Thompson on Hollywood

Immersed in Movies: Jennifer Yuh Nelson Lifts Kung Fu Panda 2

Features

Of all the sequels competing for the best animated feature Oscar, "Kung Fu Panda 2" was really the only one with unfinished business. It begged the question: How did Po wind up living in the same house with his father goose?

By Bill Desowitz
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December 7, 2011 10:39 AM
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IN THE WORKS: Bejo Goes Brit, Coppola's Burglar Bunch

Features

Bérénice Bejo has landed a role in the UK's "The Scapegoat," based on Daniel Pennac's French novel, "Au Bonheur des Ogres." Raphaël Personnaz and Emir Kusturica will costar.

By Sophia Savage
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December 5, 2011 8:51 PM
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INTERVIEW: Jason Reitman Made Unmakeable Young Adult for $12 Million

Features

Jason Reitman is in a different place than he was during the release of "Up in the Air," when he pushed and pushed to gain entrance into the Oscar club. It crushed him on Oscar night when adapted screenplay went to Geoffrey Fletcher for "Precious." Was Reitman too young, too overexposed? When he jumped into his next feature with "Juno" collaborator Diablo Cody, "Young Adult," he took a witty midwestern plunge to the dark side. Charlize Theron went with him, and could land a Best Actress Oscar nomination. And so could supporting actor Patton Oswalt, the unlikely object of her attention.

By Anne Thompson
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December 5, 2011 1:44 PM
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Rachel Weisz on Working with Malick

Sitting down with Rachel Weisz recently to discuss her role as a 1950s English adulteress in Terence Davies’ adaptation of the Terence Rattigan play "The Deep Blue Sea," the actress also shed a bit of light on working with a third Terrence – Malick – on his untitled love story with Ben Affleck. She describes the experience as “unlike any other I’ve ever had. Unorthodox would be a massive understatement. There isn’t really a script, you don’t know what the story is, you don’t know who the other characters are. I knew I was Ben Affleck’s sister and that he was in love with two different women but otherwise I didn’t know what was going on.”

By Matt Mueller
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December 2, 2011 12:50 PM
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Weekend Preview: Sex & Power Dominate The Box Office: Shame, Sleeping Beauty, Coriolanus, Outrage, The Lady

Features

Forget feel-good holiday movies: themes of sex and power dominate this weekend's newcomers. Feast on the dark side before more heartwarming Christmas fare hits multiplexes--"War Horse" will loosen your tear ducts and we can assume 9/11 drama "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" will do the same. (Then there's that "feel bad movie" of Christmas, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.")

By Sophia Savage
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December 2, 2011 12:40 PM
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Roman Polanski Interview by Le Figaro: Misses Hollywood and Nicholson, Wants to Do Film About Aging

Roman Polanski

The French newspaper "Le Figaro" sat down for an interview with director Roman Polanski, whose new film, "Carnage," based on Yasmina Reza's French play "God of Carnage," was released in France yesterday. Below is a translation of their Q and A.

Sunday, October 23. Roman Polanski sits in a small room at the Plaza Athénée. He is dressed in a jacket and open-necked shirt, visibly comfortable at a meeting of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). An hour of conversation has passed regarding his new film, "Carnage," based on the play by Yasmina Reza. Smiling and attentive, the 78-year old filmmaker discusses his career passionately and with tongue-in-cheek humor. Only one topic is off limits: his recent trouble with the law.

By Jacob Combs
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December 1, 2011 5:42 PM
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Interview: Ralph Fiennes Talks Directing and Playing Coriolanus with Oscar-Contender Redgrave; Lands Skyfall

Features

Rookie feature director Ralph Fiennes and veteran screenwriter John Logan ("The Aviator") have crafted a strong modern adaptation of Shakespeare's bloody war tragedy "Coriolanus." Fiennes shines in the central role, which he played on the London stage in 2000 to raves. It plays to his strengths as an actor who doesn't seek to be liked. He plumbs the depths of a brilliant, ambitious, stubborn, ruthless, deadly, ramrod straight Roman general--with no talent for politics. "This man has no mercy in him," says Coriolanus's ally Menenius, well-played by Brian Cox. Fiennes is also getting some Oscar talk for his all-stops-out performance as Voldemort in the "Harry Potter" finale; at the Toronto Festival, he also played a corrupt British prime minister opposite Bill Nighy in David Hare's spy thriller "Page Eight." During Toronto (our flipcam interview is below) he took a brief hiatus from playing Shakespeare's Prospero in Trevor Nunn's London production of "The Tempest," and started Mike Newell's "Great Expectations" as Magwitch opposite Jeremy Irvine as Pip ("War Horse") in November. Since Toronto, Fiennes finally closed his long rumored deal to play a Bond villain opposite Daniel Craig in Sam Mendes' upcoming "Skyfall," written by his pal Logan.

By Anne Thompson
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November 30, 2011 11:36 AM
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Interview/Trailer Watch: Mulligan Talks Shame, Tattoos, Nudity, Being Rogers & Astaire with Fassbender, Red Band Trailer

Features

Carey Mulligan chats with Vulture about everything from nudity in "Shame" to her late night drive with "Drive" director Nicolas Winding Refn. (He was in a Puma track suit, she was high on "seventeen Red Bulls" when they almost got arrested.) Mulligan begged Steve McQueen for the part in "Shame"; what locked down the role was a conversation surrounding "The Seagull"--the similarities between Nina and Sissy and the seagull tattoo Mulligan was wanting (she got it the following day, after McQueen gave her the part).

By Sophia Savage
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November 29, 2011 3:25 PM
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Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill Talk Their Moneyball Love Story, Success and Failure, Fave Performances

Features

The love story of Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill had a perfect start. They first met through a mutual friend - Ed Norton - at a Radiohead concert. Catherine Keener then suggested Hill for "Moneyball" while they were shooting "Cyrus"; after he played Peter Brand at a "Moneyball" read-through both director Bennett Miller (also recommended for the project by Keener) and Pitt rooted for him to land the role. "I am the box office star behind the film," joked Hill during a post-screening Q & A Sunday at Sony's Cary Grant theater. He held his own with Pitt in the charm department. The Q & A moderated by Dave Karger (EW) allowed time for audience questions. Pitt spoke of the "arduous" process behind getting the film made, but said he doesn't mind it when you believe in what you're doing and the material: "I could never let go of the book," he said.