Thompson on Hollywood

TCM Classic Film Festival is Hit, and is Coming Back

Last weekend's TCM Classic Film Festival in LA was such a hit that it's coming back in 2011. TCM targeted an aging demo starving for classic movies and created an event feel, with Q & As and panels, from Danny and Anjelica Huston honoring their father and grandfather in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre to Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (which holds up really well, fresh as a daisy) and the Complete Metropolis accompanied by the Alloy Orchestra, which judging from the interest I'm gauging will do some business. (Leonard Maltin covered the fest like a blanket.)

By Anne Thompson
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April 27, 2010 7:29 AM
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Please Give Nicole Holofcener More Money

Please Give, writer-director Nicole Holofcener’s thoughtful, well-observed portrait of neurotic, flawed New Yorkers, stars her alter-ego Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt as husband and wife, and Rebecca Hall and a bronzed Amanda Peet as sisters caring for their aging grandmother (Ann Morgan Guilbert), who lives next door. Holofcener gets better with every film--all of which are must-sees, from Walking and Talking to Lovely and Amazing and Friends with Money. Holofcener plans to work again with Frances McDormand on a book adaptation.

By Anne Thompson
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April 27, 2010 1:29 AM
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Talking Treme: Ep. Three

Tim Appelo and I are riffing on each episode of David Simon's HBO series Treme, which brought me to tears during Ep. 3:

By Anne Thompson
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April 26, 2010 12:34 PM
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The Kennedys at the Movies: from Martin Sheen to Matt Damon

We can't seem to get enough of the Kennedys.

By Anne Thompson
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April 26, 2010 12:06 PM
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Avatar Breaks More Records, in DVD Sales

As DVD sales decline (8% in the first three months of 2010), studios and filmmakers are putting more energy into their marketing. Not to rest on their Avatar laurels ($2.7 billion global gross) James Cameron and producer Jon Landau returned to the campaign trail to promote the April 22 Earth Day DVD release. It worked. Avatar sold 2.7 million Blu-ray discs in just four days, a record:

By Anne Thompson
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April 26, 2010 7:55 AM
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Hitfix Adds TV Blogger Sepinwall

Meanwhile consumer-friendly entertainment site Hitfix.com continues to grow, adding Star-Ledger TV blogger Alan Sepinwall (What's Alan Watching) to their line-up. Here's the news release. Sepinwall joins Hitfix stalwarts Drew McWeeny, Daniel Fienberg, Melinda Newman, Katie Hasty and editor-in-chief and co-founder Gregory Ellwood. What's Alan Watching will relaunch on HitFix on Tuesday, May 4, 2010.

By Anne Thompson
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April 26, 2010 7:11 AM
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Playboy's Hefner Donates $900,000 to Rescue Hollywood Sign

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Monday that Playboy founder Hugh Hefner has plunked down $900,000 to help to preserve 138-acres of land surrounding the landmark Hollywood sign, which the governator calls a "symbol of dreams and a symbol of opportunity and hope," reports the LAT:

By Anne Thompson
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April 26, 2010 5:21 AM
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Girl with Dragon Tattoo Heads Toward Mulligan and Pitt?

Word from England has Carey Mulligan ardently seeking to play the role of Lisbeth Salander in the upcoming David Fincher remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo written by Steve Zaillian. Note: Zaillian has not handed in his script, and no final casting is imminent. "Nothing is real," warns producer Scott Rudin. "Haven't even started yet!"

By Anne Thompson
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April 26, 2010 5:06 AM
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The Wrap Lines up Funding, Partners, THR Lands Publisher

Editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman's 15-month-old trade site The Wrap will be covering entertainment news for a little while longer.

By Anne Thompson
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April 26, 2010 4:45 AM
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Bret Easton Ellis's Imperial Bedrooms Heads for Fox Searchlight?

During his Sunday LAT Fest of Books Q & A, Bret Easton Ellis talked candidly about Hollywood with music journo Erik Himmelsbach, reports Cameron Carlson: