Thompson on Hollywood

Oscar Watch: Fest Awards Push Contenders

Along with fall award season pump-primers The Hollywood, London and AFI Fests, another key fest on the award season calendar is the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which takes place at the height of Oscar voting this February, from the 4th through the 14th. (Oscar nominations are announced on February 2.)

By Anne Thompson
|
November 23, 2009 5:12 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Scott Foundas Joins Film Society as Associate Programmer

As I suspected, LA Weekly and Village Voice Media film critic Scott Foundas has accepted the offer of associate film programmer at The Film Society of Lincoln Center.

By Anne Thompson
|
November 11, 2009 10:31 AM
|
71 Comments

More:

Sheffield Docs: How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin, Disco and Atomic War

Critic Karina Longworth posts again from Sheffield Doc/Fest on two features and a short dealing with the impact of Western pop culture on the fall of the USSR.

By Karina Longworth
|
November 9, 2009 5:44 AM
|
1 Comment

More:

David Ansen Named Artistic Director of Los Angeles Film Festival

When Rebecca Yeldham came in to run the Los Angeles Film Festival this year, programming director Rachel Rosen played out her last fest and then moved back to her old stomping grounds, the San Francisco Film Festival. Now Yeldham announces that Newsweek critic David Ansen is joining the LAFF as artistic director. Since he accepted a Newsweek buyout last March, Ansen has been delivering the slimmed-down magazine a reduced number of reviews and features a year. Who better than a critic to make the final picks on the LAFF?

By Anne Thompson
|
November 9, 2009 5:21 AM
|
1 Comment

More:

Sheffield Rock Docs: The Beat is the Law, Taqwacore

Critic Karina Longworth continues her coverage of Doc/Fest in Sheffield with reviews of music docs The Beat is the Law Part One and Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam.

By Karina Longworth
|
November 8, 2009 1:14 AM
|
1 Comment

More:

Festival Report: Cinema Eye Rolls With Docs

Critic Karina Longworth reports on the Cinema Eye nominations from the Doc/Fest in Sheffield, England:

By Karina Longworth
|
November 7, 2009 2:53 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Film Festivals: London vs. AFI

The London Film Fest wrapped up 16 days just as the AFI Fest got started with its nine-day run. The two fests offer a revealing contrast.

By Anne Thompson
|
November 2, 2009 9:04 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

France Oscar Entry A Prophet Wins London Prize, Audiard Talks

On my recent jaunt to London, I finally saw Jacques Audiard's A Prophet, which won the first ever best film award at the 53rd London Fest, after having won the grand jury prize at Cannes and scoring raves at Telluride. “‘A Prophet’ has the ambition, purity of vision and clarity of purpose to make it an instant classic,” said LFF jury president Anjelica Huston at the closing ceremony. “With seamless and imaginative story-telling, superb performances and universal themes, Jacques Audiard has made a perfect film.”

By Anne Thompson
|
November 2, 2009 1:17 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

LFF#: London Fest Closer Nowhere Boy

Amidst a resurgence of affection for The Beatles, London Film Festival closer Nowhere Boy marks a strong debut for Sam Taylor-Wood (a visual artist of some stature in the art world) and a breakout for Brit actor Aaron Johnson as teen John Lennon. But the small-scale 50s period film straddles two genres: musical biopic and family melodrama. The latter completely overwhelms the story.

By Anne Thompson
|
October 29, 2009 11:30 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

LFF#: Kristin Scott Thomas Times Two

Kristin Scott Thomas had a double whammy at the London Film Fest, starring as John Lennon's Aunt Mimi in Nowhere Boy and as a sexy adulterer in the French hit Partir (Leaving).