Thompson on Hollywood

Oscar Predictions 2014 UPDATE

Awards

And so it all begins again. So far the 2014 Oscar contenders include a trio of Sundance hits: writer-director Richard Linklater's "Before Midnight," co-written by and starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy (who shared a screenplay nomination with Linklater for "Before Sunset"), "Fruitvale," Ryan Coogler's true story of the killing of Oscar Grant by a San Francisco cop, starring Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer, and David Lowery's western "Ain't Them Bodies Saints," starring Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara and Keith Carradine.

By Anne Thompson
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June 5, 2013 2:59 PM
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Cannes Review: James Franco's 'As I Lay Directing'

Reviews

Back in her “Pretty Women” days, I interviewed the young Julia Roberts and at one point she mentioned her dog, which she called Faulkner. Well, that’s one way to add some intellectual heft to your resume. Is it so different with James Franco? He says he loved the book when he first read it back in high school. Well, I loved a girl named Becky but I didn’t make a film about her.

By Tom Christie
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May 21, 2013 2:35 AM
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Now and Then: Olivier and the Bard

Reviews

"I can smile, and murder while I smile," confides that notorious noble, Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Laurence Olivier), "and frame my face to all occasions." For Olivier, pronouncing "frame" like "feign," it's an auspicious beginning. In Shakespeare's words, he finds his performer's credo.

By Matt Brennan
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April 26, 2013 3:03 PM
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Now and Then: Cary Grant, The Man from Dream City, Revisited (CLIPS)

Features

My own fever dream of Cary Grant takes place between cities, sitting down for a Gibson with Eva Marie Saint on a moving train somewhere in Middle America. Headed "North by Northwest," he's at his sexiest then, temples just flecked with gray, tanned and almost ageless. He's not just the recipient of her advances: he's asking for it.

By Matt Brennan
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April 10, 2013 2:03 PM
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Now and Then: Quentin Dupieux's 'Wrong' Exposes the Limits of Surrealism

Reviews

Drafthouse Films, the distributor of Quentin Dupieux's bizarre new film, "Wrong," describes the French director and electronic musician (stage name: Mr. Oizo) as "one of the world’s most fearless cinematic surrealists." The surreal does indeed seem to be Dupieux's preferred register, but this leads me to a trickier question. Should we care?

By Matt Brennan
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March 26, 2013 3:21 PM
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4 Comments

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Weinsteins Pick Awards-Friendly December Date for Kidman-Starrer 'Grace of Monaco,' UPDATED

News

UPDATE: The Weinstein Company finally confirmed their acquisition of US distribution rights to Olivier Dahan's "Grace of Monaco," starring Nicole Kidman in the title role. The film is set for an Oscar-friendly December 27 release.

By Anne Thompson & Sophia Savage
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March 25, 2013 11:25 AM
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Now and Then: Hitchcock's Bad-Ass '40s Brunettes Were the Lead-Up to Those '50s Icy Blondes

Reviews

My favorite words in the movies come from the dusky, sultry opening minutes of "Rear Window" (1954), as Grace Kelly's New York socialite glides through L.B. Jefferies' (James Stewart) dim apartment, switching on the lights. "From top to bottom," she announces herself. "Lisa." Flick. "Carol." Flick. "Fremont." Flick.

By Matt Brennan
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March 19, 2013 2:54 PM
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POWFest Celebrates Sixth Edition with Penelope Spheeris, Spirit Nominee 'Breakfast with Curtis' and More

Festivals

The Portland Oregon Women’s Film Festival (a.k.a. POWFest) announces highlights from its upcoming event, running March 7-10. The festival is celebrating its 6th year, and received a record number of submissions from women filmmakers across the world to compile almost 100 films...

By Sophia Savage
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February 21, 2013 12:53 PM
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Now and Then: The Dardenne Brothers' Lost Boys

Reviews

From the first minutes of "The Kid with a Bike," marked by an energetic shot of its young protagonist, Cyril, careening through a field and climbing over a fence, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's latest is an exercise in kinesis. It's not just that Cyril's always running: he's running away.

By Matt Brennan
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February 14, 2013 1:56 PM
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Now and Then: 'Side by Side,' I'll Still Take Film Over Digital

Reviews

Smart, wide-ranging, and informative, "Side by Side" may be a postcard from the future of movies, but it's still intoxicated by the past. Its dreamiest moment comes at the outset, a montage of clips from the first century of cinema: Eadweard Muybridge's horses to "Do the Right Thing."