Thompson on Hollywood

AFI Fest Q & A: Aaron Sorkin Talks Bad Journalism, The Social Network vs. All The President's Men

The AFI Fest hosted a tribute evening with The Social Network screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (creator of The West Wing), who introduced a special presentation of Alan Pakula's 1976 Oscar-winning Nixon-Watergate scandal film All The President's Men, adapted by Sorkin hero William Goldman from the book by Washington Post journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, who were played by Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford in the film.

By Sophia Savage
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November 8, 2010 9:29 AM
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Nicholson, DeVito, Glee Stars in Rocky Horror Picture Show

- A star-packed rendition of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, held Thursday night at LA's Wiltern Theatre, marked the famed film's 35th Anniversary with a combo of film and live musical performances.

By Sophia Savage
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October 29, 2010 8:03 AM
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Rome Day Two: Piazza Farnese, Coliseum, Forum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain

Monday night, again I crossed the ancient Tiber, lights twinkling, via the Ponte Sisto to Rome's equivalent of the Left Bank, Trastevere, where the Italians seem to be. The trattoria recommended by my apartment agent was closed, as he had feared (the city is just starting to wake up from its August vacation), so I settled into a Ristoranti Sabatini on the Piazza Trastevere and ordered osso bucco. Church bells rang as a lithe woman fire thrower was wiping the gas off her mouth before lighting and swirling two burning ropes over her head to much applause. An oddly compelling old gypsy crone standing against a wall next to a boom box moving her arms back and forth grabbed almost as much attention from passersby.

By Anne Thompson
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August 30, 2010 12:19 PM
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Rome Day One: Vaticano, Castel St. Angelo, Piazza Navona, Campo Dei Fiori

After a long travel day, I was up bright and early to grab a caffe latte and walk briskly along the ancient Tiber River--my apartment is one block from Ponte Sisto in the old center city--to huge bright St. Peter's Square and the Vatican. The scale of St. Peter's Basilica is so stunning that more than one visitor gasps at the entrance. Michelangelo's Pieta is on your immediate right, and I particularly loved the statue of St. Peter with his right foot worn from centuries of caresses. I stayed for Latin Mass, very cool, reminding me of the weekly sung Episcopal mass from my youth at St. Hilda's. I got the gist of the homily, even in Italian (don't lust for career, success, winning and material possessions; being humble before God and loving friends and family is more important. Aren't they all like that?).

By Anne Thompson
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August 29, 2010 9:08 AM
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No Budget Film School's New One Day Course August 29th

On August 29th, a new No Budget Film School class will be held in two parts: "Mastering Film Grammar," (how to express your story) and "From Script to Screen" (how a script becomes a film) . Both the morning and afternoon session will be taught by screenwriter/director Tom Provost (Under Suspicion) with the intention of teaching how to make the best possible film on any size budget.

By Sophia Savage
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August 24, 2010 12:58 PM
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Dennis Hopper's Summer of Love: American Dreamer

In a double-bill with Easy Rider, the rarely seen 16 mm doc American Dreamer kicked off a month-long Dennis Hopper tribute at L.A.’s Silent Movie Theater, which coincides with a major retrospective of Hopper’s art at L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Amy Dawes covered the films and the Q & A with co-director L.M. “Kit” Carson.

By Amy Dawes
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July 12, 2010 2:37 AM
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Regards to Broadway, En Route to Cannes

On the way to Cannes every year, I stop somewhere to break up the long journey, usually London or Paris (where the Cinematheque Francaise museum is a must-see). This year I stopped in Manhattan to catch the tail end of the Tribeca Film Fest (for the first time) and relax a bit before heading to the Riviera. It worked like a charm.

By Anne Thompson
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May 11, 2010 7:22 AM
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Oscar Party Circuit: from Sunset Strip to Gabourey Sidibe

My Oscar party week started out Wednesday night with The Cove at Andaz on Sunset, where Russell Simmons held court and Ben Stiller admitted that he had seen Oscar doc front-runner The Cove three times. On Noah Baumbach's Greenberg, Stiller said it was a huge relief to follow the script, word for word. (One of the Greenberg locations was Baumbach's wife, producer-star Jennifer Jason Leigh's mother's house.) Stiller and Rhys Ifans only improvised one scene, Stiller said.

By Anne Thompson
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March 5, 2010 7:43 AM
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Things I Learned on the Weekend Party Circuit

1. There's girl-on-girl snogging between Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning as bisexual rock stars in The Runaways. That's why it's R-rated.

By Anne Thompson
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December 21, 2009 2:00 AM
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Crazy Schedule

I'm in Las Vegas at the International Film Festival Summit. Over the weekend I went to producer Jason Blum's celebratory party for Paranormal Activity at his super-moderne house up above Sunset Plaza. It boasts a huge view of the city and great art and an angled pool that looks like you'd swim off the edge if you weren't careful. Filmmaker Oren Peli, actors Dougray Scott and Claire Forlani, CAA's Bryan Lourd, The Daily Beast's Kim Masters, DreamWorks' Chip Sullivan, New Regency's Amy Israel, attorney Linda Lichter and ICM's Ron Bernstein were among the revelers.