Thompson on Hollywood

TIFF: Magnolia's Magnet Acquires Kim Jeewoon's I Saw the Devil

I love the Korean western The Good the Bad and the Weird; Magnet Releasing, Magnolia's genre label, has acquired North American rights to Kim Jewoon's I Saw the Devil. More at indieWIRE.

By Anne Thompson
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September 15, 2010 11:31 AM
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Venice: Joaquin Phoenix is Not Here

Rookie director Casey Affleck is playing out his hand on the bizarre Joaquin Phoenix documentary I'm Still Here, which debuted in Venice Monday to rousing applause, and is still inspiring huge debate. What the hell is Phoenix doing? Committing career suicide? Creating an indelibly accurate portrait of a miserable depressed self-medicating and deluded actor? Doing an Andy Kaufman-type performance piece, egged on by Affleck?

By Anne Thompson
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September 6, 2010 6:53 AM
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Swinton Talks I Am Love, Orlando Reissue, and a Film with Uncle Boonmee Director

Tilda Swinton is a brainy actress who swings easily from passion indie projects (The Deep End, Julia and the upcoming I Am Love) to studio fare, from arch-villains to objects of desire, and from mother in the Scottish highlands to glamourous globe-trotting movie star. She won an Oscar as George Clooney's nemesis in Michael Clayton, made love to Clooney in Burn After Reading and Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and keeps turning up in Narnia as ice queen Jadis. (After her cameo in The Limits of Control, she's committed to star in Jim Jarmusch's next, whatever that turns out to be.) She's as beautiful without makeup as she is with it. The next passion project she is developing is in collaboration with this year's Cannes Palme d'Or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul. They've known each other for years. (UPDATE: He talks about her at Cannes.)

By Anne Thompson
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June 15, 2010 11:30 AM
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PBC: Top Producers Dish on Lousy Filmmaking Present, Death of Drama and Cable Future

Amid the general doom and gloom for studios and indies alike, at this weekend's Produced By Conference, producers Mark Gordon, Marshall Herskovitz, Richard Zanuck, Larry Gordon, and Mark Johnson marked some cautious upbeat notes, reports Amy Dawes:

By Amy Dawes
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June 7, 2010 8:41 AM
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Tribeca: Gibney Brings Three Pics to Fest, Sells My Trip to Al-Qaeda to HBO

At a time when filmmakers the world over are struggling for funds and distribution outlets, a documentary filmmaker is doing well to sell his movie before it debuts at a fest like Tribeca. Now more than ever, as the breakout documentary hit is largely confined to the likes of pop culture entertainers Morgan Spurlock and Michael Moore, often the best sale to make is to HBO Documentary Films, which pays serious upfront dollars, throws you a premiere, and even markets your movie. That's more than most distributors are coughing up in this DIY era.

By Anne Thompson
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April 15, 2010 12:22 PM
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Action Stars Li, Lau, Kaneshiro Shine in The Warlords

Thursday night I saw the Chinese b.o. juggernaut The Warlords, Peter Chan's breathless $40 million period action epic starring Asian megastars Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro as three blood brothers who fight for the imperial army, which won best film and best director at the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Awards. While the mayhem slows down occasionally to allow some dramatic exposition and a pivotal romance with Jinglei Xu, the movie slams through one bloody battle after another. The three leads are terrific, especially Li, who is a fierce marvel in action, and a powerful, emotive actor.

By Anne Thompson
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March 26, 2010 8:23 AM
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#SXSW: Gore-Epic Centurion Makes World Debut

Monday night I squeezed into the last seat at Fantastic Fest's midnight surprise screening of Neil "The Descent" Marshall's Romans vs. Picts epic Centurion at the Alamo Draft House.

By Anne Thompson
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March 16, 2010 5:28 AM
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Oscar Watch: Kenner Talks Food Inc.

Can a documentary change the world? Sundance entry An Inconvenient Truth, which won the 2006 documentary Oscar, certainly did. So did Super-Size Me. And so has Food Inc., Robert Kenner's probe of America's food industry. Initially inspired by Eric Schlosser's bestselling expose Fast Food Nation, Food Inc. has grossed $4.4 million, won the Gotham award for best documentary, is nominated for an Indie Spirit Award, and is considered a front-runner for this year's documentary Oscar. It's a must-see, and it's not a spinach-movie. Kenner makes it a fun, compelling watch, even as he shows us more than we may want to know. The movie is available on DVD and on Amazon, iTunes and Netflix and will air on POV April 21st at 9 pm.

By Anne Thompson
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January 14, 2010 3:33 AM
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Magnolia Buys Jordan's Ondine, Starring Farrell

Finally, months after its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival, Magnolia Pictures has landed U.S. rights to Neil Jordan’s Ondine, starring Colin Farrell in a rare performance in his native dialect. (The film scored eight nominations for the Irish Film and Television Awards.) According to Movieline's Stu VanAirsdale, the final cut of the Paramount Vantage leftover will be different from the one screened in Toronto: