Thompson on Hollywood

One Day with Chris Marker, Film Essayist and Influencer

Features

One day, sometime deep in the last millennium, I had the good fortune to be on the receiving end of a phone call from the filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin telling me not to make any plans for the next day, and if I had plans, to cancel them. Why, I asked. Because, he said, we’re going to visit Chris Marker. That was all he needed to say.

By Howard Rodman
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July 31, 2012 4:29 PM
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OBIT: French Avant-Garde Filmmaker Chris Marker (VIDEO CLIP)

News

French writer and avant garde multimedia artist/photographer/filmmaker Chris Marker died at age 91 on July 29. The film that they screen most at film schools is Left Bank Cinema entry "La jetee" (1962), followed by "A Grin Without a Cat" (1977), "Sans Soleil" (1983) and his documentary essay on Akira Kurosawa, "AK"(1985).

By Anne Thompson
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July 30, 2012 2:00 PM
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Weekly Wrap: Venice and Toronto Announcements, 'Dark Knight Rises' Aftermath, Best Foreign Films of All Time & More

News

This week on TOH, we announced the much-anticipated lineups of the Toronto and Venice film festivals, looked at the opening weekend of "The Dark Knight Rises" and finally heard Michael Moore's take on the horrific Aurora shootings, conducted two Best Foreign Film polls and more.

By TOH!
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July 27, 2012 4:26 PM
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Obit: Screenwriter Frank Pierson Fought Against the Impoverishment of Film Language

News

Frank Pierson, who won an Academy Award for his screenplay of “Dog Day Afternoon” in 1975, was nominated for two other Oscars, and then turned himself into an Emmy-winning director, died Monday in Los Angeles at the age of 87 after a short illness.

By Aljean Harmetz
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July 23, 2012 7:04 PM
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RIP Hollywood Scion, Dick Zanuck, One of the Great Producers

News

I thought producer Richard D. Zanuck would live forever. He was so energetic, so happy over the last decade producing films with Tim Burton, so keen on staying in the game. We talked once about writing a biography--he was the subject early in his career of one of the best Hollywood books ever written, John Gregory Dunne's "The Studio"--

By Anne Thompson
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July 13, 2012 7:04 PM
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Remembering Ernest Borgnine: The Unconventional Oscar-Winning Star of 'Marty' Dies at 96

News

Ernest Borgnine, best known for his Oscar-winning turn as the lonely butcher title character in "Marty," died July 8 at age 96. A selection of what the web is saying below...

By TOH!
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July 9, 2012 12:42 PM
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Best of the Week: 'Amazing' Box Office, Comic-Con Preview, Karlovy Vary, Mark Wahlberg's Career & More

News

This week on TOH, Spidey proves his staying power even as general tentpole malaise sets in, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival offers a cinephile's dream lineup, Comic-Con's on the horizon and more!

By TOH!
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July 6, 2012 3:24 PM
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Andy Griffith, Star of 'The Andy Griffith Show' and Kazan's Brilliant 'A Face in the Crowd,' Dies at 86

News

Most folks know Andy Griffith as the star of long-running television hit shows "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Matlock." But the actor, who died at home in Dare County, North Carolina on July 3, gave several superb dramatic performances as well...

By Anne Thompson and Beth Hanna
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July 3, 2012 12:06 PM
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Writer-Director Nora Ephron Dies at 71 of Leukemia

News

Hollywood doesn't have enough sophisticated witty writers, much less writer-directors like Nora Ephron. She died after battling leukemia at age 71. Ephron was funny as hell. She was one of the few filmmakers who could craft believable, endearing and funny romantic comedies, a dying art.

By Anne Thompson
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June 26, 2012 9:29 PM
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OBIT: Pioneer Film Critic Andrew Sarris is Dead at 83; He Changed How We See Movies

News

The great critic Andrew Sarris, who wrote for The Village Voice and more recently, The New York Observer, is dead at age 83. According to his wife Molly Haskell in The NYTimes, he died from an infection after a fall. My best wishes go to Haskell ("From Reverence to Rape"), who was as erudite and passionate about film as her husband.