Michael's Telluride Film Blog

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Toronto Announces Its Lineup...It's good too! What's It Mean?

TORONTO ANNOUNCES (SOME OF ) ITS LINEUP

The Toronto International Film Festival announced about a fourth of its lineup this morning. The Toronto lineup is always vast, usually over 300 titles in all after they're all announced. As I have noted, the average overlap between Telluride and Toronto is about 70%. Meaning that, in an average year, 70% of the Telluride lineup will go on to play later at Toronto. So as a general rule, most of the films announced this morning are still "in play" as far as Telluride is concerned. Another note is that Toronto's designation of "World Premiere" or North American Premiere" rarely is reflective of whether or not we might find that film at Telluride.

All that being said, here's the lineup of films that Toronto announced this morning (via IndieWire):

GALAS

American Dreams in China (NAP)

The Art of the Steal (WP)

August: Osage County (WP)

Cold Eyes (NAP)

The Fifth Estate (WP/Opener)

The Grand Seduction (WP)

Kill Your Darlings (IP)

Life of Crime (WP/Closer)

The Love Punch (WP)

The Lunchbox (NAP)

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (WP)

Parkland (NAP)

The Railway Man (WP)

The Right Kind of Wrong (WP)

Rush (IP)

Shuddh Desi Romance (CP)

Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon (WP)

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS:

12 Years a Slave (WP)

All is by my Side (WP)

Attila Marcel (WP)

Bad Words (WP)

Blue is the Warmest Color (NAP)

Burning Bush (NAP)

Can a Song Save Your Life (WP)

Cannibal (WP)

Dallas Buyers Club (WP)

Devil’s Knot (WP)

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby His and Hers (?)

Dom Hemingway (WP)

Don Jon (CP)

The Double (WP)

Enough Said (WP)

Exit Marrakech (IP)

Felony (WP)

For Those Who Can Tell No Tales (WP)

Gloria (NAP)

Going Away II (WP)

Gravity (NAP)

The Great Beauty (NAP)

Half of a Yellow Sun (WP)

Hateship Loveship (WP)

Ida (WP)

L’intrepido (NAP)

The Invisible Woman (WP)

Joe (NAP)

Labor Day (WP)

Like Father Like Son (NAP)

Man of Tai Chi (NAP)

Mary Queen of Scots (NAP)

Night Moves (NAP)

Omar (NAP)

One Chance (WP)

Only Lovers Left Alive (NAP)

The Past (NAP)

Philomena (NAP)

Pioneer (IP)

Prisoners (WP)

Quay d’Orsay (WP)

Real (NAP)

Starred Up (WP)

Third Person (WP)

Those Happy Years (WP)

Tracks (NAP)

Under the Skin (NAP)

Violette (WP)

Visitors (WP)

Walesa: Man of Hope (NAP)

We Are the Best (NAP)

Le Weekend (WP)

You Are Here (WP)

Young and Beautiful (NAP)

(WP) = World Premiere

(IP) = International Premiere

(NAP) = North American Premiere
(CP) = Canadian Premiere
(?) = No premiere information given

Notes:

With the exception of "The Fifth Estate" (because its Toronto's opening night film) the rest of these films still have Telluride potential and I'm still NOT going to completely write it off because of the Laura Linney/Telluride connection...but it is very unlikely now.

Films that intrigue me that are on Toronto's list in terms of Telluride potential:

"12 Years a Slave". Listed as a Toronto World Premiere meaning no Venice showing and that actually makes it MORE likely to make the trip to Telluride.

also...

I'm a little surprised to see "August: Osage County" on Toronto's list. I had all but considered it a non-fest film almost all the way...maybe New York. Now, it may have some Telluride life after all.

A few other "Galas" intrigue me: Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom", "The Lunchbox", "Parkland", "The Railway Man" and "Rush". Of these, I still feel that "The Lunchbox" is the best T-ride bet.

Among the "Special Presentations" that still breathe the fumes of Telluride potential:

The aforementioned "12 Years a Slave"

"Attila Marcel"

"Blue is the Warmest Color"

"Burning Bush"

"Dallas Buyers Club"

"Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby"

"Gloria"

"Gravity"

"The Great Beauty"

"The Invisible Woman"

"Labor Day"

"Like Father Like Son"

"Night Moves"

"Only Lovers Left Alive"

"The Past"

"Philomena"

"Prisoners"

"Quay d'Orsay"

"Under the Skin"

"Le Weekend"

"You Are Here"

"Young and Beautiful"

On my "Ten Bets" NOT announced this morning:

"Nebraska", "Life Itself", "Daughter of the Dawn", "The Unknown Known", "The Story of Children and Film", "The Immigrant" and "Aguirre:The Wrath of God".

Notable Films not in TIFF's announcement:

"Inside Llewyn Davis", "Captain Phillips", "Saving Mr. Banks", "The Wolf of Wall Street", "All is Lost", "The Monuments Men", "The Counselor", "Grace of Monaco", "Diana", "Out of the Furnace""The Zero Theorem", The Immigrant", "The Congress" and "Foxcatcher".

"Llewyn", "All is Lost", "The Immigrant" and "The Congress" all played Cannes and their exclusion today by the TIFF announcement lends some credence to the notion that they could play T-ride.

Keep in mind that Toronto still has a ton of titles to announce.

Here's is complete analysis of Toronto's announcement from

HitFix/InContention:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/the-fifth-estate-12-years-a-slave-august-osage-county-and-more-set-for-2013-toronto-film-festival

and IndieWire:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/tiff-list-2013-a-list-of-all-the-announced-films-at-the-toronto-international-film-festival?page=1#articleHeaderPanel

Venice announces on Thursday.

More to come...

Toronto Looming/Tapley's Musings

Good Tuesday. The Toronto International Film Festival begins announcing its lineup today. Consequently, MTFB will have a second post later today with some analysis as to what we learn form this morning's announcements. By way of preparing you, below is a reminder that the overlap between Telluride and Toronto has been significant over recent years.

TORONTO LOOMING

Films that played Telluride then Toronto from 2011 and 2012:

2012: (26 TFF films):
Ginger and Rosa
Paradise: Love
The Gatekeepers
At Any Price
Rust and Bone
Love, Marilyn
Midnight's Children
Barbara
The Sapphires
The Central Park Five
The Hunt
A Royal Affair
No
Frances Ha
Stories We Tell
Hyde Park on Hudson
The Iceman
The Act of Killing
The Attack
Amour
Everyday
Argo

Fully 22 films of Telluride's 26 plated in Toronto as well. (The exceptions: "Wadjda", "Piazza Fontana", "What is This Film Called Love?", "Superstar")

In 2011:

Le Havre
The Descendants
The Turin Horse
Bonsai
Forgiveness of Blood
The Artist
A Separation
Footnote
Into the Abyss
In Darkness
Pina
The Kid with a Bike
Goodbye First Love
Albert Nobbs
The Story of Film
The Island President
Shame
A Dangerous Method
Butter
Crazy Horse
We Need to Talk About Kevin

21 of 28 films. (The exceptions: "George Harrison:Living in the Material World", "Perdida", Passerby", "Bitter Seeds", "The Way Home", "Target" and "Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel")

Going back 6 years you find 113 films have played at both the Telluride and Toronto out of the (appx.) 161 films that have played Telluride. So that's about 70% of Telluride's lineup will be hiding in Toronto's announcement.

I'll have more in my second post later today.

TAPLEY'S MUSINGS

Well, if you've never really thought that this blog was a particularly good informant regarding the Telluride lineup then there's good news for you. Kris Tapley at HitFix/inContention posted his annual stab at what be in line for Telluride yesterday. You can find that post here:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/spitballing-possibilities-for-the-40th-annual-telluride-film-festival

And it should get you revved up big time. Among the interesting thoughts:

He's pretty high on the notion that we'll see The Coen Brothers "Inside Llewyn Davis", Alexander Payne's "Nebraska" and Jason Reitman's "Labor Day". "Nebraska" and "Labor Day" have been ensconced on my "Ten Bets" list all summer. This last few days has put some real shine on the notion that "Inside Llewyn Davis" is a serious consideration for T-ride. Between Jeff Wells blurb at Hollywood Elsewhere over the weekend and now Tapley's comment that he has "a pretty good feeling we can anticipate the Coen Brothers first-ever Telluride appearance" the signs are pointing to that as a reality and that, my friends would be sweet. Fair warning, the Coens in Telluride could cause me to become a blithering idiot...well more of a blithering idiot than normal.

I can say it, after this post from Mr. Tapley, "Llewyn" will be on Friday's "Ten Bets"

He also seems fairly comfortable about Ralph Fiennes "The Invisible Woman" which I reported on a few weeks ago when the Daily Mail in England reported that it would be making the trip. The other large shoe he drops is the potential (and he seems to have some confidence here) that "Captain Phillips" starring Tom Hanks has a real shot at T-ride. That film is directed by Paul Greengrass. That's also a stunner if it comes to pass.

Taplay also intrigues as he drops the nugget that the " Warner Brothers teams on "Gravity" and "Prisoners" are making the pilgrimage..." suggesting that there is a possibility that one or both films might make a play at Telluride, "Prisoners seems a little more likely to me as Tapley reminds us that director Denis Villeneuve played Telluride back in 2010 with "Incendies"...though I'd really love it if "Gravity" opened Venice and then "sneaked" a day or two late at Telluride.

Other films that he thinks are possibles but about which he doesn't seem as confident are: "12 Years a Slave""The Past", "The Lunchbox", "Blue is the Warmest Color", "Like Father Like Son", "Child's Pose", "Gloria", "Philomena", "Life Itself" and "The Immigrant". There's also a glancing mention that "All is Lost" could make the trip to the San Juans.

No mention, though, of "The Counselor", "Dallas Buyers Club", "The Fifth Estate", "Foxcatcher", "The Zero Theorem", "Rush", "The Monuments Men", "American Hustle", Mandela"Long Walk to Freedom" or "The Wolf of Wall Street". Seems about right, although I'm going to hold out hope for "Fifth Estate", "Counselor", "Foxcatcher" and "Dallas Buyer's Club".

Tapley also puts in a request for Herzog's "Aguirre: The Wrath of God" restoration...I'm high on its chances.

He, like me is more than dubious about our chances to "August: Osage County".

He also suggests a number of Tribute possibilities: The Coens, Bruce Dern, Judi Dench, Tom Hanks, Robert Redford and/or Kate Winslet. Tapley also suggests the possibility (as he did on Twitter over the weekend) that Roger Ebert might be posthumously awarded a Special Medallion. That wouldn't surprise me a bit.

Take a look at the whole post...it'll make you breathe hard. And, I really hope he's right.

This reminder: Venice announces Thursday...

I'LL HAVE ANOTHER POST IN COUPLE OF HOURS.

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More later...

Monday, July 22, 2013

More Llewyn Speculation/Another Theory/Pain for Payne/The Full Mandela

Good Monday from Lawton, OK.

Those that have read this blog in past summers recognize that greeting as for the 19th consecutive year I am co-ordinating the Advanced Division for Team Debate at Cameron University's Debate Camp. I am literally here all week.

But that's not going to stop this blog. Big week this week with Venice and Toronto announcing lineups.

Going to be fun!

MORE LLEWYN SPECULATION

You saw my post last Friday concerning Jeff Wells Telluride speculative piece on his website Hollywood Elsewhere.

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2013/07/homework-assignment/

He named four films he feels have strong chances to be at Telluride. On that list: J.C. Chandor's "All is Lost", Paul Greengrass' "Captain Phillips", Abdellatif Kechiche's Cannes Palme d'Or winner "Blue is the Warmest Color" and the Coen Brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis".

Now, I'd love to see any and all of them, but you know that I'm head over heels to see "Llewyn Davis". It's close between it and "12 Weeks a Slave" as to which film is #1 on my Telluride wish list so the notion that it actually plays as part of the SHOW is intoxicating.

So I was thinking over the weekend and did some digging and there have been other hints that it might be possible.

Russ Fischer at SlashFilm posted on May 3rd that "There's always the chance that it will play Venice, Telluride or Toronto" and Kris Tapley wrote in his May 27 piece about the Coens and Cannes, "The film will likely travel to the Telluride and Toronto fests to stoke the flames..."

http://www.slashfilm.com/the-coen-bros-inside-llewyn-davis-dated-for-december/

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/cannes-and-the-coens

It seems to me that I've run across a couple of other websites that have implied the possibility of "Llewyn" showing at t-ride. I'm still trying to track those down.

So, could this finally be the year that Telluride and the Coens merge? Right now, I think it's a lot more likely right now than I did last week. Is it a "Ten Bets" by the end of the week? Maybe.

ANOTHER THEORY

So, we still don't know this year's guest director. A few weeks back, I posited that it might be "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner who was at Telluride's Hollywood party as some kind of guest of the festival back on June 4th.

Seems like a plausible theory but I've been asking myself, if it is Weiner...why no announcement? So over the weekend...another theory.

This one goes like this...the festival is going to announce this week. why? They've been waiting so that during this high profile Venice/Toronto week that they have a big arrow in their quiver to fire that will guarantee that Telluride doesn't get forgotten in the wave of other festival news.

Pretty good theory, huh?

And as I was contemplating this new theory, it occurred to me that another reason to wait until this week would be that this year's Guest Director is BIG...I mean titanically HUGE...That would also give announcing during the Venice/Toronto week more impact. To that end, I'm not sure that Weiner is sufficiently "HUGE". He would be a cool choice, but not gargantuan. I could easily fall back to the original Weiner theory which was his feature "You Are Here" will be a part of the festival lineup.

So...who?

If you're inclined, send me some suggestions...

I have some ideas...but they're really, really crazy.

PAIN FOR PAYNE

Looks like Alexander Payne's "Nebraska" (#1 on my Ten Bets list) will be rated R when it is released on Nov. 22. Payne lost an appeal of the rating before the MPAA last week. The Hollywood Reporter has details:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/alexander-payne-fails-overturn-nebraskas-588583

THE FULL MANDELA

We have already seen teaser for Justin Chadwick's "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom". Toward the end of the week last week, we got a full trailer:

Here are a couple of posts about the trailer dropping:

The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-idris-elba-fights-for-his-rights-in-new-trailer-for-mandela-long-walk-to-freedom-20130718

HitFix:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/full-trailer-for-mandela-long-walk-to-freedom-promises-the-mandela-you-dont-know

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More tomorrow...

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Best of the Week/Wells Speculates

Good Saturday...hope your weekend has gotten off to a great start!

BEST OF THE WEEK

WELLS SPECULATES...MIND BLOWN

Jeff Wells/ Hollywood Elsewhere tweeted enigmatically the link to this bit of Telluride #40 speculation:
"All is Lost"
"Inside Llewyn Davis"
"Blue is the Warmest Color" and
"Captain Phillips"

Hope he's right.

Here's the link to his post from yesterday:
http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2013/07/homework-assignment/

TEN BETS #4

Not much movement in the "Ten" this week. Anxiously waiting for the Toronto and Venice fests to announce lineups next week and see how that news impacts the thinking about Telluride.

This week's Ten Bets:

1) Nebraska
2) The Invisible Woman
3) The Unknown Known
4) The Story of Children and Film
5) The Past
6) The Immigrant
7) Daughter of the Dawn
8) Labor Day
9) Blue is the Warmest Color
10) Aguirre: The Wrath of God

Just below the "Ten": "The Lunchbox", "Like Father Like Son", "Life Itself", "Only Lovers Left Alive", "12 Years a Slave", "Quai d'Orsay", "Heli", "Philomena" and "The Selfish Giant". With the Jeff Wells speculation from Thursday add "Inside Llewyn Davis", "Captain Phillips" and "All is Lost" as additional possibilities.

Also be looking out for SPC additions (reportedly) "Foxcatcher" and "Jodorowsky's Dune" as possibles.

DEADLINE DAY

http://www.telluridefilmfestival.org/film_entry

Monday was the deadline for submissions to the Telluride Film Festival. I have been told on occasion that some of the "higher-ups" in the TFF hierarchy actually take a look at this space from time to time. I'm not sure I believe that but I'd like to. So, in that spirit, here's my list of 20 films that I'd sure like the Telluride Film Festival to consider programming. Some of these I'm very sure will play. Others don't have a snowball's chance of being in San Miguel County on Labor Day but it's a "wish list" (most with some kind of clip or trailer)of sorts so...

And to those film makers out there that are responsible for the films on this list...come on...apply...(of course, I fully realize that there are sometimes "late additions" to the Telluride lineup...that's OK too).

In alphabetical order they are:

"12 Years a Slave"- Steve McQueen's third feature following "Hunger" and "Shame" tells the true story of a free black man taken slammed into slavery and his struggle to regain that freedom. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender lead a massive and talent-laden cast. Rumors are strong that it will play the Venice fest.

"All is Lost"- J.C. Chandor's follow-up to "Margin Call" features Robert Redford, a boat and the ocean...and not much dialogue. It played at Cannes out of competition and was rapturously received. Lot of buzz for Redford vis-a-vis awards season.

"American Hustle" -David O. Russell is on a hot streak. "Silver Linings Playbook" last year and "The Fighter" in 2010. "AH" is a true story of political corruption that features a phenomenal cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro from "SLP" and Christian Bale and Amy Adams from "Fighter" plus throw in Jeremy Renner.

"August: Osage County"-Meryl Streep leads the all star cast in this adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning play about a dysfunctional Oklahoma family. Other cast mates: Julia Roberts, Ewan MacGregor, Chris Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch and Sam Shepard.

"Captain Phillips"- Tom Hanks plays the real life Captain of the U.S. ship hijacked by Somali pirates in 2009. Paul Greengrass directs.

"The Counselor"- Ridley Scott (?) directs an original Cormac McCarthy script abut a lawyer who gets in over his head when dealing with the illicit drug trade. The cast is intriguing: Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz.

"Dallas Buyers Club"- Matthew McConnaughey looks to continue his current acting winning streak with this true story of a homophobic Texan who contracted AIDS in 1986 and his attempts to find ways to treat it. Jean-Marc Vallee (The Young Victoria) directs.Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner also star.

"The Fifth Estate"- Director Bill Condon's take on Julian Assange and the development of WikiLeaks. Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Bruhl and Laura Linney star.

"Foxcatcher"- Bennett Miller has directed two straight winners: "Capote" and "Moneyball". I'm hopeful that "Foxcatcher" will give him a hat trick. "Foxcatcher" is another true story (notice that there are a lot of those on this list?). This focuses on millionaire John DuPont and his murder of Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz. Mark Ruffalo, Steve Carell and Channing Tatum star.

"Gravity"-Alfonso Curaon is back. The director finally follows up his 2006 gem "Children of Men" with another sci-fi piece. Now, I really liked "Children of Men" but Frankly was just lukewarm about this "lost in space" story starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney...most Bullock I understand. That is until I saw the teaser...now, I'm kind of hot to see the film.

"Her" Spike Jonze directs, Joaquin Phoenix acts in a story about a men in love with his computer's operating system. Yes. Plus a lot of beautiful talented women: Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara and Olivia Wilde. The combo of Jonze and Phoenix is a enough for me.

"The Immigrant" James Gray's story of a young women trapped in a bad life in 19th century America with Marion Cotillard Jeremy Renner and Joaquin Phoenix. I've been hot to see it since they teased it last year at TFF#39.

"Inside Llewyn Davis"-The Coen Brothers ode to music (folk music specifically) was roundly applauded at Cannes. The buzz is very, very good. Oscar Issac stars as the title character who appears to be a struggling New York folk musician in the early 60's. Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, F. Murray Abraham and Justin Timberlake co-star. This might be the #1 film on this fall's "must see" list.

"Labor Day"- I sure hope that Jason Reitman returns to Telluride. I enjoyed "Juno" and "Up in the Air" and a brief conversation with Reitman both times. This project sounds intriguing. Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin star. Brolin's on the run from the law whose path crosses with Winslet's character.

"The Monuments Men"- George Clooney and company save art from Nazis. Clooney directs, stars and co-wrote the film which also features Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Bill Murray and Jean Dujardin. Come on back to Telluride George!

"Nebraska"- Alexander Payne's story of a father-son road trip to claim a potential fortune. Bruce Dern and Will Forte star (see story below).

"Out of the Furnace"- Scott Cooper follows "Crazy Heart" with this hard scrabble film about a man looking for justice for his brother. Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson and Zoe Saldana star.

"The Past"-Berenice Bejo won Best Actress at Cannes in May in this film from "A Separation's" Asgahr Farhadi. "A Separation" was one of the best films of 2011. If this story of domestic difficulties is remotely in the same ball park, it should be worth our time.

"The Wolf of Wall Street"-Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio team up yet again for this true story of high finance, crime and corruption. McConnaughey and Dujardin are both in this as well in addition to Jonah Hill and Jon Favreau.

"The Zero Theorem"-Terry Gilliam playing at satirizing our world with Christoph Waltz in the lead...yes please...in Telluride please.

Late word from this weekend is that director Terry Gilliam has confirmed that "The Zero Theorem" will be playing at the Venice Fest. The Playlist reports:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/terry-gilliam-says-the-zero-theorem-headed-to-venice-film-festival-jessica-chastains-eleanor-rigby-also-rumored-20130714

SCHILLER'S 2FERS

Friend of the blog Chris Schiller tweeted out an interesting thought this weekend. He speculated on some possible TFF#40 "2fers". People that might star in 2 films showing as a part of the SHOW. Last year Mads Mikkelsen fit that bill being in both "A Royal Affair" and "The Hunt" (see below, by the way).

Schiller's tweet:

2fer predictions/hopes for #TFF40 Benedict Cumberbatch(THE FIFTH ESTATE, AUGUST:OSAGE COUNTY) Tilda Swinton(THE ZERO THEOREM, ONLY LOVERS…)

So that got me to thinking, "what other '2fers' could pop up?" Not that they will or that I think that they will, but, you know, what could? Here's the list I came up with:

Michael Fassbender: "The Counselor' and "12 Years a Slave"
Joaquin Phoenix: "Her" and "The Immigrant"
Christian Bale: "Out of the Furnace" and "American Hustle"
Amy Adams: "American Hustle" and "Her"
Jeremy Renner: "American Hustle" and "The Immigrant"
Tom Hanks: "Captain Phillips" and "Saving Mr. Banks"
Matthew McConnaughey: "Dallas Buyers Club" and "The Wolf of Wall Street"
Daniel Bruhl: (actually a 3fer): "A Most Wanted Man", "Rush" and "The Fifth Estate"
Jean Dujardin; (also a 3fer): "The Monuments Men", "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "Mobius"
George Clooney (kind of a 3fer): "The Monuments Men", "Gravity" and producing "August: Osage County"
And this note...Cumberbatch also a "3fer" as he appears in "12 Years a Slave".

Who else? Drop me a line if there are others that you can think of that are "2fers" or more!

12 YEARS TRAILER

It dropped last night, the first trailer for Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave". I have multiple links to stories with the trailer attached:

HitFix:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/12-years-a-slave-trailer-drops-with-looks-at-chiwetel-ejiofor-brad-pitt-and-michael-fassbender

The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/12-years-a-slave-trailer-585636

FirstShowing:
http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/must-watch-steve-mcqueens-12-years-a-slave-theatrical-trailer/

The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-trailer-for-steve-mcqueens-twelve-years-a-slave-starring-chiwetel-ejiofor-michael-fassbender-more-20130715

Awards Daily:
http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/12-years-a-slave-trailer-and-screencaps/

The Wrap:
http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/chiwetel-ejiofor-gets-sold-slavery-first-12-years-slave-trailer-video-103401

Rope of Silicon:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/12-years-a-slave-trailer-and-poster-premiere/

THE FIFTH ESTATE TRAILER

Much as "12 Years a Slave" did the other day, we had a trailer drop late last night for Bill Condon's "The Fifth Estate" starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Bruhl and Laura Linney.

I have thought this had promise and some Telluride possibilities because of Condon's and Linney's presence and I still do. After seeing the trailer, I'm even more eager. Here it is via YouTube:

I have also linked to a number of posts from early this morning that included the trailer as well:

The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-trailer-for-the-fifth-estate-starring-benedict-cumberbatch-as-julian-assange-20130717

FirstShowing:
http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/benedict-cumberbatch-as-julian-assange-in-the-fifth-estate-trailer/

Rope of Silicon:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/fifth-estate-wikileaks-official-trailer-pictures/

Movie City News:
http://moviecitynews.com/2013/07/trailer-the-fifth-estate-aka-the-wikileaks-movie/

"The Fifth Estate" opens Oct. 11th or 18th depending on which website you believe.

DOMESTIC COUNSELOR TRAILER

A new domestic trailer for Ridley Scott's "The Counselor" is making the rounds. I have stories linked here through The Playlist, FirstShowing and Rope of Silicon:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-new-teasers-for-the-amazing-spider-man-2-ridley-scotts-the-counselor-feature-fresh-footage-20130718

http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/watch-another-seductive-new-trailer-for-ridley-scotts-the-counselor/?uid=8264cacf1f1cdc13fee895bdf87a2b0bc913f67c

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/counselor-official-trailer-michael-fassbender/

It will be interesting to see where this film lands next week when Venice and Toronto begin announcing their lineups.

BLUE SAGA CONTINUES

Pete Hammond at Deadline.com and Keuth Jagernauth at The Playlist reported late yesterday that, despite some serious efforts to change the outcome, Cannes Palme d'Or winner "Blue is the Warmest Color" is still ineligible for Best Foreign Language Oscar consideration. The film is set to open in France (its home country) 9 days after The Academy's deadline. U.S. distributor Sundance Selects has it set for here on Oct. 25.

Maybe of more importance to the concerns of this blog space is the unsurprising reveal that the film has been submitted to Telluride (and Toronto and New York). I've thought that its chances of a T-ride play were pretty good and now with the confirmation that it was submitted, I feel that its even a bit more likely.

Check the stories here:

Deadline:
http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/oscars-sundance-selects-rejected-in-plea-to-make-cannes-palme-dor-winner-eligible-for-foreign-language-academy-award/

The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/cannes-hit-blue-is-the-warmest-color-sets-fall-release-date-academy-wont-bend-rules-to-allow-oscar-consideration-20130717

HitFix:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/sundance-selects-fails-in-plea-against-blue-is-the-warmest-color-oscar-ineligibility

Follow/Like Micahel's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook.

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More on Monday...Have a good weekend!

Friday, July 19, 2013

Ten Bets #4/Wells Speculates...Mind Blown/Domestic Counselor (Trailer)/New Rush Trailer/SPC and Dune/Map of the Stars...kind of

Good Friday Everyone...

TEN BETS #4

A new domestic trailer for Ridley Scott's "The Counselor" is making the rounds. I have stories linked here through The Playlist, FirstShowing and Rope of Silicon:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/watch-another-seductive-new-trailer-for-ridley-scotts-the-counselor/?uid=8264cacf1f1cdc13fee895bdf87a2b0bc913f67c

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-new-teasers-for-the-amazing-spider-man-2-ridley-scotts-the-counselor-feature-fresh-footage-20130718

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/counselor-official-trailer-michael-fassbender/

It will be interesting to see where this film lands next week when Venice and Toronto begin announcing their lineups.

NEW RUSH TRAILER

There has been a bit of media speculation that the new Ron Howard film "Rush" could make an appearance as a part of this year's Telluride program. Frankly, I'm less convinced, but a) you never know and b) I have to tell you that over the last six weeks I've heard some pretty interesting/strange T-ride possibilities...so maybe it could pop up.

"Rush" trailer via movieCLIPS and YouTube

The film stars Daniel Bruhl and Chris Hemsworth and focuses on the true life competition between two Formula One racers (Niki Lauda and James Hunt) that happened back in the '70's.

I have also linked accompanying stories from...

Rope of Silicon:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/rush-movie-trailer-release-date-september/

The Wrap:
http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/rush-trailer-chris-hemsworth-ron-howard-video-103916

FirstShowing:
http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/watch-chris-hemsworth-is-a-racing-playboy-in-new-trailer-for-rush/

SPC AND DUNE

Word this week that Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the documentary "Jodorowsky's Dune". That makes it a film to consider for Labor Day weekend. The doc explores the failed attempt by film maker Alejandro Jodorowsky to produce an adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic SciFi novel.

I've attached SPC's news release via Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/sony-classics/sony-pictures-classics-acquires-documentary-jodorowskys-dune/10151620899536731?utm_content=buffer8eec7&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer

MAP TO THE STARS...KIND OF

And now this from Telluride Film Fest via Foursquare. A map of all the TFF venues includuing the new Werner Herzog (The ZOG).

https://foursquare.com/telluridefilm/list/telluride-film-festival-venues?ref=tw

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More tomorrow...

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Blue Saga Continues/Locarno, Venice and Toronto/Saving Mr. Banks Trailer

Good Thursday Everyone...

BLUE SAGA CONTINUES

"Gloria" trailer

As we wait next week's announcements from Venice and Toronto and what they might tell us about our own festival experience I noted that the Locarno Festival announced its competition and Piazza Grande lineups overnight.

Locarno runs in the middle of August and generally doesn't overlap with Telluride in terms of the films that they program. In the past five years, I've been able to identify 4 films that have played at Locarno and then Telluride: "No", "Goodbye First Love", "Le Havre" and "Kisses".

This year's Locarno lineup looks like it has a couple of things that have Telluride potential. "Gloria" from Sebastien Lelio. The film made a bit of a splash earlier this year at the Berlin Fest and Paulina Garcia was named Best Actress there. The other film that Locarno lists is in their Piazza Grande section and that is Werner Herzog's "Fitzcarraldo" which I could certainly envision as a part of a Herzog retrospective at Telluride to honor the director and the naming of the new film venue in his honor.

Variety has the entire lineup as announced so far here:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/locarno-film-festival-unveils-competition-587623

as does IndieWire:
http://www.indiewire.com/article/locarno-film-festival-announces-2013-lineup

SAVING MR. BANKS

Last weekend we got our first look at Tom Hanks "other" (Captain Phillips being the first) film set to roll out during the fall season: "Saving Mr. Banks" said to be the story of how Walt Disney got "Mary Poppins" to the screen. Emma Thompson co-stars.

Here's the trailer:

I have also linked a couple of posts about the film/trailer as well:

Thompson on Hollywood:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/saving-mr-banks-tom-hanks-emma-thompson-first-look

Awards Daily:
http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/trailer-for-saving-mr-banks-tom-hanks-and-emma-thompson/

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More tomorrow...

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

The Fifth Estate Trailer/Werner and Errol/Mandela Teaser Trailer

Good Wednesday Everyone...

THE FIFTH ESTATE TRAILER

Much as "12 Years a Slave" did the other day, we had a trailer drop late last night for Bill Condon's "The Fifth Estate" starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Bruhl and Laura Linney.

I have thought this had promise and some Telluride possibilities because of Condon's and Linney's presence and I still do. After seeing the trailer, I'm even more eager. Here it is via YouTube:

TFF regulars and board of advisor members Werner Herzog and Errol Morris have been making the rounds to promote the Josh Oppenheimer's documentary "The Act of Killing" which showed prominently at last year's festival. The two men acted as producers of that film. Here they are talking about that film with Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/werner-herzog-errol-morris-act-of-killing-video-interview-vice

I fully expect both men to be a part of Telluride's 40th celebration. Herzog gets the new Town Park/Hockey Pavilion venue named in his honor (I'm still pushing for the nickname of the new venue to be "The Zog"). I've been thinking that it will be christened with a screening of a restored print of his "Aguirre: The Wrath of God". Actually, it wouldn't surprise me to see TFF program an entire Herzog retrospective during the course of the five day festival.

Meanwhile, Morris has a new documentary under his belt: "The Unknown Known: The Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld". I fully expect that to be a part of this year's lineup.

Morris has a couple of other things on his plate. He is supposed to have been working on a narrative feature entitled "Freezing People is Easy" but word came this week that he is set to direct "Hollland, Michigan". This film is described as a "suburban thriller with black humor". Thompson on Hollywood has that story as well:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/errol-morris-to-direct-narrative-feature-holland-michigan

MANDELA TEASER

I wrote yesterday that The Weinstein Company had a number of prospects going into the awards season. One of those is "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" featuring Idris Elba in the title role. This past weekend a teaser trailer was released:

I have also included a couple of stories about the trailer from The Playlist and The Wrap:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-teaser-trailer-for-biopic-mandela-long-walk-to-freedom-starring-idris-elba-20130712

http://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/mandela-long-walk-freedom-trailer-touts-message-great-man-video-102686

"Mandela" was directed by Justin Chadwick whose "The First Grader" appeared at Telluride in 2010.

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More tomorrow...

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

12 Years Trailer/Schiller's 2fers/Judi and Philomena/The Hunt

Good Tuesday to All...

12 YEARS TRAILER

It dropped last night, the first trailer for Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave". I have multiple links to stories with the trailer attached:

Schiller's tweet:

2fer predictions/hopes for #TFF40 Benedict Cumberbatch(THE FIFTH ESTATE, AUGUST:OSAGE COUNTY) Tilda Swinton(THE ZERO THEOREM, ONLY LOVERS…)

The Weinstein Company has a crazy lineup of end of the year/awards season/high profile films in its basket:

"The Immigrant"
"August: Osage County"
"Grace of Monaco"
"Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom"
"The Butler"
"Only God Forgives" and others...

Perhaps the "smallest" of these is "Philomena" starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan of all people.

If you read this blog much, you know that I'm pretty high on the notion that James Gray's "The Immigrant" will make this year's program and if the TWC peeps are going to have a second film at TFF #40...this might be the one.

Over the weekend we began to see pictures from the film. Both HitFix and Rope of Silicon posted. Here are the links to those stories:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/is-judi-dench-in-philomena-the-weinsteins-secret-weapon

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/first-look-at-judi-dench-in-her-oscar-bid-philomena/

Why do I think that we could see this film over Labor Day?

I just have a feeling that the TWC train is going to have more than one pony at TFF this year. Last year they were repped by "The Sapphires" and the 5 min. (or so) of "The Immigrant" that was a part of the Marion Cotillard tribute and though one TWC film is really the norm at TFF...again, I just have a feeling and "Philomena" is the film that's giving me the vibe.

Also, it's directed by Stephen Frears who has had films crop up at Telluride from time to time: "Tamara Drewe" "Sammie and Rosie Get Laid". He was a 1987 TFF tributee as well.

THE HUNT

Thomas Vinterberg's "The Hunt" opened in limited release last weekend. I have linked interviews with Vinterberg and his star, TFF#39 tributee Mads Mikkelsen below:

Vinterberg from The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/07/11/movies/100000002322424/thomas-vinterberg-on-the-hunt.html?smid=tw-nytmovies&seid=auto

Mikkelsen from IndieWire:
http://www.indiewire.com/article/mads-mikkelsen-on-his-cannes-winning-performance-in-the-hunt-and-the-three-paths-he-sees-for-hannibal-in-season-two

Follow/Like Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook.

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More tomorrow...

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