Thompson on Hollywood

Avatar Behind-the-Scenes Featurette

As more finished footage becomes available for James Cameron's Avatar---which is about 75% CG--Fox is releasing more material in advance of the December 18 release.

By Anne Thompson
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October 29, 2009 7:20 AM
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New Avatar Trailer is Up

I know there are a lot of Avatar naysayers out there but when the hairs rise on the back of my neck I know there's something real going on. I felt it with Twilight and I feel it with this latest Avatar trailer which went up on Yahoo at 10 am PST (video on jump).

By Anne Thompson
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October 29, 2009 5:18 AM
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Trailer Watch: Damon Stars in Invictus and Green Zone

It is more likely that Matt Damon will score an Oscar nom for Clint Eastwood's Invictus, which slices into Nelson Mandela's 1995 pursuit of the rugby World Cup to unify South Africa, than Steven Soderbergh's offbeat The Informant! which has already faded from the scene. Damon plays the captain of the South African rugby team, Francois Pienaar, and Morgan Freeman inhabits Mandela. Invictus opens December 11.

By Anne Thompson
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October 28, 2009 5:28 AM
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The Messenger: Oscar Contender?

Rookie director Oren Moverman's The Messenger faces the same obstacle in the fall awards season as the Michelle Monaghan star vehicle Trucker. It's one of many marginal outsider films that has to get seen before it has a chance. The movie is a stark portrait of two soldiers (Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster) who have to deliver news to families that their loved ones have died in Iraq. Not only do they have to handle their assignment delicately, but they must also absorb the shock, pain and grief of the bereaved.

By Anne Thompson
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October 17, 2009 8:10 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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Chaos Reigns: Antichrist vs. Fantastic Mr. Fox

What's with all the foxes in movies these days? My Variety colleague Peter Debruge couldn't resist mashing-up the The Fantastic Mr. Fox trailer with the "chaos reigns" clip from Lars von Trier's Antichrist, below.

By Anne Thompson
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October 16, 2009 11:03 AM
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Mel Gibson Stars in Edge of Darkness

Mel Gibson acting in a movie again is big news. So here's a trailer for the revenge flick Edge of Darkness, his first starring gig since Signs in 2002.

By Anne Thompson
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October 15, 2009 6:48 AM
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Weekend Read: 2012 Clips, FIND Conference, FTC Blog Rules, Polanski Culture Clash

Filmmaker Magazine reports from this weekend's FIND conference. So does Screen.

By Anne Thompson
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October 12, 2009 5:13 AM
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Trailer Watch: Shutter Island, Two

In case you missed it, here's the second trailer for Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, based on the Dennis Lehane mystery and starring Leonardo DiCaprio: