Thompson on Hollywood

Venice Line-up Heavy on Americans: Coppola, Schnabel, brothers Affleck

Venice has announced the rest of its line-up. Besides Darren Aronofsky's opener Black Swan (in competition) and the closer from Julie Taymor, The Tempest (out of competition), the fest is world premiering a number of North American titles. As expected the competition entries include Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, Julian Schnabel's Miral, and Richard Lewis's Barney's Version, a rare debut for a Canadian film in Venice.

By Anne Thompson
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July 29, 2010 3:55 AM
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Post-Cannes Fest Landscape: What's Real?

The Cannes Film Festival unfolds in two parts: what gets seen during the festival itself--and what happens afterwards.

By Anne Thompson
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July 12, 2010 3:30 AM
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Raimi Goes to Oz, Jesus Henry Christ, Feds Approve Box Office Trading, Somewhere Trailer

- The acting power house duo of Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon, the under-appreciated The Damned United) and Toni Collette (United States of Tara, Little Miss Sunshine) is joining Dennis Lee's Jesus Henry Christ, reports Variety. The comedy is based on Lee's 2003 Oscar-winning student film of the same name, but as The Playlist points out, its plot resembles Sundance hit The Kids are All Right, which boasts its own power house trio (Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo): children search for biological truth. With Lee's lack of hits (his first feature Fireflies in the Garden hasn't been released, and Rotten Tomatoes 25% isn't a good sign), and The Kids are All Right's high profile, this feature needs Sheen and Collette to reinvent the wheel.

By Sophia Savage
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June 15, 2010 3:53 AM
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Coppola's Somewhere Heads for Venice

We know that Sofia Coppola is talented--she already won an Oscar for writing Lost in Translation for chrissakes--but her identity as a filmmaker is still emerging. She has style up the wazoo, on ample display in Marie Antoinette, but what is she capable of? This question is fueling the intense curiosity around her fourth film, Somewhere. (This poster emerged on the internet last week.)

By Anne Thompson
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June 12, 2010 4:31 AM
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Telluride vs. Venice

The Telluride Film Festival is the perk of perks, the most civilized, best-curated small film festival in the world. (Here's the new Telluride poster from animator Ralph Eggleston.) It takes place every Labor Day weekend high in the Colorado Rockies and I would ordinarily never consider going somewhere else instead.

By Anne Thompson
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June 1, 2010 8:39 AM
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Cannes Watch: Penn, Binoche, Crowe, Gosling, Douglas, Watts Head for Croisette

April 15 is both U.S. tax return day and Cannes announcement day, when we finally learned most of the festival's official selection.

By Anne Thompson
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April 15, 2010 4:00 AM
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Hurt Locker, Other Award Pics Directed by Women

The reviews Kathryn Bigelow has nabbed for The Hurt Locker (91 on Metacritic) are noteworthy. That doesn't mean that the movie will score at the boxoffice for Summit, but it's off to the second-strongest start for an indie this year. The movie has a shot at one of ten slots in the wide open Oscar best picture race. Even the NYT's tough-minded Manohla Dargis, who has long shared with me a sense of dismay at the thin ranks of gifted women directors, was moved to step out of the reviewer's box to praise Bigelow here.