Thompson on Hollywood

Will Studio Pics "Secretariat," "Love & Other Drugs," "Morning Glory" Earn Oscar Love?

The movies that are ahead in the awards race---or have the most buzz at this stage--either have already opened or nabbed media coverage at film festivals, from Sundance (Blue Valentine, Waiting for Superman, The Kids Are All Right), Cannes (Biutiful, Another Year, Inside Job) and Venice (Black Swan, The Town, The Tempest) to Telluride (The King's Speech, The Way Back, 127 Hours), Toronto (Rabbit Hole, Hereafter), New York (The Social Network) and later reprise fests such as the Hamptons and AFI Fest. Now Paramount has slotted a surprise "secret" AFI Fest screening of David O. Russell's The Fighter, which I will see tonight at Grauman's, with an audience: a smart studio move.

By Anne Thompson
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November 9, 2010 9:28 AM
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Oscar Watch: Director/Picture Splits, Black Swan Promo

- What are the odds of a director winning an Oscar without their film? LAT's new Awards Tracker blog considers the importance of the best director and best picture unity. "Over the past 20 years, the awards for best picture and director split only four times. That's 80% overlap," notes Tom O'Neil, pointing out that being "overdue" is a big factor. Could this happen with Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), Christopher Nolan (Inception) or and Peter Weir (The Way Back)?

By Sophia Savage
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November 5, 2010 3:06 AM
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Danny Boyle Talks 127 Hours: Intense Reality, Franco, Crowds, Rahman

In this video interview, Danny Boyle talks about his decisions on 127 Hours, including: how intense should the climactic scene with hiker Aron Ralston (James Franco) be for audiences? He has to hack through his arm's muscle and bone to extricate himself from an unmovable Utah boulder pinning him in a remote canyon, where no one knows his location. Obviously, as there have been repeated instances of audience members fainting during the scene, it is too realistic for some people. And Boyle worries about this: to him it is not a fun marketing ploy. It could in fact keep moviegoers away. But truth is, the movie pushes us to root for the stranded hiker's survival. It is a true story about isolation, endurance, and connection. (Here's the piece I wrote in Toronto, including a flip cam interview with Boyle and Franco.)

By Anne Thompson
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November 2, 2010 8:17 AM
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Oscar Talk: Animation, Directors, Michael Douglas, Wall Street, Alice in Wonderland, Fair Game

Kris Tapley of In Contention and I talk about some low-profile films that may not make it into the race--including Solitary Man, Welcome to the Rileys--and whether Michael Douglas has a chance. We rate the three strong Andrew Garfield performances of the year: Red Riding Trilogy, Never Let Me Go, The Social Network.

By Anne Thompson
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October 22, 2010 3:52 AM
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Oscar Watch: Palm Springs, Santa Barbara Fests Push Oscar Hopefuls Like Mulligan, Franco

It isn't news that Oscar campaigners take advantage of fall film fests in L.A. and NY that are designed to draw awards attention. MCN's David Poland rants about con-man Carlos Abreu's bogus Hollywood Film Festival (which I refuse to take seriously) and IFP's Gotham Awards, which are far more legitimate in that they are designed to put the spotlight on indie films. Any fest that boosts Lena Dunham's Tiny Furniture or Let Me In is fine by me.

By Anne Thompson
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October 19, 2010 7:10 AM
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Zombies Rule the Earth, from Walking Dead to 28 Months Later

As zombies become the new vampires, and AMC's The Walking Dead launches Halloween, the dystopian 28 Days Later franchise shows no sign of slowing down.

By Anne Thompson
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October 13, 2010 1:06 AM
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Oscar Watch: King's Speech Leads Gurus 'O Gold, Wins Hamptons Prize

Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth as a stuttering King George VI, not only won the narrative audience prize at the Hamptons International Film Festival Sunday, but scored number one in the post-Toronto Film Festival Gurus 'o Gold poll (below). I also voted it number one (my current predictions are here and listed below), because the Tom Hooper movie is not only impeccably made and boasts the year's likely best actor winner (Firth), but is emotionally moving in a way that the brilliantly cold The Social Network is not.

By Anne Thompson
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October 11, 2010 3:33 AM
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Top Thirty Indie Films

Check out this list of the 30 most significant indie films in the last 30 years (full list, which includes three edited by the late great Sally Menke, is below).

By Sophia Savage
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September 29, 2010 5:23 AM
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Oscar Talk: Post-Toronto, 127 Hours, King's Speech, Social Network, I'm Still Here

In Contention's Kris Tapley and I talked in the same city for this week's Oscar Talk. He's seen Catfish and The Social Network; I saw a bunch of new movies in Venice and Toronto including I'm Still Here, Rabbit Hole, Beginners, and I Saw the Devil.

By Anne Thompson
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September 19, 2010 2:41 AM
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TIFF Between a Rock and Hard Place: Boyle and Franco Talk 127 Hours

I interviewed 127 Hours producer Christian Colson and writer Simon Beaufoy, the same team who worked with Danny Boyle on Slumdog Millionaire, just before my flipcam chat with Boyle and James Franco (below).