Netflix Will Go Theatrical with the Wind / Karlovy Vary Lineup Announced / Documentary Corner

Welcome to the last day of May for 2018...


NETFLIX WILL GO THEATRICAL WITH THE WIND

Indiewire reported yesterday that Orson Welles' final film, The Other Side of the Wind, which has been completed after decades of effort, will get a theatrical release in the fall.

Indiewire's Jenna Marotta included Twitter traffic from producer Frank Marshall's account that flat said that a fall theatrical release strategy.  Indiewire also credits Wellesnet with having originated the story.

Interestingly, the original Welles net post notes that Marshall was asked directly (by Hollywood Elsewhere's Jeff Wells) if the screening(s) would occur before TFF #45 and they report that Marshall ignored the question.  Here's the Twitter screenshot:

Additionally, both the Wellesnet and Indiewire posts report that the release strategy is still in the planning stages.

The Wellesnet post is here.

The Indiewire story is here.



KARLOVY VARY LINEUP ANNOUNCED

The Czech based Karlovy Vary Film Festival announced their lineup this week.  That announcement is of some note to Telluride obsessives as there are usually some films that play there that also make the grade then for TFF.

Last year, for example, TFF #44 included Land of the Free, A Man of Integrity and The Other Side of Hope all of which played at the Czech festival before appearing at Telluride.

Over the years I have been attending T-ride (since 2006) several other films have followed this path including:

2016-The Eagle Huntress, Fire at Sea, Graduation, Toni Erdmann
2015-Ixcanul, Rams, 45 Years
2014-'71, Leviathan, Mommy, Wild Tales
2013-Gloria, The Lunchbox, Missing Picture, The Story of Children and Film
2012-Amour, Barbara, Paradise:Love, Piazza Fontana, What Is This Film Called Love?
2011-The Kid With a Bike, Le Havre, Pina, A Separation, Turin Horse
2010-Border, Cameraman: Jack Cardiff, The Illusionist, Le Quattro Volte, Of Gods and Men, Poetry
2009-Fish Tank, Gigante, Room and a Half, Samson + Delilah, The White Ribbon
2008-Gommorah, O'Horten, Tulpan, Waltz with Bashir
2007-4 Months 3 Weeks & Days, The Band's Visit, The Counterfeiters, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Jar City, Secret Sunshine
2006-12:08 East of Bucharest

So, as you can see, the average number of films that play both fests is four per year (with a statistically noticeable tie to films that have played Berlin or Cannes prior to their inclusion at Karlovy Vary.

With all that said, none of the announced films scream"This will play Telluride".  At a guess I might keep an eye on Ewa Bukowska's 53 Wars, Vladimir Bitokov's Deep Rivers and Giedre Beinoiriute's Breathing Into Marble.

Articles with the lineups included are here from Variety and The Playlist.


DOCUMENTARY CORNER

Errol Morris' Wormwood played TFF #44 and is available to stream on Netflix.  Indiewire put together an in depth look at the series from the Telluride regular earlier this week.

The lengthy article includes interview material with Morris.

You can read the piece from author Chris O'Falt here.

That's today's installment of MTFB.  More to come next week...


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BAFTA Nominees and Telluride / More Precursors Today / This Year's Oscar Poster / DGA Doc Noms Include Morris, Burns and Novick

It's Thursday.  It's January.  It's 2018.


BAFTA NOMINEES AND TELLURIDE

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced their nominees for excellence in 2017 earlier this week and TFF #44 films snagged 31 of them.  Big TFF #44 players were The Shape of Water with 12, which topped all films and Darkest Hour with nine.  The robust presence of Darkest Hour combined with Gary Oldman's Golden Globe win for Best Actor-Drama has given the Joe Wright film a boost at the opportune moment right in the middle of Oscar voting.

TFF #44 films and their nominations for BAFTA awards were:

The Shape of Water (12): Best Film, Direction, Original Screenplay, Sally Hawkins/Actress, Octavia Spencer/Supporting Actress, Original Music, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Sound, Visual Effects and Costumes.

Darkest Hour (9): Best Film, Best British Film, Gary Oldman/Actor, Kristen Scott Thomas/Supporting Actress. Original Music, Cinematography, Production Design, Makeup/Hair, Costumes.

Lady Bird (3): Original Screenplay, Saoirse Ronan/Actress, Laurie Metcalf/Supporting Actress.

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (3): Adapted Screenplay, Annette Bening/Actress, Jamie Bell/Actor

First They Killed My Father (1): Best Film not in the English Language

Loveless (1): Best Film not in the English Language

An Inconvenient Sequel (1):Documentary

Loving Vincent (1): Animated Film

The complete list of nominees is here from the official BAFTA website.


MORE PRECURSORS TODAY

We have a precursor double whammy today with the announcement of the five directors nominated for excellence by the Directors Guild of America (DGA).  I'm guessing: Del Toro, Nolan, Gerwig, McDonagh and Spielberg.  Peele is also a real possibility.

Meanwhile, The Critic's Choice Awards are announced tonight.  We'll find out which films and individuals the Broadcast Film Critics of America have determined are the best for 2017.  The Critics Choice Awards broadcast will be at 8:00pm ET on The CW Network.

Oscar voting comes to a conclusion tomorrow and the nominees will be revealed early in the morning on Jan. 23rd.


THIS YEAR'S OSCAR POSTER

The poster for the 90th Academy Awards has been unleashed and features host Jimmy Kimmel and a reminder of the conclusion of last year's awards:

DGA DOCUMENTARY NOMINATIONS INCLUDE MORRIS, BURNS AND NOVICK

Although the Directors Guild names their nominees for feature films today, they have already named their five nominees for direction of feature length documentaries.  Among the nominees were two films that played at Telluride last Labor Day.

Errol Morris was nominated for Wormwood and Ken Burns and Lynn Novick were nominated for The Vietnam War.  Other directors were nominated for Icarus, City of Ghosts and Abacus: Small Enough to Jail.

Anne Thompson of Indiewire has the complete rundown here.



That's your Thursday.  I'll have more on Monday.

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

End of Year Critics Lists / Darkest Hour Short Listed for Makeup and Hair / Morris on Wormwood

Welcome to the Monkey House as Kurt Vonnegut said...


END OF YEAR CRITICS LISTS

Both Indiewire and Metacritic this week have posted stories with accumulated data from multiple critics.  Here's your review of where TFF #44 films ended up on those lists.

Beginning with Indiewire's poll of over 200 critics.

Best Film: #2-Lady Bird, #6-The Shape of Water (Jordan Peele's Get Out edged out Lady Bird for the top spot)
Director: #3-Greta Gerwig/Lady Bird
Best Actress: #1-Saoirse Ronan/Lady Bird, #4-Sally Hawkins/The Shape of Water
Best Actor: #5-Gary Oldman/Darkest Hour
Supporting Actress- #1-Laurie Metcalf/Lady Bird
Screenplay- #2-Lady Bird
Documentary- #1-Faces/Places
Foreign Language Film: #2 Faces/Places
Cinematography- #4 The Shape of Water
Animated Feature- #3 Loving Vincent
Best Films of 2018 That Have Already Been Seen: #2-The Rider, #3-First Reformed, #5-Lean on Pete

The complete story from Indie wire is here.


Metacritic posted two different stories.  The first focused on collating end of the year critics groups accolades, the other collated critics year end top ten lists.

From the collation of critics awards highlighted TFF #44 films as follows:

Top Ten Films:

#2 The Shape of Water
#4 Lady Bird

Director: #1-Guillermo Del Toro/The Shape of Water, #3- Greta Gerwig-Lady Bird
Actor- #1 Gary Oldman/Darkest Hour
Actress- #2-Sally Hawkins/The Shape of Water, #3-Saoirse Ronan/Lady Bird
Supporting Actor- #3-Richard Jenkins/The Shape of Water
Supporting Actress- #1- Laurie Metcalf/Lady Bird
Screenplay- #2-Lady Bird, #7- The Shape of Water
Cinematography- #3-The Shape of Water
Film Editing- #3-The Shape of Water
Foreign Language Film- #3 First They Killed My Father
Documentary- #2- Faces/Places
Animated Feature- #2- Loving Vincent

The complete rundown from Metacritic is here.

Metacritic's compilation of critical ratings of top ten lists for 2017 films came down with these TFF #44 films in the Top 20:

#2- Lady Bird
#7-The Shape of Water
#10- Faces/Places

The complete list plus the top tens from critics are here.


DARKEST HOUR SHORT LISTED

Seven films have been short listed by AMPAS for the Makeup/Hair Oscar.  That list will be whittled to three by Oscar nomination announcement morning.

TFF #44's Darkest Hour was short listed for turning Gary Oldman into the physical presence of Winston Churchill.

Indiewire has that story here.


MORRIS ON WORMWOOD

Errol Morris spoke recently with Variety about his multi-part CIA docudrama Wormwood which bowed over Labor Day weekend at Telluride.  Wormwood is now available for streaming on Netflix.

The Variety interview is accessible here.


That's all for today.  I'll have a short post on Christmas morning and be back to business as usual next Thursday.

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Sasha Stone's Pre-Thanksgiving Oscar Picks / Studi Talks Hostiles / Wormwood: Academy Says It's Not Eligible / The Making of the Beast

Good Monday movie fans...


SASHA STONE'S PRE-THANKSGIVING OSCAR PICKS

Each Friday, Sasha Stone, founder of Awards Daily, updates her latest Oscar forecast.  As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, I thought I'd take a quick peek at what she thinks are likely nominations regarding TFF #44 films.

Sasha is currently picking 11 major categories and she has both Darkest Hour and The Shape of Water with eight nominations from those categories:

The Shape of Water: Picture, Direction, Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Editing, Cinematography and Production Design.


Darkest Hour: Picture, Direction, Actor, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Editing, Cinematography, Production Design.

Lady Bird: borderline Best Picture, Actress, Supporting Actress.

Wonderstruck: Adapted Screenplay

Stone's complete "Predictions Friday" column is here.


STUDI TALKS HOSTILES

Oklahoma native Native American actor Wes Studi spoke recently with Jazz Tangcay of Awards Daily about his experiences making Scott Cooper's western.

The film is set for release on Dec. 22nd and is drawing some serious discussion about Christian Bale's performance as a potential Best Actor nominee.

That interview is here.



WORMWOOD: ACADEMY SAYS IT'S NOT AN ELIGIBLE DOCUMENTARY

Errol Morris' Wormwood which was often a topic of conversation in lines at this year's TFF, will not be eligible for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar according to Indiewire's Anne Thompson.

It appears that Wormwood runs afoul of Academy rules that have been recently adopted to exclude the kind of episodic format that Wormwood is in.

Wormwood is set to bow on Netflix on Dec. 15th

Thompson's story is here.



THE MAKING OF THE BEAST

Recently The Shape of Water's writer/director Guillermo Del Toro shred extensive notes about the creation of the creature at the center of his love story that was brought to life by actor Doug Jones.

SlashFilm gathered all of that together and this past week put together a story that delineates that process.

The SlashFilm story is here.

The Shape of Water opens in the U.S. on Dec. 8th.


I'll have more on Thanksgiving morning including the latest Best Picture and Best Direction Oscar predictions from The Film Awards Clearinghouse.

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Interviews: Haynes, Gerwig, Waltz, McCarten / AFI Adds Films From TFF #44 / New Poster for Lady Bird

Welcome to Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017...

INTERVIEWS: HAYNES, GERWIG, WALTZ AND MC CARTEN

A slew of interviews popped up these past few days from a number of outlets associated with films that played at TFF #44.  I have included links to several of them here.

We begin with an interview of Wonderstruck (and Carol) director Todd Haynes from Indiewire's Anne Thompson.

Staying with directors and , in this case, screenwriter Greta Gerwig who was the creative force behind Lady Bird starring Saoirse Ronan.  Here's the video of a post-screening interview of her from the New York Film Festival.

I have also added this SAG-AFTRA Foundation conversation with two time Oscar winner and co-star of Alexander Payne's Downsizing, Christoph Waltz:

And, for good measure, here is an interview with the screenwriter of Darkest Hour, Anthony McCarten,  conducted by Jazz Tangcay for Awards Daily.

AFI ADDS FILMS FROM TFF #44

The American Film Institutes's Film Fest will start on Nov. 9th and they continue to announce titles that will be p;laying as a part of their program.  TFF #44 title Hostiles had already been named a centerpiece gala and a version of Errol Morris' Wormwood had also been announced.

Earlier this week three more TFF #44 films were added to the AFI schedule: The Shape of Water, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool and Film Worker.

Complete coverage of the entire set of films added to the AFI lineup can be found here from Indiewire.

NEW POSTER FOR LADY BIRD

Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird will open on Nov. 3rd and as we move closer to that date A24 dropped a new poster for the film this week:

The accompanying story is here from, the Irish based website Entertainment.ie.

That's tour MTFB on this Thursday.  More to come on Monday...

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Gotham Awards Nominations Begin the Season / Ai Weiwei and Human Flow / New Poster for The Shape of Water / Hostiles and Wormwood Named to the AFI Fest

Good Monday to everyone...It's Oct. 23, 2017


GOTHAM AWARDS NOMINATIONS START THE SEASON

The Independent Film Project announced their lost of nominees for this year on Thursday.  Jordan Peele's Get Out led the way with four mentions for Best Picture, Direction, Actor and Screenplay.Actress.

TFF #44 film Lady Bird was next on the list with three nominations for Breakthrough Director, Screenplay and Actress for Saoirse Ronan.

Call Me By Your Name and The Florida Project also were nominated for three awards apiece.

The complete list of nominees is here at The Gotham Awards website.

I have also linked analysis from Indiewire's Anne Thompson as well as Ioncinema's Eric Lavallee.





NEW POSTER FOR THE SHAPE OF WATER

The Film Stage reported over the weekend that Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water had released a new poster which you can see above.  The film is scheduled to open on Dec. 8th.



AI WEIWEI AND HUMAN FLOW

Human rights activist and film maker Ai Weiwei's Human Flow was featured at this year's Telluride Film Festival and opened this past weekend.  Indiewire's David Ehrlich interviewed Weiwei recently about the documentary which is headlined as the definitive film about the global refugee crisis.  That interview is here.



HOSTILES AND WORMWOOD NAMED TO THE AFI FEST

The American Film Institute announced their centerpiece galas and a tribute this week.  Scott Cooper's Hostiles was named as one of three centerpiece galas.  Hostiles was a part of the TFF #44 lineup and recently was acquired for distribution by Entertainment Studios.

The other galas are Call Me By Your Name and The Disaster Artist.

AFI also announced that there will be a tribute screening of Errol Morris' Wormwood which also played Telluride. 

The announcement from The American Film Institute can be found here.




That's a wrap for this Monday.  I'll have another update on Thursday.


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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Sunday's TBAs / Sometimes Dreams Come True / Sunday Planned Films /Sunday Plans / Notes from Saturday's Films

Good Sunday Ladies and Germs...the 44th Telluride Film Festival has moved past its half way point.  Hope it has been as good for you as it has been for me...

SUNDAY TBAs

Sunday TBAs

9:15am, Le Pierre, HOSTAGES with Q&A, 16 (program number), Cinephile

9:30am, Masons Hall Cinema, WORMWOOD, 21, Cinephile

4:15pm, Werner Herzog Theatre, BATTLE OF THE SEXES, 6, Cinephile

10:00pm, Nugget Theatre, A FANTASTIC WOMAN, 23, Cinephile

10:15pm, Le Pierre, STUDENT PRINTS WITH Q&A, 41, Cinephile

Noon, Elks Park, FREE
Sunday Seminar
How can movies be weapons of the spirit?
Moderated by Annette Insdorf
With panelists Paul Schrader, Ziad Doueiri, Mohammad Rasoulof

SOMETIMES DREAMS COME TRUE

Many of you folks who are faithful readers of this space know that I have been in dogged pursuit of trying to engineer a meeting this weekend between my wife and writer/director Guillermo Del Toro. Without flogging the whole story again, suffice it to say that my wife is an incredible woman and teacher within a set of circumstances that I thought might resonant with Del Toro.

To remind everyone, Guillermo is truly a personal hero to her and to her students.

So, I posted this week an explanation of her circumstance and my hope that she might be able to come face to face with Del Toro and express how important a place he had in her heart.

And so many MTFB followers responded with advice and solid, concrete steps to take to make a meeting happen this weekend during the festival including faithful reader Jack Wertzberger and others who prefer to keep anonymous.  I want to say thanks to you folks for your kindness and generosity in trying to make this happen.

And ultimately, it did happen on Saturday night thanks to the very generous invitation to MTFB from Fox Searchlight to attend their Telluride party.

We accepted and Senor Del Toro and many others were in attendance.  And let me mention that Guillermo Del Toro is a magnanimous individual.

As a matter of fact, Del Toro took this selfie:

The evening also included a Del Toro autograph of his book Cabinet of Curiosities.

Suffice it to say that Senor Del Toro could not have been any more gracious.

Finally, we plan to see The Shape of Water in the morning.  What a night!


SUNDAY PLANNED FILMS

The Shape of Water
Battle of the Sexes
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool or Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Loving Vincent


NOTES FROM SATURDAY'S FILMS

Lean on Pete: Charlie Plummer is fantastic in a film that seems especially evocative of a specific culture.  Steve Buscemi is also awesome.

Lady Bird: Greta Gerwig's directing debut is honest and sweet and true.  Saoirse Ronan, Lukas Hedges. Tracy Letts and Laurie Metcalf shine.

Wonderstruck: Seemed to me that the second act meandered and some threads introduced at the beginning got lost along the way.

Ate next to Alexander Payne's table at a restaurant.  We exchanged pleasantries.  Was cool.


That's your Saturday.  I'll be back for more as Sunday concludes.  For now, remember this...

Don't forget, my friends, I want your ratings of the films you see next weekend.  Use a 0-5 scale with 0 being "putrid" and 5 being "best film since..."

I will publish The People's Telluride film ratings a week to ten days after the festival concludes.  Join in!

That's all for now.  More tomorrow and on Wednesday I'll post a special edition of MTFB with the final "Bets" for TFF #44.

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SPECIAL WEDNESDAY POST: The Final Ten (25) Bets for TFF #44 / Downsizing Teaser / What I'm Thinkin' Is... / Rate The Films

Welcome everyone to this special Wednesday post for Michael's Telluride Film Blog...


THE FINAL TEN (25) BETS FOR TFF #44

Here are 25 films that I expect will be announced tomorrow morning at some point by the Telluride Film Festival in order of probability:

1) Downsizing
2) Wonderstruck
3) The Shape of Water
4) Battle of the Sexes
5) Darkest Hour
6) Lady Bird
7) Hostiles
8) Visages/Villages (Faces/Places)
9) Loving Vincent
10) First They Killed My Father
11) A Fantastic Woman
12) The Rider
13) Wormwood
14) First Reformed
15) The Other Side of Hope
16) Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
17) Lean on Pete
18) Loveless
19) The Insult
20) Foxtrot
21) Filmworker
22) The Venerable W
23) Arthur Miller: Writer
24) Before We Vanish
25) The Cotton Club Encore

Also hearing some buzz that some of Ken Burns Vietnam doc may screen as well as Mohammad Rasoulof' A Man of Integrity could play.  I still think You Were Never Really Here, L'Amant Double and Cold War are possibilities.


DOWNSIZING TEASER

Ahead of its World Premiere in Venice, Paramount has released a 30 sec. teaser for Alexander Payne's Downsizing.  Set to to the Talking Heads Once in a Lifetime, the teaser introduces us to the main characters in the film lead by Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig, Christoph Waltz, Laura Dern and Jason Sudekis.

Here's the teaser from YouTube:

And coverage from Indiewire is here.


WHAT I'M THINKIN' IS...

Normally I will get in 10-13 films in the course of the weekend.  That could be different this year because my pass level is a little different and so I'm uncertain how much that will shake up what I can see, when and where.

That said...here are the films I'd personally like to see in order of preference...and keep in mind, that could change depending on the buzz around town as the weekend unfolds.

1) The Shape of Water
2) Downsizing
3) Battle of the Sexes
4) Hostiles
5) Wonderstruck
6) Darkest Hour
7) Lady Bird
8) Loving Vincent
9) Wormwood
10) Visages/Villages
11) Lean on Pete
12) Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
13) First They Killed My Father
14) Filmworker
15) Arthur Miller: Writer
16) The Rider
17) A Fantastic Woman

Honestly, I like to see The Cotton Club Encore as well and I know that Wormwood may be problematic if they program all six episodes.

But this all is likely to go out the window when we get the actual schedule.  Tributes will be key. Speaking of which, I'm already on record that I think two of them will be Christian Bale and Ed Lachman.  The third...call me crazy...Saoirse Ronan (who is in Lady Bird and is a voice in Loving Vincent).

If I were hedging my bet...Sally Hawkins.

We might still see another film announcement from Toronto.  It was rumored yesterday and is rumored again today.


 JOIN MTFB AND RATE THOSE FILMS

Don't forget, my friends, I want your ratings of the films you see next weekend.  Use a 0-5 scale with 0 being "putrid" and 5 being "best film since..."


Have a great weekend and get rested up for next week.  More on Monday!

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

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Wormwood Trailer Lands / Foundas Finds a New Cotton Club / Sorrow About Sea Sorrow / Views from the Film Field: Awards Season / Views from the Film Field: The Women Directing / Venice and Telluride / Reminders

You're staring at Tuesday, August 29, 2017...TFF #44 cranks up in three days!


WORMWOOD TRAILER LANDS

Maybe the most mysterious likely inclusion in the TFF #44 lineup is Errol Morris' Wormwood.  We got more info about it yesterday including the notes that it will be six episodes and that Netflix will drop it on Dec. 15th.

Oh, and there is also a trailer via YouTube:

Included here is Wormwood coverage from:

The Hollywood Reporter

Entertainment Weekly

Deadline

FOUNDAS FINDS NEW COTTON CLUB

Scott Foundas, who has been a Telluride festival or three Tweeted out a big surprise and reveal late last night.

TFF#44 will program a restoration of Francis Ford Coppola's Cotton Club.  Here's the screen grab of two Foundas Tweets with the reveal:

And the second:

So if you have a yen for a restoration, looks like Telluride has your answer.  Also, you have to think that Coppola would likely be in town to present.  

SORROW ABOUT SEA SORROW

After reading the NYFF announcement stories in a number of different places, I concluded that Vanessa Redgrave's directing debut, the documentary Sea Sorrow, could be Telluride bound.  That was based on the lack of any premiere status designation in the stories.  Last night I discovered that the actual NYFF/Film Society of Lincoln Center website does, in fact, list it as a U.S. Premiere meaning that it will NOT be a player at TFF #44 after all.  

Here's your evidence:

So...no Sea Sorrow.  Apologies to all.

VIEWS OF THE FILM FIELD: AWARDS SEASON

The Playlist's awards guru Greg Ellwood has published a story that focuses on 13 films that he has highlighted as possible awards season dominators.  Among them he has included Alexander Payne's Downsizing, Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water, Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird and Joe Wright's Darkest Hour.

Ellwood also sprinkles in some Telluride intimations ahead of Thursday's lineup reveal so you might to look for those.

The entire post is here.


VIEWS OF THE FILM FIELD: THE WOMEN DIRECTING

I came across a couple of stories that were focused on female directors that look to have films in the end of the year awards conversation and naturally I was interested in which of those films included by the authors could make a splash this weekend at Telluride.

Both Tomris Laffly writing for Film School Rejects and Kate Erbland at Indiewire examine the group of films from directors such as Angelina Jolie, Chloe Zhao and others that seem, at least as we stand on the precipice of the fall film festival season, could make the most awards noise.

Both writers include these films in their musings that I am thinking will be announced as part of the TFF #44 lineup on Thursday: First They Killed My Father, The Rider, Visages/Villages (Faces/Places) and Lady Bird.

Laffly also includes Battle of the Sexes which is co-directed by Valerie Faris.

Take a look at the complete articles.  The Laffly/FSR article is here and the Erbland/Indiewire article is here.


VENICE AND TELLURIDE

Nick Vivarelli writing for Indiewire last week examined the dynamic between the three fall film fests that are set to launch over the next ten days with a particular focus on Venice and an ancillary focus on Telluride.

Vivarelli interviews Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera who talks considerably about the current state of the two fests and Toronto as well.

Vivarelli confirms that this year may have the largest crossover between the two fests that anyone can remember.  Venice reportedly wanted both Last Flag Flying which will open the New York Fest in a few weeks and Hostiles which we believe will first screen at Telluride this weekend.

Read the entire Vivarelli piece here.



DON'T FORGET...THE FINAL LIST OF TELLURIDE PREDICTIONS WILL BE UP TOMORROW MORNING IN A SPECIAL EDITION OF MTFB.

ALSO, WE MAY GET ONE MORE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM TORONTO TODAY...STAY TUNED...



JOIN MTFB AND RATE THOSE FILMS

Don't forget, my friends, I want your ratings of the films you see next weekend.  Use a 0-5 scale with 0 being "putrid" and 5 being "best film since..."


Have a great weekend and get rested up for next week.  More on Monday!

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

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Ten (20+) Bets #9 / How Loving Vincent Came To Be / Wormwood Revelations / It's Almost Rating Time

We're back to a Friday...August 25, 2017.  Six days to The SHOW!!!

TEN (20+) BETS #9

Here are the next to last wagers from Michael's Telluride Film Blog about what films will play at the 44th Telluride Film Festival next week.  Begin with a re-cap of last week's "Ten" Bets:

1) Downsizing
2) Wonderstruck
3) The Shape of Water
4) Battle of the Sexes
5) Darkest Hour
6) Loving Vincent
7) Hostiles
8) Lady Bird
9) A Fantastic Woman
10) The Rider
11) Visages/Villages
12) First They Killed My Father
13) Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
14) The Other Side of Hope
15) Wormwood
16) Before We Vanish

17) Lean on Pete

18) First Reformed

19) Loveless

20) Foxtrot

21) The Insult


Now, this week's in order of likelihood:

1) The Shape of Water
2) Downsizing
3) Wonderstruck
4) Battle of the Sexes
5) Hostiles
6) Darkest Hour
7) Lady Bord
8) A Fantastic Woman
9) Visages/Villages
10) The Rider
11) Loving Vincent
12) Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
13) The Other Side of Hope
14) First They Killed My Father
15) First Reformed
16) Loveless
17) Foxtrot
18) Lean on Pete
19) Wormwood
20) Before We Vanish
21) The Insult
22) Filmworker
23) Sea Sorrow
24) The Venerable W
25) Arthur Miller: Writer

Still could make The SHOW: You Were Never Really Here, L'Amant Double, Cold War, Marshall, Final Portrait, Our Souls at Night.

HOW LOVING VINCENT CAME TO BE

One of the more intriguing titles that we think is likely to play in Telluride next week is the hand painted full length feature film about the life of Vincent Van Gogh entitled Loving Vincent.  If you've seen the trailer you know that the film looks to be visually stunning.  Here is that trailer from YouTube:

If you're curious about how the film was made Indiewire has the story.

It's definitely on my list for consideration to see next week.


WORMWOOD REVELATIONS


I've actually had people ask me if Wormwood really exists which isn't a crazy question.  To say it's been flying under the radar would be an understatement.

If you check out Errol Morris' IMDb entry doesn't list it anywhere on his resume.  But you know it's real because Venice is screening it.

After some digging I can tell you that it's a Netflix series starring Peter Sarsgaard.  IT is said to focus on a true life murder mystery that occurred in the 1950's and is expected to combine archival footage with re-enactments.  Here's the placeholder on the Netflix site:

And interviews with Morris over the last year where he has mentioned the project but certainly hasn't been terribly forthcoming.  Here are three of those:

Collider

Season Zero

Flavorwire

Honestly, after I took a look at these, my interest is piqued.



IT'S ALMOST RATING TIME

Don't forget, my friends, I want your ratings of the films you see next weekend.  Use a 0-5 scale with 0 being "putrid" and 5 being "best film since..."


Have a great weekend and get rested up for next week.  More on Monday!

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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COMMENT TO THE BLOG

LATE BREAKING; Venice Schedule Released; Clues for Telluride

LATE BREAKING:

The schedule for the Venice Film Festival was posted overnight and gives clues about what films we think may play both places.

We already have had some clues.  I was already fairly certain about things like Downsizing, The Shape of Water, Wormwood and Human Flow due to their Toronto status or other reporting.  Those films seem to be in good shape for Telluride with Venice dates that will allow them to do Venice and then come to T-ride or the reverse...do Telluride and then to Venice.

We also know that Venice director Alberto Barbera has said that there are likely 7-8 films that would play both places.

Downsizing opens Venice on Aug. 30
The Shape of Water plays Aug. 31
Human Flow plays Sept.1...which is probably as late as a film can play Venice and still make T-ride.

Then...

Wormwood plays Sept. 6 which would allow a Telluride bow before Errol Morris headed to Italy.

Other films we have been pointing out that fall into either the early or late windows:

Early:

Aug. 31-Paul Schrader's First Reformed and (though I haven't had this on my radar) William Freidkin's The Devil and Father Amorth (yes please)
Sept. 1- Andrew Haigh's Lean on Pete and Ritesh Batra's Our Souls at Night

Late:
Sept. 6-Warwick Thornton's Sweet Country
Sept. 7-Mektoub My Love Canto Uno

That's six films in addition to the four that we thought were already probable to make the journey.  My guess is that the additional three or four are among these.

The full Venice Schedule is here.

More analysis on Monday...