks that other distributors are likely to follow suit.

Of course, the TIFF peeps are all upbeat in the article...but I think they sound just a little too chirpy.

I don't know...look at it and see for yourself:


http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2014/06/26/tiff_vs_telluride_tussle_turns_movie_premieres_into_a_battle_of_wills_peter_howell_column.html

WHAT'S UP KEN'S SLEEVE

Long time Telluride Film mainstay Ken Burns has "The Roosevelts" up his sleeve.  It's a seven hour documentary about the famed American family focusing on Teddy, Franklin and Eleanor.  PBS is set to begin the series on Sept. 14th and it's that 9/14 date that makes me think that there's a good chance that Telluride patrons will be able to see at least some of the doc on Labor Day weekend.  Burns has often premiered parts of his current projects in the TFF forum and this wouldn't be a surprise.  Catch up on some details of this enterprise from The Poughkeepsee Journal (of all places) here:

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/2014/06/12/ken-burns-roosevelt-library/10376967/

The article includes video of Burns talking about the project.

MORE ROOSEVELT/BURNS INFO

Yesterday I reported that Ken Burns latest project, "The Roosevelts" was a seven hour documentary.  That's wrong.  It's a seven PART, 14 hour doc about Teddy, Franklin and Eleanor.  That's according to the National Endowment for the Arts press release/story that came out yesterday afternoon.  I have linked it here:

http://www.neh.gov/events/2014/09/14/the-roosevelts-intimate-history

Despite the length of the project, I still think we're likely to see some portions of the project available for viewing in the San Juans over Labor Day weekend.


WINTER'S ADOPTED

"Winter Sleep" poster via IMDb.com

Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Cannes Palme d'Or winner has just been picked up for U.S. distribution by Adopt Films.  The acquisition probably increases the Telluride profile of the three hour plus film that won the Palme and was a critical darling last month.  Adopt has a rather short pedigree but it does include "Bethlehem" which played T-ride last year and "Barbara" which was a part of the 2012 TFF lineup.

I had been thinking that this might be one of those years where the Palme winner didn't make the Telluride lineup.  The Palme presence at Telluride is about 50/50.  Over the past 11 years T-ride has programmed these Palme winners: "Elephant" (Van Sant) '03, "The Child" (Dardennes Bros.) '05, "4 Months, Three Weeks, Two Days" (Mungiu) '07, "The White Ribbon" (Haneke) '09, "Amour" (Haneke) '12 and "Blue is the Warmest Color" (Kechechie) '13.But during that same span Palme winners "Fahrenheit 9/11", "The Wind that Shakes the Barley", "The Class", "Uncle Boonmee" and "The Tree of Life" did not play Telluride.

Ultimately, the news that Adopt Films has the U.S. distribution probably nudges "Winter Sleep" into the "more than 50% chance of playing Telluride" camp.  But just barely.

Here are a couple of posts about the Adopt acquisition:

Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/adopt-films-grabs-us-rights-to-palme-dor-winner-winter-sleep

The Dissolve:

http://thedissolve.com/news/2544-palme-dor-winner-winter-sleep-secures-stateside-di/

"Winter Sleep" IMDb page:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2758880/?ref_=nv_sr_1

More on Monday.  Have a great weekend everyone!