Woody Allen

[thilak4life]

Have only seen match point. Watched it for you-know-who. Liked the film. The last few minutes were arresting. WA could have used a better male lead. Have 2-3 other movies of his in my hard drive, no time

Nerd, if you liked "Match point", you'll love "Crimes and misdemeanors". The plot is thematically no different from Judah-Dolores from the latter, and the role of "luck" in existential terms. It seems scientists are confirming more and more that all existence is here by blind chance. No purpose, no design.

"I'd rather be lucky than good" from the VO monologue is well resonated. The character, Chris Wilton derives much from D's Raskolnikov(WA owes much to the book, and there is a shot where Wilton reads it in the film). I agree that a better actor would have improved the part.

[Nerd]

Thank you Thilak!

Btw, why haven't you guys voted in the poll yet? Still pondering over the choices? All of them equally good? :P

[P_R]

Voted for Annie Hall.
Perhaps the one I watched more times that his other films.
So I voted before C&M catches up.

Right from the start monologue :" small portions" to the endpiece: "we need the eggs" it maintains 'pace' like no other Allen film

The young Alvy flashbacks, the whole non-linearity thing, the departures from line : talking to the camrea, commenting as they pass by Annie and her earlier boyfriend, Hall family dinner, getting opinions from passersby, the respective therapy sessions, "love's too weak a word" and goes about making linguistic innovations : typical Allen'ish: 'making light of poetry', the 'removed' Annie, "I have a problem with authority" encounter with the cop, his autobiographical play !

Allen regulars like California hating New Yorker, the intellectual stuck in a discomfiting situation where there are 'competing' intellects (his first wife's friends) and then Annie's prof. The half-tragic scene where he tries to get Annie back.

To me, it is his most impressive movie.

And the line that summed it all up: "As Balzac said.....there goes another novel"

[Querida]

I have not voted seeing that I am only beginning to see Allen's work...so far I have seen his most acclaimed "Annie Hall", "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and "Manhattan Murder Mystery"...all three of which I enjoyed especially when i would go back and play those parts in which he includes his show-stopping lines...it's like finding a chocolate chip in a cookie...(that will have to do for now...cause i can't think of any better simile)

Youtube offers some samples of his standup work as well...just as funny and though it is corny he keeps such a straight face about it you just can't help laughing (eg. "the moose" bit)

I'm wondering if anyone can tell me about his other work such as "the purple rose of cairo" or his earlier "bananas" or even his serious "interiors"...is it that they are not as good? or a different genre then his popularly noted works?

[P_R]

Bananas is quite disappointing...except for some 2-3 scenes and a piece of trivia that Stallone comes as a New York subway goon in one scene, the film just went nowhere.

Purple Rose of Cairo is an interesting film. You are right in saying it is quite unlike Annie Hall , C& M etc. But though he doesn't act in it and the concept is quite novel - you can feel his creative presence. Jeff Daniels and Mia Farrow are both out of place in their own ways. The humor is distractive, the haunting questions sheathed in so much lightness that you are encouraged to dismiss them. The ending, though kinda predictable, is arguably one of the most poignant I have seen in his works.

[crajkumar_be]

Have watched only Annie Hall and Match Point and loved them both

[P_R]

From Manhattan

Diane Keaton says she is getting back with her ex...and Woody is too shocked to reacts

DK: Why don't you get angry....let's just get it over with...
WA: I have a problem expressing anger.....I grow a tumour instead


DK's intro-scene is fantastic where she (and her boyfriend) trash everything Woody Allen holds as 'great' in his artistic evaluation. DK is just fantastic in that scene, the way she speaks her dialogues.

WA's reactions are hilarious in that scene ("Vang Goggghh....!") and he gripes about it in the next scene. "If she had said one more thing about Bergman I would have knocked contact lense off"

[thilak4life]

Watched "Bullets over broadway". Woody once said posterity of an artist through art is fallacious (regarding DK's character in "Interiors"). This belief recurs in his work, both loud and subtle. Woody's characters could also be demarcated as gifted and not gifted. This couldn't be stressed anymore than in BOB. Cusack's character, David (playwright), is not an artist. But Cheech (Palminteri) is uncannily talented for a hoodlum. Cheech gets a chance to shape David's play. As the play is crafted to its perfection, Cheech's life is at stake by his own creative control measure, and David experiences a self-realization.

[P_R]

Vicky Christina Barcelona

What a lovely film.
Thoroughly enjoyed it. Extremely well written - Allen everywhere and nowhere. Lots of aspects to chew on.

Penelope Cruz She is amazingly talented. The single most impressive performance I have seen (in a while - my sense of balance hastens to add and I accomodate grudgingly). I must must must see her films now.

enna dhaan nadakkum nadakkattumE
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thalaivan irukkiRan kalangAdhE

[equanimus]

Oh, I've been meaning to catch this film somehow.

Allen everywhere and nowhere.

Interesting. This is a comment that's so true for 'Match Point' as well. It's so tightly written and Allen's control over the medium is just impeccable, much more so than any of quintessential Allen classics and at the same time, its overarching themes are all Allen.

enna dhaan nadakkum nadakkattumE
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..
..
thalaivan irukkiRan kalangAdhE

adhennavo uNmai dhAn! So many films and one never tires of Woody Allen.