In Contention

Tag: Anne Thompson

  • Lists, lists, lists

    Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish in Bright StarI don’t feel anywhere near ready to present my Best of 2009 list, much less my Best of the 2000s one, yet — too many movies to watch, re-watch and contemplate before the brutal culling and shuffling of titles can begin. Still, a lot of critics and bloggers are clearly more organized than me — as each day brings a new pile of Top 10s.

    Our friend Anne Thompson has one of the more individual lists out there: I won’t steal her thunder by replicating her entire collective, but here’s her top 5, which I rather like. (She adds the caveat that she had not seen “Avatar” at the time of posting.)

    1. “Bright Star”
    2. “A Serious Man”
     3. “A Prophet”
     4. “Up”
    5. “Red Cliff”

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  • Thompson shifts to indieWIRE this weekend

    Anne ThompsonA couple of weeks ago the news dropped that Anne Thompson would be pulling up the stakes on her Thompson on Hollywood Variety blog and shifting it over to indieWIRE.

    My immediate reaction was that the fit was better.  Thompson always seemed like an outsider at Variety, an awkward figment of a newer, fresher approach to journalism than that outlet has been willing to fully embrace.

    I’ve known Anne a couple of years now and have come to consider her a good friend in a business more full of “business associates” than actual confidants.  I wished her the best when the news fell and again today, as Eugene Hernandez announces the “new” Thompson on Hollywood and Anne herself writes up her final post under the Variety masthead, I’d like to do so again.

    It’s an exciting get for indieWIRE, a good bunch of guys who understand the business the way Anne does.

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  • Thompson to indieWIRE

    Anne ThompsonWeeks after I expected the announcement of Anne Thompson’s shift to indieWIRE to drop, it seems the formalities are finally under way.  Sharon Waxman reported the goods yesterday, but I missed it at the time.

    My thoughts are that this is a real coup for Eugene Hernandez and the indieWIRE team.  And, it’s the best fit.  Thompson was always a bit too media savvy for Variety and certainly would have been a great fixture at any of the outlets that were angling to lure her in (including The Wrap), but she’ll bring a fierce independent spirit to her new digs that I personally think will prove refreshing for her.

    So, a big congrats to Anne.  Break a leg.