Thompson on Hollywood

Rick Baker is Star of Disappointing The Wolfman

You may think that Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Hugo Weaving and Emily Blunt star in Universal's long-delayed reboot of the classic monster tale The Wolfman. While they all deliver enjoyable performances, del Toro is hopelessly miscast as Brit noble Hopkins' returned "prodigal son," who was sent away to be raised by an aunt in America. Del Toro looks uncomfortable in 19th century tweeds as he chases corseted beauty Blunt. If the guy can't pull off a British accent, then don't cast him. The star of the monster movie which opens Friday is make-up effects master Rick Baker. The movie is over-labored and may not make back its budget (it should open in the number two spot behind Valentine's Day) but the R-for-violence wolfman transformations and action scenes are superb. UPDATE: Reviews are not good. Tomatometer: 35%, Metascore: 44.

By Anne Thompson
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February 10, 2010 10:04 AM
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Charlie Rose Oscar Panel: Scott, Insdorf, Zacharek, Stevens

It was great to see some new faces on Charlie Rose Tuesday night analyzing the Oscar nominations. Along with usual suspect A.O. Scott (critic for the NYT and At the Movies), Rose interviewed perky Columbia prof Annette Insdorf and two on-line critics, Louise Brooks-lookalike Dana Stevens (Slate) and Salon's red-maned Stephanie Zacharek.

By Anne Thompson
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February 3, 2010 6:12 AM
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#Sundance: Stewart's Welcome to the Rileys, Keener's Cyrus, Hoffman's Jack Goes Boating

Two of this year's Sundance it-girls are women of a certain age: Catherine Keener, who rocks in both Please Give and Cyrus (as John C. Reilly's ex-wife), and Melissa Leo, who stars in both The Dry Land and Welcome to the Rileys. The straight-forward Jake Scott drama is well-written by Ken Hixon (executive produced by Steve Zaillian) and executed by Kristen Stewart as a damaged stripper-prostitute and James Gandolfini as a lonely man still recovering from the teen death of his daughter. Leo is his equally wounded wife. It will be fascinating to see how distribs navigate the distance between Stewart's younger Twilight fanbase and this hard-R drama. This is also an issue for Apparition's The Runaways.

By Anne Thompson
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January 24, 2010 7:30 AM
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Sundance Watch: Redford vs. Gilmore, Howl, Restrepo

Sundance started slushy on Thursday, but by nightfall, the mayor of Park City was thanking the festival for bringing snow. "With this fest, you'll see that new things are going on here," said Robert Redford before the debut of Howl. "I believe we are getting back to our roots." He promised more experimentation. "You'll see that evidenced tonight in this film," he said, recalling seeing Allen Ginsberg read at the City Lights Bookstore, even before "Howl."

By Anne Thompson
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January 22, 2010 5:19 AM
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Flixster Acquires Rotten Tomatoes, Creating Movie Site Combine

Well, somebody is betting on the future of movie criticism.

By Anne Thompson
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January 4, 2010 7:36 AM
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Best Reviewed Movies of Decade: Pan's Labyrinth, Man on Wire

The best-reviewed movies of the decade on Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes are Pan's Labyrinth and Man on Wire, respectively.

By Anne Thompson
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January 2, 2010 8:26 AM
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Holiday Movie Watching: Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots Hits Big

Like everybody else, I've been catching up on movies over the holidays. By far the most fun movie was the big-budget Bollywood comedy 3 Idiots, starring 44-year-old Aamir Khan as a geeky engineering student.

By Anne Thompson
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December 30, 2009 9:30 AM
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Sherlock Holmes vs. Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

One is slick, the other isn't.

By Anne Thompson
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December 30, 2009 12:57 AM
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John Waters' Ten Best List of 2009

When John Waters submitted his Guilty Pleasures list to Film Comment, he included movies like Woody Allen's Interiors and Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries. So it's not entirely surprising that his 2009 Ten Best list, published in Art Forum, includes Lars von Trier's Antichrist and Pedro Almodovar's Broken Embraces. Waters knows what he likes. Here's his top five:1 Import Export (Ulrich Seidl) The most sorrowful movie of the year is also the best. The miserable lives of Ukrainian immigrants in Vienna make this agonizing but brilliantly directed opus the cinematic equivalent of slitting your wrists. A new genre? Depression porn? Hey, I got off.

By Anne Thompson
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December 27, 2009 8:01 AM
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LA Weekly Hires NY's Karina Longworth as Film Critic

LA Weekly editor Drex Heikes didn't waste any time choosing a replacement for Scott Foundas, who is repairing to NYC to take over Kent Jones' spot as programmer at the Film Society of Lincoln Center and New York Film Festival. Karina Longworth, grad of NYU, Cinematical, Netscape and Spoutblog, has landed the gig, which is a powerful national Voice Media podium. Congrats. She will do a great job and I look forward to her criticism. Yes, the avocation is alive and well--if under severe duress.