Thompson on Hollywood

New School of Superheroes: Bale, Cavill, Evans, Garfield, Hemsworth, Reynolds & Palicki in Tights

Entertainment Weekly's latest issue profiles the new generation of superheroes, represented on the cover by new Superman Henry Cavill. As his director Zack Snyder puts it: “Other actors put that suit on and it’s a joke, even if they’re great actors. Henry put it on, and he exuded this kind of crazy-calm confidence that just made me go, ‘Wow. Okay, this is Superman.’ If you can put on that suit and pull it off, that’s an awesome achievement.” An even better achievement? Still having a career after the spandex has lost its stretch. Ryan Reynolds says of his Green Lantern character: “He’s not in the mainstream the way Superman or Spider-Man is.” And he once considered himself a purely comedic actor: “I looked like Dick Van Dyke, so I thought I was going that route.”

By Sophia Savage
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February 17, 2011 8:56 AM
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BAFTAs Go to King's Speech, Social Network, Inception, Black Swan, Alice, Dragon Tattoo UPDATED

The BAFTA Awards are under way at the Royal Opera House in London. Safe to say The King's Speech is winning many awards but is not sweeping; Inception and Alice in Wonderland are grabbing many of the technical categories. I predict that the Oscars will follow this trend.

By Anne Thompson
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February 13, 2011 7:48 AM
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The Fighter: Russell, Adams, Leo, McGee and Boston Sisters Talk, Swear for SAG Q & A

The Fighter's David O. Russell was joined by fellow Oscar-nominees Amy Adams and Melissa Leo as well as Jack McGee and five of the film's infamous sisters for a SAG Q & A on January 26 at LA's Harmony Gold Theater. (Leo and Christian Bale wound up winning the two supporting categories at the SAG Awards Saturday.) Check it out:

By Anne Thompson
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February 1, 2011 7:23 AM
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SAG Awards Go to The King's Speech and Firth, Black Swan's Portman, The Fighter's Bale and Leo

The Screen Actors Guild's best ensemble award is the equivalent of the Oscar best picture. The King's Speech wins it, along with Colin Firth for best actor. The Fighter's Melissa Leo and Christian Bale win the supporting category. And best actress goes to Black Swan's Natalie Portman. It will probably be thus on Oscar night. But the races can shift over time. Firth and Bale can't lose. And The King's Speech is backed by the wily Harvey Weinstein.

By Anne Thompson
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January 31, 2011 3:11 AM
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Oscar Nominations Led by King's Speech with 12; Winter's Bone Makes Top Ten, Bardem Lands Actor Nod

With the announcement of the Oscar nominations, momentum shifts toward The King's Speech, which led the fray with twelve nominations, including best picture, actor, supporting actor and actress, director and original screenplay. The Coen brothers western True Grit followed with ten nominations, including picture, actor, supporting actress, director and adapted screenplay. Producer Scott Rudin is grinning as he produced both True Grit and The Social Network, which earned eight nominations, including picture, actor, director, and original screenplay. Chris Nolan's Inception also earned eight, but while the writer-director landed a nomination for original screenplay (his second), he didn't get director, which is a sign that the film was not in the top five of the ten slots, and is unlikely to land best picture. Ben Affleck's The Town was shut out of contention except for Jeremy Renner, last year's discovery for The Hurt Locker, who nabbed his second nomination.

By Anne Thompson
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January 25, 2011 2:04 AM
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9 Comments

Anne Hathaway Rises as Catwoman in Nolan's Next Dark Knight: Right Pick?

Versatile actress on-the-rise Anne Hathaway just nabbed one of the most coveted roles in Hollywood. She'll play Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman, previously played by Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry) in The Dark Knight Rises across from Christian Bale and bad-guy Tom Hardy.

By Sophia Savage
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January 19, 2011 6:51 AM
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Golden Globe-Winning Actors: What's Next for Portman, Firth, Leo, Bale, Bening, Giamatti

Heat rises when an actor enters the awards fray. Look at how Helen Mirren (The Queen), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) and Melissa Leo (Frozen River), particularly, parlayed Oscar attention into serious careers. Take a look at the slates (including soon-to-be-released, rumored, in-production and in-development projects) lined up for this year's Golden Globe-winning actors Natalie Portman, Colin Firth, Melissa Leo, Christian Bale, Annette Bening and Paul Giamatti. We start off with Portman, who has so much lined up that she risks overexposure:

By Sophia Savage
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January 19, 2011 6:35 AM
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BAFTA Nominations Analysis: The King's Speech Reigns

The BAFTA Awards, the British equivalent of the Oscars, have announced their nominations, dominated, natch, by Tom Hooper's The King's Speech with fourteen. The film presumably has already made a strong showing on Oscar ballots which were due last Friday.

By Anne Thompson
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January 18, 2011 5:30 AM
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The Social Network Scores Top Awards at Golden Globes, Gervais Ignites Uproar

The Social Network is sweeping all the awards shows. The film won best drama, director, screenplay and score at the Golden Globes Sunday night. The King's Speech won the expected award for best actor drama Colin Firth, but could have used a best drama win going into the real Oscar race for best picture.

By Anne Thompson
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January 17, 2011 3:56 AM
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Golden Globes: Christian Bale Wins Expected First Globe

"It's going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking or as Charlie Sheen calls it, breakfast," says Gervais. "Everything is 3-D except the characters in The Tourist." That's a Globes-nominated movie--the audience reacts. They also don't like Gervais's suggestion that the Globes accepted bribes to nominate The Tourist.