Deadline has the news:
Telluride, CO (September 1, 2011) – Telluride Film Festival (September 2-5, 2011), presented by the National Film Preserve, announces its program for the 38th Telluride Film Festival. Featuring diverse programming from around the globe, TFF once again sets the stage for some of the year’s most highly anticipated films.
TFF opens its 38th year with over twenty-five new feature films plus special artist tributes, Guest Director programs selected by Caetano Veloso, Backlot programs, classics and restorations, shorts, student films, seminars and conversations, each introduced or proceeded with a Q&A by its filmmaker, actors, writer or producer. Telluride Film Festival opens Friday, September 2 and runs through Labor Day, Monday, September 5.
The slate is after the cut...
Indeed, the controversial filmmaker is bringing his latest work to the On Demand spectrum for a limited run following its Oscar qualifying run recently in L.A., all in advance of its slightly more standard theatrical debut and DVD/Blu-Ray release in October. It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of this movie, and it's not everyday that you can essentially watch a film before it hits theaters. Check it out and join in on the conversation about one of my very favorite pieces of cinema in 2011!
Maybe so, according to The Film Stage:
...and the general (if limited) consensus is rather positive, though neither are raves. The Playlist and Guy Lodge have been the first on the scene with their takes. You can find the former here and the latter here, though it might also be wise to wait until a few more people have seen it. That shouldn't be long, considering the festival season is officially underway, but do what you think is best.
This week there's a somewhat decent variety on DVD, though after the high level of last week's releases, this seems rather average by comparison (more in terms of quality than quantity). I can't say that I'm crazy about anything that's new this week, though I won't deny the quality of the top pick. There's also a few that I haven't seen, so that also keeps me from being too excited about the selections. That being said, my PICK OF THE WEEK is definitely highly regarded and worthy of the top spot. It's also this week's resident Academy Award winner, as well as perhaps the first foreign language film to ever get this honor from me (though don't get excited, it's more due to circumstance than anything else). It's:
It's not nearly as good as the first one that debuted, but I still like it...thoughts?
Information obtained via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, Deadline, and other sources:
Deadline has the exclusive:
Nick Nolte continues his recent career resurgence. He’s been set to join the cast of the Ruben Fleischer-directed Warner Bros. drama The Gangster Squad. Nolte will play Bill Parker, the new chief of police in Los Angeles, and the first in a while who hasn’t been corrupted by Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn).
The chief, a Purple Heart recipient at Normandy, is the one who starts the Gangster Squad, a crack team designed to bring down organized crime. Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone, Mireille Enos and Anthony Mackie star.
Nolte stars in the Gavin O’Connor-directed Warrior, and he just wrapped the Taylor Hackford-directed action film Parker for FilmDistrict opposite Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez and Michael Chiklis.
That’s what he says, though it could just be a goof. Deadline has more:
Ricky Gervais had Hollywood buzzing in January with his no-holds-barred hosting stint on NBC’s Golden Globes telecast. He ripped enough folks — from Charlie Sheen to Robert Downey to Johnny Depp to God — that few thought the host Hollywood Foreign Press Association would want him back for a third.
Apparently, though, NBC has other ideas about it: The British comedian said at the Edinburgh International Television Festival today that the network has asked him to host again, saying he is considering it “but I shouldn’t do it.” NBC declined to comment on the matter.
“I love NBC, I love the fact they stuck by me through it,” Gervais said, adding, “I don’t think I should do it. What am I going back as?” Gervais wasn’t done yet at the annual TV confab.
He also revealed that he was approached about hosting the Oscars, though it’s unclear whether that was before or after the Academy announced Brett Ratner and Don Mischer would produce the Oscarcast — normally the producers make the call on the host.
Apparently so, according to Coming Soon:
* Last week, Joey Magidson and I closed the book on the summer of ’11. How did you feel about the last three months?
* I previewed the final summer films almost certainly destined to fail in the wake of Irene’s destruction.
* Joey’s DVD Picks of the Week was one of his most joyous installments yet, with his two of his favorite films of the year so far hitting shelves.
*Finally, Mike Ward reported on The Help’s box office dominance and ponders how far it'll go at the multiplex.
About as bad as can be expected (with many theaters near me in New York closing shop this weekend), according to The Hollywood Reporter:
Via The Playlist:
According to The Hollywood Reporter, yes:
Pals Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are poised to reunite on screen.
Though Bullock's deal has not closed, the former Proposal co-stars are in talks to lead the voice cast of And Then There Was Gordon, from Reynolds and Allan Loeb's production shingle, Dark Fire, and 20th Century Fox TV.
The news comes one week after Dark Fire sold its first project, Guidance, a high school set buddy comedy starring Mad Love’s Tyler Labine, to Fox.
In this case, the animated comedy project is about an ordinary child surrounded by brainiac siblings. It received a presentation order from Fox, home to Sunday evening's animation domination block of such shows as The Simpsons and Family Guy.
Deadline has the exclusive:
In what shapes up as a reteam for the writer, director and star of the Oscar-winning The Departed, Leonardo DiCaprio is attached to star in The Gambler, a Paramount remake of the 1974 drama.
James Caan starred in the original as an academic whose gambling addiction begins to get the best of him.
William Monahan is writing the script as a potential directing vehicle for Martin Scorsese.
DiCaprio recently completed the Clint Eastwood-directed J. Edgar, and he’s playing Jay Gatsby in Baz Luhrmann’s remake of The Great Gatsby for Warner Bros, based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic. DiCaprio then takes a villainous turn in the Quentin Tarantino-directed Django Unchained for The Weinstein Company.
Well, this article from Deadline gives sort of a primer on just that:OK, I’ll say it: If the Oscars were held today (nearly two-thirds of the way through 2011) Woody Allen could have another Best Picture winner. Of course the 84th Academy Awards aren’t being held yet and we are still four and a half months away from the end of eligibility. But as I embark on the fall season beginning with the Venice + Telluride + Toronto film festivals it’s time to take a look at where things stand and where things are going. First up in this series of posts: Is there anything released so far in 2011 with a realistic chance to ultimately win Best Picture? Or at the very least earn a nomination? Remember, new rules say from 5 to 10 films could be
nominated, meaning each nominee can’t get there without receiving at least 300 first place votes in the nominating process. Conventional wisdom is that films released in the first 8 months of the year are at a tremendous disadvantage to those coming out in the fall and holiday season. Last year no eventual winner in the top 8 categories was released before October — and 7 of those winners came out on or after Thanksgiving. Then again some recent Best Pic winners like The Hurt Locker (2010) and Crash (2005) came from the first half of their respective years. Other classic Best Pic champs like Patton, The Godfather, The Silence Of The Lambs, Gladiator, Braveheart, and yes, Woody Allen’s first Best Picture, Annie Hall (1977), were all released in the first 5 months of their respective years so it would be foolish to downgrade the chances of movies we’ve already seen this year. Or would it? Indeed 4 of last time’s 10 Best Picture nominees were released in June and July.
But other than animated films like Rango and Rio there were no solid Best Pic possibilities until we hit the Cannes Film Festival in May. Slowly simmering Best Picture talk was sparked by the fest opener, Allen’s rapturously received Midnight In Paris and Terrence Malick’s Palme d’Or winner The Tree Of Life which both went on to later May domestic releases. The Allen film has become his most financially successful film ever and it will hit the $50 million benchmark this weekend. Its official Academy screening was packed to the rafters (“the best turnout I have seen in years”, according to one member) and was extremely well received. “I liked it but some members I know got mad at me because I didn’t love it,” another voter told me. ”I haven’t seen anything that’s gotten that kind of response.”
...which I honestly was really hoping he'd do. Here's the article from /Film:
The Hollywood Reporter has the exclusive:
Just as her action movie Colombiana opens across the country, Zoe Saldana has set up the supernatural thriller Dominion at Paramount.
The pitch hails from Dean McCreary and Chester Hastings and while plot details remain sketchy, the story centers on a woman (Saldana) who is half-human, half-angel.
Saldana will also serve as a producer on the project, alongside Robbie Brenner. Brenner is a producer on the Gerard Butler drama Machine Gun Preacher, and it was on that project where he first met McCreary and Hastings, who worked on the screenplay early on.
Hastings and McCreary, both repped by Gersh, co-wrote You’re My Angel, a thriller from 4 Horsemen Films that is in development. They also co-wrote Fanboy, a short film about a video store employee who is the world’s biggest Sam Raimi fan. The unreleased comedy features turns from Raimi and J.K. Simmons, who play themselves.
Well, The Playlist seems to believe it's a possibility:Is Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling‘s upcoming modern adaptation of classic sci-fi “Logan’s Run” set to be delayed by a teaming between the latter and renowned auteur Terrence Malick? Apparently so, according to Film School Rejects, who were on hand at a Q&A with the director for his latest effort “Drive.”
Refn and Gosling are already set to reunite later this year for the Bangkok-set noir “Only God Forgives” and had planned to directly follow that up with “Logan’s Run.” Refn, however, now reveals that his love affair with Gosling will be set aside for the actor to squeeze in a film with Malick between his two projects.
What Malick project might Refn be referring to? The short answer is: we’re not sure. Earlier this week, it was reported that Christian Bale will himself be reuniting with Malick for a new, mysterious project that is said to feature a cast smaller than even his untitled next effort aka “The Burial.” It was noted at the time, though, that the film would “center around two leads, one male (Bale) and one female.” Whether this is the same project Gosling is being linked to now is anyone’s guess really but it’s definitely safe to say the once-dormant director is well and truly back in the game.
...if that's something you're into. Well, here's the press release if you're interested:Producers’ Club owners and New York Hell’s Kitchen Film Festival (NYHKFF) co-founders Alfred and Ernest Tollja proudly announce the full lineup for the Manhattan neighborhood’s first film foray. NYHKFF will host over 140 features and shorts during the 10 days, including a special 10th Anniversary Retrospective Gala of Larry Clark’s rarely screened film Ken Park. The famed director will be in attendance with actress Tiffany Limos for a Q&A following the screening on Friday, Sept. 2 at 7:30pm.
So it seems, according to The Hollywood Reporter:
This week, we have one of the best groups of films hitting shelves in quite some time. Literally two of my top ten films of 2011 so far are coming out today, and that very rarely happens. For me, it's pretty exciting, as there's no dearth of things to write about. In fact, there's nothing but good releases this week. Even the worst of the group is still a very passably entertaining endeavor. It may in fact be the best DVD week of the year. Week's like this are why I do the column. For my PICK OF THE WEEK, I didn't have a hard time choosing which movie to feature. Up until very recently, it was my #1 film of the year. The flick is all but perfect. It's:
Apparently so, according to Deadline:Considering that Buckley had only released a single album when he died in 1997 after getting caught in the wake of a passing boat in Tennessee’s Wolf River, it seems amazing that there are not one but three feature films about him. The first one to start production will be Greetings From Tim Buckley, the Dan Algrant-directed indie film that starts a four-week shoot Monday in Brooklyn. Conventional wisdom that the first film out of the gate wins doesn’t necessarily apply here; these two projects tell very different stories about Buckley. Scott is making a biopic, while Greetings From Tim Buckley stars Gossip Girl’s Penn Badgley as a pre-fame Jeff Buckley who reconnects with his estranged father Tim by singing at a tribute concert for his folk-singer dad. In Algrant’s film, that short adventure forged Jeff Buckley’s own solo aspirations. The other Buckley film is called A Pure Drop and it is being mounted by Mad Bastards director Brendan Fletcher. The title comes from the book A Pure Drop: The Life of Jeff Buckley.
Carney will star in what Scott hopes will be a definitive film about Jeff Buckley’s life, and WME is raising funding. They have exclusive rights to Buckley’s music and personal archives, including the nod from Sony to use Leonard Cohen’sHallelujah, which is perhaps Buckley’s best-known tune from his first albumGrace. A second album, Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk, was released after Buckley died. Buckley’s mother, Mary Guibert, has also thrown in with Scott’s project and is executive producer. The script by Ryan Jaffe (The Rocker) was informed by the David Browne book Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley.
It apparently is, according to The Hollywood Reporter:The producers of The Last Exorcism are moving ahead with a sequel, tapping writer Damien Chazelle to write the follow-up to the surprise summer 2010 hit.
The PG-13 Exorcism, from production company Strike Entertainment (Children of Men) and directed by Daniel Stamm, grossed $62.5 million worldwide on a budget of $1.6 million. The found-footage Lionsgate release was written by Andrew Gurland and Huck Botko. A sequel was probably a given considering the profitability of the first film.
Studio Canal is financing the follow-up and production is slated to begin this fall.
Exorcism centered on an Evangelical preacher, played by Patrick Fabian, who, after years of performing exorcisms, decides to allow a documentary crew to film the last exorcism he plans to perform, in order to show his work is a fraud.
Information obtained via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, Deadline, and other sources:
In a weekend full of nostalgic reboots and remakes, audiences shunned leftovers and opted instead for the buzzworthy movie of the moment as “The Help” held off all challenges to the #1 spot at the weekend box office. Taking that rare climb into the #1 spot, only the third film to achieve such a feat since December 2009, “The Help” saw a minimal decline in attendance (-23.1%) and earned a strong foothold in the marketplace as a formidable box office draw.
The subject of much controversy and debate, including this article by our own Robert Hamer, “The Help” began to generate discussions reminiscent of the box office breakout that “The Blind Side” experienced in the fall of 2009. Projected to be a mid-level achiever, “The Blind Side” blossomed and drew rave reviews from audiences across all demographic and geographic locations. Shot for a mere $29 million, “The Blind Side” concluded its theatrical run with a $256.0 million haul, earned nominations for Best Picture and Best Actress, and saw lead actress Sandra Bullock win her first Oscar.
Tracking to this point shows that “The Help” does not have that same far-reaching appeal…yet. Where “The Blind Side” gained audiences in its first few weeks, “The Help” has dipped slightly, amassing a 12-day total of $71.3 million stateside. “The Blind Side” had just left $100 million in the dust at the end of its 10th day in theaters.
Reports indicate that DreamWorks are settling in for a nice, long run into the fall with “The Help” and have already indicated steps are in place for a huge Oscar push targeting Best Picture, Director, Lead and Supporting Actress (but whom and where?), Adapted Screenplay, and technicals including Costume Design, Cinematography, Original Song, and Original Score. Those dismissive of the film's stability over the coming weeks should look forward. Doing so, you will find films that may find a tough time unseating the racially-themed drama.
Guillermo del Toro’s produced remake of “Don’t Be Afraid of The Dark” could draw a nice opening, but as this weekend proved, audiences have likely reached saturation with remakes and reboots and are seeking out fresher material. The Weinstein Company’s R-rated comedy, “Our Idiot Brother”, starring Paul Rudd is playing fine with critics but is suffering with a lackluster marketing campaign.. Elsewhere, Zoe Saldana’s “Colombiana” is drawing dismal buzz thus far and with two films, potentially not screened for critics, arriving in the first week of September (“Apollo 18” and “Shark Night 3D”), “The Help” might see robust success for some time.
For the second consecutive weekend, four films drop into theaters and this weekend, virtually all of them were met with disinterest from the populace. What happened, where and why they went wrong, as well as analysis regarding a handful of indies that are performing strong, The Weekend Breakdown, and Top 40 Most Attended Films after the cut!
The Hollywood Reporter says that it just might:Woody Allen is doing his version of the grand European tour.
His Midnight in Paris is still in theaters, the director is still shooting The Bop Decameron, set in Rome, but Allen is already making plans to head to Germany for his next project.
Bavaria studios in Munich is in negotiations with Allen to play the backdrop for his next, still-untitled project, which would shoot next summer.
Bavaria is set to come on board as a co-financier for the film, said to be budgeted at around $25 million.
As is always the case with a Woody Allen film at this stage in pre-production, plot and potential cast are top secret.
Allen's Midnight in Paris opened this year's Festival de Cannes to rave reviews and has gone on to become the director's most commercially successful film, earning more than $50 million in North America alone.
The Bop Decameron boasts an even-more impressive cast than Midnight headliners Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams, featuring Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Penelope Cruz and Alec Baldwin among its ensemble cast.
