“The Phantom Thread” aka “Untitled Paul Thomas Anderson Fashion World Drama”
As if the film world wasn’t already waiting for Paul Thomas Anderson‘s next film with enough slavering anticipation, star Daniel Day-Lewis‘ announcement that the film, with the working title “The Phantom Thread,” which feels destined to change, would be his last performance, basically shot expectations into the stratosphere. The film follows a fashion designer in New York in the 1950s (it may or may not be based on real-life figure Charles James). If it’s ready, the film could go “The Master“-route and play Venice, but if it’s down to the wire, a slightly later slot at NYFF like “Inherent Vice” got is a possibility, prior to a late December release.
“Piercing”
Playlist staff were divided on Nicolas Pesce’s “Eyes Of My Mother,” but, however much we liked the movie (and some of us liked it a lot), we could all agree that the helmer was a real talent to watch. He’s soon to reboot “The Grudge” franchise, but first is this adaptation of Ryu Murakami’s 1994 novel about a married man planning to kill a prostitute, starring Christopher Abbott, Mia Wasikowska, Laia Costa and Wendell Pierce. It wrapped in February, and while Sundance might be the most obvious home, we wouldn’t rule it out at TIFF or even Venice first.
“Racer And The Jailbird”
We hadn’t heard too much about it, but when the trailer for Michael R Roskam‘s “Racer and the Jailbird” popped up, we started paying closer attention. The “The Drop” and “Bullhead” director reteams with star Matthias Schoenaerts and adds the wonderful Adele Exarchopoulos. Schoenaerts plays the central ill-starred gangster and Exarchopoulos plays an upper-class racing driver, and both have their respectie loyalties tested when they fall in love at first sight. TIFF feels like a strong possibility here, or even AFI Fest where “Bullhead” picked up some heat en route to a Foreign Language Oscar nomination.
“Roman Israel, Esq”
Dan Gilroy’s first movie as director, “Nightcrawler,” was one of the more pleasant surprises of fall festival season three years ago: beautifully directed and written, and with a career-best turn from star Jake Gyllenhaal. He’s teaming up with Denzel Washington for his second feature about a crusading lawyer discovering corruption at his own firm, which is pretty exciting even before you figure in co-stars like Colin Farrell, Carmen Ejogo and “Moonlight” breakout Ashton Sanders. The movie shot relatively late in the year, so it’s not a home run for a 2017 festival, but it could well be ready for TIFF again, or maybe something later like AFI Fest.
“The Shape Of Water”
Two years after y’all slept on “Crimson Peak,” Guillermo Del Toro returns with another genre-inflected romance — this time set during the Cold War, involving a mute woman (Sally Hawkins) falling for a merman (Doug Jones). Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer, Richard Jenkins and Michael Stuhlbarg also star, and, while “Crimson Peak” skipped the festival circuit, we think Fox Searchlight are likely to be more supportive with this, given the prime awards season release date. TIFF might be the more likely home than Venice — Del Toro’s never played the latter, whereas the film shot in Toronto, which could make it a contender to open the festival.
“She’s Gotta Have It”
In the long list of movies that are getting rebooted in one form or another, Spike Lee‘s lo-fi 1986 breakout “She’s Gotta Have It” may not have felt like the most obvious proposal for the Netflix TV show treatment. But the trailer looks pretty great, suggesting that Lee, who directs all 10 episodes, has found a way to meld his unique sensibility with a fresh, contemporary Brooklyn setting and maybe even a subtly feminist message in the updated portrayal of Nola Darling (here Wanda deWise, from “Shots Fired“) juggling her three lovers. If it does play a fall festival prior to its Thanksgiving debut online, NYFF would seem like the appropriate home.
“Slice”
Still somewhat under the radar several months after a teaser trailer revealed its existence, we’re excited to see what comes out of this horror movie that marks a collaboration between superstar Chance The Rapper (in his acting debut), regular video director Austin Vesely and none-more-hip distributor A24. “Atlanta” breakout Zazie Beetz, funnyman Paul Scheer and “The OA” actor Will Brill co-star. It involves pizza delivery and werewolves, and we think it’ll turn up in Midnight Madness at TIFF and/or Fantastic Fest, particularly as Chance has a gap in his tour schedule around the time of the former.
“The Snowman”
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” is one of the best movies of this decade, but it’s taken six years for director Tomas Alfredson (who made the brilliant “Let The Right One In” before that) to follow it up. Here, he reteams with his ‘Tinker Tailor’ producers for a Scandi-noir serial killer thriller from “Headhunters” author Jo Nesbø, with Michael Fassbender starring as Detective Harry Hole, and Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, J.K. Simmons and Chloe Sevigny among the cast. With an October release date set, this feels destined for a return to Venice, where Alfredson’s last movie premiered.
“Stronger”
With the other Boston Marathon Bombing movie, “Patriot’s Day,” turning out surprisingly well, David Gordon Green‘s “Stronger” has its work cut out, but having Jake Gyllenhaal star as a wheelchair-confined victim helping to track down the bombers is one way to ensure it gets noticed. Also starring Tatiana Maslany, and shot by Steve McQueen‘s regular DP Sean Bobbit, this looks every inch the prestige package, which would make it a strong Venice possibility even if Green didn’t have a track record there: both “Joe,” which everyone liked including us, and “Manglehorn,” which nobody liked but us, got competition slots there.
“Suburbicon”
Like “Star Trek” movies, George Clooney’s directorial efforts operate with a sort of odd/even bad/good rule: “Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind,” “Leatherheads” and “The Monuments Men” weren’t great, but “Good Night And Good Luck” and “The Ides Of March” were pretty strong. That bodes well for his sixth movie, “Suburbicon,” as does the fact that it’s based on an old Coen Brothers script, and stars Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Josh Brolin and Oscar Isaac. We hear that this already has a major festival slot lined up — expect an announcement sooner rather than later on exactly where…