Thompson on Hollywood

Hugo: The 3-D Game-Changer

Martin Scorsese's Hugo

"Hugo's" the 3-D film we've been waiting for: the one we were promised by James Cameron and the other true believers when this so-called stereoscopic revolution began; the one that was going to alter our perception of moviegoing the way the coming of sound and color did.

So leave it to Martin Scorsese to boldly pave the way with his storybook valentine to Georges Méliès and early French cinema and every other voyeuristic delight that has inspired him. Indeed, as the wondrous opening demonstrates -- a complicated fly-through into the Paris train station and Hugo's eye through a clock --this movie's about 3-D. Hell, even Roger Ebert liked it.

By Bill Desowitz
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November 25, 2011 12:44 PM
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Dustin Lance Black Talks Controversial J. Edgar Script: "We Didn't Put Hoover in a Ball Gown"

Features

By Anne Thompson
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November 23, 2011 1:44 PM
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New York Film Critics Circle Move to Vote Early Backfires

Awards

When I reported--accurately, it turns out--that the members of the New York FIlm Critics Circle were having a tough time seeing all the films they needed to see in time for their pushed-up voting date of November 28, the NYFCC head John Anderson bit my head off: "We're going to see everything we need to see," he insisted. Monday he gave as a reason for postponing the vote the need to give the group time to see all the eligible films, but that is impossible. Why not admit that this was not a good idea?

By Anne Thompson
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November 21, 2011 9:13 PM
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Fassbender Talks Six Films in 20 Months: Exposing Shame, Healing Jung and Rochester, Ridley Scott's Android, Giving 110%

Features

Michael Fassbender has been so busy that it's tough for him to keep up with all the talking that goes with movie openings. He's up for awards consideration for all the performances he gave in the 2011--from "X-Men: First Class" and "Jane Eyre" to "A Dangerous Method" and "Shame." But it's the latter, a Fox Searchlight acquisition from Telluride, that is most likely to yield awards attention during Oscar season. The Academy steakeaters may not catch up with a romantic women's picture like "Jane Eyre"; voters tend to look down their noses at a big-budget genre prequel like "X-Men"; and Fassbender's performance as the uptight analyst Carl Jung--who winds up spanking one of his patients because he loves her--is not as literally exposed and vulnerable as his conflicted sex-addict in the NC-17-rated "Shame."

By Anne Thompson
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November 21, 2011 8:23 PM
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Soderbergh Hits Promo Circuit for Contagion, Talks Man From U.N.C.L.E. and New Film

Awards

Steven Soderbergh has been around the industry long enough to know the signs of a project that isn't firing on all cylinders. And he knows that once you go down the road of making too many compromises, the chances of turning out a movie you can be proud of are pretty slim. Better, he told me Friday night at an Academy-invited screening and cocktail promo party for "Contagion," his best-received movie in a while, to let "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." go before it really was too late. He doesn't regret losing out on "Moneyball" either, he says. If he hadn't been fired from the baseball picture, he says he wouldn't have gotten to make "Haywire" (January) with Channing Tatum, which led to stripper movie "Magic Mike." But not to "The Man from U.N.C.L.E."

By Anne Thompson
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November 20, 2011 3:27 AM
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Clooney, Payne and Cast Talk The Descendants: Real is Funny, Stealing Clooney's Wife

Awards

Last week Film Independent screened "The Descendants" at LACMA with George Clooney, director Alexander Payne, Shailene Woodley, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, Robert Forster, Beau Bridges and Nick Krause on hand for a Q & A afterward. Highlights from the conversation with Elvis MItchell are below.

By Beth Hanna
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November 19, 2011 4:26 PM
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Talking the Silence of The Artist: Hazanavicius, Dujardin, Bejo

Cannes The Artist Reviews: "A Triumph of Artistic Teleportation, A Big Blast of Pure Delight"

Awards

"The Artist" gang is in high spirits--their $14 million silent movie has steadily built awards buzz since Harvey Weinstein liked what he saw pre-Cannes and nabbed it before anyone else could. He knew that older Academy voters would eat up this nostalgic movie. Best picture, director, writer, actor, cinematography and possibly supporting actress nominations are in the cards. (A best picture nomination would mark the first silent film since 1928's "The Patriot.") And the dog Uggy almost steals the picture.

By Anne Thompson
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November 19, 2011 1:06 PM
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Fifteen Docs Vie for Oscar Top Five; Wenders is In, Herzog is Out

Awards

The Documentary Branch Screening Committee looked at the one hundred twenty-four pictures that qualified for the Oscar documentary short list, but only fifteen were chosen. Left out again is Werner Herzog, whose "Into the Abyss" seemed straightforward enough for the Academy, while his German colleague Wim Wenders "Pina," which is also the official German Oscar submission, made the cut even though it was shot--but not screened for the branch-- in 3-D, just like Herzog's "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" last year, which did not get nominated. The doc branch looks at submissions on screeners because they do not want to force low-budget filmmakers to have to screen their films in 35 mm. Sundance hits "Project Nim" (interview here) and "Buck" (interview here) made the cut.

By Anne Thompson
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November 18, 2011 5:01 PM
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Immersed in Movies: George Miller Talks Penguins and Krill from Happy Feet Two

Features

Just think of "Happy Feet Two" as George Miller's "Babe: Pig in the City." That's the best way to describe the sequel to his Oscar-winner, "Happy Feet," in which the dancing and singing penguins combat catastrophic climate change in Antarctica, and toe-tapping Mumble has to cope with fatherhood and a son that can't dance.

By Bill Desowitz
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November 18, 2011 2:53 PM
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Oscar Talk: Streep vs. Davis, Prosthetic vs. Digital Makeup, Performance Capture vs. Animation, Close vs. McTeer

Awards

In this week's Oscar Talk podcast, In Contention's Kris Tapley and I debate Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin," performance capture vs. animation. Will animators support it? We think visual effects is a stronger, well-deserved shot.