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| whiskeypriest |
 Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 7:04 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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Transporting myself 38 minutes into the future, I came across this post:
billyweeds wrote: marantzo wrote: Now there's a concept, have Tarantino and Madonna star in a remake of Roman Holiday. Planet Nine from Outer Space deserves some competition. That's Plan Nine from Outer Space. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 7:31 pm |
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| I know that. It was a typo. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:28 am |
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The mention of Mira Sorvino on another forum reminded me of something I meant to post. When I first saw Mighty Aphrodite I liked it very much and thought that Sorvino gave an excellent performance. When there was such a backlash about her getting the Oscar, I couldn't figure out why so many on the forum (was it back in the NYTFF days?) thought that it was such a travesty.
I saw the film for a second time just a few days ago. I still liked it very much and I still think she gave an excellent performance. It's a movie that got a lot of dismissive comments from just about everyone. Woody gets those kind of comments for many of his movies and I don't know why. Having avoided his "serious" movies, there have been very few that I haven't liked or loved. Even the truly minor ones like The Jade Scorpion (I hope I got the title right), entertained me. And very lame efforts like Hollywood Ending also had some very funny parts that made the viewing worthwhile.
It's as if everyone is waiting for his next picture so they can say that he doesn't make good movies anymore or that he isn't funny anymore or that he is too old to be paired with those young women, or they are tired of his schtick.
For me he is one of the best movie makers around and his output is prodigious. I wait for his pictures eagerly and am sometimes disappointed but rarely sorry that I saw them. In my opinion his list of fine films is longer than anyone making movies today. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:53 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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I wish that Woody would take more time with his scripts and films. He has a lot going on other than making films, so he tends to work quickly and does few retakes. There always are obvious shortcuts in his scripts which are dissatisfying. I'd much prefer if he made one movie every 2 or 3 years and put more of his time and himself into it, instead of these throwaway annual films.
I'm looking forward to Whatever Works, which is a discarded (and now rescued) treatment from his 70's high point. Though not expecting too much. At least Larry David's schtick will be new to me, as I've never seen his show. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:12 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Gary--Woody Allen is a very talented individual to say the least, and it would be strange to find a movie of his that didn't have at least one or two moments of worthwhile activity. But his worst movies are as bad as any movies I know. Hollywood Ending, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, Stardust Memories, Interiors, and Deconstructing Harry were as close to unwatchable as movies get for me. And I thoroughly detested Mighty Aphrodite, Alice, Another Woman, and September.
On the other end of the spectrum, Manhattan, Everyone Says I Love You, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Zelig, Husbands and Wives, and Annie Hall are as good as the others are bad.
In the middle somewhere are such as Manhattan Murder Mystery, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, Love and Death, Bananas, Sleeper, Take the Money and Run, and Bullets Over Broadway.
I don't wait around for Woody to make a bad movie so I can crow over it. But I do try to call 'em as I see 'em. |
Last edited by billyweeds on Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:19 am; edited 2 times in total |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:16 am |
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| I largely agree with the excpetion of Curse of the Jade Scorpion, which is nothing like a great Woody Allen movie, but is an entertaining, if not at all memorable one. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:39 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Agree that Jade Scorpion was awful.
But Mighty Aphrodite was enjoyable.
And Purple Rose of Cairo should also be in the top tier.
Otherwise, I'd shuffle some around a bit. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:50 am |
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| I think Jade Scorpion was awful from the jump. But Helen Hunt's performance pushed it over into the truly unwatchable. That woman gets on my nerves as very few do. And the idea of her and Woody teaming up was...nauseating. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:55 am |
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Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors and Manhattan, roughly in order, are four of the very best movies of the last thirty - no, forty, Jesus is time flying - years. And a lot of Allen's films are enjoyable without reaching that height. But frankly, a lot of Allen's films over the last nearly 20 years haven't sparked an interest in me at all. It took about 15 or 20 minutes for Scoop to lose me, for instance.
Haven't seen VCB (careful with those initials!) yet, though. It was on the plane I took home from Warsaw six months ago, but somehow I thought that was not the venue to try to see it in. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:57 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Then of course there's the Tea Leoni/Treat Williams/Woody triangle in Hollywood Ending. Hey, gorgeous, sexy lady! Choose one: an aging but still hunky slice of beefcake with an intelligent attitude...or a wrinkled, wizened old coot who acts like a nerd. The choice is yours.
Oh, I forgot to tell you: the script is written by said coot. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:59 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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| Forgot Hannah and Her Sisters. Yeah, that's right up there. (Sat behind Sally Field at the screening. She was dating Ted Bessell that night. Gossip over, Marc.) |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:10 am |
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billyweeds wrote: I think Jade Scorpion was awful from the jump. But Helen Hunt's performance pushed it over into the truly unwatchable. That woman gets on my nerves as very few do. And the idea of her and Woody teaming up was...nauseating.
Well it tells you the sort of impact the movie made on me that I don't even remember her in it. For some reason, I thought it was Uma Thurman (who can't act, exept for some mysterious reason in Tarantino movies). I just vaguely remember enjoying the story and not feeling my Saturday afternoon was wasted. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:15 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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My favorite Woody Allen movies are Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, Love and Death, Radio Days and Zelig. I really liked Match Point and Bananas, too, but not as much. Half of Crimes and Misdemeanors is really good (the Martin Landau part), but the Alan Alda part weakens the impact.
Also like Sweet and Lowdown, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Play it Again, Sam and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (*But Were Afraid to Ask. Annie Hall never really did much for me, but I don't dislike it either. I like Antz, but Allen didn't direct that.
Okay films are Take the Money and Run, Broadway Danny Rose, Mighty Aphrodite (love the Greek chorus), Everyone Says I Love You, Vicky Christina Barcelona.
Really hate A Midsummer's Night Sex Comedy and Alice. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:21 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Love Broadway Danny Rose. Woody made one of his smartest directorial decisions in having Mia Farrow wear sunglasses throughout. Her limpid, sorrowful eyes would have played havoc with the hard-boiled attitude she was projecting as the character. She wound up scoring heavily with the part, but the sunglasses were an important part of her achievement.
Allen didn't direct Play It Again, Sam, though he wrote the play. I think the movie's director was Herbert Ross. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:30 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Joe Vitus wrote: I thought it was Uma Thurman (who can't act, exept for some mysterious reason in Tarantino movies).
I totally agree with you about Thurman, but she was good in two non-Quentin outings as well. Hysterical Blindness may be her best-ever performance. She's really amazing in it. And she's very funny in My Super Ex-Girlfriend. Other than those two and the QT stuff, she's terrible. Terrible.
Check out The Truth About Cats and Dogs. Made in the late 90s. Erase what you know about their careers from your mind and guess which one of the two co-stars would become the huge movie star: Janeane Garafalo or Uma Thurman.
On a related note, Ghost World starred two young ladies, one of whom (Thora Birch) was brilliant and the other (Scarlett Johansson) was okay. Go figure. |
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