Thompson on Hollywood

Things I Learned On the Awards Party Circuit

On Oscar night I started on the red carpet --taking pictures, grabbing video interviews and tweeting madly--and then repaired to the interview room to listen to the show and backstage Q and As (transcripts here). After the best picture winners for The King's Speech had wrapped up, I walked over to the Governor's Ball just as Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban were leaving, heading down the escalator; the trio of winning producers, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, posed for me with their Oscars.

By Anne Thompson
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March 1, 2011 2:10 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.

By Anne Thompson
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February 28, 2011 10:30 AM
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Oscars 2011: Best Director Tom Hooper Talks King's Speech's "Man Love" at Backstage Interview

Best Director: Tom Hooper, The King's Speech

By Sophia Savage
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February 28, 2011 6:26 AM
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Oscars 2011: Best Actress & Actor Talk: Portman's "Little Dancer," Firth Threatens Dance Moves

Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King's Speech

By Sophia Savage
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February 28, 2011 6:01 AM
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Oscars 2011: Best Screenplay Winners Seidler & Sorkin Talk King's Speech and Social Network Wins

Best Original Screenplay: David Seidler, The King's Speech

By Sophia Savage
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February 28, 2011 5:23 AM
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Live at the Oscars: Best Picture Goes to Period Drama The King's Speech, with Four Wins

The best picture Oscar, inevitably, goes to The King's Speech, which earlier in the Oscar show looked like it wasn't winning anything, but eventually won the night with four Oscars: best original screenplay, director (Hooper talks win), lead actor and best picture. A bevy of producers surged onto the stage, revealing the difficult task of getting the film made.

By Anne Thompson
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February 28, 2011 4:31 AM
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Live at the Oscars: Hooper Talks Best Director Win for The King's Speech, Thanks Mum UPDATED

Best Director Tom Hooper thanks his mother. "My mom in 2007 was invited by some Australian friends to a play reading of The King's Speech. She almost didn't go, came home, rang me up, 'I think I've found your next film.' The moral of the story is, listen to your mother." Here's more from his acceptance speech and backstage interview.

By Anne Thompson
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February 28, 2011 4:01 AM
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Indie Spirits Preview: Back to Beach with Host McHale; Oscar Nominees Favored to Win; Hudson Talks

It's back to the beach in Santa Monica (amid threats of rain) for the 26th edition of the Independent Spirit Awards, which are voted on by some 5000 members of Film Independent, and take place the Saturday before the Oscars. It won't be hard for first-time host Joel McHale (The Soup, Spy Kids 4, see video below) to improve on last year's Eddie Izzard, who phoned in his duties without seeming to have much sense of the smart indies in the room during 2010's one-off move downtown to LA Live. Former R-rated hosts John Waters, Sarah Silverman and Rainn Wilson honed in on the right vibe for this crowd. Here's the list of presenters.

By Anne Thompson
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February 26, 2011 2:42 AM
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Oscar Predicts Chart 2010

Here's my list of predictions for Oscar wins (in italics) in all categories including shorts. (My nominations predictions are here.) Until February 27th!

By Anne Thompson
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February 26, 2011 12:51 AM
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Mark Your Ballots: Anne Thompson Predicts Oscar Winners

The Oscar polls closed on Tuesday at 5 PM. No more campaigning, lobbying or pitches for attention will make a difference now. It's all in the hands of the PriceWaterhousecooper counters, and will be revealed Sunday. Meanwhile the rest of us want to win our respective Oscar pools. This year, I must warn you, is tough to call. As Kris Tapley and I discuss in our latest Oscar Talk, there are plenty of sure-calls, but also several impossible-to-predict categories: documentary and foreign film, which are voted on by small groups who must prove that they've seen all the films, and supporting actress. The shorts are always a bit of a crap shoot too. Warning: I'm going out on a limb in a few categories, so when in doubt, choose the perceived frontrunner.