Thompson on Hollywood

Paramount Unveils The Lovely Bones

First, AICN's Harry Knowles ran his review of The Lovely Bones. And now that the Royal Premiere has taken place in London, there's no holding back the floodgates.

By Anne Thompson
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November 24, 2009 10:31 AM
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Brothers vs. Brothers

Beware the cross-cultural remake.

By Anne Thompson
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November 23, 2009 3:45 AM
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The Twilight Saga: New Moon Disappoints

When new distributor Summit left behind Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke in its rush to push through the second film in their windfall franchise, they took a calculated risk. Abandoning a silly Twilight script that had been passed on by Paramount, Hardwicke and writer Melissa Rosenberg went back to the heart-pounding first-person intensity of the Stephenie Meyer original, which wound up selling 70 million copies worldwide. The dream that inspired Meyer--chapter thirteen in the first book--is a scene in a rain forest between a lovelorn young girl and a sparkling 109-year-old vampire who is restraining himself from biting and killing her. That tension is the heart and soul of the Twilight series.

By Anne Thompson
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November 18, 2009 8:37 AM
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Must Sees: Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Messenger

The movie most likely to succeed this weekend is Roland Emmerich's 2012, which I look forward to seeing with a crowd. The critic-proof doomsday movie is expected to do $40-50 million on over 3400 screens. I just want to see the VFX. That's what Emmerich is good at. Even in the trailer John Cusack looks embarrassed.

By Anne Thompson
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November 14, 2009 1:12 AM
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Sheffield Docs: How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin, Disco and Atomic War

Critic Karina Longworth posts again from Sheffield Doc/Fest on two features and a short dealing with the impact of Western pop culture on the fall of the USSR.

By Karina Longworth
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November 9, 2009 5:44 AM
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Sheffield Rock Docs: The Beat is the Law, Taqwacore

Critic Karina Longworth continues her coverage of Doc/Fest in Sheffield with reviews of music docs The Beat is the Law Part One and Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam.

By Karina Longworth
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November 8, 2009 1:14 AM
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LFF#: London Fest Closer Nowhere Boy

Amidst a resurgence of affection for The Beatles, London Film Festival closer Nowhere Boy marks a strong debut for Sam Taylor-Wood (a visual artist of some stature in the art world) and a breakout for Brit actor Aaron Johnson as teen John Lennon. But the small-scale 50s period film straddles two genres: musical biopic and family melodrama. The latter completely overwhelms the story.

By Anne Thompson
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October 29, 2009 11:30 AM
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Amelia: When Biopics Go Bad

What went wrong with Amelia?

By Anne Thompson
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October 23, 2009 4:11 AM
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Where the Wild Things Are: Weekend Must-See

Weekend Must-See:Where the Wild Things Are Tomatometer 69% Metascore 71

By Anne Thompson
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October 17, 2009 2:03 AM
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Where the Wild Things Are: Early Reviews

Well, the reviews are rolling in on Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers' adaptation of the Maurice Sendak children's classic Where the Wild Things Are (which opens Friday), and according to the 37 assessed by Rotten Tomatoes so far, they are mixed, at 68%. David Denby's New Yorker review shares my view that the beginning of the film is brilliant and the interactions on the island with the wild things are talky and unsatisfying. Denby says kids will come out of the movie wondering why the animals are so sad.