Thompson on Hollywood

Hillary Johnson's Hollywood Satire 'Shooting Stars' Hits Amazon, Bookstores

Features

"Shooting Stars," a Hollywood mystery satire from Dymaxicon Press, just went up on Amazon. The page-turner hits stores April 1. It's the funniest Hollywood novel I've read in a long time, up there with the likes of the two Peters, Farrelly and Lefcourt.

By Anne Thompson
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March 28, 2012 7:37 PM
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Angelina Jolie Praises Invisible Children, Hates Joseph Kony, Films 'Maleficent' in June (Video)

Video

Angelina Jolie tells The Telegraph that Invisible Children has "been a wonderful movement for a long time," and she supports their KONY 2012 video raising awareness in young people...

By Sophia Savage
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March 12, 2012 1:50 PM
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Box Office Report: Awards Performance Update

Box Office

As distributors continue the tradition of playing off the Golden Globes to publicize a range of films, the specialized and awards business still shows the positive trends that were seen during the holidays. A couple of significant expansions (“Pina” and “The Iron Lady”) lead the mostly positive news. Opening:

By Tom Brueggemann
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January 15, 2012 4:22 PM
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Golden Globe Foreign Language Nominees Panel: Jolie, Almodovar, Farhadi & Dardennes Talk Style, Content

Awards

Yet again, there's much to learn from the Golden Globe nominees for Best Foreign Language Film. Screen International's Mike Goodridge moderated the Cinematheque panel: Angelina Jolie ("In The Land of Blood and Honey," USA), Pedro Almodovar ("The Skin I Live In," Spain), Asghar Farhadi ("A Separation," Iran) and Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne ("The Kid With a Bike," France/Belgium). Not present was China's nominee Zhang Yimou ("The Flowers of War").

By Sophia Savage
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January 14, 2012 10:44 PM
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Live Chat with Angelina Jolie; Discuss 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' January 12

News

Here's your chance to chat with Angelina Jolie. She will host a 45-minute live online chat through a partnership with Hearst Magazines, focusing on her writing and her directorial debut, "In The Land of Blood and Honey." On January 12, at 5pm PST, you can chat with Jolie via Cosmopolitan, Elle, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, O, The Oprah Magazine, Redbook and Woman’s Day. UPDATE: Or you can do it right here: see the widget below.

By Sophia Savage
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January 11, 2012 4:50 PM
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Early Reviews on Late-Breaking War Horse, Extremely Loud, Land of Blood and Honey

Reviews

Early reviews are in on Steven Spielberg's "War Horse," Stephen Daldry's "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," and Anjelina Jolie's "In the Land of Blood and Honey," three of the latest-breaking movies hitting theaters this Christmas. A sampling of reviews of all three movies are below.

By Anne Thompson
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December 19, 2011 7:30 AM
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Producers Guild Gives Jolie's In the Land of Blood and Honey the Stanley Kramer Award

Awards

The problem with all the high-minded praise of Angelina Jolie's feature directing debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" (December 23) is that audiences are going to avoid it as a dose of medicine. Truth is, the Producers Guild of America is right to award the movie with its 2012 Stanley Kramer Award on January 21. After all, the award was created to "honor a motion picture, producer or other individual, whose achievement or contribution illuminates provocative social issues in an accessible and elevating fashion."

By Anne Thompson
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December 13, 2011 9:12 PM
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Angelina Jolie Talks Blood & Honey on 60 Minutes: Afghanistan Set War Drama is Next, Punching Through Gender Stereotypes & Being Scared in a Good Way

Jolie on the set of "In The Land of Blood and Honey"

Angelina Jolie is promoting her directorial debut, "In The Land of Blood and Honey" (December 23), which means conversation inevitably veers toward Jolie's tabloid existence rather than the work at hand. 60 Minutes' Bob Simon kept his conversation polite but still asked the usual questions necesary for people to pay attention. He met with Jolie several times to put together a profile on Jolie; you can watch the video below. As for her directorial debut, she is "nervous that people are going to not understand it." That's probably because she thinks people don't understand her.

By Sophia Savage
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November 28, 2011 1:45 PM
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Will Roth & Fincher Deliver Jolie's Cleopatra?

Features

Let us count the ways that Sony's "Cleopatra" could go wrong. But hiring Eric Roth to write the script for the Angelina Jolie epic (possibly with David Fincher at the helm) is a good sign. We can thank Roth for "Forrest Gump," "The Insider," "Munich," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and many other fine scripts including the upcoming "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close." Based on Stacy Schiff's sprawling bestseller, this "Cleopatra" is rooted in a complex history and demands a seasoned writer who will not lose sight of the biography's authentic primary sources. Bringing Fincher on board would also set the project on the right course. Exuding the infamous intelligence, charisma and sexuality of Cleopatra will be easy for Jolie, who nonetheless needs a strong director to pull from her a layered and compelling performance. The Egyptian queen--arguably the most powerful woman of all time-- was a master political strategist who deftly manipulated her two life mates, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. (Picking the right two co-stars is also key.) If the movie gods align the elements, this could be Jolie's career-defining role--and her best shot at a Best Actress Oscar.