Thompson on Hollywood

TIFF#: Michael Moore Talks Capitalism: A Love Story

With his latest agit-prop documentary Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore delivers a scathing, entertaining portrait of how America's "greed is good" credo got us to where we are today. As the country heads toward recovery, the movie remains timely and accommodates the new Obama perspective. But the doc, which Overture opens limited in NY and LA on September 23, feels slightly unfocused.

By Anne Thompson
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September 16, 2009 5:05 AM
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TIFF#: The Boys Are Back's Owen Goes Family

Everyone goes into Toronto with a schedule of films to watch. And that list changes with buzz. Some movies fall off due to bad WOM, while others become must-sees. IndieWIRE's in-progress critics' poll of 34 films is indicative of the movies that everyone went to see-- and the ones that nobody did.

By Anne Thompson
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September 16, 2009 2:23 AM
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Reitman Talks Up in the Air, Clooney

Six years ago, Jason Reitman picked up the Walter Kirn novel Up in the Air and showed it to his father Ivan (Ghostbusters), who acquired film rights. Jason took a short stab at a film treatment of the book about a businessman who is obsessed with collecting frequent flier miles.

By Anne Thompson
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September 15, 2009 11:54 AM
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TIFF#: A Single Man Ignites Fest's First Big Sale

I was lining up to see designer Tom Ford's first feature A Single Man this morning as the deal was closing for The Weinstein Co. to release the picture. This acquisition title has generated more heat than anything else so far. (Critical buzz is also strong on Get Low, but buyers seem to be holding back on the Robert Duvall picture.)

By Anne Thompson
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September 15, 2009 7:36 AM
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Michael Jackson's This is It Trailer

Wasting no time, Sony is starting the viral marketing campaign for This Is It, the last Michael Jackson concert film:

By Anne Thompson
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September 14, 2009 11:35 AM
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TIFF#: Toronto Day Five: Get Low Builds Buzz

With distributor ranks cut to the quick and a dicey domestic market for indie films, sales are slow at this year's TIFF. There are plenty of excellent and not so good films on view, but buyers are hanging back. "It's a buyer's market," says ex WMA agent Cassian Elwes. "They'll figure out which ones they want and wait until the sellers are desperate and then buy them."

By Anne Thompson
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September 14, 2009 9:14 AM
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Overture Buys Brooklyn's Finest; Senator Slate in Flux

Antoine Fuqua's operatic cop drama Brooklyn Finest, starring Richard Gere and Ethan Hawke, debuted at Sundance in January and was instantly acquired by neophyte distrib Senator, whose CEO Marco Weber invested in a new cut of the film, seven minutes longer, which just screened at the Venice Film Festival. (Fuqua isn't happy with that cut, which boasts a new ending, and wants to spend more time in the editing room.) Now Senator is under financial duress and several of its films, including Brooklyn's Finest, are finding new homes.

By Anne Thompson
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September 14, 2009 7:20 AM
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TIFF#: Precious Producers Want Credit

Without Colorado-based producers Sarah Siegel-Magness and her husband Gary Magness, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire might never have been made.

By Anne Thompson
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September 13, 2009 7:51 AM
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Oscar Talk 2: Bright Star, An Education, The Road, Up in the Air

In Contention's Kris Tapley and I talk 0scars again post-Telluride (Up in the Air, An Education, Bright Star and The Road) and pre-Toronto. And we disagree this time!

By Anne Thompson
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September 12, 2009 10:13 AM
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Toronto Buzz

There are three Torontos. The launch/press/interview side of the festival is in full swing (yes, George Clooney is here). Oscar prospects are being weighed. And buzz is building--or waning--on the hunt for acquisitions titles. Besides button-holing folks around town, Twitter is one way to gauge reaction. Among the titles for sale so far: cool response to opener Creation, Dorian Gray and Love and Other Impossible Pursuits. Early good word on Lu Chuan's City of Life and Death and UK film Cracks.