Thompson on Hollywood

Old School Action Stars: Few Replacements, Not Expendable

Action heroes come in two categories: New School and Old School. Just last weekend, Liam Neeson, 58, led the box office pack with Unknown, showing 16-year old Justin Bieber and I Am Number Four's 20-year old Alex Pettyfer who's Daddy. Neeson isn't the first, nor will he be the last, older man showing the world how a Hollywood action star should perform, both on screen and in the charts.

By Sophia Savage
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February 22, 2011 8:39 AM
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8 Comments

Paul Haggis Talks Scientology to The New Yorker, ABC Videos Cruise

We've been waiting for Lawrence Wright's New Yorker Scientology expose ever since Canadian writer-director Paul Haggis (Crash) denied involvement in writing a tell-all book. That may not be necessary now that The New Yorker has published the 26-page story about the director and his many years spent in league with the religion. Lawrence has said: “I will expand on that material for the book. Both the article and the eventual book will explore the Haggis family’s experience inside the church and their decision to leave it. Haggis has been extremely helpful and candid, but he is certainly not a collaborator."

By Sophia Savage
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February 9, 2011 8:56 AM
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Production Watch: Bourne Disses Damon, Tony Scott for Top Gun Sequel, How To Reject A Movie Plot

Matt Damon says he found out about writer-director Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) directing the fourth Bourne installment the same way we did - the internet. He told Parade Magazine, “I found out they’re making another when somebody saw it on the Internet. Nobody bothered to call me." Just as we suggested, he surmises: "I’m not in it, but even so, they’ll work Bourne into the title, I guess. Universal just wants to call everything the Bourne something. So I guess they are trying to make another franchise, and as they say, ‘It isn’t over until it’s over.'" Damon boxed himself into this corner by refusing to rejoin the franchise without director Paul Greengrass. Gilroy, who helped create the franchise as the writer of all the previous entries, has come up with a way to work around Bourne.

By Sophia Savage
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October 25, 2010 4:22 AM
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Casting News: Patton in M:I Reboot, De Niro Loves Bellucci, Hamm and Westfeldt Make Indie

- J.J. Abrams' reboot of the Mission: Impossible franchise is coming together at Paramount, even if it still lacks a firm title. Returning Tom Cruise will be accompanied by Paula Patton and Jeremy Renner, both of whom wowed in their low-budget Oscar-winning films last year, Precious and The Hurt Locker, respectively.

By Sophia Savage
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September 3, 2010 3:51 AM
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Miss Universe vs. Men in Lipstick, Cassavetes' Blonde Cast, Mackie for Mission: Impossible 4

Inspired by Louis Bayard of Salon, who argues the death of the beauty pageant, we have a treat for you after the jump. "Even as a gay man," writes Bayard, "I couldn't find joy or fun in last night's monument to wax figurines and Donald Trump." He's referring to the Miss Universe Pageant, which has remained about skin and double-sided tape despite (for-appearances-only?) attempts to refocus the criteria on some kind of merit. Bayard argues that this "carnal philosophy has reaped its reward. Miss Universe is in the pink: stinking with ad revenue, sprawling across a two-hour expanse of network television. The whole enterprise should be neon with triumph, and yet it's every bit as gray as an annual report. For that's exactly what it is. A celebration of a company and the man behind it."

By Sophia Savage
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August 25, 2010 5:30 AM
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Manly Movie Stars: Rodrigue Talks the Evolution of Masculinity in Film

Almost two years ago, Anne Thompson asked "Where have the manly movie stars gone?," and investigated the entertainment industry's ongoing search for traditional male leads that aren't borrowed from the UK, Australia or Europe to commandeer Hollywood's most testosterone-needy films. While America lays claim to the boy-men niche with the likes of Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, Jake Gyllenhaal and any male in a Judd Apatow film, Hollywood's most- masculine male leads are more often than not played by foreigners; Christian Bale (a Brit) and Heath Ledger (an Aussie) were case-in-point as the stars of 2008's highest grossing film, The Dark Knight.

By Sophia Savage
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August 12, 2010 8:28 AM
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21 Comments

Mid-Summer Box Office Wrap: Top Ten Chart, Studio Report Card

At mid-summer, the box office is lagging just behind last year's pace and ticket sales are flat, reports Anthony D'Alessandro, who charts the season's winners, losers and studio market shares so far (as of last weekend). Will red-hot Inception take the number one box office crown from Toy Story 3? Stay tuned, as numbers and rankings will change by Labor Day.

By Anthony D'Allessandro
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August 5, 2010 5:37 AM
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5 Comments

Boffo Holiday Weekend Box Office, But Twilight Saga: Eclipse Doesn't Beat Spider-Man 2 or New Moon

After a slow start to the summer season, movie ticket sales finally took off over the 4th of July weekend, driven by two powerful sequels, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and Toy Story 3, and a review-proof family adventure from M. Night Shyamalan, The Last Airbender. Anthony D'Alessandro does the numbers.

By Anne Thompson
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July 5, 2010 4:20 AM
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Debating Eclipse and Knight and Day with At the Movies' Phillips and Scott

Apparently my defense of James Mangold's Knight and Day so astonished At the Movies' Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott that the co-hosts asked me to debate the subject with them online via Skype; we also tangled a bit on The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which Scott liked, but Phillips loathed.

By Anne Thompson
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July 4, 2010 10:04 AM
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Carell Leaves The Office, Forbes' Most Powerful Celebs, Top Gun Sequel, Paramount Breaks Records

-It will be a sad day in TV history when Steve Carell ends his reign as Michael Scott when the 2010-2011 season of The Office wraps in May. While walking the red carpet for the premiere of Despicable Me last night, he confirmed to E! that the end was in sight. "I just thought it was time for my character to go," he said, now that his seven season contract is almost up. He doesn't see it as a "huge deal." He actually believes it is a good thing, a chance to add "new life" to the show. With the strong ensemble cast and writers, he has no doubt "it'll continue as strong if not stronger than ever." Sorry Steve, but the Michael Scott faux-humility has no place here. Without you, the show should end. Pajiba lists the seven most likely candidates to replace him.