Thompson on Hollywood

Sundance Adds iPhone App

This was the year film fests discovered iPhone apps; Seattle had one (pictured) and now Sundance has one too. It's featured at Apple’s iTunes site and App Store. The app delivers real-time info to attendees:Users are able to search films and events, watch videos and trailers, interact with Twitter and Facebook, upload photos, find venues using location-based services and maps and much more. Sundance Institute will update the schedule, add content and add new events in real-time. Fans will access the Sundance Film Festival film guide and schedule, read about special panels and events, access top stories, meet the participating artists, search films, and watch videos. It is available online now for $4.99.

By Anne Thompson
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December 22, 2009 10:05 AM
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Sundance Adds Three Last-Minute Titles

In a surprise last minute move, Sundance programmers have announced the addition of three world premieres to the January indie fest. Gurinder Chadha's It's a Wonderful Afterlife, starring Sally Hawkins, Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids are Alright, starring Julianne Moore and Annette Bening as gay parents, and Galt Niederhoffer's wedding film The Romantics, starring Katie Holmes, Anna Paquin, and Josh Duhamel, will screen out of competition at the Utah fest, which opens January 21 and runs through January 31.

By Anne Thompson
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December 21, 2009 9:19 AM
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Things I Learned on the Weekend Party Circuit

1. There's girl-on-girl snogging between Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning as bisexual rock stars in The Runaways. That's why it's R-rated.

By Anne Thompson
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December 21, 2009 2:00 AM
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Trailer Watch: Sundance-Bound The Runaways Stars Stewart and Fanning

The trailer is up for Sundance-bound rocker The Runaways starring New Moon co-stars Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie. The advance interest in this edgy indie at Sundance is huge.

By Anne Thompson
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December 17, 2009 9:03 AM
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Stewart, Jett Hit Sundance with Apparition's The Runaways

It's no surprise that Apparition picked up all U.S. rights to Kristen Stewart vehicle The Runaways, which was fully financed by River Road and produced with Linson Entertainment. It's the first Apparition/River Road theatrical collaboration (Terrence Malick's Tree of Life, due in 2010, will be their second). The deal closed two weeks ago.

By Anne Thompson
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December 14, 2009 8:21 AM
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BNAT Wrap: Kick-Ass Beat Avatar as Best-Received Film

At the end of the 24-hour marathon of films at his annual Butt-Numb-A-Thon (BNAT), AICN web master Harry Knowles asked the 200 or so folks at the Alamo Drafthouse to declare their best film of the fest. Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass got a bigger response than Avatar, though both had their fans and it was hardly a scientific survey. (The comics action spoof Kick-Ass comes out April 16.) It should be pointed out that Avatar closed the fest. (James Cameron made sure the BNAT attendees had the right 3D glasses.)

By Anne Thompson
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December 13, 2009 9:19 AM
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Ten Questions for Bright Star's Jane Campion: "I've Never Made a Crap Film"

Bright Star was brilliantly reviewed on the film fest circuit from Cannes to Toronto. But some critics praise its undeniable visual style and directorial panache (the film won a special cinematography prize from the National Board of Review) but find the 19th-century period drama lacking in deep emotion.

By Anne Thompson
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December 10, 2009 6:26 AM
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Crazy Schedule

I'm in Las Vegas at the International Film Festival Summit. Over the weekend I went to producer Jason Blum's celebratory party for Paranormal Activity at his super-moderne house up above Sunset Plaza. It boasts a huge view of the city and great art and an angled pool that looks like you'd swim off the edge if you weren't careful. Filmmaker Oren Peli, actors Dougray Scott and Claire Forlani, CAA's Bryan Lourd, The Daily Beast's Kim Masters, DreamWorks' Chip Sullivan, New Regency's Amy Israel, attorney Linda Lichter and ICM's Ron Bernstein were among the revelers.

By Anne Thompson
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December 7, 2009 5:58 AM
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Sundance: 18 Titles to Watch

Now that all the 2010 Sundance films have been announced (all are listed on IndieWIRE) which films are the ones to see this January? Most of the films in the lineup are unknown quantities that will need to be checked out first-hand. Some of the new films below (I am not including films from other fests) will be hot acquisition titles, and some may actually make it into theaters.