Thompson on Hollywood

Why Scott Foundas Ditched Lincoln Center Programming to Go Back Where He Belongs UPDATED

News

Three years ago, when Scott Foundas left the Village Voice Media's LA Weekly to join the Film Society of Lincoln Center as associate programmer, I was disheartened. Why? Because he is one of the most gifted critics of his generation. I took Foundas leaving his clear avocation as a sign of the continuing decline of film criticism.

By Anne Thompson
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October 31, 2012 1:44 PM
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Film World Salutes Andrew Sarris UPDATE (VIDEO)

News

Some of the top figures in New York film culture of the past five decades paid tribute to the late Andrew Sarris, the iconic film critic most noted for championing the “auteur” theory in America. Sarris died in June at the age of 83. The afternoon tribute, which played to a packed house at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, included speeches by friends of Sarris as well as an eclectic amalgam of classic film clips from films that Sarris loved.

By Charles Lyons
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October 25, 2012 1:34 AM
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Weekend Recap: Hollywood's Most Secretive Directors, Cinema's Future, Tina Brown, AMC vs. Dish

News

Secretive directors: In a world where new posters, trailers, and spoilers are prized and rumors are updated minute-by-minute, remaining a "secretive" director takes willpower and determination. A select few directors manage to keep a tight lid on their projects, and Vulture's Kyle Buchanan posted a list of the most clandestine of these. Hollywood's most secretive filmmakers? Christopher Nolan, Woody Allen, and the Wachowskis...

By Maggie Lange
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October 22, 2012 2:35 PM
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Review: Ty Burr's 'Gods Like Us: On Movie Stardom and Modern Fame'

Reviews

David Thomson, watch out! In the pithy new book "Gods Like Us: On Movie Stardom and Modern Fame," Boston Globe film critic Ty Burr delivers thoughtfully epigrammatic descriptions of movie stars, actors, and celebrities.

By Maggie Lange
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October 2, 2012 3:21 PM
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Watch: Reel Geezers Return with Review of PT Anderson's 'The Master' [Video]

Video

Video reviewers Reel Geezers, the self-described "dynamic octogenarian duo," are back on YouTube after a hiatus. What brought them back? "Yeah they didn't die!!!" wrote one commenter. Not to mention Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master."

By Anne Thompson and Maggie Lange
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October 1, 2012 6:17 AM
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Weekend Preview: 'Looper' & 'Pitch Perfect' Deliver

Reviews

There could be two home runs at the box office this weekend, as both "Looper" and "Pitch Perfect" score highly with critics. "Looper" delivers the sci-fi thrills and "Pitch Perfect" is both ridiculous and thoroughly enjoyable. There's also a handful of documentaries, plus "Won't Back Down," "Headshot" and "Hotel Transylvania" arriving in theaters. Check out details, reviews and trailers below:

By Sophia Savage
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September 27, 2012 6:35 PM
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Weekend Preview: Eastwood's 'Trouble,' Gyllenhaal's 'Watch' & 'The Perks of Being A Wallflower'

Reviews

Among the many new releases arriving this weekend, David Ayer's visceral, you-are-there LA cop drama "End of Watch" boasts outstanding performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena, which may or may not support Open Road's ultra-wide (2800) theater break. The film did gain some buzz in Toronto, as did Lionsgate/Summit's boy-centric coming-of-age tale "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," which favors Leo Lerman and Ezra Miller over post-"Harry Potter" Emma Watson.

By Anne Thompson and Sophia Savage
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September 21, 2012 2:24 PM
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Oscar Watch: Why Affleck's 'Argo' Hits the Zeitgeist, Early Reviews

Interviews

Ben Affleck has another hit due to arrive in theaters October 12. But "Argo," his third feature as director, will be even more commercially successful than 2007's "Gone Baby Gone" and 2012's "The Town," which earned Jeremy Renner a supporting actor nomination. That's because while Affleck understood that the film is timely--unrest in the Middle East has not dissipated since the true 1980 events depicted here--he could not have known that a mob assault on a U.S. consulate would make news headlines just as his film made its Toronto debut.

By Anne Thompson
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September 17, 2012 3:56 PM
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Early Reviews for 'Trouble with the Curve,' Eastwood's 'Gran Torino' Meets 'Moneyball' Antithesis

Reviews

For someone who has enjoyed such a golden career to date, Oscar-winner Clint Eastwood, 82, seems to be tempting fate, finally. He earned tough reviews for his performance at the Republican National Convention (SNL's inevitable Eastwood-with-chair spoof is below) and deflects questions about his wife's reality show "Eastwood and Company" in Tom Junod's Esquire current cover profile.

By Anne Thompson
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September 17, 2012 1:26 PM
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Obit: New York Film Critic Judith Crist

News

Judith Crist, the tough, witty, and often caustic film critic who combined a passionate love for movies with an equally passionate distaste for movie rubbish, died Tuesday, August 7 at the age of 90. According to her son, Steven Crist, she died at her Manhattan home after a long illness. Director Billy Wilder once remarked that inviting Crist to review one of your films was “like asking the Boston Strangler for a neck massage.” And Wilder was one of her favorites. She was arguably the most powerful film critic of her era because of her two-prong status as main reviewer at both the New York Herald Tribune and NBC’s “Today” show.