Thompson on Hollywood

Oscar Watch: War Horse, Ides of March, The Artist Lead Early Gurus 'O Gold Top Ten

In advance of the coming festival season, the Gurus 'O Gold have made their first picks of the ten top contenders for best picture nominations. Here's my top ten list--with many of the films sight unseen (the Gurus list is on the jump). 1. The Artist2. Jane Eyre3, Midnight in Paris4. The Tree of Life5. War Horse6. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close7. The Help 8. Moneyball9. The Ides of March10. Carnage

By Anne Thompson
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August 24, 2011 5:45 AM
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Dangerous Method's S&M, Jolie's Blood & Honey, Soderbergh Killing Oscar Winners & More from EW

We culled the best soundbites from EW's Fall Movie Preview for your pleasure below, from Brad Pitt's struggle to get Moneyball made and Steven Soderbergh killing off Oscar-winners in Contagion to what Mickey Rourke has in common with the animals in Cameron Crowe's We Bought a Zoo.

By Sophia Savage
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August 15, 2011 8:10 AM
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Weekly Wrap: First Looks at J. Edgar, Extremely Loud, Coriolanus; The Help Reviews; Oscar Watch

THE BOX OFFICE:

By Maggie Lange
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August 12, 2011 11:16 AM
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First Look: Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover

Pictured next to the real thing, DiCaprio is suited up as the former head of the FBI in Clint Eastwood’s upcoming J. Edgar. The film, which explores Hoover’s public personality and private persona, also stars Naomi Watts, Judi Dench, and Armie Hammer. Warner Bros. will release J. Edgar on November 9, 2011.

By Maggie Lange
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August 12, 2011 5:07 AM
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Why Golden Globes--and DiCaprio, Wahlberg, Butler--Give Away $1.5 Million to Charities, Film Schools

The purpose of the annual Golden Globes lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel is for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to use their clout with would-be Globes nominees to mount a starry red carpet event, and invite press and other friends of the organization, so that they will broadcast the HFPA's generosity and charity.

By Anne Thompson
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August 5, 2011 1:32 AM
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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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4 Comments

Quentin Tarantino: If Smith and Elba Are Out, Foxx is Right for Django Unchained

It's not just the great performances Jamie Foxx has given, from Any Given Sunday to his Oscar-winning role in Ray, or his sweet crooning to Oprah at her farewell blast, or his duet at Cannes this year with Kanye West, that make him the right guy to star in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained.

By Anne Thompson and Sophia Savage
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June 22, 2011 5:33 AM
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News Wrap: Abrams Opens Up on Super 8 Secrets, Apple Threatens Cable, Boondock Saints Web Sequel

During production on Super 8, director J. J. Abrams was notably secretive--as producer Steven Spielberg likes to be as well, preserving the mystery, hiding the alien. Now that the film has delivered a strong $35.5 million opening weekend, he is being less tight-lipped. [SPOILER ALERT] In an interview with MTV, Abrams was open about the many-limbed, mysterious monster in the film. He noted that Neville Page, the same man who created the monster in his 2008 film, Cloverfield, designed the creature for Super 8, but there was no “same-universe” connection. “They actually look very different,” he said, “but they both have two eyes, a nose and a mouth. So, in that regard, it also looks a lot like Laurence Olivier!" He said creating the creature was a balance; the alien needed to be scary, but also relatable, something that could be “full of rage and also could be emotional and nuanced.” (The bar for scary/relatable alien design was really set by District 9.)

By Maggie Lange
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June 15, 2011 3:58 AM
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In the Works: Jackie Robinson, J. Edgar, Girlfriend Equation, Master, Baumbach, Great Expectations

Several intriguing projects are getting off the ground and expanding their casts, from Legendary's Jackie Robinson biopic to Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master and Disney's The Girlfriend Equation. Updates on these projects and more are below:

By Sophia Savage
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June 1, 2011 6:05 AM
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Paramount, Fox, Cameron Relaunch Titanic Again in Retro-3-D

I know that James Cameron is invested in the future of 3-D, but it pains me that having set the highest possible 3-D standard with the glorious global blockbuster Avatar, the filmmaker is making Paramount and his home studio Twentieth Century Fox happy by retro-fitting the second-highest-grossing film of all time, 1997's Titanic, in 3-D. The studios plan a worldwide rerelease on April 6, 2012 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the ship's sailing.