Woody Allen: Film by Film Thread

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by RayS, Aug 29, 2015.

  1. captouch

    captouch Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    My wife sits to watch something, grabs a blanket and pillow, and makes it look like she’s really going to watch. But then will play with her phone or drift off to sleep and say how boring it is.

    So much for immersive viewing and suspension of disbelief. . .
     
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  2. John Lucey

    John Lucey Forum Resident

    Anyone have any plans for celebrating the great man's 85th birthday?
     
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  3. mike s in nyc

    mike s in nyc Forum Resident

    Location:
    new york, NY
    I didn't realize that it was his birthday today and stumbled on a showing on one of the cable channels of one of the 'earlier funnier' films- love and death.
    ended up watching the whole thing- a film I still love! (and remember seeing it when it came out in 1975, and many times thereafter)

    coincidentally i re watched 'midnight in paris earlier this week- what a great film as well
     
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  4. John Lucey

    John Lucey Forum Resident

    I envy your celebration! Though I did listen to a chunk of Apropos of Nothing last night...

    I doubly envy that you saw Love and Death on the big screen!
     
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  5. NightGoatToCairo

    NightGoatToCairo Forum Resident

    Location:
    .
    :realmad:

    Have you considered starting divorce proceedings?
     
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  6. John Lucey

    John Lucey Forum Resident

    Ju chang (2020) - IMDb

    Anyone know anything about this? The credit of Woody and Doug McGrath makes me think this is some adaptation of Bullets Over Broadway but that's just a guess.
     
  7. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower Thread Starter

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    Looking at the cast list, all signs point to it. Google translate offers "Theater" as a translation of the title.
     
  8. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    Perhaps a Japanese filmmaker has dubbed Woody’s original with a story about a manic search for the perfect Miso Soup recipe...
     
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  9. I just saw Rainy Day In New York on the home screen over the weekend. I thought it was an excellent film. A minor masterpiece, really. It's vaulted into being one of my top 5 favorite Woody Allen films. Quite possibly one of my favorite films, full stop. Woody carried off something really cool there. I don't want to rave too much, but everything clicked for me. No filler, no gimmicks- no magical realism, no sci-fi, no trauma, no melodrama, no fallback on a foundation of absurd premises, no existentialist pretensions. Just a straight-up, naturalistic, thoroughly plausible narrative that would work just as well on the page as a classic short story. (But believe me, you don't want to do without the cinematography of this one.)

    To make note of only one welcome surprise, as far as wittiness, Allen still has his fastball. You'd think dialog writer Woody Allen would have run out of classic lines by now, but there are at least a half-dozen all-timers in this movie. Classic, stealable, crib-worthy bon mots and comebacks.
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2020
  10. Anthrax

    Anthrax Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Yup. I watched it last year and went in the theatre not expecting much at all but came out of there really pleased. Loved it.
     
  11. Same here. I went in to it thinking "okay, how much could this guy still have in the tank"...plenty, as it happens.

    Amazing cinematography. Showed off that Upper East Side setting like Mount Olympus. Which it might as well be, from my experiential perspective. Not that I envy anyone's palace. All I can do is imagine the problems with dust mice. At heart, I'm a country boy. I like real mice.

    I didn't mention the terrific soundtrack, which Allen has never used to better effect. And that's saying something, given his predilection for incorporating tunage into his work. But if the best thing about the film had been the soundtrack, that would have been sad. I can put together a memorable set list from the Great Songbook of America, or however it's called. Woody Allen has built more than one great movie around those pillars. And this one may be his best in that line. His best yet. May there be many more.

    The plot and thematic content of his next film will probably be about some Stygian Kafkaesque nightmare...
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2020
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  12. MrSka57

    MrSka57 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Syracuse, New York
    Late to the thread but I'm throwing in my two cents for Sleeper as my favorite.
    The pudding scene is just plain hysterical.
     
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  13. David Kellar

    David Kellar Forum Resident

    I recently re-watched Interiors, I forgot how brilliant that film is. The man is a genius.
     
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  14. John Lucey

    John Lucey Forum Resident

    Woody Allen Pages has a little item about Woody's next film -- in Paris next year, COVID19 permitting.

    The Woody Allen Pages
     
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  15. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    Recommended for WA fans: The Distinguished Citizen (Argentina, 2016), currently on Netflix.
    My summary: A world-renowned reclusive writer returns to his hometown to accept an honor and is beset by hangers-on, groupies, autograph seekers, donations, etc., while re-evaluating a significant past relationship.

    Sound familiar? It doesn’t have the magic realism of Stardust or Deconstructing, but it does have the dark humor. I thought it was a terrific film. Give it a try - you’ll like it. :)

     
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  16. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower Thread Starter

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    Sold! (Well, added to my list, anyway.)
     
    mrjinks likes this.
  17. maui jim

    maui jim Forum Resident

    Location:
    West of LA
    Thank you for recommendation
     
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  18. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    Not sure exactly what this is, but it looks promising:


    Apparently a “teaser” of sorts, from some upcoming lengthy discussion...
     
  19. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower Thread Starter

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    Woody expounding on existentialism, sign me up!
     
  20. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    Looks like this is up on YouTube (audio) in full:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwr0K3AnQGU
    The video appears to be on Patreon.com only, which requires a small fee. However, $2 seems like money well spent on this, for me!
    The ORIGINS Podcast with Lawrence Krauss is creating in-depth conversations with the world’s most interesting people. | Patreon
     
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  21. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower Thread Starter

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    I went the cheapo route and just listened to it. :) It covers a lot of territory that's already been covered, but I always enjoy hearing Woody getting a chance to expound at length about his philosophy of life. He also seems unusually comfortable with hearing a few of his films being praised. The interview is about a year old, I wonder why they sat on it so long.
     
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  22. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower Thread Starter

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    It was definitely worth the watch. And yes, there's an undeniable "Wild Strawberries"/"Stardust Memories"/"Deconstructing Harry" vibe.
     
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  23. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    It was a tad repetitive or “circular” with some of the conversation topics, but it was almost like “My Dinner With Woody” or something, eavesdropping on friends chatting about various topics. I’d pay $2 for a volume 2. :) Is kind of puzzling why it’s been on the shelf for 9 months or more...
    Glad you enjoyed it. I thought it was darkly humorous with some interesting larger themes. Hope some others here get a chance to see it, as well!
     
    RayS likes this.
  24. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    That Origins podcast has now uploaded the full video of Woody's interview for those who hadn't checked it out yet:


    And, for those of you who want to brush up on your Russian, he's done a 25min interview with some Russian tv program (!).
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYPEcQm1kOo&feature=youtu.be

    The interview is in English, but for the "home" audience, they've overdubbed the questions/answers to Russian (though you can hear a fair portion of Woody's answers). You can turn subtitles on, and set the language to English, if you're feeling adventurous. :)

    NOTE: the Russian interview does have at least one bit I haven't heard before. Woody talks about how much he prefers movies in the cinema, personally, and how much even for his movies, he and his cinematographers work hard to make beautiful films that should be appreciated on the big screen.
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2021
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  25. Alert

    Alert Forum Resident

    Location:
    Great River, NY
    I'm late to this thread but I'm a big Woody Allen fan.

    Just watched A Rainy Day in New York a couple of weeks ago. I'd read that it was near the bottom of his film but I was curious to see it anyway.

    Well, I liked it a lot, it had the tone and feel of his films that I love best.

    Afterwards my wife said "I just love going into the world he creates."
     

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