Thompson on Hollywood

Oscar Talk Mid-Summer Outlook: New Rules, Midnight in Paris, Streep vs. Close

Kris Tapley and I reconvened over Skype for a mid-summer Oscar Talk (below). We covered quite a bit of ground. New Academy rules affect the top ten best picture ballot, VFX, documentaries and animation, but not foreign eligibility. New members may tip the scale as well on a more mainstream selection.

By Anne Thompson
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July 8, 2011 5:08 AM
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Early Reviews Debate Franchise Ending

Timed with the Thursday London premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (in 3-D), the Brit and trade reviews of the eighth and final installment of the global blockbuster franchise are upbeat (see them and livestream of premiere at 8 AM Pacific, below):

By Anne Thompson
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July 6, 2011 11:05 AM
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BAFTA LA's Britannia Awards to Disney/Pixar's John Lasseter, Harry Potter's David Yates

This year's 20th annual British Academy of Film and TV LA Britannia Awards will go to Disney/Pixar's two-time Oscar-winner John Lasseter (Toy Story, Cars) and Harry Potter series director David Yates.

By Anne Thompson
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June 28, 2011 4:34 AM
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Lord of the Rings vs. Harry Potter: Does The Question Really Need To Be Asked?

Apparently it does, so Asylum asked it: Check out loyal fans stating their arguments:

By Anne Thompson & Sophia Savage
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May 26, 2011 9:00 AM
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MTV Movie Awards Nominates Twilight and Harry Potter Stars, Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg, Portman

On June 5, Jason Sudeikis will host the MTV Movie Awards, the show guaranteed to recognize the power of celebrity and shrieking teenage girls. EW reports the nominees for Best Female and Male performance, from Oscar-winner Natalie Portman (Black Swan) to Jennifer Aniston (Just Go With It) and Jessie Eisenberg (The Social Network) to Zac Efron (Charlie St. Cloud). Yes, really. The nominees for Best Line from a Movie are also announced, and listed below:

By Sophia Savage
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May 3, 2011 4:47 AM
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Summer Preview: Must-Sees on Big Screen, Skippable, Must-to-Avoid

The summer is upon us, with a plethora of viewing choices, many of them utterly avoidable. I lay out the summer movie landscape.

By Anne Thompson
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April 28, 2011 9:46 AM
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Oscar Watch: Rowling and Kloves' 12-Year Harry Potter Collaboration; Deathly Hallows Photo Gallery

In the April/May issue of the Writers Guild's Written By Magazine, J.K. Rowling and screenwriter Steve Kloves talk about their 12-year email collaboration as he adapted six of the seven Harry Potter books that yielded Hollywood's biggest blockbuster literary franchise. Rowling fell for Kloves during their first meeting on the Warners lot (even if she figured out that the studio executive dominating the conversation had never read the book), when the writer told her that Hermione was his favorite character. He had fallen for the first book before it became a global phenomenon. Now there's a Wizarding World in Orlando, Florida--for which Kloves wrote 16 pages of text for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.

By Anne Thompson
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April 18, 2011 12:50 PM
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EW Movie Preview Shares Soundbites from Hollywood's Summer Stars

EW's Summer Movie Preview issue is out April 15. Here's just some of the buzz they share from Hollywood's stars:

By Sophia Savage
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April 14, 2011 5:53 AM
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Year-End Box Office Wrap 2010: Winners and Losers Chart, Warners Leads Domestic Market Share

It was feast or famine at the 2010 domestic box office. The studios spent too much on too many uber-flops, but thanks to holdover Avatar and premium 3-D ticket prices, they enjoyed their second-best year at the domestic box office with $10.46 billion, off less than 2% from 2009’s all-time haul of $10.6 billion. The theatrical buoyancy of 3-D inflated the average stub from $7.46 in 2009 to $7.85 in the third quarter (per the National Association of Theater Owners). But the real trend is worrisome: higher ticket prices plus static turnstiles equals fewer butts in seats. Admissions fell 6% from 1.42 billion in 2009 to 1.33 billion last year.

By Anne Thompson and Anthony D'Alessandro
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January 7, 2011 9:10 AM
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Anticipating the Best of 2011: Malick, Spielberg, Scorsese, Fincher and More Sequels

- With 2010's disappointments behind us, The Daily Beast looks forward to the best prospects of 2011. They include The Hangover Part !! and The Muppets as well as Terrence Malick's The Tree of LIfe, which will be the among the first on the list (May 27) to go head-to-head with its own expectation-building anticipation. It's also the only completely original story on the TDB list.