Thompson on Hollywood

AFI Movies of the Year: The Town, Toy Story 3, 127 Hours, True Grit Make the Cut

The American Film Institute voted their ten best AFI Movies and TV Programs of the Year Awards Sunday, proclaimed as the "only recognition that honors the community’s creative ensembles as a whole, acknowledging the collaborative nature of the art form." The AFI honors American films and series. Thus they chose British The King's Speech and Waiting for Superman as "Special Award" winners, having not met the AFI's standard criteria (posted below). Their Movies and TV Programs of the year, as chosen by film and television scholars, artists and critics, are as follows:

By Sophia Savage
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December 13, 2010 4:47 AM
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Oscar Talk: 2010 Ten Best Lists, from "Another Year" to "Winter's Bone"

On Oscar Talk this week, as promised, Kris Tapley and I count down, defend and debate our rather diverse and distinctive top ten films of 2010. While we both include The Social Network and Toy Story 3, we agree to disagree on one of my faves, Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right and Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, which Kris admires. Notable omissions from both lists: 127 Hours, Rabbit Hole, Blue Valentine, Get Low, The Town, Inception, The Fighter and The Ghost Writer.

By Anne Thompson
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December 10, 2010 8:14 AM
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3 Comments

Oscar Talk: What's Up, Down After Gothams, Indie Spirits, National Board of Review

This week Kris Tapley, indieWIRE's Peter Knegt and I analyze the impact of the Gotham Awards, Indie Spirit noms, the National Board of Review and the Coens' finally viewed and reviewed True Grit on the awards race. Kris went to the Inception DVD/Oscar party (so did Amy Dawes). It's a contender--but 127 Hours could be a little shaky.

By Anne Thompson
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December 3, 2010 6:12 AM
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Actor Watch: Award Circuit Talk from Firth, Franco, Moore and Kunis; Eyre on Good Actors

- One thing that makes Colin Firth blush: two thousand people singing him "Happy Birthday" (on his 50th birthday, September 10, when The King's Speech first wowed Toronto). The actor considered most likely to win an Oscar this year shares more embarrassing moments with The New Yorker's Lizzie Widdicombe, who describes him as: "the British actor best known for playing variations on the repressed-but-sexy English gentleman." On the other hand, Firth himself says the English are "very paradoxical people" for whom "It doesn’t take much to get them to let their hair down—soccer, alcohol, music, or general excitement.”

By Sophia Savage
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November 29, 2010 6:45 AM
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Oscar Talk: Long Shots for Best Actress and Picture

In this week's Oscar Talk, Kris Tapley and I cover the best actress race and the relative chances of long-shots The Town (we both spoke to Jeremy Renner), The Way Back (we both spoke to Peter Weir and Jim Sturgess), Secretariat and Diane Lane, and the Coens' True Grit, which should be screening soon:

By Anne Thompson
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November 26, 2010 10:50 AM
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Oscar Watch: Black Swan's Portman Talks, Charms Letterman, Leads Long Line of Contenders

- Natalie Portman is not only Letterman's favorite (see below), she's also sitting atop Peter Hammond's list of deserving Oscar contenders and setting off alarms at her David Poland interview. Best actress rivals are going to have an increasingly difficult time keeping up with Portman's buzz, including Secretariat's Diane Lane (our interview coming soon) and newcomers to the race, Halle Berry Frankie and Alice (check out two clips at ThePlaylist), and Glee guest-star Gwyneth Paltrow for Country Strong.

By Sophia Savage
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November 23, 2010 11:00 AM
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Oscar Talk: Governors Awards, Animated and Documentary Shortlists, Oscar Parties, Ronni Chasen

On Oscar Talk 41 Kris Tapley and I have plenty to discuss as Oscar madness heats up. We cover the Governors Awards, the Academy's animated and documentary feature shortlists, the Amazon Studios, and Oscar circuit festivities. And we remember our friend and colleague Ronni Chasen.

By Anne Thompson
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November 19, 2010 8:06 AM
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Starry Night at Governors Awards Fete: Coppola, Wallach, Brownlow and Controversial Godard

Walking into the second annual Academy Governors Awards reception, I was gobsmacked by who was milling in front of the photographers at the entrance. 12-year-old Elle Fanning posed with her Somewhere co-star Stephen Dorff and The Ghost Writer's Olivia Williams; George Lucas was chatting up Godfather stars Robert Duvall and James Caan, as Sofia, Francis Ford Coppola and his wife of 48 years, Eleanor, greeted Peter Fonda.

By Anne Thompson
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November 14, 2010 11:18 AM
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3 Comments

Oscar Talk: The Fighter, AFI Fest, Black Swan, Britannia and Academy Governor's Awards

Oscar season is in full swing and this last week brought BAFTA's Britannia Awards and the AFI Fest, which unspooled the first L.A. showings of both David O. Russell's The Fighter and Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan. Kris Tapley and I assess the current state of the race--is Natalie Portman the actress to beat? Will Amy Adams get in over Melissa Leo? Is Christian Bale a lock for a supporting win? Where is James L. Brooks?

By Anne Thompson
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November 12, 2010 7:24 AM
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Will Studio Pics "Secretariat," "Love & Other Drugs," "Morning Glory" Earn Oscar Love?

The movies that are ahead in the awards race---or have the most buzz at this stage--either have already opened or nabbed media coverage at film festivals, from Sundance (Blue Valentine, Waiting for Superman, The Kids Are All Right), Cannes (Biutiful, Another Year, Inside Job) and Venice (Black Swan, The Town, The Tempest) to Telluride (The King's Speech, The Way Back, 127 Hours), Toronto (Rabbit Hole, Hereafter), New York (The Social Network) and later reprise fests such as the Hamptons and AFI Fest. Now Paramount has slotted a surprise "secret" AFI Fest screening of David O. Russell's The Fighter, which I will see tonight at Grauman's, with an audience: a smart studio move.