Thompson on Hollywood

Oscar Talk: Ides of March's Clooney vs. Gosling vs. Hoffman, Supporting Categories

Now that we've both seen George Clooney's political thriller The Ides of March, Kris Tapley and I dig into not only Oscar prospects for that film, but the list of supporting players in contention for this year. We also debate the respective box office fates of Drive and Warrior as well as how success in theaters impacts a film's awards chances. (CORRECTION: Yes, Clooney won best supporting actor for Syriana and not Good Night, and Good Luck.)

By Anne Thompson
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September 30, 2011 4:15 AM
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2 Comments

Descendants, Clooney, Streep Top Gurus 'O Gold Oscar Rankings

The Gurus have spoken. Post-festivals, Alexander Payne's The Descendants (1) has taken over the frontrunner spot from Steven Spielberg's unscreened period war adventure War Horse (2). Interestingly, Spielberg was considering submitting the film to Venice but decided not to do so. He usually likes to wait until the last possible minute to show his films. It's better NOT to be at the head of the pack, anyway. The Descendants' George Clooney (1) is also at the front of the Best Actor race.

By Anne Thompson
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September 27, 2011 5:10 AM
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2 Comments

Pre-Premiere of Fox's New Girl, Nick Nolte Talks Bender, Stoll on Hemingway in Paris

By the time Fox's New Girl, starring Zooey Deschanel, premieres, it won't seem so fresh off the presses. Variety reports that the network will allow viewers to watch the whole series before it is broadcast Sept. 20th on live TV. Viewers will have access to the show through various outlets, including an unprecedented pre-primetime viewing on iTunes. The network hopes that through this new strategy they can access sampling opportunities. Before the launch, the show will be available for free on iTunes, Hulu, Fox.com, and Deschanel's Hello Giggles blog.

By Maggie Lange
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September 7, 2011 5:56 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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4 Comments

Oscar Watch: Best-Reviewed Movie Charts

Every year, UK statistician Andrew Sidhom keeps running charts of the best-reviewed movies of the year (one for US/UK productions and one for foreign productions), using Rotten Tomatoes' average rating. He also tracks current box office totals and theater counts. Over the past few years, the results closely matched the films that ended up being nominated for end-of-year awards and Oscars in the best picture category, provided that they were box office winners that were not in such Academy-unfriendly genres as sci fi, animation, horror, or sequels. The 2010 chart is pretty impressive: it's led by The Social Network, Toy Story 3, The King's Speech, True Grit and Black Swan.

By Anne Thompson
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August 24, 2011 12:42 PM
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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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4 Comments

Oscar Watch: Sony Pictures Classics Boasts Strong Fall Line-up; Midnight in Paris Stays in Theaters

Sony Pictures Classics is having a good year. Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris is not only the most successful Woody Allen movie ever ($49 million domestic and counting), it's the only movie to play all summer long. After its successful launch May 20 after opening Cannes, co-president Tom Bernard refused to tell me when they were planning to release the DVD. "We're staying in theaters as long as possible," he said.

By Anne Thompson
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August 17, 2011 9:35 AM
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In the Works: Dark Knight Photos, Eisenberg in Demand, Gleeson vs. IMDb, Soderbergh on Hunger Games

Just when we thought the super-secret Nolan crew on the Pittsburgh set of The Dark Knight Rises were going to succeed at keeping the lid on the production, new stills from the set have leaked out that show Catwoman tearing through some kind of riot on the Bat-pod. These photos come (literally) on the heels of the first official Warner Bros.-sanctioned still of Anne Hathaway as the new character, which was released this morning. And Total Film got Tom Hardy to open up about his masked role as Bane.

By Jacob Combs
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August 5, 2011 7:55 AM
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Midnight in Paris Is Woody Allen's Biggest Hit, Passes 1986's Hannah and Her Sisters $40 Million

Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris continues its torrid box office pace. When I talked to Allen right before he opened this year's Cannes Film Festival, he knew that he had a hit ("it's a hit, a big-titted hit!" as Robert Duvall says in Network). Sure enough, the movie has broken weekly house records all over the country and passed Match Point and Vicky Christina Barcelona's benchmark of $23 million after the 4th of July weekend. And now it has even exceeded vintage Oscar-contender mainstream breakouts Annie Hall (1977, $38 million), Manhattan (1979, $39 million) and his top-grosser, Hannah and her Sisters (1986, $40 million). This past weekend Midnight in Paris wound up a few digits shy of $42 million.

By Anne Thompson
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July 19, 2011 1:11 AM
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Weekend Box Office: Harry Potter 8 Beats The Dark Knight's Opening Weekend Record UPDATED

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 smashed opening weekend records as moviegoers flocked to the ultimate event movie, the last in Warner Bros.' beloved eight-film series based on J.K. Rowling's global literary phenomenon. (See Richard Corliss's fine summation in Time.) Anthony D'Alessandro reports.No woe in the world -- neither national debt nor the closure of the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles -- crimped U.S. moviegoers from seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 this weekend as they made the final film based on J.K. Rowling’s book series the biggest domestic opening of all-time at $168.55 million, ripping the wings off of Dark Knight’s $158.4 million – a record the Christopher Nolan Batman film has held over the past three years.