Thompson on Hollywood

Shirley MacLaine AFI Tribute, from Raucous Rickles, Black and Nicholson to Roberts and Streep: 'She's Got Balls'

Awards

The annual American Film Institute Life Achievement Awards give folks in Hollywood a way to remember why they got into the business. And Shirley MacLaine was overdue for the award that had already gone to younger brother Warren Beatty, whom she said she has known and loved the longest.

By Anne Thompson
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June 8, 2012 4:00 PM
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Meryl Streep Will Present Shirley MacLaine with AFI Life Achievement Award

Awards

AFI Life Achievement Award honoree Meryl Streep will present Shirley MacLaine with the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award in a black tie gala held at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City on June 7. Shirley MacLaine's career has encompassed over fifty feature films, including one Academy Award, six nominations for Oscars and six for Emmys, and seven Golden Globe Awards.

By Maggie Lange
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May 23, 2012 2:23 PM
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AFI's Master Class Looks at Art of Collaboration with David O. Russell and Mark Wahlberg

News

TCM Presents AFI's Master Class - The Art of Collaboration with David O. Russell and Mark Wahlberg is filmed in front of an audience of AFI fellows studying at the AFI Conservatory. It's the second in AFI's series exploring artistic film collaborations; the first was between Steven Spielberg and John Williams.

By Sophia Savage
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May 8, 2012 1:04 PM
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AFI Directing Workshop for Women Showcase, New Participants

News

The AFI Directing Workshop for Women showcase will take place at the DGA Theater May 8. Each year, the Directing Workshop for Women offers eight women who have established themselves within the industry a tuition-free program of hands-on and classroom production experience as well as the chance to direct a short film.

By Sophia Savage
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May 8, 2012 11:53 AM
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President Obama to Screen 'To Kill A Mockingbird" at White House, Will Intro Anniversary Screening on USA UPDATED

Television

"To Kill A Mockingbird" will air April 7 on USA, in partnership with AFI and Universal and part of the studio's 100th anniversary. Digitally remastered and fully restored, the screening of "To Kill A Mockingbird" will be introduced by President Obama...

By Anne Thompson & Sophia Savage
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April 4, 2012 3:19 PM
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Soderbergh’s Haywire Premieres at AFI Fest: Review, McHale’s Q & A with Carano, Fassbender, McGregor

Soderbergh, McGregor, Fassbender, Carano & McHale at Haywire Premiere

By all accounts, the world premiere at Graumann’s Chinese Sunday night of Haywire at AFI FEST was, well, haywire. Sophia Savage was there.

As the secret screening was announced that same morning, it was bound to be chaotic getting people into their seats, even with press tickets on hand. I almost gave up after 45 minutes of running around to different locations based on the well-meaning but uninformed advice of festival staff. But finally I asked the right person and voila! I was in.

The good news: the film is entertaining, and the surprise appearance at the Q and A of Ewan McGregor and Michael Fassbender—who joined co-star Gina Carano, director Steven Soderbergh and moderator Joel McHale—made the craziness worthwhile. For a more informative Haywire Q & A, check out our coverage of the Comic-Con panel, which included co-star Channing Tatum. At this session, McHale seemed unprepared, riffing off the top of his head:

By Sophia Savage
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November 7, 2011 1:45 PM
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AFI Fest Confirms Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire as Secret Screening

Festivals

While most of the films being shown for free thanks to Audi at the AFI FEST (November 3-10) have been screened at other festivals, the AFI FEST has managed to grab some movies that weren’t ready for earlier fall tests. They scored the world premiere of Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar (November 9) for opening night, landed the closing night North American premiere of Steven Spielberg’s December stateside release The Adventures of Tintin, which is scoring enormous box office overseas, and will show (as we already reported) Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire (January 20) as its Secret Screening. That means it’s not an official world premiere—although in effect it is.

By Anne Thompson
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November 6, 2011 1:25 PM
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Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar: Review and Round-up

All eyes are on the last batch of major year-end movies to be factored into the Oscar zeitgeist. Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar, at least, will play better for the older Academy--many of whom lived through the decades depicted in this ambitious J. Edgar Hoover biopic dominated by Leonardo DiCaprio's moving performance in the title role--than the wider moviegoing public. Eastwood acknowledged this during his intro at Thursday's AFI FEST opening night unveiling at Mann's Chinese, thanking Warner Bros., his home for 41 years, for supporting so many offbeat projects that were not mainstream: "Sometimes they turned out pretty good," he said.

Indeed, Eastwood has delivered a consistent string of quality films, even after his career peaks, the Oscar-winning Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby. Written by Milk's Dustin Lance Black, J. Edgar cross-cuts between the old Hoover, not willing to release his hold on the reins of power after 48 years and eight presidents (many of them afraid of his secret files), and flashbacks to his life from age 19 through his rise to power at the Bureau of Investigation (eventually the FBI). Hoover started out responding vigilantly to terrorist violence and wound up corrupt, paranoid and egomaniacal.

More details and a round-up of early reviews are below.