Bikeriders Riding into The 'Ride / And Maybe... / The Buzzing / Late Breaking from London

BIKERIDERS RIDING INTO THE 'RIDE

Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel reported on Friday that he has confirmed the buzz we'd been hearing the last couple of weeks that Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders will debut at Telluride.  The film stars Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, Boyd Holbrook, Michael Shannon and Jodie Comer.

IMDb's synopsis goes like this:

"It follows the rise of a Midwestern motorcycle club through the lives of its members."

Nichols previous films include Loving, Midnight Special, Take Shelter and Mud.

For me, its another really great entry into the TFF #50 lineup...which, if what we think is going to Telluride shows at The SHOW, is rocking.

AND MAYBE...

In recent posts I've been mentioning the possibility of Angelina Jolie bringing her latest film-Without Blood-to TFF #50.  I'm still not quite all the way to the point where I'm predicting if for the lineup yet but I am getting closer.  There's a good deal of buzz that the Jolie follow-up to her 2017 First They Killed My Father which also played Telluride.  That previous appearance is one of the reasons that I think might make Without Blood a real possibility for TFF #50.  

THE BUZZING

We're getting to the time of the year where MTFB starts to pop up in other places.  This past week MTFB was referenced by Sasha Stone at Awards Daily in her Aug. 4th post about Oscar and the potential effects of the dual writers' and actors' strike.

Speaking of buzz, on the Awards Radar podcast this week Joey Magidson and his guests Mark Johnson and Ryan McQuade talked a good deal about Telluride and probably the most exciting speculation is about Killers of the Flower Moon and a possible tribute to Martin Scorsese.  They feel that's more not less likely.  I had been hearing a little of that speculation within the last week to ten days.  If you listen to the podcast that discussion occurs at 1:13:58.

If you've read this space before, you know that Flowers is my big hope for the year whether it plays T-ride or not and I have been very clear that I have not believed that it would.  Many of you know that I did a day of background on the film which makes me even more keen to actually see it as soon as possible.

I hate to get all worked up but...there is a little smoke...

On the other hand, another film that's high on my list to see is David Fincher's The Killer starring Michael Fassbender as a professional assassin who comes to a question what his choices have been.  

Like Flower Moon, I have thought The Killer to be an unlikely film for TFF #50 inclusion and now World of Reel suggests that outcome is probable.  WOR chief Jordan Ruimy writing this weekend:

"...not much else is known about Fincher’s upcoming 118-minute film. That’ll change when it premieres in September at the Venice Film Festival. So far, no other festivals have announced it, and I’m hearing it’s not going to Telluride or Toronto. Maybe NYFF is an option."

LATE BREAKING FROM LONDON

First image of Emerald Fennell's Saltburn via Screen Daily

Overnight the BFI London Film Festival announced that its opening night film will be Emerald Fennell's Saltburn.  The announcement added further evidence that the film will be bowing initially at Telluride.  Saltburn is listed by LFF as its International Premiere which adds to the comments from Venice Film Fest head Alberto Barbera from last week that Saltburn will play Telluride.  Additionally we can deduce from its International Premiere status that it will skip Toronto.

Here's a report of the announcement with further details from Screen Daily.

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Ten Bets # 7 / New View of The Zone of Interest / Monday-Thursday / A Reminder and Other Thoughts

TEN BETS #7

Well, we're kind of in a bit of a lull as far as useful intelligence regarding Telluride's lineup,  After the flurry of information last week concerning titles announced by both Toronto and Venice things have gone quiet.  TIFF did announce ten films for their "Platform" section all of which were World Premiere designees meaning no Telluride implications.

Here's a review of last week's Ten Bets:

1) The Holdovers

2) Nyad

3) Anatomy of a Fall

4) The Zone of Interest

5) The Royal Hotel

6) Rustin

7) Wildcat

8) Fingernails

9) Saltburn 

10) The Pigeon Tunnel 

And here's the shuffling of titles for this week's bets:

1) The Holdovers

2) Nyad

3) The Zone of Interest

4) Anatomy of a Fall

5) The Royal Hotel

6) Saltburn

7) Rustin

8) Wildcat

9) Fingernails

10) El Conde

Other possibilities: The Pigeon Tunnel, Poor Things, Without Blood, The End, The Bikeriders, The American Buffalo,  Fallen Leaves,  The Teachers' Lounge, The Pot-au-Feu, Freud's Last Session.

 NEW VIEW OF THE ZONE OF INTEREST

A24 has announced that Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest will be released on Dec. 8th (more about A24's other plans in the story below).  Along with that news the distribution company released a new still from the film which I have included here via World of Reel:

The Zone of Interest premiered to great acclaim at Cannes winning the Grand Prix and FIPRESCI Prize. Zone was announced as a Canadian Premiere by Toronto which indicates a play at Telluride.

Currently Metacritic has the film rated at 98 and Rotten Tomato Critics have it at 96%. 

Glazer's last film, Under the Skin, played as a part of the TFF #40 program.

MONDAY-THURSDAY

Last Monday I wrote about the emergence of a couple of films that were generating Telluride buzz: Jeff Nichols" The Bikeriders and Angelina Jolie's Without Blood.  I am here to tell you that in the intervening three days that buzz has not dissipated. If anything, for both films, the hype for a TFF #50 bow has increased.  Should either or both land at T-ride in a few weeks they would almost certainly be World Premiering there.

The Bikeriders is being distributed in the U.S. by 20th Century and is set for a Dec. 1st release.  Jolie's Without Blood is distributed by Freemantle.  It has not yet been dated for release.

A REMINDER AND OTHER THOUGHTS

Saw on X or Twitter or, you know, Elon's Sandbox, a reminder about Pedro Almodovar's short film, Strange Way of Life, that played at Cannes will debut on MUBI on Oct. 20th.  That reminded me that I still think that it might make an appearance in the San Juans over Labor Day weekend.

Here's the poster:

I also saw a story from Indiewire concerning A24's slate of films which reminded me of a title that I wouldn't normally consider as a Telluride contender.  

I wrote back in February that I thought Angus MacLachlan's A Little Prayer starring David Strathairn might continue the recent trend of a big Sundance title playing at TFF.  That scenario disappeared when it played several other domestic festivals.

But...I'm thinking maybe a different Sundance '23 title might be in the mix.  Raven Jackson's All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (which is an excellent title) debuted at Sundance on Jan. 22nd.  Since then it has not played any other fests.  Additionally, to my knowledge "Salt" has not been named as a TIFF film.  

With Barry Jenkins and his PASTEL production company credited as producers on the film, would A24 make the play to get the film into TFF #50?

It's a real possibility.

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While We're Waiting... / While We're Waiting Part Two / I've Been Hearing...Nichols? Jolie?

 WHILE WE'RE WAITING...

Here's a quick rundown of films playing the Venice fest that might be possible candidates to make the trans-Atlantic journey to the San Juans.

Competition category:

Maestro/B. Cooper

The Killer/D. Fincher

The Captain/M. Garrone

Poor Things/Y. Lanthimos

El Conde/P. Larrain

The most serious possibilities are El Conde and Poor Things.   Maestro and The Killer are the least likely.  Also Searchlight/Disney's choice to move Poor Things' release to Dec. 8th may indicate that the Yorgos Lanthimos film may just play Venice.

Out of Competition category:

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar/W. Anderson

Daaaaaali!/Q. Dupieux

The Caine Mutiny Court Martial/W. Friedkin

Honestly my feeling for each of these is that they're weak candidates.  Also, Caine Mutiny's inclusion is more of a "wish-it-into existence" inclusion rather than based on any rational analysis.

Orrizzonti Extra category:

Day of the Fight/J. Huston

Mostly because I am intrigued by Jack Huston's directing debut.

WHILE WE'RE WAITING PART TWO...

World of Reel posted an updating list on Wednesday last week of possible festival films that have yet to be announced for any fest.  Here that is:

“The Bikeriders” (Jeff Nichols)

“Love Lies Bleeding” (Rose Glass)

“The Actor” (Duke Johnson)

“Dream Scenario” (Kristoffer Borgli)

“Rebel Ridge” (Jeremy Saulnier)

“MaXXXine” (Ti West)

“Civil War” (Alex Garland)

“Strangers” (Andrew Haigh)

“L’Empire” (Bruno Dumont)

“Wizards” (David Michod)

“NightBitch” (Marielle Heller)

“Limonov” (Kirill Serebrennikov)

“Havoc” (Gareth Evans)

“I Saw the TV Glow” (Jane Schoenbrun)

“Shirley” (John Ridley)

“Silent Night” (John Woo)

“Without Blood” (Angelina Jolie)

“Foe” (Garth Davis)

“Holland, Michigan” (Mimi Cave)

“Leave the World Behind” (Sam Esmail)

ADDITIONS:

“Apartment 7A“ (Natalie Erika James)

“Duchess” (Neil Marshall)

“Freaky Tales” (Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck)

“Horizon: An American Saga” (Kevin Costner)

“The Marsh King’s Daughter” (Neil Burger)

“Monkey Man” (Dev Patel)

“Pussy Island” (Zoë Kravitz)

“Road House” (Doug Liman)

“Spaceman” (Johan Renck)

“Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story” (Jerry Seinfeld)

Best TFF #50 possibilities here:

Strangers/Haigh

Shirley/Ridley

The Bikeriders/Nichols (see below)

Without Blood/Jolie (see below)

The Actor/Johnson

Love Lies Bleeding/Glass

Nightbitch/Heller

I'VE BEEN HEARING...NICHOLS? JOLIE?

(photo compilation via People)

Lots of buzz that Jeff Nichols The Bikeriders might be a serious candidate for a Telluride slot.  Granted it's a lot of Twitter or X or Elon's Crazy Playhouse...but the buzz there is a real.

Similarly, a late-breaking title that might be a T-ride potential is Angelina Jolie's Without Blood.  Jolie was in Telluride in 2017 with her First They Killed My Father.

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