Thompson on Hollywood

Now Playing: Oscar Season Films on Movies On Demand; From 'The Help' to 'Tree of Life'

Television

Playing on cable near you: in cased you missed a few, Movies On Demand has plenty of Awards Season films available now. Martin Scorsese's "Hugo" premieres on MOD February 28 (as well as DVD), while "The Descendants" (on DVD March 13), "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (March 20), "Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy" (March 20) and more are set for March. They'll join the list of films already playing, which include "Drive," "The Tree of Life," "Bridesmaids," "Hell and Back Again" and "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." The complete list is below: Winners available on cable’s Movies on Demand:

By Sophia Savage
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February 28, 2012 12:12 PM
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Weekend Video Sales: 'The Twilight' Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1' Sells 3.2 Million DVD and Blu-Ray Units

News

Forget weekend box office. This past weekend marked the launch of the home video release of "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn --Part 1," which has already grossed $700 million worldwide. The film sold an estimated 3.2 million DVD and Blu-ray units.

By Anne Thompson
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February 13, 2012 2:22 PM
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DVD Review: Kinky Classic 'Belle de Jour' Gets the Criterion Treatment

Reviews

Séverine Serizy, the glacial, inscrutable masochist at the center of Luis Buñuel's masterpiece "Belle de Jour," leads perhaps the most irreconcilable of double lives.

By Beth Hanna
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January 23, 2012 10:11 AM
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Cinedigm Partners with New Video to Buy and Release Indie Films

News

As the many filmmakers at Sundance seek the best distribution they can get, the new partnership between digital exhibitor Cinedigm Entertainment Group and veteran indie distributor New Video to buy and release indie films offers independent directors cross-platform theatrical release as well as digital and physical distribution.

By Anne Thompson
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January 22, 2012 9:00 AM
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Anglophile Alert: Brit DVD Retailer Acorn Media Streams Shakespeare, Rereleases Tinker Tailor

News

Acorn Media, well known for its DVDs of classic British television programs, has carved out a new presence for itself as the first streaming service that specializes in British television.

By Aljean Harmetz
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December 22, 2011 1:59 PM
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Kino Classics to Release Buster Keaton's "Seven Chances"

News

Kino Classics will release director-star Buster Keaton's must-see classic1925 comedy "Seven Chances" on Blu-ray and DVD. This marks the eighth feature-length Keaton release by Kino, which also began selling all 19 of his silent shorts earlier this summer.

By Jacob Combs
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December 12, 2011 4:11 PM
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Bogdanovich, Shepherd, Bottoms, Leachman and Brennan Talk The Last Picture Show, Forty Years Later

The Last Picture Show's Peter Bogdanovich and Cybill Shepherd with Academy moderator Luke Wilson. Getty Images

Last week the Motion Picture Academy unveiled the digitally restored director's cut of "The Last Picture Show," celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. A deeply melancholic ode to 1950s American small town life, the Oscar-winning film based on Larry McMurtry's novel boasts an ensemble of restless characters living, loving and grieving in withered Anarene, Texas. Following the screening, director Peter Bogdanovich, Cybill Shepherd, Cloris Leachman and Timothy Bottoms, who protectively helped Eileen Brennan with her mic, were on-hand for a Q & A awkwardly moderated by actor Luke Wilson (why not use professionals?). Highlights from the conversation are below.

By Beth Hanna
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November 21, 2011 2:17 PM
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Criterion Scores with Kieslowski, Three Colors Trilogy on DVD

Juliette Binoche, star of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Blue Criterion Collection

Near the beginning of Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “Blue,” the first installment of his “Three Colors” trilogy (now available in a fully loaded and immaculately produced box set from Criterion), our heroine tries to commit suicide. But Julie (an extraordinary Juliette Binoche), reeling from the car accident that kills her husband and daughter, can’t swallow the pills. Rather than sink into the morass, then, “Blue” works through Julie’s grief. It’s tensely balanced between Julie’s desire to forget her past and the way in which life keeps sidling up to her. Within the conceit of the trilogy, in which each film explores one of the three colors of the French flag and the values they represent — blue/liberty, white/equality, and red/brotherhood — “Blue” is the anchor.

By Matt Brennan
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November 16, 2011 12:00 PM
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AFM News: Freestyle Digital Media to Focus on Digital, Cable, VOD Distribution

In case you were wondering, VOD distribution is here to stay. Look at JC Chandor's $3.5 million Margin Call, which lured a strong ensemble of name actors led by Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons and Zachary Quinto, and has passed the $1.5 million mark theatrically in limited release, as it was also available day-and-date on VOD. More and more people are learning, as Netflix had hoped, to download and stream movies from their cable companies or through Roku, iTunes, PS3 or TiVo. Several folks I know picked up on the publicity and ad noise surrounding Margin Call and watched it on its second weekend in theaters, at home. It's significant, too, that theater owners are lowering ticket prices for a change.

By Anne Thompson
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November 3, 2011 2:26 AM
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Now and Then Sees Double: Margin Call/Wall Street and Weekend/Before Sunset

With a couple of superb new indies making well-deserved waves, Matt Brennan’s “Now and Then” column pulls extra duty this week by taking on two double features for the price of one: Margin Call vs. Wall Street, and Weekend vs. Before Sunset. Trailers below: