Thompson on Hollywood

#SXSW Wrap, Hits and Misses

Continuing to build its rep as a balmy spring destination for genre fans and cinephiles alike, the 17th South by Southwest Film Festival saw a strong turnout at films and panels appealing to young males and indie filmgoers, from opener Kick-Ass and stoner-comedy Leaves of Grass to the more finely calibrated critics' faves Tiny Furniture (which won the dramatic jury prize) and Cold Weather. Clearly, the fest hasn’t lost its indie cred, although a hardcore midnight screening of A Serbian Film tested the limits of many filmgoers.

By Anne Thompson
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March 23, 2010 2:04 AM
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Girl with Dragon Tattoo: Who Should Play Salander?

As the Swedish global hit opens stateside and the English-language version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo gets under way, screenwriter Steve Zaillian plans to place tough, bisexual hacker/sleuth Lisbeth Salander front and center, recognizing that she's the star of Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy. So who should play her?

By Anne Thompson
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March 18, 2010 3:59 AM
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Twilight Stars Hit Media with Remember Me, Yellow Handkerchief, Runaways, Oscars

One of the dangers of hitting big in a franchise like Twilight is that that every blessed indie movie that can't get arrested suddenly gets a release. And everyone wants you to do press. Poor Kristen Stewart! After opening Twilight: New Moon last November, she hit Sundance like a freight train in January with the hard-edged drama Welcome to the Rileys and The Runaways, in which she stars as rocker Joan Jett opposite Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie.

By Anne Thompson
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March 2, 2010 11:54 AM
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Vanity Fair's Latest Young Actresses Cover: Stewart, Cornish, Mulligan

A swatch of pale loveliness, here are this year's Vanity Fair photos of Hollywood ingenues. I believe the mag has done Kristen Stewart (Twilight) and Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia!), at least, before. Last week, Stewart was in Sundance supporting The Runaways and Welcome to the Rileys; Rebecca Hall stole Nicole Holefcener's Please Give at Sundance; Mia Wasikowska was also there, starring as one of the Kids Are All Right. She plays the title role in Tim Burton's upcoming Alice in Wonderland, which should break her out even more.

By Anne Thompson
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February 1, 2010 5:46 AM
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#Sundance: Jett, Currie, Stewart, Fanning Talk Runaways

The Runaways hit Sundance like a freight train, thanks to the combined star power of Twilight stars Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning and the characters they play in the musical biopic, "wild and braless" Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, who toured as teenagers with the first all-girl rock band in the 70s.

By Anne Thompson
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January 26, 2010 7:47 AM
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#Sundance: Stewart's Welcome to the Rileys, Keener's Cyrus, Hoffman's Jack Goes Boating

Two of this year's Sundance it-girls are women of a certain age: Catherine Keener, who rocks in both Please Give and Cyrus (as John C. Reilly's ex-wife), and Melissa Leo, who stars in both The Dry Land and Welcome to the Rileys. The straight-forward Jake Scott drama is well-written by Ken Hixon (executive produced by Steve Zaillian) and executed by Kristen Stewart as a damaged stripper-prostitute and James Gandolfini as a lonely man still recovering from the teen death of his daughter. Leo is his equally wounded wife. It will be fascinating to see how distribs navigate the distance between Stewart's younger Twilight fanbase and this hard-R drama. This is also an issue for Apparition's The Runaways.

By Anne Thompson
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January 24, 2010 7:30 AM
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Trailer Watch: Sundance-Bound The Runaways Stars Stewart and Fanning

The trailer is up for Sundance-bound rocker The Runaways starring New Moon co-stars Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie. The advance interest in this edgy indie at Sundance is huge.

By Anne Thompson
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December 17, 2009 9:03 AM
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Stewart, Jett Hit Sundance with Apparition's The Runaways

It's no surprise that Apparition picked up all U.S. rights to Kristen Stewart vehicle The Runaways, which was fully financed by River Road and produced with Linson Entertainment. It's the first Apparition/River Road theatrical collaboration (Terrence Malick's Tree of Life, due in 2010, will be their second). The deal closed two weeks ago.

By Anne Thompson
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December 14, 2009 8:21 AM
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Twilight Saga: New Moon is a Franchise, People

A lot of people are scratching their heads over the whole Twilight phenomenon. When I made a fuss about it before Comic-Con in 2008, many fan boys didn't have a clue. By July 2009 there was a raging Twilight backlash at the male-dominated Con. Even last week, I was amused by all the clueless Dads at the Twilight: New Moon premiere who'd rather be shot than admit to reading one of the books. Why were they there? To check it out.

By Anne Thompson
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November 23, 2009 7:40 AM
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Twilight Saga: New Moon Breaks Harry Potter Midnight Ticket Sales Record

Based on the torrid rate of Fandango and MovieTickets.com advance online ticket sales, it's not a huge surprise that The Twilight Saga: New Moon broke the midnight ticket sales record set last summer by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince , reports the LAT: