Thompson on Hollywood

20 Questions for Up in the Air's Jason Reitman

It's hard to believe that a filmmaker as assured as Jason Reitman is 32 and has made just three feature films, including Up in the Air, which is about to open limited December 4 after earning raves from audiences and critics on the international film fest circuit. Here he talks about his airline obsession, pie chart, directing George Clooney as well as 60 non-actors who had been laid off, and why this was the right movie to make at the right time.

By Anne Thompson
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November 29, 2009 8:46 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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Bendinger Launches Screenwriting Contest

Screenwriter Jessica Bendinger (Bring it On) is going interactive to promote the November 24 release of her Simon & Schuster novel The Seven Rays. She's inviting aspiring screenwriters to adapt any portion of the book into a 2-5 page screenplay in order to win an in-depth consultation with her.

By Anne Thompson
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November 20, 2009 3:58 AM
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Oscar Watch: Crazy Heart's Bridges Joins Actors Fray

Back in July, Fox Searchlight paid low seven figures for worldwide rights to Crazy Heart, a movie the distrib felt needed a little work in the editing room. (Here's my announcement story.) It was one of the first buys by new co-presidents Nancy Utley and Steve Gilula after Peter Rice left to run Fox TV.

By Anne Thompson
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November 4, 2009 10:14 AM
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#LFF: Schamus Delivers Lessons in Redacted Storytelling

James Schamus is not your ordinary Hollywood player.

By Anne Thompson
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October 28, 2009 6:01 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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Trailer Watch: Will Amelia Biopic Play?

I'll be showing Mira Nair's Amelia at Sneak Previews this week. I've seen the biopic of the vanished aviatrix Amelia Earhart, which stars Oscar magnet Hilary Swank and Richard Gere, and look forward to grilling the screenwriters, Ron Bass (Rain Man) and Anna Hamilton Phelan (Gorillas in the Mist). The question at hand: how do you tackle a movie biography these days, when authenticity is at such a premium?

By Anne Thompson
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October 17, 2009 6:33 AM
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TIFF#: Leaves of Grass Director Nelson Directs Two Nortons

Like many indie films these days, Leaves of Grass (like Men Who Stare at Goats, a stoner comedy) rose like a Phoenix from the ashes of another project. Back in 2006, actor-writer-director Tim Blake Nelson (The Grey Zone), who is the kind of talented, responsible guy who tries to do the right thing and expects other people to do the same, was faced with a movie deal gone south during pre-production on Seasons of Dust. "It was horrible, the worst year of my life," he says.

By Anne Thompson
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September 16, 2009 10:22 AM
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Toronto Day Two: The Coens Deliver with A Serious Man

Joel and Ethan Coen's Latest, A Serious Man, is a portrait of a period (1967) and place (Minnesota) and milieu (Jewish) that the brothers know very well. They cast it with excellent actors; Richard Kind as pathetic Uncle Arthur and Adam Arkin as a well-heeled lawyer are probably the only recognizable names. The writer-directors start the movie off in a wintry shtetl, evoking the dread spirit the dybbuk hovering over an uneasy marriage. This movie is utterly assured, personal, serious, sad and very funny.

By Anne Thompson
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September 11, 2009 9:51 AM
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TIFF Watch: A Serious Man Clips

I'm making a quick transition between Telluride and Toronto, trying to catch up and get prepped, knowing that I will feel under the gun and behind for the next ten days, no matter what. It's the nature of the beast, even in relatively calm Telluride. Wednesday, travel day, I will post the first draft of my Oscar Predicts chart, which I will adjust frequently going forward into awards season.