Category: Woody Allen
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Viewing Log, Week of 9/23/2012
Nashville (dir. Robert Altman, 1975) – Amazing how much you can forget about a film in five days. Nashville came across as so much more scathing this time around than last time (around 4 years ago). The attention Altman pays to the triumphalistic attitude of nationalism that defines his vision of the South in the…
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Viewing Log, Week of 9/9/2012
Albatross (dir. Niall MacCormick, 2011) – An “independent,” acting-driven story about how “coming of age” is accompanied by lots of challenges, although these challenges seem quite avoidable and fairly atypical. This is all story, and it doesn’t know where its sympathies lie. Boogie Woogie (dir. Duncan Ward, 2009) – Anything that mocks the upper-class art…
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Viewing Log, Week of 7/22/2012
Midnight in Paris (dir. Woody Allen, 2011) – I’ve tried, and I can’t get more out of this one than an extremely explicit theme about nostalgia and the film’s seemingly intentional refusal to apply its moral lesson to reality. Gil realizes that his nostalgia indicates a failure to live well in the present, right in…
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Manhattan Murder Mystery: Escapist Comedy
One in a series of rather silly features from Woody Allen from the ’90s into the ’00s, Manhattan Murder Mystery acts as a sort of trivial extension of the earlier Annie Hall. This superficial fact doesn’t warrant its dismissal by critics as a forgettable chapter within Allen’s sizable canon. It has the flavor of a…
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Midnight in Paris: From One Flâneur To Another
What the ex-advisor said was true and remains true: you haven’t seen a film unless you’ve seen in (at least) twice. So, for as lighthearted in tone as Woody Allen’s latest is, one must revisit it to say much about it that’s worth hearing. That being said, here we are after only one viewing. Midnight…
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The Purple Rose of Cairo: Subverting Cinema
It was awhile ago when we watched this one, which came via the lovely Netflix Instant feature streaming via Nintendo Wii. (Somewhere Jack Donaghy is drooling over the synergy.) So, the screenshots here will undoubtedly be inferior to the norm. Needing a little refresher, enlisted the assistance of Arnold W. Preussner, whose helpful article “Woody…
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Quickies, Vol. XXIX: Fantasies
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (dir. Steven Spielberg, 1977) – At this point, Spielberg hadn’t quite mastered his balance between grand scope and human interest; it’s overly big with not enough emphasis on the small. It’s good and well to offer a regular joe as your main protagonist, but don’t dwarf him too much.…
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Bananas
These old Woody Allen films are pretty delightful: intelligent slapstick overflowing with enough word plays and sight gags that the viewer might do well to hit “pause” while laughing so as not to miss another doozy. Woody seems to thrive on social commentary after being ripped out of his natural habitat, which somehow puts him…
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Quickies, Vol. IX
Gilda (dir. Charles Vidor, 1946): The tagline read, “Was there ever a woman like Gilda?” Indeed. Upon a more recent viewing of this long-been favorite, it appears much less textbook Mulvey than previously alleged. Gilda’s sort of the pawn, the tennis ball; but she’s also got more power than the two men/players combined. Would make…
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Sleeper
Sleeper is a silly, smart, and enjoyable film. Its embrace of classic American silent comedy through ceaseless sight gags works remarkably well, with Woody Allen maximizing his minimalistic physical stature in imitation of a Keaton or Chaplin as few are capable of doing. Speeding up the film helps, along with ragtime music, to point the…
Precious Bodily Fluids 