European Film Producers / Film Stars is Officially SPC / Gathering the Forces of Light / UPDATED: New York Film Fest Announcement

Welcome to your Tuesday...23 days...

EUROPEAN PRODUCTION COMPANIES

I thought I'd take an abbreviated look at the four European production firms that seem to have had the most pronounced Telluride connection over the past decade: Film4, Canal+, France 3 Cinema and Cine+.

Here's the breakdown of what films they have aided in producing that played TFF and then a quick look at the films they have this year that are most likely to make the grade for The SHOW:

FILM4

2007: When Did You Last See Your Father?, Brick Lane
2008: Happy-Go-Lucky, Hunger, Slumdog Millionaire
2009
2010: Another Year, Never Let Me Go, 127 Hours
2011: Shame
2012
2013: Under the Skin, Starred Up, 12 Years a Slave
2014: Mr. Turner, '71
2015: Carol, Suffragette, Room, 45 Years
2016: Una

19 films in ten years.  1.9 per year.

Possibles: The Killing of a Sacred Dear, You Were Never Really Here, Lean on Pete, Mary Magdalene


CANAL+

2007: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Terror's Advocate, Jellyfish
2008: With a Little Help From Myself, I've Loved You So Long
2009: Farewell, Coco Before Chanel, A Prophet, The White Ribbon
2010: The Illusionist, Carlos, Of Gods and Men, The Princess of Montpensier
2011: Crazy Horse, Albert Nobbs, Goodbye First Love, The Kid with a Bike, The Artist, Le Havre
2012: Rust and Bone, Superstar, The Attack
2013: Blue is the Warmest Color", Le Maison de la Radio", "The Past"
2014: The Price of Fame, Two Days One Night, Diplomacy
2015: Marguerite
2016: Frantz, Lost in Paris, My Journey Through French Cinema, Things to Come

33 films in ten year.  3.3 films per year.

Possibles: L'amant Double, Happy End


FRANCE 3 CINEMA

2007: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Persepolis
2008: I've Loved You So Long
2009: The White Ribbon
2010: The Illusionist, The Princess of Montpensier, Of Gods and Men
2011: The Artist
2012: Superstar, Amour
2013: The Past

2014: The Gate, The Price of Fame, Mr. Turner
2015: Marguerite

No film in 2016.

15 films in ten years. 1.5 films per year

Possibles: Happy End, Redoubtable

CINE+

2007: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
2008: With a Little Help from Myself
2009: Farewell, Coco Before Chanel, A Prophet, Inferno
2010: The Illusionist, The Princess of Montpensier, Of Gods and Men
2011: Goodbye First Love, The Kid with a Bike, Le Havre, The Artist
2012: Rust and Bone, Superstar, The Attack, Amour
2013: The Past, Blue is the Warmest Color, Le Maison de la Radio
2014: The Gate. The Price of Fame, Two Days One Night, Diplomacy
2015: Marguerite
2016: Frantz, Lost in Paris, My Journey Through French Cinema

28 films in ten years.  2.8 films per year.

Possibles: L'amant Double, Happy End


FILMS STARS IS OFFICIALLY SPC

We had heard a couple of weeks back that Sony Pictures Classics was close to a deal to acquire Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool.  That deal was announced as complete yesterday according to multiple reports including from Deadline.com, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

The film is on our Telluride list due to its status as a Canadian Premiere at Toronto.  I re-checked that status last night in light of the breaking news because the reports indicated that the film is "premiering" at Toronto.  I noticed, however, that the premiere status was not specifically identified.  So, for the moment, I still think it's playing TFF #44.

One other note about the film-I have made the point a few times that Annette Bening will be tied up with her Venice Jury President's duties which begs the question: Will any talent from the film accompany the film in addition to director Paul McGuigan?  The most likely suspect would be Bening's young co-star Jamie Bell but it could include Vanessa Redgrave and/or Julie Walters either of which should probably have been included in yesterday's "Let's Talk Tributes" section on this blog.

Redgrave please.

GATHERING THE FORCES OF LIGHT

It's never too early to start to remind readers that MTFB will again send out the call to rate the films that you see at TFF #44.

The system is simple.  Contact me with a rating of 0-5 for each film you see.  You can send those to me via any of the methods listed at the bottom of this blog.

MTFB will, again this year, also be collecting ratings from a number of the professional film critics and bloggers who will be in town.  Many fine folks have agreed to participate again this year including Indiwire's Eric Kohn, Anne Thompson and David Ehrlich, Awards Daily's Sasha Stone and The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg among others.

At the conclusion of the fest I'll publish the results from the Pros, The People and a combination rating.  It's kind of interesting and can even be illuminating.

Last year, Moonlight broke a trend that had been going for a number of years in that the Oscar Best Picture winner had finished in the #2 spot in The People's Ratings.  Moonlight broke that after finishing in the top spot.

Still, for five straight years now, The People's Telluride has been very predictive bout where the BP Oscar would go.


LATE BREAKING: NEW YORK FILM FEST ANNOUNCEMENT (AND FANTASTIC FEST)

The New York Film Fest announcement dropped at 11am (EDT) and here's the quick takeaway as far as Telluride is concerned:

Apparently headed to Telluride that we didn't already think:

Agnes Varda's Visages/Villages
Aki Kaurismaki's The Other Side of Hope
and it would seem Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish

What appears to be conformed among films we were already fairly sure about:

Wonderstruck
Lady Bird
The Rider

Off our list for TFF #44

The Florida Project
The Meyerowitz Stories
Spoor

Fantastic Fest also released their first wave of titles which included the U.S. Premiere of  Yorgos Lanthimos' The Killing of  A Sacred Deer which means no Telluride for it.  Of interest also, the U.S. Premieres of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri and for Cannes Palme d'Or winner The Square.

More to come on Thursday.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Let's Talk Tributes / I Got Your Trailers Right Here / New York Reveals Tomorrow

Welcome back from the weekend...it's Monday.  TFF #44 is 24 days away.

LET'S TALK TRIBUTES

It's always fun to think about the three tributes that will be a part of the festival.  Last year eventual Best Actor Oscar winner Casey Affleck was one of the three along with Amy Adams and Pablo Larrain.  Over the years the fest has tributed some of the most important people in the history of film: Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Nicholson, Robert Altman, Clint Eastwood, Catherine Denueve, David Lynch, Ang Lee, Peter O'Toole, Daniel Day Lewis, Claudia Cardinale, David Fincher, Marion Cotillard, Robert Redford, Roger Corman and The Coen Brothers among others have all been feted as a part of the fest's tribute program.

The first place to start is with the buzz that we have seen/read...

Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere suggested on July 16th that one specific tribute had been nailed down and named names.  That post has since, seemingly been modified to remove the reference.

Meanwhile, Deadline's Pete Hammond in a July 25th piece has speculated tributes for Christian Bale with Hostiles and Angelina Jolie with First They Killed My Father.  Both of those wouldn't surprise me.

If we go down the list of 15-16 films that we're relatively confident will play the fest I can see some other potential tributes that make sense:

Wonderstruck might mean Julianne Moore (though, if you follow this blog, you know that the Wells article suggested another person connected to this film would be a tribute recipient).

Downsizing could give us Matt Damon.

Battle of the Sexes-maybe Steve Carell?

The Shape of Water-seems like Guillermo Del Toro is the best shot of a tribute here.  Maybe Sally Hawkins.

Hostiles-Bale

First They Killed My Father-Jolie

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool-Annette Bening would be a great tribute subject but her gig presiding over the Golden Lion jury for Venice makes that impossible.

The Florida Project-Willem Dafoe would be an interesting choice.

Among the other films that are listed as "possibles":

Lean on Pete-Steve Buscemi...yes please.

Mary Magdalene-Joaquin Pheonix... though Phoenix might not have any interest in a tribute.

First Reformed-Ethan Hawke

Our Souls at Night-Jane Fonda...perhaps presented by her co-star and 2014 TFF tributee Robert Redford.

The Death and Life of John F. Donovan- a plethora of possibilities-Natalie Portman, Jessica Chastain. Thandie Newton, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates...even Michael Gambon who narrates in the film.

Molly's Game-Aaron Sorkin or Jessica Chastain.

My bet is that at least one, if not all three people who will be tributed are listed or referenced above.


I GOT YOUR TRAILERS RIGHT HERE

A couple of trailers appeared last week for films that will/could play The SHOW's 2017 edition.

First, a full trailer for the animated by hand exploration of the life of Vincent Van Gogh, Loving Vincent which we're fairly confident will make the journey to Telluride (from YouTube):

The film is distributed by Good Deed Entertainment is set to be released on Sept. 22.

Here's a story about the film and trailer release from Alex Billington/FirstShowing.net.

Also up with a trailer last week was Simon Curtis' Goodbye Christopher Robin (from YouTube):

The film focuses on the life of A.A. Milne, the creator of Winnie the Pooh.  The film is from Fox Searchlight and is set for an Oct. 13 release.

One note here, though.  I'm firm in my belief that Fox Searchlight already has Battle of the Sexes and The Shape of Water playing in Colorado and the chances of them playing three films there are smallish.

The Playlist covered the release of the trailer.

NEW YORK REVEALS TOMORROW

The New York Film Festival/Film Society of Lincoln Center are scheduled to reveal their main slate films tomorrow.  We already know that the fest will open with Richard Linklater's Last Flag Flying as a World Premiere and will close with Woody Allen's Wonder Wheel also as a World Premiere.  Their centerpiece film is Todd Haynes' Wonderstruck which they label a New York Premiere...one of the things that fueled my belief that it would be heading to Telluride.

Past that, it's all speculation for NYFF.  Just like announcements from Toronto, the NYFF reveal tomorrow will include premiere designations which can give us clues about other possible films headed to wither Telluride of TIFF.

Last year the NYFF announcement allowed me to claim that Fire at Sea, Graduation and Moonlight would play TFF #43 and confirmed Neruda, Manchester by the Sea, Things to Come and Toni Erdmann.

It also allowed us to eliminate form TFF #43 consideration: Aquarius, I, Daniel Blake, Sieranevada, Staying Vertical and The Unknown Girl.

TFF and NYFF share titles fairly commonly.  A look at the past few years and the number of films that played both TFF and NYFF:

2016- 11

2015- 4

2014- 11

2013- 12

2012- 9

So, we'll almost certainly find out some useful information tomorrow.

That's your Monday MTFB...more tomorrow.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Ten (Plus) Bets #6 (AKA as 15 Bets) / Toronto's Platform Has No TFF #44 Crossover / The Cases for Mary Magdalene and John F. Donovan

Good Friday people!  The 44th Telluride Film Festival opens four weeks from today.


TEN (PLUS) BETS #6 (AKA 15 BETS)

Yes.  It's time to expand the list from 10 films we think will play TFF #44 to 15 as we get closer to The SHOW date and have learned more, it makes sense to expand the list.

Here's last week's Ten Bets and added possibilities:

1) Wonderstruck
2) Downsizing
3) Battle of the Sexes
4) A Fantastic Woman
5) The Shape of Water
6) The Rider
7) Hostiles
8) Lady Bird
9) First They Killed My Father
10) Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

Additionally other detective work seems to be indicating Darkest Hour, Loving Vincent, Human Flow (see below) and Wormwood are likely for  Telluride.

Other films that could still play Telluride: Visages/Villages, The Other Side of Hope, Lean on Pete, Mektoub My Love Canto Uno, First Reformed, The Leisure Seeker, Ex Libris, Our Souls at Night, First Reformed, Sweet Country and La Camera Insabbiata, You Were Never Really Here, The Florida Project, Happy End, Loveless, Ken Burns' Vietnam and Mary Magdalene.

Here's is this week's 15 Bets:

1) Wonderstruck
2) Downsizing
3) Battle of the Sexes
4) The Shape of Water
5) Darkest Hour
6) A Fantastic Woman
7) Hostiles
8) Lady Bird
9) The Rider
10) Loving Vincent
11) Human Flow
12) First They Killed My Father
13) Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
14) Wormwood
15) The Florida Project and Visages/Villages (tie)

Other possibilities: Loveless, You Were Never Really Here, Lean on Pete, Mary Magdalene, The Other Side of Hope, Mektoub My Love, First Reformed, Happy End, Our Souls at Night, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, Molly's Game.


TORONTO PLATFORM TITLES: NONE WILL BE IN T-RIDE

Yesterday the Toronto International Film Festival unveiled 12 titles for its Platform Section.  Last year, that section included one film that played Telluride and that was Barry Jenkins' eventual Best Picture Oscar winner Moonlight.

However, that situation will not be replicated in 2017 as none of the Platform choices appear to be playing Telluride first.  All 12 titles were listed either as World or North American Premieres meaning no T-ride.

Three films that were included had been on my radar for Telluride at some point but are now off:

The Death of Stalin
Brad's Status
Sweet Country

I was particularly bummed by The Death of Stalin from Veep creator Armando Ianucci.  I was really hoping that it would make the trip to Colorado but, alas, it seems that won't happen.

We expect more Toronto announcements next week.

Platform coverage is here from Indiewire.

And also here from Variety.


THE CASES FOR MARY MAGDALENE AND JOHN F. DONOVAN

Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara from Mary Magdalene via The Daily Mail

These are a couple of films that I haven't had high up on my Telluride expectations list but because of recent circumstances in both cases, they have been rising in the last week or so.

Mary Magdalene...why it could play:  First it's from The Weinstein Company.  I am on record saying that I thought that TWC would return this year to TFF.  I had been working on the assumption that The Current War was the most likely vehicle for that to occur but we found out last week that Current War will debut at Toronto leaving Mary Magdalene as TWC's only real prospect for fests

Second, the timing is right...the film is set for a Nov. 24th release date.  Carol opened Nov. 20th in 2015, The Imitation Game Nov. 28th in 2014, The Artist on Nov. 25, 2011  There's a track record that suggests the path starts at Telluride.

Third, reportedly star Rooney Mara has enjoyed her Telluride experiences these past two years with Carol in 2015 and Una in 2016 (BTW, Una has finally been dated for release this past week.  The film will open on Oct. 6th) and it can't hurt if your star does like the fest.

As for The Death and Life of John  F. Donovan, I haven't paid much attention because it has been ambiguously dated for 2018.  I have been assuming that it would probably debut at Berlin or Cannes. That got a jolt this last week as a Vanity Fair story about writer/director Xavier Dolan claims that he's working on the final edit to have it ready for fall film fests:

Additionally, the film has seen recent releases of character posters:

When you start seeing posters, teasers, trailers at this time of year you begin to think that involvement in a fest is a real possibility.

Also, Dolan has been a Telluride guest before in 2014 with Mommy.

So, chalk John F. Donovan in as an increased possibility for Telluride.  The complete Vanity Fair article is here.

There's your Friday...more can be had on Monday.  Have a fantastic weekend.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

New Toronto Titles Reveal Little / First They Killed Trailer / Early Oscar and TFF #44

It's Thursday, Aug. 4, 2017...TFF #44 begins four weeks from tomorrow!

NEW TORONTO TITLES REVEAL LITTLE

The Toronto International Film Fest announced its slate of Documentaries, Midnight Madness and Short Cuts Tuesday and none of those announcements added as single title to TFF #44.  They did, however, take a player off the TFF #44 table after we were under the impression that Frederick Wiseman's Ex Libris: The New York Public Library.  We had that impression due to this Ioncinema story:

But despite what seemed to be a claim that Ex Libris would do the same path that Human Flow is looking like it will do, the TIFF announcement lists Ex Libris as a North American Premiere.  Ex Libris is currently listed as opening in NYC on Sept. 13.

This likely means that the film isn't playing T-ride but there is still enough to be a bit tentative about making a definitive call.  The most probable explanation is that it will premiere at TIFF sometime before its NYC bow on Sept. 13.

In terms of other news from the TIFF reveal Tuesday was that every film announced was a World or North American Premiere except for one and that was a seven minute film from the Midnight Madness section named Great Choice which was listed as a Canadian Premiere.  Investigation revealed that the film bowed in February at the Borscht Film Fest in Miami.

JUST BREAKING: TIFF'S PLATFORM SELECTIONS

It might be noted that Moonlight played the Platform section last year and was the only Platform selection that was shared by both TFF and TIFF and this year that will NOT be replicated as no film in the section will play both fests.

The TIFF announcement lists all twelve films as either a World or North American Premiere which means that none of them will have played TFF the week before.

While we can infer no additions to the Telluride lineup, we can glean films that won't make the trip to the San Juans.

Among the films announced this morning that I thought had a shpt at T-ride:

The Death of Stalin

Brad's Status 

Sweet Country

I am particularly disappointed that The Death of Stalin won't be playing Telluride.  It was relatively high on my wish list.

FIRST THEY KILLED TRAILER

In all the hubbub the last week or so about the casting methods used or not used for Angelina Jolie's First They Killed My Father, which we believe will play TFF #44 owing to its listing for Toronto as a Canadian Premiere, came the release yesterday of the first trailer for the film:

(trailer via YouTube)

I have also linked coverage of the film and the trailer's release here from:

Variety

Indiewire


HOSTILES CONFIRMED

After playing this game for awhile, I can tell you none of this prediction stuff is ever 100% certain. That goes as well for trying to read the TIFF tea leaves.  I'm pretty sure about those claims but as you can see above in the case of Ex Libris, sometimes things are confused or mis-labeled or just wrong.

That's why I continue to look for information that validates what we think we know and I had a fine example of how that works since my last post on Tuesday.

Combing through social media on Tuesday night I came across this reference on Twitter:

That's Native American actor and activist Wes Studi (a fellow Oklahoman by the way).  So naturally, I followed up:

Looks good to me.  Hostiles will be making the trip along with Mr. Studi.




EARLY OSCAR AND TFF #44

The big Oscar prognosticators seem to be getting their ducks lined up prior to the start of the fall film fest Trifecta (and now after lineup announcements from TIFF and Venice).

Tuesday we included Sasha Stone's assessment of the Picture, Director and Lead Acting fields. Today, here is the link to her view of the screenplay races.

Stone mentions probable Telluride players The Shape of Water, Downsizing, Battle of the Sexes and Wonderstruck as screenplay possibilities.

Meanwhile, Clayton Davis and his crew at Awards Circuit are up with another edition of their podcast: Circuit Breaker that surveys the field as well as a number of other items including some talk about TFF #44 that might well feature a massive reference to a certain Telluride Film Fest blog.  That happens at the 18 minute mark.  Take a listen.


That's your Thursday.

A reminder, I will update this post today should we find out anything of interest regarding TFF #44 from Toronto and don't forget, tomorrow...a new Ten Bets list...

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Jeanne Moreau 1928-2017 / And Then Sam Shepard / Jolie's Travails / Never Too Early / Update: TIFF Announces Docs and Midnight Madness

Welcome to Tuesday...


JEANNE MOREAU 1928-2017

Legendary French actress Jeanne Moreau has died.  She appeared in dozens of films including Jules and Jim and The 400 Blows.

She also directed a bit including her debut in 1976-Lumiere.

That film appeared as a part of the 3rd Telluride Film Festival:

Despite the film's screening, The New York Times reported at the time that Ms. Moreau did not attend the festival.  Here's the link to that NYT story from 1976.

Moreau was 89.

AND THEN SAM SHEPARD 1943-2017

Later in the day yesterday we got word that playwright and actor Sam Shepard had also died. Shepard was one of the most important voices in the American theater during the last quarter of the 20th Century.  He also made his way into a significant number of American film classics:  Days of Heaven, Frances, The Right Stuff, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Shepard attended TFF twice as far as I can tell.  First in 1984 as the writer of Paris, Texas and again in 1988 as writer and director of Far North.

Shepard was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor in The Right Stuff playing real life American hero Chuck Yeager.

Shepard was 73.

JOLIE'S TRAVAILS

Last week a Vanity Fair piece outlined what it says was an audition practice for the children that Angelina Jolie was considering for casting in her film First They Killed My Father.  The claim of emotional manipulation as a part of that process produced a strong reaction from the film world and a strong counter-response from Ms. Jolie this past weekend .

Her claim is that VF misrepresented the process and that it was actually an improvisational exercise.

I think this merits some attention in this space as we believe that the film is currently set to screen at Telluride in a month.  Many have reached that conclusion since the film was announced last week as a Canadian Premiere for the Toronto International Film Festival.

Read the original Vanity Fair piece here.


And here's coverage of Jolie's response from:

The Hollywood Reporter

Variety


NEVER TOO EARLY

Sasha Stone has gotten the ball rolling with her first tentative look at possible Oscar players a month prior to Telluride/Venice.  As you might expect, TFF factors into the analysis.

Among items of interest to T-ride followers are her predictions for films that we think will likely play at Telluride:

Best Picture would include: Battle of the Sexes. The Shape of Water, Darkest Hour and Downsizing.
Director would include: Del Toro/The Shape of Water
Actor: Gary Oldman/Darkest Hour, Steve Carell/Battle of the Sexes
Actress: Sally Hawkins/The Shape of Water, Emma Stone/Battle of the Sexes


Check the entire post here.

NOTE:  TORONTO ANNOUNCES NEW SELECTIONS:

As best I can tell from the TIFF announcement this morning, it reveals no new films for Telluride. One note of import, however.  Frederick Wiseman's Ex Libris: The New York Public Library which we thought would be a part of TFF #44 after a story from last week from Ioncinema.  This morning's TIFF news says that it will be a North American Premiere there and if that's true...no TFF #44.

Here's a screengrab of the relevant segment of the Ioncinema story:

Later Taters...

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

More Thoughts About Venice and Toronto / Telluride Time Tunnel: TFF #21 / Indiewire Looks to the Fall / Ken Burns on His Vietnam Doc

Welcome back from the weekend.  Here's today's MTFB.


MORE THOUGHTS ABOUT VENICE AND TORONTO

As we move through the next few weeks we'll continue to be able to gather information from the Venice and Toronto (as well as New York and London) fests that will allow us to make educated claims about the TFF #44 lineup.

In the coming days Venice will announce their actual schedule which becomes a great source of information.  The schedule combined with things we already know can point to other films that may cross the Atlantic.

Things we think we know about Venice:

7-8 films will play both places.
Wormwood is the only non-World Premiere among films announced for Venice.
TIFF announcements make us believe that we'll see Venice films: Downsizing, The Shape of Water.
Reporting from Deadline and Ioncinema have added the likelihood that we'll see Human Flow and Ex Libris: The New York Public Library.

That's five from Venice...so if the if all of these assumptions are correct, then the films scheduled early for Venice need to be scrutinized closely as we try to determine the other 2-3 films that might make the trip.

Toronto will continue to make announcements for the next four weeks.  Each time their information will likely eliminate or confirm films for Telluride.  Those announcements have traditionally come on Tuesday so look for that tomorrow.

The New York full lineup announcement should include a premiere status for each film and that will further allow us to cross films off or add films to the TFF #44 list.

As it is, we think we have relative certainty now on 13-14 films for Labor Day.


TELLURIDE TIME TUNNEL: TFF #21

My review of past TFF's has been on the back burner for about three weeks as the focus on information on Toronto and Venice film fests has dominated my thinking and subsequently the blog but we return today with a look at the 21st Telluride Film Festival which ran Sept. 2-5, 1994.

Guest Director: John Simon

Tributes: Harriet Andersson, Judy Davis, Ken Burns

SHOWS:

Arizona Dream
Aventurea
Bab El-Oued City
Black Daisies for the Bride
Bullets Over Broadway
Casque D'Or
Crows
Dedee D'anvers
Dust of Life
The Easy Life
Ed Wood
Eternity
Family
Glen or Glenda
Ladybird, Ladybird
Lonesome
Memories and Dreams
Monika
Montand
Muriel's Wedding
Music for the Movies
The New Age
Once Were warriors
One Fine Day
Plan 9 From Outer Space
Room at the Top
Silences of the Palace
Strawberry and Chocolate
Swimming with Sharks (aka The Buddy Factor)
They Shoot Horses Don't They
The Transformation of the World Into Music
The Unforgettable Summer
Vanya on 42nd Street
We, The Children of the 20th Century
The Wooden Man's Bride

Guests:

Harriet Andersson
Ken Burns
Judy Davis
Faye Dunaway
Andre Gregory
Werner Herzog
Chuck Jones
Louis Malle
Errol Morris
Sydney Pollock
Wallace Shawn
Kevin Spacey
Frank Whaley
Treat Williams
Michael Winterbottom


I also note that a future Dr. Who, Peter Capaldi seems to have had his directing debut, the short Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life play in the fest.


INDIEWIRE LOOKS TO THE FALL

Indiewire's Anne Thompson and Eric Kohn are back with their latest podcast and they discuss the films headed into fall festivals and theaters.  You can get an earful here.



KEN BURNS ON HIS VIETNAM DOC

I continue to believe that we'll have a chance to see at least parts of Ken Burns' latest documentary effort that focuses on the U.S. involvement in The Vietnam War.  The documentary is set to begin airing on PBS on Sept. 17th.

Burns recently sat down with The San Francisco Chronicle to talk about the project.  That interview is here.

There's your Monday...

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Ten Bets #5 / Another Venice Doc Confirmed? / Wonder Wheel Rolls Off the T-ride List / Parsing the Announcements This Week...

Good Friday to you  It's been a busy week for tracking down Telluride films for 44th edition of The SHOW...



TEN BETS #5

Here's your weekly guess at films that will play Telluride this Labor Day weekend.  Last week's list looked like this:

1) Wonderstruck
2) Downsizing
3) Visages/Villages
4) Loveless
5) Battle of the Sexes
6) The Florida Project
7) You Were Never Really Here
8) A Fantastic Woman
9) The Other Side of Hope
10) The Current War


Other possibles: 120 BPM, The Shape of Water, The Rider, Loving Vincent, mother!, Happy End, Redoubtable, The Death of Stalin, Ken Burns Vietnam

With the Toronto and Venice information this week we think these films are probably playing TFF #44:

1) Wonderstruck
2) Downsizing
3) Battle of the Sexes
4) A Fantastic Woman
5) The Shape of Water
6) The Rider
7) Hostiles
8) Lady Bird
9) First They Killed My Father
10) Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool***

Additionally other detective work seems to be indicating Darkest Hour, Loving Vincent, Human Flow (see below) and Wormwood are likely for  Telluride.

Other films that could still play Telluride: Visages/Villages, The Other Side of Hope, Lean on Pete, Mektoub My Love Canto Uno, First Reformed, The Leisure Seeker, Ex Libris, Our Souls at Night, First Reformed, Sweet Country and La Camera Insabbiata, You Were Never Really Here, The Florida Project, Happy End, Loveless, Ken Burns' Vietnam and Mary Magdalene.

***Assuming I have this right on Film Stars, it would almost certainly play without star Annette Bening in attendance as she is presiding over Venice's Golden Lion jury.



ANOTHER VENICE DOC CONFIRMED?


In its coverage of the Venice announcement yesterday Ioncinema confirms that AiWeiwei's documentary,  Human Flow will play Telluride and seems to also indicate that Frederick Wiseman will also play T-ride with Ex Libris: The New York Public Library.

Here's a screenshot of the relevant section:

So add Ex Libris to our growing list of films we're relatively confident about making the journey to southwest Colorado.

The complete Ioncinema article is here.

WONDER WHEEL ROLLS OFF THE T-RIDE LIST

Earlier in the week I had a mild buzz of excitement as news was leaking that Woody Allen's Wonder Wheel would close the New York Film Fest.  The reason for the excitement: no news story about the selection was including the film's premiere status.  That led me to believe that there was the slimmest possibility of a play somewhere else.

Alas, not so much.  Official word came yesterday that the film would indeed close NYFF and that it would be the film's World Premiere.  So endeth the speculation.

The official announcement form NYFF is here.


PARSING THE ANNOUNCEMENTS THIS WEEK...

Variety's Kristopher Tapley wrote yesterday about this week's reveals in terms not only of what's going where but also in his capacity as chief awards guru for that publication.

Tapley also concludes, as I have here, that Battle of the Sexes, First They Killed My Father, Darkest Hour, Lady Bird and Hostiles will play (and first screen) at Telluride.

It's a good look at the general lay of the land as we come to the end of this crazy, crazy week.

Take a look at it here.


That's it for Friday.  Have a great weekend!

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Venice Announces / Rebounds and Ramifications / SPC Picks Up Bening Film

Good Thursday to everyone...

VENICE ANNOUNCES

Venice announced its lineup this morning and because it is largely filled with world premieres, it's still interesting.  Of more use will be the actual schedule which can also help to give clues about which films might make the trip from Italy to T-ride or vice versa.

Here's the lineup from Venice:

Competition:

Downsizing
Suburbicon
Human Flow
mother!
The Shape of Water
L'Insulte
La Villa
Lean on Pete
Mektoub My Love, Canto Uno
The Third Murder
Jusqu'a La Garde
Foxtrot
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri
Hannah
Ammore E Malavita
Angels Wear White
Una Famiglia
First Reformed
Sweet Country
The Leisure Seeker
Ex Libris-The New York Public Library

Out of Competition (Fiction):

Our Souls at Night
Il Singor Rotpeter
Victoria and Abdul
La Melodie
Outrage Coda
Loving Pablo
Zama
Wormwood
Diva!
La Fidele
Il Colore Nascostco delle Cose
The Private Life of a Modern Woman
Brawl in Cell Block 99

Out of Competition (Documentaries)

Cuba and the Cameraman
My Generation
Piazza Vittorio
The Devil and Father Amorth
This Is the Congo
Ryuichi Sakamoto
Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond. The Story of Jim Carrey, Andy Kaufman and Tony Clifton
Happy Winter

Out if Competition (Special Events)

Casa D'Altri
Michael Jackson's Thriller 3D
The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller

Horizons:

Nico 1988
Disappearance
Especes Menacees
The Rape of Recy Taylor
Caniba
Les Bienheureux
Marvin
Invisible
Brutti E Cattivi
The Cousin
The Testament
No Date, No Signature
La Nuit Ou J"ai Nage
Kreig
West of Sunshine
Gatta Cenerentola
Under the Tree
La Vita in Commune


Cinema Del Giardino:

Manuel
Contrafigura
Woodshock
Nato A Casal di Principe
Suburra
Tuers

Venice Virtual Reality:

Melita
La Camera Insabbiata
The Last Goodbye
My Name is Peter Stillman
Alice, The Virtual Reality Play
Arden's Wake
Greenland Melting
Bloodless
Nothing Happens
The Dream Collector
Snatch VR Heist Experience
Nefertitti
Proxima
In the Pictures
Dispatch
The Argos File
Gomorra VR
Draw Me Close
The Deserted
I Saw the Future
Separate Silences
Free Whale

Films expected to miss Telluride from this list are: Suburbicon, Three Billboards, mother!, Victoria and Abdul.

Films thought to be playing Telluride: Downsizing, The Shape of Water and perhaps Human Flow.

Films most likely to be Telluride bound: Lean on Pete, Mektoub My Love Canto Uno, First Reformed, The Leisure Seeker, Ex Libris, Our Souls at Night, Wormwood, First Reformed, Woodshock, Sweet Country and La Camera Insabbiata.

No Darkest Hour or First They Killed My Father or Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool which flies in the face of some of the stories addressed below.

A couple of notes:  Venice has been known to add films after this official announcement and here's coverage from:

Deadline

The Playlist

Indiewire

LATE BREAKING:  THR story says Errol Morris' Wormwood is only non-World Premiere at Venice. Strongly indicating that it will play Telluride first and then travel to Venice.

REBOUNDS AND RAMIFICATIONS



48 hours removed from Toronto's opening announcement and there are some interesting points and side notes that have emerged.

Start with Pete Hammond's/Deadline analysis posted yesterday which suggests that Darkest Hour, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, The Shape of Water, First They Killed My Father and Downsizing look to all be playing Venice first and then Telluride and that is probably not all the films that will be making that journey (see the Ramin Setoodeh/Variety story below.

Hammond also concurs with my assessment that Battle of the Sexes (see the Jeremy Kay/Screen Daily story below), Hostiles and Lady Bird will all debut at T-ride.  He also reminds us that Wonderstruck and Loving Vincent are expected to play.

Hammond also guesses that Christian Bale (Hostiles) and Angelina Jolie (First They Killed My Father) might be in line for a Telluride Tribute.  You might recall that Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere has already claimed that one of the tributes will be for cinematographer Ed Lachman (Wonderstruck).

Loyal MTFB reader Christopher Schiller pointed out yesterday the Screen Daily article that is important to Telluride fans as it lists Battle of the Sexes as both a North American Premiere (in the text of the story) but as an International premiere in the list of films.  This in an article that mentions correcting the premiere status of some of the TIFF announced films.

As of this morning, Battle was still listed on the TIFF website as an International Premiere...which should mean a TFF #44 play.  Here's my screen grab from the TIFF website:

Finally, the Variety piece talks about the tension between fests.  This particular "story" seems to be repeated every year.  The focus here, however largely on Telluride and Venice.  It reveals a number of interesting tidbits:

1) Setoodeh implies that the Ai Weiwei documentary Human Flow will be playing Telluride.

2) The article suggests that there will seven or eight films that will play both fests.  As you will note from above, we think we know four: Downsizing, First They Killed..., Darkest Hour and Film Stars Don't Die.  Adding in Human Flow, if it happens, means that there are still two or three films that would make the trip.  What are they?

3) Intriguingly, Setoodeh says that "at least one high profile drama is scheduled to show in Telluride before Venice".  My speculation is that references a film not listed above as the lack of certainty regarding its premiere status is, presumably, not reflected by Toronto's announced lineup. So, what could it be?

SPC PICKS UP BENING FILM

Amid the speculation that Annette Bening's Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool will play Telluride comes the story from yesterday that Sony Pictures Classics will be acquiring the film.  The SPC connection strengthens the case that the film will play TFF  #44.

Deadline's Mike Fleming, Jr. reported the SPC story.

But this new thought:  Bening is president of the Venice competition jury.  So, is there any way her film could play Telluride and she serves in that position?

Seems like that would be very difficult.


There's your Thursday.  More tomorrow including a new Ten Bets list that integrates what we've learned this week.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG

Wednesday Special: Toronto Breakdown / Late Breaking: Wonder Wheel at NYFF...But...

Welcome to a special Wednesday post of MTFB all about yesterday's announcement of films for the Toronto International Film Festival...

TORONTO BREAKDOWN

TIFF announced 47 titles yesterday 14 Galas and 33 Special Presentations.

As I have written before, parsing TIFF announcements is about a film's premiere status.  A quick reminder:

World Premiere and North American premiere means no Telluride unless someone has it wrong or is employing secrecy.  The last film I can recall breaking this taboo was Escobar: Paradise Lost in 2014 which TIFF had listed as a World Premiere but was a sneak preview at TFF.

Canadian Premiere usually means a Telluride play unless a film has already played somewhere else in the U.S. i.e. Sundance.

International Premiere means that a film has already and only played in its country of origin prior to a play at Toronto.

So, using those guidelines, I believe that we now know that the following films will play at TFF #44:

Battle of the Sexes
Darkest Hour
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
Downsizing
A Fantastic Woman
First They Killed My Father
Hostiles
Lady Bird
The Rider
The Shape of Water

It would appear that Battle of the Sexes, Lady Bird and Hostiles will all screen for the very first time at Telluride.

Films that will NOT be at Telluride:

Breathe
Mary Shelley
The Mountain Between Us
Stronger
Untouchables (the now untitled Bryan Cranston/Kevin Hart film)
BPM
Mudbone
Call Me By Your Name
The Current War
Disobedience
The Guardians
I, Tonya
The Square
Submergence
Suburbicon
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri
Victoria and Abdul

My personal take:  Very excited about Battle of the Sexes, Hostiles, Lady Bird, The Rider, Darkest Hour and The Shape of Water.

Most disappointed about: Suburbicon. Three Billboards, The Current War, BPM and mother!

Other notes:

1) Pretty clearly no Sundance/Telluride crossover unlike last year's Manchester by the Sea.  The two most likely players-Mudbone and Call Me By Your Name (as well as Novitiate) won't play T-ride.

2) For the fourth straight year the Cannes Palme d'Or winner will not be appearing at Telluride.  Ruben Ostlund's The Square will miss TFF #44.  The last Palme winner at TFF was Blue is the Warmest Color in 2013.

3) Couple of other films we're pretty sure will play Telluride that weren't mentioned yesterday: Wonderstruck and Loving Vincent.

4) Of the ten films that we are thinking were announced for TIFF that are likely to play TFF #44 three were on the latest Ten Bets list: Downsizing, The Battle of the Sexes and A Fantastic Woman. Also on the list of "other possibles": The Shape of Water and The Rider.

5) Of those ten films, four were on the original Ten Bets list at the end of June: A Fantastic Woman, The Battle of the Sexes, The Rider and Downsizing.

6) The only film nuked from last week's Ten Bets list by the TIFF news was The Current War and from the original Ten Bets list: BPM.


So, what excited you?  Disappointments?  Shoot me a comment or tweet at me on Twitter @Gort2.

Many, many films were not announced at all leaving them still in play for a Telluride slot (remember that I'm completely discounting Phantom Thread, The Papers and Blade Runner 2049).  Among them are:

Wonderstruck (which we think is at TFF because of its status announced when NYFF picked it)
Loving Vincent
Happy End
The Florida Project
Marshall
Wonder
Mary Magdalene
Death of Stalin
Loveless
Final Portrait
The Silent Man (which has a new title... Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House)
Visages/Villages
Spoor
Molly's Game
The Meyerowitz Stories
The Snowman
Lean on Pete
Redoubtable
L'amant Double
You Were Never Really Here
The Other Side of Hope
Our Souls at Night
Chappaquiddick
and...Woody Allen's Wonder Wheel...see below...





LATE BREAKING: WONDER WHEEL AT NYFF...BUT...

Woody Allen's Wonder Wheel was announced as the closing film for the New York Film Fest yesterday.  BUT...I can't find any story that covers that that mentions the film's premiere status. Seems to me that if it was a world premiere they'd be saying that.

Perhaps tomorrow's Venice announcement will clear that up.  Or subsequent Toronto announcements. Or a clarification from NYFF.

Or maybe...

Coverage from:

Deadline

The Hollywood Reporter

Gothmaist

More tomorrow...stay tuned.

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

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG