Pre-Venice Tea Leaves / What We Can Expect Tomorrow / Holding Some Cards Close to the Vest

Good Monday to all you Telluride Film Fest Maniacs... We're getting closer...


PRE-VENICE TEA LEAVES

Over the weekend Variety was up with a post that named a slew of titles expected to be announced for the Venice Film Fest on Thursday.  As diviners for Telluride's lineup, we need to pay attention to titles, directors, distributors premiere status and dates of play.  All of those factors can provide clues for those of us trying to puzzle out T-ride's slate of films.

Variety's piece gives us some of those factors...if we assume, of course, that it's 100% accurate.

Titles Variety claims for Venice (beyond the previously announced opener: Alexander Payne's Downsizing) that the article says will be World Premieres:

George Clooney's Suburbicon
Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water
Stephen Frears' Victoria and Abdul
Paolo Virzo's Ella ad John/The Leisure Seekers
Paul Schraders' First Reformed
Andrew Haigh's Lean on Pete
Lucrecia Martel's Zama

As frequent readers of MTFB know, Clooney, Del Toro, Frears, Schrader and Haigh have all been involved in past TFFs.  If Variety has all this right, you'll need to pay attention to when these films are scheduled for their Venice World Premiere.  Early enough in the Venice lineup means a T-ride play is possible.  Venice runs from Aug. 30th- Sept. 9th.

The Variety post also claims that Martin McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a likely lock for the Biennale but doesn't flat out claim it would be a World Premiere...which is interesting.  In the same vein is the suggestion that Abdelatif Kechiche's Mektoub is Mektoub will play Venice bit doesn't say it will necessarily be a World Premiere.  That leaves the door open for both films to play at Telluride first and then screen at Venice in the second half of that festival.

And then there is the mention of Ritesh Bakta's Our Souls at Night starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford.  They'll World Premiere in Italy and Fonda and Redford will be honored. The timing of that is central to the question of whether the film and those stars cross the Atlantic to make Labor Day in the San Juans.

Also of note is the absence of Darren Aronofsky's mother! and Denis Villenueve's Blade Runner 2049.

The Variety article is linked here.


WHAT WE CAN EXPECT TOMORROW

The Toronto International Film Festival announces a portion of their lineup tomorrow morning at 10am EDT.  When that happens, it will NOT be their complete lineup.  More films will be announced in subsequent weeks and we need to pay attention to each of those announcements.

Tomorrow's announcement and all subsequent announcements for 2017 WILL include a film's premiere status.  That's crucial information for those of us trying to parse what will play at T-ride over Labor Day weekend.

The TIFF reveal is expected to be live streamed at www.tiff.net.

I will be on the road somewhere in Utah/Colorado when this all goes down but I do expect to be able to be in on what is happening via Twitter.  I will also be posting a special edition of MTFB on Wednesday with a breakdown of what we know and don't know so look for that.

Bring it on Toronto!


HOLDING SOME CARDS CLOSE TO THE VEST

One of the things that I find remarkable about this nine year journey is that I do, on occasion, get some inside dope.

As I write this I am sitting on three film titles that I fully expect will play Telluride but...the sharing of those titles has been confidential and until I can string a case together for their inclusion that I arrive at independently, I will keep them close.

I will say this...at least one of the titles has appeared in this post above.

Appetite whetted?


That's it for today.  More tomorrow and you might check my Twitter feed @Gort2 for Toronto/Telluride news. Additionally, there will be a special Wednesday post this week with the TFF/TIFF breakdown.

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

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The Distributors: Focus Features / First Portrait (Trailer) for Final Portrait

Happy Independence Day to all...


THE DISTRIBUTORS: FOCUS FEATURES

To say that there has been only a slight relationship over the past few years between Focus Features and the Telluride Film Festival would be accurate.  Since 2006 Focus has been repped at Telluride all of three times:

2006- Catch a Fire
2012- Hyde Park on Hudson
2015- Suffragette

In all three cases the directors involved had appeared with a film at TFF before.  Phil Noyce who directed Catch a Fire had Rabbit Proof Fence there in 2002.  Roger Michell who was the director of Hyde Park on Hudson had Venus in 2006 and Persuasion in 1995 and Suffragette was directed by Sarah Gavron who had been represented at Telluride in 2007 with Brick Lane, Losing Touch in 2000 and This Little Life in 2003.  So, if you're looking to see if Focus might be back with a film in 2017, that could be a factor to look at and Focus has some films that might be on anyone's wish list.


Starting with the latest from Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Day Lewis, who suggests that he will retire from acting after this film.  The film is currently called Phantom Thread and is scheduled for release on Dec. 25th.

PTA and DDL were in Telluride in 2007 for a tribute to Day Lewis but I fully expect that the film won't be finished in time for Labor Day.  Chances: 0%.

Darkest Hour with what is said to be a star turn and Oscar play for Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill.  Darkest Hour is directed by Jow Wright of Atonement fame.  Wright has no T-ride connection that I can track down so despite a Nov. 22nd release date...Chances: 10%.

Victoria and Abdul starring Judi Dench as the British monarch and directed by Stephen Frears probably has the best shot as Frears has been at Telluride in the past with a tribute to him in 1987 that included Sammy and Rosie Get Laid as well as Walter and June and in 2010 with Tamara Drewe.  Victoria and Abdul opens on Sept. 22nd.  Chances: 35%.



FIRST PORTRAIT (TRAILER) FOR FIRST PORTRAIT

Outside contender for Telluride inclusion, Stanley Tucci's Final Portrait dropped a trailer yesterday. Here it is from YouTube:

Final Portrait stars Geoffrey Rush and Armie Hammer.  It played Berlin back in February and is in Sony Pictures Classics stable.  It currently has no U.S. release date.

I have also linked coverage of the trailer's release here from The Playlist.

That's all for July 4.  More on Thursday.

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

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Cannes: The Critics' Final Analysis / Dame Judi Makes a Move / Three for The SHOW?

It's June...also a Thursday which means another post for MTFB...


CANNES: THE CRITICS' FINAL ANALYSIS

The long awaited and much anticipated 70th Cannes Film Festival has concluded.  It struck me this week that I get almost as obsessive about it as I do about Telluride.  That Cannes obsession is a means to and as I have pointed out any number of times, the overlap of films between the two fests is substantial with an average of 7-8 films playing Cannes first and then following that with a Labor Day bow in the San Juans.  Last year Bright Lights, Bernadette LaFont, Family Whistle, Graduation, Journey Through French Cinema, Neruda and Toni Erdmann (7 films) made an appearance at both.

In 2015 the list included: Carol, Son of Saul, Rams, Hitchcock/Truffaut, Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words and Sembene.


So it pays to note what makes noise in Cannes if you're trying to figure out possible films that could play three and a half months later.

To that end...the critics take from Cannes can be a useful tool.  Let's look at some of that.

Screen Daily's Critics of Palme competition films:

1) (tie) Loveless 3.2
1) (tie) You Were Never Really Here 3.2
3) (tie) The Square 2.7
3) (tie) Wonderstruck 2.7
5) (tie)  BPM 2.5
5) (tie) Good Time 2.5
5) (tie) The Day After 2.5

The complete Screen Daily final critics' grid is here.

Meanwhile, the Ioncinema critics panel weighed in as follows:

1) BPM 3.8
2) You Were Never Really Here 3.6
3) Loveless 3.5
4) (tie) Okja 3.3
4) (tie) The Meyerowitz Stories 3.3
4) (tie) The Day After 3.3

The complete Ioncinema final critics' grid is here.


Las Todas Criticas had these as the top five Palme competitors:

1) The Day After 7.62
2) Good Time 7.66
3) The Meyerowitz Stories 6.9
4) Wonderstruck 6.68
5) BPM 6.58

Las Todas Criticas also included critical collations for other segments of the fest.

Their top three in the Un Certain Regard section:

1) Western 8.05
2) Closeness 7.28
3) Barbara 6.81

Their top three from the Director's Fortnight section were:

1) A Fabrica de Nada (The Nothing Factory) 8.37
2) (tie) The Florida Project 7.83
2) (tie) Lovers for a Day 7.83

All of the results from Las Todas Criticas can be found here.


And the ultra-inclusive Reini Urban critical round up of Cannes (which includes all of the sources above and more)...

Top five in Palme competition:

1) BPM 7.08
2) Good Time 7.05
3) The Day After 6.91
4) The Meyerowitz Stories 6.68
5) You Were Never Really Here 6.56

Among the Un Certain Regard:

1) Western 7.54
2) Testota 7.36
3) A Man of Integrity 6.43
4) Barbara 6.39
5) The Workshop 6.31


Among the Directors Fortnight films:

1) The Nothing Factory 8.20
2) The Florida Project 8.05
3) Lovers for a Day 7.45
4) Nothingwood 7.29
5) Bright Sunshine In 7.29

Ultimately the best regarded films from Cannes regardless of what section they played:

1) Twin Peaks 9.12
2) The Nothing Factory 8.20
3) The Florida Project 8.05
4) Top of the Lake: China Girl 7.79
5) Visages/Villages (Faces/Places) 7.71

The complete Reini Urban compilation is here.



DAME JUDI MAKES A MOVE

Focus Features released the first trailer for Stephen Frears Victoria and Abdul earlier this week.  We're going to keep an eye on it for a possible Telluride slot based on three factors: 1) Frears who was a tribute recipient in 1987 and returned to the festival in 2010 with Tamara Drewe.  His 2013 Philomena was rumored to be in play for TFF #40.  2) Focus Features...despite a spotty record of T-ride plays over the last few years-Suffragette in 2015 and Hyde Park on Hudson in 2012 and 3) the release date is Sept. 22 so a TFF #44 play might well make sense.

Here's the trailer from YouTube:

Also, for your edification, a couple of articles related to the trailer release are here from Indiewire and here from The Playlist.

THREE FOR THE SHOW?

Now that the Cannes Fest is in the can, so to speak, I'm taking a moment to note three films that seemed to jump into Telluride consideration or, perhaps solidified my thinking in that regard.

The first is Sean Baker's The Florida Project.  It has not been a film that I was seriously considering as a real T-ride possibility until its pickup for U.S. distribution by A24 and the glowing reviews that came from its Cannes appearance last week.

Baker, who made a big splash two years ago at Sundance with Tangerine (shot entirely on iPhones), is also getting the kind of notice that makes me think that A24 may want to push the film hard as they have had such success in the last two years with Room and Moonlight.

Indiewire's Anne Thompson wrote extensively on Tuesday about the film.

Both Variety's Guy Lodge and Deadline's Pete Hammond have suggested that the film could be an Oscar sleeper and I would think that if A24 has that plan that they're going to want the film to play Telluride.


The next film for this segment is Agnes Varda and JR's Visages/Villages (or Faces/Places if you prefer) whcih I probably should have been taking more seriously as a TFF possibility from the very beginning simply because of Varda.

The fact that the film was nearly universally adored and that many think it may be Varda's swan song also suggest the potential for a SHOW slot.

The third film in that seemed to me to jump into serious Telluride consideration was BPM or 120 BM or 120 Beats Per Minute or whatever it's going to ultimately be called.  The film's title seemed to mutate throughout the festival.

Its claim to Telluride consideration comes from its critical reception, its winning of the Grand Prix and its pickup for distribution by The Orchard (TFF #43-Neruda) and the fact that it is being bandied about in the foreign language film Oscar conversation depending, of course, on what film France decides to put forth for consideration.

Maybe all three make the TFF #44 lineup.  Maybe none of them do but all three are more serious players today than they were two weeks ago.


That's it for this Thursday...more on Monday...

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

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