Thompson on Hollywood

Trailer and Oscar Watch: Rabbit Hole, Kidman, on Road to Awards

It's all in the Lionsgate trailer (below). Toronto hit Rabbit Hole may look like another bereaved parent drama, but as adapted by David Lindsay-Abaire from his Pulitzer-prize-winning play, directed by John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig & the Angry Inch), and acted by Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart and Dianne Wiest, it's a stunning piece of work. While the movie doesn't open until December 17, I think this one will go all the way: critics groups, Golden Globes, Guilds, Oscars: picture, adapted screenplay, actress, supporting actress.

By Anne Thompson
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October 25, 2010 4:15 AM
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Oscar Round-Up: The Social Network Leads Buzz, Bullock vs. Lane, Renner's a Star

As awards season heats up and the growing surge of Oscar pundits weigh in more frequently, every Thursday the Daily Read will round up their worthiest efforts. And every Friday, as usual, we post the Oscar Talk podcast: this week we welcome London Fest attendees Guy Lodge (In Contention) and Peter Knegt (indieWIRE).

By Sophia Savage
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October 14, 2010 7:02 AM
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Oscar Watch: King's Speech Leads Gurus 'O Gold, Wins Hamptons Prize

Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth as a stuttering King George VI, not only won the narrative audience prize at the Hamptons International Film Festival Sunday, but scored number one in the post-Toronto Film Festival Gurus 'o Gold poll (below). I also voted it number one (my current predictions are here and listed below), because the Tom Hooper movie is not only impeccably made and boasts the year's likely best actor winner (Firth), but is emotionally moving in a way that the brilliantly cold The Social Network is not.

By Anne Thompson
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October 11, 2010 3:33 AM
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Oscar Talk: Diane Lane vs. Annette Bening vs. Julianne Moore, Inception, Hereafter, The Way Back

There's still a long way to go in the Oscar race. Kris Tapley and I debate whether Secretariat is this year's mainstream Blind Side, Diane Lane is this year's Sandra Bullock, Julianne Moore and Annette Bening will both make it for The Kids Are All Right, and if Chris Nolan's Inception, John Cameron Mitchell's Rabbit Hole, Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, Pixar's Toy Story 3, Peter Weir's The Way Back, and Clint Eastwood's Hereafter have a shot at the top ten.

By Anne Thompson
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October 9, 2010 1:39 AM
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The Great Gatsby: Pitt vs. Pitt, Mulligan vs. Portman, Casting Poll

- The rumored Great Gatsby remake isn't that far along, it seems. While Deadline sets the record straight on the project's future--the remake might be Baz Luhrmann's next picture, but so might an original musical at Media Rights Capital--the movie does inspire juicy casting ideas.

By Sophia Savage
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October 4, 2010 8:20 AM
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The Social Network's Treatment of Women, Winterbottom's Kercher Murder Mystery to Star Firth

-It's no surprise that David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's The Social Network is getting Oscar-buzz, zeitgeist hype and debates about what is fact and fiction. Now the role of women in the film is kicking up controversy. The Daily Beast's Rebecca Davis O'Brien argues that the femme roles are props in a film that "not only reflects its era, but will shape it." Stephen Colbert declares that there are no women of substance in the movie except for the small roles of lawyer Rashida Jones and Zuckerberg's scorning girlfriend Rooney Mara. The women in the movie are seen as liabilities, writes Jezebel, if not woefully disrespected.

By Sophia Savage
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October 4, 2010 6:28 AM
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TIFF: Genre Films Sell in Toronto Buying Spree

As TIFF wound down, the weekend sale of Will Ferrell's $6 million dark comedy Everything Must Go to Lionsgate/Roadside marked a more frenetic Toronto sales market than last year, when many sales took months to close. Horror film Insidious also sold, to Sony Worldwide Acquisitions Group, probably for 2011 Screen Gems release. "It's a genre distributor's wet dream," says IM Global's Stuart Ford, who wasn't worried about landing North American distribs for these and two more titles at Toronto this year--all were modestly-budgeted and pre-sold in foreign territories. "The market is still challenging, but healthier than it was a year ago. There's more supply and demand. While you're not seeing many movies sell on the spot, the stronger material is likely to find the right distribution home."

By Anne Thompson
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September 19, 2010 5:16 AM
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Oscar Talk: Post-Toronto, 127 Hours, King's Speech, Social Network, I'm Still Here

In Contention's Kris Tapley and I talked in the same city for this week's Oscar Talk. He's seen Catfish and The Social Network; I saw a bunch of new movies in Venice and Toronto including I'm Still Here, Rabbit Hole, Beginners, and I Saw the Devil.

By Anne Thompson
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September 19, 2010 2:41 AM
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Lionsgate Goes for Oscar Gold on Rabbit Hole, Starring Kidman

Lionsgate is diving back into the Oscar race--this is the studio that delivered the Oscar-winning Precious--by acquiring North American rights to John Cameron Mitchell's Rabbit Hole, starring Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart and Dianne Wiest, which debuted in Toronto September 13. The movie, adapted by playwright David Lindsay-Abaire’s from his Pulitzer-prize-winning play, went over well with critics here. Kidman’s Blossom Films developed and produced the film, which tells the story of two parents grieving the loss of their four-year-old boy in an accident. It's a tour-de-force role for Kidman, who won the best actress Oscar for The Hours. An Oscar campaign was part of the deal negotiation.