Thompson on Hollywood

Ricky Strauss Takes Disney Marketing Presidency UPDATED

News

One of the topics of discussion at the Critics Choice Awards last night was who would get the open Disney marketing job. Having given the post to movie business outsider M.T. Carney 19 months ago--which rarely works, unless it's television--Disney Studio chairman Rich Ross was expected to go inside this time.

By Anne Thompson
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January 13, 2012 2:23 PM
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Weekend Preview: Swinton, Belafonte, Wahlberg and Streep

Features

Meryl Streep may be a major contender for a Best Actress Oscar nomination and win (as per usual), but reviews for her film "The Iron Lady" (expanding its run this weekend) are less than upbeat. While Streep's performance is called "virtuouso," the Margaret Thatcher biopic from Phyllida Lloyd is also being called a failure.

By Sophia Savage
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January 12, 2012 5:14 PM
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Trailer Watch: Feast Your Eyes on Wes Anderson's 'Moonrise Kingdom'

Video

Wes Anderson, we've missed you. It's been a few years since his last live-action feature ("The Darjeeling Limited" in 2007), so it is with much pleasure that his fans will watch the new trailer for "Moonrise Kingdom." There's a lot of storybook, painterly charm going on in the très Andersonian trailer. Check it out:

By Sophia Savage
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January 12, 2012 5:08 PM
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DGA Announces Outstanding Documentary Director Nominees

Awards

The Directors Guild announces nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary. DGA President Taylor Hackford says this year's doc nominees "take audiences on a journey..."

By Sophia Savage
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January 12, 2012 1:57 PM
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Film Independent Names McManus and Welsh Co-Presidents to Replace Embattled Academy Chair Dawn Hudson

News

Film Independent has appointed Sean McManus and Josh Welsh to the newly created positions of co-presidents. McManus, formerly a Senior Director, and Welsh, formerly Director of Artist Development, succeed former exec director Dawn Hudson. Hudson left her post at FIND last June

By Sophia Savage
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January 10, 2012 5:08 PM
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Paramount and Cameron Team with Cirque du Soleil for 'Worlds Away'

News

Paramount and Cirque du Soleil are teaming up to release the "Cirque du Soleil Worlds Away" in 3D. James Cameron exec produced; "Shrek" director Andrew Adamson wrote and directed. Cirque's Jacques Méthé says; “This 3D event brings the spectator beyond what they could see at a show, it takes them on the stage...

By Sophia Savage
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January 10, 2012 5:00 PM
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Coens' 'Inside Llewyn Davis' Gets Hedlund; Watch Him Sing

News

Garrett Hedlund ("TRON: Legacy") has joined the Coen brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis," adding to an already stellar cast of Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac, John Goodman and Justin Timberlake. Like Mulligan and Timberlake, Hedlund can sing (he was probably the best part of "Country Strong" - see below). "Inside Llewyn Davis" is about the 1960s Greenwich village folk music scene. Isaac played Mulligan's husband in this year's "Drive," and now plays real life folk singer Dave Van Ronk. Shooting is set to kick off this February in New York City.

By Sophia Savage
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January 10, 2012 12:59 PM
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NAB Show Focuses on 'The Great Content Shift: Defining Your Evolution' with Marina Gorbis

News

The theme of the 2012 NAB Show, running April 14-19, is "The Great Content Shift: Defining Your Evolution." It will look at how "new paradigms in consumption are forever changing the way we create, manage, deliver and monetize content," and consequentially causing shifts in industries' expectations and strategies for the future...

By Sophia Savage
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January 9, 2012 2:41 PM
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IN THE WORKS: Clooney's First Priority is Hitler-Art-Love-Story 'The Monuments Men'

News

“The Monuments Men” will be George Clooney's next project. The film will be based on Robert Edsel's 2009 book about the art historians who came to Normandy to rescue art stolen by Adolf Hitler. A group of 11 art experts faced live fire to rescue the art, and not all of them survived...

By Sophia Savage
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January 9, 2012 2:40 PM
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Berlinale Adds Ten Titles to Competition Lineup; Jolie's 'Blood & Honey,' Thornton's 'Jayne Mansfield's Car'

Festivals

The Berlinale announces the second set of ten films competing at the 62nd annual festival. Among the new titles are Billy Bob Thornton's "Jayne Mansfield's Car, "Angelina Jolie's "In the Land of Blood and Honey"...