Thompson on Hollywood

Viggo Mortensen Talks The Road

So many of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars seem like overgrown kids that the studios often turn to Brits and Aussies for their manly men. Viggo Mortensen, however, is that rare American actor who is both muscular and humane, tough and sensitive, fighter and lover. He seduces us with a threat of danger, his chiseled Nordic physique and stunning blue eyes. Never over the top, for Mortensen, less is more. His performances are slow reveals of hidden information and emotion.

By Anne Thompson
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September 19, 2009 7:08 AM
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TIFF#: Michael Moore Talks Capitalism: A Love Story

With his latest agit-prop documentary Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore delivers a scathing, entertaining portrait of how America's "greed is good" credo got us to where we are today. As the country heads toward recovery, the movie remains timely and accommodates the new Obama perspective. But the doc, which Overture opens limited in NY and LA on September 23, feels slightly unfocused.

By Anne Thompson
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September 16, 2009 5:05 AM
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Reitman Talks Up in the Air, Clooney

Six years ago, Jason Reitman picked up the Walter Kirn novel Up in the Air and showed it to his father Ivan (Ghostbusters), who acquired film rights. Jason took a short stab at a film treatment of the book about a businessman who is obsessed with collecting frequent flier miles.

By Anne Thompson
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September 15, 2009 11:54 AM
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Scherfig, Mulligan, Arnold Talk An Education and Fish Tank

There's a plethora of women directors this fall, from Lone Scherfig (An Education), Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank), Mira Nair (Amelia) and Jane Campion (Bright Star) to Karyn Kusama (Jennifer's Body) and Rebecca Miller (The Private Lives of Pippa Lee) .

By Anne Thompson
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September 12, 2009 3:30 AM
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The Road Will Open November 25

The Weinstein Co. has been moving around the release date of The Road, trying to figure out what it has. Well, post-Venice and Telluride, where the film earned mostly glowing reviews, it looks like Harvey and Bob Weinstein are going for a holiday play after all on a prime awards season spot, November 25. (The movie carries the Dimension label.) TWC was going to go wide with the movie on October 16.

By Anne Thompson
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September 9, 2009 9:36 AM
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Michael Sheen: New Man of a Thousand Faces

Michael Sheen is as driven as the soccer coach he plays in The Damned United, his sixth collaboration with writer Peter Morgan. In demand for a range of roles, the Welsh-born stage actor has conquered London and Broadway, smart movies and genre franchises.

By Anne Thompson
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August 28, 2009 6:32 AM
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Lasseter Talks Miyazaki and Ponyo

I've been spending a lot of time with John Lasseter lately. In May, the Disney/Pixar animation chief brought Up to open the Cannes Film Fest, where animator Pete Docter got the full auteur treatment. Then Lasseter brought Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki, who he says had a huge influence on Up, to do a U.S. tour to support his latest, Ponyo, from closing night June 28 of the Los Angeles Film Festival and accepting an award at Berkeley to July's Comic-Con and a full-scale Academy tribute.

By Anne Thompson
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August 14, 2009 10:30 AM
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Fox, Cody, Kusama, Reitman Talk Jennifer's Body

The prospects for smart horror comedies are dicey. Audiences tend to get confused when their genres get too mixed up: are they supposed to laugh or be terrified? Look at the lackluster summer b.o. for Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell. Mixing sex and horror is also risky, as the feminist thriller comedy Teeth proved.

By Anne Thompson
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August 10, 2009 7:32 AM
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Superman's Routh Talks Reboot

Twilight star Rob Pattinson is handling his new fame with grace, according to Brandon Routh, who has endured his own E-ride through the vagaries of celebrity. "He's getting much worse, more outrageous media attention than I did," says Routh. "He was in something brand new. He's handling it well. He's seems to be a sensible guy. He's not getting a big head."

By Anne Thompson
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July 30, 2009 10:00 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.