Thompson on Hollywood

Oscar Talk: DiCaprio vs. Clooney, J. Edgar, Muppet Movie, Young Adult’s Theron, War Horse

On this week’s Oscar Talk, Kris Tapley and I air our reactions to AFI FEST opener J. Edgar, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Leonardo DiCaprio in a tour-de-force performance as J. Edgar Hoover, young and old. We agree that DiCaprio could move into the lead in the Best Actor category, and Armie Hammer, Judi Dench and Naomi Watts could be in the running for supporting nominations too. It may not be best picture, although some categories could go with a period film from the respected and popular Eastwood, from art direction and cinematography to makeup. Oscar-winning Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black enters some speculative territory, here; depending on critical reaction, he could be rewarded with a script nod.

By Anne Thompson
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November 4, 2011 10:06 AM
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Oscar Talk: Shame's NC-17 and Fassbender, Whither Clooney, Chastain, Doc Race, Year-End Critics

In this week's Oscar Talk, Kris Tapley and I debate the Shame NC-17 issue. Will Fox Searchlight be able to push Michael Fassbender for an Oscar nomination? (I weigh in on this here.)

By Anne Thompson
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October 28, 2011 4:00 AM
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Alexandre Desplat Scores Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Among Many Other Films

French composer Alexandre Desplat is having a busy 2011. He's racing to finish the score for one of several still-unfinished year-end releases, Stephen Daldry's Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, over the next few weeks. (The composer took over from Nico Muhly, who scored Daldry's The Reader.) Of course, music is always the last contribution to any movie, figuring in the final mix.

By Anne Thompson
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October 23, 2011 4:54 AM
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IMDb's Col Needham Responds to Clooney's Top 100

George Clooney recently listed the 100 best movies from 1964-1976, his favorite period. IMDb founder Col Needham checked his IMDb vote history (up-to-date of course) and did his own advanced title search: I've seen a total of 764 movies from this range and included below are the 41 which I have rated 9/10 or 10/10 on IMDb; the list is in reverse chronological order but my 10/10s are: Jaws, Network, Once Upon a Time in the West, Taxi Driver, Carrie, The Godfather, High Plains Drifter, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and From Noon Till Three, All the President's Men.

By Anne Thompson
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October 20, 2011 1:11 AM
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Alexander Payne Talks The Descendants, Clooney, Next Black and White Film, New Trailer

Features

Of all the fall movies, the one that hit me in the solar plexus, made me laugh and cry, and struck me as a likely Oscar contender in multiple categories, was heartfelt low-budget comedy The Descendants (November 18), Alexander Payne’s return to the screen, after winning best original screenplay (with Jim Taylor) for 2004’s Sideways. “Alexander should make more movies,” George Clooney told me at Telluride. Of course he should, but this is the one Payne was able to get made. And it was worth the wait. (Here's my Telluride review.)

By Anne Thompson
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October 18, 2011 4:23 AM
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Film Independent's November LACMA Film Series Lineup Adds Clooney, Fassbender

Elvis Mitchell is booking movies with speakers for his weekly Film Independent at LACMA showings. He's basically doing the same thing any number of subscription film series are doing, he's just inviting the public to buy tickets to see many films that will be available at commercial cinemas or on Netflix followed by Q and As with the likes of George Clooney and Michael Fassbender. I have booked The Descendants for Sneak Previews, for example.

By Anne Thompson
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October 13, 2011 7:42 AM
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Weekend Box Office: Real Steel Clobbers Ides of March; Dolphin Tale, Moneyball and 50/50 Show Legs

DreamWorks delivered another hit to distributor Disney as Real Steel dominated its weekend box office rivals. George Clooney's political drama The Ides of March, in fewer theaters, got off to a solid start. Meanwhile, holdovers Dolphin Tale, Moneyball and 50/50 all showed good legs. Kinsey Lowe reports.Real Steel hammered to the top of the weekend fight card with an estimated $27.3 million and boosted Hugh Jackman with a rare hit outside the X-Men and Wolverine franchises. The movie performed more strongly than had been expected going into the weekend thanks to a 27% Saturday bump from Friday's gross.

By Kinsey Lowe
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October 9, 2011 4:55 AM
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Oscar Talk: Clooney Leads Best Actor Field, Davis Leads Best Actress, Carnage Non-Contender

In this week's Oscar Talk podcast, In Contention's Kris Tapley and I debate Roman Polanski's NYFF-opener Carnage, which fails to improve on the play and is not going to be an Oscar contender, we agree, although I think it's an upscale crowd-pleaser. (My updated Oscar Chart is here.)

By Anne Thompson
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October 7, 2011 5:44 AM
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Weekend Preview: Ides of March, Real Steel, The Way, Dirty Girl, War Doc Hell and Back Again

The star power of this weekend's leading men -- George Clooney and Ryan Gosling of political drama The Ides of March and Hugh Jackman of amped-up sci-fi actioner Real Steel -- will make a dent in Dolphin Tale and Moneyball's current top spots. In the indiesphere, Mateo Gil's Blackthorn takes a bite out of Butch Cassidy legend, while Emilio Estevez's The Way aims to inspire and Abe Sylvia's reedited Dirty Girl attempts to push indie girl Juno Temple into leading lady status. In the mood for something French? Phillippe Le Guay's The Women on the 6th Floor is a charming trifle. Powerful war documentary Hell and Back Again is scoring the best reviews; it's indieWIRE's pick of the week.

By Sophia Savage
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October 6, 2011 5:40 AM
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Clooney's Favorite Films Inspire Mini Movie Trailer Marathon: From President's Men to The Sting

Happy Monday from George Clooney! He's shared his 100 favorite films (from 1964-1976, "the greatest era in filmmaking by far"). Among the collection (which he's gifted to friends for Christmas) are the following classics (it won't surprise you that Clooney has good taste): All The President's Men (also a favorite of Aaron Sorkin's), American Graffiti, Badlands, Bonnie & Clyde, Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, Chinatown, A Clockwork Orange, Cool Hand Luke, Dog Day Afternoon, Easy Rider, The Exorcist, Godfather I & II, The Graduate, Harold and Maude, Jaws, Last Tango in Paris, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Midnight Cowboy, My Fair Lady, Network, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Rosemary's Baby, The Sting, Taxi Driver and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. If that list doesn't make you want to have a movie marathon, what possibly could? It also makes one wonder what happened to the art of the movie poster. We've put together a mini-marathon of their trailers below. You're welcome: