The Latest FAC for Major Oscar Categories / BAFTA Results and a Few Thoughts / WGA Rewards Spotlight and The Big Short

Good Monday everyone...welcome to another post on Michael's Telluride Film Blog/The Film Awards Clearinghouse.


THE LATEST FAC FOR MAJOR OSCAR CATEGORIES

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

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

TFF #42 films are in Bold.

BEST PICTURE

1) The Big Short (1)

2) The Revenant (3)

3) Spotlight (2)

4) Mad Max: Fury Road (4)

5) The Martian (5)

6) Room (6)

7) Bridge of Spies (7)

8) Brooklyn (8)

Comment: The Revenant's and Alejandro Inarritu's DGA win has shuffled the top of the deck slightly.  Spotlight slips from #2 to #3 and The Revenant moves up to that #2 spot.   The top three films are bunched within a two point window in The FAC metric so the Best Picture race is still wide, wide open.

It will interesting to see if last night's BAFTA announcement changes the field further.  

BEST DIRECTOR

1) Alejandro Inarritu/The Revenant (1)

2) Adam McKay/The Big Short (2)

3) George Miller/Mad Max: Fury Road (4)

4) Tom McCarthy/Spotlight (3)

5) Lenny Abrahamson/Room (5)

Comment:  McCarthy and Miller trade places signalling a weakening among The FAC pundits in their feeling that Spotlight is waning, however slightly, in the Best Picture race. 

BEST ACTRESS

1) Brie Larson/Room (1)

2) Saorise Ronan/Brooklyn (2)

3) Cate Blanchett/Carol (4)

4) Charlotte Rampling/45 Years (3)

5) Jennifer Lawrence/Joy

Comment: Larson has solidified her hold on the lead here.  Slight shift below her as Blanchett and Rampling switch the #3 and #4 positions.

BEST ACTOR

1) Leonardo DiCaprio/The Revenant (1)

2) Bryan Cranston/Trumbo

3) Michael Fassbender /Steve Jobs (3)

4) Matt Damon/The Martian (4)

5) Eddie Redmayne/The Danish Girl (5)

Comment: It's Leo all the way here.  The category remains static from the last FAC post.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Alicia Vikander/The Danish Girl (1)

2) Rooney Mara/Carol (2)

3) Kate Winslet/Steve Jobs (3)

4) Jennifer Jason Leigh/The Hateful Eight (4)

5) Rachel McAdams/Spotlight (5)

Comment: Another category that's frozen with these nominees in the same positions as the last FAC.  Vikander is away out front.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1)  Sylvester Stallone/Creed (1)

2) Christian Bale/The Big Short (4)

3) Mark Ruffalo/Spotlight (2)

4) Mark Rylance/Bridge of Spies (3)

5) Tom Hardy/The Revenant (5)

Comment:  Stallone is the odds on favorite.  Bale's ascendance could signal a rise in The Big Short's fortunes and the subsequent drop for Mark Ruffalo might be another signal that Spotlight might be waning.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) The Big Short (1)

2) Room (2)

3) The Martian (5)

4) Carol (3)

5) Brooklyn (4)

Comment: Last weekend's WGA win for The Big Short only solidifies its status as the very likely winner for this category on Oscar night.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Spotlight (1)

2) Inside Out (2)

3) Ex Machina (3)

4) Straight Outta Compton (4)

5) Bridge of Spies (5)

Comment: Spotlight won the WGA and is the prohibitive favorite here.

BAFTA RESULTS AND A FEW THOUGHTS

Alejandro Inarritu's western revenge/survival dram The Revenant won the British version of the Oscar last night for Best Picture.  Inarritu also won as did star Leonardo DiCaprio.  The film also won honors for cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki also won the American Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography last night...making him likely to win an unprecedented third straight Oscar) and  Best Sound.

In addition to DiCaprio, Brie Larson won Best Actress for Room, Kate Winslet was named Best Supporting Actress for Steve Jobs and Mark Rylance as Best Supporting Actor for Bridge of Spies.

Other winners last night included Screenplay wins for Spotlight and The Big Short.  Mad Max; Fury Road won four tech awards for editing, costumes, makeup and production design.

Complete results are here:

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/bafta-awards-winners-2016-complete-list-british-academy-film-television-1201706004/

The Revenant's win on top of its win with the DGA most likely signals that it is the front runner for the Best Picture Oscar in less than two weeks time.  That said, analysis from Oscar pros Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter and Kristopher Tapley of Variety's InContention say.."not so fast".

Both analysts suggest that The Revenant is the likely favorite but they also point out that this season has been anything but predictable and that the BAFTA last year rewarded Richard Linklater's Boyhood.  So, they both say, the race may still not be over andwe could still have a surprise or two on Feb. 28.

Check out their analysis here:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/bafta-awards-revenant-wins-dont-865269

http://variety.com/2016/film/in-contention/the-revenant-key-bafta-awards-analysis-1201706167/

One final note: Telluride films won Best Actress-Brie Larson/Room, Best Supporting Actress-Kate Winslet/Steve Jobs, Original Screenplay-Spotlight and Non-English Language Film-Wild Tales.

WGA REWARDS SPOTLIGHT AND THE BIG SHORT

The Writers Guild of America named their award winners for 2015 on Saturday with TFF #42 film Spotlight named Best Original Screenplay and The Big Short winning Best Adapted Screenplay. Those wins are expected to be repeated on Oscar night in a couple of weeks.

I have linked WGA coverage here:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/2016-wga-winners-complete-list-856955/item/original-screenplay-2016-wga-theatrical-852591

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-awards-writersguild-idUSKCN0VN072

http://www.awardsdaily.com/2016/02/13/writer-guild-awards-announcing/

http://variety.com/2016/film/in-contention/wga-awards-winners-writers-guild-america-1201705269/

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The FAC Looks at Supporting and Screenplays / New Clips from "Suffragette" / "Heart of a Dog" Poster / New Trailer for "The Revenant"

Welcome to the first Thursday in October...


THE FILM AWARDS CLEARINGHOUSE LOOKS AT SUPPORTING AND SCREENPLAYS

Continuing what we started with last Monday's post, here is the first FAC review of where the Oscar field is in the categories of Supporting Actress and Actor as well as Adapted and Original Screenplay.

I collate the publicly posted predictions of some of best Oscar experts in the business and then crunch the numbers to come up with The FAC consensus.  The sources I am using at this point are:

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

TFF #42 films are in Bold.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

1) Kate Winslet/Steve Jobs
2) Rooney Mara/Carol
3) Jennifer Jason Leigh/The Hateful Eight
4) Alicia Vikander/The Danish Girl
5) Rachel McAdams/Spotlight
6) Elizabeth Banks/Love and Mercy
7) Jane Fonda/Youth
8) Kristen Stewart/Clouds of Sils Maria
9) Joan/Allen/Room
10) Julie Walters/Brooklyn

Comment: Supporting Actress is a strong TFF #42 category with four possibilities and three of the top five spots occupied by TFF #42 women/films.  Additionally, Leigh is Telluride connected as T-ride served as the home base for the bulk of filming for "The Hateful Eight" and Banks is in Telluride frequenter/supporter Bill Pohlad's "Love and Mercy".

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Michael Keaton/Spotlight
2) Mark Ruffalo/Spotlight
3) Tom Hardy/The Revenant
4) Idris Elba/Beasts of No Nation
5) Mark Rylance/Bridge of Spies
6) Benicio Del Toro/Sicario
7) Paul Dano/Love and Mercy
8) Joel Edgerton/Black Mass
9) Harvey Keitel/Youth
10) Samuel L. Jackson/The Hateful Eight


Comment: Perhaps this year's most competitive major category with a number of question marks.  Is Oscar going to reward Keaton after his near miss for "Birdman" last year?  Does "Spotlight" really land two nominations in the same category?  Can either Jeff Daniels (who is one of my two favorites that are possible nominees for this category; the other is a real longshot-Peter Saarsgard in "Black Mass") or Seth Rogen get enough traction to get into the game from "Steve Jobs"?

The field is crowded and likely to be the most fun for the duration of the season.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Steve Jobs
2) Carol
3) Room
4) The Revenant
5) Brooklyn
6) The Martian
7) The Danish Girl
8) Beasts of No Nation
9) 45 Years
10) The Big Short


Comment: Lots of TFF #42 love here with half the list coming from films at last month's fest.


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Spotlight
2) Inside Out
3) The Hateful Eight
4) Joy
5) Bridge of Spies
6) Youth
7) Sicario
8) Ex Machina
9) Love and Mercy
10) Son of Saul

Comment:  Today's least Telluride-centric category with only one likely nomination and an outside chance at a second.


Total Telluride nominations if these initial projections are correct in these four categories: 10 with another five possibilities.


NEW CLIPS FROM "SUFFRAGETTE"

The Playlist is up this week with five new clips from Sarah Gavron's "Suffragette"  If you missed the film at Telluride or if you want to revisit the film, that post is here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-5-clips-new-characters-posters-for-suffragette-starring-carey-mulligan-meryl-streep-more-20150930

Also included are a number of new character posters for the film.  One of those is posted above.



"HEART OF A DOG" POSTER

Speaking of posters, Laurie Anderson's "Heart of a Dog" has a new one.  The film was well recieved last month in Telluride.  Indiewire has the coverage here:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/exclusive-poster-for-heart-of-a-dog-might-break-your-human-heart-20150930


NEW TRAILER FOR "THE REVENANT"

OK.."The Revenant" is not a Telluride 2015 film but it probably would have been had it been completed in time.  Additionally, the Alejandro Inarritu film is consdered, at least at this point, to be the strongest Best Picture challenger that will not play any festival (AFI Fest looks like it has locked down all of its prime presentation slots).  For those reasons, and the fact that its first trailer was amazing, it will continue to get attention as we move toward the end of the year and its Dec. 25 release date.

Keeping the fires of interest burning this week was the release of a second trailer.  Here it is via YouTube:

HitFix covered the story of the new trailer release here:

http://www.hitfix.com/motion-captured/leonardo-di-caprio-and-tom-hardy-clash-in-surreal-new-trailer-for-the-revenant

More on Monday...

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michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to

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Telluride True Detective Finds "Tyrus" / Tom as Hank? / Inarritu's "The Revenant": A Difficult Shoot / Posters and Stills from Films We Could Hear from Today

It's just another Tuesday...

TELLURIDE TRUE DETECTIVE FINDS "TYRUS"

It's one of the more enjoyable parts of this obsession...when I track down a film that's likely going to play at Telluride that hasn't been pointed at or alluded to anywhere else.  It happened this weekend when I tumbled across a tweet that was as simple as a question about attending the festival.  As I backtracked that, I found a name or two here and there and with some use of Google and IMDb I came across a documentary that will probably play T-ride in two and a half weeks.

I mean to say, I think this is pretty solid detective work.  So, before Toronto announces it later today-if they do, let me just print here and now that it seems that the documentary "Tyrus" will play at The SHOW.

"Tyrus" focuses on 104 year old Chinese-American artist Tyrus Wong who was instrumental in creating the look for Disney's "Bambi" over six decades ago.

The documentary is directed and written by Pamela Tom and per IMDb has no U.S. distribution as yet.  Check out its IMDb entry here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2531928/companycredits?ref_=tt_ql_7



TOM AS HANK?

Entertainment Weekly posted yesterday an article entitled "Why Tom Hiddleston Was the Best Choice to Play Hank Williams in "I Saw the Light".

The post makes the case that the Brit, who is best known for his recurring stint as Loki, brother of Thor in the Marvel superhero action films was the definitive choice to  play the Alabama born "father of country music".

The film's director, Marc Abraham (who also wrote the script) makes a persuasive case for the actor's abilities.

Will it play Telluride?  Perhaps that question will be answered later today when the Toronto International Film Festival releases more of the films that will be playing there.  I have my fingers crossed and am cautiously optimistic that we'll see it.

Check the EW post here:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/17/tom-hiddleston-channels-hank-williams-i-saw-light



INARRITU'S "THE REVENANT": A DIFFICULT SHOOT

Trailer for "The Revenant" via YouTube

Reportedly Alejandro Inarritu and crew finally finished shooting additional scenes for "The Revenant" last week in South America.  We've known for a while that we wouldn't be seeing the new film starring Leonardo DiCaprio at Telluride, although I still think it's possible that we might see Alejandro in town over Labor Day weekend.  Maybe we can ask him how it's going in the editing room.

Entertainment Weekly's Nicole Sperling recently wrote a story detailing the difficulties of the film's shooting experiences.  It wasn't easy.

Take a look at her report here:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/14/alejandro-inarritu-revenant-insane-ongoing-making


POSTERS AND STILLS OF FILMS WE COULD HEAR FROM TODAY


New looks showed up the last day or two for films that could be named by the Toronto folks later today.  That information could also reveal whether any of these four films might make an appearance in the San Juans in a couple of weeks.  Here's new posters or pictures from "Our Brand is Crisis", "About Ray", "The 33" and "Spotlight":

New still from "Our Brand..."

Poster for "About Ray"

Poster for "The 33"

Poster for "Spotlight"

Bring on the TIFF announcement!


ANNUAL CALL FOR YOUR INPUT

For the fourth straight year Michael's Telluride Film Blog is asking you to join in rating the films you see at the fest.  I want your input as I gather your ratings on a 1-5 scale.  You can email them or tweet them or put them in a comment on this blog.  I'll compile and a week or so after the fest, I'll report to you what you, The People, thought about the films that play TFF #42.

I'll also be compiling ratings from some of the industry professionals that'll be in town for the festivities as well.

Join the fun...rate the film's you love, the one's you don't love...share!

MORE LATER TODAY AFTER WE LEARN THE LATEST WAVE OF FILMS FOR TORONTO!!!


Please feel free to leave a comment or question here at the blog.

Email me at michael_speech@hotmail.com or mpgort@gmail.com

Tweet/Follow at me @Gort2 on Twitter

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Building a Mystery / "Steve Jobs" T.V. Spot / "The Revenant" Fnally Finished Shooting? / Toronto News Tomorrow? / MTFB in Other Places

Welcome back from what I hope was a fantastic weekend...

BUILDING A MYSTERY

Concept poster via Indiegogo

A couple of weeks back (July 27 MTFB post) I wrote that I had come across a tantalizing tease from Showbiz411 about the outside shot that Warren Beatty might chose to unveil his long gestating, untitled Howard Hughes film at one of the upcoming fall festivals.

That really would shake up the buzz surrounding the fests but it's also, I suspect, incredibly unlikely. Then, this weekend Showbiz411 tweeted this on Friday and then I re-tweeted it:

"A very surprising film is headed to Telluride and Toronto, and it’s not Warren Beatty’s but does involve a late director-producer."

Which led me to spend a significant amount of time on Saturday and Sunday trying to puzzle out what it might be.

My best guess-and I do mean guess...some version of Orson Welles final, unfinished film "The Other Side of the Wind". That film was the subject of a crowd funding effort to raise the money for final editing into releasable form.  The funding goal fell short with just over $400,000 raised of a million dollar goal. Backers that were/are behind the push to finish the film included Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach, Frank Marshall and Bret Ratner.

The organizers of the Indiegogo campaign to raise funds have pledged to finish the film despite falling short of the goal.

Admittedly, the film isn't a perfect fit for the Showbiz411 tease as it seems like it would be really pushing it hard to have a complete version ready for Telluride/Toronto.  A couple of friends/colleagues that I shared this with this weekend are also dubious that "Wind" is really what is being referenced.  That said, none of us could come up with another film that fit the brief description in the tease, so...

Clearly, a premiere of the last unseen full length feature from the a legend of Welles' stature would be astounding and Telluride would be the perfect venue for such an animal.  I can envision the Telluride return of Peter Bogdanovich, who used to attend T-ride regularly, as a presenter of the film along with producer Frank Marshall.  Both men still have ties to TFF.  Bogdo and Marshall are listed on TFF's  list of "Esteemed Advisors" as of last year's program.

Marshall is producing the film and Bogdo acts in it and was a Welles confidant and protege.

Finally, I just would like this to be true.  Imagine the electricity of that screening...a brand new, never-before-seen full length feature from Orson Welles.  It would be magical.

This disclaimer, however...when I contacted Showbiz411 and asked if there was any further information that could be shared I found that-whatever the project is- it isn't a sure thing at this point for either Telluride or Toronto.  All of this frothing over the original tweet may well be for naught.

If you have any insight or maybe you have another candidate for a film that fits the limited info from the Showbiz411 tease, provide a comment, email or message.

IMDb for "The Other Side of the Wind";

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069049/?ref_=ttco_co_tt


Here's a piece Vanity Fair ran about the film, its history and the effort to finish it that ran originally in May 2015:

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/04/orson-welles-the-other-side-of-the-wind-making-of

"STEVE JOBS" T.V. SPOT

A new television spot for Danny Boyle's "Steve Jobs" appeared last Thursday.  It's somewhat different from the previous couple of teaser/trailers that have appeared.

I have "Steve Jobs" listed as the #10 film on the latest "Ten Bets" list.

via YouTube

Here's coverage of the T.V. spot release:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2015/watch-new-extended-tv-spot-for-danny-boyles-steve-jobs-movie/

http://www.slashfilm.com/steve-jobs-tv-spot/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/fassbender-tv-spot-for-steve-jobs-with-new-footage-plus-pics-from-macbeth-trespass-against-us-20150807

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/07/steve-jobs-tv-spot

"THE REVENANT" FINALLY FINISHED SHOOTING?

The Film Stage tweeted Sunday morning that Alejandro Inarritu has finished additional photography for "The Revenant".



The film had to head to South America to get snowy, cold weather to finish the last bit of shooting after having had a difficult time with the primary shoot in Canada.  The film has zero chance of being ready for a play at Telluride, there's just still too much to get done.

Until its limited release on Dec. 25th we'll all have to continue to survive on the trailer:

TORONTO NEWS TOMORROW?

After having been off by a day last week concerning the announcement of Canadian films for the Toronto Film Festival, I'm a little hesitant to write this but I believe we will be hearing from TIFF with more revelations of their lineup tomorrow.

If that is the case, it will, in all probability provide us with a few more clues about what could take place in the San Juans on Labor Day weekend.  That's my hope anyway.


MTFB IN OTHER PLACES

I had a kind of interesting weekend as MTFB ended up in some different places.  Screencraft.org's John Rhodes asked me to write up a pre-Telluride piece for their, which I did and was up Friday and then Sasha Stone of Awards Daily also published a story that referenced the blog considerably.  My thanks to both of them for their generosity in allowing me to expose MTFB to a wider audience.

Links to both posts are here:

https://screencraft.org/2015/08/07/prediction-telluride-film-festivals-2015-lineup/

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2015/08/on-the-hunt-for-best-picture-telluride-predictions/



That's your Monday...more coming tomorrow...


Please feel free to leave a comment or question here at the blog.

Email me at michael_speech@hotmail.com or mpgort@gmail.com

Tweet/Follow at me @Gort2 on Twitter

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Ten Bets #5/More News of "The Revenant" from THR/"Miles Ahead" Will Be at the End/"Son of Saul" and "Freeheld" Have Trailers

Hello to All on a Friday!



TEN BETS #5

For the fifth time this summer and the last time prior to the beginning of announcements from the Toronto International Film Festival on Tuesday (and the likelihood that their announcement gives solid clues about what could be playing Telluride), here are your latest, best "Ten Bets' for TFF #42 starting with a refresher of the "Ten Bets" from last week:

10) "The Club"

9) "Truth"

8) "Queen of the Desert"

7) "Suffragette"

6) "Youth"

5) "45 Years"

4) "I Saw the Light"

3) "Carol"

2) "Dheepan"

1) "Son of Saul"

Now, taking into consideration the Jeff Wells piece from last week as well as this week's Guardian piece and the comment traffic here on MTFB and this week's review of "The Usual Suspects" here's the latest incarnation of my "Ten Bets" list:

10) "Black Mass"
9) "Suffragette"
8) "He Named Me Malala"
7) "The Club"
6) "45 Years"
5) "Carol"
4) "Truth"
3) "I Saw the Light"
2) "Son of Saul"
1) "Dheepan"


COUSINS ON "BELFAST" AND OTHER TOPICS

Mark Cousins and Helena Bereen of "I Am Belfast"

Earlier this week, as a part of the first wave of "The Usual Suspects" I wrote about director Mark Cousins and his latest documentary "I Am Belfast".  Coincidentally, Britains' Fred: The Festival Insider posted a podcast interview with the film maker about that film and his "Hibrow Trilogy" that has just played as a part of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.  Check the 11+ minute podcast here:

http://www.fred.fm/uk/mark-cousins-i-am-belfast-the-mark-cousins-hibrow-trilogy-kviff2015/


MORE NEWS OF "THE REVENANT" FROM THR

Following the very insightful Grantland piece about the making and finishing of Alejandro Inarritu's "The Revenant" comes another, separate long piece from Kim Masters of The Hollywood Reporter:


http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-leonardo-dicaprios-revenant-shoot-810290

Still (sigh), this reminder that the film won't be ready in time for a Labor Day screening.


"MILES AHEAD" WILL BE AT THE END



Meaning that we found out Wednesday that Don Cheadle's Miles Davis biopic/passion project will close the New York Film Festival and they are labeling it a world premiere.  That designation, assuming that everyone is following the protocol from last year, means that the film is definitely off the Telluride radar.

In reality, I haven't had it on my radar in any significant fashion as it is still looking for U.S> distribution.

The film would have earned a mention on Monday's post when I will be addressing this year's version of "The Unified Clooney Theory" ahead of Tuesday's first announcement of films from the Toronto International Film Festival.

New York has already also announced that it will open with Robert Zemeckis' "The Walk".

Here's a bit of coverage on the NYFF announcement from Wednesday:

http://www.filmlinc.com/daily/entry/don-cheadles-miles-ahead-to-make-its-world-premiere-on-the-closing-night-of

http://www.awardscircuit.com/2015/07/22/don-cheadles-miles-ahead-selected-as-the-closing-film-for-new-york-film-festival/



"SON OF SAUL" AND "FREEHELD"  HAVE TRAILERS

Yesterday, we saw the release of an international trailer for Cannes sensation "Son of Saul".  I have that film sitting at the #2 spot on today's latest "Ten Bets" list.  We also saw the release of this first trailer for the Julianne Moore social drama "Freeheld".  Here they are via YouTube:

"Freeheld"

Here are three stories to accompany the "Freeheld" trailer:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/watch-julianne-moore-and-ellen-page-will-break-your-heart-in-romantic-freeheld-trailer-20150722

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-ellen-page-and-julianne-moore-fight-for-gay-rights-in-first-trailer-for-freeheld-20150722

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kateaurthur/freeheld-trailer-julianne-moore-ellen-page#.jmkQpXnbMO

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/watch-freeheld-trailer-starring-ellen-page-and-julianne-moore/

"Son of Saul"

And a couple of stories that came with the "Son of Saul" trailer release:


http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/first-trailer-for-cannes-winner-and-oscar-contender-son-of-saul/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-operatic-first-international-trailer-for-cannes-winner-son-of-saul-20150723


LATEBREAKING

An interesting tidbit from the Italian online edition of Vanity Fair that claims that Tom McCarthy's "Spotlight", the drama concerning the revelation of  wrong doing and cover up in the Boston Archdiocese of the Catholic Church, will play as a part of the Venice Film Fest.  If accurate, that would be a bit of a surprise as it has been heavily rumored as a likely opener for Toronto.  A Venice play also opens the door a tiny bit to a Telluride play.

Google translate the story that is linked here:


http://www.vanityfair.it/show/cinema/15/07/19/mark-ruffalo-al-giffoni-film-festival-2015-intervista-e-foto

That's all for Friday.  Expect more Monday though special reports could pop up this weekend depending on the information that shakes out in the run up to Toronto's first announcement of films on Tuesday.

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The Usual Suspects Part Two/"The Revenant" News/The Guardian on the Fall Season

Welcome to Wednesday film fans...



THE "USUAL SUSPECTS" PART TWO

I'm continuing my metaphorical stroll through some of the directors, producers and others who seem to have a personal and frequent connection to Telluride to parse their participation to see if there are clues for the TFF #42 lineup.

Today we start with actress Laura Linney.

Linney hasn't appeared at the fest since 2012's "Hyde Park on Hudson".  For a good long while I thought she'd be back this year with Bill Conden's "Mr. Holmes" starring Sir Ian McKellen.  Then, some months ago, Fox Searchlight dated the film for a July release (it opened last weekend).

But fear not Linney fans, she's still in the TFF #42 possibility game as she appears also in Michael Grandage's "Genius" which is in the Lionsgate stable.  The film was listed by IMDb as being in post-production in February.  The film also stars Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and Colin Firth (TFF tribute 2010). Grandage is a first time director.

Our next "Usual Suspect" for today's post is Stephen Frears.  Frears is an interesting case.  He hasn't had a film at the fest since 2010's "Tamara Drewe" but was reportedly supposed to have had "Philomena" sneak in 2013 only to have it pulled at the last minute (The Weinstein Company replaced it with "Salinger").  Another story that I heard was that Frears was approached to be Guest Director for the 2013 fest but couldn't due to other obligations.

If all that's true, then Frears still is in the Telluride orbit.  His current project that could make the grade for TFF #42 is his long gestating Lance Armstrong examination "The Program" starring Ben Foster as Armstrong and Chris O'Dowd as the journalist who kept after the allegations of doping that eventually caught up to the multiple Tour de France winner.  The film is currently without U.S. distribution.

Number three on today's look at "Usual Suspects" is Wim Wenders. Wenders has been coming to Telluride since 1978 and has played there with "Paris, Texas", "Faraway, So Close", "Pina" and last year with "Salt of the Earth"  This year he has a feature film called "Every Thing Will Be Fine" that stars James Franco and has played the Berlin Fest.  The film wasn't received all that warmly in a critical sense, but Wenders past connection with Telluride might be enough to get the film into the lineup.  The film's U.S. distribution is still up for grabs.

Our final "Usual" for this Wednesday are the Dardenne Brothers.  Now, I can hear some of you saying, "Wait, Michael.  The Dardenne don't have a film in the can."  And you're right.  But they do act as producers on a film that may have some Telluride legs:  Benoit Jacqout's "Diary of a Chambermaid" which stars Lea Seydoux (who made the trip to Telluride in 2013 with "Blue is the Warmest Color").  "Chambermaid" played Berlin in February and a couple of other fests and has U.S. distribution from the Cohen Media Group.  That distributor was last represented in Telluride in 2012 with "The Attack".

These factors might edge the film into the T-ride lineup.

So, in review, your chances for each of these four (five, if you count both Dardennes) "Usual Suspects" and their projects:

Linney/"Genius" 30%
Frears/"The Program" 35%
Wenders/"Every Thing Will Be Fine" 30%
Dardennes/"Diary of a Chambermaid" 20%

Tomorrow's "Usual Suspects" will be a little different as I'll look at two directors who are close to being "Usuals' as well as three fellows that are "Usuals" that would be doing something unusual if they were to come to this year's SHOW: Ariel Vromen, Matteo Garrone, Steve McQueen, Alejandro Inarritu and Francis Ford Coppola.



 "THE REVENANT" NEWS...

Alejandro Inarritu's "The Revenant" moved up on my wish list this past weekend with the release of a fantastic teaser/trailer.  Admittedly, the film isn't going to be ready in time for Telluride as word is that the crew is re-shooting a sequence in South America (where it is winter).  I have mentioned that I have some serious concern whether it will be ready TO go by its stated Dec. 25th release date.

Adding some fuel to that concern was a weekend tweet from The Playlist that asked if Fox was really likely to release both "The Revenant" and David O. Russell's "Joy" on the same date, as is now what is announced.

As if in answer to these concerns, Jeff Well/Hollywood Elsewhere posted late Monday night a piece concerning the re-shoot plans and timing based on a translated version of an interview with Inarritu. The good news, the post suggests that the film will be done earlier than thought.  The bad news, still not early enough to make it to Telluride.  Wells extrapolation suggests that it could be finished by late September/early October.  AFI Fest perhaps?

Here's the link to the Wells post:

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2015/07/revenant-will-actually-ready-sooner/

In other "Revenant" news, Chris Connelley was up yesterday at Grantland with a big piece on the film and interviews with DiCaprio and Inarritu.  If you're excited about the film, as I am, it's worth a read:

http://grantland.com/features/exclusive-leonardo-dicaprio-and-alejandro-g-inarritu-on-the-revenant/


Additionally, I have linked this Rope of Silicon story about cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki's interview about the difficulties in making the film here:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/emmanuel-lubezki-talks-shooting-the-revenant-and-frozen-monitors/

THE GUARDIAN ON THE FALL SEASON

The Guardian's Nigel M. Smith posted his take on 40 films that he feels have the most serious Oscar potential late yesterday.  Included in the assessment of each of the 40 films, if they haven't already appeared at Cannes, are his guesses about where the films might show up in the fall festival lineup, including a number of Telluride guesses.  They include:

"Adam Jones" Dir: John Wells.  Stars Bradley Cooper.  Distrib: The Weinstein Company.  Release Date: Oct. 2.

"Black Mass" Dir: Scott Cooper. Stars: Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch. Distrib: Warners.  Release date: Sept. 18. (Parenthetical note...please let this be true...and the smoke is gathering that it might be).

"The Danish Girl" Dir: Tom Hooper.  Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander. Distrib: Focus Features.  Release date: Nov. 27.

"Everybody Wants Some" Dir: Richard Linklater. Stars: Tyler Hoechlin. Distrib: Paramount Pictures.  Release date: TBD.

"Freeheld" Dir: Peter Sollett.  Stars: Julianne Moore, Ellen Page. Distrib: Lionsgate. Release date: Oct. 2.

"I Saw the Light" Dir: Marc Abraham.  Stars: Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen. Distrib. Sony Pictures Classics. Release date: Nov. 27.

"The Light Between Oceans" Dir: Derek Cianfrance.  Stars: Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander.  Distrib: TDB.  Release date: TBD.

"Manchester-by-the -Sea" Dir. Kenneth Lonergan.  Stars: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams.  Distrib: TBD.  Release date: TBD (but perhaps 2016).

"The Program" Dir: Stephen Frears.  Stars: Ben Foster, Chris O'Dowd.  Distrib: TBD.  Release dates: TBD.

"Suffragette" Dir: Sarah Gavron.  Stars: Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter.  Distrib: Focus Features.  Release date: Oct. 23.

"Truth" Dir: James Vanderbilt.  Stars: Robert Redford, Cate Blanchett.  Distrib: Sony Pictures Classics. Release date: TBD.

Among the Cannes debuts that Smith mentions that I feel have some shot at playing at Telluride are:

"Carol", "Son of Saul", "Macbeth" and "Youth"

And the films that Smith pegs as possible plays for Venice that I feel are also possible for T-ride:

"A Bigger Splash", "A Hologram for the King", "Our Brand is Crisis".

Other films that Smith includes in the list of 40 that might have Telluride legs would be "Steve Jobs".

Read the whole piece here:

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/21/and-the-oscar-may-go-to-40-key-movies-in-contention-for-2016-awards


That's enough for today...more tomorrow...

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"Ten Bets" #4/European Producers: Le French Part Deux/First Trailer for "The Revenant"/Trailer and Interview for "The Assassin"

It's finally Friday...where has the summer gone?

LATEST "TEN BETS" (#4 for 2015)

Here's this week's installment of my weekly guess as to what are the ten most likely films to play as a part of this year's Telluride Film Festival.

First, a look at last week's "Ten Bets":

10) "The Club"
9) "Suffragette"
8) "13 Minutes"
7) "Queen of the Desert"
6) "45 Years"
5) "I Saw the Light"
4) "Carol"
3) "Youth"
2) "Son of Saul"
1) "Dheepan"

  

And now, "Ten Bets" #4

10) "The Club"

9) "Truth"

8) "Queen of the Desert"

7) "Suffragette"

6) "Youth"

5) "45 Years"

4) "I Saw the Light"

3) "Carol"

2) "Dheepan"

1) "Son of Saul"

SPC's "Truth" rejoins the "Ten Bets" replacing their "13 Minutes".  Also, "Mountains Amy Depart" drops a bit farther as its director is on the new "Program" jury for Toronto.  "The Measure of a Man" moves to "near Ten Bets" status.

EUROPEAN PRODUCERS: LE FRENCH PART DEUX

I'm continuing my look at European/French film production firms today with looks at Telluride legacies for France2 Cinema and France 3 as a way of looking for possible shows for The SHOW.

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
2014: Two Days One Night

TFF #42 possibilities:

"Youth"
"Mon Roi"
"Lolo"
 are the best bets from France2.

FRANCE 3

Here's the track record from France 3 at Telluride for the past several years:

2003: Dogville, The Tripletts of Belleville
2004:
2005: Lemming, Live and Become, Cache
2006: The Page Turner, Indigenes
2007: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Persepolis
2008: I've Loved You So Long
2009: The White Ribbon
2010: The Illusionist, The Princess of Montpensier, Of Gods and Men
2011: The Artist
2012: Superstar, Amour
2013: The Past

2014: Mr. Turner, The Price of Fame, The Gate

Their 2015 slate that might be Telluride possible includes:

"Diary of a Chambermaid"
"Disorder"
"Valley of Love"
 These films seem like the best bets from France 3.

FIRST TRAILER FOR "THE REVENANT"

"The Revenant" trailer via YouTube

Let me be clear, Alejandro Inarritu's "The Revenant" starring Leonardo DiCaprio is almost certainly NOT going to make it to Telluride.  The film is, the buzz says, NOT ready and WILL NOT be ready in time.

With a Dec. 25th release date, Inarritu has plenty of time before its theatrical release to get finished up...maybe.  Honestly, I wouldn't be all that surprised if this didn't get held until 2016 with a play at Cannes and then a 2016 Telluride play.

Nevertheless, we have a trailer that dropped this morning as you can see above and here are some of the related stories from other outlets that accompanied the trailer this morning:

http://www.slashfilm.com/the-revenant-trailer-leonardo-dicaprio/

http://www.thewrap.com/leonardo-di-caprio-does-not-fear-death-in-first-trailer-for-the-revenant-video/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-leonardo-dicaprio-tom-hardy-star-in-the-first-trailer-for-alejandro-inarritus-revenge-thriller-the-revenant-20150717

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/17/revenant-trailer-leonardo-dicaprio?hootPostID=f03a2f8aeed55cacf06a1c7f883a2b2b

http://thefilmstage.com/trailer/first-trailer-for-alejandro-gonzalez-inarritus-the-revenant-with-leonardo-dicaprio-and-tom-hardy/

TRAILER AND INTERVIEW FOR "THE ASSASSIN

Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "The Assassin" won the Best Directing prize at Cannes last May and that might be enough to see it make the Telluride 2015 program.  Last year's Cannes Best Director made the trip to T-ride-Bennett Miller and "Foxcatcher'.  Other Cannes Best Direction winners of recent years that have then played Telluride include: Gus Van Sant ("Elephant" '03), Michael Haneke ("Cache" '05) Alejandro Inarritu ("Babel '06) and Julian Schnabel ("The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" '07). Additionally, the critical response was very, very good.

The film is being distributed by Well Go Entertainment which has no real Telluride history but that might not matter.  The film also still has no U.S. release date but will have played half a dozen international festivals by the end of August.


I have linked an interview with Hsiao-Hsien from Mubi and the story from The Playlist that includes the trailer for the film:

https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/a-love-story-without-love-hou-hsiao-hsien-discusses-the-assassin/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-trailer-for-hou-hsiao-hsiens-cannes-award-winning-the-assassin-20150704


That's all for Friday.  Have a great weekend and look for a new post Monday.

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A Look at the Landscape as Cannes Looms/Projects of Interest Announced

Good Monday Everyone...

It's May and that means that the Cannes Film Fest is about to launch.  Cannes opens May 13 and runs through May 24.  As always, I will be keeping an eye and ear attuned to the critical reactions coming out of Cannes especially in terms of the Palme competition slate as well as the Un Certain Regard section.  I'll also have my ear to the ground concerning the views of the experts in as far as which films seem to have the best shot at Cannes award glory from the jury led by Joel and Ethan Coen.

Last year's crossover films (the films that played both Cannes and then Telluride) came largely from the Palme competition slate (Leviathan, Mr. Turner, Foxcatcher...others) but that isn't always the case.  Cannes-Telluride crossovers can come from almost anywhere within the Cannes programs.

And with that as a preface...

A LOOK AT THE LANDSCAPE AS CANNES LOOMS

Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood posted an update this week of her view of Oscar possibilities and in light of being right on the cusp of Cannes, it seemed like a good idea to re-visit her outline as it serves as an excellent overview of any number of films that could make their way to the San Juans over Labor Day weekend.

Anne, who has participated the last two years in MTFB's "The Professionals Telluride" rating of films that play at the fest, has no less than 50 feature films that she lists as having serious Oscar potential that give us a really good starting point for Telluride speculation and discussion.

Thompson starts with a brief rundown of films from Sundance and Berlin which have already appeared.  The Sundance films you can scratch from our consideration.  Anne only mentions one Berlin title and that's "45 Years" which, I think is a strong Telluride contender.  Anne does not mention a few other Berlin titles that I think have some Telluride potential: "Every Thing Will Be Fine", "Queen of the Desert", "Taxi" (The Golden Bear winner), "The Club", "Elser" and "The Pearl Button".

Thompson mentions The Weinstein Company's Cannes pieces "Carol" and "Macbeth" both of which are on my radar as well as Sarah Gavron's "Suffragette".

Among the post-Cannes films on her list that are on my Telluride watch list are:

"A Bigger Splash"
"Black Mass"
"The Danish Girl"
"Demolition"
"In the Heart of the Sea"
"Midnight Special"
"Our Brand is Crisis"
"The Revenant"

There are others that she mentions that In also have on the periphery of my 2015 T-ride consideration (ex: "Spotlight", "Truth") but that'll do for now.  Check all of Thompson's article here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/oscar_predicts_chart


PROJECTS OF INTEREST ANNOUNCED

Okay, admittedly this next segment isn't really much about Telluride and is much more about my own personal reaction to a couple of development announcements that popped this week.  First came reports that Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle" will be developed by IM Global Television.

"Cat's Cradle" was my first experience in reading the works of Vonnegut.  As a result, Vonnegut became a lifelong obsession.  Needless to say, I am both anticipating and fearing what may come of this.

Variety has the details:

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/kurt-vonnegut-cats-cradle-adapted-tv-im-global-1201485074/

Similarly, another announcement this week hit me much the same way.

One day back in the late 70's, when I was attending college, I was walking through our student union and was hailed by one of my drama professors.  He was sitting at a table with a rather scruffy looking, long haired gent that looked to be in his thirties.  My prof introduced him as a sci fi writer and named him.  The name meant zip to me as I was never much of a sci fi guy (except, of course in as far as Vonnegut was often categorized in science fiction...)

Anyway, I sat for awhile and mostly listened as my professor and sci fi guy shot the breeze.  After some time had passed, I politely excused myself with some excuse about studying or working lines for whatever play I was in at the time and departed thinking to myself...yea, yea, Sci Fi writer...whoop-tee-doo.  Based on his appearance, I had concluded that he must be an "aspiring" writer because he sure didn't look like what my version of a "successful" writer might look like.

On a whim, as I passed the campus bookstore, I ducked in and headed to its limited science fiction section, fully anticipating that my search would be in vain and in a matter of seconds, found his name on a paperback.  The book was Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War" which, because I had met the guy a few minutes earlier, caused me to plunk down the $1.50...which to a starving drama major was no small sum in 1977.

Went back to the Union to see if Haldeman was still there...nope.  Long gone.  Joe Haldeman, Hugo, Nebula and Campbell Award winner.  Even as a reader that normally looked down his nose at science fiction, I knew those awards meant something important.

Read it.  Loved it. Read almost all of his other stuff.  Wished I'd been a smarter guy back then.

So, Joe Haldeman (who is a native Oklahoman), if you're out there reading this somewhere...drop me a line, send me an email...I'd love to make up for the 1977 ignorant me.

All that to get to this:

There will apparently be a feature film version of "The Forever War" starring Channing Tatum.  So says the reports from The Wrap and The Playlist.  It seems Warner Brothers has the rights.  Maybe this happens.  Maybe it's great...crossing fingers.

Here's a photo of my first Joe Haldeman purchase so many years ago.  I snagged from my bookshelf where it still lives to this day:

And links to the stories from The Wrap and The Playlist:

http://www.thewrap.com/channing-tatum-to-star-in-the-forever-war-as-bidding-war-heats-up/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/channing-tatum-to-star-in-long-developing-former-ridley-scott-sci-fi-the-forever-war-20150430

And finally, one last project of note announced this week that has me salivating and might actually have a better shot at making the trip to Telluride in a couple of years.   A24, which has had a recent presence at Telluride with "Under the Skin" in 2013 and "Ginger and Rosa" in 2012, is developing the true story drama of Joe and Jadin Bell which will be written by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana.  McMurtry and Ossana co-wrote and were listed as executive producers and producers respectively for "Brokeback Mountain" which played Telluride in 2005.

Adding to the anticipation is the news that "True Detective" director Cary Fukunaga is set to direct the adaptation.  IMDb lists the film as a 2017 release and it is the first film that A24 will shepherd from start to finish.  Take a look at the news from The Dissolve and Thompson on Hollywood:

http://thedissolve.com/news/5572-cary-fukunaga-will-direct-a-film-about-joe-and-jad/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/cary-fukunaga-teams-with-brokeback-mountain-writers-for-a24s-first-original-film-20150430



That's all for now.  More on Thursday...