Thompson on Hollywood

TIFF: Affleck Talks The Town

After playing Venice and Toronto, Ben Affleck's sophomore directing effort The Town, in which he stars himself this time, opens Friday. It's a straightforward entertaining character-driven genre piece set in Boston based on a novel by Chuck Hogan about a Charlestown gang of bank robbers who are under avid pursuit by the FBI. Affleck is trying to make a movie that's both smart and mainstream; he gives himself a juicy role as a wily robber who falls in love with a bank staffer (Rebecca Hall) and then looks to get out. Jeremy Renner is charismatic and dangerous as his trigger-happy partner in crime, while Jon Hamm is wasted in a dull role as an FBI agent. Blake Lively is believably sexy and pathetic as Affleck's angry, drug-addicted ex-girlfriend scorned.

By Anne Thompson
|
September 13, 2010 3:48 AM
|
3 Comments

More:

The Town: Early Reviews

Following its September 8th premiere at the Venice Film Festival, reviews for Ben Affleck's second film (in theatres September 17th) are decidedly mixed, though none (excluding The Guardian's harsh review, after the jump) go so far as to deny it is a worthwhile slice of gritty Boston crime in tune with thematic ancestors sharing its East Coast locale: Mystic River, The Departed and Affleck's 2007 debut, Gone Baby Gone.

By Sophia Savage
|
September 9, 2010 6:12 AM
|
2 Comments

More:

Affleck Talks The Town with Co-Star Blake Lively

- Ben Affleck interviews his The Town co-star Blake Lively for Interview Magazine. Lively, who plays Affleck's ex-girlfriend, a 29-year old drug-dealing single mother, jokes her way through the interview. They are clearly comfortable with each other--they shot a sex scene together on her first day of shooting.

By Sophia Savage
|
September 3, 2010 4:55 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Director Clooney Casts Political Drama, Affleck "All In" with The Town, TV vs. Cinema

- Occasional director George Clooney announced his intentions to adapt the play Farragut North some time ago. And now this February his movie is set to shoot with a powerful cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and possibly Chris Pine, Evan Rachel Wood and Marisa Tomei (should they accept Clooney's offers). At some point, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio were each attached to play leading roles in the film but schedules didn't work out. Former Democratic politico Beau Willimon, after working on Howard Dean's '04 campaign, wrote the original story and first script draft about behind-the-scenes dirty campaign tricks for a Democratic candidate who will barely be seen on screen. The main characters include a young campaign whiz kid (Pine already won praise for playing the role onstage at the Geffen [pictured]), a veteran boss (Hoffman), a rival campaign manager (Giamatti), a teen staffer (Wood?) and journalist (Tomei?). Though the specifics of funding and distribution are as yet unconfirmed, Vulture says, "finding funding with this cast shouldn't require kissing a lot of babies."

By Sophia Savage
|
September 2, 2010 3:23 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Clip Watch: The Town Stars Affleck, Renner as Boston Robbers

Three things we know Ben Affleck can do: write (Good Will Hunting), direct (Gone Baby Gone) and deliver a strong Boston accent, on display in this clip from his sophomore directing effort, The Town. Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) is in there with him. The cops-and-robbers flick debuts in Venice, followed by Toronto. I will report back soonest.

By Anne Thompson
|
August 30, 2010 11:00 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Waiting for Malick: The Tree of Life Should Open by Year's End

A new favorite sport among movie lovers is forecasting exactly when Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life will come out.

By Anne Thompson
|
August 20, 2010 1:06 AM
|
16 Comments

More:

Venice Fest Preview: Early Art

Here is some early art for several of the movies coming up at the Venice Film Fest. (I arrive there August 31 by train after spending two days in Rome; I leave September 8 for the Toronto Film Festival.) I'll write up early coverage of opener Darren Aronofsky's ballet drama Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel as a tough ballet master (modeled after Georges Balanchine), who I interviewed Monday. That film will likely show in Telluride as well as Toronto.

By Anne Thompson
|
August 5, 2010 12:59 PM
|
1 Comment

More:

Venice Line-up Heavy on Americans: Coppola, Schnabel, brothers Affleck

Venice has announced the rest of its line-up. Besides Darren Aronofsky's opener Black Swan (in competition) and the closer from Julie Taymor, The Tempest (out of competition), the fest is world premiering a number of North American titles. As expected the competition entries include Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, Julian Schnabel's Miral, and Richard Lewis's Barney's Version, a rare debut for a Canadian film in Venice.

By Anne Thompson
|
July 29, 2010 3:55 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Toronto vs. Venice: Who Got What?

The Toronto International Film Festival announced fifteen galas and 35 special presentations Tuesday morning, including 25 world premieres. Among the auteurs debuting their films at TIFF are Robert Redford (The Conspirator), Michael Winterbottom (The Trip), Guillaume Canet (Little White Lies), John Cameron Mitchell (Rabbit Hole), Mike Mills (Beginners), Tony Goldwyn (Conviction), Mark Romanek (Never Le Me Go), George Hickenlooper (Casino Jack) and Andrucha Waddington (Lope).

By Anne Thompson
|
July 27, 2010 6:01 AM
|
1 Comment

More:

Trailer Watch: The Town

Ben Affleck wrote and directed this new Bean Town crime drama, adapted from Chuck Hogan's Prince of Thieves. The Town depicts the struggles of ruthless robber Doug MacRay (Affleck) and the unexpected complications of falling for his former hostage, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall). The robber scenes recall the professionalized intensity of Heat and the masks in Point Break.