Thompson on Hollywood

In Production: Sci-Fi Shakespeare, Pitt's Jesse James Reunion, Wong Kar Wai's Grandmasters

- Genre-mixing on well-known tales is the new thing: take the upcoming Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (in which Tom Hardy may play the vampire lead), Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, The Tempest, Snow White and the Huntsman, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Joe Wright's The Little Mermaid, and so on. Thus it comes as no surprise that Production Weekly (and ThePlaylist) are announcing Henry5, a sci-fi thriller version of Shakespeare's Henry IV and Henry V. Among the actors attached are Michael Caine, Ray Winstone, Gerard Depardieu, Derek Jacobi and Vinnie Jones. The project comes from Arclight's production division Darclight Films and will be directed by Michael Anderson, who also co-wrote the script adaptation with Andrew Hislop and Steve Wilkinson (who is producing alongside Nigel Wooll). ThePlayist has more.

By Sophia Savage
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November 4, 2010 3:27 AM
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Javier Bardem Receiving International Star Award at Palm Springs Film Festival

The Palm Springs International Film Festival is honoring Oscar winner Javier Bardem with its International Star Award at the festival's Gala on January 8, recognizing his critical and commercial success as a domestic and international star. Festival chairman Harold Matzner calls Bardem a "mesmerizing" actor who "brings a stinging intensity to his performances. He riveted audiences with his portrayal in No Country for Old Men and continues to raise the bar in his latest film, Biutiful. Javier Bardem now ranks among the cinematic elite." Jennifer Lawrence and Carey Mulligan will also be receiving awards at the PSIFF, as previously announced.

By Sophia Savage
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November 3, 2010 5:20 AM
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Weather Report: Girls in Minis

It seems inevitable. Taiwanese animators NMA have launched a new animated news video, a daily weather report, right out of Paddy Chayefsky's Network. Wave of the future? News weather men, watch your back.

By Anne Thompson
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November 3, 2010 4:01 AM
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Weir's The Way Back Kicks Off Museum of Tolerance Film Fest

Peter Weir's The Way Back will kick off Los Angeles' Museum of Tolerance International Film Festival (MOTIFF) on November 13, which runs six days and screens twenty-two films seeking to highlight human rights issues past and present. Clint Eastwood will be honored with the festival's first "Tolerance Award" at the festival Gala on November 14. Clinton's Gran Torino (2008) will have a special presentation during the festival. Among the other films are Nigel Cole's Made in Dagenham (2010), Matthew Asner and Danny Gold's documentary 100 Voices: A Journey Home (2010), Reconciliation: Mandela's Miracle (2010) from Michael Henry Wilson, When We Leave (2010, Germany) from Feo Aladag, plus special presentations of Kimberly Peirce's Boy's Don't Cry (1999), To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) and more.

By Sophia Savage
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November 3, 2010 3:28 AM
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Gender Watch: Theron for Snow, Cholodenko Talks, Lisbeth Salander and Hollywood's Woman Problem

-Charlize Theron could be in, and Angelina Jolie out for director Rupert Sanders' Snow White and The Huntsman, according to ThePlaylist. It was always a hopeful stretch to think that Jolie would sign up (get in line) but Theron's schedule has opened up thanks to the Mad Max postponement. That makes her an attractive candidate for evil queen Ravenna, who hires a bounty hunter (Inception Brit Tom Hardy, also starring in Mad Max) to chase down Snow White after her escape. Theron is currently shooting Jason Reitman's Young Adult with Patrick Wilson. While not as established as an action star as Jolie, Theron is one of the few actresses who can legitimately be considered alongside Jolie in the action sphere (as much for Monster and In The Valley of Elah as "actioners" Æon Flux and Hancock). Plot details are murky, but we like the thought of watching Theron boss around Hardy.

By Sophia Savage
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October 29, 2010 5:55 AM
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Animal Kingdom Dominates Australian Film Awards

The Australian Film Institute Awards put David Michod's Animal Kingdom at the top of its list with eighteen nominations, including Best Film. In that category the film will compete with Jeremy Sims' Beneath Hill 60, Jane Campion's Bright Star (eleven nominations), Rachel Perkins' Bran Nue Dae, Julie Bertuccelli's The Tree and Stuart Beattie's Tomorrow, When the War Began.

By Sophia Savage
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October 27, 2010 4:09 AM
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European Film Academy Nominates Three Documentaries for Prix Arte Award

The European Film Academy nominates three documentary films for its Prix Arte award. The selection was made by EFA Board Members Despina Mouzaki (Greece), Pierre-Henri Deleau (France) and Francine Brücher (Switzerland), along with experts Claas Danielsen (International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film), Ally Derks (director IDFA, the Netherlands), and Jacques Laurent (producer, Belgium). The 2,300 members of the EFA will now watch and vote on the winner, to be awarded on December 4.

By Sophia Savage
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October 27, 2010 3:19 AM
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A Tribute to Fellini's La Dolce Vita

The fifth Rome International Film Festival (October 28 to November 5) will mount a 50th anniversary tribute on October 30 to Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita with the premiere of the film's new digital restoration at the Sala Petrassi of the Auditorium Parco della Musica. The Film Foundation and Gucci backed the film's restoration.

By Sophia Savage
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October 25, 2010 8:16 AM
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Trailer Watch: Made in Dagenham

Check out Sally Hawkins, Miranda Richardson, Jaime Winstone, Rosamund Pike and more in Made In Dagenham, a dramatization of the 1968 strike at Britain's Dagenham Ford plant. Director Nigel Cole (Calendar Girls) follows the women who led workers in protest against sexual discrimination (shades of Norma Rae, which won Sally Field an Oscar). The film premiered well this year at Toronto and sits nicely on the Tomatometer with 92%. It opens November 19.

By Anne Thompson
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October 22, 2010 3:36 AM
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Oscar Talk Wrap-Up: Never Let Me Go Wanes, Foreign Contenders, Blue Valentine, Harry Potter

During this week's Oscar Talk podcast, Kris Tapley (InContention) and I were joined by indieWIRE's awards expert Peter Knegt and InContention's Guy Lodge, both in London covering the festival.