Thompson on Hollywood

Where the Wild Things Are: Early Reviews

Well, the reviews are rolling in on Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers' adaptation of the Maurice Sendak children's classic Where the Wild Things Are (which opens Friday), and according to the 37 assessed by Rotten Tomatoes so far, they are mixed, at 68%. David Denby's New Yorker review shares my view that the beginning of the film is brilliant and the interactions on the island with the wild things are talky and unsatisfying. Denby says kids will come out of the movie wondering why the animals are so sad.

By Anne Thompson
|
October 14, 2009 10:23 AM
|
15 Comments

More:

USC Professor Anne Friedberg Loved Windows

It's always tough to say good-bye to a friend who dies too young. After a lingering fight against colorectal cancer, Anne Friedberg died October 9 at age 57.

By Anne Thompson
|
October 13, 2009 3:56 AM
|
18 Comments

More:

Weekend Must-Sees: The Damned United and An Education

Weekend Must to Avoid:Couples Retreat Tomatometer 11 % Metascore 24 The notion of Swingers Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau reuniting for a vacation on Bora Bora may seem appealing, but run as fast as you can from this turkey. Making audiences suffer through couples therapy, among other things, was a bad idea.

By Anne Thompson
|
October 9, 2009 11:22 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Full Disclosure: Bloggers Break Rules

James Rocchi is the contemporary model of online era film critic.

By Anne Thompson
|
October 7, 2009 7:10 AM
|
61 Comments

More:

Jews on Film: A Serious Man and An Education; Polanski, Sellers

Jews are popping up all over. The Coens based A Serious Man, which is an affectionate yet scabrous portrait of Jewish suburban family life, on their 60s Minnesota upbringing. An Education's Nick Hornby relied on Lynn Barber's two-year old memoir and faithfully included the sleazy seducer played by Peter Sarsgaard, who is Jewish. Suffice it to say, he's a money-grubbing entrepreneur with less-than-impeccable values. Even Tim Blake Nelson includes the Jewish mafia in his midwestern comedy, Leaves of Grass, which recently played Toronto. And we must not leave out Quentin Tarantino's controversial contribution to Jewish cinema, the anti-Nazi World War II movie Inglourious Basterds, which was a sleeper summer hit. UPDATE: The NYT's A.O. Scott addresses Jewish history as interpreted by Tarantino and the Coens.

By Anne Thompson
|
October 5, 2009 5:15 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Barrymore's Whip It Delivers

Reelz Channel host Leonard Maltin reviews Drew Barrymore's Whip It this week.

By Leonard Maltin
|
October 2, 2009 10:28 AM
|
3 Comments

More:

IRS vs. Elvis Mitchell

Folks in the arts aren't always good with money. (I'm not.) But Annie Leibovitz and Elvis Mitchell belong to another class altogether: people who hobnob as a matter of course with culture mavens, beautiful people, artists, filmmakers, actors and patrons of the arts who are much much richer than they are. Since Mitchell left his job as film critic at the NYT in 2004, he has taught at Harvard, hosts a weekly interview show The Treatment on KCRW FM as well as Turner Classic Movies' "Under the Influence," and produced the Timothy Greenfield-Sanders HBO documentary, The Black List. He's a fixture on the film fest and lecture circuit. And he still gets the occasional writing assignment.

By Anne Thompson
|
September 28, 2009 12:45 PM
|
16 Comments

More:

2 or 3 Things I Learned at NYFF Opening Night

During my 20s in Manhattan, I looked forward to the New York Film Festival every September, when there was a nip in the air; it brought the start of the fall season. Here's what I learned at the 47th NYFF opening night:

By Anne Thompson
|
September 26, 2009 8:10 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Reviews: Surrogates, Capitalism: A Love Story, Coco Before Chanel

Leonard Maltin reviews three new movies opening this week:

By Leonard Maltin
|
September 25, 2009 4:02 AM
|
3 Comments

More:

Rotten Tomatoes Lists the Worst of the Worst

Rotten Tomatoes has collected their reviews and collated the worst-of-the-worst films of the 21st century. Whiteout---how many of Joel Silver's films are on this list, I wonder?---ranks at number 100. What's number one? Check out the lowest Tomatometers of the decade. All of the films on this year's list scored below an 8% Tomatometer score; the top 14 all have 0%. Twelve Oscar-winners starred in a "worst" film: Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro star in two. The comedy genre outpaces any other on the list, with 35. 2002 was the worst year of the decade, with 16 worst movies. Carmen Electra starred in more worst films, six, than any one else.