Thompson on Hollywood

Variety Up for Sale: Sad End for a Storied Brand

News

The once iconic trade brand Variety has recently fallen on hard times. Now owner Reed Business Information is putting the century-old trade paper up for sale.

By Anne Thompson
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March 23, 2012 4:28 PM
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Entertainment: Left Out of Time's Best #Twitter140 Register

News

Time collected "The 140 Best Twitter Feeds of 2012." While "Best Of" features are inherently arbitrary and we won't criticize the 140 choices--or having to click through each individual mini-post-- "entertainment" as a category has been shortchanged.

By Maggie Lange
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March 21, 2012 3:06 PM
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"Rendez-Vous with French Cinema" Hosts Screenings of Seven Contemporary French Films, Adds Interactive Q & As

News

Francophile Alert! This year, Unifrance Films is partnering with L.A.'s Laemmle Theatres, New York's Film Society of Lincoln Center, and Emerging Pictures to present "Rendez-Vous with French Cinema." The series sets out to highlight the best of contemporary French film by screening seven films in over 50 U.S. cities in March.

By Maggie Lange
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March 21, 2012 2:08 PM
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Audiosocket Brings Good Music to Student Filmmaker Community

Filmmaker Toolkit

Licensing music, particularly "good" music, can cause a frustrating holdup in the filmmaker community, especially among student filmmakers. So music, media and digital licensing company Audiosocket launched Audiosocket U, which allows student filmmakers to discover and license music for as little at $5. The roster of songs is more than 35,000, with more than 2,000 indie artists and composers. Visit Audiosocket to learn more. The Wandas, pictured above, are one of Audiosocket's supported bands.

By Maggie Lange
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March 19, 2012 8:47 AM
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Disney to Bring 'Pocahontas,' 'Evita,' 'The Color of Money' and 30 Other Films to Blu-Ray

News

Throughout 2012, the Walt Disney Studios plans to add more than 30 popular and iconic films to its ever-expanding Blu-ray library. Each released edition will be digitally remastered, giving viewers high definition picture and sound quality.

By Maggie Lange
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March 16, 2012 3:11 PM
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After Quikster Missteps, Netflix Has Recovered

News

There's no question that Netflix misjudged how to handle their necessary survival transition from DVD rentals to streaming. They left their customers feeling confused and betrayed during the Quikster-Netflix debacle.

By Anne Thompson and Maggie Lange
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March 14, 2012 3:45 PM
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SXSW: Forest Whitaker's JuntoBox Project To Crowdsource New Films (Video)

News

The Oscar-winning actor and producer, director Forest Whitaker has launched a project, JuntoBox Films, that will help you crowdsource your films. Announced at South by Southwest, JuntoBox aims to discover and incubate a new generation of talent in cinema, with an innovative model that marries new technology, filmmaking, and social media.

By Maggie Lange
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March 14, 2012 2:03 PM
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The Many Deaths and Nine Lives of Movie Criticism

Reviews

Like the movies themselves, criticism has moved from analog to digital, a move that is not universally beloved. Reports of the death of criticism are greatly exaggerated. Countless times during my career criticism has been declared dead only to pop up its furry groundhog head to say, “I’m back!” Here’s a piece I wrote for Variety that takes the temperature, blood pressure and checks other vital signs of criticism. I called diagnosticians such as Roger Ebert, Jeanine Basinger and Jim Hoberman for second, third and fourth opinions. Thoughts? Where do you go for criticism?

By Carrie Rickey
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March 10, 2012 6:03 PM
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Weekly Wrap: Interviews, Festivals, Reviews, and What to Think of John Carter

News

BOX OFFICE, REVIEWS, TRAILERS

By TOH!
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March 9, 2012 5:44 PM
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Media Watch: Netflix in Cable Talks, Epix and ABC Family Launch Streaming Apps

News

Netflix is talking cable partnerships. Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings has "quietly met" with some of the largest cable companies in the U.S. according to Reuters. These meetings have prompted rumors that certain cable channels might add movie streaming to their services. It's possible, writes TechCrunch, that within the year cable subscribers could have Netflix access from their cable boxes. Cable is what Netflix needs to survive. Meanwhile, ABC Family and Epix have launched their own streaming applications for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch users. As paidContent writes, this is in direct competition with Epix and ABC Family's distribution agreements with Netflix and Hulu. After Starz stopped supplying Netflix with titles, Epix became one of Netflix's most crucial suppliers.