The Usual Suspects Part Three/"Dheepan" International Trailer Appears/New Views of "45 Years"

Welcome to Thursday... Children of the Corn...


THE "USUAL SUSPECTS" PART THREE

Today's look at the "Usuals" is a bit different than Parts One and Two.  We begin with two directors who might be on their way to "Usual" status but aren't quite there yet.

Starting with Ariel Vromen who had "The Iceman" at Telluride in 2012.  His latest is "Criminal" starring Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Costner.  It's distributed from Summit Entertainment which, to the best of my abilities to research. has never had a film at T-ride but they've also had plenty of films that would have been T-ride worthy: "50/50", "The Hurt Locker", "Michael Clayton".  The film is scheduled for release in January 2016.  Chances to play: 10%.

The other potential "Usual" is Matteo Garrone who played Telluride in 2008 with his "Gomorrah".  His 2012 film "Reality" played Cannes but was not on the SHOW program.  This year his "Tale of Tales" also played Cannes.  It's his English feature debut and stars Selma Hayek and John C. Riley among others.  I actually think this has a decent shot of making the Telluride lineup.  Chances for The SHOW: 40%.

The individuals in today;s discussion qualify for "Usual Suspect" status but if they attend Telluride this year, it will be in some unusual circumstances.

For example, Alejandro Inarritu.  Inarritu would normally be right at the top of this year's "Ten Bets" list of his "The Revenant" was ready but it will NOT be ready in time for Labor Day.  Instead, if Alejandro is in town, and I wouldn't be all that surprised if he is, it'll be as a fan or in support of a friend, as he was in 2013 for Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity".  I've speculated in this space before that this could be the year that Guillermo Del Toro joins the Telluride club following in the path of his "Tres Amigos" brothers, Inarritu and Cuaron with the highly anticipated "Crimson Peak".  Now, there are more reasons to think that it won't happen than there are to think it will but I don't think it's a completely crazy proposition either and if Del Toro does SHOW and Inarritu is done with re-shoots of "The Revenant" (reportedly he will be) then I believe Alejandro might be in town.

Another "Usual" that has come back to the Telluride fold after having been away for a long time is Francis Ford Coppola.  Coppola has come back the past two years and could return this year with some presentation of the project he began in Oklahoma City this spring: "Distant Vision" his "live cinema" experiment.  It wouldn't stun me if that were to happen.

Finally, there's Steve McQueen who doesn't have a feature film in play but has been working on his own HBO limited series "Codes of Conduct'.  McQueen has clearly been a favorite of the festival with "Hunger" ('08), "Shame" ('11)and "12 Years a Slave" ('13) all making the SHOW.  I could see the fest featuring the HBO show.  The fest has dipped its toe into television long form presentations in the past with "Red Riding" "Burning Bush" and "Carlos" so this wouldn't be the craziest of guesses.  Again, the first key is it if it's ready.


"DHEEPAN" INTERNATIONAL TRAILER APPEARS

I'd be shocked if Jacques Audiard's Palme d'Or winner, "Dheepan" doesn't play Telluride.  It has been riding high on my "Ten Bets" list all summer and barring some strange news from the announcement of the Toronto film lineup over the next few weeks, that won't change.

The film's first trailer appeared online from both The Film Stage and The Playlist yesterday.  It's an international trailer meaning that the subtitles are in French.  Still, it's intriguing.  Here it is:

"Dheepan" trailer via YouTube

And here are the stories from The Film Stage and The Playlist:

http://thefilmstage.com/trailer/first-trailer-for-jacques-audiards-palme-dor-winner-dheepan/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-international-trailer-for-jacques-audiards-palme-dor-winner-dheepan-20150722

And, also from The Film Stage, "Dheepan" has a new poster as well:

NEW VIEWS OF "45 YEARS"

Andrew Haigh's "45 Years" has been high on my list of possible Telluride films since it debuted in Berlin in February.  The film has won rave reviews fro the performances of Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay.  It's distribution is being handled by Sundance Selects.  Perhaps the only reason that suggests that it isn't a Telluride possibility is that it has and will have had played a pretty substantial number of fests (Berlin, Istanbul, Edinburgh, Karlovy Vary...others).

Late last week, The Playlist posted a couple of new clips and the film's poster.  Take a look at the clips and the article here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-2-clips-and-new-poster-for-andrew-haighs-berlin-award-winner-45-years-20150720

That's enough for today...more tomorrow...including the last "Ten Bets" list before the first Toronto announcement on Tuesday.

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Distribution: Sundance Selects and IFC Films/Venice Has a Mountainous Opener/The Dissolve Dissolves

It's a Thursday!


DISTRIBUTION AND TELLURIDE: SUNDANCE SELECTS AND IFC

Because Sundance Selects and IFC Films are inter-related film distribution outfits, I am tackling them both together today in my continuing assessment of the films that could play Telluride from those distributors that have a significant presences at the fest in recent years.

Here's Sundance Selects slate over the past few,  Sundance only began their Telluride presence in 2010:

2010: The Princess of Montpensier, Tabloid
2011: The Forgiveness of Blood, The Kid with a Bike, Goodbye First Love and Into the Abyss
2012: The Central Park Five, Everyday

2013: Blue is the Warmest Color
2014: Two Days, One Night, Seymour: An Introduction

So Sundance Selects has had 11 films represented at Telluride over the last five years making for a 2.2 film/year average.

IFC Films has been at Telluride recently as follows:

2003: Touching the Void, Intermission
2004: Nobody Knows
2005: Three Times
2006: Deep Water, Indigenes
2007: Secret Sunshine, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, Jar City
2008: Hunger, Gomorrah, Flame and Citron, Everlasting Moments, The Good, the Bad and the Weird
2009: Fish Tank, Red Riding Trilogy, Life During Wartime, Vincere
2010: The Princess of Montpensier, Carlos
2011: Into the Abyss, Pina
2012: Frances Ha
2013: No Show
2014: No Show again

IFC has had 23 films in the last 12 year to average just under 2 films/year, but hasn't been at Telluride since 2012.

This year, Sundance Selects looks to have three films that could play: Jacques Audiard's "Dheepan", Andrew Haigh's "45 Years" and Alice Winocour's "Disorder".

IFC has Frenando de Leon Aranoa's "A Perfect Day" and Matteo Garrone's "Tale of Tales".

None of the five films should be ruled out of the Telluride calculation.

Cannes and Berlin Film Fest appearances boost chances for all five films.  Past Telluride for Audiard and Garrone also argue for their inclusion.

Chances for each film and their current "Ten Bets" position in parenthesis where applicable:

"Dheepan" 90% (#1)
"45 Years" 80% (#4)
"Tale of Tales" 40%
"A Perfect Day" 30%
"Disorder" 30%

Tomorrow a look at inter-connected distributors Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate/Saban Films.



VENICE HAS A MOUNTAINOUS OPENER

"Everest" trailer via YouTube

The official announcement came yesterday that the Venice International Film Festival will open on Sept. 2 with Baltasar Kormakur's "Everest".

The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Jason Clark and Kiera Knightley among many others. and focuses on an ill fated pair of climbing expeditions that suffered serious casualties in 1997 when weather on the world's highest mountain took a very bad turn.

I have been underwhelmed by the chances for the film to play Telluride as it is being distributed by infrequent Telluride player Universal and it has a Sept. 18 release date.

The Venice announcement, in some ways, argues that "Everest" might make a splash at Telluride as the last two Venice openers have made the trip: "Gravity" in 2013 and "Birdman" last year.  "Black Swan" did the same in 2010.  So, recent history suggests that it is possible.  Also, as I have mentioned in previous posts, Kormankur was at Telluride in 2006 with his "Jar City".

Still, at the end of the day, I remain skeptical about our chances to see "Everest" on Labor Day weekend.  It's possible, but still unlikely.

I have linked a few stories about the Venice announcement here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/mountain-climbing-drama-everest-will-open-the-venice-film-festival-out-of-competition-20150708

http://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/baltasar-kormakurs-everest-to-open-venice-film-festival-1201535860/

http://www.indiewire.com/article/jake-gyllenhaal-and-keira-knightley-survival-thriller-everest-to-open-venice-film-festival-20150708



THE DISSOLVE DISSOLVES

You've seen me link to it here a number of times over the past two years, but that stops with today's link.  Film website The Dissolve has ended publication/posting.

It has been a good site to go to for in depth film stories, but alas, couldn't eke out a spot in a very competitive world of online film.

The final Dissolve post is here:

http://thedissolve.com/news/6187-the-end/

That wraps up the Thursday post for MTFB.  More tomorrow including the third "Ten Bets" list for 2015.

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Summer Schedule/Where we Stand on June 1/Toronto Opener Speculation/Acquisitions of Interest

Welcome to Monday and June everyone!

SUMMER SCHEDULE

I'm starting the summer publication schedule for Michael's Telluride Film Blog today.  I'm going to vary it a little bit form what I've done the last couple of years.  The plan is to publish five days a week, Monday through Friday beginning to day and running right through the 42nd Telluride Film Festival.

That's the plan anyway.

Onward...


WHERE WE STAND ON JUNE 1

It's likely that the first real stab at a list of films that I think are your best bets at making an appearance on the Telluride program is around thee-four weeks away.  Nevertheless, I though we'd start the summer with some idea of films that feel like we ought to be thinking about anyway.  So...here are eight films that could play:

"45 Years"

"Carol"

"Dheepan"

"Elser"

"I Saw the Light"

"Queen of the Desert"

"Son of Saul"

"Truth"

The list will change between now and the end of the month when I'll post that first "official" guess.



TORONTO OPENER SPECULATION

Screen Daily and the The Playlist (following the Screen Daily original post) put up some speculation about films that are reportedly under consideration to open the Toronto International Film Festival.  If it opens TIFF, it will be off the Telluride table.  Among the films suggested were three that I feel have some shot at making the Telluride lineup:

Jean Marc Vallee's "Demolition" (Fox Searchlight)
Jay Roach's "Trumbo" (Bleeker Street)
Tom McCarthy's "Spotlight" (Open Road Films)


Take a look at the complete posts here:


http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/contenders-vie-for-toronto-opening-slot/5088805.article

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/jean-marc-vallees-demolition-atom-egoyans-remember-tom-mccarthys-spotlight-in-mix-to-open-tiff-20150529



ACQUISITIONS OF INTEREST

Following the Cannes Fest, acquisitions continue to be announced for U.S. distribution.  Those of interest to Telluride watchers likely include the following:

KINO LORBER:

"Mountains May Depart" Jia Zhangke

Kino Lorber's recent Telluride presence includes:

"The Decent One" in 2014
"Manuscripts Don't Burn" in 2013

Variety has the story:

http://variety.com/2015/film/asia/us-deal-on-jia-zhangke-mountains-1201501457/


ALCHEMY

Acquired "The Lobster", "Mia Madre" and "Love".

Alchemy was repped at last year's T-ride fest with "Madame Bovary".

Again, from Variety:

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/cannes-the-lobster-selling-to-alchemy-exclusive-1201501121/


IFC FILMS

Matteo Garrone's "Tale of Tales"

IFC Films (which is associated with Sundance Selects as well) has been at Telluride recently with "Frances Ha" 2012, "Pina" 2011.  (Sundance Selects- "Seymour: An Introduction", "Two Days, One Night"-2014, "Blue is the Warmest Color"-2013)

Thompson on Hollywood reports:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/cannes-buy-matteo-garrones-love-it-or-hate-it-tale-of-tales-goes-to-ifc-trailer-20150528



That's all for Monday, June 1, 2015.  More tomorrow!

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And on Twitter @Gort2

Cannes Catches Up to Tellluride: Honoring Agnes Varda/"Hateful Eight" Photos/New "Youth" Trailer/Views from "The Sea of Trees"/More "Inferno" News/Tales of "Tales of Tales"

God Monday to All.  Hope you had a great Mother's Day weekend...



CANNES CATCHES UP TO TELLURIDE: HONORING AGNES VARDA

Telluride honored film maker Agnes Varda back in 1977.  It was the fourth edition of the Telluride Film Festival meaning that Varda was one of the fests earliest tribute recipients.  Also honored that year were Michael Powell and Ben Carre.

Varda was feted and several of her films were screened over the course of that weekend.

Now comes word that the Cannes Film Fest will catch up with Telluride some 38 years later as Varda will be awarded an honorary Palme d'Or this year.  I've included the link to the festival's official announcement as well as Varda's IMDb page:

http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/article/61348.html

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0889513/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1



"HATEFUL EIGHT"  PHOTOS

It looks increasingly less likely that we will have the chance to see Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" in Telluride over Labor Day.  Some journos have flat out said that it won't be ready in time for fall fests.

I've said all along that it was a long shot for TFF #42 anyway as Tarantino's festival resume is very small.  "Reservoir Dogs" played many fests including Sundance, Cannes and Toronto,  but Tarantino was an unknown commodity.  "Pulp Fiction" played Cannes, Lorcano, New York and a few others. Certainly fewer than "Pulp Fiction" did.

"Jackie Brown" played Berlin.  "Kill Bill 1",  "Kill Bill 2" played a couple of smaller fests.  "Death Proof" had Tarantino back at Cannes in 2007.  "Inglorious Basterds" played Cannes and Berlin and "Django" played no fest schedule.

So, the notion that "Hateful" would play Telluride was really based on two things alone: the fact that the movie was made in/near Telluride and that The Weinstein Company is distributing.

The film is still set for a late 2015 release in Israel.  IMDb currently has no set date for the film anywhere else.  I can actually see a scenario in which the film is finished and held for Cannes next year and then a late 2016 release.  No one has said that, in as far as I'm aware, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised.

Nonetheless, Entertainment Weekly had a slew of photos from the film that then spread like wildfire throughout the internet over the weekend.  Check the numerous links below:

Via The Film Stage

From Entertainment Weekly:

http://www.thewrap.com/hateful-eight-first-look-at-samuel-l-jackson-kurt-russell-and-jennifer-jason-leigh-in-character-photo/

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/first-look-at-quentin-tarantinos-hateful-eight/

http://www.firstshowing.net/2015/more-first-look-photos-for-tarantinos-the-hateful-eight-uncovered/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/quentin-tarantino-hateful-eight-images

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/15-pictures-from-quentin-tarantinos-the-hateful-eight/


NEW "YOUTH" TRAILER

Paolo Sorrentino's "Youth" stars Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel and has already generated a good deal of pre-Cannes Palme d'Or buzz.  Palme winners have about a 50/50 chance of landing in Telluride  over the last decade or so.

Palme winners of late that played Telluride:


2003: "Elephant"
2005: "The Child"
2007: "4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days"
2009: "The White Ribbon"
2012: "Amour"
2013: "Blue is the Warmest Color"

Last year's Palme went to "Winter Sleep" which didn't play at The SHOW so this year's winner might be more likely.

"Youth" has a new trailer that you can catch here via The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-michael-caine-and-harvey-keitel-have-a-bromance-in-new-trailer-for-paolo-sorrentinos-cannes-bound-youth-20150507


VIEWS FROM "THE SEA OF TREES"

Speaking of the Palme and past winners (as I did above)  Gus Van Sant's "The Sea of Trees" which is in competition this week at Cannes released some new images as well this past weekend.  Take a look:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/cannes-new-photos-of-matthew-mcconaughey-naomi-watts-ken-watanabe-in-gus-van-sants-sea-of-trees-20150507



MORE "INFERNO" NEWS

I reported in my last post that Werner Herzog's next project would be shopped at Cannes to pick up financing,  That happened between my Thursday post and today as the film has drawn backing.

Check the story from The Dissolve:


http://thedissolve.com/news/5641-cannes-deal-roundup-distributors-snap-up-snazzy-so/


TALES OF "TALES OF TALES"

And. as has been the pattern over the last few days...

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/cannes-2-tv-spots-and-lots-of-new-images-for-matteo-garrones-the-tale-of-tales-with-salma-hayek-20150508



That's all for now...more on Thursday after the Cannes Festival is under way!

Annual Call for Entries/Much More on the Cannes Lineup/Mr. Leigh's Next Film

ANNUAL CALL FOR ENTRIES

I got the email this week...the annual call to film makers to enter their film into consideration for inclusion to this year's TFF.  The deadlines for student and short films is July1 and for features is July 15.  Here's the email text:

Telluride Film Festival (September 4-7, 2015), presented by National Film Preserve, Ltd. announces its Call for Entries in all categories including student, short and feature length films.

Submission period begins April 15, 2015. Film Entry Form is available for download at www.telluridefilmfestival.org.

Shorts and student film submissions must be received no later than 5:00 pm, July 1, 2015. Feature film submissions must be received no later than 5:00 pm, July 15, 2015. All submissions must have been completed after July 15, 2014 and no works in progress will be accepted. Feature-length films (60 minutes or longer) will only be considered if they are to have their first North American screening at Telluride Film Festival. Final program determinations will be made by August 1, 2015. No early or late entries will be accepted.

Professional and amateur filmmakers working in all aesthetic disciplines and genres including narrative, documentary, animation and experimental are welcome.

Each year Telluride Film Festival plays host to an average of 25 feature films and 25 shorts and student films. Films selected to screen at Telluride Film Festival will be shown out-of-competition. TFF is not a competitive festival.

For more information visit www.telluridefilmfestival.org

MUCH MORE ON THE CANNES LINEUP

I had a quickly pulled together list of the films announced as part of the Cannes Film Fest's lineup following its announcement last Thursday but I'm able today to provide significantly more analysis and images from friends around the interweb.

First, analysis.

Amne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/digging-into-the-cannes-lineup-more-vet-auteurs-and-women-no-netflix-analysis-press-conference-video-20150416

Anne also includes the entire announcement press conference video as a part of her story.

Next, I reported on Thursday that there would be further films added to the lineup.  Kevin Jaegernauth of The Playlist says it could be as many as eight films added.  Look at his analysis here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/thierry-fremaux-says-cannes-could-add-up-to-more-8-films-wb-didnt-want-mad-max-fury-road-to-open-fest-20150417

Jaegernauth references a Screen Daily post that I have re-linked here:

http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/cannes/cannes-chief-thierry-fremaux-talks-2015-line-up/5086670.article

Now, images.  Between The Dissolve and The Playlist, here are some good posts that incorporate videos and photos for a number of the films that were announced on Thursday.  For stills, take a gander at this post from The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/cannes-first-looks-denis-villeneuves-sicario-todd-haynes-carol-the-lobster-many-more-20150416



The Dissolve has collected a number of trailers for selected films including: Garrone's "The Tale of Tales", Moretti's "Mia Madre", Kore-eda's "Our Little Sister", Sorrentino's "Youth"and others.  You can see those here:

http://thedissolve.com/news/5435-bienvenue-to-the-cannes-trailer-park-mes-amis/


MR. LEIGH'S NEXT FILM

Director/writer Mike Leigh announced his next project late this week and you can already mark it as a strong future Telluride possibility (and Cannes for that matter).   Leigh films have appeared frequently at TFF, earning him a spot in my list of "Usual Suspects".  Past Leigh TFF contributions include last year's "Mr. Turner" as well as "Another Year", "High Hopes", "Secrets and Lies" and "Happy Go Lucky".

Leigh's new film will focus on the Peterloo Massacre, an event not well known here in the states.  That event led the way to reforms in the structure of the government of Great Britain.  Leigh says he'll shoot the film in 2017...so its appearance at Telluride is waaaayy...down the road, but count it as probable.

Here are stories about  Leigh's announcement from The Hollywood Reporter and The Playlist:


http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mike-leigh-announces-next-feature-789521

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/mike-leighs-next-film-to-focus-on-the-peterloo-massacre-20150417

More on Thursday...

Cannes Announces/"Jobs" is Done/"Suffragette" Teaser

CANNES LINEUPS ANNOUNCED

Here's the complete list of films announced this morning for the Cannes Film Festival via Greg Ellwood at HitFix:

Competition
"Dheepan," (Working Title) Jacques Audiard
"A Simple Man," Stéphane Brize
"Marguerite and Julien," by Valérie Donzelli
"The Tale of Tales," Matteo Garrone
"Carol," Todd Haynes
"The Assassin," Hsiao-Hsien Hou
"Mountains May Depart," Jia Zhang-Ke
"Our Little Sister," Hirokazu Kore-Eda
"Macbeth," Justin Kurzel
"The Lobster," Yorgos Lanthimos
"My King," MaiWenn
"Mia Madre," Nanni Moretti
"Son of Soul," László Nemes
"Youth," Paul Sorrentino
"Louder than Bombs," Joachim Trier
"The Sea of Trees," Gus Van Sant
"Sicario," Denis Villeneuve

Midnight Screenings
"O Piseu (Office)," Hong Won-Chan
"Amy," Asif Kapadia

Special Selections
"Amnesia" Barbet Schroeder
"A Tale of Love and Darkness," Natalie Portman
"Panama," Pavle Vuckovic
"Oka," Souleymane Cisse
"Hayored Lema'Ala," Elad Keidan

Out of Competition
"Irrational Man," Woody Allen
"Asphalte," Samuel Benchetrit
"Mad Max: Fury Road," George Miller
"Inside Out," Pete Doctor and Ronaldo De Carmen
"The Little Prince," Mark Osbourne

Un Certain Regard
"Fly Away Solo," Neeraj Ghaywan
"Rams," Grímur Hakonarson
"Journey to the Shore," Kurosawa Kiyoshi
"I Am A Soldier," Laurent Lariviere
"The High Sun," Dalibor Matanic
"The Other Side," Roberto Minervini
"One Floor Below," Radu Muntean
"The Shamless," Oh Seung-Uk
"The Chosen Ones," David Pablos
"Nahid," Ida Panahandeh
"The Treasure," Corneliu Porumboiu
"The Fourth Direction," Gurvinder Singh
"Madonna," Shin Suwon

Jumping out to me as a Telluride junky are:

From the Palme d'Or competition titles:  "Dheepan", "The Tale of Tales", "Carol", "Macbeth", "The Sea of Trees" and "Sicario".

Also catching my eye is Barbet Schroeder's "Amnesia".

Ellwood says that other titles will likely be added next week including up to an additional two competition titles so stay tuned for that.

Cannes Analysis:

HitFix:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/inside-out-carol-and-macbeth-highlight-the-2015-cannes-film-festival-selections

 Indiewire:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/5-observations-about-the-2015-cannes-film-festival-lineup-20150416


The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/macbeth-todd-haynes-carol-pixars-inside-out-lead-2015-cannes-film-festival-line-up-20150416


'JOBS" IS DONE

On a different note, The Film Stage tweeted news this week that principal phtography has been completed on Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs biopic that stars Michael Fassbender as the APple founder.  The film is set for an October release so the news that it's "wrapped" means that it could have an appearance at Telluride.  Boyle was at T-ride previously with "Slumdog Millionaire" and "127 Hours".  Check the tweet from The Film Stage:

https://twitter.com/TheFilmStage/status/587720599226736640/photo/1



"SUFFRAGETTE" TEASER

This week also saw the appearance of a  teaser for Sarah Gavron's "Suffragette".  The film looks to me like a moderately likely Telluride choice.  Check the teaser below via YouYube:

More on Monday...Have a great weekend everyone...

Cannes Gets Closer/McQueen-Flynn Collaboration

Good Monday World...

CANNES GETTING CLOSER

With the next big Telluride harbinger being the announcement of the Cannes Film Fest lineup now down to a mere two and a half weeks away, the speculation, and in some cases-informed"speculation,  about what titles will be named for the lineup is growing more intense.

This past week, two giant posts went up exploring the Cannes possibilities from Variety and Screen Daily.  Variety's seems to be a bit more discriminating about their considerations while the Screen Daily Post seems more like a grab bag of every possibility.

There are films that appear, as you might expect, in both places that I have thought seemed like they could also make the trip to Southwest Colorado for Labor Day weekend. Among them are:

Jacques Audiard's "Erran" (Dheepan?)
Matteo Garrone's "The Tale of Tales"
Jeff Nichols' "Midnight Special"
Todd Haynes' "Carol"
Denis Villaneuve's "Sicario"
Sean Penn's "The Last Face"
Stephen Frears' "Icon"
Gus Van Sant's "The Sea of Trees"
Barbet Schroeder's "Amnesia"


A couple of other notes:  Screen Daily's post suggests Justin Kurzel's "Macbeth" and Abdellatif Kechiche's "Le Blessure" are possibilities while Variety does not.

Variety says Sarah Gavron's "Suffragette" will not be ready and Hollywood Elsewhere's Jeff Wells suggests that it may headed for Telluride/Toronto;

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2015/03/varietys-cannes-forecast/


We know that "Mad Max: Fury Road" and Woody Allen's "Irrational Man" as well as Pixar's "Inside Out" have been announced or are very likely to play as some part of the fest.  There's also a lot of buzz that Brad Bird's "Tomorrowland" will appear.

And finally, there's Cary Fukunaga's "Beasts of No Nation" which I might highlight as a Telluride possibility because of Fukunaga's "True Detective" success last year.  Both Variety and Screen Daily think it could appear in some section of the Cannes lineup but with Netflix distributing...and major theater chains boycotting the film because of the expectation that the film will be released for screens and VOD simultaneously...who knows what that means for any chance that it would have some play at fall film fests.  Stay tuned...

Here are the links to the complete Cannes posts from Variety and Screen Daily:

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/cannes-film-festival-whats-in-and-whats-out-1201460030/

http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/cannes/and-the-cannes-line-up-is/5085749.article





MC QUEEN-FLYNN COLLABORATION

You know that if a film maker has made a total of three films and all three have played the Telluride Film Fest, that you'd better think that film #4 is a strong candidate to make an appearance.  Such is the case with British film maker Steve McQueen.

McQueen's "Hunger", "shame" and "12 Years a Slave" all played Telluride so I pay attention to announcements concerning his projects.  We know that he has been involved with an HBO project entitled "Codes of Conduct" and there had been some talk that his next feature film would be a biopic on Paul Robeson but news this week suggests otherwise.  Multiple sources reported that McQueen will next direct a heist themed picture penned by Gillian Flynn-you know-"Gone Girl".

The film will be based on a British television miniseries called "Widows".

That's an interesting combination of talents as well as an interesting switch in film styles for McQueen.  Reporting seems to indicate that the Robeson project has been moved back in favor of this...and it will be intriguing to see if the completed film becomes McQueen's fourth Telluride entrant.

For that matter, depending on HBO's plans for when "Codes of Conduct" will be rolled out, I suppose that IT could be McQueen's fourth Telluride appearance.

Linked here are reports on the collaboration from The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and Thompson on Hollywood:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gillian-flynn-joins-steve-mcqueen-784886

http://deadline.com/2015/03/gillian-flynn-steve-mcqueen-heist-thriller-widows-new-regency-film-4-1201399898/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/gillian-flynn-and-steve-mcqueen-team-for-heist-thriller-20150327


More on Thursday...

Continuing to Talk Cannes/The Playlist 50 Best of the 2010's (So Far)

Good Monday All.  Back from Spring Break and a slighter post than normal today as a result...


CONTINUING TO TALK CANNES

Hollywood News' Joey Magidson names ten films he thinks are very likely to play the Cannes fest and though the list is small, a number of the titles have real Telluride possibilities.  From Magidson's list:

Todd Haynes' "Carol"
Jacques Audiard's "Erran"/"Dheepan"
Justin Kurzel's "Macbeth"
Gus Van Sant's "The Sea of Trees" and
Matteo Garrone's "The Tale of Tales"

Check out the complete list here:


http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2015/03/19/which-films-could-play-this-year-at-the-cannes-film-festival/


THE PLAYLIST'S 50 BEST OF THE 2010'S (SO FAR)

This week The Playlist published a list of 50 films that they name as the best of the decade so far.  I was curious about how many films made the list that played at Telluride so here that list within a list is:

#46 "Birdman"
#44 "Gravity"
#35 "Black Swan"
#33 "12 Years a slave"
#31 "No"
#27 "Amour"
#24 "Two Days, One Night"
#22 "The Hunt"
#21 "Foxcatcher"
#19 "Frances Ha"
#14 "Leviathan"
#13 "Stories We Tell"
#10 "Inside Llewyn Davis"
#9 "A Prophet"
#6 "Blue is the Warmest Color"
#4 "The Act of Killing"
#3 "Under the Skin"
#1 "A Separation"

Fully 19 of the "top 50" World or North American premieres happened at Telluride.  What an incredible track record.

Take a look at The Playlist's complete list here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-50-best-films-of-the-decade-so-far-20150225



More on Thursday...

More from the Cannes Speculation Front/"Suffragette" Gets Focus/"Trumbo" Set for November Release

Good Thursday Everyone...

It's Spring Break at the Patterson house which means that as soon as this is posted this morning, I am out the door with the Boss and we are headed to a quick run through Santa Fe and Colorado.  I'm looking forward to it.

MORE FROM THE CANNES SPECULATION FRONT

Cate Blanchett in "Carol"

The staff of The Playlist posted their Cannes wish/guess list this week and it has, not surprisingly, a number of titles that could make the Cannes/Telluride double play.  Among them:

Todd Haynes' "Carol"
Justin Kurzel's "Macbeth"
Jacques Audiard's "Erran" or "Dheepan"
Matteo Garrone's "The Tale of Tales"
Gus Van Sant's "The Sea of Trees"


http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/20-films-we-hope-to-see-at-the-2015-cannes-film-festival-20150316




"SUFFRAGETTE" GETS FOCUS

The cast of "Suffragette"

Sarah Gavron's "Suffragette" has been on my Telluride possibility radar for a long, long time and continues to be.  I had it on the watch list last year for TFF #41 and have returned to it again this year.  Now comes word that the film has a U.S. distributor and it is Focus Features.  That actually may diminish its T-ride profile.  Focus has had a limited presence at Telluride over the last decade plus as you can see here:

2003: Lost in Translation
2004: The Motorcycle Diaries
2005: Brokeback Mountain
2006: Catch a Fire
2012: Hyde Park on Hudson

Last year. Focus focused its Oscar hopes on "The Theory of Everything" which very specifically went to Toronto.  Focus also has the next Eddie Redmayne project as their other Oscar pony for 2015, "The Danish Girl".

Working in the film's T-ride favor is that fact that Sarah Gavron has a Telluride history with the presentation of her 2007 film "Brick Lane" as a part of the 34th Festival.

Additionally, both Jeff Wells/Hollywood Elsewhere and Greg Ellwood/HitFix suggest Telluride as a real possibility for the film.  Check the links below for full coverage of the acquisition announcement:

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2015/03/street-fighting-women/

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/meryl-streep-and-carey-mulligan-will-fight-on-in-suffragette-this-awards-season

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2015/03/focus-features-acquires-suffragette/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/focus-features-adds-suffragette-to-2015-potential-awards-slate-20150317

http://www.indiewire.com/article/focus-features-acquires-suffragette-with-carey-mulligan-meryl-streep-20150317


"TRUMBO" SET FOR NOVEMBER RELEASE

Bryan Cranston as Dalton Trumbo

Jay Roach's "Trumbo" starring Bryan Cranston has a release date smack in the middle of awards season according to the mid-week announcement from Bleeker Street, its distributor.  I have this film on my T-ride watch list mostly because I want it to be at Telluride.  I'm fascinated by Dalton Trumbo's story and I think Bryan Cranston is a genius.  So the news that it's set for release in the U.S. on Nov. 6th positions it for some kind of fall film play.

Check the announcement form Variety here:

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/bryan-cranstons-trumbo-set-for-nov-6-release-1201454480/



That's all for now.  More on Sunday...at the end of Spring Break!

"Mr. Holmes" is Off the Case/Jake Howell's Cannes Considerations/20 Anticipated Foreign Films/Ethan and Seymour

Good Monday World,


"MR. HOLMES" IS OFF THE CASE

Admittedly, Bill Condon's "Mr. Holmes" starring Sir Ian McKellen and Laura Linney has been a film that I thought had the right pedigree to be considered for the TFF #42 schedule.  It is also a film that I have unashamedly been hoping would make a stop in Telluride over Labor Day weekend.  I had even envisioned an Ian McKellen tribute a possibility.  After all, the film has a stellar set of characteristics to mark it as a Telluride film: Bill Condon's been to T-ride before.  Laura Linney has been to Telluride a lot.  It's produced, in part, by See Saw Films and BBC Films, both of which are often represented by films at Telluride and it's being distributed by Roadside Attractions (and Miramax) which has a serious Telluride profile over the past few years:

2014: "Mommy:, "The Homesman" and " '71"
2013: "All is Lost" and "Gloria"
2012: "Stories We Tell"
2011: "Albert Nobbs"
2010: "Biutiful"

There was a lot of smoke there but those flames were doused this week with the announcement that the film will be released in the U.S. on July 17th.

Here's the story from Awards Circuit:

http://www.awardscircuit.com/2015/03/12/release-date-set-for-mr-holmes-starring-ian-mckellen-directed-by-bill-condon/

So...no "Mr. Holmes" at Telluride or Toronto or any other fall film fest.  It seems very odd to me especially if you're thinking that Sir Ian might have an Oscar play here.  I'd love to know what the internal process was that led to this decision.

CANNES CONSIDERATIONS

The next few weeks should see an uptick in the speculation about what films will be announced as a part of the Cannes lineup.  I snagged the link to Jake Howell's Cannes speculation this week.  I believe this is the third year consecutively that I have featured Jake's analysis and detective work. Find it here at Movie City News:

http://moviecitynews.com/2015/03/divining-cannes-2015/


Jake's Cannes musings about "Likely Subjects"  that also might foreshadow a Cannes/Telluride connection seem to me to include:

Jacques Audiard's "Dheepan" (which has been called "Erran" until very recently)
Matteo Garrone;s "The Tale of Tales"
Walter Salles "Jia Zhhang-ke by Walter Salles"
Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" (though, I can't believe it would be finished in time for Cannes)
Gus Van Sant's "The Sea of Trees"

Among the other possibilities that Howell entertains are these films that could make the Telluride grade:

Sean Penn's "The Last Face"
Todd Haynes "Carol"

Take a look at the entirety of Jake's post and see what you think.


20 ANTICIPATED FOREIGN FILMS

Also out this week was a post from The Playlist with their 20 most anticipated foreign films for 2015. That seemed like an excellent companion piece to Howell's Cannes spec piece and you can find it here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-20-most-anticipated-foreign-films-of-2015-20150114


Perusing the list I found that the most likely Telluride players didn't appear until very near the top. Making the list and mine are:

at #7: Jacques Audiard's Dheepan (Erran)
#5 Wim Wenders "Every Thing Will Be Fine"
#3 Abdellafit Kechiche's "La Blessure"
#1 Michael Haneke's "Flashmob"



ETHAN AND SEYMOUR

Ethan Hawke's TFF #41 Documentary "Seymour: An Introduction" opened on Friday.  As a part of the rollout, Ethan Hawke spoke with The Dissolve:

http://thedissolve.com/features/interview/954-ethan-hawke-tries-to-figure-it-out/



More on Thursday...