Thompson on Hollywood

Sony Attaches Barry Levinson to Direct Brother Jack

Veteran director Barry Levinson (Rain Man and HBO's You Don't Know Jack, nominated for 15 Emmys) is to direct Columbia Pictures' Jack Healey biopic Brother Jack. The coming-of-age story is based on Healey's life as he leaves the priesthood and arrives on the streets, where he fought for and pioneered human rights issues and activism.

By Anne Thompson
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July 8, 2010 5:13 AM
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Emmy Noms Winners: The Pacific, Glee, Mad Men; Snubs for Treme and Leno

The highlights of Thursday morning's nominations for the 62nd annual primetime Emmy Awards are:

By Anne Thompson
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July 8, 2010 4:04 AM
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TOH Poll: Pick Successor to CNN's Larry King

The problem with trying to fill Larry King's slot on CNN, once you look at it, is how few people have the necessary skills. King was so successful because he combined the probing curiosity of a journalist with the safety of a talk-show host. And he could handily interview a wide range of newsworthy folk--from politics, business, the tabloids, the real world and celebrities--without getting into too much hot water. King was known for soft-lobbing questions--not unlike James Lipton--but he was still capable of grilling someone and getting strong reactions and quotes out of them.

By Anne Thompson
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July 7, 2010 10:00 AM
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Trailer Watch: Eat Pray Love and Salt Star Roberts and Jolie

Two leading ladies, two very different films. One puts Angelina Jolie through an identity crisis in Salt's neo-cold war atmosphere, the other stars Julia Roberts in a big-budget adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's bestseller, Eat, Pray, Love. Jolie and Roberts are two of the highest-earning, name-brand A-listers in the business. See the trailers below for these summer movies. Eat Pray Love could prove welcome summer programming for adults, especially women, while Jolie could inject an element of the unexpected in Salt, which was originally set to star Tom Cruise.

By Cameron Carlson
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July 7, 2010 9:15 AM
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Media Watch: Online Journalism Is Heading Straight to Hell

Some online journalists make calls, check facts, report, and look at movies before we review them. Are we dinosaurs?

By Anne Thompson
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July 7, 2010 7:49 AM
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Mad Men Seduction Video

Here's a distraction on a busy work day. Jump in. Why is rampant sexism so...sexy? My only complaint: why wasn't there more of the show's ultra-womanizer, Don Draper?

By Anne Thompson
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July 7, 2010 7:11 AM
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Bigelow, Moore Join Academy Board of Governors

Let's face it. Most of the Hollywood veterans who serve on the Motion Picture Academy board of governors, while august and admirable, are older males. While documentarian/provocateur Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine) is no spring chicken, in the world of the Academy, being in your 50s counts as young. And fellow Oscar-winners Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) and editor Anne Coates (Lawrence of Arabia) are women to boot. The Academy recently elected the three first-time Academy governors, along with nine incumbents and three filmmakers returning after a hiatus.

By Anne Thompson
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July 7, 2010 5:40 AM
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Casting News: Madsen in Red Riding Hood, Irons in Margin Call, YouTubers in Life In A Day

- Catherine Hardwicke has cast Virginia Madsen (Sideways) as the mother of Amanda Seyfried, who plays the title role in Red Riding Hood, repots Variety. Julie Christie has already been cast as the grandmother, Gary Oldman the werewolf hunter, and Lukas Haas the big bad werewolf that terrorizes Red's village. New to this re-telling of the fairy tale, David Leslie Johnson's script features an orphaned woodcutter (played by Shiloh Fernandez) and a blacksmith's son (Max Irons) - the former the object of Red's love and the latter her foredestined fiance. Love will certainly complicate the story, and the combination of stars and relative unknowns will give this medieval thriller plenty to chew on.

By Sophia Savage
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July 7, 2010 3:39 AM
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From South of the Border to Restrepo, Docs Fill Media Gap

There has never been a richer time for documentaries, nor a greater need of them.

By Anne Thompson
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July 6, 2010 12:08 PM
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Lindsay Lohan Breaks Probation, Sentenced to 90 Days in Jail

It's like watching a train wreck. A Los Angeles judge ruled Tuesday that Lindsay Lohan has violated her parole in a 2007 drug case and sentenced her to 90 days in jail, reports AP: "Prosecutors said she failed to attend court-ordered alcohol education classes."