Friday, August 8, 2014

Ten (Plus) Bets #7/Maybe It's Bogdo/Maybe It's Reese

Welcome to Friday...

TEN (PLUS) BETS #7



We're down to three weeks and counting until we lift off the 41st Telluride Film Festival.and the anticipation is growing.  Each day I'm scouring the interweb and looking/listening for sources to come forward to dig out the best guess at what the lineup will be.  We should add more clarity on Tuesday as Toronto is scheduled announce another raft of films including, I believe, their additional Galas and Special Presentations.  If past trends hold we can expect another seven Galas and anywhere from 20-30 more Special Presentations.  That info should give us even more insight into Telluride's unannounced lineup.

At any rate, here's last week's "Ten Bets plus Two"

12) Red Army
11) The Look of Silence
10) Two Days, One Night
9) Leviathan
8) Rosewater
7) Wild Tales
6) Wild
5) The Imitation Game
4) Queen of the Desert
3) Mr. Turner
2) Foxcatcher
1) Birdman

And now THIS WEEK"S TEN (PLUS) BETS

15) 99 Homes
14) Life May Be
13) The Homesman
12) Two Days, One Night
11) Red Army
10) The Look of Silence
9) Wild Tales
8) Rosewater
7) Leviathan
6) Queen of the Desert
5) Wild
4) The Imitation Game
3) Birdman
2) Mr. Turner
1) Foxcatcher

Simmering just under these Ten (Plus) Bets:

Serge Bromberg's "Retour de Flamme/Brinton Documentary ( http://nitratediva.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/retour-de-flamme/ )
Ken Burn's "The Roosevelts"
"She's Funny That Way"
"One Day Since Yesterday" 
"The Price of Fame" 
"Winter Sleep"
"Whiplash"
"Mommy"
"Merchants of Doubt"***
"Clouds of Sils Maria"
"The Wonders"
"The Blue Room"
"Bird People"
"Juaja"

***Sony Pictures Classics just announced late yesterday that they were partnering with Participant Media for the release of "Merchants of Doubt".  That is almost enough to lift it to the #16 spot for this week's "Ten (Plus) Bets".  I've included links to a number of reports about the partnership including the first from Screen Daily which claims it IS headed to Telluride:

http://www.screendaily.com/news/distribution/spc-acquires-merchants-of-doubt/5076042.article

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/merchants-of-doubt-documentary-gets-distribution-from-sony-classics-1201277476/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/robert-kenners-doc-merchants-doubt-723991

http://www.indiewire.com/article/sony-pictures-classics-acquires-conspiracy-documentary-merchants-of-doubt-20140807

The jury is still out, but I'd like them to show up:

"Slow West"
"Suffragette"
"A Most Violent Year"
"Kill the Messenger"

Big 'uns that have no announced film fest as yet (and maybe won't at all):

"Fury"
"Unbroken"
"Big Eyes"
"Interstellar"
"Exodus: Gods and Kings"

MAYBE IT'S BOGDO...




Earlier this week I speculated about who might get a tribute this year.  I mentioned Tommy Lee Jones, Juliette Binoche...others.  One name I should have included, but didn't, is Peter Bogdanovich.  Bogdo was a TFF Guest Director in 1998 and attended with frequency through 2006 but hasn't (to my knowledge) been back since.

This year he has a Venice competition film: "She's Funny That Way" which could make the Telluride lineup but he's also the focus of a documentary that is playing Venice as well: Bill Teck's "One Day Since Yesterday: Peter Bogdanovich and the Lost American Film".

I can see that being part of a Bogdo tribute in three weeks.

That would also mean that this doc is one f the "Venice Five" (Venice director Alberto Barbera is on record as having said that five films will play Venice and Telluride).

I've included a link to a story about the Venice goings-on here from Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/two-auteur-docs-play-venice-classics-on-bogdanovich-and-penn-20140806


MAYBE IT'S REESE




And in the same vein as Bogdo above, another good possibility for a tribute (as was pointed to me yesterday in a comment from "Anonymous" here on the blog) is Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon.  We're about 98% certain that her new film "Wild" is going to be seen for the first time at Telluride.  We know that she won her Oscar for 2005's "Walk the Line" which started her run to the win at TFF.

And don't discount the connection to Alexander Payne.  Payne directed her in what was a big breakout for them both in "Election" in 1999.

So, yes indeed, boys and girls...Reese Witherspoon is definitely a TFF tribute candidate.

More tomorrow including the "Best of the Week".

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

1 comment:

Rich said...

Toronto will have a total of 18 galas, not 20. (Opening Thurs, closing Sat, and two each night Friday to Friday in between). Also, last year, they announced they'd be decreasing the size of the Special Presentations programme, so expect Tuesday's additions to be more modest, at least in numbers.