Thompson on Hollywood

Previews 2010: Inception, Iron Man 2, Toy Story 3

Surprise! The most-viewed trailers of 2009 were also among the year's biggest b.o. grossers. Among some of the anticipated movies of 2010 are two Leonardo DiCaprio movies--Chris Nolan's Inception and Martin Scorsese's pushed-back Shutter Island--as well as Pixar's latest, Toy Story 3. More trailers and clips are on the jump.

By Anne Thompson
|
December 28, 2009 10:00 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

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
|
October 19, 2009 12:31 PM
|
7 Comments

More:

Trailer Watch: Shutter Island, Two

In case you missed it, here's the second trailer for Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, based on the Dennis Lehane mystery and starring Leonardo DiCaprio:

By Anne Thompson
|
October 5, 2009 7:38 AM
|
1 Comment

More:

Trailer Watch: Nolan's Inception Stars DiCaprio

The new website for Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan's Inception is up. Everything is genre these days. This looks like Matrix meets Shutter Island, which also stars DiCaprio. The scary thing about mind-movies--anything can happen, you don't know what the rules of reality are. Film Drunk has culled some plot points.

By Anne Thompson
|
August 24, 2009 3:33 AM
|
1 Comment

More:

Paramount Pushes Shutter Island to February

In a startling reveal of how dire studio financials have become in this recession, Paramount made a swift and surgical move to trim its year-end budget. Marketing meetings took place last week for Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, based on the Dennis Lehane novel and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Running a little over two hours, the period mystery looks thrilling and commercial as hell. But the studio looked at the cold hard millions the release would require --even in October, with a possible costly Academy campaign down the line--and pushed the picture back to February 19.

By Anne Thompson
|
August 21, 2009 9:41 AM
|
9 Comments

More:

Who Should Star in Harvey?

Now that Tom Hanks is no longer in the running for Steven Spielberg's remake of the Universal classic Harvey--because he was understandably leery, I hear, of the inevitable comparisons with James Stewart in the original role--who could pull this off? Hanks is probably too close to Stewart on some level--people have been comparing them his entire career. The role should be played by a warm and likable man who can convince us that he is talking to a six-foot rabbit. That means a top-notch actor who can hold the screen and pull in audiences. Here's my list: vote! And write in anyone you think I've overlooked.

By Anne Thompson
|
August 17, 2009 11:28 AM
|
28 Comments

More:

August Brings Dog Days, Celebs on Vacation

The dog days of August are upon us. Will any of the month’s upcoming movies kick ass, like The Fugitive or Pineapple Express? Or are they studio also-rans? It can go either way, writes the NYT.

By Anne Thompson
|
August 5, 2009 8:29 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Trailer Watch: Scorsese and DiCaprio's Shutter Island

So far, so good on movies made from the mystery novels of Boston-based Dennis Lehane: Clint Eastwood's Mystic River and Ben Affleck's Gone Baby Gone. Up next: Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese's latest reteaming with Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays a U.S. Marshall tracking an inmate who has escaped from an insane asylum on a remote Massachusetts island. It looks like Escape from Alcatraz meets The Shining. Paramount releases the film October 2. Check it out:

By Anne Thompson
|
June 10, 2009 6:35 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Time's 100 Influentials: Entertainment

This year, Time asked other "influentials" to write up their top 100 selections of the World's Most Influential People. That way we get filmmaker Peter Jackson profiling his Heavenly Creatures discovery, this year's best actress Oscar winner Kate Winslet; Roger Ebert pays tribute to documentarian Werner Herzog; best supporting actress Oscar-winner Penelope Cruz lands praise from Elegy co-star and fellow Oscar-winner Sir Ben Kingsley; Claire Danes does the honors for Zac Efron; Alec Baldwin does his 30 Rock writer-director-co-star Tina Fey; You've Got Mail's Meg Ryan likes Tom Hanks; and Padma Lakshmi hearts Slumdog Millionaire Oscar-winner A.R. Rahman. Leonardo DiCaprio jumps the entertainment side to write up environmentalist Van Jones; Arnold Schwarzenegger praises Democrat and uncle-in-law Edward Kennedy; and Oprah Winfrey fusses over Michelle Obama. (My fave wrap-up of President Barack Obama's first 100 days is on Slate: his "Facebook page.")

By Anne Thompson
|
April 30, 2009 6:35 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Scorsese's Shutter Island Poster

Here's a teaser poster for Martin Scorsese and Laeta Kalogridis' adaptation of the Dennis Lehane novel Shutter Island, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo. Here's the official website. Paramount is set to open the film October 2.