Downsizing Re-visited / Woody's Cafe to Open Cannes

Good Thursday Everyone...


DOWNSIZING RE-VISITED

Alexander Payne

On Monday's "Very Early List" I included Craig Johnson's Wilson as one of ten films that I think has a realistic shot at playing at Telluride.  In large part because one of its producers is Alexander Payne who has become a Telluride mainstay.  He is someone I expect to see each year at the SHOW.

Payne's next directing effort is also a film that I would expect would make the Telluride lineup.  The film is entitled Downsizing and will star Matt Damon.  It is not set for release, however until Dec. 2017 so I'd look for it at TFF #44.

News about Downsizing broke big Tuesday.  The cast was to have included Reese Witherspoon, a Telluride attendee in 2014 with Wild.  That appears to have changed, though, with multiple sources reporting that scheduling conflicts have prevented her participation.  Further, Witherspoon has been replaced by Saturday Night Live alum Kristen Wiig.

Perhaps we'll see Ms. Wiig and Damon on Colorado Ave. next year.

Here's coverage of the cast switch and other details from several sources:

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/kristen-wiig-joins-matt-damon-downsizing-1201741344/

http://www.thewrap.com/martian-reunion-kristen-wiig-joins-matt-damon-in-alexander-paynes-downsizing/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/kristen-wiig-replaces-reese-witherspoon-in-alexander-paynes-downsizing-20160329



WOODY'S CAFE TO OPEN CANNES

                               

Image from the Cannes Film Festival

Word this week that another piece of the Cannes lineup puzzle has been put into place.  Woody Allen's latest project, Cafe Society, was named as the opening night film for the 69th festival.  Cafe Society's selection was not a surprise as it had been rumored in a number of sources to have been one of the films under consideration for the opening slot.  The film will, as has been the custom for Allen's Cannes films, appear out of competition.

Coverage of the selection is here:

http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/article/62127.html

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-look-jesse-eisenberg-kristen-stewart-in-woody-allens-cafe-society-film-will-open-cannes-20160329

http://thefilmstage.com/news/woody-allens-cafe-society-starring-kristen-stewart-and-jesse-eisenberg-will-open-the-2016-cannes-film-festival/

http://variety.com/2016/film/festivals/woody-allen-cafe-society-to-open-cannes-film-festival-1201740815/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-woody-allens-cafe-society-878822

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Cannes Eve...

Poster for Lars Von Trier's Cannes entry "Melancholia"

The Cannes Film Festival opens tomorrow with Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" and then runs for 11 days.  We're anxiously awaiting the response from the critics on the ground so we can begin to apply that wisdom to our prognostications regarding Telluride #38.  The Playlist (at IndieWire) has an interesting rundown of what it says are 10 titles to be expected to make noise at Cannes.  You can find that link here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/cannes_film_festival_10_films_that_be_making_noise_on_the_croisette/

Meanwhile, Hitfix reported this morning that The Weinstein Company is on board for Paul Thomas Anderson's next project.  We met Anderson briefly when he attended TFF #34 as part of the tribute to Daniel Day Lewis and the sneak peak of 20 minutes or so of "There Will Be Blood."  The article suggests that the Weinstein's are looking for the new Anderson project to be a 2013 release...TFF #40???  Maybe.  It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, who was at Telluride for 2005's "Capote" for which he won the Best Actor Oscar.  So there's enough of  a pedigree there to think that it might be a part of the fest 2 years from now.

I'm kind of hesitant to get really worked up with this after the experience of stalking Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" kind of obsessively for 2 years only to see it scheduled for this year's Cannes followed by its U.S. open on May 27th.  But...it IS PT Anderson with Hoffman.  Check the Hitfix article at this link:

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/awards-campaign/posts/oscar-watch-paul-thomas-anderson-and-weinstein-company-take-on-scientology

Can't wait to start hearing the buzz out of Cannes...

Two and a Half Weeks

Will Stephen Frears comedy be playing at 9,000 feet in 2 and 1/2 weeks?

A big speculative post tonight from Jay Fernandez in The Hollywood Reporter that is very, very tantalizing. You can find the entirety of the article here:

http://tinyurl.com/2g6o29v

Check it out.

Of note: Fernandez says, among other things, that he expects to see Danny Boyle's "127 Hours" which this space has been predicting for some time now. Additionally, he suggests the likelihood of Mark Romanek's "Never Let Me Go" and Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan" which have also appeared in this space previously as possible TFF #37 suspects.

That's not all. Fernandez also points out the possibility of Stephen Frears "Tamara Drewe," Mike Leigh's "Another Year," and Charles Ferguson's documentary "Inside Job" as possibles that we have also highlighted here.

A few surprises included for Telluride Film on Fernandez's list include Woody Allen's "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" which we had all but written off as well as Sylvan Chomet's animated "The Illusionist."

If these all showed at SHOW #37...that would be quite a festival indeed.

TFF #37 and Cannes

Word out of Cannes today that Sony Picture Classics has picked up the distribution for Mike Leigh's "Another Year". As I write, it still seems to be the biggest critical darling of Cannes and the days are dwindling for that Festival. The SPC decision increases it's chances to be a Telluride picture. I'm almost to the point of saying "count on it" being at TFF #37.

Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu's "Biutiful" has apparently earned split reactions, and very vehement disagreement between critics. I still think it's got a pretty good shot.

Godard's "Socialism" on the other hand sounds like it has landed with a thud and thus drops in our estimation of it's likelihood of being in Telluride.

"Blue Valentine" is getting good press. The knock on it is that it was a Sundance picture, which used to be a disqualifier for Telluride, til last year, when "An Education" showed up both places...so, maybe.

That's what we have for now...check in later...

Cannes update and TFF #37 speculation

Mike Leigh's "Another Year" seems to be the only film in Cannes first few days gaining much traction. Everything else thus far seems to be drawing as much criticism as praise. Including Woody Allen's "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger". So you'd have to think Leigh's Telluride stock is up and Allen's is down.

Cannes runs through May 23rd. I'll update this space as critical reception merits from France.

Bon Jour!

Cannes and TFF#37

Anthony Hopkins and Naomi Watts on the set of Woody Allen's "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" set to appear at the Cannes Film Festival next month.

Here are the films chosen for inclusion in the Cannes Film Festival announced last weekend. You can almost certainly count on seeing 6-12 of these at TFF #37 if past trends hold true. I have included some notes for some of the films that may have the best likelihood of being in Telluride.

IN COMPETITION

Tournee, directed by Mathieu Almaric...25% chance...

Des Hommes des Dieux, directed by Xavier Beauvois

Biutiful, directed by Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu...maybe the most likely due to “Babel’s” success at Telluride

Hors-la-loi, directed by Rachid Bouchareb

Un Homme Qui Crie, directed by Mahamat-Saleh

HarounHousemaid, directed by Im Sangsoo

Copie Conforme, directed by Abbas Kiarostami

Outrage, directed by Takeshi Kitano

Poetry, directed by Lee Chang-dong

Another Year, directed by Mike Leigh...”Happy Go Lucky” 2 years ago

Fair Game, directed by Doug Liman...just got a feeling

You, My Joy, directed by Sergei Lovnitsa...ditto

La Nostra Vita, directed by Daniele Luchetti

Utomlyonnye Solntsem 2, directed by Nikita Mikhalkov

La Princesse de Monptpensier, directed by Bertrand Tavernier...because it's Tavernier

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul...intuition again

OUT OF COMPETITION

You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, directed by Woody Allen...because its SPC

Tamara Drewe, directed by Stephen Frears...because its Frears

Wall Street – Money Never Sleeps, directed by Oliver Stone

MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS

Kaboom, directed by Gregg Araki

L’Autre Monde (Blackhole), directed by Gilles Marchand

UN CERTAIN REGARD

Blue Valentine, directed by Derek Cianfrance...only a guess

O Estranho Caso de Angelica, directed by Manouel de Oliveira

Les Amours Imaginaires (Heartbeats), directed by Xavier Dolan

Los Labios, directed by Ivan Fund and Santiago LozaSimon

Werner a Disparu… directed by Fabrice Gobert

Film Socialisme, directed by Jean-Luc Godard...because its Godard and a doc

Unter Dir Die Stadt (The City Below), directed by Christoph Hochhausler

Rebecca H. (Return to the Dogs), directed by Lodge Kerrigan

Pal Adreinn (Adrienn Pal), directed by Agnes Kocsis

Udaan, directed by Vikramaditya Motwan

Marti Dupa Craciun (Tuesday, After Christmas), directed by Radu Muntean

Chatroom, directed by Hideo Nakata

Aurora, directed by Cristi Puiu...Romainia returns to TFF?

Ha Ha Ha, directed by Hong Sangsoo

Life Above All, directed by Oliver Schmitz

Octubre, directed by Daniel Vega

R U There, directed by David Verbeek

Rizhao Chongqing (Chongqing Blues), directed by Xiaoshuai Wang

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Inside Job, directed by Charles Ferguson

Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow, directed by Sophie Fiennes

Nostalgia for the Light, directed by Patricio Guzman

Draquila - L’Italia Che Trema, directed by Sabina Guzzanti

Chantrapas, directed by Otar Iosseliani

Abel, directed by Diego Luna

Other notes...reportedly Cannes organizers might still slip in Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” if it’s “finished”...doesn’t seem likely now, which may increase its chances at being at Telluride.
I was a little surprised that I did not see Julian Schnabel’s “Miral” or Sofia Coppola’s “Somewhere”.