Rainy Day is pretty poor. Some vaguely agreeable performances, but Woody doubling down yet again on a 50 year old lusting after a 19 year old is sadly pathetic. And the fact that these appear to be amongst the richest people in New York (and hence the world), shows how out of touch he has become. Some great one liners as usual,but if you haven't seen it, you actually have many times before in other Allen movies 4/10
I agree, and would add that the lead character especially, together with much of the dialogue, feels anachronistic. No matter what their social background, what 19-year-old New Yorker, in 2019, wears a tweed jacket, hangs out in piano bars, and makes smart wisecracks about Gigi that are then understood by one of his peers? What 19-year-old has even heard of Gigi? For me, the Timothée Chalamet character is a vague mashup of the usual Woody stand-in and Holden Caulfield. The film would have worked better as a late fifties/early sixties period piece, IMO.
Honestly, I thought this was Woody's funniest movie in years. Dinner with his band in Venice? - "The band is eating like they're going to the chair." Laundry service in Milan?- "It's going to come back breaded". I wasn't expecting Wild Man Blues to be so entertaining, but looking back it plays like a classic Woody Allen movie - "Die hard New Yorker and traditional jazz musician leaves his beloved city for a tour of Europe, with his younger partner and sister along for the ride." Not that the Soon-Yi thing wasn't still creepy, though.
I just discovered this thread and I've loved all 77 pages. I'm not sure how exactly to jump in, but I'm a longtime fan who has seen all of the movies several times each. I did see A Rainy Day in New York via the German Blu-Ray. I agree with most of the previous comments but overall, I enjoy it more than not. This is doubly true as I disliked Wonder Wheel as much as I've ever disliked anything that Woody has ever made. I remember leaving the theater opening night (I saw it at a small arthouse here in DC), thinking, "Man, what a sour, negative experience that was." This was also around the time that i started buying every Blu-ray that I didn't already have. Anyway, thanks for all of the wonderful discussion. Sorry to be late to the party by several years.
Still to buy ☔️ it . But, yeah pity about Wonder Wheel started good.. but the script should have been expanded to let the mafia guys have a bit more screen time.
Great price and some great photos in this coffee table book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1419717944/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I'll stick up for Wonder Wheel because I thought it was an interesting, emotionally coherent story that was elegantly directed, well acted and made splendid use of the locations. I prefer Whit Stillmans "Barcelona" to VCB. It's much more Barcelony
Wow, I haven't seen "Barcelona" in years...and I still wish that the character had told us the secret to a good shave. I will definitely re-watch Wonder Wheel. I started a full Woody re-watch a few years back and started with the ones that I had somehow missed over the years... What's Up, Tiger Lily: silly, a few laughs but I was bored before it ended. Sweet and Lowdown: I couldn't believe that I missed this in the theater...until I read this thread and saw that Sony had botched the release. It's a great little movie, amusing most of the way through, but I find it's ending almost devastatingly moving. Celebrity: um, it looks great and I'm not sure if Winona Ryder has ever looked more beautiful. Kenneth Branagh did not bother me as much as I'd expected after the years of hearing how awful he is. There are bits that I enjoyed, though they all escape me at the moment. Cassandra's Dream: You know, I thought this was just okay/painless. I have no memory of it at all. After those, I started back at Take the Money and Run and I've been re-watching in order using mostly Blu-rays. Next up is Match Point, which my wife wants to watch, strangely enough. She's a Woody neophyte but {POTENTIAL SPOILER} she loves murder, so... I also picked up Eric Lax's On Being Funny used online. It's from 1975 and it's a really interesting snapshot.
Count me as a fan, also, for the same reasons. Not sure why so many, here and elsewhere, are so down on this film. Were they expecting a comedy and felt cheated when they got something altogether darker in tone and execution?
In true Woody and Diane style, the girlfriend and I have just had to catch and rehabilitate a spider the size of a Buick. It is gone 11pm here. I’m taking the fifth on who played which role in this little scene.
So, I will definitely re-watch with an open mind. I wasn't expecting a comedy and I did enjoy the performances, and some of the plot twists. Thanks for the feedback and it's rather nice to be among other fans/people who speak Woody.
I'll confess, I'm fairly forgiving of his movies. I don't think WW is anywhere near great, but I enjoyed it. Similar to how I feel about A Rainy Day in New York.
I like it a good deal more than Rainy Day, which I feel is pretty meh overall. Wonder Wheel has more meat to it; more gravitas; certainly a better script and acting. Like you, I tend to be fairly forgiving of his occasional tics and flaws.
The moment in "Wonderwheel" when the stepmom makes the incredibly selfish decision she makes was very worthy cinema, IMO. I wasn't enamored with the casting of the two male leads.
I agree and I particularly feel this way about Crisis in Six Scenes. I was so overjoyed to see him in front of the camera again that I knowingly overlooked a lot of that project's flaws.
Not that it invalidates your opinion on Wonder Wheel one iota, but I hate the casting choice of Timothée Chalamet in Rainy Day. I don’t get what people see in that kid at all. He is one of the worst breakthrough actors I’ve seen in a good number of years.
I agree about Chalamet. I'd heard how good he was in Rainy Day, and I kept waiting for his performance to change or kick in or whatever. I did enjoy Selena Gomez quite a bit.
