Thompson on Hollywood

Kick-Ass Stars Johnson, Mintz-Plasse, Moretz Talk Super Heroes

Lionsgate previewed Kick-Ass Monday night in L.A. with a cast-and-writer Q & A to follow. David Lewis was there:Hollywood got a short preview of Comic-Con madness last night at an advance screening of Lionsgate's kinetic comic book adaptation Kick-Ass at the Mann Chinese 6. Fanboys (and a few fangirls) lined up for hours beforehand, hoping to grab the good seats for the film and the lengthy, raucous Q&A moderated by the LAT's Geoff Boucher. On hand were Aaron Johnson and co-stars Clark Duke, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Chloe Grace Moretz, plus co-writer Jane Goldman and the comic's co-creator John Romita Jr.

By David Lewis
|
April 6, 2010 12:45 PM
|
1 Comment

More:

WonderCon Sneak Peeks Inception, Sorcerer's Apprentice, Toy Story 3, Prince of Persia

This weekend, San Francisco played host to a big multi-studio fan press junket at WonderCon, a pint-sized adjunct to July's giant ComicCon in San Diego. Disney imported producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Nic Cage and Jake Gyllenhaal and screened footage from Sorcerer's Apprentice, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Toy Story 3 (which they have now tantalizingly screened in its entirety thrice, at Showest, International YouTube vloggers day and a Pixar screening for long-lead press). They also staged a viral event for Tron Legacy (see video below).

By Anne Thompson
|
April 4, 2010 7:13 AM
|
5 Comments

More:

#SXSW: Matthew Vaughn Holds Off on Kick-Ass Sequel

You couldn't ask for a more obvious set-up for a sequel than the end of Kick-Ass. Yet director Matthew Vaughn--who cannily set out to make a $50-million commercial hit--won't count his chickens until the movie opens on 3000 screens April 16. Lionsgate wants to talk sequel--they have first-look rights. But Vaughn, who has plenty of ideas for how to go about reforming his pint-size killer Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz)--think Terminator 2, with Schwarzenegger's cyborg assassin shooting folks in the knees--isn't ready to sit down and make a deal. (See two-part flip-cam interview below.)

By Anne Thompson
|
March 17, 2010 5:22 AM
|
1 Comment

More:

#SXSW Perfect Venue for Kick-Ass

SXSW has a casual young, male vibe. At the Kick-Ass opener, the fest's Janet Pierson and director Matthew Vaughn were both wearing jeans and sneakers. So it makes sense SXSW was perfect venue for Kick-Ass, which has a primarily young male --and less female-- appeal. It's a nasty hard-R super-hero spoof designed to outrage and delight. And it will destroy at the b.o. when Liongsate opens it April. (It opens first in the U.K. in two weeks.)

By Anne Thompson
|
March 13, 2010 2:10 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

SXSW Picks Kick-Ass As Opener

Clearly, Austin is Kick-Ass country.

By Anne Thompson
|
January 6, 2010 12:00 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Must-Sees: Red Cliff, Bad Lieutenant, The Blind Side

All of a sudden, with the Thanksgiving Day weekend, there's more than enough good movies to see.

By Anne Thompson
|
November 28, 2009 2:57 AM
|
1 Comment

More:

Bad Lieutenant Deserves Serious Release

In this day and age, any indie movie that gets a release at all is lucky, I suppose.

By Anne Thompson
|
October 27, 2009 2:23 AM
|
9 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:

Telluride Wrap: Oscar Buzz for An Education, Up in the Air, The Road

Festivals

It was a solid if not stellar year at Telluride. Co-directors Tom Luddy and Gary Meyer persevered through the crazy economy by cutting back their budget (due to sponsor fall-offs) without sacrificing their high programming standards. "We made a commitment to figure out how to do more with less," says Meyer. After the well-publicized Into the Wild/Juno year of 2007, festival attendance broke records in 2008 but fell off slightly this year; passes sold more slowly, and absent sponsors didn't import the usual squads of corporate clients.

By Anne Thompson
|
September 8, 2009 5:17 AM
|
2 Comments

More:

Telluride Update: Last Day

I've been running around seeing movies, doing interviews, attending the terrific Viggo Mortensen tribute and going to various social events with filmmakers. IFC and SPC held back-to-back dinners Saturday night, while Sunday night the Steinbergs hosted their annual closing night bash.