Thompson on Hollywood

Oscar Talk Episode Thirteen: Avatar, Lovely Bones, Crazy Heart, Parties

Kris Tapley and I discuss the week's frenetic doings: National Board of Review, parties for The Hurt Locker, Crazy Heart and The Lovely Bones, and the upcoming sci-fi monster Avatar.

By Anne Thompson
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December 6, 2009 12:30 AM
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Things I Heard on the Oscar Party Circuit

'Tis the season for Oscar parties. They come in different shapes and sizes.

By Anne Thompson
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December 4, 2009 11:31 AM
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Oscar Watch: Precious, Up in the Air Lead Pre-Holiday Guru Vote

You can assume that most of the voters on Gurus 'O Gold have seen all the movies at this point except The Lovely Bones, Avatar and It's Complicated. So, these press people believe that Invictus (Newsweek's David Ansen reviews it) and Nine are in the race. Here's the new top ten. Keep in mind that in some ways what this list represents is 1) best marketing to date and 2) voting pre-critics groups, National Board of Review, Gothams, Indie Spirits, BAFTA, Golden Globes and Guild nominations and awards. Also, many Oscar campaigns this year are breaking late, for whatever reason. Screeners are just arriving this week.

By Anne Thompson
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November 26, 2009 2:54 AM
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Pre-Toronto Gurus 'O Gold

The old Gurus 'O Gold gang is back, 16 strong. We first selected 15 top contenders, given that the Academy voters will be choosing ten this year. It's all meaningless really, until more of them have been seen. You're just voting on track record and elements. Telluride and Toronto will start to tell that tale. Whether or not a studio will even attempt to launch a serious campaign will be determined by the fest reaction. Awards marketing budgets are tight this year.

By Anne Thompson
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September 3, 2009 5:53 AM
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Kathryn Bigelow Talks Hurt Locker

Summit picked up Kathryn Bigelow's riveting, intense Iraq thriller The Hurt Locker out of Toronto, where I interviewed the director at the start of her long road to the Oscars (below). Jeremy Renner breaks out with this movie, which drew raves when it opened June 26 in limited release. Finally, The Hurt Locker didn't need ten best picture slots this year: the movie overcame considerable obstacles en route to landing on many critics' ten-best lists and winning one award after another.

By Anne Thompson
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July 30, 2009 8:22 AM
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Trailer Watch: The Hurt Locker

Summit picked up Kathryn Bigelow's riveting, intense Iraq thriller The Hurt Locker out of Toronto, and has posted the latest trailer here. Jeremy Renner, who stars in the new TV series The Unusuals, could break out with this movie, which is set for June 26 release.

By Anne Thompson
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April 15, 2009 8:35 AM
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Top 25 Active Directors: Did EW Get it Right?

EW loves lists like this one, the top 25 active directors, designed to inspire healthy debate. Did they get it right? And what do they mean by active, exactly? "Most talented, in-demand directors behind the camera today?" They're trying to have it both ways--it's a power list measuring fame, heat, influence and at the same time, a qualitative measure of talent.

By Anne Thompson
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February 19, 2009 7:00 AM
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Toronto Watch: Bigelow Talks Hurt Locker

Kathryn Bigelow is one of those directors--not unlike Steven Soderbergh, Spike Lee and Darren Aronofsky, who also have films in the Toronto Fest-- who has more talent and style and smarts than she does strong commercial sense. But perhaps because she was ready to prove her mettle, she went against the grain and did her own thing with The Hurt Locker, financed independently, and delivered her best and most accessible movie, an Iraq War thriller which could break out tough guy Jeremy Renner as a leading man.