Thompson on Hollywood

The Oscar-Winning Boston Movie: Trailer of Cliches

Just what you've all been waiting for: All of the Boston Oscar movie cliches in one super Bostony trailer:

By Anne Thompson
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February 25, 2011 7:56 AM
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Google Changes Algorithm to Block Low-Quality Content Farms

Applaud Google for doing the right thing in the fight against low-quality content farms. Google has announced that it has altered its search algorithms (stateside for starters) to favor high quality content. They explain here:Many of the changes we make are so subtle that very few people notice them. But in the last day or so we launched a pretty big algorithmic improvement to our ranking—a change that noticeably impacts 11.8% of our queries—and we wanted to let people know what’s going on. This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on.

By Anne Thompson
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February 25, 2011 6:29 AM
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Weekly Wrap: Best of Awards Season, Bier's Better World, Dipping Box Office, Old School Action Stars

AWARDS

By Anne Thompson and Sophia Savage
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February 25, 2011 4:41 AM
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Oscar Talk: Anne Thompson and Kris Tapley Debate Final Picks

In the last Oscar Talk before a Monday post-mortem, Anne Thompson and Kris Tapley of In Contention make their picks for Oscar 2011. Here's the final TOH Oscar Predicts chart.

By Anne Thompson
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February 25, 2011 4:14 AM
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New Media Film Festival: "Sundance for the Facebook Crowd"

The New Media Film Festival, which Culture Rehab calls "the Sundance for the Facebook Crowd," is in its second year, and will run May 20-21 in Los Angeles and November 4-5 in San Francisco. The festival honors stories told in all forms of media that are "innovative, imaginative and inspirational." Here is the call for submissions; deadline is May 1.

By Sophia Savage
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February 25, 2011 3:02 AM
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Six Reasons Why Hollywood Box Office is Dipping, from Avatar vs. Tron to Snow vs. Netflix

After the MPAA released its latest figures Wednesday, in a conference call acting chief Bob Pisano and National Association of Theater Owners chief John Fithian tried to make the best of a bad situation. As usual, the MPAA blamed piracy on declining admissions (down 5% to 1.3 billion in 2010), while both hailed premium digital 3-D revenues and the continued expansion of 3-D screens and production. Sure, with 25 films released in 3-D in 2010, up from 20 in 2009, 3-D has temporarily staved off disaster at the box office. But despite Fithian's insistence that revenues are what count, a downward slide on admissions is not a good thing.

By Anne Thompson and Anthony D'Alessandro
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February 24, 2011 11:38 AM
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Oscar Watch: Hathaway and Franco Do Evita, Grease, Franco Mangles Burlesque

The Academy continues to leak juicy tidbits of what may or may not be cut out of the final Oscarcast. Herewith, two musical numbers from Anne Hathaway and James Franco, doing Evita and Grease (below). The photo of the Oscar writers room (below) was posted on Twitter by @JamesFranco. So was this disturbing rehearsal of "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" from Burlesque. Let's agree that Franco is no candidate for American Idol.

By Anne Thompson
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February 24, 2011 8:44 AM
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Best of Awards Season: Best Actress Debate, Banksy at The Oscars, Trivial Revelations

- Salon sets two of its critics, Andrew O'Hehir and Matt Zoller Seitz, ablaze talking about the best actress, actor and film Oscar categories. Their best actress race revelations include:

By Sophia Savage
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February 24, 2011 7:20 AM
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Ubiquitous James Franco Lines Up More Projects Than He Can Possibly Deliver

Riding the award season whirlwind is Oscar nominee and co-host James Franco. The perpetual student is all over the Oscars, Facebook, Twitter and Funny or Die, but going forward he can't be everywhere he'd like to be. We assemble a list below of an impossible number of projects to keep him busy for a lifetime.

By Anne Thompson and Sophia Savage
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February 24, 2011 2:42 AM
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Cinematography: Best Shots of 2010, First Look at Malick's Untitled Film

Kris Tapley's Top Ten Shots of the year (parts one and two) is always something to look forward to. 2010's selection may not top the spectacular 2007 picks, but it's not always about the single image, Tapley explains: "...great cinematography isn’t (and shouldn’t be) dependent on singular frames or visual moments, but the overall canvas and mise-en-scene delivered from beginning to end. I have a lot of fun digging into the visual vocabulary of a year in film and, to say the least, discussing that vocabulary with the craftsmen and women involved, so who can complain? I hope you enjoy."