GUEST DIRECTOR...WHAT UP?
I'm having a hard time believing we still don't know the Guest Director for this year's Telluride Film Festival. I've offered up a couple of theories over these past few months. Initially I thought it might be "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner who was reportedly a guest at TFF's Hollywood party back in June. (Check out my June 12th post). No announcement came, however.
Then I got it into my head that the Fest might be holding off to make a BIG announcement during the week of Venice/Toronto festival lineup announcements. Along with that, I suggested the notion that the Guest Director might be someone that has an immense popular profile. I confess, I was thinking crazy BIG names and I also suggested that the person might come from music or politics. Names like Jagger and Clinton were in my head.
Didn't happen.
Now, I'm completely mystified.
And if you're having trouble with the Guest Director spot TFF, I have further suggestions:
1) Werner Herzog...you know he'll be there. He's got a new theater named in his honor.
2) Have 6 of them...I'll bet you have at least 6 past Guest Directors in attendance. Have each of them select one film from the list they originally programmed. Or cross-pollinate them...have an Alexander Payne program one film from Errol Morris' original list.
Here's the last of all past directors:
1988- Donald Richie
1989- Errol Morris
1990- Bertrand Tavernier
1991- Laurie Anderson
1992- G. Cabrera Infante
1993- John Boorman
1994- John Simon
1995- Phillip Lopate
1996- B. Ruby Rich
1997- Peter Von Bagh
1998- Peter Bogdanovich
1999- Peter Sellars
2000- Edgardo Coranzinsky
2001- Salman Rushdie
2002- Alberto Barbera
2003- Stephen Sondheim
2004- Buck Henry
2005- Don Delillo
2006- J. P. Gorin
2007- Edith Kramer
2008- Slavoj Zizek
2009- Alexander Payne
2010- Michael Ondaatje
2011- Cataneo Veloso
2012- Geoff Dyer
I have to believe that Morris, Tavernier, Sellars, Rushdie, Payne and maybe Bogdanovich, Henry and Boorman will be in town.
Idea #3- Pick me, I'll do it. Nobody will see that coming.
HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE ADDS FUEL TO THE FIRE
Overnight, Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere posted his musings on three films that appear to be avoiding the Toronto International Film Festival but that he says are all but certain Telluride fare. The films: Alexander Payne's "Nebraska", The Coen Brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis" and J.C. Chandor's "All is Lost".
On its face the post is an interesting look a what Wells thinks may be going in vis-a-vis film programming and Toronto. For my purposes, it just adds fuel to the fire that the three films play Telluride.
"Nebraska" isn't a surprise. I've had it at #1 on the "Ten Bets" list all summer.
For "Inside Llewyn Davis" it's another validation of its place on the "Ten Bets" list. As a matter of fact, it might be solid enough now to move up the list a bit this week.
As for "All is Lost", you know if you've been following this space this last couple of weeks that it has been gaining some steam as a possible/probable Telluride selection. I wouldn't be surprised if it appears somewhere on this week's "Ten Bets" list.
Here's the link to the Wells post:
http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2013/08/three-toronto-no-shows/
HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE ADDS FUEL TO THE FIRE
Overnight, Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere posted his musings on three films that appear to be avoiding the Toronto International Film Festival but that he says are all but certain Telluride fare. The films: Alexander Payne's "Nebraska", The Coen Brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis" and J.C. Chandor's "All is Lost".
On its face the post is an interesting look a what Wells thinks may be going in vis-a-vis film programming and Toronto. For my purposes, it just adds fuel to the fire that the three films play Telluride.
"Nebraska" isn't a surprise. I've had it at #1 on the "Ten Bets" list all summer.
For "Inside Llewyn Davis" it's another validation of its place on the "Ten Bets" list. As a matter of fact, it might be solid enough now to move up the list a bit this week.
As for "All is Lost", you know if you've been following this space this last couple of weeks that it has been gaining some steam as a possible/probable Telluride selection. I wouldn't be surprised if it appears somewhere on this week's "Ten Bets" list.
Here's the link to the Wells post:
http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2013/08/three-toronto-no-shows/
15 FILMS LOOKING FOR A HOME
I'm re-posting this from Saturday.
HitFix/InContention posted an interesting story yesterday that took a look at 15 films that are still looking for distribution but are playing a major fest and are also thought to have some awards potential. The article also points at some of the 15 that they feel might make the Telluride lineup. Those films are:
Attila Marcel (dir. Sylvain Chomet)
Joe (dir. David Gordon Green)
The Railway Man (dir. Jonathan Teplitzky)
Serena (dir. Susanne Bier)
There are three other films among the 15 that they don’t tag with the “maybe Telluride” label that I would continue to include as outside possibilities:
Terry Gilliam’s “The Zero Theorem”
Kelly Reichardt’s “Night Moves” and
Matthew Weiner’s “You Are Here”.
Check they entire gallery with commentary at:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/15-potential-awards-players-still-looking-for-a-home
HARVEY'S DILEMMA
We'll almost certainly see some film(s) from The Weinstein Company in three or so weeks. Leading the pack, my guess is, James Gray's "The Immigrant" starring Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Renner and Joaquin Phoenix.
TWC, however, has a bunch of other possible films that are floating about that are both Telluride possibles and awards-possibles as well:
"August: Osage County"
"Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom"
"Philomena"
"Grace of Monaco"
"Snowpiercer"
"One Chance"
"Salinger"
"The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet"
Then there are films that aren't T-ride possibles from TWC that might figure into the awards mix as well, such as Sundance favorite "Fruitvale Station" and next week's release "Lee Daniels: The Butler".
There's lot of product there. The Hollywood Reporter's Gregg Kilday took a look at all the TWC slate as we approach fall festival season:
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More on Tuesday...
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