Thompson on Hollywood

SFFS French Cinema Now 2012: 'Camille Rewinds,''Sister,' 'Louise Wimmer'

Festivals

The San Francisco Film Society steps up to a radically reduced reality of foreign film distribution by programming a number of focused mini-fests, including Hong Kong Cinema, Taiwan Film Days, and the upcoming New Italian Cinema. While contemplating the ten-film line-up of French Cinema Now, I asked myself how many French films I’d seen in the past year locally, in general release, outside of film festivals.

By Meredith Brody
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October 31, 2012 5:45 PM
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AFI FEST 2012: The World's Best Cinema - From 'Hitchcock' to 'Rust and Bone,' Foreign Oscar Hopefuls & AFM

Festivals

While the American Film Market takes Santa Monica, the 26th annual AFI Fest brings diverse cinematic life to Hollywood Thursday night with the world premiere of "Hitchcock." The Sacha Gervasi film starring Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren and Scarlett Johansson is one of only two world premieres at the festival, and the second has technically already had a "secret screening" at the New York Film Festival: Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln."

By Anne Thompson and Sophia Savage
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October 31, 2012 4:23 PM
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CHALLENGE! Take David Thomson's Second Stump-the-Film-Buff Quiz

Features

San Francisco-based critic David Thomson, the brainy Brit behind the must-own Biographical Dictionary of Film, has now written a spanking new film history, "The Big Screen: The Story of the Movies." We asked Thomson to concoct another demanding quiz, this time derived from info contained in his new tome. He thinks this one is even harder than the last. Impossible you say? We challenge you to test your film buff cred.

By Anne Thompson
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October 31, 2012 3:46 PM
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Women in Film Expands Outreach with Speed Mentoring; Top Ten Pieces of Advice

Speed Mentor Pamela Rodi, President/Creative Director of Rodi Marketing

Features

"There wasn't one woman, not one woman, that I could look up to and say 'I want to be that woman." Things have changed in the 50 years since producer Marion Rosenberg started in the entertainment industry, said the Women in Film trustee and mentoring co-chair at the organization's inaugural Speed Mentoring session on October 29. She was talking with twenty mentors and twenty mentees, comprised of WIF members who were chosen based on the strength of their proposed questions.

By Sophia Savage
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October 31, 2012 3:01 PM
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Rome Film Festival Adds Two Out of Competition Titles; Jury Includes Nichols, Bekmambetov & Hatami

Festivals

The Rome Film Festival (November 9-17) announces its jury members for the 2012 edition of the festival, including writer-director Jeff Nichols ("Take Shelter," "Mud"), director Timur Bekmambetov ("Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer") and Iranian actress Leila Hatami (2012's Foreign-Language Oscar winner "A Separation")...

By Beth Hanna
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October 31, 2012 2:02 PM
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Drafthouse Picks Up Harrowing Genocide Reenactment Doc 'The Act of Killing'

News

Drafthouse Films has acquired US rights to Joshua Oppenheimer's breakout Danish doc "The Act of Killing." The film, described by Errol Morris as "a non-fiction film unlike anything else," is a series of portraits of Indonesian death squad leaders, challenged to reenact their real-life mass killings in whatever cinematic form they desire...

By Beth Hanna
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October 31, 2012 1:49 PM
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Why Scott Foundas Ditched Lincoln Center Programming to Go Back Where He Belongs UPDATED

News

Three years ago, when Scott Foundas left the Village Voice Media's LA Weekly to join the Film Society of Lincoln Center as associate programmer, I was disheartened. Why? Because he is one of the most gifted critics of his generation. I took Foundas leaving his clear avocation as a sign of the continuing decline of film criticism.

By Anne Thompson
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October 31, 2012 1:44 PM
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Trailers from Hell: Joe Dante on Lee & Cushing Team-Up 'Horror Express'

Video

Christopher Lee Halloween! week continues at Trailers from Hell with director and TFH creator Joe Dante introducing "Horror Express," calling the film "one of the most satisfying screen pairings of longtime friends Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing."

By Trailers From Hell
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October 31, 2012 12:40 PM
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'SEAL Team Six' Director John Stockwell Talks Fact and Fiction, Harvey Weinstein, 'Zero Dark Thirty'

Interviews

Rushing out the fast-and-dirty TV movie of a big news story before the Hollywood class-act hits is nothing new. It's just odd that Harvey Weinstein got into the act with fiction film "SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Bin Laden." This is hardly Oscar or even Emmy fare. What exactly motivated the movie mogul to jump into this low-budget run-and-gun TV movie at last year's Cannes?

By Anne Thompson
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October 30, 2012 6:58 PM
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Disney Empire Strikes Back: As George Lucas Moves On, Disney Picks Up His Bay Area Lucasfilm for $4.05 Billion

News

Walt Disney Co. has made a major purchase-- following its earlier acquisition of Pixar and Marvel Entertainment-- by scooping up George Lucas's Bay Area LucasFilm for $4.05 billion. This means that Disney and its theme parks will now own future rights to Lucas's "Star Wars" franchise--in all its myriad forms.