Thompson on Hollywood

Oscars 2011: Best Screenplay Winners Seidler & Sorkin Talk King's Speech and Social Network Wins

Best Original Screenplay: David Seidler, The King's Speech

By Sophia Savage
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February 28, 2011 5:23 AM
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Live at the Oscars: Best Picture Goes to Period Drama The King's Speech, with Four Wins

The best picture Oscar, inevitably, goes to The King's Speech, which earlier in the Oscar show looked like it wasn't winning anything, but eventually won the night with four Oscars: best original screenplay, director (Hooper talks win), lead actor and best picture. A bevy of producers surged onto the stage, revealing the difficult task of getting the film made.

By Anne Thompson
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February 28, 2011 4:31 AM
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Live at the Oscars: Hooper Talks Best Director Win for The King's Speech, Thanks Mum UPDATED

Best Director Tom Hooper thanks his mother. "My mom in 2007 was invited by some Australian friends to a play reading of The King's Speech. She almost didn't go, came home, rang me up, 'I think I've found your next film.' The moral of the story is, listen to your mother." Here's more from his acceptance speech and backstage interview.

By Anne Thompson
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February 28, 2011 4:01 AM
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Indie Spirits Preview: Back to Beach with Host McHale; Oscar Nominees Favored to Win; Hudson Talks

It's back to the beach in Santa Monica (amid threats of rain) for the 26th edition of the Independent Spirit Awards, which are voted on by some 5000 members of Film Independent, and take place the Saturday before the Oscars. It won't be hard for first-time host Joel McHale (The Soup, Spy Kids 4, see video below) to improve on last year's Eddie Izzard, who phoned in his duties without seeming to have much sense of the smart indies in the room during 2010's one-off move downtown to LA Live. Former R-rated hosts John Waters, Sarah Silverman and Rainn Wilson honed in on the right vibe for this crowd. Here's the list of presenters.

By Anne Thompson
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February 26, 2011 2:42 AM
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Oscar Predicts Chart 2010

Here's my list of predictions for Oscar wins (in italics) in all categories including shorts. (My nominations predictions are here.) Until February 27th!

By Anne Thompson
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February 26, 2011 12:51 AM
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Mark Your Ballots: Anne Thompson Predicts Oscar Winners

The Oscar polls closed on Tuesday at 5 PM. No more campaigning, lobbying or pitches for attention will make a difference now. It's all in the hands of the PriceWaterhousecooper counters, and will be revealed Sunday. Meanwhile the rest of us want to win our respective Oscar pools. This year, I must warn you, is tough to call. As Kris Tapley and I discuss in our latest Oscar Talk, there are plenty of sure-calls, but also several impossible-to-predict categories: documentary and foreign film, which are voted on by small groups who must prove that they've seen all the films, and supporting actress. The shorts are always a bit of a crap shoot too. Warning: I'm going out on a limb in a few categories, so when in doubt, choose the perceived frontrunner.

By Anne Thompson
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February 25, 2011 8:17 AM
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Oscar Watch: The King's Speech's Helena Bonham Carter Could Win Best Supporting Actress

The King's Speech is an Oscar favorite, and depending on how strong it is, the Brit drama could carry some awards on its coattails. While Inception, The Social Network, True Grit and Alice in Wonderland could steal some wins from The King's Speech in the technical categories, recent BAFTA winner Helena Bonham Carter could score a supporting actress nod--in a wide open field including The Fighter's dueling Melissa Leo and Amy Adams, True Grit's young newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, and Animal Kingdom's 48-year Australian veteran Jacki Weaver--for her high-brow yet low-key performance as the future Queen Mum in The King's Speech.

By Anne Thompson and Sophia Savage
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February 16, 2011 7:22 AM
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BAFTAs Go to King's Speech, Social Network, Inception, Black Swan, Alice, Dragon Tattoo UPDATED

The BAFTA Awards are under way at the Royal Opera House in London. Safe to say The King's Speech is winning many awards but is not sweeping; Inception and Alice in Wonderland are grabbing many of the technical categories. I predict that the Oscars will follow this trend.

By Anne Thompson
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February 13, 2011 7:48 AM
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Rupert Murdoch Pere Knew King's Speech Therapist Lionel Logue

In his weekend column, Wall Street Journal film critic Joe Morgenstern reveals a fascinating connection between WSJ owner Rupert Murdoch and Oscar front-runner The King's Speech: With "The King's Speech" gaining the Oscar traction it deserves—the latest boost being an expression of approval from Queen Elizabeth—I can't resist going public with a story that I've relished telling to friends, and to the people who made the movie. Several weeks before it opened, I had a conversation with Rupert Murdoch, who popped a question familiar to movie critics: What should he see?

By Anne Thompson
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February 12, 2011 7:14 AM
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Oscar Talk: Bening vs. Portman, Leo's Gaffe, Nominees Lunch, BAFTAs, Inception Surge

We're in the thick of the Oscar race now. In this week's Oscar Talk podcast, In Contention's Kris Tapley and Guy Lodge and I discuss the real contest between Annette Bening and Natalie Portman, whether Melissa Leo's glam ads are opening up the field in supporting actress, and how the Nominees Lunch and the upcoming BAFTAs on Sunday give us a sense of where the races are tipping.