Thompson on Hollywood

New Orleans Films Louis and The Big Uneasy Screen on Katrina Anniversary

It's unheard of for a movie to play one night in five cities before it's finished and before it has a distributor. But nothing about Louis--which inspired widely divergent reactions at a recent Beverly Hills screening--is what you'd call normal. Also marking the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, radio host/writer/actor Harry Shearer's searing expose The Big Uneasy hits theaters August 30 for one night only.

By Anne Thompson
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August 25, 2010 11:22 AM
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Trailer Watch: Boyle's 127 Hours Stars Franco as Ralston

Danny Boyle's 127 Hours is going to Telluride, Toronto and London, where the media will check out what is a daring subject for a movie. Hiker Aron Ralston survived being trapped on a Utah canyoneering trip for five days in 2003 by a boulder on a solo hike miles from any possible rescue by doing what he had to do: sawing off his arm with a dull knife. He had not told anyone where he was going.

By Anne Thompson
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August 24, 2010 12:56 PM
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White Wedding Director Turner Talks Real South African Cinema

The South Africa in rookie director Jann Turner's White Wedding (select cinemas September 3) is not that of 2009's sci-fi District 9 (a USA/New Zealand/Canada/ South Africa co-production with a $30 million budget), Leonardo DiCaprio's Blood Diamond (a $100 million Hollywood release), or even that of the exquisite low-budget Tsotsi (a UK/South Africa production) which won the 2006 Oscar for best foreign film. (South Africa submitted White Wedding for the foreign film Oscar in 2009.)

By Sophia Savage
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August 24, 2010 7:34 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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Clooney's The American: New Trailer, Pictures

The American, from director Anton Corbijn (Control), arrives in theaters on September 1st, opting out of the fall fest circuit. George Clooney, who followed his charmingly vulnerable role in Up in The Air with shaggy humor in the less impressive The Men Who Stare At Goats, now returns to his commercial bread-and-butter as the side-burned assassin whose "last job" isn't as cut-and-dried as he'd hope. It never is.

By Anne Thompson
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August 19, 2010 5:30 AM
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Promos: Frank Miller Does Gucci, Funny or Die Does Piranha 3D Oscar Ad

Graphic novelist-turned-filmmaker Frank Miller (Sin City) has directed a new Gucci advertisement for Guilt, a line of penance-pursuing perfume for the Italian luxury goods giant. The ad is so special that they've only released a teaser. The real, full-length commercial premieres at the MTV Movie Awards on September 12, when Miller fans will get to see Rachel Evan Wood drive a flaming car towards Chris Evans. The trailer showcases the iconic Miller/Rodriguez style. Not sure how this will effect the targeted demo, especially Miller fans...

By Cameron Carlson
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August 18, 2010 9:59 AM
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Trailer and Awards Watch: Love and Other Drugs

Twentieth Century Fox is planning an awards-campaign for its R-rated sexy romance Love and Other Drugs, from writer-director-producer Edward Zwick (Glory, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond). He is that rare studio director who is conversant in both the language of mainstream big-budget moviemaking and intimate drama. He and partner Marshall Herskovitz delivered the acutely-observed TV series Thirtysomething, Once and Again, Relativity and My So-Called Life. So much sweat and tears go into such long-running shows that Zwick can be forgiven for steering toward testosterone action in his movie work.

By Anne Thompson
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August 15, 2010 6:36 AM
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Trailer Watch: James Brooks' How Do You Know

This How Do You Know trailer looks promising. Closely observed relationship comedy is what writer-director James L. Brooks does best. He sweats years over these originals to make them come out looking effortless and funny, and only rarely does he miss (Spanglish). And each of the stars--Reese Witherspoon and her two swains, Owen Wilson and Paul Rudd, and Jack Nicholson as his father-- look sweetly comfortable inside their wheelhouse. I'm there. Sony opens the movie December 17--an award-season friendly position.

By Anne Thompson
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August 14, 2010 1:15 AM
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The Illusionist: Trailer and Early Reviews

2-D lives! The Illusionist, the latest animated feature from the French animator behind The Triplets of Belleville, Sylvain Chomet, didn't make it to Cannes after it scored big in Berlin in February. Sony Pictures Classics scooped up the film, which is based on an unproduced screenplay by the late great writer-director-star Jacques Tati about a "dying breed of entertainer." Chomet drew a tall, gangly, elegant character much like Tati's 50s persona in such films as Les Vacances de Mr. Hulot.