Premiere Uncertainty / Multiple Trailers to Consider / New York Doc Reveal / Parasite Already Looking Toward Oscar / Current Ten Bets / The People's Telluride

Thursday...One Week...One Day...

PREMIERE UNCERTAINTY

Reading premiere statuses has become THE tea leaf reading essential to grasping what films are possibly playing at Telluride but it's not a perfect or exact science.  Every year it seems that there are a couple of films which are announced with one status and then it turns out that that designation is incorrect.  When that happens, depending on what was announced,  you can end up including a film for TFF or excluding it from TFF and then find out on announcement morning that you got it wrong.  

This year is no different in terms of the fact that it's happened...it does seem like there is more confusion than the past few years.

You're already probably aware that Malick's A Hidden Life was a focus of some confusion when it was reported by at least one outlet to be a North American premiere at Toronto which would mean no slot for it at Telluride.  Later it was discovered that it is, in fact, a Canadian premiere at TIFF and consequently probably IS playing TFF #46.

If you've been reading along the past two weeks you know that we've had some confusion about Beanpole and The Truth.  We think we have Beanpole back in as probable for Telluride despite its continued designation by Toronto as a North American Premiere.  As far as The Truth...that hasn't become clear yet.  Again, TIFF is listing it as a North American premiere but I still have whispers that it's a Telluride play.

And...now...I'm hearing a bit of scuttlebutt that the list of NA preems at Toronto may include still a couple of other films that I had written off.  I'm going to try to nail some of that down before I post this week's new list of "Bets".

And finally, let me tease you a little that over the past week or so I've heard a couple of really intriguing suggestions about films that I haven't considered seriously making an appearance next week.  I'm hoping to get to a point where I can either confirm confidently or debunk...but if a couple of these things happen...there will be some surprises.

MULTIPLE TRAILERS TO CONSIDER

Since my last post on Tuesday there has been a deluge of teasers and trailers for films that will or could still play on the Telluride screens: Marriage Story, an IMAX trailer for Ad Astra, Antlers and Bombshell (was previously the Untitled Jay Roach Roger Ailes project).  I have downloaded all of them from YouTube.

Additionally, the word is that we're supposed to get a trailer for The Report later today.

MARRIAGE STORY X 2

We're very sure this is already in the lineup for next week

What I Love About Nicole:

:

What I Love About Charlie:

AD ASTRA IMAX

I still am clinging to a slender reed of hope that this screens in Venice and then makes the trip to southwest Colorado.

ANTLERS

Scott Cooper's last two projects screened at Telluride: Black Mass and Hostiles.  The producer is a guy named Guillermo Del Toro...you might remember him for a little thing called The Shape of Water.

BOMBSHELL

Admittedly...an outside shot at best.

NEW YORK DOC REVEAL

The New York Film Fest revealed its documentary choices yesterday and, unusually, they revealed nothing abut what will play at The SHOW only what likely will not as each announced film was labeled by NYFF as a World, North American or U.S. premiere.

Among docs that seem to be off the Telluride plate are:

Tim Robbins' 45 Seconds of Laughter

Michael Apted's 63 Up

Lynn Novick's College Behind Bars

Nanni Moretti's Santiago Italia

Sergei Loznitsa's State Funeral

The complete documentary announcement from the Film Society of Lincoln Center is linked here.

PARASITE ALREADY LOOKING TOWARD OSCAR

Deadline.com reports that South Korea has chosen Palme d'Or winner, Bong Joon-ho's Parasite to be its entrant for Oscar glory in the newly re-named category Best International Film (formerly Best Foreign Language Film).

Deadline's Nancy Tartiglione reported the choice yesterday.

For Bong, it's his second selection to represent South Korea in the Oscar sweepstakes having been selected back in 2006 for his film Mother.

Parasite opens in the U.S. on Oct. 11th.

The complete Deadline story is here.


CURRENT TEN BETS AND BONUS BETS

10) The Aeronauts
9) Ford v. Ferrari
8) The Two Popes
7) Judy
6) Pain and Glory
5) Uncut Gems
4) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
3) Motherless Brooklyn
2) Marriage Story
1) Parasite


Bonus Bets:

Bonus 1) Varda by Agnes
Bonus 2) First Cow
Bonus 3) A Hidden Life
Bonus 4) The Report
Bonus 5) The Kingmaker
Bonus 6) The Climb
Bonus 7) Waves
Bonus 8) Lyrebird
Bonus 9) Verdict

Of course a new Ten Bets and Bonus Bets is coming tomorrow... plus the dwindling list of films that are still possible...


THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

For the eighth consecutive year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".


Report your ratings with any of the following contact methods:


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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Beanpole Back In? / Motherless Blitz Is On / Varda Has a Date / IMDb Reveals ? / Current Bets

Tuesday...One Week...3 Days...

BEANPOLE BACK IN?

If you've been reading this space closely the last few days, you know that there has been some confusion concerning whether either Beanpole or The Truth might play Telluride after both films were listed as North American premieres last week in an announcement of films for the Toronto International Film Fest.

I'd had Beanpole as fairly certain for TFF #46 as a result of its status as "New York" premieres in the NYFF announcement of their lineup back on Aug. 8th.

Now Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere says Beanpole is in for Telluride after all.  Here's a screenshot from his site that he posted last night:

So...Beanpole goes back on the Bonus Bets list on Friday and I am still thinking The Truth has a real shot to be at TFF #46 after it opens the Venice Fest next week.

Well's complete post is linked here.

MOTHERLESS BLITZ IS ON

I'm morally certain that Edward Norton's Motherless Brooklyn will screen in Telluride next week.  The film is known to be set to screen at Toronto (where it is listed as an International Premiere) and New York.  Clearly as a run up to what will be its first public screening at TFF #46, the film was all over the P.R. trail yesterday.

Katey rich writing for Vanity Fair talked to director/screen writer and star of the film Edward Norton.  That article was posted yesterday by VF and you can find it linked here.  Included in that article are the first looks of the period set film that IMDb lists as a Crime/Drama.

The IMDb logline tells us that the film focuses on a private detective who has Tourette's Syndrome and is striving to solve the murder of his partner.  Also starring in the film are Willem Dafoe, Alec Baldwin, Bruce Willis and Leslie Mann.

Both The Playlist and Indiewire piggy-backed on the Vanity Fair story (as I'm doing).  You can find their added reportage linked here:

Indiewire

The Playlist

In addition to the photo above, VF also included these stills from the film:

Motherless Brooklyn is set to be released on Nov. 1st.

VARDA HAS A DATE

Janus Pictures has acquired the U.S. rights to distribute the final film of Agnes Varda's career-Varda by Agnes- and have announced that the film...which will be playing Telluride (he says authoritatively-based on its status for the New York Film Fest as a "New York" premiere)...will open in the U.S. on Nov. 22nd in New York.  The film will then expand nationally in the following weeks.

Janus also announced that a massive retrospective of Varda's career will be launched at Lincoln Center in NYC on Dec. 20th.

Coverage of the date announcement was provided yesterday from The Hollywood Reporter and The Playlist.

IMDB REVEALS...

Yesterday an eagle eyed follower of MTFB pointed out to me that some films have a Telluride date included in there IMDb release date profile.  The initial discovery was on IMDb Pro but after some skulking about, I found that it was also discernible on the more easily accessed IMDb website.  

The specific film that the reader was pointing to was Ford v. Ferrari.  I was able to find the same TFF conformation for Marriage Story, The Two Popes and Uncut Gems.  

I also ran through every film that I have currently in the latest Ten Bets and Bonus Bets but only these four came up with Telluride listed in their release plans.

Suffice it to say that I'll keep going back to this source over the next few days to find out if it will reveal any more TFF #46 information.

Check date info for yourself as follows:

Ford v. Ferrari

Uncut Gems

Marriage Story

The Two Popes

CURRENT TEN BETS AND BONUS BETS

10) The Aeronauts
9) Ford v. Ferrari
8) The Two Popes
7) Judy
6) Pain and Glory
5) Uncut Gems
4) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
3) Motherless Brooklyn
2) Marriage Story
1) Parasite


Bonus Bets:

Bonus 1) Varda by Agnes
Bonus 2) First Cow
Bonus 3) A Hidden Life
Bonus 4) The Report
Bonus 5) The Kingmaker
Bonus 6) The Climb
Bonus 7) Waves
Bonus 8) Lyrebird
Bonus 9) Verdict


THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE

For the eighth consecutive year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".


Report your ratings with any of the following contact methods:


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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Latest Toronto Announcements / New Trailers and Teaser: A Hidden Life, Little Women, Ad Astra, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Parasite

Thursday...Two weeks and one day...


LATEST TORONTO ANNOUNCEMENTS

First of all, take all of this with a grain of salt as the announcements from Toronto on Tuesday seemed to be off a bit in terms of premiere designations.  Most of the confusion fell on Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life that was reported at least by one outlet as a North American premiere but which TIFF's own website now labels as a Canadian premiere thereby affirming its likelihood for Telluride. 

However, both The Truth and Beanpole, which I had concluded were probably playing Telluride because of the New York film fest labeling both films New York premieres rather than U.S. premieres, were announced by TIFF as North American preems which would indicate no Telluride play.

After some back and forth behind the scenes, I think that there is still a chance that one or both of those films might still make a Telluride appearance.

Films that were otherwise confirmed for Telluride by their designations as Canadian premieres by TIFF included:

The Aeronauts
The Climb
Verdict
and after some hubbub...A Hidden Life

International premiere status points to the possibility of:

Dan Freidkin's Lyrebird...a post WWII story of an investigation into art theft and more.
Trey Edward Shults' Waves...about the vagaries of young love starring Lucas Hedges.

Appearing to drop out of the Telluride possibles list: Noah Hawley's Lucy in the Sky (slated as a World Premiere for TIFF), and Benedict Andrews' Seberg (billed as a North American premiere).  Also, Ken Loach's Sorry We Missed You, Haifaa Al-Mansour's The Perfect Candidate and Ladj Ly's Les Miserables.

Toronto has one more set of films to announce and will do so next Tuesday.



NEW TRAILERS AND TEASERS

A HIDDEN LIFE


A trailer for Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life (which I think IS going to Telluride) was revealed Tuesday from the Fox Searchlight folks.  Here it is from YouTube:

The trailer's great and I have hopes that Malick is back in Tree of Life/Thin Red Line territory.


LITTLE WOMEN

Here's the first trailer for Greta Gerwig's Little Women...which with the absence of its inclusion by Toronto in their Tuesday announcement, means it's still a minuscule Telluride possibility...and remember, I still have it in my fevered brain as a potential surprise sneak peek...

Here is that trailer, also from YouTube:

Yes please...

AD ASTRA

Unlikely but not eliminated...

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

Back to a film I'm almost dead certain will play in a couple of weeks...Celine Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire.   Thanks be to YouTube:

PARASITE

Also a lock for Labor Day...

CURRENT TEN BETS AND BONUS BETS

With a new Ten Bets coming tomorrow!

10) The Aeronauts
9) Ford v. Ferrari
8) The Two Popes
7) Pain and Glory
6) Uncut Gems
5) Judy
4) Motherless Brooklyn
3) Marriage Story
2) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
1) Parasite

Bonus 1) The Truth
Bonus 2) Varda by Agnes
Bonus 3) First Cow
Bonus 4) A Hidden Life
Bonus 5) The Report
Bonus 6) Beanpole
Bonus 7) The Kingmaker


DON'T FORGET TO PLAN TO RATE!

For the eighth consecutive year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".


Report your ratings with any of the following contact methods:


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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Ten Bets #5 (Post Toronto and Venice Announcements) / Indiewire's 100 Best Films of the Decade and Telluride / First Looks at Seberg and The King / And a Word About The Aeronauts

Hello to all from NYC...here's your end of the week MTFB post...


TEN BETS #5 (Post Toronto and Venice Announcements)

Time for a new Ten Bets that takes into account the information provided by Toronto's list of film choices from last Tuesday and the Venice reveal yesterday.


Here's last week's Ten Bets and "Other Possibilities":

10) Country Music/Ryman Concert
9) The Truth
8) Judy
7) Motherless Brooklyn
6) Marriage Story (Previously Untitled Baumbach)
5) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
4) The Climb
3) Parasite
2) Family Romance LLC
1) Varda by Agnes

Little Women drops into the "Others in Play" category due to a bunch of buzz this past week that it might forgo festivals altogether.  Also on that list: The Good Liar, Jojo Rabbit, The Goldfinch, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Untitled Todd Haynes Project, Atlantics, The Laundromat, Radioactive, The Lighthouse, Harriet, Nomadland, Synonyms, Ad Astra, Molly, Lucy in the Sky, Uncut Gems, The Personal History of David Copperfield.



Now the latest Ten Bets:

10) The Truth
9) Ford v. Ferrari
8) The Two Popes
7) Pain and Glory
6) Uncut Gems
5) Judy
4) Motherless Brooklyn
3) Marriage Story
2) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
1) Parasite


Other Possibilities:


Varda by Agnes, Family Romance LLC, Country Music/Ryman Concert, The Climb, Little Women, The Good Liar, Untitled Todd Haynes Project (Dry Run?), Atlantics, Nomadland, Synonyms, Ad Astra, Molly, Lucy in the Sky, Seberg, Wasp Network, The King, The Aeronauts, First Cow, A Hidden Life.

I'm feeling bullish on The Climb, Ad Astra, The Aeronauts and Dry Run.


INDIEWIRE'S 100 BEST FILMS OF THE DECADE AND TELLURIDE

Inside Llewyn Davis

Indiewire put together their take on the 100 best films of 2010-2019 this week.  Telluride films were named 24 times.

Here they are listed by position on Indiewire's chart:

91- Fire at Sea

88- We Need to Talk About Kevin

85- The Illusionist

73- La La Land

62- Shoplifters

58- The Turin Horse

55- Frances Ha

54- Cold War

45- A Separation

37- Roma

34- Stories We Tell

29- First Reformed

27- The Wind Rises

25- Amour

19- Toni Erdmann

14- Leviathan

10- Lady Bird

7- Carol

5- Inside Llewyn Davis

4- The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence

2- Under the Skin

1- Moonlight


Personally- A Separation is under-rated here and you know I would have included Birdman.


Here's the link to the entire list of 100 films .


FIRST LOOKS AT SEBERG AND THE KING

With the announcement from Venice that Benedict Andrews Seberg and David Michod's The King would play in competition and no previous announcement from Toronto concerning either film, we have to think about both as T-ride possibilities.  We've had Seberg, previously titled Against All Enemies, on the radar for awhile.  The King...not so much but that doesn't mean it hasn't become a serious thought in the last 24 hours.

At any rate here are first looks for both films from Indiewire:

SEBERG (starring Kristen Stewart as French legend Jean Seberg):

THE KING (starring Timothee Chalamet in an adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry V):

Indiewire's Seberg story is linked here

And their story about The King is linked here.



AND FINALLY A WORD ABOUT THE AERONAUTS

Deadline reports that Tom Harper's The Aeronauts has moved back its release date to Dec. 6th.  The film is from Amazon Studios and the date change (from Oct. 25th) is seen as a move to strengthen its awards season potential.

Of primary concern is that Deadline reports as well that they think the film will be at TFF #46.

Article author Andreas Wiseman says "Our sources indicate Telluride is currently in the plans".

The complete Deadline article is here.

And, by the way, the article also talks about Amazon's plans with The Report...which played originally at Sundance but which I am still banging the drum about for a T-ride play.


That's the last MTFB for this week.  I'll have some more on Monday...


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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

I'm Not Official / Ten Bets 2019 #4 / New Trailer and Poster for Ad Astra / Ruimy Ruminates on Telluride

Hello from Salem, Oregon...

I'M NOT OFFICIAL 

And by that I mean...I have been denied media accreditation for the 46th Telluride Film Festival.  

I was first accredited in 2011 and have been accredited each year since then.  Eight straight.  This year...not so much.

The email notification came a week ago and said that the fest was"unfortunately unable" to offer me the accreditation.  The email went on to say that I'd be able to apply as a "new applicant" next year.

I responded with an email asking two questions:  Is there a specific reason I was denied and is there an appeal process.  

Let me be honest here.  I understand that the accreditation isn't a given and that the fest fully has the right to accredit whomever and whatever in any manner they choose.

And, as a practical matter, the accreditation means only a couple of things.  Media accreditation allows those that receive it to have priority access to the tributes as well as an additional four films of the holder's choosing and an invite to the Patron Preview on Friday afternoon.  It has also meant that I have received email notices from the fest about such items as the Guest Director, Poster Artist etc.

Also, as a side benefit, accredited journalists are placed on a list which results in direct notifications from the film distributors and publicists.  In turn, that has meant invitations to parties from Fox Searchlight, Netflix and Cohen Media.  I know that that's a shallow thing to get hung up on...but it has been nice for an Oklahoma guy to get invited to Hollywood parties.

Ultimately, the denial of accreditation stings especially after eight years of having been approved.  

TEN BETS 2019 #4

Here's the latest installment of MTFB's Ten Bets and that last one before announcements from other film fests (Toronto, Venice, London and New York...maybe Fantastic Fest) begin to give us a clear-eyed version of what we might expect to see over Labor Day weekend.

Here's last week's Ten Bets:

10) Nomadland
9) Judy
8) Motherless Brooklyn
7) Portrait of a Lady on Fire
6) Untitled Noah Baumbach Project
5) The Climb
4) Little Women
3) Family Romance LLC
2) Agnes by Varda
1) Parasite


Others in Play: The Good Liar, Jojo Rabbit, The Goldfinch, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Untitled Todd Haynes Project, Atlantics, The Laundromat, Radioactive, Country Music/Ryman Concert, The Lighthouse, Harriet, The Truth, Synonyms, Ad Astra, Molly, Lucy in the Sky.

This week's Ten Bets:


10) Country Music/Ryman Concert
9) The Truth
8) Judy
7) Motherless Brooklyn
6) Marriage Story (Previously Untitled Baumbach)
5) Portrait of a Lady on FIre
4) The Climb
3) Parasite
2) Family Romance LLC
1) Varda by Agnes

Little Women drops into the "Others in Play" category due to a bunch of buzz this past week that it might forgo festivals altogether.  Also on that list: The Good Liar, Jojo Rabbit, The Goldfinch, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Untitled Todd Haynes Project, Atlantics, The Laundromat, Radioactive, The Lighthouse, Harriet, Nomaland, Synonyms, Ad Astra, Molly, Lucy in the Sky, Uncut Gems, The Personal History of David Copperfield.

We'll get a big set of answers next week.


NEW TRAILER AND POSTER FOR AD ASTRA


Ahead of next week's announcements from Venice and Toronto came a new poster and trailer for James Gray's Ad Astra which suggest that we're likely to hear some news about that film in those announcements.

Here's the new poster:

And here's the link to the trailer via YouTube:

Additionally, Anton Volkov has reported via his Trailer Track website that we can expect to see trailers within a few days for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Harriet and The Goldfinch.

RUIMY RUMINATES ON TELLURIDE

Jordan Ruimy at his website World of Reel was one of the places that out me onto the Jeff Sneider Tweet that teases the possibility of Uncut Gems playing TFF that I reported yesterday,

Jordan put that same pic on his website along with a list pf films that he has an inkling might play Telluride in the same post:

These films look Telluride-bound:

The Safdies’ Uncut Gems
James Gray's Ad Astra
Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit
Fernando Meirelles' The Pope
Pablo Larrain's Ema
Hirokazu Kore-eda's The Truth
Bill Condon’s The Good Liar
Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story
Steven Soderbergh’s The Laundromat
Noah Hawley’s Lucy in the Sky
Michael Angeo Covino’s The Climb
Celine Sciamma’s  Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Werner Herzog’s Family Romance LLC
Agnes Varda’s Varda by Agnes
Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite

As you can see, Jordan's list looks a lot like mine...

Here's the link to Jordan's full story.


MORE REGARDING VENICE (AND TORONTO)

At the very bottom of yesterday's post you might have seen the late breaking blurb that Hirokazu Kore-eda's The Truth is the opening film.  That bodes well for a TFF screening.

The past six years of Venice openers suggest that The Truth is a very real possibility:

2018- First Man
2017- Downsizing
2016- La La Land
2015- Everest
2014- Birdman
2013- Gravity

That's five of the last six openers that went on to TFF.


Meanwhile Variety's Nick Vivarelli posted on Tuesday a string of films that he suggests will probably play at Venice.  Among those he lists that are best bets for Telluride as well are:

Ad Astra
Marriage Story
Joker
The Aeronauts
The Pope
The King
Against All enemies
Ema
Wasp Network

That Variety post is here.

Finally, Toronto announced its opening film will be a Canadian produced documentary about Robbie Robertson and The Band titled Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band.  That choice should have zero impact in terms of TFF 2019 films.


That's today's MTFB from Oregon.  I'll have more next week including the analysis of the first flight of announced films from Toronto and what those choices tell us about TFF #46,


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

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Telluride and the Oscar Part Six: Supporting Actor / Chazelle Back in the Game / THR's 20 Venice Possibles

Welcome to the Monkey House...


TELLURIDE AND THE OSCAR PART SIX: BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Today is Part Six of my series looking at the relationship between films from the Telluride Film Festival and the Oscars "Big Eight" categories with the focus today on Best Supporting Actor.  Beginning with 2005 (the year before I began attending the fest) here are all the Oscar nominees for that category.  Winners are indicated with ***.


2005: Jake Gyllenhaal/Brokeback Mountain
2006: Jackie Earle Haley/Little Children
2007: Hal Holbrook/Into the Wild
2008: No nominees
2009: Christopher Plummer/The Last Station
2010: Geoffrey Rush/The King's Speech
2011: No nominees
2012: Alan Arkin/Argo
2013: Michael Fassbender/12 Years a Slave
2014: Mark Ruffalo/Foxcatcher, Edward Norton/Birdman
2015: Mark Ruffalo/Spotlight
2016: Mahershala Ali/Moonlight***, Lucas Hedges/Manchester by the Sea
2017: Richard Jenkins/The Shape of Water
2018: Richard E. Grant/Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Notes:  The category that Telluride has held the least sway over in the 14 years with only 14 nominations during that time and just the single win for Mahershala Ali in 2016.

Mark Ruffalo is the only actor with two nominations in this category from TFF films and they came in back to back years with Foxcatcher in 2014 and Spotlight in 2015.

2008 and 2011 saw no nominations at all from T-ride films in the category.

To the best of my ability, it appears that the first TFF nominee in this category was Jaye Davidson for The Crying Game in 1992.

Thursday a look at Best Adapted Screenplay.



CHAZELLE BACK IN THE GAME

Emma Stone and Damien Chazelle

(Photo via Michael Buckner/Deadline/Shutterstock)

Mike Fleming writing at Deadline.com has reported as of yesterday that Damien Chazelle is in the process of lining up his next project.  Fleming reports that the film is an "original drama set in period Hollywood.  He further reports that Chazelle's Oscar winning star of his La La Land, Emma Stone, is considering taking the lead and that Lionsgate, which distributed  La La Land is said to be in the running to do the same for the new picture.

Deadline reports that the film's current title is Babylon.

It's worth noting for TFF fans as Chazelle's last two films have made their way there-La La Land and First Man.

Deadline does not report any specific timeline for the film.

The Deadline story is here.

Variety has reported that Paramount is also interested.

The Hollywood Reporter suggests that Netflix may also be interested and that Stone may be looking at playing real life early Hollywood star Clara Bow.


THR'S 20 VENICE POSSIBLES

The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Roxborough published a story yesterday listing 20 films that he/THR feel have some likelihood of playing the Venice Fest.  They announce the bulk of their lineup on July 25th.

As most readers here know, the Venice/Telluride connection has been significant over the past few years.

Among the 20 titles the one's that seem to have the most chance of being a Venice/Telluride combo film are:

James Gray's Ad Astra
Taika Waititi Jojo Rabbit
Kelly Reichardt's First Cow
Chloe Zhao's Nomadland
Fernando Meirelles' The Pope
Pablo Larrain's Ema
Hirokazu Kore-eda's The Truth

A couple of others to mention that are outside shots: Todd Phillips' Joker and Steven Soderbergh's The Laundromat

The article also includes Martin Scorsese's The Irishman which almost everyone believes will not be ready for Venice (and Hence Telluride).  Also mentioned is Greta Gerwig's Little Women, which is the only film among the 20 that Roxborough specifically mentions as a Telluride possibility...though he does also write about the current bizz that Little Women may not do any fest at all.

The complete THR article is linked here.


That'll do for this Tuesday.  I'll have more on Thursday.

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

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Indiewire's Cannes Wish List / Herzog on Gorbachev / More Country Music News

Welcome to Thursday...


INDIEWIRE'S CANNES WISH LIST

As we edge closer to the official announcement of the Cannes Film Festival lineup Indiewire has published its list of 50 films on their wish list for the 72nd edition of the French film affair.

Again, Scorsese's The Irishman and other Netflix titles are off the list and also likely off the Cannes list is James Gray's As Astra.

Among the 50 films that are on the Indiewire's hopefuls are these that I think seem Telluride-possible.  Most of the following titles have now become repeat mentions from previous Cannes' speculation pieces.  Alphabetically, those films are:

Ahmed (The Dardennes Brothers)
Ema (Pablo Larrain)
First Cow (Kelly Reichardt)
One Second (Zhang Yimou)
Radegund (Terrence Malick)
The Truth (Hirokazu Kore-eda)


The complete Indiewire list is here.


HERZOG ON GORBACHEV

Herzog at the Kremlin (via The Orchard and Indiewire)

Indiewire's Christian Blauvelt sat down with legendary filmmaker and Telluride "Esteemed Council of Advisors" member (and who has a TFF theater named for him) Werner Herzog last week to talk about his latest documentary film Meeting Gorbachev which premiered at TFF #45 last September.

Herzog's exploration of the former Russian/Soviet leader is scheduled for a May 3rd U.S. release from The Orchard.

The Indiewire interview with Herzog also includes an exclusive look at a trailer for the film.

You can find that interview here.


MORE COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS

The Tennessean reports that Ken Burns will donate a trove of the interviews that he and his crew have done for the upcoming PBS documentary Country Music to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Burns is currently in the midst of promoting the 8 part 16 hour doc before it screens on PBS on  September 15th.

Burns past extensive connection to Telluride and his frequent presence at the festival with various projects leads me to think that there is a better than fair chance that at least some of the doc will bow at TFF #46 over the Labor Day weekend.

The Tennessean reports that Burns will be donating all of the recorded interviews and transcripts from over 40 artists.

The complete Tennessean article is linked here.


That will do for today.  I'll have more on Monday.

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

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The Cannes Speculation Begins / But Not This One? / And on a Related Note...Venice-Netflix? / Early Oscar Analysis

Welcome back for the weekend...Did you Spring Forward?  I sort of shambled forward...


THE CANNES SPECULATION BEGINS

With the Cannes Film Festival just a couple of months away, it's time to start thinking in a serious fashion what could play as part of their programs with an eye, then. to those films that could bow in France and then have their North American unveiling over Labor Day weekend in the Colorado Rockies.

To that end, you may have notice The Hollywood Reporter's analysis this week of 50 films that their authors say have a shot at making the 2019 Cannes lineup.

Casting an eye over that moderately extensive list of films, these are the titles that jump out at me as worth a glance as we look for films that could make the TFF #45 program (click on the title to go to its IMDb page):

Against All Enemies dir: Benedict Andrews

Ahmed dir: The Dardennes Brothers

The Truth dir: Hirokazu Koreeda

Ema dir. Pablo Larrain

Radegund dir. Terrence Malick (admittedly more a wish than a prophecy)

First Cow dir: Kelly Reichardt

The Laundromat dir. Stephen Soderbergh

 Of course, there are a number of others listed in the THR article that intrigue and could certainly pop up both in France and Telluride.  The complete THR article is linked here.


BUT NOT THIS ONE?

One film listed in the preceding THR linked story is Martin Scorsese's much anticipated Netflix backed gangster drama The Irishman.  Interestingly, within a day of its publication, ShowBiz411 reported that The Irishman will NOT be ready to make an appearance at Cannes.

Roger Friedman headlines his story from Thursday with "Confirmed: No Irishman at Cannes".  In the body of the story Friedman writes "The film is shot...but the special effects will take months."  Friedman also implies that The Irishman might eschew fall fests altogether which would certainly fit Scorsese's recent M.O.

The complete ShowBiz411 post is linked here.


AND ON A RELATED AND GAME CHANGING NOTE...VENICE/NETFLIX?

Eric Kohn wrote a piece this last week at Indiewire which explores where the Cannes/Netflix relationship is and may be headed.  In it he reports that the Venice International Film Festival may be following Cannes path in regards to screening of Netflix films as the battle over how various entities, Festivals and the Oscars particularly, deal with the films that are produced by the streaming giant.

Kohn reports that a recently signed law in Italy that would establish guidelines for theatrical distribution of films there that are similar to the laws in France which have been the central issue in the ongoing Netflix-Cannes confrontation.

Kohn writes, "The Lido may off limits to Netflix in the coming year".  Additionally, he speculates  that that turn of events could conceivably benefit Telluride (and Toronto) writing that it "could be very good" for both fests.

The full paragraph from Kohn is a s follows:

"Netflix doesn’t necessarily need a bump from the festival for its most anticipated films. “Roma” found plenty of acclaim at Venice, Telluride, and Toronto. The Lido may be off-limits to Netflix in the coming year, as Italy’s Minister of Culture Albert Bonisoli signed a law in November requiring theatrical windows in the country similar to the rule in France. But Telluride and Toronto, both of which declined comment for this story, continue to maintain close relationships with Netflix and remain tangible fall launchpads for awards-season hopefuls."

The complete Kohn story is linked here.



EARLY OSCAR ANALYSIS

Also from Indiewire this week is a peak at early Oscar speculation from their resident Oscar guru Anne Thompson.  The article focuses specifically on directors that she perceives might be on the Oscar short list in the months after Telluride comes to a close but still gives us some good fodder for thinking about films that might make their way to the San Juans.

On her list that might be worth our contemplation (and, as above, linked to their IMDb page):

Noah Baumbach' Untitled Project (starring Adam Driver)

Greta Gerwig's Little Women

Noah Hawley's Lucy in the Sky

Marielle Heller's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Hirokazu Koreeda's The Truth (mentioned and linked above)

Dee Ree's The Last Thing He Wanted

Jay Roach's Fair and Balanced

Martin Scorsese's The Irishman (if it's ready and fall fests are even a part of its release strategy...see above)

Joe Wright's The Woman in the Window

Thompson's complete Indiewire story is linked here.


That's today's MTFB.  More on Thursday.


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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG