Obsessing about the Telluride Film Festival and the film awards season since 2008!
"The best blog out there for predicting what will be going to Telluride."-Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
"The Nostradamus of Telluride"
-Tim Appelo, Movies for Grownups
"But it's our job." - Anne Thompson, Indiewire
Good Monday Everyone. Hope you had a great weekend.
MR. MIKE'S WISH LIST
The first stab at a "Ten Bets" list is still almost two weeks away but that doesn't mean I don't have films that I'm wishing for, Some of them have a decent shot to make the lineup; others are "pie in the sky"...but even"pie in the sky" sometimes comes true.
Here's where I am right now:
Wish List A: (films that have a reasonable chance to be at Telluride): "Foxcatcher", "The Imitation Game", "Birdman", "Two Days, One Night".
Wish List B: (films that I'd love to see at Telluride, but chances are minuscule): "Interstellar", "Inherent Vice", "MacBeth", "Unbroken".
There will be others...What's on your wish list?
LUPITA AND BRAD: ROUND TWO
News appeared over the weekend that "12 Years a Slave" Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o has put together the pieces to produce her next project. Striking while she is a hot commodity and taking advantage of the relationships developed during her "12 Years" experience, IndieWire reports that she will star and produce an adaptation of "Americanah". She'll do it with the participation of Brad Pitt's Plan B Production Company which was also instrumental in the development of "12 Years". a 2015 release date is anticipated. So mark it down as a possible "Coming Attraction" for TFF #42.
It took nearly a week but Selena Gomez fans found Michael's Telluride Film Blog this past weekend as a result of the tweets I tweeted after catching the private OKC screening of William H. Macy's "Rudderless". Gomez fans starting retweeting like crazy yesterday and naturally, I encouraged them to drop be and look at the rather extensive "Rudderless" reporting that's contained here. Thanks Selena fans. Hope you enjoy all the "Rudderless" coverage. I'll say it again for your benefit...she's really good in the film!
We're two weeks away from the opening of the 40th Telluride Film Festival and as I now comes the time to categorize the films that are/could be/might have been T-ride selections.
Here are my categories:
Films (in no particular order) that I'm fairly confident will play. This claim is based on any number of factors...not the least of which has been a claim from some quarters, in print or publicly stated, by film bloggers, reporters etc.:
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Labor Day”
“All is Lost”
“Gravity”
“The Past”
“The Immigrant”
“Nebraska”
“The Invisible Woman”
“The Unknown Known: The Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld”
“Life Itself”
“Daughter of the Dawn”
Films that I feel have at least a 50/50 chance to play Telluride:
“12 Years a Slave”
“Blue is the Warmest Color”
“Heli”
“Gloria”
“Child’s Pose”
“Philomena”
“The Lunchbox”
“Only Lovers Left Alive’
“Enough Said”
“You Are Here”
“Quay d’ Orsay”
“The Selfish Giant”
“Aguirre: The Wrath of God”
Possible films that I feel have a less than 30% chance...but wouldn't be a complete surprise:
“August: Osage County”
“The Counselor”
“The Fifth Estate”
“The Dallas Buyers Club”
“Foxcatcher”
“Eleanor Rigby: His/Hers”
“A Most Wanted Man”
“Night Moves”
“Parkland”
“The Railway Man”
“The Rover”
“T.S. Spivet’
“The Zero Theorem”
"Unforgiven:
"The Wind Rises"
"Le Weekend"
Films that look unlikely to play Telluride for any number of reasons...
“American Hustle”
“Out of the Furnace”
“Her”
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
“The Book Thief”
“Oldboy”
“Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”
“Rush”
“The Monuments Men”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”
“Captain Phillips”
“Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Knight of Cups”
“Saving Mr. Banks”
“The Hobbit/Smaug”
“Grace of Monaco”
“Diana”
In a perfect world...these films would play in order of preference but regardless of likelihood:
1) "Inside Llewyn Davis"
2) "12 Years a Slave"
3) "The Monuments Men"
4) "Gravity"
5) "The Dallas Buyers Club"
6) "The Counselor"
7) "All is Lost"
8) "Labor Day"
9) "The Past"
10) "Nebraska"
11) "Foxcatcher"
12) "The Fifth Estate"
13) "American Hustle"
14) "Her"
15) "Out of the Furnace"
16) "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"
17) "Captain Phillips"
18) "August: Osage County"
19) "The Wolf of Wall Street"
20) "Blue is the Warmest Color"/"The Zero Theorem" (tie)
A couple of observations...
It looks to me like a terrific fall film slate...a lot of quality films to choose from. Also, assuming that I'm anywhere close to right...this year's Telluride lineup is going to be incredible.
JAPAN RISING
I noted yesterday that I had a "feeling' about Hayao Miyazaki's "The Wind Rises". No real hard evidence...just a tickle. It and Lee Sang-il's "Unforgiven" remake that transfers the Eastwood classic to 1800's Japan were both announced as additions to Toronto earlier this week and both could make a stop in Telluride first.
Both films popped up with English subtitled trailers yesterday. Here's "Unforgiven" via YouTube:
And "The Wind Rises" as well:
I have also linked separate posts from The Playlist and The Dissolve:
The Playlist also dips into a Terry Gilliam interview with Deadline.com in which he talks "The Zero Theorem" as well as his "Don Quixote" project. The post also includes a couple of new stills of "Zero":
"The Zero Theorem" is scheduled to play the Venice fest on Sept.2...could Gilliam show it in Telluride first? Possible.
GUIDE TO THE RIDE
We're official...This year's Michael's Telluride Film Blog "Guide to the Ride' is set for 5pm Thursday, Aug. 29th at The River Club in Telluride at 550 Depot St. in Telluride. Come and join me for a brief discussion of what we might expect for the weekend as well as a glass (or two) of beverage and a nosh as well. It'll be fun and YOU ARE INVITED...
JUDGING TELLURIDE
Also, don't forget that you're also invited to take part in the Second "People's Telluride"...I'm asking you to rank the films that you see on a 0-5 scale and email those to me at the end of the fest. As I did last year, I will crunch the numbers and we'll see what our collective view was.
I'll also be doing this with a select group of industry pros who have been kind enough to agree to rate the films they see as well.
Should be fun and informative...
Follow/Like Michael's Telluride Film Blog on facebook.
Follow me on Twitter @Gort2.
More on Friday...including a new "Ten Bets" list...with more than ten bets...
Good Saturday...hope your weekend has gotten off to a great start!
BEST OF THE WEEK
WELLS SPECULATES...MIND BLOWN
Jeff Wells/ Hollywood Elsewhere tweeted enigmatically the link to this bit of Telluride #40 speculation:
"All is Lost"
"Inside Llewyn Davis"
"Blue is the Warmest Color" and
"Captain Phillips"
Not much movement in the "Ten" this week. Anxiously waiting for the Toronto and Venice fests to announce lineups next week and see how that news impacts the thinking about Telluride.
This week's Ten Bets:
1) Nebraska
2) The Invisible Woman
3) The Unknown Known
4) The Story of Children and Film
5) The Past
6) The Immigrant
7) Daughter of the Dawn
8) Labor Day
9) Blue is the Warmest Color
10) Aguirre: The Wrath of God
Just below the "Ten": "The Lunchbox", "Like Father Like Son", "Life Itself", "Only Lovers Left Alive", "12 Years a Slave", "Quai d'Orsay", "Heli", "Philomena" and "The Selfish Giant". With the Jeff Wells speculation from Thursday add "Inside Llewyn Davis", "Captain Phillips" and "All is Lost" as additional possibilities.
Also be looking out for SPC additions (reportedly) "Foxcatcher" and "Jodorowsky's Dune" as possibles.
Monday was the deadline for submissions to the Telluride Film Festival. I have been told on occasion that some of the "higher-ups" in the TFF hierarchy actually take a look at this space from time to time. I'm not sure I believe that but I'd like to. So, in that spirit, here's my list of 20 films that I'd sure like the Telluride Film Festival to consider programming. Some of these I'm very sure will play. Others don't have a snowball's chance of being in San Miguel County on Labor Day but it's a "wish list" (most with some kind of clip or trailer)of sorts so...
And to those film makers out there that are responsible for the films on this list...come on...apply...(of course, I fully realize that there are sometimes "late additions" to the Telluride lineup...that's OK too).
In alphabetical order they are:
"12 Years a Slave"- Steve McQueen's third feature following "Hunger" and "Shame" tells the true story of a free black man taken slammed into slavery and his struggle to regain that freedom. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender lead a massive and talent-laden cast. Rumors are strong that it will play the Venice fest.
"All is Lost"- J.C. Chandor's follow-up to "Margin Call" features Robert Redford, a boat and the ocean...and not much dialogue. It played at Cannes out of competition and was rapturously received. Lot of buzz for Redford vis-a-vis awards season.
"American Hustle" -David O. Russell is on a hot streak. "Silver Linings Playbook" last year and "The Fighter" in 2010. "AH" is a true story of political corruption that features a phenomenal cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro from "SLP" and Christian Bale and Amy Adams from "Fighter" plus throw in Jeremy Renner.
"August: Osage County"-Meryl Streep leads the all star cast in this adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning play about a dysfunctional Oklahoma family. Other cast mates: Julia Roberts, Ewan MacGregor, Chris Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch and Sam Shepard.
"Captain Phillips"- Tom Hanks plays the real life Captain of the U.S. ship hijacked by Somali pirates in 2009. Paul Greengrass directs.
"The Counselor"- Ridley Scott (?) directs an original Cormac McCarthy script abut a lawyer who gets in over his head when dealing with the illicit drug trade. The cast is intriguing: Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz.
"Dallas Buyers Club"- Matthew McConnaughey looks to continue his current acting winning streak with this true story of a homophobic Texan who contracted AIDS in 1986 and his attempts to find ways to treat it. Jean-Marc Vallee (The Young Victoria) directs.Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner also star.
"The Fifth Estate"- Director Bill Condon's take on Julian Assange and the development of WikiLeaks. Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Bruhl and Laura Linney star.
"Foxcatcher"- Bennett Miller has directed two straight winners: "Capote" and "Moneyball". I'm hopeful that "Foxcatcher" will give him a hat trick. "Foxcatcher" is another true story (notice that there are a lot of those on this list?). This focuses on millionaire John DuPont and his murder of Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz. Mark Ruffalo, Steve Carell and Channing Tatum star.
"Gravity"-Alfonso Curaon is back. The director finally follows up his 2006 gem "Children of Men" with another sci-fi piece. Now, I really liked "Children of Men" but Frankly was just lukewarm about this "lost in space" story starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney...most Bullock I understand. That is until I saw the teaser...now, I'm kind of hot to see the film.
"Her" Spike Jonze directs, Joaquin Phoenix acts in a story about a men in love with his computer's operating system. Yes. Plus a lot of beautiful talented women: Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara and Olivia Wilde. The combo of Jonze and Phoenix is a enough for me.
"The Immigrant" James Gray's story of a young women trapped in a bad life in 19th century America with Marion Cotillard Jeremy Renner and Joaquin Phoenix. I've been hot to see it since they teased it last year at TFF#39.
"Inside Llewyn Davis"-The Coen Brothers ode to music (folk music specifically) was roundly applauded at Cannes. The buzz is very, very good. Oscar Issac stars as the title character who appears to be a struggling New York folk musician in the early 60's. Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, F. Murray Abraham and Justin Timberlake co-star. This might be the #1 film on this fall's "must see" list.
"Labor Day"- I sure hope that Jason Reitman returns to Telluride. I enjoyed "Juno" and "Up in the Air" and a brief conversation with Reitman both times. This project sounds intriguing. Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin star. Brolin's on the run from the law whose path crosses with Winslet's character.
"The Monuments Men"- George Clooney and company save art from Nazis. Clooney directs, stars and co-wrote the film which also features Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Bill Murray and Jean Dujardin. Come on back to Telluride George!
"Nebraska"- Alexander Payne's story of a father-son road trip to claim a potential fortune. Bruce Dern and Will Forte star (see story below).
"Out of the Furnace"- Scott Cooper follows "Crazy Heart" with this hard scrabble film about a man looking for justice for his brother. Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson and Zoe Saldana star.
"The Past"-Berenice Bejo won Best Actress at Cannes in May in this film from "A Separation's" Asgahr Farhadi. "A Separation" was one of the best films of 2011. If this story of domestic difficulties is remotely in the same ball park, it should be worth our time.
"The Wolf of Wall Street"-Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio team up yet again for this true story of high finance, crime and corruption. McConnaughey and Dujardin are both in this as well in addition to Jonah Hill and Jon Favreau.
"The Zero Theorem"-Terry Gilliam playing at satirizing our world with Christoph Waltz in the lead...yes please...in Telluride please.
Friend of the blog Chris Schiller tweeted out an interesting thought this weekend. He speculated on some possible TFF#40 "2fers". People that might star in 2 films showing as a part of the SHOW. Last year Mads Mikkelsen fit that bill being in both "A Royal Affair" and "The Hunt" (see below, by the way).
Schiller's tweet:
2fer predictions/hopes for#TFF40Benedict Cumberbatch(THE FIFTH ESTATE, AUGUST:OSAGE COUNTY) Tilda Swinton(THE ZERO THEOREM, ONLY LOVERS…)
So that got me to thinking, "what other '2fers' could pop up?" Not that they will or that I think that they will, but, you know, what could? Here's the list I came up with: Michael Fassbender: "The Counselor' and "12 Years a Slave" Joaquin Phoenix: "Her" and "The Immigrant" Christian Bale: "Out of the Furnace" and "American Hustle" Amy Adams: "American Hustle" and "Her" Jeremy Renner: "American Hustle" and "The Immigrant" Tom Hanks: "Captain Phillips" and "Saving Mr. Banks" Matthew McConnaughey: "Dallas Buyers Club" and "The Wolf of Wall Street" Daniel Bruhl: (actually a 3fer): "A Most Wanted Man", "Rush" and "The Fifth Estate" Jean Dujardin; (also a 3fer): "The Monuments Men", "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "Mobius" George Clooney (kind of a 3fer): "The Monuments Men", "Gravity" and producing "August: Osage County" And this note...Cumberbatch also a "3fer" as he appears in "12 Years a Slave". Who else? Drop me a line if there are others that you can think of that are "2fers" or more!
12 YEARS TRAILER
It dropped last night, the first trailer for Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave". I have multiple links to stories with the trailer attached:
Much as "12 Years a Slave" did the other day, we had a trailer drop late last night for Bill Condon's "The Fifth Estate" starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Bruhl and Laura Linney.
I have thought this had promise and some Telluride possibilities because of Condon's and Linney's presence and I still do. After seeing the trailer, I'm even more eager. Here it is via YouTube:
I have also linked to a number of posts from early this morning that included the trailer as well:
"The Fifth Estate" opens Oct. 11th or 18th depending on which website you believe.
DOMESTIC COUNSELOR TRAILER
A new domestic trailer for Ridley Scott's "The Counselor" is making the rounds. I have stories linked here through The Playlist, FirstShowing and Rope of Silicon:
It will be interesting to see where this film lands next week when Venice and Toronto begin announcing their lineups.
BLUE SAGA CONTINUES
Pete Hammond at Deadline.com and Keuth Jagernauth at The Playlist reported late yesterday that, despite some serious efforts to change the outcome, Cannes Palme d'Or winner "Blue is the Warmest Color" is still ineligible for Best Foreign Language Oscar consideration. The film is set to open in France (its home country) 9 days after The Academy's deadline. U.S. distributor Sundance Selects has it set for here on Oct. 25.
Maybe of more importance to the concerns of this blog space is the unsurprising reveal that the film has been submitted to Telluride (and Toronto and New York). I've thought that its chances of a T-ride play were pretty good and now with the confirmation that it was submitted, I feel that its even a bit more likely.
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