Thompson on Hollywood

Tracking Brad Pitt, EW Fall Movie Preview, The Wizard of Oz

There are two schools of thought among online sites. Increase your traffic measurements via page views by creating as many clickable pages as possible. Which means everybody is creating photo galleries with captions and lists that force you to click on every page. It drives me crazy. Good news: AOL Moviefone--a huge site--has changed its tune. Now they're seeking lingering readers who stay and immerse themselves on the site. (They're picking up my occasional post, btw.)

By Anne Thompson
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August 20, 2009 6:51 AM
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Redbox Wars, Stone Rewrites History, Happy Feet 2, The Week Scores

The Redbox Wars are fascinating, as Patrick Goldstein reveals in the LAT. He calls the studios fighting Redbox the "Napster Nightmare for the movie business." A U.S. district judge ruled against Redbox Monday,reports Paid Content:

By Anne Thompson
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August 19, 2009 3:07 AM
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Leibovitz's Money Meltdown, HuffPo and Facebook Go Social, Media Hotspots

Annie Leibovitz is astonishingly successful for a journalist. Or an artist. I'd be happy scoring $2 million plus a year.

By Anne Thompson
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August 18, 2009 8:49 AM
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Woodstock Now & Then, Mad Men Ads, Journalism Online, Shah Rukh Khan

The U.S. treatment of Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan stirs up a ruckus back in India. Shalini Dore and Jon Brooks explain.

By Anne Thompson
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August 17, 2009 8:16 AM
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Portfolio Returns, Hughes' Death Place, Celebs Shill on Facebook

Movieline writer Stu Van Airsdale tracked down the site where John Hughes left this mortal coil.

By Anne Thompson
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August 14, 2009 6:10 AM
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Avatar Day, Sony Acquires Parnassus, Tarantino, Screwball Ladies

We've been tracking news that Sony Pictures Classics would release The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus this fall. But as the NY-based specialty division rigorously refuses to confirm these talks, the rumors spread around the internet until Variety figured out a way to write the story so that Sony Worldwide Acquisitions Group "is in advanced talks" to acquire the movie for SPC to release. It's easy to run a rumor, harder to run it down.

By Anne Thompson
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August 13, 2009 6:52 AM
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Movies Go to Facebook, Legos, Lebanon, Redbox and Wellywood

Media Watch: Vibe could be coming back to--digital--life, while it looks like those wild and crazy salad days at Conde Nast are finally over.

By Anne Thompson
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August 12, 2009 2:39 AM
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Cameron on Avatar, Roberts Reads Books, Leibovitz's Problems

The LAT's Geoff Boucher talks Avatar with James Cameron.

By Anne Thompson
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August 11, 2009 1:20 AM
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Weekend Box Office, Surviving Newspapers, Revisiting the 80s

It's no surprise that G.I. Joe, which has been described as a bad movie that is fun, grossed $100 million around the world this weekend. But the $175-million action adventure's 18% drop from Friday to Saturday suggests that word-of-mouth could cause a sizable plummet next weekend. Judd Apatow's Funny People also dropped Friday to Saturday, followed by a 65% drop the following weekend. Nonetheless, Paramount is optimistically planning a G.I. Joe sequel.