Thompson on Hollywood

Journalism in 3-D: Is Content Dead?

"If content is not king," asked Variety publisher Neil Stiles at a downbeat Digital Hollywood journalism panel Wednesday, "what is?"

By Anne Thompson
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October 22, 2009 1:33 AM
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Things I Learned at Digital Hollywood

A Digital Hollywood conference seems to comes around every few months, as folks like me trek out to Santa Monica to see if there's anything new to be gleaned about the digital future which seems to be trashing livelihoods all around us. Just this week cuts were announced at the LA Times, NY Times, and Conde Nast. Even online indie Spoutblog is letting critic Karina Longworth go. No more original content, warns the site.

By Anne Thompson
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October 21, 2009 11:55 AM
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The Flixster Effect: 2 Billion Movie Ratings

Call it the Flixster Effect.

By Anne Thompson
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October 12, 2009 7:16 AM
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Movie Site: Jinni

I am sitting at my laptop streaming Julie Taymor's Across the Universe--a movie with a fantastic Beatles soundtrack sung by attractive actors including yummy leading man Jim Sturgess--for free. I'm beavering away here, enjoying the comments on Gawker's post asking for $1000 reward for a new photo of Nikki Finke, and feeling remarkably unmotivated to do any serious blogging.

By Anne Thompson
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October 6, 2009 11:15 AM
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Avatar Watch: Action Figures, Concept Art, Novel

While James Cameron and the VFX wizards at Weta Digital in Wellywood are trying to finish the last big effects sequences in Avatar--which is set for December 18 release--Cameron is also working on many of the ancillary marketing and licensing sidelines that will help sell this pricey 3-D movie. (The official sticker price is $237 million, but we can safely assume that that figure is 1) low and 2) counting.)

By Anne Thompson
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October 6, 2009 6:52 AM
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Potter's Rage Debuts on Mobile Phones

True confession. I love Sally Potter, from the great Tilda Swinton-starrer Orlando to the sexy verse-poem Yes. But her films just don't do a lot of stateside business.

By Anne Thompson
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September 22, 2009 10:44 AM
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Movies Go to the Opera

Opera buff alert! You don't have to spend a small fortune anymore to see live opera. These days, the Metropolitan Opera is delivering its shows live in HD in digital cinemas around the country. This way, instead of sitting in the rafters with binoculars, you can relish in close-up the visual and aural wealth of the hefty sets, costumes, singers and orchestras.

By Anne Thompson
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August 7, 2009 1:14 AM
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Speedcine: Google for Legal Movie Search

Last March, New York publicist/blogger Reid Rosefelt announced SpeedCine, his new search engine for finding available (legal) movies on the web. Tuesday he launched the beta version of the site, which tells you where to find movies on the web, whether they are available for free, or to rent, buy, or find via Netflix's "Watch Instantly."

By Anne Thompson
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August 4, 2009 12:59 PM
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3-D Conquers NAB

I'm out of my element in Vegas for my first-ever National Association of Broadcasters convention. Monday I did a Q & A with stop-motion auteur Henry Selick, who ran some nifty clips from Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach and the surprise $74-million hit Coraline, which is starting to open in Europe.

By Anne Thompson
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April 21, 2009 2:56 AM
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Netflix and Facebook Are Friends

onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false">It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that social networking is the the next growth area for movies. Thus it's no surprise that Netflix and Facebook have joined forces.