Thompson on Hollywood

Venice Film Festival, Day Two: Madonna's W.E. is Forgettable; Polanski's Carnage Giddily Enjoyable

London-based TOH correspondent David Gritten reports on Day Two of the Venice Film Festival:

By David Gritten
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September 1, 2011 5:23 AM
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Venice Film Festival, Day One: George Clooney's Ides of March is a Winner, Review and Fest Preview

The Venice Biennale got off to a strong start with The Ides of March, reports London-based TOH correspondent David Gritten:How perfect a choice was George Clooney’s The Ides of March to open the Venice Film Festival today? Let us count the ways. Firstly, this political thriller fits Venice like a silk glove. It’s smart, sophisticated and politically astute, written with a shrewd intelligence and featuring stars (Clooney himself, Ryan Gosling, Evan Rachel Wood and Marisa Tomei) who offer Hollywood glamour while engaging in work that’s more than a cut above routine Hollywood product. The Ides of March also offers two terrific supporting performances from Grade-A character actors (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giammatti), doing the kind of work that makes European critics and audiences sit up and take notice.

By David Gritten
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August 31, 2011 2:54 AM
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Oscar Talk: From The Help, Rise of the Apes and Woody to the Fall Fest Circuit and Beyond

Oscar Talk is back. The first podcast of the fall season with In Contention's Kris Tapley runs for a good hour, so gird your loins, Oscar mavens, listen and weep. We cover the Cannes films, the summer releases, the Fall Festival entries and the end-of-year possibilities. We talk Meryl and Glenn and Malick and Chastain, debate the merits of sleeper Warrior and admit that we both cried over cancer patient Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 50/50. Next week we'll post from Telluride. The award season begins.

By Anne Thompson
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August 26, 2011 4:00 AM
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Oscar Watch: War Horse, Ides of March, The Artist Lead Early Gurus 'O Gold Top Ten

In advance of the coming festival season, the Gurus 'O Gold have made their first picks of the ten top contenders for best picture nominations. Here's my top ten list--with many of the films sight unseen (the Gurus list is on the jump). 1. The Artist2. Jane Eyre3, Midnight in Paris4. The Tree of Life5. War Horse6. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close7. The Help 8. Moneyball9. The Ides of March10. Carnage

By Anne Thompson
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August 24, 2011 5:45 AM
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Trailer Watch: Waltz, Winslet, Foster and Reilly Lose It in Polanski's Carnage

In Roman Polanski's upcoming Carnage, Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly portray two sets of Manhattan couples who try to debrief a fight between their eleven-year-old sons. As their discussion continues, things take a turn for the Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and fly wildly out of control.

By Maggie Lange
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August 19, 2011 7:45 AM
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Will Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or Iron Lady Land New York Film Festival Berth?

A lot of folks expected Working Title's John le Carre thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy to wind up with a key New York Film Festival slot. In fact, it was in the running for opening night, but Focus and the NYFF weren't able to come to terms on exactly who (Gary Oldman and Tom Hardy are both currently filming The Dark Knight Rises) would show up for the glamorous black tie Lincoln Center event on September 30. Talent availability is a killer factor in these negotiations. So the NYFF went with Roman Polanski's Carnage (new European poster below), even though the exiled filmmaker would have to remain overseas. Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz brought the requisite star power--and satellite feeds do wonders at Q and As.

By Anne Thompson
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August 15, 2011 5:08 AM
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Polanski's Carnage Will Open New York Film Festival, Hits Theaters in December

Now we know what the 49th New York Film Festival opener on September 30 will be: Roman Polanski's Carnage. It's an odd choice, because needless to say, the director himself will not be able to attend, given his status as an exile. (That's what satellite feeds are for.) Based on Yasmina Reza's 2009 Tony-Award-winning Broadway play God of Carnage, the movie stars Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly and Christoph Waltz as two couples battling over their children, who had a fight on a playground, and the health of their respective marriages. (More photos here.)

By Anne Thompson
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July 29, 2011 8:05 AM
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Oscar Talk Mid-Summer Outlook: New Rules, Midnight in Paris, Streep vs. Close

Kris Tapley and I reconvened over Skype for a mid-summer Oscar Talk (below). We covered quite a bit of ground. New Academy rules affect the top ten best picture ballot, VFX, documentaries and animation, but not foreign eligibility. New members may tip the scale as well on a more mainstream selection.

By Anne Thompson
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July 8, 2011 5:08 AM
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Spike Lee Can’t Get Funding, Ashton Kutcher vs. Village Voice in Social Media Brawl

Spike Lee can’t get financing for his films, even with Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster joining a follow-up to Lee’s most successful feature, Inside Man. In an interview with Charlie Rose, Lee griped about everything from Do the Right Thing’s Academy snub in 1989 and making a film with LeBron James to his hesitancy about acting and Obama’s reelection. Lee's difficulties acquiring backers are countless, but he's particularly peeved that due to his 2008 financial disaster, the World War II period piece Miracle at St. Anna, even though Inside Man was his most successful film, "we can’t get the sequel made. And one thing Hollywood does well is sequels. The film’s not getting made. We tried many times. It’s not going to happen.”

By Maggie Lange
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July 2, 2011 3:49 AM
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Oscar Talk at Cannes: Von Trier Scandal, Tree of Life, Palme d'Or Contenders

As promised, Kris Tapley and I break our post-Oscar silence with a special Cannes edition of Oscar Talk with In Contention's London correspondent Guy Lodge. We cover the films in contention for the Palme d'Or, from Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, starring Brad Pitt, and censured filmmaker Lars von Trier's Melancholia, starring Kirsten Dunst, to Pedro Almodovar's divisive The Skin I Live In, starring Antonio Banderas. We also debate the Oscar chances of these films as well as Weinstein Co.'s The Artist, starring Jean Dujardin, and We Need to Talk About Kevin, starring Tilda Swinton. (IndieWIRE interviews von Trier --who says, “I will never do a press conference again.” So does A.P.)