Thompson on Hollywood

Oscar Talk Episode Nine: Oscar Hosts, Jeff Bridges, Animation

As the Oscar race starts to come into focus, Kris Tapley of In Contention and I continue our weekly Oscar Talk. This week we both approve of Oscar co-hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, agree that Jeff Bridges has a shot at winning an Oscar at last, and with the animation list long enough for five entries, we debate what they will be.

By Anne Thompson
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November 7, 2009 11:06 AM
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Festival Report: Cinema Eye Rolls With Docs

Critic Karina Longworth reports on the Cinema Eye nominations from the Doc/Fest in Sheffield, England:

By Karina Longworth
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November 7, 2009 2:53 AM
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A Prophet Leads European Film Award Nominations

The European Film Academy nominations for the 22nd European Film Awards were voted on by over 2,000 EFA members who will now choose the winners. They will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on December 12 in Bochum.

By Anne Thompson
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November 7, 2009 2:01 AM
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Oscar Watch: Up in the Air, Clooney, Streep Lead Gurus 'O Gold

The Gurus 'O Gold jury of 14 Oscar prognosticators have weighed in on the top movies, actors and animated films so far in the Oscar race. Here's how it looks with at least four major movies (*) sight unseen. (BTW, I meant to include Up, which naturally leads the animation pack, in my top twelve.) George Clooney leads the actors, while Carey Mulligan Meryl Streep is the top contender among the actresses. UPDATE: Since November 4, MCN added votes which pushed Streep into the lead, by one point.

By Anne Thompson
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November 6, 2009 8:18 AM
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Nine Things I Learned at BAFTA's Brittania Awards

BAFTA LA's Britannia Awards at the Hyatt Regency were a blast Thursday night, as the Brits handed out achievement awards to Kirk Douglas, Colin Firth, Emily Blunt, Danny Boyle and Robert De Niro. The show was far better than last year, which went on "at ass-paralyzing length," as host Stephen Fry put it.

By Anne Thompson
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November 6, 2009 7:52 AM
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Studios vs. Theaters: Clash Over FCC Waiver

National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) president John Fithian is at war. He is in Washington right now fighting a pitched battle for exhibitors at the FCC. The LAT reported Wednesday:In regulatory filing today, the Motion Picture Assn. of America, the chief lobbying group for the major studios, restated its support for a waiver of current Federal Communications Commission rules that would clear the way for a technology that would allow consumers to watch movies at home close to or during their theatrical release. The so-called selectable output control technology would prevent the illegal copying of movies, which has been a major stumbling block to delivering first-run movies directly to consumers.

By Anne Thompson
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November 5, 2009 7:07 AM
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99 Classics Mash-Up Video

This Phish concert mash-up of their top 99 classic albums (they performed the entire Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street at one concert) is deliriously fun.

By Anne Thompson
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November 5, 2009 6:41 AM
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Entertainment Weekly Slashes Staff

Entertainment Weekly lost eleven staffers Wednesday, including four editorial. My old Premiere colleague Christine Spines is out at the West Coast office. What's telling is that she specialized in writing features, something the magazine isn't interested in running anymore, as their stories get shorter and shorter and they waste their best writers on chasing celeb news online. It's rare to see a feature longer than 1800 words; more are in the 800-word range.

By Anne Thompson
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November 5, 2009 1:53 AM
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Herzog Times Two: My Son, My Son Opens December 11

David Lynch and Industrial Entertainment will release writer-director Werner Herzog's My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done, which played Venice, Telluride and Toronto, on December 11 at the IFC Center in New York. Other cities will follow.

By Anne Thompson
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November 5, 2009 1:16 AM
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Oscar Watch: Crazy Heart's Bridges Joins Actors Fray

Back in July, Fox Searchlight paid low seven figures for worldwide rights to Crazy Heart, a movie the distrib felt needed a little work in the editing room. (Here's my announcement story.) It was one of the first buys by new co-presidents Nancy Utley and Steve Gilula after Peter Rice left to run Fox TV.