Thompson on Hollywood

Immersed in Movies: VFX Retrofitting for Abrams' Hybrid Vision of Old and New in 'Star Trek Into Darkness'

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Like "Skyfall," "Star Trek Into Darkness" is a hybrid of the old and the new in completing its rite of passage reboot. Except J.J. Abrams has the advantage of time travel, which he introduced in the first movie, for creating a parallel universe that allows him to break the rules of the beloved sci-fi franchise for the 21st century while still honoring its iconic spirit.

By Bill Desowitz
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May 17, 2013 2:36 PM
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Eastward Ho! How Marvel's 'Iron Man 3' Met China UPDATE

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UPDATE: As new "Iron Man 3" scenes were added for specifically Chinese audiences upon the boffo film's release, the re-release of Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," featuring three minutes cut from the original (including nudity scenes), is flopping in China. The film originally hit Chinese theaters April 11, and was pulled within "minutes of its opening screenings... without official explanation," per Deadline.

By Jacob Combs
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May 13, 2013 12:48 PM
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Immersed in Movies: Designer Catherine Martin Talks 'Gatsby's' 3-D Glide and Lasting Appeal (TRAILER)

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Like him or not, there's no denying that Baz Lurhmann is a talented showman who knows how to dazzle and get under our skin. With "The Great Gatsby," he's managed to capture the poetic spirit of F. Scott Fitzgerald like no other prior movie adaptation. And the secret was 3-D. In fact, like "Avatar," "Hugo," and "Life of Pi," "The Great Gatsby" is a movie about 3-D.

By Bill Desowitz
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May 10, 2013 2:35 PM
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Immersed in Movies: Shane Black and Kevin Feige Talk Going Over the Edge in 'Iron Man 3,' Stark's Demons, VFX

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With "Iron Man 3" already smashing box-office records internationally ahead of its domestic release Friday, grabbing more than $300 million in nine days (including the highest opening ever in China), Marvel's post-"Avengers" Phase 2 plan is off to a smashing start. The trick apparently was giving Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark an existential crisis, and no one was better suited to the task than director Shane Black, who, like Downey, knows a thing or two about confronting personal demons, which is what "Iron Man 3" is all about.

By Bill Desowitz
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May 3, 2013 2:35 PM
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'Frances Ha' Q & A: Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach on Collaborating, Shooting Black-and-White in NY (TRAILER)

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On Monday night, Film Independent at LACMA screened the wonderful new black-and-white indie "Frances Ha," and director Noah Baumbach and stars Greta Gerwig and Mickey Sumner appeared for a Q and A.

By Ryan Lattanzio
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May 2, 2013 3:17 PM
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Immersed in Movies: Restored 'Shane' Celebrates 60th at TCM Classic Fest, with the Right Aspect Ratio! (TRAILER)

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If it weren't for a recent aspect ratio brouhaha, "Shane" probably would sneak into the TCM Classic Film Festival on Saturday at the Chinese without much fanfare. Which would've been a shame considering that Technicolor has digitally revived its naturalistic sheen in honor of the 60th anniversary and an upcoming Warner Home Video Blu-ray on June 4. I asked the director's filmmaker son, George Stevens Jr., to clear up the confusion: "There's no controversy about aspect ratio," he replied by email. "We made a 1:37 transfer, color corrected and cleaned up. I also supervised a 1:66 in which we took care with every shot for optimum framing."

By Bill Desowitz
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April 26, 2013 3:23 PM
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Immersed in Movies: 'Oblivion' Director Kosinski Talks Creating Original Sci-Fi Landscape Starring Cruise

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With a looming summer season packed with post-apocalyptic sci-fi--from "After Earth" (June 7) and "World War Z" (June 21) to "Elysium" (August. 9)--it's a good thing that director Joseph Kosinski's "Oblivion" is first out of the gate. This Tom Cruise-starrer about a blue collar drone repairman haunted by dreams of a woman he's never met stands apart from the competition, mainly because architect and video game designer Kosinski's follow-up to "Tron: Legacy" is a passion project he's been developing for eight years that allows him to strut his visual stuff.

By Bill Desowitz
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April 19, 2013 2:25 PM
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Immersed in Movies: Recreating Iconic Ebbets Field for Jackie Robinson Biopic '42'

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Getting Ebbets Field just right as the legendary home of the Brooklyn Dodgers was the greatest challenge for production designer Richard Hoover on "42," the stirring biopic about Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) as Major League Baseball's first African-American. It's both an arena and a battleground for Robinson's crusade in 1947 to fight racial prejudice and prove his greatness as a baseball player. But without digital enhancement they never could've made us believe we were there.

By Bill Desowitz
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April 12, 2013 4:05 PM
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Why Filmmakers Should Think Beyond Facebook

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As recently as last summer I thought that a filmmaker could do a good job with social media only using Facebook. I’m not saying that anymore.

By Reid Rosefelt
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April 11, 2013 1:36 PM
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Now and Then: Cary Grant, The Man from Dream City, Revisited (CLIPS)

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My own fever dream of Cary Grant takes place between cities, sitting down for a Gibson with Eva Marie Saint on a moving train somewhere in Middle America. Headed "North by Northwest," he's at his sexiest then, temples just flecked with gray, tanned and almost ageless. He's not just the recipient of her advances: he's asking for it.