Thompson on Hollywood

Eliot Spitzer Has High Cannes Profile: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and Inside Job

As president Obama tries to push through financial reforms, the worldwide financial crisis is a hot topic at the Cannes Film Festival, from popular fiction Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps to Charles Ferguson's widely-hailed doc Inside Job.

By Anne Thompson
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May 22, 2010 6:26 AM
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Jagger Hits Cannes with Stones in Exile Doc

Mick Jagger gave a Q & A for the new Rolling Stones doc, Stones in Exile, about the recording of the 1972 double LP Exile on Main Street. In exile from Britain for tax evasion, the Stones holed up in a Riviera villa not far from Cannes, where they reveled, noodled, created and recorded one of the great all-time albums. "We were young, handsome and stupid," Jagger, 67, told the Palais Stephanie crowd in both French and English. "Now we're just stupid."

By Anne Thompson
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May 21, 2010 11:16 AM
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News Update: Crude Goes to Court, Stewart Goes On the Road, Tarantino Heads Venice

In an alarming development, Joe Berlinger may become an unwilling participant in the very lawsuit he chronicled in his latest documentary, Crude. A United States district court judge has ruled that Berlinger must turn over 600 hours of footage to Chevron, owner of Texaco, the oil giant that Amazon rainforest dwellers accuse of polluting their environment with billions of gallons of toxic waste. Only about 1 percent of the footage was used in Berlinger's film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009, and was released in theaters last fall. Berlinger's lawyer plans to appeal, and says the decision "threatens grave harm to documentary filmmakers and investigative journalists." Casting news: Kristen Stewart has joined the cast of Walter Salles' On The Road, now set to begin shooting in August. She'll play Marylou, wife of Dean Moriarty, who'll be played by Garret Hedlund. Michael Imperioli will star in Richard Lede's horror-thriller Foreclosure, set in Queens.

By Amy Dawes
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May 7, 2010 1:37 AM
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SFIFF53 Day Eight: Walter Salles Redux, Linha de Passe, Chez Panisse

Meredith Brody's Bay Area blitz continues with a problematically packed film schedule and a master class with Walter Salles. Awards, food, and Borges quotations follow:

By Meredith Brody
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May 6, 2010 12:26 PM
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SFIFF Awards, Filmmaking Grants Announced

The 53rd SFIFF winners have been announced, along with the San Francisco Film Society's Filmmaker Grants.

By Sophia Savage
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May 6, 2010 8:31 AM
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EXCLUSIVE: Red Flag Opens 8: The Mormon Proposition in Thirteen Markets Day-and-Date with VOD

New distributor-on-the-block Red Flag Releasing--led by two ex-Warner Independent execs, Paul Federbush and Laura Kim--is embracing both the digital future and the theatrical past with its first release, the controversial hot-button Sundance doc 8: The Mormon Proposition.

By Anne Thompson
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April 16, 2010 5:39 AM
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Tribeca: Gibney Brings Three Pics to Fest, Sells My Trip to Al-Qaeda to HBO

At a time when filmmakers the world over are struggling for funds and distribution outlets, a documentary filmmaker is doing well to sell his movie before it debuts at a fest like Tribeca. Now more than ever, as the breakout documentary hit is largely confined to the likes of pop culture entertainers Morgan Spurlock and Michael Moore, often the best sale to make is to HBO Documentary Films, which pays serious upfront dollars, throws you a premiere, and even markets your movie. That's more than most distributors are coughing up in this DIY era.

By Anne Thompson
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April 15, 2010 12:22 PM
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U.S. Army Closes Afghanistan Outpost Restrepo

The U.S. Army has finally closed the remote Afghanistan Restrepo outpost in the deadly Korangal Valley, where some 42 American service men have died. Named after a soldier who died in Afghanistan, the post was the setting for Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington's unforgettable documentary Restrepo, which debuted at Sundance and will be released in July by National Geographic Films under new president Daniel Battsek.