Thompson on Hollywood

Career Watch: Jennifer Lopez - Still Real?

Features

Tracking the highs and lows of Jennifer Lopez's career is complicated. As her star power goes up, the quality of her acting goes down. She got serious attention with "Selena" and "Out of Sight," and pop stardom followed. She became a celebrity, an icon, an empire, a brand. She now hosts "American Idol," has a Latin talent show ("Q'Viva: The Chosen") with ex-husband Mark Anthony, and just returned to the big screen with "What To Expect When You're Expecting." But the serious acting potential that she revealed in the late nineties seems to have become irrelevant. Is it too late for her to revive it?

By Sophia Savage
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May 22, 2012 8:06 AM
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4 Comments

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Career Watch: The Commodification of Johnny Depp

Features

Johnny Depp's career has been set on cruise control for years, and it's worked splendidly. He's Hollywood's highest-paid actor along with Will Smith, received not one but two Golden Globe nominations in 2011 (for two of his worst films) and is happy getting paid stupid amounts of money even though he agrees it's ridiculous and does not find it stimulating.

By Sophia Savage
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May 14, 2012 4:12 PM
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7 Comments

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Career Watch: Scarlett Johansson, Beyond the Black Bodysuit

Features

Scarlett Johansson's role as Black Widow in "The Avengers" would be unnecessary if the superhero rulebook didn't require at least one buxom babe in black spandex. Thus secret agent Johansson plays a distant fiddle to Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans et al's super-human powers. Although her assassin has no superpower--other than outsmarting, interrogating and shooting and beating people to death ("looking puzzled or confused")--thanks to Joss Whedon's box office hit, attention is back on Johansson the kick-ass action babe rather than Johansson the nude-photo-hacking-scandal babe. But is Black Widow the best Johansson can do?

By Sophia Savage
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May 7, 2012 3:40 PM
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2 Comments

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Career Watch: Michelle Yeoh Builds on Asia Powerbase, But "The Lady" Opens Soft

Features

A 1984 TV commercial with Jackie Chan was the start of Michelle Yeoh's on-camera career. While she ranks #7 on EW's Best Bond Girls list for her kick-ass role in "Tomorrow Never Dies," and is the most bankable Asian actress in the world, the martial arts action star ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) has never achieved Hollywood stardom.

By Sophia Savage
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April 16, 2012 7:17 AM
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Mindy Kaling Makes Impertinent and Incisive Digs at Hollywood

In an interview with NPR, The Office's Mindy Kaling, who writes and produces the TV comedy as well as starring as "perpetual teenager" Kelly Kapoor, displayed her unique and subtle understanding of the absurd logic of American pop culture. Among other brash statements, she hails the art of the diet: "We always think of a diet with a big groan. But I think diets are fun. I think it is an American pastime for a lot of women."

By Maggie Lange
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November 1, 2011 6:29 AM
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Tokyo International Film Festival Honors Glenn Close with Best Actress for Albert Nobbs

Adding another nod in the direction of a best actress Oscar nomination, Glenn Close won best actress at the recently wrapped Tokyo International Film Festival for her gender-bending role in Rodrigo Garcia's period drama Albert Nobbs.

By Anne Thompson and Maggie Lange
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October 31, 2011 4:42 AM
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My Week with Marilyn Reviews: Well-Mounted Period Fantasy Earning Mostly Raves for Michelle Williams

The New York Film Festival is in full swing, reaching its midpoint Sunday with the centerpiece gala, Simon Curtis's My Week with Marilyn. Telluride eagerly wanted to book the film, but Curtis was working with distributor Harvey Weinstein on adding material and the film wasn't finished in time; in fact the filmmaker was fiddling until the last possible minute.

By Anne Thompson
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October 10, 2011 4:34 AM
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Coen Brothers Join TV Migration with Detective Comedy

Everybody's going to TV. Even Joel and Ethan Coen have sold an hour-long private detective comedy to Fox, HarveKarbo. With Cedar Rapids writer Phil Johnston on the script, the brothers' single-camera show will trace the life of P.I. Harve Karbo and his noir-like investigations into the seedy underbelly of Hollywood high society. The Coens, along with Johnston, Imagine co-founder Brian Grazer and president Francie Calfo, will executive produce, reports Deadline.

By Anne Thompson and Maggie Lange
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October 5, 2011 4:16 AM
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Polanski's Carnage: Reviews, Oscar Prospects

Roman Polanski's Carnage played well in Venice and opened the New York Film Festival Friday night. Adapted by Polanski from Yasmina Reza's Tony-winning comedy God of Carnage, which was a hit in Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles, the movie will be catnip for Sony Pictures Classics' target art house adult demo when it opens December 16. Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly are all stellar as two well-heeled New York couples who start out politely trying to negotiate an apology from one pugnacious son for knocking out the other's front teeth with a stick. Things deteriorate from there.

By Anne Thompson
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October 1, 2011 1:03 AM
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007 Watch: James Bond Might Land French Bond Girl; Idris Elba Wants a Chance At Playing 007

French ingenue Bérénice Marlohe is the latest rumored Bond Girl for Sam Mendes' Bond 23 (photo below). Also rumored to be in the hunt for the coveted role are Freida Pinto and Olivia Wilde. Marlohe would join Daniel Craig, Judi Dench as "M," and Naomi Harris as Miss Moneypenny; Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes are expected to finalize negotiations to become the next Bond Villains soon. MGM's still untitled Bond 23, written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan with a score by David Arnold, is set to start filming in Istanbul, reports MI6, in November for stateside release by Sony on November 9, 2012.