Thompson on Hollywood

Portman & Butler Win Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton Poll for Scorsese's Furious Love

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It will be no easy task to cast legends Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Last week we invited you to play dreamcast with us, voting for the actors to play Taylor and Burton in Martin Scorsese's adaptation of their tempestuous love affair and chronicled in Furious Love. The results are in, and despite being completely out of the running until June 24, Natalie Portman surged to the top to join Gerard Butler. We initially paired the two together, stating: "If anyone can raise Portman’s temperature, it would be Butler. He’d have to step up and bring some depth to the rugged masculinity he so easily depicts. Portman probably has this in her, but it won’t come naturally." Second and third place winners, our picks and the complete poll results are below:

By Sophia Savage
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June 27, 2011 5:37 AM
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Summer Preview: Must-Sees on Big Screen, Skippable, Must-to-Avoid

The summer is upon us, with a plethora of viewing choices, many of them utterly avoidable. I lay out the summer movie landscape.

By Anne Thompson
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April 28, 2011 9:46 AM
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Graig Gillespie To Direct Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Portman's Handsomecharlie Films Producing

Craig Gillespie (Lars and The Real Girl) will direct the Lionsgate adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Natalie Portman's Handsomecharlie Films and Darko Entertainment are producing. The adaptation is based on Seth Graham-Smith's 2009 zombified expansion novel of the Jane Austen classic, a NYT Bestseller and Oprah's "Summer Reading List" mention. He also wrote the screenplay.

By Sophia Savage
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April 18, 2011 6:56 AM
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Your Highness Clip: Franco Tells McBride To Shut Up, Talks Tears, Deschanel's "Cookies"

Check out this Your Highness clip at NME, in which James Franco shows his sensitive side and tells Danny McBride to shut up.

By Sophia Savage
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April 6, 2011 8:45 AM
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Your Highness Early Reviews: "Utterly Batshit Insane, Misguided, Chaotic, Teenage Titillation"

Your Highness opens April 8 with Danny McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman and Zooey Deschanel (trailer below). Pineapple Express's David Gordon Green directs. The script comes from McBride and his Eastbound & Down co-writer Ben Best.

By Anne Thompson
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April 5, 2011 7:37 AM
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Valerie Plame Wilson Writes Female Centered Suspense Novels with Female Action Star Potential

Seeking a female action hero? A new one may come from an unlikely source: memoirist and ex-spy Valerie Plame Wilson, whose CIA debacle was brought to the screen by Doug Liman in last year's Fair Game, which starred Naomi Watts as the glamorous, fierce yet tender operative (opposite Sean Penn as husband Joe Wilson).

By Sophia Savage
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March 21, 2011 8:28 AM
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Actresses Take Control, Directing and Producing Their Own Projects

Drew Barrymore will follow up her Whip It (2009) directorial debut--which scored better with critics than audiences-- with How to Be Single, a romantic comedy for New Line, reports THR. She will also produce with her Flower Films partner Nancy Juvonen (Flower Films's first producing effort was Never Been Kissed in 1999).

By Sophia Savage
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March 16, 2011 8:29 AM
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Oscar-Winner Portman "Proud to be Jewish," Speaks Against Galliano's Rant, Gitai's Free Zone Screens

Natalie Portman may start wearing and selling another perfume. She's standing up for Israel and Judaism as a proud Jewish woman who debuted as Anne Frank on Broadway in 1997. Oscar-winning Portman has cut her ties to Dior's now-fired chief designer John Galliano after his anti-Semitic rant (he'll have to stand trial).

By Sophia Savage
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March 2, 2011 10:15 AM
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Oscar Talk: Final Edition, Oscar Wrap

It's a wrap, as In Contention's Kris Tapley and I analyze Sunday night's Oscar show winners and losers (below). Co-host Anne Hathaway came out ahead of James Franco, who seemed to be either too tired or too bored to do more than phone it in between tweets. (Caryn James' review is here.) Maybe he really was more comfortable at the Spirit Awards.