Thompson on Hollywood

Oscar Watch: Where Are The Hurt Locker Screeners?

At the start of the awards season, I had The Hurt Locker at the top of my top ten picks list. But right now quite a few other movies are getting more noise. That doesn't matter in the end. Finally, the Academy voters will dig back to all the films they saw this year, especially when they don't have time to see all the marginal indies in their DVD stack. It's more likely that they will remember the movies that the critics pick for their top ten lists at the end of the year, or that other awards groups like the Gothams, Critics Choice or Golden Globes anoint as must-sees.

By Anne Thompson
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November 17, 2009 11:34 AM
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Oscar Watch: Waiting for The Big Four, Invictus, Lovely Bones, Avatar, Nine

As the deadlines for the Hollywood Foreign Press and film critics voting loom, the studios are finally starting to screen the last four big guns. The HFPA is heading to New York this weekend for the Nine junket. And they're seeing The Lovely Bones and Invictus. Avatar will likely be the last to show--not before December 10, says Fox.

By Anne Thompson
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November 11, 2009 9:13 AM
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Gervais to Host Golden Globes

While some folks have been pushing Brit comic Ricky Gervais of The Office fame for Oscar host, he seems perfectly cast for the more internationally flavored and casual (and fun) Golden Globes. He'll be great at playing the room, and he's quick on his feet. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association will telecast its 67th Golden Globes Awards on Sunday, January 17 on NBC. The show has gone on without a host since 1995.

By Anne Thompson
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October 26, 2009 6:23 AM
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Industry Gives Hollywood Film Festival Free Pass

I am surprised by the film industry and the media's continued willingness to give a free pass to entrepreneur Carlos de Abreu's Hollywood Film Festival, a cannily constructed facade which honors stars, filmmakers and craftspeople and lines the pockets of de Abreu.

By Anne Thompson
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October 19, 2009 12:31 PM
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Awards Season Kicks Off with Gotham Noms: Hurt Locker Gets Boost

Each successive round of awards announcements is about whether a movie gets a boost or not. It's not terrible to be left out of the Gotham Independent Film Award nominations. It's more about getting a slight boost as you build toward the inevitable momentum that accrues to the eventual real contenders for the Golden Globes, Indie Spirits or the Oscars. It gets harder, as time goes on, to grab attention in order to coax critics and Academy voters to watch your film. Otherwise you wind up on the bottom of a growing DVD pile.

By Anne Thompson
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October 19, 2009 5:24 AM
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Golden Globes: Slumdog Wins All

Fox Searchlight's party at Craft was the place to watch the Golden Globes Sunday night if you weren't at the Beverly Hilton awards dinner. I was sitting with the folks who marketed the hell out of Slumdog Millionaire, the big winner of the night, four for four, including best score, director, screenplay and drama, as well as the night's other big winner, The Wrestler, which won two out of three awards, including best actor Mickey Rourke and best song Bruce Springsteen. Here's the full list of winners.

By Anne Thompson
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January 13, 2009 3:23 AM
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Awards Shows: Tone-Deaf Excess or Conspicuous Consumption?

[Posted by David S. Cohen]The gang at the NYT's take on the awards season and the red carpet is pretty downbeat. Laura Holson reports that updated old-Hollywood hairstyles will replace gaudy baubles on the red carpet, and that understated is in. Meanwhile Brooks Barnes says the glitter and self-congratulation of Award Season is "treacherous ground" and suggests Hollywood is in danger of looking like a bunch of Marie-Antoinettes. He notes that Hollywood has turned down the glamour before, after 9/11, and suggests it should do so again.

By Anne Thompson
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January 8, 2009 3:52 AM
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Golden Globe Nominations: Atonement Leads Pack with Seven

With seven nominations, Joe Wright's Atonement led the field of Golden Globe nominations Thursday morning. It was a good day for Denzel Washington, who stars in two films out of seven in the motion picture drama category: American Gangster, in which he stars as a Harlem kingpin, and The Great Debaters, a heart-tugging period drama about an upstart debate team at a black college who take on Harvard, which he also directed. He was also nominated for best actor for American Gangster.