Takin' Care of Business / Trailering "Amazing Grace" / Official "Spotlight" Poster and EW Interview / Burning Questions / Peeps and Pros...Be a Peep!

It's Thursday!

TAKIN' CARE OF BUSINESS

I've always got new details to deal with or clean up the day after a major film fest announcement and that isn't any different today following Toronto's final and massive release of films that they have scheduled that happened yesterday.  So, a couple of things...

First, an anonymous commenter pointed out after yesterday's post went up that Toronto has listed "The Treasure" as a North American premiere...which, if true, implies that it won't be a Telluride play.  That contrasts with how the film was announced by the New York Film Fest last week-absent any premiere designation which implies that it will have played somewhere in the United States before NYFF.  Telluride is pretty much the only option.

Both things cannot be true so something has to give.  I have no real intuition which way this goes either but I'm not completely writing off its chances of showing up in T-ride in a couple of weeks.

Linked here are the relevant sections from both TIFF and NYFF where you'll see the premiere designation or lack thereof:

http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/contemporaryworldcinema/the-treasure

http://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2015/daily/the-new-york-film-festival-sets-26-films-for-the-2015-main-slate/


We also discovered yesterday, through good friend Christopher Schiller, that director Mark Cousins "Atomic" will play at the Cambridge Film Fest in England.  That fest runs from Sept. 3-13 so it does overlap Telluride's entire run.  Cousins film is scheduled to run there on Sept. 4 and 11.  I have no real idea if that absolutely means that Cousins is not attending Telluride but it sure means it's less likely.

Here's the Cambridge Film Fest program:

http://www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk/assets/documents/brochure-2015.pdf


Final notes for this segment...I had some "behind-the-scenes" convos last night about an item or two of interest that I'll pass along for your consumption.  Although I still think it's very solid for Telluride, there is some concern about whether "Carol" will actually play.  Additionally, some of us are starting to think on terms of Tributes...and that could get interesting.

If you have any thoughts...pass them along using any of the contact methods below.


TRAILERING "AMAZING GRACE"

We're still not 100% certain that this lost 40 year old documentary of a live performance from an in-her-prime Aretha Franklin is going to male it to Telluride.  We think so.  The producer is on record as saying so...but we also know that there could be legal issues.  Right this moment, I'm cautiously optimistic.

It's also set to play Toronto which has led to this release of a trailer for the film and here it is from YouTube:

And the story for its release from The Playlist here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-trailer-for-sydney-pollacks-lost-aretha-franklin-documentary-amazing-grace-screening-at-tiff-20150819



OFFICIAL SPOTLIGHT POSTER AND EW INTERVIEW

Now that I've gone over to the "Spotlight will play The SHOW" amp, here's the Entertainment Weekly official rollout of the poster for that film starring Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Stanley Tucci, Billy Crudup and John Slattery.  The film is directed by Tom McCarthy.  EW interviews him for the story that you can find here:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/19/spotlight-poster-exclusive


And if you haven't caught it yet, here's the current trailer for the film via YouTube:

BURNING QUESTIONS


The Wrap was up with an article yesterday asking nine "burning questions" about the fall/winter film and awards season and the films that will play as apart of that.  Many of them involve, s you might expect, films that are probable for our little shindig in the San Juans in two weeks time.  Films like "Steve Jobs":

Trailer for "Steve Jobs" via YouTube

Check out the article here with special attention on The Questions of Telluride Relevance: #1 (Black Mass), #2 (Steve Jobs), #3 (Carol) and #8 (The 33).


http://www.thewrap.com/9-fall-movie-burning-questions-will-johnny-depp-snap-his-losing-streak-can-any-holiday-film-survive-star-wars/



PEEPS AND PROS...BE A PEEP

For the fourth straight year Michael's Telluride Film Blog is asking you to join in rating the films you see at the fest.  I want your input as I gather your ratings on a 1-5 scale.  You can email them or tweet them or put them in a comment on this blog.  I'll compile and a week or so after the fest, I'll report to you what you, The People (The Peeps), thought about the films that play TFF #42.

I'll also be compiling ratings from some of the industry professionals that'll be in town for the festivities as well.  Included in this year's pros will be writers from Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, Awards Daily and more.

That'll be a full bag for Thursday...Check back tomorrow for an UPDATED "TEN BETS" LIST...It may have (probably will have) more than 10 films.



Please feel free to leave a comment or question here at the blog.

Email me at michael_speech@hotmail.com or mpgort@gmail.com

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Contemplating Toronto (And All the Rest) / Many More Pics from "Black Mass" / Wells Compares and Contrasts / Remember to Rate the Films

Welcome to Wednesday...


CONTEMPLATING TORONTO (AND ALL THE REST)

Well...

TIFF 2015 announced a ton a films yesterday and there were some surprises in as far as what that information probably revealed about TFF #42.

We learned that, in all likelihood, "Truth" "I Saw the Light" and "Our Brand is Crisis" will not make the trek to southwest Colorado.  Also missing screenings at Telluride: "About Ray", "Mia Madre" and "Miss You Already".

We also think that "45 Years" and "Rams" WILL PLAY in Telluride.  "45 Years" wasn't particularly a surprise on MTFB.  "Rams" really shouldn't be either as it was very well received at Cannes in UN Certain Regard and also won the top prize in that program.

We could still pick up an occasional morsel of useful info from this or that film fest announcement but the biggest morsels are now out there.

All indications at this point are that Venice and Telluride will share "Black Mass", "Anomalisa", "Spotlight", "Beasts of No Nation" and "Heart of a Dog".

Telluride and New York are likely sharing: "Carol", "Steve Jobs", "The Treasure" (See NOTE below)

Telluride and Toronto seem to be sharing: "45 Years", "Anomalisa", "Beasts of No Nation", "Black Mass", "Room", "Son of Saul", "Spotlight", "Amazing Grace", "Heart of a Dog", "He Named Me Malala", "Hitchcock/Truffaut", "Rams", "The Treasure". (NOTE: Comment from Anonymous points out that "The Treasure" is now listed by TIFF as a North American Premiere.  NYFF stills lists it as not having any premiere status which indicates that its U.S. Premiere happens somewhere else before NYFF...soooo...maybe it doesn't play T-ride)

It seems that Telluride and London Fests will share "Steve Jobs", "Suffragette" and "Carol" at least.


What's still out there that is a possible choice for Telluride?

You still have to think that either Herzog piece is possible: "Queen of the Desert" and "Salt and Fire".
Also, the Mark Cousins films "Atomic" and "I Am Belfast".
Sony Pictures Classics "13 Minutes"... maybe.
The Weinstein's "Burnt", "Tulip Fever" and "Macbeth"... maybe.
"A Hologram for the King" and/or "Genius" from Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions/Saban
Maybe "Tale of Tales" and/or "A Perfect Day" from IFC Films
Warners "The 33"...maybe.
Then there are films that seem to be in limbo: Derek Cianfrance's "The Light Between Oceans" and Sean Penn's "The Last Face".
Television programming from Steve McQueen ("Codes of Conduct") and Martin Scorsese ("Vinyl") could still be in play.
Maybe some footage from "Hateful Eight".  Maybe some footage from "The Revenant"???
And there's that Wim Wenders retrospective that I think could show up with some presence.
Additionally, don't forget the tease from one source a few weeks back that even Warren Beatty could show up somewhere with a surprise screening of his Howard Hughes film.

Then there are the other non-festivaled "Big" films: Russell's "Joy", Howard's "In the Heart of the Sea",  Jolie-Pitt's "By the Sea" and Stone's "Snowden" come to mind.  They all seem likely to dodge playing a fest or maybe playing AFI in November.

I have a lot to chew over in the next 48 hours before I put up this week's new and improved "Ten Bets" list.  I'll probably have more than ten bets this week.

I have linked Toronto's added lineup report from Variety:

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/sandra-bullocks-our-brand-tom-hiddlestons-i-saw-the-light-to-premiere-at-toronto-1201572271/



MANY MORE PICS AND A SPOT FROM "BLACK MASS"

The Playlist posted yesterday an immense number of new still from Scott Cooper's "Black Mass" as well as revealing a new television spot for the film that hits theaters on Sept. 18.

I'm pretty certain it's playing at Telluride in a couple of weeks.

Here's the new T.V. spot via YouTube:

And the link to The Playlist story:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-a-new-tv-spot-trunk-full-of-images-from-johnny-depps-gangster-drama-black-mass-20150818

WELLS COMPARES AND CONTRASTS

Jeffrey Wells/Hollywood Elsewhere posted a rumination yesterday comparing/contrasting his view of Telluride and Toronto.  It's here and kind of interesting.


http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2015/08/slight-toronto-droopers/


REMEMBER TO JOIN THE PARTY AND RATE WHAT YOU SEE

For the fourth straight year Michael's Telluride Film Blog is asking you to join in rating the films you see at the fest.  I want your input as I gather your ratings on a 1-5 scale.  You can email them or tweet them or put them in a comment on this blog.  I'll compile and a week or so after the fest, I'll report to you what you, The People, thought about the films that play TFF #42.

I'll also be compiling ratings from some of the industry professionals that'll be in town for the festivities as well.  Included in this year's pros will be writers from Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, Awards Daily and more.


More to come on Thursday...come back ya'll...


Please feel free to leave a comment or question here at the blog.

Email me at michael_speech@hotmail.com or mpgort@gmail.com

Tweet/Follow at me @Gort2 on Twitter

You can also message me on Facebook (and "Like" me too)

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Toronto's Fourth Wave Announcement: Some Surprises

TORONTO'S FOURTH WAVE ANNOUNCEMENT

This morning's TIFF announcement of additional film Galas and Special Presentations as well at their Contemporary World Cinema program was most noticeable for what films it tells us WILL NOT BE AT TELLURIDE;

James Vanderbilt's "Truth"
Marc Abraham's "I Saw the Light"
David Gordon Green's "Our Brand is Crisis"
As well as: "About Ray", "Mia Madre" and "Miss You Already"

From what I can glean, we can deduce that Berlin and Cannes successes "45 Years" and "Rams" will both play Telluride.  "45 Years" from Andrew Haigh which won acting awards at Berlin for both leads, Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling.  "Rams" won the top prize in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section.

Still floating in the "No Toronto/NYFF/Venice Void" are:

"Suffragette"
"In the Heart of the Sea"
"By the Sea"
"Manchester-by-the-Sea"
"Secret in Their Eyes"
"Queen of the Desert"
"Salt and Fire"
"13 Minutes"
"Macbeth"
"Adam Jones/Burnt"
"Snowden"
"Joy"
"Light Between Oceans"
"The 33"
"Crimson Peak"
"The Last Face"


More tomorrow....


Please feel free to leave a comment or question here at the blog.

Email me at michael_speech@hotmail.com or mpgort@gmail.com

Tweet/Follow at me @Gort2 on Twitter

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Telluride True Detective Finds "Tyrus" / Tom as Hank? / Inarritu's "The Revenant": A Difficult Shoot / Posters and Stills from Films We Could Hear from Today

It's just another Tuesday...

TELLURIDE TRUE DETECTIVE FINDS "TYRUS"

It's one of the more enjoyable parts of this obsession...when I track down a film that's likely going to play at Telluride that hasn't been pointed at or alluded to anywhere else.  It happened this weekend when I tumbled across a tweet that was as simple as a question about attending the festival.  As I backtracked that, I found a name or two here and there and with some use of Google and IMDb I came across a documentary that will probably play T-ride in two and a half weeks.

I mean to say, I think this is pretty solid detective work.  So, before Toronto announces it later today-if they do, let me just print here and now that it seems that the documentary "Tyrus" will play at The SHOW.

"Tyrus" focuses on 104 year old Chinese-American artist Tyrus Wong who was instrumental in creating the look for Disney's "Bambi" over six decades ago.

The documentary is directed and written by Pamela Tom and per IMDb has no U.S. distribution as yet.  Check out its IMDb entry here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2531928/companycredits?ref_=tt_ql_7



TOM AS HANK?

Entertainment Weekly posted yesterday an article entitled "Why Tom Hiddleston Was the Best Choice to Play Hank Williams in "I Saw the Light".

The post makes the case that the Brit, who is best known for his recurring stint as Loki, brother of Thor in the Marvel superhero action films was the definitive choice to  play the Alabama born "father of country music".

The film's director, Marc Abraham (who also wrote the script) makes a persuasive case for the actor's abilities.

Will it play Telluride?  Perhaps that question will be answered later today when the Toronto International Film Festival releases more of the films that will be playing there.  I have my fingers crossed and am cautiously optimistic that we'll see it.

Check the EW post here:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/17/tom-hiddleston-channels-hank-williams-i-saw-light



INARRITU'S "THE REVENANT": A DIFFICULT SHOOT

Trailer for "The Revenant" via YouTube

Reportedly Alejandro Inarritu and crew finally finished shooting additional scenes for "The Revenant" last week in South America.  We've known for a while that we wouldn't be seeing the new film starring Leonardo DiCaprio at Telluride, although I still think it's possible that we might see Alejandro in town over Labor Day weekend.  Maybe we can ask him how it's going in the editing room.

Entertainment Weekly's Nicole Sperling recently wrote a story detailing the difficulties of the film's shooting experiences.  It wasn't easy.

Take a look at her report here:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/14/alejandro-inarritu-revenant-insane-ongoing-making


POSTERS AND STILLS OF FILMS WE COULD HEAR FROM TODAY


New looks showed up the last day or two for films that could be named by the Toronto folks later today.  That information could also reveal whether any of these four films might make an appearance in the San Juans in a couple of weeks.  Here's new posters or pictures from "Our Brand is Crisis", "About Ray", "The 33" and "Spotlight":

New still from "Our Brand..."

Poster for "About Ray"

Poster for "The 33"

Poster for "Spotlight"

Bring on the TIFF announcement!


ANNUAL CALL FOR YOUR INPUT

For the fourth straight year Michael's Telluride Film Blog is asking you to join in rating the films you see at the fest.  I want your input as I gather your ratings on a 1-5 scale.  You can email them or tweet them or put them in a comment on this blog.  I'll compile and a week or so after the fest, I'll report to you what you, The People, thought about the films that play TFF #42.

I'll also be compiling ratings from some of the industry professionals that'll be in town for the festivities as well.

Join the fun...rate the film's you love, the one's you don't love...share!

MORE LATER TODAY AFTER WE LEARN THE LATEST WAVE OF FILMS FOR TORONTO!!!


Please feel free to leave a comment or question here at the blog.

Email me at michael_speech@hotmail.com or mpgort@gmail.com

Tweet/Follow at me @Gort2 on Twitter

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More from the North Tomorrow / Late Breaking: Trailer for "Carol" / "Suffragette" Director Sarah Gavron / New Views from "I Saw the Light: / AFI or Nothing?

Welcome back from the weekend ladies and germs...

MORE FROM THE NORTH TOMORROW

The last big announcement of films for the Toronto International Film Festival is scheduled for tomorrow morning.  TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey tweeted over the weekend that they will reveal more Galas, Special Presentations and their Contemporary World Cinema program.  All of those could well (and probably will) reveal more titles that could play Telluride.

We could learn something about "Our Brand is Crisis", "Carol" and "I Saw the Light" (see below) which both had new photos/stills arrive late last week which could be an indication of imminent news concerning those films...or not.

Also, a couple of films released new poster art at the end of the week: "By the Sea" and "The 33". Does this indicate some TIFF news?

Perhaps we might also hear some news about some of the other films that have yet to have been revealed to have fall festival destinations such as "45 Years", "Truth", "Macbeth", "Secret in Their Eyes"and "In the Heart of the Sea" for example.

As I have been doing, I will post Tuesday's regular news in the morning and then follow it later in the day with a Toronto news special with more coverage and analysis about whatever we learn tomorrow on Wednesday.


LATE BREAKING-TRAILER FOR "CAROL"

As I am going to press this morning, I find the new teaser for Todd Haynes' "Carol".  Also news this morning that "Carol" will be featured at the BFI London Film Fest with a Gala presentation.  With out frills, here's the teaser and The Playlist story the reported it:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-cate-blanchett-rooney-mara-fall-in-love-in-first-trailer-for-todd-haynes-carol-20150817


IN-DEPTH WITH "SUFFRAGETTE" DIRECTOR SARAH GAVRON

Currently sitting at #7 on last week's "Ten Bets' for Telluride is Sarah Gavron's "Suffragette".  The film is the story of the women of Britain and their struggle for voting rights.  The film stars Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson and, in a small role, Meryl Streep.  The film is scheduled to be released in the U.S. on Oct. 23rd.

The Economist's Intelligent Life posted a profile of director Sarah Gavron over the weekend which I have included below.  Gavron, should "Suffragette" be a part of the Telluride lineup, would be returning to Telluride after having screened "Brick Lane" there in 2007.

Here's the profile:

http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/features/julie-kavanagh/vote-gavron



NEW VIEWS FROM "I SAW THE LIGHT"

We got a look at a few more stills from Marc Abraham's Hank Williams biopic "I Saw the Light" over the weekend as well.  Tom Hiddleston stars as the seminal country singing star with Elizabeth Olsen said to be outstanding as Williams' wife Audrey.

The film has been riding high on the "Ten Bets" lists all summer long (bumped slightly off this week) and the appearance of these new looks might indicate that it will be named tomorrow with a spot at TIFF which would/could indicate that it's also ready for a Telluride play.  I have been irrational excited about this film since I knew it was happening which is weird as I am not a particular fan of Williams' music nor am I necessarily a huge Hiddleston fan.  But still, I'm amped for this and have been for quite some time.

We'll see, maybe tomorrow, if it's coming to T-ride.

Here's the story with the new pics from The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-look-tom-hiddleston-as-hank-williams-in-i-saw-the-light-20150812



FILMS LIKELY HEADED TO AFI FEST OR NO FEST AT ALL:

"Joy"
"Snowden"
"In the Heart of the Sea"
"Crimson Peak"
"The Revenant"
"The Hateful Eight"


That's all for Monday...more tomorrow in a probable double post!

Please feel free to leave a comment or question here at the blog.

Email me at michael_speech@hotmail.com or mpgort@gmail.com

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Ten Bets #8 / "Black Mass" Profile / Trailer for "Burnt" Appears

This Friday means we are three weeks from TFF #42...Getting really energized!


TEN BETS #8

Here's your weekly assessment of the ten films that I feel have the best chances of playing the Telluride Film Festival beginning with a recap of last weeks Ten Bets #7:



10) "Steve Jobs"
9) "He Named Me Malala"
8) "I Saw the Light"
7) "Carol"
6) "Suffragette"
5) "Room"
4) "Anomalisa"
3) "Beasts of No Nation"
2) "Black Mass"
1) "Son of Saul"

And now, in light of announcements from Toronto and New York, here is the latest "Ten Bets" for TFF #42:


10) "Amazing Grace"
9) "He Named Me Malala"
8) "Steve Jobs"
7) "Suffragette"
6) "Carol"
5) "Room"
4) "Beasts of No Nation"
3) "Anomalisa"
2) "Black Mass"
1) "Son of Saul"

Other films that are very close to the "Ten":

"Truth"
"I Saw the Light"
"45 Years"
"13 Minutes"
"The Treasure"
"Our Brand is Crisis"
"Queen of the Desert"
"Hitchcock/Truffaut"
"Secret in Their Eyes"
"Macbeth"
"Salt and Fire"
"Heart of a Dog"
"Spotlight"
"I Am Belfast"
"Atomic"


I believe Toronto has at least one more large announcement of films next week (they announced their new Platform Competition segment and their new television section yesterday...it removed Ben Wheatley's "High Rise" from Telluride consideration).  Should that be true, we'll have one more set of films to parse for their possible inclusion or exclusion from T-ride.


"BLACK MASS" PROFILE

"Black Mass" Trailer via YouTube

Entertainment Weekly posted a profile yesterday of the almost-all-but-certain Telluride film, Scott Cooper's "Black Mass" yesterday.  The article from Sara Vilkomerson tells us, among other things, that Boston residents who helped crew the film and who knew the real Whitey Bulger, the gangster that is the focus of the story and who is played by Oscar nominee Johnny Depp, were more than impressed with Depp's accuracy in terms of creating his portrayal of Bulger.

Catch the entire profile here:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/13/johnny-depp-black-mass-whitey-bulger


TRAILER FOR TWC'S "BURNT" APPEARS

Likely ahead of an announcement of its inclusion for Toronto next week (and a determination, perhaps, about whether it could play TFF) we saw the appearance yesterday of a trailer for the John Wells' project "Burnt" (formerly "Adam Jones") starring Bradley Cooper as a has-been big name chef trying to mount a comeback.  Here's that trailer via YouTube:

The film is distributed by The Weinstein Company and is set for release in the U.S. on Oct. 23.

Additionally, check out this coverage that accompanied the trailer's release yesterday:

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/bradley-cooper-chef-burnt-trailer-1201569285/

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2015/08/official-trailer-for-burnt-starring-bradley-cooper/

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/13/bradley-cooper-burnt-trailer

http://awardswatch.com/news/bradley-cooper-looks-for-fireworks-and-immortality-in-burnt-trailer/

http://www.firstshowing.net/2015/watch-official-trailer-for-burnt-starring-bradley-cooper-as-a-chef/

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/watch-bradley-cooper-wants-run-worlds-best-restaurant-first-full-trailer-burnt/

That's all for this Friday in mid-August.  I'll have more on Monday!

Please feel free to leave a comment or question here at the blog.

Email me at michael_speech@hotmail.com or mpgort@gmail.com

Tweet/Follow at me @Gort2 on Twitter

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New York Reveals Full Slate / "The Hateful Eight" Has a Trailer / Looking at Hank Williams/Tom Hiddleston / A Look at "Our Brand is Crisis"

Thursday, Thursday, Thursday...


A very busy 24 hours since my last post vi-s-a-vis The 42nd Telluride Film Festival with new information and also views of some films that could play at T-ride that we haven't seen much of anything from...yet.  Let's start with new info from...

NEW YORK REVEALS FULL SLATE (AND TELLS US SOME THINGS ABOUT TELLURIDE)

The New York Film Festival dropped the rest of their film lineup (barring any surprise screenings...and NYFF has certainly done some of that in the past) out of the blue yesterday.  Last year the NYFF program was revealed on Aug. 14 so we knew it was likely very soon.

Here's what we can discern/glean:

Announcements of Danny Boyle's "Steve Jobs" (which we knew from its earlier announcement as NYFF's centerpiece) is still label less in terms of premiere status.  That's a pretty strong indication that it's Telluride bound.

Todd Haynes "Carol" was also in the announcement yesterday with no premiere status indicated which tells me Telluride.

The ONLY other film that fits the "no premiere" status condition is Corneliu Porumbiou's "The Treasure".  It played Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section.  Critics loved, loved, loved it.  Looks like it's going to make the trip to the San Juans.

"The Treasure's"  IMDb page is here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4515684/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1


We are also able to deduce that some films are now off the Telluride radar owing to their NYFF posted premiere status (barring mistakes or weirdness).  Off the T-ride table would appear to be:

Steven Spielberg's "Bridge of Spies"
"Arabian Nights"
"Les Cowboys"
"The Measure of a Man"
"Mia Madre"
"Microbe and Gasoline"


There are also others off the Telluride grid but we either already knew that or never thought they were likely for Telluride to begin with.

Want some weirdness?  Seems like only three films will crossover this year between Telluride and New York.  Last year it was 11 films that played both fests.  Not sure why but that's a dramatic difference.

Finally, for those keeping score, films that we still haven't seen on any of the three major fall fest lists (TIFF, Venice, NYFF) are:

"Suffragette"
"I Saw the Light"
"Our Brand is Crisis"
"In the Heart of the Sea"
"By the Sea"
"Truth"
"Manchester-by-the-Sea"
"Secret in Their Eyes"
"Queen of the Desert"
"Salt and Fire"
"45 Years"
"13 Minutes"
"Macbeth"
"Adam Jones/Burnt"
"Snowden"
"Joy"

"The Light Between Oceans"

"Crimson Peak"

"The 33"

"The Last Face"

Of these, I feel that the best added Telluride shots are:

"Suffragette"

"I Saw the Light" (see below)

"Our Brand is Crisis"

"Truth"

"Secret in Their Eyes"

"Queen of the Desert"

"45 Years"

"13 Minutes"

"Macbeth"

Here are links to a slew of NYFF coverage:

http://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2015/daily/the-new-york-film-festival-sets-26-films-for-the-2015-main-slate/

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/12/spielberg-coens-drama-bridge-of-spies-gets-new-york-film-festival-premiere/

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/12/new-york-film-festival-lineup-2015-bridge-of-spies

http://www.indiewire.com/article/53rd-new-york-film-festival-announces-main-slate-offerings-brooklyn-carol-and-bridge-of-spies-top-list-20150812

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/what-did-the-new-york-film-festival-get-20150812

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/new-york-film-festival-adds-world-premiere-of-steven-spielbergs-bridge-of-spies-to-main-slate-and-more-20150812

We should have more insight next week with the next wave of major announcements from Toronto.

"THE HATEFUL EIGHT" HAS A TRAILER

Well, let's all say it together: "The Hateful Eight" will not be ready in time to screen at TFF #42.

There's the disclaimer.

But I will say again that I do think we could see some footage of some kind.  I don't think that's stretch.  Maybe clips.  Maybe and extended scene or two.  Maybe a Quentin Tarantino tribute?

All possible.  

Yesterday's trailer release is reportedly what was shown at Cannes in May.  Check it here via YouTube:

And, as you might expect, I have linked a number of stories that accompanied the trailer release:


http://variety.com/2015/film/news/hateful-eight-trailer-quentin-tarantino-1201568499/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/first-trailer-quentin-tarantinos-hateful-814804

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2015/08/hateful-eight-trailer-gives-season-much-needed-shot-in-the-arm/

http://thefilmstage.com/trailer/quentin-tarantino-returns-to-the-western-in-first-trailer-for-the-hateful-eight/

http://www.slashfilm.com/hateful-eight-trailer/

http://www.indiewire.com/article/watch-quentin-tarantino-returns-to-the-western-with-a-gun-slinging-hateful-eight-teaser-20150812

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-bloody-blazing-trailer-for-quentin-tarantinos-the-hateful-eight-20150812


LOOKING AT HANK WILLIAMS/TOM HIDDLESTON IN "I SAW THE LIGHT"

We got our first official glimpse yesterday of Tom Hiddleston as Hank Williams in the Marc Abraham film "I Saw the Light" as you can see above.

As I was monitoring the internet traffic as the image was being reported I noted an exchange highlighted between @PennJK and the official Toronto Film Festival Twitter account.  TIFF tweeted the image themselves:

https://twitter.com/TIFF_NET/status/631573216054525952/photo/1

 In the exchange @PennJK asks if the tweet means that "I Saw the Light" will play in Toronto to which the TIFF account replies:

"No plans as of now.  Just a savory slice of film industry news."

Which strikes me as an non denial denial.  It seems to me to be too convenient a pic for the TIFF account to tweet if it weren't going to go to TIFF.  Kind of makes me think that it WILL play TIFF and I'd bet if it does that it plays Telluride first.  Perhaps we'll find out next week.

Your links to stories with the "I Saw the Light" image from yesterday.  The Anne Thompson post suggests the possibility of Telluride:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/i-saw-the-light-first-look-tom-hiddleston-as-country-star-hank-williams-20150812

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/12/tom-hiddleston-hank-williams-i-saw-light-first-lo

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-look-tom-hiddleston-as-hank-williams-in-i-saw-the-light-20150812

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/first-picture-of-tom-hiddleston-as-hank-williams-in-i-saw-the-light/

ALSO A LOOK AT "OUR BRAND IS CRISIS"

Just about the same time all the Hateful trailer stories and Hiddleston as Hank stories were blowing up, the folks behind the P.R. for David Gordon Green's "Our Brand is Crisis" were busy with the first official look of Sandra Bullock from that film (above).

Could this film play Telluride?  It's still on my list of possibilities.   Coverage is here from Entertainment Weekly:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/12/sandra-bullock-our-brand-crisis-first-look


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Post TIFF #3 Backtracks and Corrections / Some "Hateful" Footage Coming Your Way

Welcome to Wednesday World...


POST TIFF #3 ANNOUNCEMENT BACKTRACKS AND CORRECTIONS

I guess you know you've made it when enough people read what you write and care enough about it that they want to help you get it right.  That was at least part of my experience yesterday as the Toronto International Film Festival added several new films to their lineups with a focus on their documentaries, Midnight Madness, classics and Vanguard segments.  Here is what we learned after yesterday's announcement and posts here at MTFB:


My hope that the mysterious film alluded to by Showbiz411 might be some version of Orson Welles "The Other Side of the Wind" will go unfulfilled.  Instead that appears to be Sidney Pollack film, "Amazing Grace", a recording of an Aretha Franklin live performance from the early 70's that was announced by TIFF yesterday as an International Premiere.  That combined with a Showbiz411 post from yesterday as well led to my claim that it would play Telluride.

Here's the link to the TIFF press release with "Amazing Grace" listed as an International Premiere:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/presscontent.tiff.net/docs/lOEK36_TIFF_Docs_Festival2015_8771503_1439318999.pdf

And the Showbiz411 story in which the producer claims that it will play Telluride:

http://www.showbiz411.com/2015/08/11/exclusive-rare-aretha-franklin-performance-film-directed-by-sydney-pollack-may-screen-in-toronto

But an astute reader commented that the L.A. Times was reporting that the Toronto screening would be the film's "first ever" screening.  That article is here:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-toronto-film-festival-sydney-pollack-aretha-franklin-documentaries-20150811-story.html#page=1


At bottom, I am cautiously thinking that I have this one right and that "Amazing Grace" is a pretty good bet for Telluride.

I got some interesting feedback concerning all of this from a couple of places yesterday.  Loyal reader and good friend Christopher Schiller sent along a very interesting read about the unlikelihood of any of us seeing any version of Welles' "Wind" any time soon.  That's here:

http://www.wellesnet.com/is-oja-kodar-holding-up-the-other-side-of-the-wind/

So, all in all...a humbling experience and not the only one.

I also got really excited that Jafhar Panahi's "Taxi" was listed as a Canadian Premiere in the TIFF announcement yesterday.  This, I said, indicates a Telluride play...woo-hoo!

Fortunately for accuracy's sake, "metalmeatwad" (@MichaelNotCera) messaged me on Twitter to tell me, quite rightly, that "Taxi" had bowed at a film festival in Mexico last April which would qualify as its North American premiere.  That information means, that unless Telluride violates its own "North American" premiere policy, that the exact opposite is the case and that "Taxi" will NOT be a Telluride play.

"metalmeatwad" also passed along that Charlie Kaufman's Venice presentation of "Anomalisa"  is actually occurring after Telluride is over.  Assuming that it IS playing Telluride, and I think it will, that reverses what has been the common practice of a film playing Venice and then flying to Telluride.  Examples this year...we're pretty sure include "Black Mass" and "Beasts of No Nation" and maybe one other film...which leads me to this...

I give...I surrender.  Too many people with way better access to inside film information have said that Tom McCarthy's Spotlight" will run through Telluride after Venice and before Toronto.  I have been resisting that conclusion as TIFF had some confusion in their labeling of the film's premiere status but...I'm relenting finally because I seem to be the only one that is very skeptical at this point.  I'm not saying that I'm 100% sure that "Spotlight" will play (though I'd prefer that it does) at Telluride but am now saying that it could be possible.

Luckily for my fragile ego, it seems very, very likely that the Davis Guggenheim doc "He Named Me Malala" is set to be a part of The SHOW as it was listed as an International Premiere and has yet to play anywhere else in the world...as far as I can tell.

In as far as other news coming from the TIFF announcement yesterday...

It looks relatively likely that "Hitchcock/Truffaut" will play at Telluride and quite probably Laurie Anderson's "Heart of a Dog".

We also can eliminate four films from our Telluride deliberations as they are listed as World or North American Premieres for TIFF:

"Our Little Sister"
"The Assassin"
"Every Thing Will Be Fine" and
"Cemetery of Splendor"

Toronto should have at least one more major set of announcements coming next week.  As of today, there are still a lot of films that have had no fall film fest claim them:

"Suffragette"
"I Saw the Light"
"Our Brand is Crisis"
"In the Heart of the Sea"
"By the Sea"
"Truth"
"Steve Jobs"
"Manchester-by-the-Sea"
"Secret in Their Eyes"
"Bridge of Spies"
"Queen of the Desert"
"Salt and Fire"
"45 Years"
"13 Minutes"
"Carol"
"Macbeth"
"Adam Jones/Burnt"
"Snowden"
"Joy"

"The Light Between Oceans"
"Crimson Peak"
"The 33"
"The Last Face"

SOME "HATEFUL" FOOTAGE COMING YOUR WAY

Various sources reported yesterday that an actual trailer for Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" will be showing up in theaters this weekend.  That's some exciting news and I'll be very curious to see what that looks like.

The news that "H8" has a trailer fans the flames for those of us who are hoping that there is some kind of presence for that film over Labor Day weekend.

Ina perfect and magical world, we'd get to see the complete film as well as a surprise screening of the just finished Inarritu film "The Revenant".  What a double bill...eh?  Won't happen, but a guy can dream.


That's all for Wednesday...more tomorrow...


Please feel free to leave a comment or question here at the blog.

Email me at michael_speech@hotmail.com or mpgort@gmail.com

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Toronto's Third 2015 Announcement: The Analysis

Welcome back...

The Toronto International Film Festival announced another set of films this morning for their Sept.10-20 soiree.  That announcement contains clues about what could play a week earlier at Telluride.  To wit:

Canadian Premiere status for Jafhar Panahi's "Taxi" which premiered at Berlin, makes it seem likely to show up at Telluride. (UPDATE;  "TAXI HAD ITS N. AMER. PREEM IN APRIL IN MEXICO...so probably NOT playing Telluride)

International Premiere status for documentaries "He Named Me Malala" and "Amazing Grace" also seem to point to a Telluride play before landing at Telluride.

Other docs listed as Canadian Premieres that didn't play at Sundance and so could well be headed to Telluride include:

"A Young Patriot"
"Heart of a Dog"
"Hitchcock/Truffaut"
"Sherpa"
"Winter on Fire"

I'm hedging my best here as documentaries are notoriously fickle to nail down in terms of their actual dates of presentation.

That said, the "Hitchcock/Truffaut" presentation could be phenomenal.

Films listed in the TIFF Masters section that appear to be off the table for Telluride owing to their status as World or North American Premieres include, in part:

"Our Little Sister"
"Every Thing Will Be Fine"
"Cemetery of Splendor"
"The Assassin"


Films still unannounced for any fall film fest we're aware of:

"Suffragette"
"I Saw the Light"
"Our Brand is Crisis"
"In the Heart of the Sea"
"By the Sea"
"Truth"
"Steve Jobs"
"Manchester-by-the-Sea"
"Secret in Their Eyes"
"Bridge of Spies"
"Queen of the Desert"
"Salt and Fire"
"45 Years"
"13 Minutes"
"Carol"
"Macbeth"
"Adam Jones/Burnt"
"Snowden"
"Joy"

"The Light Between Oceans"
"Crimson Peak"
"The 33"
"The Last Face"

More to come in tomorrow's regularly scheduled MTFB post...

First Looks at "Burnt" / New "Hateful" Poster / Added Views from "Macbeth" / Toronto Part Three Later

Good Tuesday everyone

It's all about films from The Weinstein Company today as the TWC machine got working in a big way yesterday apparently.


FIRST LOOKS AT "BURNT"

This film stars Bradley Cooper and was originally titled "Adam Jones".  The film is directed by John Wells ("August, Osage County) and is set for domestic release on Oct. 23.

A number of outlets reported yesterday the film had a new poster (above)  as well as a first teaser via The Today Show.  Find the trailer in the stories linked here:


http://www.today.com/video/first-look-at-bradley-coopers-next-film-burnt-501431875698

http://theplaylistfilm.tumblr.com/post/126358877126/watch-bradley-cooper-in-the-first-brief-teaser-for

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/bradley-cooper-is-burnt-in-first-trailer-and-poster/


Of the three TWC films I'm talking about today, I suspect that this is in the middle spot in terms of Telluride possibility.


ADDED VIEWS FROM "MACBETH"

The film from today's post that probably is the most likely to show at The SHOW is Justin Kurzel's "Macbeth".  The film stars Michael Fassbender as the Scottish King and Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth.  I've had this on my Telluride watch list for more than a year and were it not for "Carol" I'd probably think it was a lock to play Telluride.

Fassbender and Cotillard have been receiving some potential awards attention for their performances since the film debuted in Cannes back in May.

Take a look at a couple of new stills from the film from this article from The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/fassbender-tv-spot-for-steve-jobs-with-new-footage-plus-pics-from-macbeth-trespass-against-us-20150807


NEW "HATEFUL" POSTER

We also have a new poster that appeared from Qunetin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" (above).  The film isn't due until Christmas so the probability of a complete version playing Telluride seems incredibly remote.

Still, I wouldn't be completely surprised if it showed up in some uncompleted form over the Labor Day weekend.  A number of my fellow journo types have suggested the possibility of a Tarantino tribute with clips or an extended scene as a part of that.

That seems a reasonable possibility to me.  Fingers crossed.

Coverage for the poster release is here:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/10/hateful-8-poster-exclusive

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/new-poster-for-quentin-tarantinos-the-hateful-eight-promises-ultra-panavision-70-picture-20150810


TORONTO PART THREE

The Toronto International Film Festival is set to drop more titles today.  Expected are their non-Canadian films in the Documentary program and their Midnight Madness program.  There have also been some hints that we might see/hear films that will be in their Vanguard program and further galas or special presentations.

I'll publish a special TIFF News post later today if the information we glean warrants.


More later...and for sure tomorrow...


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Email me at michael_speech@hotmail.com or mpgort@gmail.com

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