Thompson on Hollywood

Harris Joins IndieWIRE as Editor-in-Chief, Starts January 1

I am pleased to introduce indieWIRE's second editor-in-chief, Dana Harris. We worked side by side at Variety for two years when she was editor of Variety.com. Before that I had followed her journalism career as a respected staff reporter at Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. Harris first earned her indie bonafides as managing editor of the Independent Film and Video Monthly. The reason Harris landed this sought-after position? Of all the impressive folks who went after it, Harris was the only one to fulfil all three of the essential skill sets necessary to step into the big shoes left by departing founder Eugene Hernandez (now digital director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center).

By Anne Thompson
|
December 9, 2010 10:23 AM
|
3 Comments

TRON: Legacy’s 3-D VFX Stretch Current Movie Tech to its Limits

In the current issue of Popular Mechanics, I dig into the edge of the visual effects frontier represented by TRON: Legacy, which Disney opens wide December 17. The sumptuously visual movie will wow moviegoers with its 3-D VFX, if not its compelling storyline. Here's a snatch of the feature:

By Anne Thompson
|
December 9, 2010 7:08 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Interview Watch: The Tourist's Material Beauty, Gosling and the New Hollywood Male Prototype

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck tells the NYTimes that "I live outside my comfort zone always," which helps to explain why the German director-writer chose to follow up best-foreign-language Oscar winner The Lives of Others with Sony's lavish guilty-pleasure film The Tourist starring high-wattage Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. Foreign directors rarely have successful crossovers into big-budget studio fare, admits Sony co-president Michael Barker, "other than Roman Polanski with Chinatown and Milos Forman with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

By Sophia Savage
|
December 9, 2010 5:04 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Ronni Chasen was Killed by Harold Martin Smith, Who Likely Acted Alone

The Ronni Chasen murder mystery that has ignited so much speculation is finally solved. No, there was no mysterious secret life, or a hit man, or any sort of organized crime. It makes so much more sense, to anyone who knew Chasen, who worked tirelessly for her clients around the clock, that she wouldn't submit easily to a haphazard robbery attempt--and got shot through her car window by a robber on a bicycle.

By Anne Thompson
|
December 9, 2010 2:09 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Sundance Film Festival USA Brings Fest Films To Nine Cities

Sundance announces the films selected from their 2011 Film Festival lineup which will be screened at theaters (with introductions by the directors) across nine different US cities on January 27. "Sundance Film Festival USA" endeavors to bring the Festival experience to movie lovers nationwide. Fest director John Cooper says it "epitomizes the mission of the Sundance Institute.” Tickets will be distributed via each theatre's box office. The films (including Kaboom, pictured) and theatre details are after the jump. Here is indieWIRE's complete coverage.

By Sophia Savage
|
December 8, 2010 11:15 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Blue Valentine's NC-17 Rating Overturned by MPAA

Sometimes the right thing happens. Harvey Weinstein milked the controversy surrounding the NC-17 rating for Blue Valentine to bring attention to the movie. Director Derek Cianfrance had refused to trim an intimate sex scene with implied oral sex between Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling from the realistic relationship drama. Finally Wednesday, after Weinstein led 40 minutes of appeals arguments and screened the film at the MPAA's Sherman Oaks offices, the MPAA appeals board overturned the rating.

By Anne Thompson
|
December 8, 2010 9:16 AM
|
2 Comments

More:

Social Network's Armie Hammer Gets Actor-Nerdy Talking Winklevi, Fincher, Sorkin, Rowing

TOH's Sophia Savage sat down with The Social Network's scene stealer Armie Hammer on Tuesday afternoon:

By Sophia Savage
|
December 8, 2010 9:05 AM
|
5 Comments

More:

Oscar Watch: NY Times Actors Video Gallery

Let us distract you with The New York Times' Fourteen Actors Acting: A Video Gallery of Classic Screen Types. They look like B & W portraits (and we've included stills here) but are actually mini-videos rounding up faces from the past year: Javier Bardem, James Franco, Natalie Portman, Jesse Eisenberg, Chloe Moretz, Matt Damon, Michael Douglas, Jennifer Lawrence, Noomi Rapace, Vincent Cassell, Anthony Mackie, Robert Duvall, Lesley Manville and Tilda Swinton.

By Sophia Savage
|
December 8, 2010 8:08 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Inception: Nolan's Hand-Drawn Map

Check out what purports to be Christopher Nolan's own hand-written map of Inception's many dream levels.

By Anne Thompson
|
December 8, 2010 5:52 AM
|
19 Comments

More:

Development Watch: Will Smith A Modern Robin Hood, Wahlberg Fights Robots, Hardy and LaBeouf Bootleg

- The Wachowskis (The Matrix) are jumping on Warner Bros.' remake wagon with Hood, less than a year after Universal brought the story of the legendary thief back to life with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood. Rest assured the Wachowski's version (which they wrote) will be different: a modern, urban retelling with Will Smith rumored to be involved. They have also been working on CN-9, said to include an archeological investigation of two US soldiers falling in love in Iraq and an assassination plot against George W. Bush. No word on when either will start shooting.