Thompson on Hollywood

Fest Review Round-Up: Never Let Me Go, Tabloid, Somewhere

While the Venice Fest is on its fourth day, Telluride got under way Friday night with screenings of Mark Romanek's Never Let Me Go, Errol Morris's latest doc Tabloid and Peter Weir's prisoner-of-war drama The Way Back, which fewer people instantly reviewed. @EugeneNovikov tweeted: "THE WAY BACK (B) I was rapt for the first half- Weir at his hypnotic best - then becomes a bit repetitive and mechanical (if still powerful)." UPDATE: Here's the NYT's A.O. Scott.

By Anne Thompson
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September 3, 2010 8:30 AM
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TIFF Adds 44, Last Night Closes Fest, Eastwood Debuts Hereafter, Let Me In Opens Fantastic Fest

The fall fest shuffle continues as first Venice, then Telluride, Toronto, New York and finally London all lay in their programming. There's plenty of overlap among the new titles (as opposed to recycled Cannes fare, much of it from Sony Pictures Classics and IFC), but basically Venice gets to unveil their opener, Darren Aronofsky's ballet thriller Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) which then proceeds to Telluride (which never announces its program, which most folks respect, but THR has published its "unofficial" list) and Toronto. UPDATE: Here's the new trailer.

By Anne Thompson
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August 17, 2010 3:16 AM
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Never Let Me Go Opens London Film Festival

Fox Searchlight is parceling out its fall line-up across various festivals. Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan is opening Venice and will likely play Telluride as well as Toronto. Now we learn that Mark Romanek's Never Let Me Go is opening the the 54th BFI London Film Festival on October 13.

By Anne Thompson
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August 5, 2010 12:08 PM
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Toronto vs. Venice: Who Got What?

The Toronto International Film Festival announced fifteen galas and 35 special presentations Tuesday morning, including 25 world premieres. Among the auteurs debuting their films at TIFF are Robert Redford (The Conspirator), Michael Winterbottom (The Trip), Guillaume Canet (Little White Lies), John Cameron Mitchell (Rabbit Hole), Mike Mills (Beginners), Tony Goldwyn (Conviction), Mark Romanek (Never Le Me Go), George Hickenlooper (Casino Jack) and Andrucha Waddington (Lope).

By Anne Thompson
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July 27, 2010 6:01 AM
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Trailer Watch: Never Let Me Go

One award-season play for Fox Searchlight this year is Mark Romanek's Never Let Me Go, set for October 1 release. (The trailer is below.) Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield lead the cast of the film adapted by Alex Garland from the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day). Romanek, who last directed One Hour Photo eight years ago, has much to prove here, following two big-budget studio films that imploded. He left Universal's The Wolf Man over budget issues--a penny-wise, pound-foolish call that the studio regrets in retrospect. And Tom Hanks-starrer Cold Case also fell apart.

By Anne Thompson
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June 16, 2010 1:46 AM
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My Fair Lady: Mulligan vs. Knightley

But can she sing?

By Anne Thompson
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March 26, 2010 6:15 AM
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Girl with Dragon Tattoo: Who Should Play Salander?

As the Swedish global hit opens stateside and the English-language version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo gets under way, screenwriter Steve Zaillian plans to place tough, bisexual hacker/sleuth Lisbeth Salander front and center, recognizing that she's the star of Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy. So who should play her?

By Anne Thompson
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March 18, 2010 3:59 AM
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Weekend Winners: Where the Wild Things Are, Law Abiding Citizen, Paranormal Activity

Weekend Box Office WinnersSpike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are led the weekend box office. While an estimated $32.4 million was a studio record for October (the movie was on some 3700 screens), the number wasn't as big as some expected after its stellar Friday. The studio aimed the PG-rated film at a general, not family audience. But will the $90-million movie make its money back? Finally, Warners backed filmmakers working outside of the box, and that's a good thing.

By Anne Thompson
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October 19, 2009 6:05 AM
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Knightley Chases Boyle

What started as a helpful public service announcement about domestic abuse (directed by Atonement director Joe Wright) has morphed into the latest YouTube sensation. Keira Knightley is the latest viral commodity on the web, as global viewers check out the PSA that Brit company Clearcast deemed too brutal for television display.

By Anne Thompson
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April 29, 2009 6:41 AM
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My Fair Lady: Thompson Wants Laurie as Higgins

Emma Thompson has won Oscars for both acting (Howard's End) and writing (Sense and Sensibility). And she is coming to accept how satisfying both can be. "I always thought acting was my compulsion," she says," but that writing was a different form of creativity because it is so back to the knuckle. Acting is a natural thing because you are using your body, it's like singing. I was wrong about that. Both can answer the same need. I feel better after writing for two hours."