LATE BREAKING: SAG-AFTRA AUTHROIZES STRIKE / May December Not in September / MTFB's Ten Bets #4 / Ioncinema Predicts Venice

LATE BREAKING: SAG/AFTRA AUTHORIZES STRIKE

The National Board of SAG-AFTRA officially announced that the organization's members would be on strike at noon Pacific Time today.  The strike goes into effect at midnight (Pacific) tonight.

In addition to a shutdown of active film making those of us who pay attention to film festivals note that this action means that no SAG-AFTRA member will be allowed to promote projects in which they are involved.  How this affects fest like Telluride and others is not totally clear.  I have seen some speculation that some studios may be reluctant to send a film to a fest or feasts without the fire power of its stars being able to accompany a film.

Will news outlets shift the amount and intensity of their coverage with no talent to pursue?

Whatever happens it seems that the Fall Film Fests have a new wrinkle to deal with.

Roger Friedman of ShowBiz411.com provides some analysis about the potential effect of the strike on fall film fests including Telluride.

MAY DECEMBER NOT IN SEPTEMBER

The headline above is my faux-clever way of passing on that it appears that Todd Haynes' May December will NOT be playing at Telluride 2023. 

The New York Film Fest announced on Tuesday from the frequent TFF attendee, will North American Premiere as the Opening Night Film for NYFF.  The "North American Premiere" status tells us that the film will not have played anywhere in North America prior to its NYFF gig and that means no Telluride play.

Honestly, the last couple of weeks has really got me thinking that I don't have much of a grasp of what's going on this year.  

Haynes has been a frequent TFF presence but his films don't always play in the San Juans...just very, very often.

For example, his 2019 thriller, Dark Waters, also premiered at NYFF and did not play TFF but then you have to go all the way back to 1998's Velvet Underground to find a non-Telluride screening.  Haynes has bowed The Velvet Underground, Wonderstruck, Carol, I'm Not There and Far From Heaven all did play TFF.

Which leads to...

MTFB'S TEN BETS #4

As you might expect, with the above news about may December, the new "Ten Bets" has some changes.

Additionally, as a warning, next week (7/19) we get a big slew of announcements from Toronto that historically wrecks the "Bets".  Maybe I should re-think my hobbies...

Last week's Ten Bets were:

1) May December/Haynes

2) Poor Things/Lanthimos

3) Strangers/Haigh

4) The Holdovers/Payne

5) Monster/Kore-eda

6) Saltburn/Fennell

7) Nyad/ Chin and Vasarhelyi

8) Anatomy of a Fall/Triet

9) El Conde/Larrain

10) The Teachers' Lounge/Catak

Now...with some chagrin, here's this week's Ten Bets:

1) The Holdovers/Alexander Payne

2) Poor Things/Yorgos Lanthimos

3) Saltburn/Emerald Fennell

4) Strangers/Andrew Haigh

5) Nyad/Chin and Vasarhelyi

6) Monster/Kore-eda

7) Anatomy of a Fall/Justine Triet

8) Fallen Leaves/Aki Kaurismaki

9) The Teachers' Lounge/Ilker Catak

10) The Pot-au-Feu/Trinh Hung

Other possibilities: The Zone of Interest/Glazer, The End/Oppenheimer, El Conde/Pablo Larrain, Freud's Last Session/Brown, The Royal Hotel/Green, Rustin/Wolfe, The American Buffalo/Burns, Priscilla/Coppola and Shirley/Ridley.

IONCINEMA PREDICTS VENICE

Ioncinema put together a three part list of 75 possibilities for the Venice Fest.  Some Venice films are very likely to subsequently play at Telluride.  From the Ioncinema lists, here's a guess about some of the films that might make the trans-Atlantic jump:

From Part One:

The Burial/Maggie Betts

Daaaaaali!/Quentin Dupieux

Drive-Away Dolls/Ethan Coen***

El Conde/Pablo Larrain

Fingernails/Christos Nikou

From Part Two:

The Captain/Matteo Garrone

Lee/Ellen Kuras

Love Lies Bleeding/Rose Glass

Maestro/Bradley Cooper

From Part Three:

Poor Things/Yorgos Lanthimos

Priscilla/Sofia Coppola***

Strangers/Andrew Haigh

**I'm actually fairly convinced that this film is going to play Toronto and play T-ride BUT, it's only one of two films that Ioncinema lists and specifically suggests that Telluride is a possibility.

***The other film that specifies that Telluride is a possibility

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MTFB Oscar Take: Updated Best Picture and Director / More from Todd Haynes / Hansen-Love and Bergman Island / AFI-TFF Crossover

MTFB OSCAR TAKE: UPDATED BEST PICTURE AND DIRECTOR

Here's the MTFB latest update on predictions for Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.  These categories were last predicted here on Oct. 4th.  As always TFF #48 films are indicate in Bold and the film's previous position is indicated to the right in parentheses.

BEST PICTURE

1) Belfast (1)

2) King Richard (3)

3) The Power of the Dog (2)

4) Licorice Pizza (4)

5) Dune (5)

6) West Side Story (6)

7) Nightmare Alley (7)

8) Spencer (9)

9) The Tragedy of Macbeth (8)

10) House of Gucci (New)

Alternates: CODA, Don't Look Up, and tick, tick...BOOM

 BEST DIRECTOR

1) Kenneth Branagh/Belfast (1)

2) Jane Campion/The Power of the Dog (2)

3) Denis Villenueve/Dune (3)

4) Guillermo del Toro/Nightmare Alley (5)

5) Paul Thomas Anderson/Licorice Pizza (4)

Alternates: Reinaldo Marcus Green/King Richard and Pablo Larrain/Spencer

MORE FROM TODD HAYNES

My last post included a Todd Haynes' interview with The Playlist.  Today I include a link to a separate Haynes interview that was posted last Thursday at Awards Daily.  Frank J. Avella wrote it up and it is linked here.

HANSEN-LOVE AND BERGMAN ISLAND

The Playlist's Andrew Bundy posted an interview with Bergman Island director and writer Mia Hansen-Love.  Hansen-Love has made my list of Telluride "Usual Suspects" with fest appearances over the years that have included: Things to Come and Goodbye First Love.

Here's the link to the interview.

AFI-TFF CROSSOVER

The American Film Institute has announced its full lineup for AFI Fest.  AFI's list includes a number of films that cross over with TFF #48 titles, especially documentaries.  They include:

Cow

Red Rocket

Petite Maman

King Richard

Unclenching the Fists

Bernstein's Wall

Citizen Ashe

Julia 

Procession

The Real Charlie Chaplin

And the Shorts:

Love, Dad

Motorcyclists Happiness Won't Fit Into His Suit

Play It Safe

Soft Animals

The complete rundown of AFI programming can be found here from Awards Watch.

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MTFB Oscar Take: Screenplays / Indiewire Critic's Survey of the Fall Fests / Todd Haynes on The Velvet Underground / Belfast Adults Are All Supporting

MTFB OSCAR TAKE: SCREENPLAYS

Here's your latest Oscar predictions for Screenplay writing from MTFB.  These categories were last updated here on Sept. 30th.  TFF #48 films are in Bold.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Belfast (1)

2) Licorice Pizza (2)

3) King Richard (4)

4) C'mon C'mon (5)

5) Don't Look Up (3)

Alternates: Mass and Spencer 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) The Power of the Dog (1)

2) Nightmare Alley (2)

3) The Lost Daughter (New)

4) CODA (4)

5) The Tragedy of Macbeth (5)

Alternates: House of Gucci, Dune and West Side Story

INDIWIRE'S CRITICS' SURVEY OF THE FALL FESTS

Indiewire surveyed 137 critics and charged them with evaluating the films they had seen through the run of fall fests including Telluride, Venice, Toronto and New York'  Here's how TFF #48 films from that survey:

The overall #1 film from all four fests combined was Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog. 

 

#5 Celina Sciamma's Petite Maman

#8 Sean Baker's Red Rocket

#9 Mia Hansen-Love's Bergman Island\

#11 Pablo Larrain's Spencer

#14 Mike Mill's C'mon C'mon

#15 Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Lost Daughter

C'mon C'mon was the critic's favorite specifically focused on Telluride alone.

The top three documentaries all played TFF #47: Flee, The Velvet Underground and The Rescue.

The Power of the Dog was also named Best Directed Film.

Best Performances from all of the fests combined included Benedict Cumberbatch in The Power of the Dog at #3 and Kristen Stewart in Spencer at #4.

The complete results can be found here.

TODD HAYNES ON THE VELVET UNDERGROUND

As mentioned above, Todd Haynes' doc about The Velvet Underground was named as one of the three best documentaries that played the fall festivals.  Haynes was recently featured in an interview for The Playlist.

Check out what Haynes has to say.  The interview is linked here.

BELFAST ADULTS ARE ALL SUPPORTING

Focus Features has announced that all of the adult actors in Kenneth Branagh's Belfast will be campaigned as Supporting players for the awards season.  That puts an end to speculation that both Jamie Dornan and Caitriona Balfe would possibly be categorized as leading performers.  Now, child actor Judah Hill will be the lone Belfast cast member who is campaigned as a leading actor.

Variety's Clayton Davis broke the details on Monday.  That story is linked here.

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ICYMI: TFF Wants You Vaxxed / Future Telluride: Inarritu's Current Project / Velvet Underground Teaser

 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: TFF WANTS YOU VAXXED

I'm re-running this post that I originally put up on Saturday:

TFF #48 Passholders received an email from the festival last Friday informing us that we would need to provide proof of vaccination against Covid-19.  The letter also requested that  if we knew of people that were planning to attend the fest without a pass or were planning to attend free screenings that they would also need to be able to produce proof of vaccination.  Here's that language from the email:

For any friends you may know who are intending to join us without passes, we appreciate you sharing this information. Individual indoor venues will have a vaccination card check point at each Box Office, for those wishing to buy individual tickets or enter a free screening. 

Here's the complete text of the email to passholders:

We are grateful that you are considering returning to the Telluride Film Festival to join us after last year’s hiatus. We view our upcoming festival as an opportunity to celebrate renewal but with tremendous humility, acknowledging the tragic loss of life and social upheaval experienced around the globe.

 

Film is a magical instrument that often serves to bring people together – to celebrate it collectively, to experience emotions in the same room, and to live through the eyes of great artists as they point us toward a better future is something we are all looking forward to with delight. 

 

To ensure a safe, as well as relaxed, few days in the mountains, we are asking all attendees who intend to join us this year to be vaccinated against Covid-19, as an act of kindness and community support, and to assist us in creating a secure environment for reconvening the Telluride experience. 

 

Please take a moment to upload your vaccination card below. Receipt of this information will be required for admittance to Festival theaters and other indoor venues, including any shuttle services. We appreciate your understanding and commitment to a healthy re-opening of arts & culture experiences worldwide. For any friends you may know who are intending to join us without passes, we appreciate you sharing this information. Individual indoor venues will have a vaccination card check point at each Box Office, for those wishing to buy individual tickets or enter a free screening. 

We are impatient for September to get here and to be together again. Take very good care until we see you!!

The wife and I submitted our proof of vaccination Saturday morning.

FUTURE TELLURIDE?  INARRITU'S CURRENT PROJECT

Set photo from Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Limbo via El Univeral

We've seen and heard whispers about TFF favorite Alejandro Gonzlaez Inarritu's ongoing film project which appears to be titled Limbo.

The Film Stage (via El Universal)  reported recently that filming in Mexico and set photos are giving some hints about what could be included as part of the plot/story of the film.  According to The Film Stage post:

"From their reporting comes word Limbo concerns the Mexican-American War, production having constructed an exact replica of the Chapultepec Castle—site for the 1847 Battle of Chapultepec, a turning point wherein thousands of Mexican soldiers were slain. (Peep their site for a set photo lest the copyright hammer fall upon us.) Considering other set photos feature more modern-looking costumes, perhaps there is some time-jumping in the plot as the director explores Mexican history."

Considering Inarritu's substantial track record at Telluride, you have to keep an eye out for this as a possible selection for TFF #49.

The complete post from The Film Stage is here.

VELVET UNDERGROUND TEASER

Todd Haynes' documentary about the legendary band, The Velvet Underground, is set to play at Cannes within the next few days and there is some contemplation on my part that it could very well be a part of the TFF #48 lineup.

There's a  teaser for the new film now available for viewing on Cannes' official webpage for the film.  

You can find that linked here.

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More on Rumors and Whispers / The Professionals Telluride / Circuit Breaker Podcast / Joker Bits and Pieces / The People's Telluride

Tuesday...Three Days...


MORE ON RUMORS AND WHISPERS

Yesterday I wrote a little bit about rumors swirling that a secret film would screen at Telluride this week.  My list of what that might be was as follows:

1) None of the rumors are true and there is no surprise screening at all.
2) Todd Haynes Project (Dark Waters or Dry Run or...being snarky now...Dry Water or Dark Run or Dry Dark Water Run)
3) Nomadland
4) Little Women
5) Ad Astra
6) Joker
7) Bombshell
8) El Camino/Breaking Bad

For about three hours yesterday afternoon several of us that play this game thought we had the rumored secret figured out as Focus Features announced that Todd Haynes' Dark Waters has been dated for release.  Deadline.com was the first to report the film will be in limited release on Nov. 22nd.  The story also revealed that the film has been titled Dark Waters which, as far as I know, is the first definitive reference to the film's title.  Dry Run had also been bandied about as a possible title.

A lot of film Twitter made clear that they viewed this as a likely "tell" that the film is probable for Telluride's lineup that will be officially unveiled on Thursday.

Here's the Deadline.com article.

Then early on Monday evening came Indiewire's story about the Dark Waters release written by Anne Thompson.  Anne's story included this passage:

"The movie (Dark Waters), which co-stars Tim Robbins and Bill Pullman, will not be ready in time for the earlier fall film festivals, but might turn up at AFI Fest in November. Focus will open the movie limited November 22, with expansion a week later."

I have to believe Anne has the lowdown straight on this.

So...what does it mean?

1) The #1 possibility I listed above still looks like my best guess...I.E. no film plays as a surprise.

Then with the Thompson story in mind, we drop Dark Waters down to the last possibility and the rest of the guesses look like this:

2) Nomadland
3) Little Women
4) Ad Astra
5) Joker
6) Bombshell
7) El Camino/Breaking Bad
8) Dark Waters

Thompson's complete Indiewire report is linked here.



THE PROFESSIONALS TELLURIDE

Each year since 2012 I have polled a list of industry professionals at the conclusion of the fest to rate the films they saw on a 1-5 scale just like I ask you readers to do and over the years many, many people have been kind enough to share their thoughts about them.  This year's crew of Professionals is a large one.  I think the largest collection of pros since I started doing this.  The list is also Deeeep!

So, my huge thanks to the following who have agreed to rate this year and a special shout out to Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter and Sasha Stone of Awards Daily who were part of that first 2012 group and, I believe, the only two who have participated every year.

Here's this year's list of Professionals:

Erik Anderson/Awards Watch
J. Don Birnam-Jorge T/SplashReport.com
Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Marshall Flores/Awards Daily
Mark Johnson/Awards Circuit
Gary Kramer/Salon
Tomris Laffly/RogerEbert.com
Scott Menzel/We Live Entertainment
Kenny Miles/We Live Entertainment
Mark Neglia/Next Best Picture
Eugene Novikov/Rotten Tomatoes
John Rhodes/Screencraft
Christopher Schiller/ScriptMag.com
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Anne Thompson/Indiewire
Chris Willman/Variety
Anonymous

I'll have the ratings compiled and ready for posting about a week after the fest closes.


CIRCUIT BREAKER PODCAST

In Awards Circuit's Circuit Breaker podcast they launch into a full examination of Telluride specific discussion just before the 40 min. mark.  They also mention the blog you're currently reading.

Take a listen to what Clayton Davis and his crew have to say about TFF #46.  The podcast is linked here.


JOKER BITS AND PIECES

Ahead of its new trailer release and the film's debut in Venice...and...

The Joker film at the end of the weekend was releasing bits and pieces of that new trailer.  Indiewire posted a couple of the flashes of film that they had obtained on Sunday evening.

Here's a still of Robert DeNiro from one of the 10 second blips that are floating around:

 All of which appear to posted to the JokerMovie Instagram account.

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

And Now...Rumors and Whispers / Joker Uncertainty / Film Stage and The Playlist's Fall Film Lists / New Images of Renee Zellweger as Judy The Current Bets / The People's Telluride

Monday...Four Days...


AND NOW...RUMORS AND WHISPERS

Seems like every year at this time...the week of the fest...rumors start flying fast and furious.  I think we get a "Brad Pitt has been spotted in Telluride" rumor every year.

Over the weekend I started hearing a new bit of speculation...that TFF has a super secret film screening planned.  Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel alluded to that over the weekend wiring at his website that:

"I can't confirm the precise title, but a lot of talk is pointing towards a surprise film sneaking its way into the Telluride Film Festival lineup next week."

Jordan's list of possible suspects includes the still untitled Todd Haynes project (Maybe Dark Water, maybe Dry Run), Bombshell-the Jay Roach film about Roger Ailes, Fox News and the women who were Aile's downfall played by Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie as Gretchen Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Kayla Pospisil respectively.  Ruimy's third mention is Chloe Zhao's Nomadland.  All three of these films remain on my list of "Other Possibilities" from last Friday's post.

It should come as no surprise that I'd repeat my perpetual fantasy suggestion of Greta Gerwig's Little Women or that James Gray's Ad Astra makes the journey from Venice after all.  Maybe the below mentioned Joker actually does show at The SHOW.  Even Sam Mendes' 1917 has been rumored.

Here's my completely unfounded assessment of each of these scenarios in the order of what I'm guessing is the likelihood that it happens-emphasize "guessing":

1) None of the rumors are true and there is no surprise screening at all.
2) Todd Haynes Project (Dark Water or Dry Run or...being snarky now...Dry Water or Dark Run or Dry Dark Water Run)
3) Nomadland
4) Little Women
5) Ad Astra
6) Joker
7) Bombshell
8) El Camino/Breaking Bad

9) 1917

There is even one title that I have heard that seems so unlikely that I'm hesitant to mention it here...yet...maybe on Wednesday when I post the final Ten Bets.

By the way, the Ruimy article mentioned above also has Jordan's final predicted Telluride list.  I have linked it here.  Jordan graciously once again gives a tip of the hat to MTFB.




JOKER UNCERTAINTY

Last Friday a bunch of us that are fairly intense watchers of Film Fest lineups in general and Telluride's lineup chances in particular were embroiled in a big discussion following the news that Todd Phillip's Joker had been added to the New York lineup.

The reason for the hubbub?  NYFF had listed the film as a "New York" premiere.  Why is that intriguing?  Because that designation generally means that the film in question is probably playing Telluride before it goes to New York.  If a film is playing New York and did not previously play Telluride that almost always means that NYFF labels it a U.S. premiere.

Most of those of us who are trying to parse out what's going to screen this week gave up on Joker back when Toronto announced it as a North American premiere meaning that the film will not play at Telluride first.

But now there's a bit of confusion...so what are the possible explanations:

1) Joker does play Telluride.  Maybe Toronto got it wrong and their screening will be a Canadian Premiere not a North American premiere.  This is possible.  We already know that there has been some confusion about TIFF premiere status labels this year.  There was confusion about A Hidden Life when it was announced and there have continued murmurs that some films that TIFF has labeled as North American premieres are, nevertheless, playing Telluride.

2) New York has it wrong... which would means no Telluride play and that NYFF would have the actual U.S. premiere.

3) NYFF and TIFF both have it right and that means no Telluride play.  How?  My friend Kenny Miles suggested on Twitter Friday that Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX. could announce Joker as a last minute addition and that would satisfy the designations from both fests as they stand.  Fantastic Fest takes off a week before New York does.

I honestly think #3 is probably the most probable scenario.

PS...a new trailer for Joker is supposed t drop on Wednesday...  from Anton Volkov's Trailer Track site.


FILM STAGE AND THE PLAYLIST LIST FALL FILMS

Both The Film Stage and The Playlist have posted big articles detailing movies they believe are of note for the fall movie season. The Film Stage list is 50 films long while The Playlist has a list of 45.

Both outlets list the films in chronological order by announced release date and add a section for those films that are, as yet, undated but are believed to be a release before the end of 2019.

As you might expect, there is a good deal of overlap.

I have gathered the TFF #46 titles that I expect to see this week on the lineup announcement from both lists and from both they are:

Parasite
Pain and Glory
Motherless Brooklyn
Ford v. Ferrari
The Report
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
A Hidden Life
Uncut Gems
First Cow
Marriage Story

The Playlist also includes: Judy and First Cow
The Film Stage also includes: Varda by Agnes

Both articles are linked below:

The Film Stage


The Playlist


NEW IMAGES OF RENEE ZELLWEGER FROM JUDY

Awards Watch had some new images of Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland from the forthcoming film Judy that I am expecting to be announced on Thursday as one of the films on the TFF #46 lineup.  Lots of the awards outlets have Zellweger high on their lists for a possible Best Actress nomination for the film which IMDb describes thusly: "Legendary performer Judy Garland arrives in London in the winter of 1968 to perform a series of sold-out concerts."

Here are the new pics from Awards Watch:

 Judy is set to open in the U.S. on Sept. 27th.


CURRENT 20 BETS

1) The Aeronauts

2) Beanpole

3) The Climb

4) Country Music

5) Family Romance LLC

6) First Cow
7) Ford v Ferrari

8) A Hidden Life

9) Judy
10) The Kingmaker

11) Lyrebird

12) Marriage Story

13) Motherless Brooklyn

14) Pain and Glory

15) Parasite

16) Portrait of a Lady on Fire

17) The Report
18) The Two Popes

19 ) Uncut Gems

20) Varda by Agnes

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

The DIstributors 2019: Focus Features / Apple Wants to Play / Soon to See The Good Liar

Good Tuesday everyone and here's your MTFB for the day.


THE DISTRIBUTORS 2019: FOCUS FEATURES

Focus Features has had a very spotty record with Telluride over the years that I have been attending as you can see from the list below, Focus has been on the program five times since 2006:


2018- Boy Erased
2017- Darkest Hour
2015- Suffragette
2012- Hyde Park on Hudson
2006- Catch a Fire

However, also note that Focus has played Telluride two years consecutively and three of the last four TFFs.  Additionally, Darkest Hour was very successful with its run two years ago with two Oscar wins including Gary Oldman for Best Actor and another four nominations including one for Best Picture.

I'd also guess that Focus was aiming/hoping for the same kind of success last year with Boy Erased.  That didn't happen as Oscar nominations didn't pan out, though Boy Erased was nominated for two Golden Globes.

Both films...as a matter of fact, I believe all five of these listed Focus Feature films first screened at Telluride.  Also, in most cases, the directors of the films had been involved with a film that had played Telluride previously.

Last year this is how I handicapped the possible Focus Feature films:

Everybody Knows 50%
Boy Erased 40%
On the Basis of Sex 40%
Mary Queen of Scots 40%

As to 2019, Focus has two films that might be possible.  Kasi Lemmons Harriet Tubman biopic starring Cynthia Ervio is one and Todd Haynes untitled film currently listed by IMDb as being in post-production since March is the other.

Mark Ruffalo takes the lead in the film as an attorney fighting corporate environmental malfeasance.  The film is based on a Nataniel Rich article from The New York Times Magazine in 2016.  The title Dry Run has been used in the past for this film. That article is linked here.

Lemmons played Eve's Bayou at T-ride in 1997.  Haynes has been a frequently programmed director with Carol, Wonderstruck and  I'm Not There.

There's an outside shot that Eliza Hittman's Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always gets some attention as well.

Focus also has the Downton Abbey film which opens Sept. 20th but seems an unlikely TFF choice.


Soooo...my percentages for Focus...

Harriet 50%
Haynes/Dry Run 50%
Never, Rarely 25%
Downton 10%

Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if Focus landed two films at Telluride this year.


APPLE WANTS TO PLAY

The New York Post reported yesterday that Apple wants to get into the theatrical release/Oscar game as they roll out their own streaming platform, Apple+.    Indiewire also carried the story.

Apple seems to be wanting to produce half a dozen small budget/high prestige fare with an eye toward awards season.

The Post's source is quoted in the article as saying that Apple aims to create "Focus Features-esque awards contenders" and specifically mentions BlacKkKlansman, Boy Erased and Dallas Buyers Club.

Of course, from my perspective, the questions that raises are: "Will Apple strive to compete for fall festival slots?" and, of course and specifically, "Will they make the attempt to get into Telluride?"

Seems like that will be really interesting to keep an eye on.


SOON TO SEE THE GOOD LIAR

Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren photo from The Good Liar via USA Today

Anton Volkov's Trailer Track website reported yesterday that we are soon to see a trailer for The Good Liar.  The film stars Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen.  The film is directed by Bill Condon and set for U.S. release on Nov. 15th.  It is being distributed by Warner Bros.

All of these factors make it a possible choice for Telluride.

Volkov says he expects the trailer online in the next 10 days or so and likely to be timed with next week's release of Danny Boyle's Yesterday.

In the film, McKellen plays an aging con artist and Mirren a well-to-do widow according to the film's IMDb web page.

Check out Volkov's post at this link.



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


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Interviews: Haynes, Gerwig, Waltz, McCarten / AFI Adds Films From TFF #44 / New Poster for Lady Bird

Welcome to Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017...

INTERVIEWS: HAYNES, GERWIG, WALTZ AND MC CARTEN

A slew of interviews popped up these past few days from a number of outlets associated with films that played at TFF #44.  I have included links to several of them here.

We begin with an interview of Wonderstruck (and Carol) director Todd Haynes from Indiewire's Anne Thompson.

Staying with directors and , in this case, screenwriter Greta Gerwig who was the creative force behind Lady Bird starring Saoirse Ronan.  Here's the video of a post-screening interview of her from the New York Film Festival.

I have also added this SAG-AFTRA Foundation conversation with two time Oscar winner and co-star of Alexander Payne's Downsizing, Christoph Waltz:

And, for good measure, here is an interview with the screenwriter of Darkest Hour, Anthony McCarten,  conducted by Jazz Tangcay for Awards Daily.

AFI ADDS FILMS FROM TFF #44

The American Film Institutes's Film Fest will start on Nov. 9th and they continue to announce titles that will be p;laying as a part of their program.  TFF #44 title Hostiles had already been named a centerpiece gala and a version of Errol Morris' Wormwood had also been announced.

Earlier this week three more TFF #44 films were added to the AFI schedule: The Shape of Water, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool and Film Worker.

Complete coverage of the entire set of films added to the AFI lineup can be found here from Indiewire.

NEW POSTER FOR LADY BIRD

Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird will open on Nov. 3rd and as we move closer to that date A24 dropped a new poster for the film this week:

The accompanying story is here from, the Irish based website Entertainment.ie.

That's tour MTFB on this Thursday.  More to come on Monday...

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

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The FAC's Oscar Screenplay Predix / Back in Time: The 17th Telluride Film Festival / Todd Haynes Talks Wonderstruck and More

It's a Thursday...and MTFB is back...


THE FAC'S SCREENPLAY OSCAR PREDIX

I am continuing to roll out the first wave of Oscar 2018 predictions from The Film Awards Clearinghouse (FAC) with today's focus on the race for success in both Adapted and Original Screenplays.

As always, films that played Telluride are in Bold.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Call Me By Your Name
2) Mudbound
3) Molly's Game
4) Last Flag Flying
5) Wonderstruck

Others in contention: Stronger, The Disaster Artist, First They Killed My Father

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Three Billboards
2) The Shape of Water
3) Darkest Hour
4) Get Out
5) Lady Bird

Other in contention: The Post, The Big Sick, I Tonya


BACK IN TIME: THE 17TH TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL

My slow roll back through past Telluride Film Festivals continues today as we go back to the 17th Fest that ran from Aug. 31-Sept 3, 1990

Guest Director: Bertrand Travernier

Tributes: Clint Eastwood, John Berry, Gerard Depardieu

SHOWS:

All the Vermeers in New York
Antonia and Jane
Archangel
The Big Man
The Civil War
Coma
The Comfort of Angels
Cyrano de Bergerac
Daddy Nostalgia
Doctor Petiot
The First Spring of Youth
Freeze-Die-Come to Life
Havana
He Ran All the Way
I Walked with a Zombie
Industrial Symphony
Ju Dou
Justin de Marsielle
The King of New York
L'Atalante
The Long Walk Home
The Nasty Girl
Pursued
Reversal of Fortune
The Roof of the World
Stanto Tutti Bene
White Hunter Black Heart

Guests:

Ken Burns
Julee Cruise
Manny Farber
Abel Ferrera
Taylor Hackford
Chuck Jones
Guy Maddin
Helen Mirren
Liam Neeson
Paul Schrader
Barbet Schroeder
Sissy Spacek
Christopher Walken


TODD HAYNES TALKS WONDERSTRUCK AND MORE

Nick Newman of The Film Stage had a semi-in-depth interview with writer/director Todd Haynes that was posted on Tuesday.  Haynes talks Wonderstruck, which opens on October 20th as well as a mention of the late David Bowie.

Catch up on the Haynes' interview here.


TRACY LETTS ON LADY BIRD



Tracy Letts plays Lady Bird's (Saoirse Ronan) father in the film of the same name written and directed by Greta Gerwig.  Recently he was interviewed as a part of a series sponsored by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.  The interview is conducted by Indiewire's Eric Kohn and was posted to YouTube.

You can see their conversation here:

That's your Thursday MTFB.  More on Monday...


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

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Wonderstruck Will Strike in October / First Look at Haneke's Happy End / Redoutable Teaser Gets Meta / The Future for Past Telluriders / Amazon Rewards Manchester

Welcome to Thursday on MTFB...



WONDERSTRUCK WILL STRIKE IN OCTOBER

The case for Todd Haynes being a Telluride contender got another supportive piece of evidence yesterday as the peeps at Amazon and Roadside Attractions, who have paired to distribute the film, have announced a limited release date of October 20th.   The film will then proceed to be opened wider in November.

It wasn't long yesterday before journos pointed out that that time frame has served as the launchpad for four of the last five Oscar BP winners: Argo 10/12/12, 12 Years a Slave 10/18/13, Birdman 10/17/14, and Moonlight 10/21/16.  Only Spotlight has broken that pattern opening on 11/6/15.  Of course, all of those films played Telluride on their way to the Best Picture prize.

Honestly, when I get serious about posting a rough first guess at what will make the T-ride 2017 lineup, Wonderstruck might be the film on the top of that list.

Linked below is coverage of the release announcement from:

Variety

Indiewire

Awards Watch

The Playlist

The Wrap



FIRST LOOK AT HANEKE'S HAPPY END

Another film that will be in the hunt for the Cannes' Palme d'Or in a couple of weeks (and it could be an unprecedented third for its director...lots of predictors think that's a very real possibility) is Michael Haneke's Happy End.  Haneke hasn't made a film since his last Palme winner in 2012.  Amour also won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

We got our first photo from the secretive film yesterday as you see above.  The still shows, among others Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Toby Jones.  Further coverage of the image and the film is here from Indiwire and here from The Playlist.



REDOUBTABLE TEASER GETS META

This week we got a new glimpse of Michel Hazanavicius' newest film, Redoubtable, which is set to debut at Cannes this month in the Palme d'Or competition.  The teaser includes some references to the festival that should elicit a chuckle or two.  Check the teaser below (from YouTube):

Redoubtable is based on the life of film pioneer Jean-Luc Godard.

More on the teaser release for Redoubtable is here from Entertainment Weekly as well as here from The Playlist.

THE FUTURE FOR PAST TELLURIDERS

I've mentioned with some frequency the next project for Moonlight's Barry Jenkins which is the multi-part adaptation of Colson Whitehead's National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winning
Underground Railroad for Amazon Studios.

In the last few days we have seen the plans of two other notable and recent past Telluriders come into focus.

Indiewire reports that Oscar winning director Damien Chazelle is lining up another musically oriented project.  The story was originally reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

Titled The Eddy, the story centers around a Paris music club.  As with Jenkins, the project is being set up as an episodic project and is being shopped around to streaming services and networks.  Reports suggest that Chazelle would direct his next feature film project, First Man starring Ryan Reynolds as Neil Armstrong, and then get to work on The Eddy.

The other news of note regarding a new project involving a recent Tellurider and Oscar winner was news yesterday that Laszlo Nemes is set to begin filming Sunset.  Nemes made a huge splash in 2015 with his debut film Son of Saul which played Cannes (winning Nemes the Grand Prix award) and then Telluride.  Son of Saul went on to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

The Playlist reports  that Sunset will begin filming next month and that the plan is that it would play Cannes which would make it a prime TFF #45 possibility.

Stay tuned.


AMAZON REWARDS MANCHESTER

How do you say thank you to a community that serves as the backdrop and title of your Oscar award winning film (and TFF #43 selection)?

Amazon Studios has gifted the citizens of Manchester, Massachusetts a year's worth of free Amazon Prime memberships.  They even threw in the popcorn.

Amazon announced the gift this week according to The Hollywood Reporter.



And that will do it for this Thursday.  Have a good weekend and come back here Monday for more...

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

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The Countdown to Cannes Gets Shorter / More from CinemaCon

Hello on the first Monday in April of 2017....as Kurt Vonnegut might say (well, he wrote it actually)..."Busy, busy, busy"


THE COUNTDOWN TO CANNES GETS SHORTER

April 13th...that's the day that we'll find out the bulk of the lineup for the 70th Cannes Film Festival and then we get to try to parse out the 7-10 films that will double up with a play three months later in Colorado.

Indiewire is the latest film outlet with apiece that they put up at the end of last week.  They package it as a 50 film Cannes wish list and there are a good number of the usual suspects including a couple that we have heard won't be ready for the fest (Wenders' Submergence and Frears Victoria and Abdul are what I'm talking about here).

Nevertheless, the Indiewire 50 includes:

Alexander Payne's Downsizing
Michael Haneke's Happy End
Andrew Haigh's Lean on Pete
Abdelatif Kechiche's Mektoub is Mektoub
Michel Hazanavicius' Redoubtable
Todd Haynes Wonderstruck
Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here

But there are others among the 50 that might well make a case either because they have also played Telluride in the past or because I thought strongly in some past year that they would.  That group of five (from this Indiewire "wish list") includes:

Samuel Maoz's Foxtrot.  I thought strongly that Maoz's Lebanon was going to make the TFF lineup in 2009.  Didn't happen despite being distributed by frequent Telluride player Sony Pictures Classics.

Michelangelo Frammartino's Late Spring.  Frammartino played Telluride in 2010 with Le Quattro Volte.

Haifaa Al Mansour's Mary Shelley.  Al Mansour's Wadjda played T-ride in 2012.

Warwick Thornton's Sweet Country.  Thornton made a splash at the 2009 TFF with Samson and Delilah

Hirokazu Kore Eda's The Third Murder.  I thought his Like Father, Like Son was going to play in 2013 but it did not.

So there you have it... half a dozen usual suspects plus another five that are quite as "usual" but might end up with the Cannes-Telluride double play.

The complete 50 film wish list from Indiewire is here.



MORE FROM CINEMACON

CinemaCon was highlighted in my last post for having featured both Payne's Downsizing and Clooney's Suburbicon.  After that post Todd Haynes Wonderstruck was featured as well as Stephen Chbosky's Wonder.  After reading this reaction to the film from The Wrap I'm inclined to think that we might be wise to keep an eye on the film.  It's got some things going for it that make one think that it could make the trip to the San Juans.  Lionsgate has the film and they and their affiliated companies have been making Telluride a regular part of their Labor Day for awhile now with films such as La La Land, All is Lost and The Homesman.

And then there's Julia Roberts.  She's another one of those folks that I include some years as a part of the Unified Clooney Theory.  Last year, Casey Affleck was tributed and won an Oscar and is also part of the U.C.T..

Could you get behind a Julia Roberts tribute?  I could.

As mentioned above, CinemaCon attendees were also treated to footage from Wonderstruck.  Here's the link to the coverage from Indiewire.



That's it for this Monday.  More to come on Thursday.


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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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