Thompson on Hollywood

Oscar Powers Netflix's Top Ten Most-Rented List

Netflix's ten most-rented list of all time (list below) reminds us of the long-tail Power of Oscar. And it should remind Netflix, as it splits its DVD and streaming business and alienates many of its customers who are used to relying on its deep long-tail arcania, that their solid customer base is smart adults, not the great unwashed, something they seem to be in danger of forgetting as they focus on TV and mainstream acquisitions and let smaller movies go.

By Anne Thompson
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October 3, 2011 11:09 AM
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Production Watch: Dark Tower, Bigelow's Bin Laden, Reeves, Fukunaga

- Ron Howard has dropped a few nuggets about his planned Stephen King Dark Tower adaptation, for which Javier Bardem is still unconfirmed.

By Sophia Savage
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May 25, 2011 7:40 AM
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Osama bin Laden is Dead Tweets, New Yorker Covers, Newspaper Boost, Bigelow/Boal Rewrite UPDATED

President Barack Obama had a great weekend--he not only blitzed Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner but then celebrated with America and the world his administration's successful Pakistan Navy SEAL operation to execute Osama bin Laden. His death has proved a boon for old media: May 2's front pages are collectors' items. @NYTimes tweets that it printed 165,000 extra copies of today's historic paper, 2.5 times the normal order. The Washington Post added 35,000. See our gallery of NYorker Bin Laden covers below.

By anne Thompson and Sophia Savage
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May 2, 2011 4:15 AM
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Things I Learned On the Awards Party Circuit

On Oscar night I started on the red carpet --taking pictures, grabbing video interviews and tweeting madly--and then repaired to the interview room to listen to the show and backstage Q and As (transcripts here). After the best picture winners for The King's Speech had wrapped up, I walked over to the Governor's Ball just as Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban were leaving, heading down the escalator; the trio of winning producers, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, posed for me with their Oscars.

By Anne Thompson
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March 1, 2011 2:10 AM
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Oscar Talk: True Grit vs. Social Network, Party Circuit, Vulnerable Contenders, Spoilers, 2011 Picks

During this week's Oscar Talk (on the jump), Kris Tapley and I debate the Hailee Steinfeld category issue for True Grit. He thinks she's best actress material, while I argue that she's a rookie who belongs in supporting. At Thursday night's The Social Network DVD party at Spago, producer Scott Rudin was all smiles (True Grit is also vying for best picture). He opted to compete in the supporting category, he said, because it would seem "brazen" to put a newcomer up for best actress. Besides, he argued, Mattie Ross is the instigator of the plot, not the protagonist. The movie is about Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges); he is the character that changes. (Here's my Rudin interview.)

By Anne Thompson
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January 7, 2011 5:05 AM
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Jeremy Renner Talks 'The Town,''Mission Impossible,' 'The Avengers'

The Hurt Locker not only gave Jeremy Renner the role of his career--which earned him an Oscar nomination--but it opened up a raft of career possibilities. Renner is young, gifted and masculine: he can play a charismatic hero or a dangerous villain, a leading man or a character role. He's versatile. This is what casting directors want. There aren't enough guys like him.

By Anne Thompson
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December 6, 2010 6:26 AM
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Starry Night at Governors Awards Fete: Coppola, Wallach, Brownlow and Controversial Godard

Walking into the second annual Academy Governors Awards reception, I was gobsmacked by who was milling in front of the photographers at the entrance. 12-year-old Elle Fanning posed with her Somewhere co-star Stephen Dorff and The Ghost Writer's Olivia Williams; George Lucas was chatting up Godfather stars Robert Duvall and James Caan, as Sofia, Francis Ford Coppola and his wife of 48 years, Eleanor, greeted Peter Fonda.

By Anne Thompson
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November 14, 2010 11:18 AM
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Forbes Top Entertainment Earners: Women vs. Men

- Check out Forbes' annual list of Hollywood's highest-grossing women in entertainment. For one thing, points out THR, there aren't any female directors among the top ten women. James Cameron dominates the men's list, along with George Lucas and Michael Bay, but Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow isn't on the list at all.

By Sophia Savage
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November 12, 2010 7:07 AM
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Oscar Round-Up: Best Actress Buzzing, Quoting The Social Network, Does Winter's Bone Have a Chance?

Buzz is building around this year's best actress Oscar race: "Unlike most years when men dominate the critical buzz for strong roles," asserts TheStar's Zorianna Kit. Well, that's debatable: last year boasted the Sandra Bullock/Meryl Streep flirtation, Carey Mulligan's breakout performance, Mo'Nique, Helen Mirren, Kathryn Bigelow winning for best director…and so on. But certainly this year boasts an abundance of actresses to pick from, including some who grabbed our attention in untraditional roles, from Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right to Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone--and many have not yet seen fall fest fave Natalie Portman in Black Swan. Fasten your seat belts.

By Sophia Savage
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October 21, 2010 4:07 AM
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Oscar Round-Up: The Social Network Leads Buzz, Bullock vs. Lane, Renner's a Star

As awards season heats up and the growing surge of Oscar pundits weigh in more frequently, every Thursday the Daily Read will round up their worthiest efforts. And every Friday, as usual, we post the Oscar Talk podcast: this week we welcome London Fest attendees Guy Lodge (In Contention) and Peter Knegt (indieWIRE).