"Amazing Grace" Won't Play Toronto Either / Digging into Awards Season Post-Telluride / "Carol" Score and Interviews / Rate, Rate, Rate

Welcome to Wednesday!

Most of the world that was at Telluride has now returned to home.  Not recovered yet, but getting closer.


"AMAZING GRACE" WON'T PLAY TORONTO EITHER

Looks like it's all over for the chance to see Sidney Pollack's 1972 documentary "Amazing Grace" at any point along the fall film fest gauntlet.

The film which was set to play Telluride last weekend was pulled at the last minute as a result of an injunction from a Colorado judge.  That decision came late enough in the fests planning that TFF directors were telling journalists that they still were planning on screening the film as late as the press orientation last Friday afternoon.

As the weekend turned into the start of this week word came that it would not screen at the Chicago Film Fest and now it has been removed from the Toronto lineup (TIFF opens on Thursday).

Apparently Toronto decided that the legal battle would not result in the rights to screen the film.

Coverage here from Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, Thompson on Hollywood and ShowBiz411:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/08/aretha-franklin-amazing-grace-toronto

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/aretha-franklin-judge-shows-no-820975

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/toronto-film-fest-wont-screen-aretha-franklin-doc-either-20150908

http://www.showbiz411.com/2015/09/08/aretha-franklin-doc-amazing-grace-removed-from-toronto-film-festival-too



DIGGING INTO AWARDS SEASON POST-TELLURIDE

I started it yesterday...the transition from MTFB to more of The FAC-Film Awards Clearinghouse, with an overview of TFF #42 films that seemed to have kept or earned their way into at least some level of the conversation about year end awards consideration.  For the next few days, I'll continue to delve into that area with articles, stories and posts that focus on Telluride and awards potential from the experts in the field.

Today I point to a post-Telluride conversation in the second of a series based at The Hollywood Reporter and the early view from Variety/InContention's Kristopher Tapley:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/awards-pundits-scott-feinberg-stephen-820861

http://variety.com/2015/film/awards/telluride-wrap-colorado-fest-opens-gate-to-kudos-season-1201587683/


"CAROL" SCORE AND INTERVIEW

The Film Stage has excerpted portions of the score for Todd Haynes "Carol" as well as interviews with Haynes and and star Rooney Mara.  If you loved "Carol" and many did...this is a great way to re-live some of the film as you wait to re-view it on its release on Nov. 20.

http://thefilmstage.com/news/hear-excerpts-of-carter-burwells-carol-score-as-todd-haynes-confirms-next-film/



RATE, RATE, RATE

They've begun to show up in my inbox.  The ratings for films from Telluride.  I had about half a dozen from The People yesterday as well as four from The Pros.  Keep them coming in folks!

Please rate each film you saw on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being abysmal and 5 being perfection.  If you want to rate with half points (ex: 4.5) that's cool too.

Send ratings to the comment section of the blog OR

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to

Michael's Telluride Film Blog's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse/107846269309712

Evaluation in Two Modes / Switching Gears / Time to Rate the Films and More Gratitude

It's the Tuesday after Labor Day which means, sadly, that Telluride's 42nd Film Festival has drawn to a close.  I spent most of yesterday making the nine and a half hour drive back to the home base in Guymon, OK.  We arrived safe and sound around 7:45.  Hope you all had safe travels (or will have).


EVALUATION IN TWO MODES

First, MTFB and the 42nd Telluride lineup:  Not too bad.

The final Ten Bets last Wednesday morning was 19 for 20 with "Queen of the Desert" being the lone whiff.  Herzog is off making a film.

Could have gotten 20 for 20 had I been more confident in the possibility of Winter on Fire" or "Sherpa".  Nevertheless, 95% at the end is a good grade about anywhere.

However, this year was one of the least impressive from the initial Ten Bets list as it contained only four films that ultimately made the TFF #42 lineup:"Suffragette", "45 Years", "Carol" and "Son of Saul".  So, sometimes, I'm not as smart as I wish I was.

Also, in terms of evaluation, I wasn't shattered/stunned by anything I saw over the weekend but I did like quite a lot.  My list from top to bottom of what I saw :

1) "Black Mass
2) "Spotlight"
3) "Steve Jobs"
4) "Son of Saul"
5) Retour De Flamme (restorations)
6) "He Named Me Malala"
7) "Suffragette"
8) "Taxi"
9) "Carol"
10) "45 Years"

I regret that I didn't get in "Beasts of No Nation" (had to chose between it and "Son of Saul"), "Anomalisa" and "Room".  I also regret not getting in "Marguerite".  Had I been able to hang around Monday, would have gotten those in.


SWITCHING GEARS

Long time readers of Michael's Telluride Film Blog know that, now that the festival is done, the focus becomes an attempt to follow the ups and downs of the awards season and specifically what happens during these next few months with regard to the films that we saw these past few days.

Some early conclusions based upon the what was being said and written in as far as the Oscar season is concerned goes like this after Venice (though it's not finished yet) and Telluride:

Films with some serious Best Picture wind at their backs:

"Steve Jobs"
"Spotlight"
"Carol"
"Black Mass"

Also in the conversation:
"Suffragette"
"Room"
"Son of Saul"
"45 Years"

Acting considerations include

Best Actress:

Cate Blanchett/Carol
Rooney Mara/Carol (although most think that she'll be campaigned as Supporting)
Carey Mulligan/Suffragette
Brie Larson/Room ( I think I saw Ms. Larson playing darts at a pizza place on Colorado, Ave. on Sunday night)
Charlotte Rampling/45 Years

Best Actor:

Michael Fassbender/Steve Jobs
Johnny Depp/Black Mass
Idris Elba/Beasts (could go supporting)
Tom Courtenay/45 Years


Supporting Actress:

Kate Winslet/Steve Jobs
Anne-Marie Duff/Suffragette
Rachel McAdams/Spotlight


Supporting Actor:

Michael Keaton/Spotlight
Mark Ruffalo/Spotlight
Abraham Attah/Beasts
Joel Edgerton/Black Mass
Jacob Trembelay/Room
Seth Rogen/Steve Jobs


Director:

Danny Boyle/Steve Jobs
Tom McCarthy/Spotlight
Scott Cooper/Black Mass
Todd Haynes/Carol
Cary Fukunaga/Beasts
Lenny Abrahamson/Room
Sarah Gavron/Suffragette

My personal drumbeats are for Jeff Daniels in "Steve Jobs" and Peter Sarsgaard for "Black Mass" as Supporting Actor possibilities.


Additionally, there'll be additional considerations in many other categories (Costumes for "Carol" as an example).


Of course, there's till a lot to happen including Toronto, New York, AFI and big releases that include: "The Revenant", "The Hateful Eight", "Bridge of Spies", "In the Heart of the Sea", "By the Sea" and don't forget "The Danish Girl" which has already made a splash in Venice.

The next nearly six months will be about sorting all of this out.   Oscar happens on Feb. 28, 2016.


TIME TO RATE THE FILMS AND MORE GRATITUDE

Again, a big "Thank You" to all of you who read this experiment.  So many of you shared kind words with me during the Festival.  I'm always more than a little surprised at how many people seem to have looked at.  Also...

Note to Chris "Boom Boom" Schneider...Kurt will join me in class this morning.

Thanks to all....

I hope you made notes.

The Professionals have already started to send their ratings in and I hope to get those completely together, collated and published by the end of the week.  Perhaps Monday.

Meanwhile, YOU have a job to do, as well.  Now that the fest is in the books, I'm asking YOU to rate the films and send those ratings to me for The People's Telluride.  Please rate each film you saw on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being abysmal and 5 being perfection.  If you want to rate with half points (ex: 4.5) that's cool too.

Send ratings to the comment section of the blog OR

michael_speech@hotmail.com OR

mpgort@gmail.com OR

via Twitter @Gort2 OR to

Michael's Telluride Film Blog's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse/107846269309712

Monday's TBAs / Sunday Commentary / More Weirdness / Heading Home

Sadness ensues, it's the last day of TFF #42...

MONDAY'S TBAS

Monday TBAs

• 23 Son of Saul Werner Herzog Theatre 9AM

• 28 Time to Choose Nugget 9AM
• G Dreaming Against
the World + Tyrus
FREE Pierre 9AM
• F Sembene! FREE Backlot 9AM

• 11 Black Mass Chuck Jones' Cinema 12:15PM

• 8 Ixcanul Palm 1PM
• 1a Carol Galaxy 1PM
• 13 Spotlight Werner Herzog Theatre 1PM
• 26 Taxi Nugget 1PM
• A Cinema: A Public
Affair FREE Backlot 1PM
• E Peggy Guggenheim:
Art Addict FREE Pierre 1:15PM
• 19 Siti + Cinema FREE Masons 1:30PM

• 5 Beasts of
No Nation Chuck Jones' Cinema 3:00PM
• 29 Marguerite Nugget 3:15PM
• C Ingrid Bergman--
In Her Own Words FREE Backlot 3:15PM

• 10 Room Palm 3:30PM

• 26 Taxi Pierre 3:45PM
• 11 Black Mass Galaxy 3:45PM

• 12 Suffragette Werner Herzog Theatre 4PM

• 16 Mom and Me Masons 4PM

• D In the Shadow of
the Great 
Oaks FREE Backlot 5:30PM

• SP Picture Sheridan Opera House 6PM
• 17 Viva Pierre 6PM
• 25 Only the Dead See
the End of War Nugget 6PM
• 27 Hitchcock/Truffaut Masons 6PM
• 12 Suffragette Chuck Jones' Cinema 5:45PM
• 7a Steve Jobs Palm 6:30PM
• 15 Rams Galaxy 6:30PM
• 36 Cocksucker Blues
(Feature Only) FREE Werner Herzog Theatre 6:30PM

• Sneak Preview

PICTURE 
6PM, Sheridan Opera House 
FREE 
Live accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra
It is a film like no other you have seen. Made in violation of every rule of film production, Paolo Cherchi Usai’s second feature is a movie-in-denial, a film that tests—protests—its own identity as a film. The canned theatre; a dream factory; a work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction—intuitions like these have been thrown at the film medium since birth. The Tin Man has no heart, generations of wizards have been telling us. PICTURE was made as if its director had been blissfully unaware of their curse. (U.S., 2015, 68m)

Monday Seminar
Noon, Town Park
Open to all Festival passholders
"What do actors need to hear from film directors?
With Cary Fukunaga, Brie Larson, Paddy Breathnach, Héctor Medina, Luis Alberto García

SUNDAY'S COMMENTARY

Sunday's films were:

Jafar Panahi's "Taxi"...very nice work here.
Andrew Haigh's "45 Years"...measured pace kills the momentum
Scott Cooper's "Black Mass"...outstanding...return of Johnny Depp to actual acting.
Lazlo Nemes' "Son of Saul"...searing and daring.

Most Buzz About Films I Missed:

"Beasts of No Nation"
"Marguerite"
"Room"

MORE WEIRDNESS 

Here's something that doesn't happen to me every day.  Got into a little Twitter back and forth with Seth Rogen.  Yes, THE Seth Rogen here in town for "Steve Jobs".  I happened to tweet that I wasn't going to the Danny Boyle tribute screening of "Steve Jobs" but was going to attend the separate screening at The Galaxy.  Mr. Rogen took me to task, humorously I believe, via Twitter.  

It was fun and weird at the same time.

1. Michael Patterson ‏@Gort2  8h8 hours ago

   @Sethrogen @firstshowing hey, I love Danny Boyle...but...

   
   

   
   
2. Seth Rogen ‏@Sethrogen  8h8 hours ago

   @Gort2 @firstshowing not enough to give the man the goddam respect of going to his tribute!!! Aaaaahhh!!!

HEADING HOME

As you read this I am in the Jeep headed back to the real world...not because I want to but because I will be in a classroom on Tuesday morning.

I hope your fest was as wonderful and memorable as mine.

From embracing the father of a Nobel Peace Prize winner to re-kindling acquaintances who have become, I believe friends: Chris Schiller, Sasha Stone, Kris Tapley, Tomris Laffly, Alex Billington, this has been a a remarkable fest.

Also, as has become a bit if a tradition, it was a hoot to have part of my family in town for the festival.  Shout out to my Mom and Dad, Patt and Calvin Patterson and my brother Jim Patterson who made his first foray into Telluride in many a decade and seemed no worse for the wear as the weekend ended.

My eternal thanks to our hosts: Larry and Mitzi Mallard...we really don't deserve your kindness.

And a big thanks to those of you who have read Michael's Telluride Film Blog.  I ran into many of you over the weekend and let me tell you how incredibly wonderful it is to find out how many of you take the time to read MTFB.  Thanks...

Keep a lookout over the next few days.  I'll soon have "The Professionals Telluride" collated and I'll post that as soon as I can get that all together.

Also, don't forget to do your part.  Send in your film ratings on a 1-5 scale and I'll put up "The People's Telluride" as well.

That's all folks!


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)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse/107846269309712

Sunday's TBAs and More

Good Sunday everyone...welcome to Day Three of the 42nd Telluride Film Festival.


SUNDAY TBAS AND MORE

Here are the announced TBAs for Sunday:

Sunday TBAs

3 Die Nibelungen FREE Masons Hall Cinema 8:30AM

11 Black Mass Werner Herzog Theatre 1PM

8 Ixcanul Q&A Sheridan Opera House 1:15PM

39 Student Prints FREE Le Pierre 3:30PM

7a Steve Jobs Werner Herzog Theatre 4PM

28 Time to Choose Q&A Nugget Theatre 4:30PM

F Sembene! FREE Le Pierre 6:30PM

7a Steve Jobs Palm Theatre 8PM

Sneak Preview: Black Girl FREE Q&A Le Pierre 8:15PM

26 Taxi Masons Hall Cinema 9:30PM

15 Rams Le Pierre 10:15PM

Sneak Preview

BLACK GIRL

8:15PM, Le Pierre FREE / Q&A

Lured to France as a housekeeper, a young African girl finds the world closing in on her in Ousmane Sembene’s explosive, visionary debut. Drawing visually from the French Nouvelle Vague and spiritually from the Italian neorealists, the film’s heart and soul is African. This gorgeous new restoration, courtesy of Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation and the Cineteca di Bologna, revives a film that remains as potent and relevant today as it did 50 years ago, with its black-and-white photography immersing us in the seemingly unending fissures of race and class. The final sequence—a boy in a mask haunting a Frenchman—remains one of the most memorable in cinema history. (Senegal, 1966, 66m) Followed by Q&A with Sembene biographer Samba Gadjigo

BLACK GIRL plays as a double feature with SEMBENE! with a 15-minute intermission between shows. Available seats will be filled during the intermission. The double feature will be followed by a Q&A with Sembene biographer Samba Gadjigo.

Conversation 10:30AM

Abel Gance Open Air Cinema

with Danny Boyle, Aaron Sorkin, Seth Rogen & Kate Winslet moderated by Todd McCarthy•

Sunday Seminar

Noon, Elks Park

Free and open to the public

“How does one build a layered narrative around a charismatic figure?”

With Scott Cooper, Joel Edgerton, Nicolas Saada, Xavier Giannoli

Announcement of Monday Sneak Preview!!

PICTURE

6PM Monday, Sheridan Opera House

Live accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra

It is a film like no other you have seen. Made in violation of every rule of film production, Paolo Cherchi Usai’s second feature is a movie-in-denial, a film that tests—protests—its own identity as a film. The canned theatre; a dream factory; a work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction—intuitions like these have been thrown at the film medium since birth. The Tin Man has no heart, generations of wizards have been telling us. PICTURE was made as if its director had been blissfully unaware of their curse. (U.S., 2015, 68m)

Once in a Lifetime / Legal Weirdness / For Those Who Are Curious / Saturday TBAs

Day Two of TFF #42...

ONCE IN A LIFETIME

So, I got back to the condo very late on Thursday night and got to work on the post that went up yesterday.  As I was working through the various modes of information gathering that I use, I opened an email that had a curious address and subject line, but that's not unusual during Telluride week.

Turns out it was from Eason Jordan who is the Director of Special Projects for The Malala Fund. The message said that he and Malala's father, Ziauddin Yousafzai had been reading the blog and that they had particularly noted that I had written about her and being a teacher (in my real life job) on Wednesday.  Go look at it, I'll wait...

I was a little bit passionate.


Well, Mr. Jordan expressed an interest on the part of Ziauddin to meet...me.

I was floored.  Stunned.  I kind of thought it might be a hoax but I responded to Mr. Jordan and through a series of texts...well...

That's the father of a Nobel Peace Prize winner and a fellow teacher allowing another teacher to express his gratitude.  I was blown away by his warmth and kindness.  My thanks to Eason Jordan, who was beyond gracious in putting the two of us together and to Ziauddin for taking the time.  Also a big thank you to my wife who was also saluted by both men for for also being a part of the teaching profession and who also took some of the pictures.

One of the greatest moments in Telluride and really, in my life.

LEGAL WEIRDNESS

If you had plans to catch the Aretha Franklin documentary "Amazing Grace", those plans got radically altered at the last minute yesterday as a Colorado judge granted Franklin an injunction to keep the film from screening here in Telluride.

As I finish writing this post, it appears that the Fest has made its peace with the ruling and that other films will be scheduled in the spots that "Grace" was going to play.  For example, "Carol" is replacing it in the 10:30 pm slot at the Galaxy tonight (see all the TBA info below).

I've linked The Hollywood Reporter story about the legal proceeding and decision here:



http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/aretha-franklin-granted-injunction-stop-820609



FOR THOSE WHO ARE CURIOUS

Yesterday: "Malala" and "Carol".  Today:

"Suffragette"
"Anomalisa" or "45 Years" or Retour de Flamme"
"Spotlight"
"Steve Jobs"
And if I still have any juice, maybe "Marguerite"



Saturday TBAs

• 17 Viva Galaxy 1:15 PM

• 10 Room Werner Herzog Theatre 1:30 PM

• 16 Mom and Me Masons Hall Cinema 3:30 PM

• 20 Rams Werner Herzog Theatre 4:00 PM

• *b Sherpa Sheridan Opera House 4:15 PM

• G Dreaming Against the World + Tyrus Le Pierre 6:00 PM

• 41 Great Expectations Masons Hall Cinema 6:30 PM

• 7a Steve Jobs Galaxy 7:30 PM

• C Heart of a Dog Masons Hall Cinema 10:00 PM

• 1a Carol Galaxy 10:30 PM

• Noon, Elks Park

“To what extent can fiction films grapple with historical abuses?”

with Meryl Streep, Sarah Gavron, Tom McCarthy, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, László Nemes, Géza Röhrig

AMAZING GRACE will not be shown at this year's festival due to an injunction filed by Aretha Franklin. All slots where AMAZING GRACE was scheduled will be filled with another of our festival films.

REMEMBER TO RATE YOUR 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

Tweet/Follow at me @Gort2 on Twitter

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

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse/107846269309712

TFF42: Day One / First Film Is "Malala" / My Day Today...

Well...it's here.  The 42nd Telluride Film Festival is on the cusp of breaking out.  Officially the film fest takes flight at 1:00pm today and  then the complete cascade of films rolls out over the next four days.


TFF#42: DAY ONE

As it stands, MTFB correctly predicted 19 films to play this year's fest.  Rumors abound that there are a couple of crazy "sneak previews" that could be in the works.  We'll see.

I am particularly captivated by "Steve Jobs", "Black Mass', "Spotlight", "He Named Me Malala" and "Carol".  But there is so much to see and so little time to see it all...

Oh, Telluride...you are so devious.

Here's the link to the complete schedule absent the TBAs and Sneaks as of Friday morning:

http://www.telluridefilmfestival.org/assets/guides/42nd_TFF_program_FINAL.pdf


Come back to Michael's Telluride Film Blog for further updates.

FIRST FILM IS "MALALA"

A number of sources are reporting this morning that the Patron screening on this afternoon will be the documentary "He Named Me Malala".  I had hoped that Malala herself might be in Telluride for the fest but have been told that she will not be as she has remained in England to continue going to school which seems appropriate given her life story.

Instead, Malala's father,  Ziauddin, is in town with the film as is director Davis Guggenheim.


Stay tuned to MTFB for more on the Malala story.


MY DAY TODAY...

The Patterson's plan at the moment is still being discussed.  We expect to attend the Patron screening this afternoon (See above) and then catch a film after the Friday night feed.  Perhaps two.

But the candidates have not yet been selected.  Possibles are "Carol", "Room", "Taxi", "Son of Saul", "Suffragette", "Anomalisa", "45 Years" and "Hitchcock/Truffaut".


I'll report back.

For late breaking news and such follow me at Twitter @Gort2.

BREAKING: THE TFF #42 LINEUP IS ANNOUNCED

BREAKING: Reporting from the road and straight from the Telluride Film Festival, here is your TFF #42 lineup:

"Amazing Grace"
"Anomalisa"
"Beasts of No Nation"
"Bitter Lake"
"Black Mass"
"Carol"
"45 Years" 
"He Named Me Malala"
"Heart of a Dog"
"Hitchcock/Truffaut"
"Ixcanul"
"Marguerite"
"Mom and Me"
"Only the Dead See the End of War"
"Rams"
"Room"
"Siti"
"Son of Saul"
“Spotlight”
"Steve Jobs"
"Suffragette"
"Taj Mahal"
"Taxi"
"Tikkun"
"Time to Choose"
"Viva"
"Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom"

Tributes announced are  for Danny Boyle (yes!) and Rooney Mara (???)


27 features and documentaries make the lineup.  Missing from this are two films that I had in my last "Ten Bets" lists (which ran to 20 films).  One MIA is Werner Herzog's "Queen of the Desert" which could also conceivably make an appearance as a "Sneak".  The other film that I would hope for as a  "sneak" is "Macbeth"

The docs "Tyrus" and "Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words" are appearing in other portions of the Telluride program.

Michael Fassbender as "Steve Jobs" at the 42nd Telluride Film Festival opening tomorrow

The films making the list that you have seen mentioned here on MTFB that didn't make the last "Ten Bets (Plus): "Ixcanul" and  "Winter on Fire",  Eight other films...I can't find that I've mentioned anyplace at all.  After some brief probing, they all seem fairly obscure and none appear to have U.S. distribution as we begin the weekend. They are:

"Bitter Lake"
"Mom and Me"
"Only the Dead See the End of the War"
"Siti"
"Taj Mahal"
'Tikkun"
"Time to Chose"
"Viva"

Personally, I'm most energized by "Steve Jobs", "Spotlight", "Carol", "Black Mass" and "Son of Saul".  After those, on my probable list are: "Suffragette", "Beasts of No Nation", "Anomalisa", "Room", "Hitchcock/Truffaut" and "45 Years".


Of course, this could all change with the announcement during the weekend of surprise screenings and sneaks.

I'm back on the road ASAP with a plan to get to Telluride by noon and get my mountain legs under me...

See you in the 'Ride!

Remember to rate those films!!!

Thursday Morning Note

Good Day Before!!!

THURSDAY MORNING NOTE

I'm holding off on a full length post this morning as I wait for the official lineup announcement to come from the Telluride Film Festival.

The official website is:

www.telluridefilmfestival.com


I'll have the lineup here as soon as I can within the constraints of the travel schedule into Telluride today.

Everyone travel safe.

Here are a couple of morsels to hold you over:

The Hollywood Reporter talks pre-Telluride:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/telluride-festival-whats-be-screen-819091

Variety reviews "Spotlight" and mentions Telluride:

http://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/spotlight-review-michael-keaton-tom-mccarthy-venice-film-festival-1201580933/

"Beasts of No Nation" make noise in Venice:

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/sep/02/beasts-of-no-nation-review-brutal-epic-opens-awards-season-in-style

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2015/09/high-marks-for-beats-of-no-nation-reviewed-in-venice/


The LINEUP coming soon...stay tuned.

Final Ten Best (Plus) Before TFF #42 / Welcome Mr. Miles / The Odd Rumors / New Views of "Malala" / On Thursday...

It's the last Wednesday before the cinematic candy store opens for business.  After a full year of being separated, it's time to rejoin my fellow adherents to all things Telluride Film Festival and head the wagons west to the beautiful San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado to bask in the filmic glory that will consume us Friday through Monday.  It's Labor Day weekend and for my wife and I, our tenth foray into TFF Territory.

It's what my hope for heaven looks, sounds and feels like...

See you in Telluride!

FINAL TEN BETS (PLUS) BEFORE TFF #42

From the most to least likely are:

1) Son of Saul
2) Suffragette
3) Carol
4) 45 Years
5) Black Mass
6) Steve Jobs
7) Beasts of No Nation
8) He Named Me Malala
9) Spotlight
10) Room


And then the "Plus"

11) Amazing Grace
12) Taxi
13) Marguerite
14) Anomalisa
15) Hitchcock/Truffaut

And now some "Plus-Plus"

16) Rams
17) Heart of a Dog
18) Tyrus
19) Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words
20) Queen of the Desert


WELCOME MR. MILES

I posted Monday that MTFB has its largest (and I think most distinguished) panel of industry professionals to offer their ratings for films that play this weekend at Telluride.  Here's that list again:

Nick Allen/Chicago Film Critics Assn. member/RogerEbert.com
Alex Billington/FirstShowing.net..
David Ehrlich/Time Out New York
Greg Ellwood/HitFix
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Eric Kohn/Indiewire
Tomris Laffly/Movie Mezzanine/Film Journal
Christopher Schiller/ScriptMag.com
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Kristopher Tapley/Variety/InContention
Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood

Now add that august group of individuals Mr. Kenny Miles of the Denver Society of Film Critics and a contributor to TheMovieBlog.com and FilmFad.com.  Welcome to the crew Mr. Miles!

And this serves as a good spot to remind you, dear reader to add your voice to the chorus for "The People's Telluride".  Rate the films you see during the fest 1-5 (1=BAD, 5=GREAT) and send them to me through one of the contact methods (email, Twitter, Facebook, Blog Comment) .  I'll compile both sets of ratings and report back to you.


THE ODD RUMORS

The persistent but unlikely speculation that persists seems to be that Venice opener "Everest" will follow the pattern of the past two Venice openers "Gravity" and "Birdman" and make its way to Telluride.  Why is it unlikely?  The film is slated to play the Deauville Fest in France on Sept. 4. Though the cast is huge, I don't see how they pull off three major fest screenings in seven days max.

The other rumor is that Sundance sensation "Brooklyn" will show at The SHOW.  Now, that's just not very probable either.  A "Brooklyn" play would violate Telluride's fairly stringent policy of playing new features that have not yet appeared in North America as it played very well at Sundance.

I think some folks are seeing its "Canadian Premiere" designation at Toronto and assuming that automatically means Telluride.  Ummmm...nope,

And just last night The Wrap was reporting in its Oscar/Fall Fest Season post that "The Danish Girl" was likely to play Telluride.  Again, not likely.  For whatever reason, The Wrap was calling it a "Canadian Premiere" whereas the TIFF website very clearly has it as a North American Premiere.  So don't hold your breath.

Here's the link to The Wrap story:

http://www.thewrap.com/watch-out-oscar-awards-season-gets-jump-start-with-fall-film-festivals/


NEW VIEWS OF "MALALA"

One of the films I am looking toward with high anticipation is the Davis Guggenheim documentary "He Named Me Malala".  The story of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and her strength as a voice for equal education in a part of the world where that's a dangerous belief to hold enraptures me as a teacher.

I really am hoping that Malala might well be in Telluride this week and that I have the chance to thank her and tell her in person that I teach. My wife teaches.  My children teach.  My mother was school secretary and my father taught. It's the Patterson Family business so to meet this incredible human being who faced death for the belief that education was a value worth perusing and defending...yea, I'd like to tell her thank you.

Oh, and IMDb put up some new, exclusive pictures from the film yesterday, one of which graces this portion of the post.


ON THURSDAY...

We should, if all goes the way it has the past couple of years, have a lineup fairly early tomorrow morning.  Check here for that announcement.


Headed to Telluride...see you there.  Travel safely friends!

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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Anticipated Films for This Fall and Telluride / More "Jobs" News / Could We See the Return of Bill Murray? / Late Breaking New "Macbeth" Trailer / Don't Forget to Rate

Good Tuesday World...the clock is ticking down.  TFF #42 in three days...

ANTICIPATED FILMS FOR THIS FALL AND TELLURIDE

As we count down the hours to the beginning of TFF #42, you might have noticed that everyone and her dog (or his) has, in the last week or so, posted their "Most Anticipated"...fall film list...or some version thereof. They're ubiquitous.

I've culled a number of them which are linked below if you'd like to gander at any or all of the complete lists.

What I've looked for is the inclusion of what I believe will be films that will be announced in about 48 hours as TFF players.  So here's the breakdown...(and "Steve Jobs" appears to be a film that a lot of people want to see...including your truly).

Variety/InContention (Welcome Back Kristopher Tapley!):

"Anomalisa", "Son of Saul", "Macbeth", "Steve Jobs", "45 Years", "Beasts of No Nation", "Room". "Spotlight", "Carol" and "Black Mass".

Indiewire:

"Rams", "Beasts of No Nation", "Anomalisa", "45 Years", "Amazing Grace", "He Named Me Malala" and "Taxi".

The Film Stage:

"Spotlight", "Suffragette", "Room", "Hitchcock/Truffaut", "Steve Jobs"and "Beasts of No Nation".

HitFix:

"Black Mass", "Steve Jobs", "Suffragette" and "Carol".

NewNowNext:

"Steve Jobs", "Suffragette", "Carol"

The Wrap:

"Black Mass", "Steve Jobs", "Spotlight" and "Carol"

Business Insider:

"Black Mass", "Steve Jobs", "Room", "Beasts of No Nation" and "Suffragette"

Awards Circuit:

"Anomalisa", "Beasts of No Nation", "Black Mass", "Carol", "Room", "Spotlight" and "Steve Jobs".

That's eight different lists and in this completely non-scientific survey, we find that "Steve Jobs" may be the most anticipated possible Telluride showing as it is mentioned on seven of the eight lists. Three films appear on five of the lists: "Carol", "Black Mass" and "Beasts of No Nation".  Three other films are on four of the lists: "Room", "Suffragette" and "Spotlight".

Assuming I have these correct, then you might anticipate that these could be the films with the hottest tickets going into this weekend.

Check out all of the complete lists at these links:

http://variety.com/2015/film/in-contention/30-most-anticipated-films-of-the-2015-2016-oscar-season-1201580229/

http://www.indiewire.com/article/the-indiewire-2015-fall-preview-the-27-festival-films-were-most-excited-to-see-20150827

http://thefilmstage.com/features/fall-2015-preview-our-20-most-anticipated-films/

http://www.hitfix.com/awards-campaign/the-31-movies-you-must-see-this-fall-and-why

http://www.newnownext.com/the-13-most-anticipated-films-of-fall-2015/08/2015/

http://www.thewrap.com/25-fall-movies-were-dying-to-see-from-everest-to-the-hateful-eight/

http://www.businessinsider.com/fall-movie-preview-2015-8

http://www.awardscircuit.com/2015/08/19/oscar-circuit-a-guide-to-recognizing-your-oscars-with-the-fall-festivals/


MORE "JOBS" NEWS

Michael Fassbender as "Steve Jobs"

I thought I'd pass along a couple of "Steve Jobs" oriented stories form the last few days.  The first is from Time.com and is entitled "Five Things We Learned About the New Steve Jobs Movie" including the shocking revelation that lead Michael Fassbender doesn't much look like Steve Jobs.

Still, the article has some interesting things to say here:

http://time.com/4012107/steve-jobs-movie-aaron-sorkin-interview/


Also, I have linked another Jobs post from SlashFilm that includes some commentary on the film from Fassbender's co-star, Kate Winslet:

http://www.slashfilm.com/steve-jobs-poster-themes/


COULD WE SEE THE RETURN OF BILL MURRAY?

I asked via Twitter yesterday and somewhat rhetorically, if the recent appearance of a second trailer for Barry Levinson's "Rock the Kasbah" meant we might think about it as a Telluride possibility.

I'm only a little serious.  I've mentioned the film briefly in the run up to this year's fest and you could make a case for its inclusion.  Open Road is distributing and will almost certainly be on hand with "Spotlight",  They were a  noticeable presence in Telluride last year with "Rosewater".  Bill Murray was at TFF #39 with "Hyde Park on Hudson".  So, the notion isn't completely crazy.

Here's the trailer via YouTube:

And a couple of the stories that came with the trailer release are here:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/watch-bill-murray-gets-stranded-in-kabul-in-new-rock-the-kasbah-trailer-20150827

http://www.vulture.com/2015/08/bill-murray-goes-to-afghanistan-in-new-trailer.html

The film opens in the U.S. on Oct. 23.  Here's its IMDb profile:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3164256/

AND LATE BREAKING THIS A.M....NEW TRAILER FOR MACBETH

New trailer for Justin Kurzel's "Macbeth" via YouTube

From The Playlist this morning (and The Weinstein Company, of course)

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/some-awesome-this-way-comes-watch-the-new-trailer-for-macbeth-starring-michael-fassbender-marion-cotillard-20150901


Could this still turn up this week in Colorado?  Less than a 50% chance in my view, but I have my fingers crossed.



DON'T FORGET TO RATE THE FILMS YOU SEE MY FRIENDS...

Rate the films this weekend 1-5 (1 being bad, 5 being way good) and send that info to me at one of the methods of contact below.  Be a part of "The People's Telluride".



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)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michaels-Telluride-Film-Blog-and-The-Film-Awards-Clearinghouse/107846269309712