Thompson on Hollywood

Oscar Watch: Precious Star Mo'Nique Plays Hard to Get

Can a film win an Oscar without an all-out campaign? Three movies face an uncertain Oscar future because they may not deliver a full-court press.

By Anne Thompson
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October 27, 2009 10:01 AM
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Avatar's Cameron, Shutter Island's Lehane and Transformers' Murphy Talk, Mirren Wins Rome

All the hours James Cameron spent with The New Yorker's Dana Goodyear did not yield the results the director must have hoped for. The 11,000-word profile takes the easy angle on the director--he's an asshole control freak who eats his crew for breakfast. I am so tired of this cliche. The piece digs into many delicious details of the director's career and hard work on Avatar. (And Fox is still trying to hold the media to a fake mid-200-million figure--it's far more.) But while Cameron is certainly demanding and is putting Fox through the ringer yet again, he puts his ass on the line each time.

By Anne Thompson
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October 26, 2009 12:52 PM
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Gervais to Host Golden Globes

While some folks have been pushing Brit comic Ricky Gervais of The Office fame for Oscar host, he seems perfectly cast for the more internationally flavored and casual (and fun) Golden Globes. He'll be great at playing the room, and he's quick on his feet. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association will telecast its 67th Golden Globes Awards on Sunday, January 17 on NBC. The show has gone on without a host since 1995.

By Anne Thompson
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October 26, 2009 6:23 AM
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#LFF: Precious Scores in London, Chicago

Anyone wondering about a Precious backlash need only sit through the movie with an audience. The movie plays, people. It won the audience prize at the Chicago Film Fest, and scored at its London Film Fest gala as well.

By Anne Thompson
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October 24, 2009 10:58 AM
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Oscar Talk, Episode 7: Amelia, Precious, Awards Circuit

Fresh off the plane from LA to London, in advance of my London Film Fest activities, I got on Skype with In Contention's Kris Tapley for our weekly kudocast. We went deep on what went wrong with Amelia, what's going right with Precious, the plethora of awards-worthy but small-scale projects from Sony Pictures Classics (from Coco Before Chanel and An Education to Moon, The Damned United and The Last Station), films that will struggle to get plucked for viewing from Academy voters' DVD piles, and the start of awards season with the Gotham nominations and the Hollywood Film Festival.

By Anne Thompson
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October 24, 2009 10:04 AM
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Amelia: When Biopics Go Bad

What went wrong with Amelia?

By Anne Thompson
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October 23, 2009 4:11 AM
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Oscar Watch: Academy Hires Producers, NYT Recasts Carpetbagger

Now that the Academy has announced a team of Oscarcast producers, director Adam Shankman and ex-Fox studio chief-turned-producer Bill Mechanic, the business of choosing a host can begin.

By Anne Thompson
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October 20, 2009 10:38 AM
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Industry Gives Hollywood Film Festival Free Pass

I am surprised by the film industry and the media's continued willingness to give a free pass to entrepreneur Carlos de Abreu's Hollywood Film Festival, a cannily constructed facade which honors stars, filmmakers and craftspeople and lines the pockets of de Abreu.

By Anne Thompson
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October 19, 2009 12:31 PM
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Indie Spirits Move Their Awards Show

The biggest story out of the recent New York Film Festival had nothing to do with the movies shown at that 17-day fest. No, the subject of heated discussion wasn't the opening night selection Wild Grass or Lars von Trier's Antichrist: it was the change of venue of the opening night party. The indie world did not convene on Tavern on the Green as it had for more than thirty years. In a budget-cutting move, new Film Society of Lincoln Center chief Mara Manus saved $150,000 by cutting back the list and throwing a more intimate party at the new Alice Tully Hall.

By Anne Thompson
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October 19, 2009 5:35 AM
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Awards Season Kicks Off with Gotham Noms: Hurt Locker Gets Boost

Each successive round of awards announcements is about whether a movie gets a boost or not. It's not terrible to be left out of the Gotham Independent Film Award nominations. It's more about getting a slight boost as you build toward the inevitable momentum that accrues to the eventual real contenders for the Golden Globes, Indie Spirits or the Oscars. It gets harder, as time goes on, to grab attention in order to coax critics and Academy voters to watch your film. Otherwise you wind up on the bottom of a growing DVD pile.