Thompson on Hollywood

Is Andrew Stanton's John Carter the Next Avatar?

The New Yorker profiles Andrew Stanton, of Finding Nemo and Toy Story Pixar fame, whose live action debut -- John Carter -- arrives via Disney March 9, 2012.

By Anne Thompson and Sophia Savage
|
October 12, 2011 5:42 AM
|
4 Comments

More:

NYFF Early Reviews for 3-D Hugo: Cinephiles Are Delighted by Scorsese's Love Letter to Film

The reason that Paramount screened Martin Scorsese’s work-in-progress 3-D Hugo as the New York Film Festival's Monday night’s mystery screening, without completed effects or a final score (by Howard Shore) is that it’s a cinephile’s dream. The NYFF audience couldn’t have been a more receptive crowd.

By Anne Thompson
|
October 11, 2011 4:36 AM
|
1 Comment

More:

My Week in New York: Hugo, War Horse, Turin Horse, Parties, Marilyn, Book of Mormon

Monday night's mystery screening of Martin Scorsese's work-in-progress 3-D Hugo (featurette below) marks my last screening at this year's New York Film Festival. The reason that the movie was shown without completed effects or a final score (by Howard Shore) is that it's a cinephile's dream, and the NYFF audience couldn't have been a more receptive crowd. While the movie should work with families over the Thanksgiving holiday, and producer Graham King (nervously pacing in the rear of the theater as ushers passed out 3-D glasses) assured me that they wouldn't have shown the film if the movie wasn't going to finish on time, Paramount wanted to build buzz for the film via the festival and this was the only way to do it.

By Anne Thompson
|
October 11, 2011 4:22 AM
|
0 Comments

Weekly Wrap: Oscar Talk, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Moneyball, Gordon-Levitt Interviewed on 50/50

WEEKEND PREVIEW:

By Maggie Lange
|
September 23, 2011 10:29 AM
|
0 Comments

Taylor Lautner: What Happens If Abduction Fails?

Taylor Lautner, the Twilight teen idol, has been poised for movie stardom. But what if his first solo attempt, the upcoming action film Abduction, fails? Lautner's agents at William Morris have posed the ripped 19-year old at a big star, lining up multi-million dollar roles (he will receive $5 million for Abduction), but what if he can't move past Twilight? (Neither Kristen Stewart nor Rob Pattinson has scored in a big way on their own outside the Twilight franchise.)

By Maggie Lange
|
September 23, 2011 8:19 AM
|
6 Comments

More:

Geeking Out with Cameron at the 3D Summit: Titanic, Avatar, Theme Parks

This week, in his Immersed in Movies column, Bill Desowitz talks to James Cameron at the 3D Summit. Don't try to convince James Cameron that 3-D is faltering. He's still a true believer, despite some recent 3-D blowback. He laughed if off as growing pains and negative media spin at the 3D Entertainment Summit this week at the Hollywood & Highland Center, but said it's nothing that can't be fixed with a change of perception and better 3-D authoring and presentation.

By Bill Desowitz
|
September 23, 2011 5:14 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

First Look: Depp, Pfeiffer, Bonham Carter in Burton's Unearthly Dark Shadows Ensemble

With Johnny Depp background and center as a centuries-old vampire, this "family photo" from the upcoming Dark Shadows film, directed by Tim Burton, reveals an unearthly ensemble. Dark Shadows will revamp the ABC 1966-1971 soap opera, which focused on the lives of supernatural siblings and their extended family, including witches, ghosts, and all manners of gothic horrors.

By Maggie Lange
|
September 23, 2011 3:16 AM
|
2 Comments

More:

Film in the Decade Since 9/11: From Superheroes to Westerns, What Came After

This week's “Now and Then” column started out comparing and contrasting two movies about assassins — Hanna (Joe Wright, 2011) and Léon: the Professional (Luc Besson, 1994)—and ended up ruminating on 9/11. Trailers below:Life and culture are too messy to be divided into easy categories like “Before” and “After,” but for all the continuities in the way films are made and viewed, a long view of the last decade reveals some important, if subtle, shifts. Watching the network news coverage of September 11 to prepare for this column, I was reminded of how much we didn’t know that day, how much our fear stemmed from no longer being able to control the course of events.

By Matt Brennan
|
September 12, 2011 11:36 AM
|
0 Comments

HollyShorts Winner: Downtempo Fairy Tale Takes Top Prize

The 7th Annual HollyShorts Film Festival announced 2011's class of short film winners in a standing room only awards ceremony Thursday night. The HollyShorts Best Overall Short Film went to Mrs. Peppercorn's Magical Reading Room, posted below. Mike LeHan's eerie, sepia-toned film shows the persistence of childish curiosity in the face of a mystery: it's a mix of the rational wondering of Harry Potter and the acquiescent observing of the girl lead from Pan's Labyrinth.

By Maggie Lange
|
August 19, 2011 8:29 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Disney D23 Expo Takes You Behind Scenes of Brave, Muppets, Avengers, John Carter, Oz, Frankenweenie

Deploying some marketing muscle, Disney is mounting D23 Expo from August 19-21 at the Anaheim Convention Center near Disneyland. Disney marketeers will take fans behind the scenes, offer sneaks peaks, panels, special appearances and exhibitions on their upcoming projects, including Disney's The Muppets, Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, Oz: The Great and Powerful and John Carter, Pixar's Brave, and Marvel's The Avengers. Five sessions will be dedicated to Pixar, including one on the art of Brave and another on the characters of Monsters University.