Thompson on Hollywood

John Carter of Mars Adds Morton, Walker, West

I was brought up in Manhattan by a single Dad. His best pal Jerry Rubenstein's idea of a birthday present for an eight-year-old, girl or boy, was Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I scarfed it up and read every single book ever written by Burroughs, especially his Barsoom Martian novels. I read The Chessmen of Mars over and over. Burroughs took you into an exotic world, much as Burroughs fan James Cameron does in Avatar, or Wall-E writer-director Andrew Stanton will do in his first live-action feature, a film take on John Carter of Mars. In both stories, an American visits a faraway planet inhabited by strange creatures. In John Carter of Mars, co-written by Mark Andrews, Civil War hero John Carter is transported to the red planet Barsoom, where he must adapt, and meets a princess.

By Anne Thompson
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August 24, 2009 6:48 AM
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Movies Go to Facebook, Legos, Lebanon, Redbox and Wellywood

Media Watch: Vibe could be coming back to--digital--life, while it looks like those wild and crazy salad days at Conde Nast are finally over.

By Anne Thompson
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August 12, 2009 2:39 AM
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The Time Traveler’s Wife: Flash in Pan or Classic?

With very few impediments to romance left in conventional storytelling, writers are forced to add a touch of fantasy or sci-fi to create artificial barriers to love.

By Anne Thompson
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August 12, 2009 2:02 AM
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Hughes Pen Pal Blogs and Talks

Alison Byrne Fields, who became Hughes' pen pal when she was 15, blogs about it and talks about it. I was moved by the fact that she contacted him as an adult to tell him how she turned out, and he responded by telling her he was proud of her. She has been overwhelmed by the enormous fan and media response.

By Anne Thompson
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August 8, 2009 10:09 AM
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Hughes Tributes, Limon on Hudson, Fall Indie Previews, Where the Wild Things Are Trailer

John Hughes tributes are ubiquitous online today. Herewith a sampling:

By Anne Thompson
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August 7, 2009 8:08 AM
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Lee Revamps Ride with the Devil

In the stellar career of Ang Lee, one movie stands out like a sore thumb, not only as one of his few boxoffice clunkers, but as a film which he edited for a studio. "Of the 11 films I worked on with Ang, it's the only one that was not his cut," says Lee's longtime writer-collaborator James Schamus, who will appear with Lee onstage at the Walter Reade after the work-in-progress director's cut of Ride with the Devil screens August 10 during the Film Society at Lincoln Center's complete Lee retrospective.

By Anne Thompson
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August 6, 2009 11:31 AM
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John Hughes Dead of Heart Attack at Age 59

John Hughes died of a heart attack Thursday while visiting family in Manhattan. He was 59.

By Anne Thompson
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August 6, 2009 8:50 AM
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Talk Conjures Era, Movie Jargon, Fantastic, Other, Serious Trailers

Every day, I round up some items for your delectation:

By Anne Thompson
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August 4, 2009 7:35 AM
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TV's Revenge of the Boomer Women

It's the revenge of the boomer women. As the movie business has largely abandoned the female demo, especially older segments, television has picked up the slack. Here's my story at More Magazine, which boasts Saving Grace star Holly Hunter on the cover. I'm still catching up with the last season of Damages, starring the ravishing Glenn Close. The ABC soap opera Brothers and Sisters, starring mighty matriarch Sally Field, is a guilty pleasure. And this summer's manna from heaven is Nurse Jackie, starring Sopranos great Edie Falco as a complicated, fallible, sexy New York hospital nurse who cares about saving lives--while popping pills and cheating on her husband.

By Anne Thompson
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August 1, 2009 5:43 AM
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The Proposal's Writer and Director Talk Comedy

The rom-com seems doomed by studio formulas and misogynistic concepts like Bride Wars, which I refused to go see. Thank God for Judd Apatow and John Hamburg, but still, their bromances are aimed mostly at men. So when a fresh chick flick comes along that isn't a dumbed down vehicle for Kate Hudson, I cheer. Written on spec over several years by production exec-turned-scripter Peter Chiarelli and directed by choreographer-turned-helmer Anne Fletcher (Step Up, 27 Dresses), The Proposal stars Sandra Bullock, who pokes fun at her age and credibly falls for a younger man without turning shrill and brittle. Her chemistry with Reynolds, who she's known for years off-set, is palpable. Chiarelli and Fletcher explain how they made a smart studio rom-com, and how the Writers' Strike may have been a good thing for their movie, which opens June 19.