A Good Day

Danny Boyle, Aron Ralston and James Franco of "127 Hours"

Three films today and all of them good but not great.

Started the day with "Poetry" from Korean film director Lee Chang Dong. "Poetry" won the Best Screenplay award at this year's Cannes Film Festival. It features Jeong-hee Yoon as a grandmother dealing with a troubled grandson who also has decided to write poetry. She's quite good. But the film clocks in at nearly 2 and 1/2 hours and felt like it could use some judicious editing. 2 and 1/2 stars.

Then: Peter Weir's "The Way Back" featuring Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris and Colin Farrell as three very different captives in a WWII era Soviet gulag who escape and walk their way to freedom. Based on a true story, the film does credit to the real people who made the 4,000 mile walk from Siberia to India. Sturgess is solid as the focal point of the film but Ed Harris (as you might expect) is outstanding. Matching Harris note for note is Farrell in a very nearly great performance. Couple this with his small supporting role in last year's "Crazy Heart" and you're beginning to see an actor maturing into something special. 3 stars!

And the capper on the day: Danny Boyle's "127 Hours." How do you follow a film that took the world by storm and won 8 Oscars (as Slumdog did)??? You film the true story of hiker Aron Ralston who, in order to save his life, amputated his own arm so that he could escape from a canyon in Utah in which he was trapped. James Franco plays Ralston and is onscreen 99% of the time. He's fantastic. The Oscar buzz for him started today here in Colorado. "127 Hours" is graphic and harrowing and the best thing I've seen here in Telluride so far this year. 3 stars!!!But....

Tomorrow has 5 films scheduled that I'm planning to get to including Innaritu"s "Biutiful" with Javier Bardem (and Bardem is supposed to be great), Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan" which has just taken the Venice Film Fest by storm and may get some Oscar notice for Natalie Portman and Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush in Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech" which seems to be the film getting the best buzz here this year.

Then there's Monday which will start with Mike Leigh's "Another Year" and will also almost certainly include the sneak of Julian Schnabel's "Miral." And the Apparition people are still very tight lipped about anything concerning"Tree of Life." But I will say I haven't personally seen Mr. Pitt and haven't actually met someone who has seen him with their own eyeballs.

No Leaf for the "Tree" til 2011?

Terrence Malick's highly anticipated and much delayed "The Tree of Life" starring Mssrs. Pitt and Penn may be delayed until 2011. Kristopher Tapley at Incontention.com channels Todd McCarthy who has some inside dope as he has been programming for the New York Film Festival. That link is here:

http://bghpg.th8.us/

McCarthy/Tapley suggest that we may not see it until Cannes next summer or even later...like the fall festivals a year from now...Geez.

Tapley tweeted this comment a few minutes later:

"Terrence Malick: The Brett Favre of the film industry"

All I can add is... Amen!

After "The Tree of Life"

Ben and Jen in Oklahoma prepping for Terrence Malick's next film???

After months of stalking this film and every scrap of info about it...and ultimately deciding that we just will not see it at Telluride...on to Malick's next project...or rumors at least...which stunned me as it could be that Malick's somewhere in my home state...stuff I didn't know.

Check out this post from The Playlist:

http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2010/08/is-ben-affleck-going-to-star-in.html

and this from the Tulsa World:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=268&articleid=20100811_371_0_BenAff888984

And while we're just spooking around...here's my first guess for a film to show up at TFF #38

"Young Adult" Jason Reitman directing a Diablo Cody script. Sound familiar?

Again check out The Playlist at:

http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2010/08/josh-brolin-to-join-charlize-theron-in.html

And finally, since we're on a Playlist kick and predicting a year into the future...how about this Todd Phillips biopic about John Belushi...

http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2010/08/todd-phillips-developing-new-biopic-of.html

Four Weeks To Go!

WILL JAVIER BARDEM MAKE AN APPEARANCE AT THE FRIDAY NIGHT FEED ON COLORADO AVENUE???








With less than four weeks until the Patron's Brunch starts the weekend off for me, I thought I'd take a moment to assess where we are in terms of speculation about the films that will be playing at TFF #37. I've tired to divide these into categories that seem to make the most sense (at least to me) with almost a month to go before films begin to unspool...









The following is based on what has been speculated in the media, past trends, the Toronto and Venice listed films, Cannes results and wishful thinking. Take it for what it's worth (which probably isn't all that much).









Films that are I think have the best chance of being at Telluride: "Black Swan," Another Year," "127 Hours," "Miral," "Biutiful," and "Love and Other Drugs"









Sony Classics Films that likely will show: "Inside Job, " "Tamara Drewe," Of Gods and Men," and "Life Above All."









Other Cannes Films that could appear: "Certified Copy," "Poetry," and "On Tour"









Some films that have had very flimsy hints that they could show up in Telluride: "The King's Speech," "The Town, " and "Meek's Cutoff."









You have to figure Werner Herzog will be represented by either "The Cave of Forgotten Dreams" or "Happy People: A Year in the Tiaga" or both.









The "It Seems There Is No Way They'll Be In Telluride" List: (for a variety of reasons) "The Tempest," "The Social Network," The Eagle," "The Descendents," and "The Fighter."









Films about which there has been no mention in terms of Telluride, but could sneak in: "Bagman" (formerly "Casino Jack"), "Conviction" (formerly "Betty Ann Waters"), "Never Let Me Go," "Brighton Rock," Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives"(Palme D'Or winner), "Fair Game," "Somewhere," and "Blue Valentine."









Another interesting thought...last year at TFF #36, one of the biggest buzz generators was the Red Riding Trilogy...maybe the best buzz of anything from last year's fest. Could the TFF planners try something like that again? Does anything fit the bill? Yes and Yes. The sprawling "Carlos" (300 plus minutes according to imdb) which showed at Cannes and was very well received would seem to fit if the Telluride programmers wanted to go in that direction again. It certainly worked very well last year.









And finally...don't expect to see:









"True Grit"...the Coen Brothers certainly don't need to show at Telluride.




"Hereafter" neither does Clint Eastwood.




and "The Tree of Life"...enough people have said that Malick isn't ready to make me a believer...but you had to hope.

Venetian Announcements...What Do They Mean???

Frieda Pinto on the set of Julian Schnabel's "Miral"


The 67th Venice Film Festival has announced their competition line up. What's most intriguing is what is left off the list. Missing are "Tree of Life," "True Grit," Eastwood's "Hereafter," "The King's Speech," "London Boulevard, " "The Way Back," "127 Hours," "Another Year" and "The Debt." So, these are likely not ready, will go somewhere else or will show up in T-Ride.


Included in the list are: "Black Swan," Somewhere," and Schnabel's "Miral." Julie Taymor"s "The Tempest" is closing the festival.

The complete list from Ioncinema is here:

http://www.ioncinema.com/news/id/5362/67th-venice-film-festival-gallo-coppola-reichardt-selected-in-the-main-comp

The Festival has also announced that they will add another film half way through the presentations. Hummmm????

Ioncinema also seems pretty sure that "The American" and "The Town" will be at the Lido out of competition.

More when both Venice and Toronto announce the rest of their lineups.

Toronto Begins Announcing...What Does It Mean?

Sean Penn and Naomi Watts in Doug Liman's "Fair Game" Coming to Telluride???

The 35th Toronto International Film Festival has begun announcing their lineup for this year. TIFF usually has a substantial lineup overlap with Telluride.

You can find Anne Thompson's post regarding the announcement today at this link:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/toronto_announces_2010_titles

So, almost certainly you can peruse this list and see some titles that will almost certainly be at Telluride. Some "suspects" included on the Toronto list that we've been following for a good long time include: Another Year, Biutiful, Miral, Tamara Drewe, Conviction, Brighton Rock, The Town, The King's Speech, and Casino Jack (Bagman). Maybe Blue Valentine...from Sundance...

Some "suspects" that weren't announced for Toronto on the initial list: Fair Game, Tree of Life, True Grit, 127 Hours, Love and Other Drugs, The Way Back and The Descendents.

Variety Begins to Focus

Brad Pitt and co-stars in Terrance Malick's "The Tree of Life"

Variety's Pamela McClintock and Nick Vivarelli posted a large article yesterday that talks about all three September fests (Telluride, Toronto, Venice)...

The link is here:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118022115.html?categoryid=1061&cs=1&query=toronto+telluride+venice

Among the highlights...

Confirmation that David O. Russell's "The Fighter" WILL NOT be at Telluride or anywhere else, for that matter, quoting: "Paramount, for example, has decided not to take David O. Russell's "The Fighter" to Venice, Toronto or Telluride. That's because the film -- toplining Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale -- doesn't open until Dec. 10, and Par feels it would be too hard to keep up the momentum."

Also, some good news and a line about Malick's "The Tree of Life." Again quoting: "If there's a bright spot for Venice, Telluride and Toronto, it's that there should be a glut of premium product to choose from, since a number of films weren't ready in time for the Cannes Film Festival.
One such film that everyone expected to turn up at one of the fall fests was Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life," starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. But there are rumblings the film still isn't ready."

An interesting inclusive list: "Sofia Coppola's "Somewhere," Julian Schnabel's "Miral," Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech," Ben Affleck's "The Town" and Kelly Reichardt's "Meek's Cutoff" have been tipped for Venice, and could turn up in Toronto and Telluride as well."

An encouraging note about Sean Penn would seem to foreshadow "Tree" and/or Doug Liman"s "Fair Game"...quoting: "For a time, Sean Penn steered clear of Toronto or Telluride, but then had such a good experience with "Into the Wild" that he's far more amenable now to both."

Finally, another hint about Julian Schnabel's post World War II Freida Pinto starrer, "Miral." :

"Telluride is the hip, rich uncle who lives tucked away in a remote corner of the Rockies that's difficult to get to. And because the lineup isn't unveiled until the fest begins, there's less media in attendance. Rather, Telluride is about garnering critical acclaim.
Filmmaker loyalists include Schnabel, whose "Miral" could easily show up at Telluride this year."

All in all, a terrifically intriguing post.

Venice/Toronto Speculation

The Cast of the Coen Brothers version of True Grit

Indie Wire has a post up with 40 films that they say have a shot at either/or Venice and Toronto. You have to also figure a chunk of them end up in Telluride...

Here's the link:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/toronto_venice_wish_list_40_new_films_to_hope_for/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed

On the list that we'd love to see in Colorado in 5 weeks: 127 Hours, Miral, Hereafter, The Tree of Life, True Grit, The Tempest, The Fighter, and The Way Back...

More for Venice...Less for Telluride?

Natalie Portman in Darren Arnofsky's "Black Swan"

The Playlist has a big story today about "probable" Venice Fest films. Check it out at:

http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2010/07/darren-aronofskys-black-swan-looking-to.html

Among films listed in the article that we thought might be on the Telluride short list are:

Black Swan (Aronofsky's follow-up to "The Wrestler")

The Town (Ben Affleck's new film)

The King's Speech (starring Colin Firth)

Others mentioned that we previously reported as likely going to Venice are: Somewhere, The American, and Miral.

And, again, Tree of Life continues to be an on-going mystery...

TFF #37...Tree of Life

Rope of Silicon reports that Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" has received an MPAA rating. (PG-13 for those interested)...the link to that report is here: http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/latest-mpaa-ratings-bulletin-no-2128

I'm no expert, but it seems to me that it's done...finally.

Where does it go as far as fall fests???

Telluride's submission deadline for feature films is July 15...

Hummmmmm???

The TFF #37 Guest Director Is....

Author Michael Ondaatje has been selected to Guest Direct the 37th Telluride Film Festival according to Kris Tapley at In Contention.


Ondaatje is best known as the author of "The English Patient" which won the Booker Prize and, of course, became the film of the same name that won 9 Academy Awards including Best Picture. Ondaatje shared the USC scripter award that year with Director/Screenwriter Anthony Minghella.

Ondaatje was born in Sri Lanka in 1943...but moved to England in 1954 and then to Canada in 1962. He's lived there ever since. He was primarily a poet in his early writing career.

Interesting tidbit: He authored a book in 2002 about Walter Murch and editing. Murch was a Telluride tributee in 2006.

It will be interesting to see what the author of "The English Patient" programs as his selections in this year's festival.

You can check out Ondaatje's "Contemporary Writers" page at:
http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth205

Clooney and Venice and TFF #37

George Clooney takes aim at the Venice Film Festival

A couple of reports that Clooney's "The American" is set for Venice which decreases its likelihood of being in Telluride.

Also, quite a bit of pundit back-and-forth on Malick's "The Tree of Life" being at Venice or not. Sasha Stone at Awards Daily is the latest to opine that "Tree" is probably NOT at Venice, but is likely for Toronto, which oddly, makes Telluride continue to be a possibility. http://www.awardsdaily.com/?p=23068

One other tidbit, "Betty Anne Waters" has a different title..."Conviction"