Thompson on Hollywood

Transformers' LaBoeuf: Troubled Star

What a difference two years makes. The picture on left of Shia LaBeouf ran in Parade Magazine when Disturbia made him into a star. The photo on the right ran this week in Parade in advance of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. (Here's http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117940483.html?categoryid=31&cs=1">Variety's review.) We all know that talent is only one component of a long and happy career. Stability is another. Or to put it another way, sometimes the sensitive tuning rod that is essential to a working actor's skill set isn't screwed on tight enough. LaBeouf speaks frankly about his demons. I wish him well in dealing with them.

By Anne Thompson
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June 16, 2009 7:16 AM
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Kevin Smith Talks Superman

For those of you who missed this chestnut---it was posted on YouTube in 2006--Kevin Smith spent twenty minutes on one of his lecture tours explaining what really happened back in 1996/1997 when Warner Bros. and producer Jon Peters (always entertaining fodder) hired him to write Superman. As long as the Superman franchise seems to be betwixt and between, why not take a gander at what Smith had in mind? At any rate, Smith is nothing if not an engaging storyteller, and he's got this one down.

By Anne Thompson
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April 27, 2009 6:57 AM
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Wolverine: Multiple Endings

Magazine editors know that movie fans will buy multiple collectible covers. On that principle, Marvel has added different endings at the end of the credits to Wolverine so that fans will sample all the versions of the film, director Gavin Hood told one L.A. press screening on Friday night, reports Alex Billington of First Showing. UPDATE: Make that two endings.

By Anne Thompson
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April 25, 2009 7:44 AM
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Weekend Update: Watchmen Opening Not So Big; Kubrick's Tenth; Obama Gives Brown DVDs

While Watchmen delivered a robust opening of about $55.7 million in North America, it came in lower than expectations--and much lower than Snyder's last film, the blockbuster 300--both domestically and overseas. Finally, Watchmen works best as the narratively complex, visually dazzling comics series from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Originally published in 1986, the graphic novel is flying off the shelves. I hope people do read the book, which instantly draws you in with its compelling, never confusing storytelling, deepening and peeling new layers as it goes. The movie, on the other hand, is hard to fathom, boasts too many characters, and doesn't add up to much. Set in the 80s, Zack Snyder's film deals with the Vietnam and Cold War, and the end of the world via nuclear attack, but supplies a new ending with strange shades of 9/11. Moore always did insist that his comics were unfilmable.

By Anne Thompson
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March 8, 2009 5:26 AM
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Watchmen vs. Aliens?

[Posted by David S. Cohen]

By Anne Thompson
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March 6, 2009 5:33 AM
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Watchmen Preview: Review

[Posted by Marc Graser]You‚Äôve got to give Zack Snyder a lot of credit for knowing how to sell his movies.

By Anne Thompson
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October 2, 2008 8:40 AM
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Wall Street Meltdown: Crisis Explained By Frank, Moore, Comedians

Two smart British gents make fun of Wall Street hedge funds selling dodgy debt packages, and bailouts that "reward the ingenuity of the market." Very amusing. And as it's several months old, on the money, as it were.

By Anne Thompson
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September 28, 2008 8:25 AM
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Marvel vs. D.C.

[Posted by David S. Cohen]In a front page story in this Sunday‚Äôs Weekly Variety, Marc Graser explores Warner Bros.‚Äô plans to get its classic DC characters onto the bigscreen. Or rather, its plans to make plans.

By Anne Thompson
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August 15, 2008 5:29 AM
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Weekend Boxoffice: Dark Knight Breaks Records

It's a strange high-low time, as industry folks batten down the hatches in the face of tighter credit and an unresolved de facto SAG strike. There's unemployment, fewer movies being made, agency attrition, layoffs across many companies, and yet the summer b.o. is going strong, and breaking records.

By Anne Thompson
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July 20, 2008 7:48 AM
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Dark Knight Review: Nolan Talks Sequel Inflation

Finally, I would have preferred to see The Dark Knight in 35 mm, not IMAX. (I will go see it again when it opens July 18.) While the sequences that were shot with giant cameras were stunning at the IMAX venue--especially the deep detailed helicopter shots over Gotham and the amazing car/truck chase filmed in Chicago's freeway tunnels--I found the movie overwhelming. My brain starts to shut down when it gets over-pixillated, and this film goes on for two and a half hours. (Here's Justin Chang's review.)