Thompson on Hollywood

Casting Watch: Theron vs. Rapace For Alien, Hobbit Reunites Cast, Hawkes and Parker for Indie Drama

- Charlize Theron won't be joining Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer and new cast member Ed Westwick in Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar. Naomi Watts and Amy Adams are being eyed by Eastwood to fill the role of Helen Gandy (Hoover's personal secretary). Who can blame Theron for turning down a secretary when she's set to play the Evil Queen in Unviersal's Snow White and the Huntsman. Twentieth Century Fox reportedly is rewriting their Alien franchise prequel for Theron, but director Ridley Scott seems to be favoring Dragon Tattoo's Noomi Rapace. Theron is the only female movie star beyond Angelina Jolie who can carry an action movie--while less-known Scandinavian import Rapace is a gamble. She and Rapace would certainly bring different things to the character of Elizabeth Shaw.

By Sophia Savage
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January 11, 2011 6:29 AM
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10 Comments

Underrated, Underdog and Misunderstood Films of 2010

Who doesn't like an underdog? They're not asking to win the Oscar for Best Picture, but these under-appreciated films deserve to be seen by wider audiences than their box office numbers, critics or lack of awards talk would suggest. After the jump is a sampling of the worthy films singled out by The New York Times, The Atlantic, Moviefone, The Playlist and Associated Content. Our adds to your bucket list of films to watch when awards season is over (or now, if you're caught up) are:

By Sophia Savage
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January 4, 2011 9:20 AM
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Toy Story 3 Tops Quentin Tarantino's Best of 2010

Quentin Tarantino has posted his favorite movies of 2010, all twenty of them. Unlike many critics, Tarantino has no problem with citing movies that are popular hits. And he's seen his share of obscurities as well. Tarantino is an Academy member, though not a typical one. His taste is catholic, ranging from specialty and foreign films to raunchy comedies, animated family fare and big-budget actioners. His most surprising choices are two critical and box office studio failures that are as well-directed as they were commercially misguided: James Mangold's Knight and Day and Ridley Scott's Robin Hood. Wow.

By Anne Thompson
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January 2, 2011 11:44 AM
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Three Critics: Are Sequels Killing Hollywood?

In our latest column at Moviefone, indieWIRE critics Eric Kohn and Leonard Maltin and I take on Hollywood's bad case of sequelitis, from Saw to Harry Potter, which seems only to be getting worse each year.

By Anne Thompson
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December 14, 2010 6:57 AM
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Cameron To Direct Avatar 2 & 3; Who Will Direct Cleopatra?

James Cameron has made up his mind. He can't get Avatar out of his head. And he's doing the right thing, shooting two sequels to Avatar (possibly back to back), because he's going to give audiences more of what they want. (Reminder: Avatar grossed $ $2.8 billion worldwide, bolstered by premium 3-D prices, and tops Blu-ray sales records.) And he'll plow some of the huge R & D that went into the cost of Avatar back into the sequels (presumably making them less expensive--although you know he'll want to up the VFX ante). And he will remind us of what top-of-the-line 3-D can be. Immersive. Engrossing. Welcoming us into another world, in this case, Pandora. Don't you want to go back there? Holiday 2014 and 2015 seem very far away. But now Cameron knows what he is going to do next.

By Anne Thompson
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October 27, 2010 4:49 AM
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BAFTA LA's Britannia Awards To Premiere on TV Guide Network, Fry Hosts

I am so pleased that Stephen Fry will host the 19th annual British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles' (BAFTA LA) Britannia Awards on November 7. I follow him on Twitter and he is hilarious.

By Anne Thompson
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October 25, 2010 8:43 AM
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Casting Watch: Portman vs. Rapace for Scott's Alien Prequel, The Raven Replaces Renner with Evans

Twentieth Century Fox is happy with Damon Lindelof's (Lost co-creator) screenplay for Ridley Scott's Alien prequel, and Vulture has a few tidbits to share.

By Sophia Savage
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October 13, 2010 8:02 AM
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Scott Pilgrim vs. Universal and the Matrix

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World's bottom line comes down to the same problem that has faced a long line of Universal projects. It was an indie movie that cost too much to be successful inside the studio paradigm and should have been produced and released on a smaller less ambitious scale at the studio's specialty division Focus Features, which could have nurtured it and sent it into the world on a more limited basis and built on the film's strong word-of-mouth from its narrow base. To them a $12 million gross would have been fine. To Universal, it's less than the film's marketing budget. (A funny mash-up of Scott Pilgrim vs. The Matrix is below.)

By Anne Thompson
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August 23, 2010 11:37 AM
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Scott's Life in a Day Gets 80,000 Submissions, Final Film To Premiere Sundance 2011

The YouTube/Ridley Scott global film experiment, Life in a Day will result in a feature length film directed by Kevin Macdonald (State of Play, Last King of Scotland). He closed the door for submissions on July 31 for home videos of peoples' lives all recorded on the same day, July 24, 2010. The 80,000 submissions come from 197 different countries in 45 languages. Macdonald has a team of 20 editors to manage the laborious task of weeding through the footage to narrow it down to 100 hours. The final film is set to premiere at Sundance 2011 (and simultaneously on YouTube). Macdonald calls the task "a mountain, but we're eager to climb it.”