Ten Bets #2 / 700,000+ / Hope Springs / NEON's Shine / Two Off the Table ?/ My Marcel Dance Continues

TEN BETS #2

Here's the second edition of MTFB's Ten Bets for TFF #49.  It's my weekly assessment that will update each week through the summer with my best assessment of the films that I think could make the TFF #49 lineup.  Last week the initial Ten Bets were:

1) Bardo/Inarritu

2) One Fine Morning/Hansen-Love

3) The Son/Zeller

4) Close/Dhont

5) Women Talking/Polley

6) Aftersun/Wells

7) Showing Up/Reichardt

8) White Noise/Baumbach

9) Broker/Kore-eda

10) She Said/M. Schrader

Plus some other possibilities: Tori and Lokita/Dardennes, Holy Spider/Abdasi, Blonde/Dominik, The Master Gardener/P. Schrader, Next Goal Wins/Waititi, The Forger/Peren, Babylon/Chazelle, TAR/Fields

Not much jostling this week...  Here's the new Ten Bets:

1) Bardo/Inarritu

2) One Fine Morning/Hansen-Love

3) The Son/Zeller

4) Close/Dhont

5) Women Talking/Polley

6) Aftersun/Wells

7) Showing Up/Reichardt

8) Broker/Kore-eda

9) White Noise/Baumbach

10) The Master Gardener/P. Schrader

Others: Tori and Lokita/Dardennes, Holy Spider/Abdasi, Blonde/Dominik, The Master Gardener/P. Schrader, Next Goal Wins/Waititi, The Forger/Peren, Babylon/Chazelle, TAR/Fields, She Said/M. Schrader

700,000+

Since I posted on Monday MTFB crossed it 700,000th view since I first started the thing back in 2008.  Over that time I have posted 2023 times for a per post average of 346+ views per post.  Biggest post historically for the blog was Jan. 4, 2018 that focused on the upcoming Oscar nominations for that year.  It also included a focus on Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird.  The largest readership for a non-Oscar related post was for last fall's Professional's Telluride poll that has Marcel the Shell with Shoes On as the highest rated film for TFF #48.  That post created quite a stir and was refenced by Variety, Awards Daily, Awards Watch and Indiewire as well as from the film's director, writer and Marcel co-creator Dean Fleischer-Camp.

Marcel opened in limited release this past week and had a ridiculously good per theater average.  The film is currently at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Marcel will continue to expand into other markets in the coming weeks.

HOPE SPRINGS

Now make no mistake, I don't think (at least at the moment) that we'll see either Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon or Fincher's The Killer at TFF #49 BUT...Jordan Ruimy's World of Reel reported this week that both of the films might get a 2022 release.  Both films had been rumored to be floating into 2023 for release but Ruimy's  reportage suggests that there is some hope for both before the end of the year. 

Jordan writes about Flower Moon saying:

"After embarking on additional shooting, and rumors appearing that it might get delayed to 2023, Apple is now pretty confident that Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” will be released later this year, most likely in December."

That story was published last Sunday.

Then, later on Sunday Jordan posted this:

“The Killer” started production in November 2021 and wrapped shorting this past March. Fincher has 9 months to edit, but we all know he takes an obsessively lengthy time in the editing room. My bet is that the film get released in December. That’s just a hunch."

Fingers crossed that both highly anticipated films as a part of a 2022 release strategy and...if they just so happened to screen at Telluride, so much the better.

NEON SHINES

I'm continuing my preview of possible TFF #49 selections from distribution companies that have been prominently involved at the fest over recent years.  Today's subject is NEON,  Their profile at T-ride isn't as lengthy as an SPC or Searchlight but it has shown brightly over the past five years including the Best Picture Oscar winner for 2019, Bong Joon Ho's Parasite.  Here are the NEON films that

2021: Petite Maman, Spencer (Oscar nominated for Best Actress-Kristen Stewart) , Flee (Oscar nominated for Best Animated Film, Best International Film and Best Documentary)

2020: Ammonite

2019: Parasite (nominated for six Academy Awards and won four including Best Picture and Director). Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Amazing Grace

2018: Border (Oscar nominated for Best Makeup and Hair), The Biggest Little Farm

2017: The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography

Best chances for this year are three films that all played at Cannes earlier this year:

Hirokazu Kore-eda's Broker (won Best Actor and Ecumenical Jury prize at Cannes)

Rueben Ostlund's Palme d'Or winner Triangle of Sadness 

Brett Morgen's David Bowie doc Moonage Daydream

These films are listed from top to bottom in the probability of a TFF appearance.  I put Broker at 55% and Triangle of Sadness and Moonage Daydream at 25% each in probability of being selected for TFF #49.

TWO OFF THE TABLE

(via Netflix)

Not that I have ever really thought they were likely ever on the Telluride table...

Toronto's International Film Fest has moved one film off the chess board with their announcement on Wednesday that Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will World Premiere there.  

The Hollywood Reporter, among others, reported the TIFF announcement.  The story is linked here.

Meanwhile, if you had the musical version of Roald Dahl's Matilda on your list as a Telluride consideration, erase it now.  The BFI London Film Fest has announced the film as its World Premiere Opening Night Gala.  

Here is that news from The British Film Institute.

  

Both films are from Netflix.

MY MARCEL DANCE CONTINUES

Friend of MTFB, Mark Johnson of Awards Daily, attended the just completed Nantucket Film Festival.  His last screening was the TFF #49 favorite Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.  Mark had missed seeing last September.

He was kind enough to reference MTFB's The Professionals Telluride Poll as a part of his very positive review for the film.

You can see Mark's review and even hit the link and re-visit MTFB's Pros Poll.  The link for the review is here.

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Searching the Searchlight Titles / Next Goal Wins This Fall / Trailer for Decision to Leave

SEARCHING THE SEARCHLIGHT TITLES

Another distributor with frequent appearances at Telluride is Searchlight (formerly Fox Searchlight) whose track record of success with films that have made the trip to the San Juans has been terrific.

Past (Fox) Searchlight TFF films include:

2021: The French Dispatch (1)

2020: Nomadland (1)

2019: A Hidden Life (1)
2018: The Favourite, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, The Old Man and the Gun (3)
2017: The Shape of Water (Best Picture Oscar), Battle of the Sexes (2)
2016: No Show
2015: He Named Me Malala (1)
2014: Birdman (Best Picture Oscar), Wild (2)
2013: 12 Years a Slave (Best Picture Oscar) (1)
2012: No Show
2011: Shame, The Descendants (2)
2010: Never Let Me Go, 127 Hours, Black Swan (3)
2009: No Show
2008: Slumdog Millionaire (Best Picture) (1)
2007: Juno, The Savages (2)
2006: The Last King of Scotland, The Namesake (2)
2005: Bee Season (1)
2004: Kinsey (1)

In 2022 Searchlight has four films by my count that could conceivably be in the mix for a TFF #49 slot:

Sam Mendes Empire of Light with Colin Firth and Olivia Colman (no release date as yet)

Taika Waititi's Next Goal Wins with Michael Fassbender (no release date as yet but see below)

Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inisherin with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson(Oct. 21)

Stephen Williams Chevalier starring Kelvin Harrison, Jr. (no release date as yet)

The truth is that none of these seem to be a sure thing for Telluride.  On the other hand, they all seem like they could make the grade for TFF #49 as well.  Consider the order I listed them in as being the most to least likely with each film having somewhere between a 30%-35% shot at the TFF lineup.

NEXT GOAL WINS THIS FALL

From Reddit a "behind the scenes" photo from Next Goal Wins

Director/writer/producer Taika Waititi has let slip that Next Goal Wins will be dropping sometime this fall. That info comes originally from Vanity Fair's Little Gold Men podcast and was then reported via The Playlist (Edward Davis posting on June 23rd).

Waititi is quoted as saying:

"Asked if that meant if Waititi would have two films out in 2022, “Thor: Love And Thunder” and “Next Goal Wins,” the filmmaker just simply said, “Yeah.” This would make sense and is timely. “Next Goal Wins” footage was screened at CinemaCon in Europe recently, and apparently went over like gangbusters so don’t be surprised if Searchlight finally unveils the release date for this one later in the fall."

IMDb does have the film listed as releasing in 2022.

Sounds like we could expect an announcement from Searchlight soon.

TRAILER FOR DECISION TO LEAVE

Park Chan-wook was named Best Director at Cannes in May for Decision to Leave.  The film has an Oct. 14th release date in the United States.  It opens in France and South Korea on Wednesday.  Alex Billington's FirstShowing.net led me to the release of the international trailer for the film which is described by IMDb as:

"A detective investigating a man's death in the mountains meets the dead man's mysterious wife in the course of his dogged sleuthing."

Here's the trailer from YouTube:

You have to think Decision to Leave is on TFF programmers' radars after the Best Director win at Cannes.

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A24 Is Loaded / Ruimy Looks at Telluride / ICYMI: The First Ten Bets for TFF #49

 A24 IS LOADED

As I continue to review various distributors that have had a significant presence at past Telluride Film Festivals I marvel at how many possible films A24 has in play.  A24 appeared on the Telluride scene in 2012 with Ginger + Rosa.  Since then A24 has been a consistent player at TFF:

2012-Ginger + Rosa

2013-Under the Skin

2015-Room

2016-Moonlight

2017-First Reformed, Lady Bird, Lean on Pete

2019-Uncut Gems,Waves, First Cow

2021-C'mon C'mon, Red Rocket

So, as you can see, not every year but most years and the last three times A24 has landed multiple films at T-ride.  Likely they're going to get multiple films in this year too as the A24 larder is brimming with intriguing possible choices.  In alphabetical order with director listed (***indicates a film on my first "Ten Bets" for the fest posted last Monday):

Aftersun/Wells***

Close/Dhont***

Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind/Coen

Red, White and Water/Neigebauer

Showing Up/Reichardt***

Stars at Noon/Denis

Tuesday/Onunis-Pusic

The Whale/Aronofsky

White Noise/Baumbach***

That's nine possibles and doesn't count fairly high profile titles from Joanna Hogg (The Eternal Daughter), Ari Aster (Disappointment Blvd.) or Alex Garland (Civil War).

You can also see that I have four of the nine listed in the first Ten Bets. I'm betting big on A24 for TFF this year. 

RUIMY LOOKS AT TELLURIDE

Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel has stepped into "figure out Telluride" mode with a post from yesterday.  His first review of what could come very kindly sources MTFB for some of the post.  However, Jordan does mention additional titles that I don't necessarily have in my Top Ten at the moment or in the additional "maybe titles" (see below). 

Ruimy includes the potential for the following to be at TFF #49:

Todd Fields' TAR

Scott Cooper's The Pale Blue Eye

Sebastian Lelio's The Wonder

Luca Guadagnino's Bones and All

Darren Aronofsky's The Whale

Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inisherin

Make no mistake here.  I have almost all of these titles in my "be aware of it" list for a possible play at TFF #49 with the exception of McDonagh's Banshees of Inisherin.  If you're an MTFB reader, do yourself a favor and check out World of Reel from time to time.  Jordan is great at sussing this stuff out.

Here's his post that I'm referencing.

ICYMI: THE FIRST TEN BETS FOR TFF #49

I'm re-posting the first Ten Bets for Telluride as this would, in a normal year, be the date that I would have posted the first stab at trying to guess Telluride.  Here it is again:

1) Bardo/Inarritu

2) One Fine Morning/Hansen-Love

3) The Son/Zeller

4) Close/Dhont

5) Women Talking/Polley

6) Aftersun/Wells

7) Showing Up/Reichardt

8) White Noise/Baumbach

9) Broker/Kore-eda

10) She Said/M. Schrader

Others: Tori and Lokita/Dardennes, Holy Spider/Abdasi, Blonde/Dominik, The Master Gardener/P. Schrader, Next Goal Wins/Waititi, The Forger/Peren, Babylon/Chazelle, TAR/Fields

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My First Ten Bets for 2022 / A Look at Blonde / World of Reel's List of Films for Fests / To Babylon or not to Babylon / GDT's Pinocchio?

MY FIRST TEN BETS FOR 2022

Normally my first list of predicting 10 possible Telluride films comes a little later in June but the news that Toronto will announce some titles this week has made it imperative that I launch the first TFF #49 Ten Bets a bit earlier.  So, to that end, here are Ten Bets for TFF #49 (in order of my feeling that they make the list):

1) Bardo/Inarritu

2) One Fine Morning/Hansen-Love

3) The Son/Zeller

4) Close/Dhont

5) Women Talking/Polley

6) Aftersun/Wells

7) Showing Up/Reichardt

8) White Noise/Baumbach

9) Broker/Kore-eda

10) She Said/M. Schrader

Others: Tori and Lokita/Dardennes, Holy Spider/Abdasi, Blonde/Dominik, The Master Gardener/P. Schrader, Next Goal Wins/Waititi, The Forger/Peren, Babylon/Chazelle, TAR/Fields

A LOOK AT BLONDE

I have been reticent to include Andrew Dominik’s Blonde as a serious contender for screening at this year’s Telluride Film Festival.  The NC-17 rating, the rumors about some of the content and the additionally rumored clash between Dominik and Netflix over that content have all been reasons that I have been hesitant to conclude that it could be at TFF #49.

But… the release this week of what I think is a killer teaser, the reveal that Netflix is releasing the film on Sept. 23rd plus persistent buzz that the film is likely premiering at Venice and the good relationship over that last few years between TFF and Netflix have me re-thinking my position.  

At this point I think there is some chance that Blonde makes an appearance in the San Juans.  

As many readers are aware, I have been following the film for some time now with the notion that it could land at Telluride at some point.  It has been and remains one of my most anticipated films of the year.

Here's the teaser from Netflix (which I bet a lot of you have already seen) via YouTube:

Here are the details directly from Netflix.

WORLD OF REEL'S LIST FOR FESTS

Jordan Ruimy posted a list of 70 films that he believes are likely to play at least part of the festival gauntlet this fall.  That generally means the quartet of fests: Telluride, Venice, Toronto and New York.  Venice is actually the kickoff each season with Telluride taking off before Venice ends.  Toronto follows quickly thereafter and New York then happens in October.

Jordan breaks it down into various categories starting with what he calls "The Hot 20".  Taking a look at those, for fun, I have repeated Jordan's list but placed the films in the order of what I think right now is the likeliest to make the TFF #49 lineup.  So...from most to least likely:

1) Bardo (Inarritu)

2) White Noise (Baumbach)

3) Women Talking (Polley)

4) The Son (Zeller)

5) The Master Gardener (P. Schrader)

6) TAR (Field)

7) The Wonder (Lelio)

8) The Pale Blue Eye (Cooper)

9) She Said (M. Schrader)

10) Bones and All (Guadagnino)

11) Blonde (Dominik)

12) The Whale (Aronofsky)

13) Next Goal Wins (Waititi)

14) The Good Nurse (Linholm)

15) Passages (Sachs)

16) Red, White and Water (Neigebauer)

17) The Banshees of Inisherin (McDonagh)

18) Don't Worry Darling (Wilde)

19) Eileen (Oldroyd)

20) The Eternal Daughter (Hogg)

Ruimy then adds "The Next 20" and from that list the films that seems most possible are:

The Lost King (Frears)

Marlowe (Jordan)

Ticket to Paradise (Parker)

Then among the 30 other films that Ruimy includes:

Chevalier (Williams)

No Bears (Panahi)

Persuasion (Cracknell)

We'll see what happens and may have some early news this week as Toronto is reportedly going to name some of their lineup this week.

TO BABYLON OR NOT TO BABYLON?

We've seen reports that Paramount is unsure whether to take Damien Chazelle's Babylon to fall fests.  The above mentioned post from World of Reel suggests both possibilities.  Jordan writes both that "Chazelle...is skipping the fall fests" and then in the next paragraph Jordan writes:

 "A few surprises could (probably will) sneak in. I’m thinking maybe Chazelle’s “Babylon” ultimately decides to go the way of fall festivals."

We know that the film is more or less ready as reports of test screenings were coming in late March.  I've reminded readers that Chazelle has played both La La Land and First Man at Telluride but that history might cut both ways.  La La Land's ultimate Best Picture loss and First Man's inability to ignite much Oscar love (save for its win for Visual Effects and three other tech nominations) might make a difference in the choice of whether to offer the film to T-ride.

I'd like to believe that it makes the TFF #49 list.  Just like Blonde...Babylon is high on my list of most anticipated.

GDT'S PINOCCHIO?

Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio screened a new trailer and other footage at the Annecy Animation Festival this week.  Del Toro told audience members that the film was:

“10 minutes from being finished', and that crews are currently working on 60 different sets at once to get the film done in time."  according to Screen Daily.

GDT has been beloved at Telluride.  The fest screened his Oscar Best Picture winner The Shape of Water in 2017 and last year TFF collaborated for a special screening of Nightmare Alley on Dec. 1st 2021.  So you have to think that if Pinocchio is ready, it could be a Telluride selection.

Here's the teaser that appeared back in January from YouTube:

Here's the article from Screen Daily.

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Guest Directors (Plural) Announced / First Look at The Son

 GUEST DIRECTORS (PLURAL) ANNOUNCED

TFF has announced its Guest Directors for 2022 and as you can read, there are two this year.  Here's the press release from TFF:

Telluride Film Festival (TFF), presented by National Film Preserve LTD., is proud to announce dissident Russian filmmakers Kantemir Balagov and Kira Kovalenko as its 2022 Festival Guest Directors. The award-winning filmmakers are set to select a series of films to present at the 49th Telluride Film Festival running September 2 - 5, 2022. 

Festival organizers annually select the world’s great film enthusiasts to join them in the creation of the Festival’s program lineup. The Guest Directors serve as key collaborators in the Festival’s programming decisions, bringing new ideas and overlooked films to Telluride. In keeping with Telluride Film Festival tradition, Balagov’s and Kovalenko’s film selections, along with the rest of the Telluride lineup, will be kept secret until Opening Day.

Kantemir Balagov was born in 1991 in the city of Nalchik of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. He briefly left the city to study economics in Stavropol, but soon realized his interests were in the arts and returned to Nalchik to enroll in film school at Kabardino-Balkarian State University under the direction of Alexander Sokurov. Upon graduation he directed his first feature film, CLOSENESS, for which he received the FIPRESCI Prize Un Certain Regard at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. His second feature, BEANPOLE, also won the FIPRESCI Prize Un Certain Regard and the Best Director Prize Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2019 and was an Oscar shortlist. His next project, TV series THE LAST OF US, is set to premiere on HBO in 2023.

 “I was in Telluride for the first time in 2017 with my first film CLOSENESS,” says Balagov. “As a reclusive person, I always feel anxious about going to festivals, but on the first day of being in Telluride, I felt it was different. The festival cares about the uniqueness of the various authors’ statements, it provides love and vulnerability, and it makes you feel at home. Tom and Julie put so much heart and soul into it and have created an incredible community. No, community is the wrong word. They have created a family, and Kira and I are so honored to be a part of this family. We are thrilled to be the Guest Directors this year. We promise that we will passionately pick the films because we believe that movies are little miracles that we desperately need right now.” 

 Kira Kovalenko was born in 1989 in Nalchik, Russia and attended Kabardino-Balkarian State University’s film school under Alexander Sokurov’s direction. Her first feature film, SOFICHKA, was released in 2016. Her second feature, UNCLENCHING THE FISTS, premiered in 2021 to much acclaim, winning the Grand Prize Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival. 

 “2021 was my first time in America,” comments Kovalenko. “I was told that I would be going to the best place on earth. I was anxiously waiting and fantasizing. On the way to the festival, I opened the book that I carried with me. There was a photo. In the photo were Larisa Shepitko, Werner Herzog, and Ed Lachman. I went to where this photo was taken. This was my first Telluride experience. It is not only a place where cinema, fate, history, and the spirit of the place intertwine. To everyone who has been there once it becomes special. There is a secret in this. I think this is the secret of love. The secret of the love that Tom and Julie have for the cinema. Love for the place. And now I receive such a huge gift to be the Guest Director. I have a chance to become a part of this mystery and share movies that help me live, give me hope and remind me not to forget about miracles.”

 “One of the most special aspects of Telluride is the remarkable family of returning filmmakers that has formed over the years,” comments TFF executive director Julie Huntsinger. “These wildly talented people continue to create films of such high quality and regard, and we are thrilled to continue to discover and invite their new works again and again. There are threads of shared continuity between the filmmakers themselves as well. An unfailing humanism, a desire to be truthful and brave and tell stories that make us think and feel in profound ways. Our Guest Directors this year, Kantemir Balagov and Kira Kovalenko are not only two returning filmmakers with a distinct point of view, but they are also wonderful, young cinephiles (they met at film school) who will bring their brave and singular voices to a section we cannot wait to share with our wider audience in September.”

 Past Guest Directors include Barry Jenkins, Pico Iyer, Jonathan Lethem, Joshua Oppenheimer, Volker Schlöndorff, Rachel Kushner, Guy Maddin, Caetano Veloso, Michael Ondaatje, Alexander Payne, Salman Rushdie, Peter Bogdanovich, B. Ruby Rich, Phillip Lopate, Errol Morris, Bertrand Tavernier, John Boorman, John Simon, Buck Henry, Laurie Anderson, Stephen Sondheim, G. Cabrera Infante, Peter Sellars, Don DeLillo, J.P. Gorin, Edith Kramer and Slavoj Žižek.

 The Guest Director program is sponsored by Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Considered throughout the industry as one of the leading authorities on classic film, the network presents great films, uncut and commercial-free, highlighting the entire spectrum of film history. 

 For more information about Telluride Film Festival, visit www.telluridefilmfestival.org.

INDIEWIRE LISTS 40 OSCAR POSSIBLES

A bit more than a week ago Indiewire posted their take on the coming Oscar season with a list of 40 films to being paying attention to.  As you might expect, there are a lot of titles listed that I am eyeballing as possible Labor Day weekend selections for Southwest Colorado.  Including:

Close

One Fine Morning

Armageddon Time

Till

Blonde

Stars at Noon

Moonage Daydream

Broker

Babylon

Showing Up

Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio

White Noise

Bardo

Chevalier

The Son

TAR

The complete Indiewire post is linked here.

***She Said...is on the Indiewire list and sort of seems like a Telluride natural but with Universal producing and distributing and not having had much of a presence historically at T-ride...I'm not really putting it on the list...but I am also not really ruling it out either.

FIRST LOOK AT THE SON

Awards Watch's Erik Anderson tweeted a first pic of Hugh Jackman from Florian Zeller's The Son.  The film has some strong Telluride vibes what with Zeller having had The Father selected among the films that would have screened at TFF in 2020 had Covid not changed the world.  In addition, other Telluride signifiers include the film's distribution by Sony Pictures Classics and it probably doesn't hurt that Laura Dern is in the cast.

Anyway, here's the pic from Anderson's Twitter feed:

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Variety's Look at Venice Hopefuls...Clues for Telluride? / Searching SPC

 VARIETY'S LOOK AT VENICE HOPEFULS...CLUES FOR TFF ?

Yesterday Variety's Nick Vivarelli posted an examination of possible/probable Venice Fest choices.  It's interesting in light of the Venice/Telluride trail that has grown up in the last few years.  There are lots of possibilities to chew on in the article and I'll get to those...but...

One of the more intriguing sections of the post is a list of  seven films which have won the Best Director Oscar (and were Best Picture nominated with three winning that honor as well) that premiered in Venice:

2013: Gravity

2014: Birdman*

2016: La La Land

2017: The Shape of Water*

2018: Roma

2020: Nomadland*

2022: The Power of the Dog

(* indicates Best Picture winner)

Of note to TFF fans is that they all made the run from Venice to the San Juans. 

A big part of the post is focused on Netflix films that he reports are "in the Venice mix".  They include Alejandro Inarritu's Bardo, Noah Baumbach's White Noise, Andrew Dominik's Blonde and Romain Gavras' Athena.

From that list Bardo seems most likely to do the Venice/Telluride Shuffle with White Nose close behind.  Blonde has stirred controversy but I could still see it as a TFF #49 possibility.  The Gavras film is new to the conversation.

Other films that Vivarelli mentions that I feel like could be on flights from Italy to Colorado include:

Florian Zeller's The Son, Luca Guadagnino's Bones and All and Todd Fields: TAR.

The complete piece from Variety is linked here.

SEARCHING SPC

The second distributor to look at as we get closer to TFF #49 is Sony Pictures Classics.  SPC has a long tradition at Telluride and has averaged four titles per fest since I started attending in 2006.  Last year SPC had The Duke and Julia at TFF #48.

SPC's most likely title for TFF is Florian Zeller's The Son.  There are several reasons.  Zeller's The Father was a selection for the "Fest That Wasn't" in 2020.  Anthony Hopkins won his second Best Actor Oscar for it and Zeller won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.  An additional reason could be that Telluride regular Laura Dern is a cast member (along with Hugh Jackman who was a T-ride guest in 2018 with The Front Runner).

Also very likely for Telluride from SPC is Mia Hansen Love's One Fine Morning which SPC picked up at Cannes.  Hansen-Love also has a good track record with TFF.  One Fine Morning stars the currently red hot Lea Seydoux who could return to T-ride for the first time since 2013's Blue Is the Warmest Color.

One other possibility from SPC is the modern day re-telling of the opera Carmen.

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Another Bump / Babylon's Fate? / White Noise Rumors / Dardennes' Tori and Lokita Acquired

ANOTHER BUMP

Pardon the interruption.  MTFB didn't publish last Thursday as I was in the middle of a trip to NYC.  But I'm back (albeit later than normal) today.  Apologies to any and all that were waiting on on a Thursday post.  To be honest, this summer is crazy busy so don't be all that surprised if the Blog isn't as consistent as it usually is regarding the Monday/Thursday posting schedule.

BABYLON'S FATE?

Margot Robbie on the set of Babylon (per Fox)

Jordan Ruimy (World of Reel) is reporting that the highly anticipated Damien Chazelle film Babylon ,ay or may not be a festival player.  Ruimy says that Paramount hasn't yet decided on what path they want to take with the film which is set for a December release.  

Babylon has been high on the MTFB radar since it was announced as Chazelle was selected for Telluride twice over the last few years for La La Land in 2016 and First Man in 2018.

Babylon is described as a history of Hollywood as the film community makes the transition from silent films to talkies.  The film stars Margo Robbie and Brad Pitt.

The World of Reel post is here.

WHITE NOISE RUMORS

Another story from Jordan from the last week concerns rumors of a difficult shoot of another film that has been high on the MTFB anticipation and TFF expectation list: Noah Baumbach's White Noise.  Baumbach's Telluride pedigree has been solid with appearances for Margot at the Wedding (2007), Frances Ha (2012) and Marriage Story (2019).

Nevertheless, the Ruimy post suggests the film might be on shaky ground.  

IMDb has the film listed as being in post-production and expected as a 2022 release from Netflix with A24 also acting in a production capacity.

DARDENNES' TORI AND LOKITA ACQUIRED

Deadline reports that The Dardenne's Brothers' Tori and Lokita, which picked up a special 75th Anniversary prize at Cannes last month has been picked up for U.S. distribution by the combination of Janis and Sideshow.  That coupling was the same crew that brought Oscar winner Drive My Car to the U.S. (and Telluride) last year.

That acquisition surely keeps the Dardennes fellows on the TFF #49 watch list.

Anthony D'Alessandro reported the acquistion for Deadline.

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Cannes Winners / Trailer for Hallelujah

CANNES WINNERS

Ruben Ostlund won his second Palme d'Or on Saturday for his Triangle of Sadness.  My expectation, at least for the moment is that likely means this will be a TFF that does not host the Palme winner. Ostlund's previous two Cannes films (Force Majeure and The Square) did not make the Cannes-TFF connection.  That doesn't mean it can't happen just that it is historically unlikely.

Films that could have a boost with Cannes accolades leading to a Telluride selection:

Lukas Dhont's Close (tied for the Grand Prix)

Claire Denis' Stars at Noon (tied for Grand Prix)

Park Chan-wook's Decision to Leave (Best Direction)

Jerzy Skolimowski's EO (tied for Jury Prize)

The Dardennes Brothers' Tori and Lokita (Special 75th Anniversary Award)

Ali Abassi's Holy Spider (Best Actress-Zar Amir-Ebrahimi)

Hirokazu Kore-eda's Broker (Best Actor-Song Kang-ho)

The Hollywood Reporter has details here.

TRAILER FOR HALLELUJAH

The documentary about Leonard Cohen's most famous song that played as a part of the TFF #48 lineup has a trailer now.  The release happened this week from distrib Sony Pictures Classics.  The film is scheduled for release on July 1st.

Additionally, here's a link to FirstShowing.net and further details about the film.

More later...

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SPC Acquires One Fine Morning / A24 Nabs Aftersun / Critics from Cannes / What's Netflix Got?

SPSC ACQUIRES ONE FINE MORNING

Mia Hansen Love has been a significant presence at Telluride for some time.  That's also been true for her films as far as being invited to Cannes.  This year she has another film playing in France as a part of the Director's Fortnight section.  One Fine Morning has been getting more than decent critical notices.  As such, it has already been mentioned here as a potential TFF #49 selection.

Now comes news that Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the film for North America and beyond.  That acquisition increases that chances that the film will make a trek to the San Juans over Labor Day weekend.  As most readers of this Blog know, SPC has had a very good relationship with TFF for many years.

Hansen-Love films that have screened at Telluride: Goodbye First Love, Things to Come and Bergman Island

Recent SPC films at TFF: Julia, The Duke, The Father, Pain and Glory, A Fantastic Woman, The Rider and Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool.

Details of the SPC move are here from Variety.

A24 NABS AFTERSUN

Meanwhile, A24 has acquired Charlotte Wells' Aftersun.  The film has made a splash in France.  The solid critical response and the A24 move means that we have to give it some serious thought about a spot at The SHOW.  Adding fuel to the T-ride speculation is that the film is produced, in part, by Barry Jenkin's PASTEL.  You have to think that helps it be on the Telluride radar.

Deadline has the story.

CRITICS FROM CANNES

As we head into the home stretch of the Cannes Film Fest and the choice for the winner of the Palme d'Or looms, here is your latest check of potential TFF films screening in France and their current critical standing based on Reini Urban's collected sample of critics.

Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook) 7.54

Close (Lukas Dhont) 8.71

Holy Spider (Ali Abbasi) 6.66

Final Cut (Michel Hazanavicius) 7.42

One Fine Morning (Mia Hansen-Love) 7.45

Armageddon Time (James Gray) 6.88

All the People I'll Never Be (David Chou) 7.05

Showing Up (Kelly Reichardt) 6.75

R.M.N. (Cristian Mungiu) 6.81

Aftersun (Charlotte Wells) 8.25

Broker (Hirozaku Kore-eda) 6.25

Tori and Lokita (The Dardennes Brothers) 6.35

Stars at Noon (Claire Denis) 7.54

WHAT'S NETFLIX GOT?

It's that time of year where I try to peer into the films that we think could be ready for a Labor Day screening from some of the producers/distributors that have been common players at previous Telluride Film Fests.

And we start with what has become the most ubiquitous player at TFF over the past few years.  Since 2015Netflix has shown:

2015: Beasts of No Nation, Winter on Fire

2016: I Called Him Morgan, The Ivory Game, Into the Inferno

2017: First They Killed My Father, Wormwood

2018: Dovlatov, Girl, Reversing Roe, Roma, The Other Side of the Wind, They'll Love Me When I'm Dead

2019: Inside Bill's Brain, Marriage Story, Tell Me Who I Am, The Two Popes

2020: No announced films

2021: The Hand of God, The Lost Daughter, The Power of the Dog, Procession

That's an impressive run.  But...

You have to wonder with all the turmoil at Netflix of late...decreasing membership, lower stock prices and layoffs as well as the inability of the big streaming giant to land a Best Picture win (3 big shots at that prize over the past four years-Roma, Marriage Story and The Power of the Dog) if they will consider changing strategies this year.

Then there's the question of what they have that could be players in awards season.

Noah Baumbach's White Noise

Andrew Dominik's NC-17 rated Blonde

George C. Wolfe's Rustin

David Fincher's The Killer  (Will it be ready by September?)

Tobias Lindholm's The Good Nurse

Kenya Barris' You People

Guillermo Del Toro's Piniocchio (Will it be ready?)

John Ridley's Shirley

Sebastian DeLilio's The Wonder

From this group and at the moment it feels like the best bets are White Noise, Shirley and The Wonder with honorable mentions for Blonde and Pinocchio.

***Added on June 9th- Look out for The Good Nurse

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Checking Cannes / Ethan Coen and Jerry Lee

 CHECKING CANNES

I'm continuing to monitor the critical reactions to films unspooling at the 75th Cannes Film Festival which hits its half way point today.  The fest is set to end on Saturday.

Looking at the combination of critical responses that is curated by Reini Urban here are some of the films that I have on my TFF #49 radar and their current combined rating (on a 10 point scale) as well as their position on the overall Cannes chart which includes virtually every film that is screening within any part of the festival:

10) Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook) 9.08

14) Close (Lukas Dhont) 8.40

24) Holy Spider (Ali Abbasi) 7.91

34) Final Cut (Michel Hazanavicius)

42) One Fine Morning (Mia Hansen-Love) 7.17

52) Armageddon Time (James Gray) 6.94

55) All the People I'll Never Be (David Chou) 6.84

59) Showing Up (Kelly Reichardt) 6.75

68) R.M.N. (Cristian Mungiu) 6.66

Still waiting for enough critical responses to evaluate The Dardennes' Tori and Lokita and Hirokazu Kore-eda's Broker.

For a closer look at individual responses to the Palme d'Or competitors I have linked the charts for that from:

Screen Daily

Ioncinema

The Palme d'Or winner and Telluride cross over in recent years:

2019: Parasite

2018: Shoplifters

2013: Blue Is the Warmest Colour

2012: Amour

2009: The White Ribbon

2007: 4 Months, 3 Weeks, Two Days

2005: L'Enfant

2003: Elephant

ETHAN COEN AND JERRY LEE

Ethan Coen's documentary Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind dropped yesterday at Cannes with a second screening scheduled for today.  The film is being produced (in part) and distributed by A24.  That and the fact that Coen and his co-producer T-Bone Burnett were co-recipients of a TFF Tribute for TFF #40-2013) gives a glimmer of hope that the doc could be a selection for TFF #49.

Coen was interviewed recently by Deadline's Mike Fleming, Jr. about the project.  That is linked here.

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At Cannes: Acquisitions for TFF Possibilities: Return to Soul and R.M.N. / Early Reactions from Cannes

 AT CANNES: ACQUISITIONS FOR TFF POSSIBLES RETURN TO SOUL AND R.M.N.

Variety reports that Sony Pictures Classics has taken distribution rights for David Chou's Return to Soul.  That moves into the "in consideration" position vis-a-vis TFF #49.  Variety describes the film as follows:

"The pic centers on 25-year-old Freddie, who impulsively returns to South Korea for the first time, where she was born before being adopted and raised in France. The headstrong young woman starts looking for her biological parents in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions."

The Variety story is linked here.

Meanwhile, Indiewire has reported that IFC Films has acquired R.M.N. the latest film from Cristian Mungiu. Mungiu was at Telluride in 2007 with his 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days.  The IFC acquisition could set the stage for return to T-ride in September.

The description form Indiewire:

It "follows the return of Matthias (Marin Grigore) to his multi-ethnic Transylvanian village, where he wishes to involve himself more in the education of his son and to rid the boy of his unresolved fears. When new workers arrive at a factory owned by Matthias’ ex-lover Csilla (Judith State) the peace of the community is disturbed and fears, frustrations, and conflicts erupt."

The Indiewire article is here.

EARLY REACTIONS FROM CANNES

As is common for this space, I'm keeping an eye on the collective critcal response through Reini Urban's Cannes Critics Ratings. The early response for some films that could play Telluride that are rating a combined 6.0 or better on a 10 point scale include:

One Fine Morning

Brother and Sister

Showing Up 

Return to Soul

You can find the complete rundown linked here.

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Fred Ward 1942-2022 / Marcel Creators Have a Word / Official Clip for Holy Spider / NEON Nabs Broker / Marty Back in Oklahoma

FRED WARD 1942-2022

Fred Ward at TFF #36 (photo via Salon.com and Getty Images)

I will miss Fred Ward.  The actor died on May 8th at the age of 79.  Fred's credits included some great stuff: Escape from Alcatraz, Southern Comfort, The Right Stuff, The Player and, of course, Tremors.  Tremors is one of my wife's favorite movies. For years we've been talking about writing and producing a stage musical adaptation.  Can you envision singing Graboids?

I just watched The Player again a couple of weeks ago.

Ward was in Telluride in 2009 for The SHOW as a part of the group that was there with the foreign film Farewell, a gripping cold war true story that featured Ward as Ronald Reagan.  I saw the film at the fest and it was quote good.

Salon.com had a nice write up about Fred this week.  That's linked here.

MARCELS'S CREATORS HAVE A WORD

Recently, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On co-creators Dean Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate sat down with Joshua Rothkopf writing for Entertainment Weekly for an interview ahead of the films release on June 24th.  The result of that interview was posted at EW.com on Friday the 13th.

Frequent readers of this space already know that I am an outspoken fan of the film so I am pleased to provide the link to the interview, encourage you to read (regarding the genesis of the project and other matters) and then make sure to go see the film or re-watch it of you caught it at Telluride or one of its other film fest stops (SXSW, San Francisco, Seattle, Milwaukee).

OFFICIAL CLIP FOR HOLY SPIDER

On the TFF #49 watch list is Ali Abbasi's Cannes Plame d'Or contender Holy Spider.  The film focuses on a series of murders in Iran and the female journalist that is trying to unravel the story.

Here's the newly released first look clip from YouTube:

NEON NABS BROKER

NEON has acquired North American distribution rights for Hirokazu Kore-eda's Broker according to multiple sources including Variety.  This is of note to Telluride Film Fest fans as the film now checks off a bunch of boxes that could signal a TFF #49 appearance.

Cannes competition choice...check

Foreign auteur that's played TFF before... check (Kore-eda's Shoplifters in 2018)

Distributor with a history at T-ride...check (NEON)

Assuming reviews are strong out of Cannes, Broker's lineage could land it on my first "Ten Bets" list.

Here's the news of the acquisition from Variety.

MARTY BACK IN OKLAHOMA

Jordan Ruimy of World of Reel reports that additional filming is underway in the northeast part of my home state for Killers of the Flower Moon.  Jordan, as a part of his story, links to a report from Louise Red Corn writing for The Osage News from last Tuesday with photos showing crew and equipment back in Pawhuska.

Speculation is that they'll be filming a social dance that will include an number of the locals that were filmed earlier as extras and background players.

Here's the link to Jordan's story.

Here's the link to the Osage News story.

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