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Scoop is Woody Allen's second film shot entirely in London and the second film in a row to star Scarlett Johansson. It is an unfortunate letdown after Match Point, his best film of the decade, and part of the problem with this film is Woody Allen. His jokes feel tired and forced and his presence weighs the film down.
Sondra Pransky (Johansson) is an American college journalist visiting family friends in London. One evening she attends a magic show by The Great Splendini, also known as Sid Waterman (Allen). She agrees to participate on stage and while inside the box she meets the spirit of Joe Strombel (Ian McShane), a recently deceased investigative journalist who has a scoop. He has reason to believe that Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman) is a serial killer. Sondra and Sid create aliases and become friendly with Peter Lyman in order to discover the truth.
Scoop has a decent premise but the material seems stale. There is also very little chemistry between Scarlett Johansson and Hugh Jackman. It is not Woody Allen's worst film but it is one of his least inspired.
Next up: Cassandra's Dream.
1. Hannah and Her Sisters
2. Everyone Says I Love You
3. Manhattan
4. Bullets over Broadway
5. Annie Hall
6. Crimes and Misdemeanors
7. Radio Days
8. Husbands & Wives
9. Another Woman
10. The Purple Rose of Cairo
11. Broadway Danny Rose
12. Match Point
13. Love and Death
14. Sweet and Lowdown
15. Mighty Aphrodite
16. Interiors
17. Sleeper
18. Manhattan Murder Mystery
19. Zelig
20. Stardust Memories
21. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
22. Take the Money and Run
23. Deconstructing Harry
24. Oedipus Wrecks from New York Stories
25. Bananas
26. Small Time Crooks
27. What's Up, Tiger Lily?
28. Melinda and Melinda
29. Alice
30. Shadows and Fog
31. Don't Drink the Water
32. September
33. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
34. Celebrity
35. Scoop
36. Hollywood Ending
37. Anything Else
38. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
It seems so hard to believe but Match Point is the first Woody Allen film I saw on the big screen. I saw it with a very dear friend in New York City in Times Square, yet strangely enough the film was shot entirely in London unlike many of his previous films. The tennis metaphor only made me want to see it more, especially considering how disappointing Wimbledon (2004) was. Match Point was seen as a return to form for Woody Allen after a string of disappointing films and it was his most critically praised film since 1999's Sweet and Lowdown. It is also the first of three films, to date, to star Scarlett Johansson. Match Point is one of Woody Allen's strongest films in a very long time and it serves as a thematic companion to Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989).
Chris (Johnathan Rhys Meyers) is a recently retired tennis player who takes a job as a tennis instructor at an upper class club. He strikes up a friendship with Tom (Matthew Goode) and soon begins a relationship with Tom's sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer). At a family gathering Chris is introduced to Tom's fiancee Nola (Scarlett Johansson), a struggling American actress. Chris is very attracted to Nola but is drawn to Chloe because of her family's financial wealth and he soon marries Chloe. However, after a chance encounter with Nola they begin having an affair. The affair leads Chris down a dangerous path and eventually forces him to make some very difficult decisions.
Match Point is Scarlett Johansson at her best, I have yet to see her in a better role. It is a great film that sparks dialogue and conversation, exactly what a good film should do. London is beautifully photographed in the film and with what I have seen from Woody Allen's recent films I hope he continues to use Europe as his inspiration.
Next up: Scoop.
My list:
1. Hannah and Her Sisters
2. Everyone Says I Love You
3. Manhattan
4. Bullets over Broadway
5. Annie Hall
6. Crimes and Misdemeanors
7. Radio Days
8. Husbands & Wives
9. Another Woman
10. The Purple Rose of Cairo
11. Broadway Danny Rose
12. Match Point
13. Love and Death
14. Sweet and Lowdown
15. Mighty Aphrodite
16. Interiors
17. Sleeper
18. Manhattan Murder Mystery
19. Zelig
20. Stardust Memories
21. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
22. Take the Money and Run
23. Deconstructing Harry
24. Oedipus Wrecks from New York Stories
25. Bananas
26. Small Time Crooks
27. What's Up, Tiger Lily?
28. Melinda and Melinda
29. Alice
30. Shadows and Fog
31. Don't Drink the Water
32. September
33. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
34. Celebrity
35. Hollywood Ending
36. Anything Else
37. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
I rushed from one end of the city to the other after a job interview to go see Get Low, the directorial debut from Aaron Schneider that stars Robert Duvall, Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek. All three actors enjoyed considerable success before I was ever very interested in film. Robert Duvall received three Oscar nominations in the 1970s before winning Best Actor in 1983 for Tender Mercies. Sissy Spacek may be best known for her starring role in Carrie (1976) but she is a six-time Oscar nominee, winning in 1980 for Coal Miner's Daughter. Bill Murray showed us his comedic skills in the the 1980s and early 1990s with roles in Ghostbusters, Scrooged, and Groundhog Day before having a career renaissance in the 2000s with the help of Wes Anderson and an Oscar-nominated performance in Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation (2003). These three incredibly talented actors, along with the youthful charm of Lucas Black, make Get Low a powerfully emotional film. It is a shame that this film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2009 and has only been released now. This is definitely the type of film that is driven by characters and the central performance by Robert Duvall is what will resonate long after Get Low is over.
Felix Bush (Duvall) is a hermit and lives deep in the woods in a small Tennessee town during the 1930s. The townspeople all have their own stories about Felix and it is widely speculated that he killed someone in cold blood. One day he goes to town and offers a wad of cash for a living funeral. He wants to be present while people share stories about him. He is approached by Buddy Robinson (Black), the protege of the local funeral home owner Frank Quinn (Murray). Quinn expects to earn a sizable amount and uses Buddy to over Felix. The three men begin to plan a living funeral and Buddy soon learns that the reason for the funeral is for Felix to reveal a secret that he has kept for forty years that involves the recently widowed Mattie Darrow (Spacek), a woman with whom Felix once had a relationship.
For almost a year, since last year's Toronto International Film Festival, I have heard and read so many great things about Robert Duvall's performance in Get Low. To add insult to injury it seemed like there was a preview before every film I saw this spring. Now I have finally seen the film and I did enjoy it. It is similar to other films about aging men who are trying to make amends (see Jeff Bridges' Oscar-winning performance in Crazy Heart) and the success of these films is fully dependent on character and performance. Without Robert Duvall's wonderful performance the film would lack heart and the audience would not empathize with his character. It is fantastic to see three great veteran actors working alongside each other to bring such a quirky story to life. Besides the actors I must also single out the screenwriters who scripted a wonderful film. Get Low was written by C. Gaby Mitchell and Chris Provenzano (who was a writer for the first season of Mad Men) and is loosely based on a true story that look place in Tennessee in 1938. Get Low is a great film to see this summer during the later part of the summer when the studios seems satisfied to offer us Vampires Suck and Eat, Pray, Love. Maybe some younger moviegoers will even want to see Robert Duvall's great performance in The Godfather (1972) or The Apostle (1997), a film written, directed and starring Robert Duvall.
My rating: 3 stars out of 4.
Scott Pilgrim vs the World is an adaptation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim. The film is visually spectacular and director Edgar Wright is able to wonderfully combine comic book elements with a feature film. There are moments when the graphics on screen come and go so quickly that it made my head spin. Scott Pilgrim vs the World is a film unlike any other and it may take a few scenes to adjust to its pace. Michael Cera is still incredibly adept at playing the quirky but lovable loner that made him famous on Arrested Development and this serves him well in the title role but I do hope he can evolve into some more mature rolls. Some of the film's best roles are filled by some of Hollywood's rising stars who have made names for themselves on film and television: Anna Kendrick (Oscar-nominated for Up in the Air), Allison Pill (In Treatment), Brie Larson (United States of Tara), Mae Whitman (Arrested Development) and Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation). There is a tremendous amount of material to cover in under two hours and Edgar Wright, as director and screenwriter, is able to control the quick pace without sacrificing character development. Scott Pilgrim vs the World is inventive and unique with an extremely talented young cast and I can only hope the fantastic visuals play as well on DVD as they do at the cinema.
Scott Pilgrim is twenty-three and in between jobs. He is the bass guitarist for the band Sex-Bob-Omb, made up of friends from high school and his one-time girlfriend Kim (Pill). His friends are not very supportive when he begins dating a seventeen year old high school girl named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). Scott soon meets Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and they start dating and he begins losing interest in Knives. While Sex-Bob-Omb is competing at a battle of the bands to win a record contract Scott is attacked by Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha), Ramona's first ex. Scott learns that in order to date Ramona he will have to defeat all seven members of the League of Exes. The members of The League of Evil Exes are played by Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, Mae Whitman. Shouta and Keita Saito, and Jason Schwartzman. Scott must also deal with his gay roommate Wallace (Kieran Culkin) and their extreme lack of privacy, his judgmental-but-supportive sister Stacey (Kendrick) and his now world famous ex-girlfriend Natalie (Larson).
Scott Pilgrim vs the World puts a new twist on a love story and gives the genre a fresh perspective. It is often very difficult to balance a large cast without making character involvement seem haphazard. The original graphic novel spans six volumes and the film adaption condenses the story into one film. I have not read the original but I feel like the film did a great job pacing the story and the action. The film also did not go overboard with the comic book visuals and there was only one scene near the end of the film where I felt the graphics on screen could have been crisper. I do not think that another actor could have done a better job than Michael Cera but at the end of the day the other characters are more memorable. I am just ready for him to grow up. Scott Pilgrim vs the World has given moviegoers a fantastic new approach to filmmaking and I sincerely hope that it is a film more fondly remembered than forgotten.
My rating: 3 stars out of 4.
Melinda and Melinda (2004) often finds itself grouped with Woody Allen's three previous films. It is not a fantastic film but it does have a very clever premise. Over dinner friends debate whether life is intrinsically comic or tragic. One friend proposes a story about a distraught women interrupting a dinner party and Sy (Wallace Shawn) argues its comedic merits while Max (Larry Pine) views it tragically. It is a great start to the film but both stories feel underdeveloped and I think they would work better as two whole films instead of two parts of the same film.
Radha Mitchell plays Melinda in both stories and is a real delight in both roles. In the tragedy she shows up unannounced at a dinner party hosted by a childhood friend (played by Chloë Sevigny) and her husband (Johnny Lee Miller). In the comedy Melinda disrupts a dinner party hosted by her neighbours (played by Amanda Peete and Will Ferrell). Each Melinda is given a different backstory but in each story we see Melinda trying to rebuild her life and find love.
I feel like Melinda is the multidimensional character in the film. She is able to exist in comedy and tragedy and she feels like the same woman but the other characters are stuck in comedy or tragedy.
Next up: Match Point.
1. Hannah and Her Sisters
2. Everyone Says I Love You
3. Manhattan
4. Bullets over Broadway
5. Annie Hall
6. Crimes and Misdemeanors
7. Radio Days
8. Husbands & Wives
9. Another Woman
10. The Purple Rose of Cairo
11. Broadway Danny Rose
12. Love and Death
13. Sweet and Lowdown
14. Mighty Aphrodite
15. Interiors
16. Sleeper
17. Manhattan Murder Mystery
18. Zelig
19. Stardust Memories
20. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
21. Take the Money and Run
22. Deconstructing Harry
23. Oedipus Wrecks from New York Stories
24. Bananas
25. Small Time Crooks
26. What's Up, Tiger Lily?
27. Melinda and Melinda
28. Alice
28. Shadows and Fog
30. Don't Drink the Water
31. September
32. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
33. Celebrity
34. Hollywood Ending
35. Anything Else
36. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
I do love dancing even if So You Think You Can Dance is slowly killing all the fun in watching people dance. I saw Step Up (2006) with my friend only a few days before my grandma passed away and Step Up 2: The Streets (2008) on a Valentine's Day date with the same friend. It only made sense to go to Step Up 3D together, especially when Avatar and Alice in Wonderland are making 3D films oh so enjoyable. The first two films in this franchise were better able to combine story and dancing than Step Up 3D, which has the weakest plot and worst acting of the three films. Fortunately, it has far superior dancing that is actually enhanced by 3D. It must be difficult to find talented actors who are incredible dancers because the film's stars, Rick Malambri and Sharni Vinson, are excellent dancers but are pretty inept at relating emotions. The only actor more miscast was Joe Slaughter, whose complete lack of character awareness was frightening. Step Up will be forever linked to So You Think You Can Dance because the television show's egotistical judge Adam Shankman (director of 2007's Hairspray) at least had the bright idea to cast former contestants in featured dance roles. Step Up 3D is a useless film that is only made bearable by the visually spectacular dance sequences. The overwrought plot only hurts the film and the weak acting make the non-dance scenes practically unbearable.
Robert "Moose" Alexander III (Adam Sevani) links Step Up 2: The Streets to Step Up 3D. He has just moved to New York from Baltimore to attend New York University with his best friend Camille (Alyson Stoner, best known for being the little girl in Missy Elliott's Work It music video). Moose is leaving dance behind and plans to study engineering. During orientation he finds himself away from the group and stumbles on upon a dance battle. He meets Luke (Malambri), leader of the dance crew House of Pirates. Luke and his crew live together in a warehouse that they can no longer afford. They are hoping to win the World Jam competition and the $100 000 grand prize to keep their home. The same night Moose meets the crew (that includes SYTYCD's tWitch and Martin and Facundo Lombard as the Santiago twins) a young girl posing as a runaway (Vinson) is welcomed into the crew by Luke. No one is aware that Natalie (Vinson) is actually the sister of Luke's rival Julien (Slaughter). Moose soon begins neglecting his studies and his friendship with Camille to train with the crew. Everyone is optimistic until Luke finds out the truth about Natalie and everyone's future is jeopardized.
Unlike Step Up and Step Up 2: The Streets I feel that Step Up 3D relied too heavily on story, and this may be due to the incredibly weak acting. By the end of the film the power of the dancing was almost neutralized by the film's over-reliance on plot and cliche. There is nothing positive to say about the story, acting or dialogue whatsoever but the dancing was pretty incredible. The 3D effects were worth it but the film is hardly worth the elevated price of admission. My friend and I have agreed that Step Up should release a Good Parts Version of the three films that only includes the dancing. I was afraid that So You Think You Can Dance had dulled my appreciation of dance and that was not the case. I am just sick of the television show and I refused to watch the final episodes this week. It is great that dance is being featured in film and on television but sooner or later audiences are going to want a decent story to go along with the dancing.
My rating: 1 star out of 4 for the film, 4 stars for the dancing.
Well I have finally arrived at the worst stage in Woody Allen's career. The early 2000s must not have been easy for Woody Allen as he gave us his three weakest efforts in a row: The Curose of the Jade Scorpion (2001), Hollywood Ending (2002) and Anything Else (2003). All three films suffer from an extreme lack of focus, poorly written screenplays and less than inspired acting.
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion is the only Woody Allen film that I had ever hated. It tells the story of an insurance investigator, CW Briggs (Allen), and an efficiency expert, Betty Ann Fitzgerald (Helen Hunt), whose distaste for each other leads them to be hypnotized by a magician (David Ogden Stiers) who uses them to steal jewels. The film costars Dan Aykroyd, Elizabeth Berkeley, Wallace Shawn and Charlize Theron. Helen Hunt may have won an Oscar (As Good as it Gets) and multiply Emmys (Mad About You), but she is the weakest actor in this film and it is quite disappointing.
The problem with Hollywood Ending is that it Woody Allen pokes fun at himself the whole time and it is never clever enough for a Woody Allen film. The film gets stalled with sight gags and the unbelievable relationship between Woody Allen and Tea Leoni.
Val Waxman (Allen) is a former A-list director trying to restart his career. After being fired from a deodorant commercial and wondering how he will support his girlfriend (Debra Messing) he gets an offer to direct a big budget movie set in New York. The only catch is that his ex-wife (Leoni) and her boyfriend (Treat Williams) will be producing the film. Just as shooting is set to begin Val goes blind and attempts to make the movie without anyone finding out.
There are a lot of metaphors in Hollywood Ending in regards to Woody Allen's own career that do not work. There are some moments and scenes that feel forced and the editing is questionable.
My concern with Anything Else is the decision to cast Jason Biggs. I have never thought him to be an incredibly talented actor and often find most his roles too juvenile, which is the exact issue in Anything Else. I also think that Christina Ricci's role is too one-dimensional and Stockard Channing is too underused.
Jerry Falk (Biggs) is an aspiring writer who falls in love at first sight with Amanda (Ricci). The problem is that Jerry has a girlfriend and Amanda is dating Jerry's friend (Jimmy Fallon). The film is narrated by Biggs and the film goes back and forth between past and future. Jerry begins to suspect problems in his relationship with Amanda and turns to Dobel (Allen), a teacher who works part time as a comic writer, for advice.
Anything Else tries to use Jason Biggs as the Woody Allen archetype but he does not have the maturity or the skill for the role, even with a mediocre screenplay. The only highlight of the film is the cameo appearance by the incredible Diana Krall.
Next up: Melinda and Melinda.
My list:
1. Hannah and Her Sisters
2. Everyone Says I Love You
3. Manhattan
4. Bullets over Broadway
5. Annie Hall
6. Crimes and Misdemeanors
7. Radio Days
8. Husbands & Wives
9. Another Woman
10. The Purple Rose of Cairo
11. Broadway Danny Rose
12. Love and Death
13. Sweet and Lowdown
14. Mighty Aphrodite
15. Interiors
16. Sleeper
17. Manhattan Murder Mystery
18. Zelig
19. Stardust Memories
20. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
21. Take the Money and Run
22. Deconstructing Harry
23. Oedipus Wrecks from New York Stories
24. Bananas
25. Small Time Crooks
26. What's Up, Tiger Lily?
27. Alice
28. Shadows and Fog
29. Don't Drink the Water
30. September
31. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
32. Celebrity
33. Hollywood Ending
34. Anything Else
35. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
Small Time Crooks, Woody Allen's 2000 film, brings back memories of his earlier comedies. His later films have become more dramatic and philosophical but Allen replaces upper-class Manhattan with working-class New Jersey in this film. It is not his best comedy and it kind of lags at the end but it is often hilarious and features a fantastic performance from Tracey Ullman. Small Time Crooks is a highlight in the middle of 6 very sub par films.
Ray (Woody Allen), an ex-con, has developed a scheme to rob a bank with his two partners, Denny (Michael Rapaport) and Tommy (Tony Darrow). His plan is to lease a restaurant down the street from the bank and to tunnel underground to rob it. Ray's wife Frenchy (Ullman) will provide their cover by selling cookies from the restaurant. The bank robbery is a complete failure but the cookie business makes them millionaires. The film's twist finds Ray hating their new fortune and Frenchy trying to become part of the elite. She meets a man named David (Hugh Grant) to train her. Unbeknownst to Frenchy David is just using her naivete to gain her trust and access to her money.
Small Time Crooks is a funny film but it seems mediocre for a Woody Allen film. Tracey Ullman is absolutely fantastic which is no surprise because she has a wonderful talent for comedy. I would rather see the positives because his next film is undeniably his worst.
Next up: The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.
My list:
1. Hannah and Her Sisters
2. Everyone Says I Love You
3. Manhattan
4. Bullets over Broadway
5. Annie Hall
6. Crimes and Misdemeanors
7. Radio Days
8. Husbands & Wives
9. Another Woman
10. The Purple Rose of Cairo
11. Broadway Danny Rose
12. Love and Death
13. Sweet and Lowdown
14. Mighty Aphrodite
15. Interiors
16. Sleeper
17. Manhattan Murder Mystery
18. Zelig
19. Stardust Memories
20. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
21. Take the Money and Run
22. Deconstructing Harry
23. Oedipus Wrecks from New York Stories
24. Bananas
25. Small Time Crooks
26. What's Up, Tiger Lily?
27. Alice
28. Shadows and Fog
29. Don't Drink the Water
30. September
31. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
32. Celebrity
I am a relative beginner when it comes to Oliver Stone. I have only seen three of his films and Natural Born Killers (1994) is the only one I liked, and it demands multiple viewings. The other two films, U Turn (1996) and Any Given Sunday (1997) are much weaker efforts. Oliver Stone has made a career out of political dramas and biographies of former American presidents. His most well known films may be Platoon (1986) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) which both won Academy Awards for Best Director as well as earning Best Picture for Platoon. JFK is an epic film at over three hours that looks at the assassination of John F. Kennedy through the eyes of Jim Garrison (played by Kevin Costner), District Attorney of New Orleans. The film was very controversial and many believed Oliver Stone was taking too many liberties when it came to facts. JFK features a fantastic cast led by Kevin Costner and costars Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, Joe Pesci, Sissy Spacek, Kevin Bacon and Donald Sutherland as well as narration by Martin Sheen. Unfortunately Oliver Stone's emphasis on Jim Garrison in JFK makes the seem feel like little more than a conspiracy theory and every scene with his wife and kids are too forced and a constant reminder that JFK is an overwrought drama.
The film begins with black and white newsreel footage that begins with Eisenhower's presidential farewell address in 1961 and continues until the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Jim Garrison learns of a connection in New Orleans to Kennedy's suspected assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald (Oldman), and begins questioning possible conspirators, including pilot David Ferrie (Pesci). Unfortunately Oswald is killed by Jack Ruby (Brian Doyle Murray) and Garrison ends his investigation. In 1966 Garrison resumes his investigation after reading the Warren Report (also known as The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy) and find a link between Oswald, Ferrie and a man named Clay Shaw (Jones), a businessman, and Willie O'Keefe (Bacon), a male prostitute. Shaw is eventually charged with conspiring to murder the president after new evidence leads Garrison to believe there was a second shooter. As Garrison's professional life flourishes his life at home suffers and his marriage to Liz (Spacek) suffers. JFK leads to the trial of Clay Shaw in 1969 when Garrison tries to disprove the government's theory that there was one shooter.
JFK is a very long film with a considerable amount of information being hurled at the viewer. I might be too young and too Canadian for a film about an American president in the 1960s. The actors in the film were definitely in the prime of their careers and did a respectable job. Kevin Costner was two years removed from the incredible success of Dances with Wolves and Tommy Lee Jones would soon win an Academy Award for The Fugitive. JFK does show that Oliver Stone is a gifted filmmaker but I think this film included too much information and I probably think this because of my age and my complete lack of knowledge of American politics. My biggest problem with JFK is that it tries to make Jim Garrison an American hero while depicting him as a vindictive, career-obsessed man who ignores his entire family. I could have done without practically every scene that involved Liz and the kids. Not even Sissy Spacek's incredible talent as an actress was able to evoke the intended empathy from me. JFK would have been a lot more satisfying if it had focused more on the conspiracy instead of Kevin Costner's performance.
My rating: 2 stars out of 4.
Woody Allen has had prior success in the pseudo-documentary genre with the films Take the Money and Run (1969), Zelig (1983) and Husbands & Wives (1992). His last film of the twentieth century, Sweet and Lowdown, is the story of a fictional jazz guitarist named Emmett Ray (played by Sean Penn). Jazz is a familiar genre to Woody Allen, who is an accomplished clarinetist and plays in a jazz band. Woody Allen fans know that jazz music is often heavily featured in his films and is often played during the opening credits. Sweet and Lowdown is a beautifully acted and written film and my only fault is that is does not resonate as well as Woody Allen's more successful films.
Emmett Ray is extremely talented but also incredibly arrogant. He is one of Woody Allen's least sympathetic characters. The film is set during the 1930s and Emmett considers himself to be the second best guitarist in the world, second only to Django Reinhardt, who really was a world renowned guitarist born in Belgium in 1910. Sweet and Lowdown presents itself as a documentary by having fictional experts discuss and analyze Emmett's private and professional lives. The film focuses heavily on two of Emmett's relationships, the first with Hattie (Samantha Morton), who is mute, and Blanche (Uma Thurman), an ebullient and vivacious society girl.
The absolute highlight of the film is Samantha Morton. In only her third feature film role she is mesmerizing as Hattie and deservedly won a Best Supporting Actress nomination (losing to Angelina Jolie in Girl, Interrupted).
Next up: Small Time Crooks.
1. Hannah and Her Sisters
2. Everyone Says I Love You
3. Manhattan
4. Bullets over Broadway
5. Annie Hall
6. Crimes and Misdemeanors
7. Radio Days
8. Husbands & Wives
9. Another Woman
10. The Purple Rose of Cairo
11. Broadway Danny Rose
12. Love and Death
13. Sweet and Lowdown
14. Mighty Aphrodite
15. Interiors
16. Sleeper
17. Manhattan Murder Mystery
18. Zelig
19. Stardust Memories
20. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
21. Take the Money and Run
22. Deconstructing Harry
23. Oedipus Wrecks from New York Stories
24. Bananas
25. What's Up, Tiger Lily?
26. Alice
27. Shadows and Fog
28. Don't Drink the Water
29. September
30. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
31. Celebrity
I am very ready for Netflix finally coming to Canada later this year. I hope I will not have an experience like A Price Above Rubies that I had last night. I was at Blockbuster, even though there were countless films to watch at home, and I had The Maid and was trying to find a second title. I was lured by Julianna Margulies and a positive review from Roger Ebert. Renée Zellweger should have been an indication to put it back on the shelf. The film tries so hard to be about morality within the Hasidic community but Boaz Yakin's 1998 films is superficial and cliched. I wanted to turn it off after twenty minutes. It is his second feature film after the critically acclaimed Fresh (1994) and he followed A Price Above Rubies with Remember the Titans (2000), Uptown Girls (2003) and Death in Love (2008). I feel like I was cheated because the synopsis on the back of the DVD did not indicate it was a period piece nor did it mention the extent of the religious themes. I was anticipating a provocative and dramatic film about a woman seeking true passion. I am not the biggest fan of Renée Zellweger and often she is my least favourite part of a film, especially in her Academy Award-nominated performance in Chicago and her Oscar-winning role in Cold Mountain. On the other hand, Julianna Margulies is a wonderful actress and was the best part of ER and The Good Wife on television. A Price Above Rubies is labored, uninteresting and tries too hard to offer a perspective on society without giving the audience the necessary insight into the society. There is a reason I had never heard of A Price Above Rubies until seeing it on the shelf.
Sonia (Renée Zellweger) married Mendel Horowitz (Glenn Fitzgerald) through an arranged marriage. Mendel is a very devout Hasidic Jew who has been appointed to a prestigious Yeshiva in Brooklyn. He puts so much effort into his studies that he is unable and unwilling to give Sonia the attention she craves. Even after giving birth to a child Sonia still does not feel like a member of her husband's society. Mendel's family is very welcoming to Sonia and his sister Rachel (Julianna Margulies) often tends to the baby and his brother Sender (Christopher Eccleston) offers her a job at his jewelery store. Sonia discovers that Sender is also a free spirit and the two begin an affair. Sender encourages her independence and Sonia begins to flourish though she becomes more neglectful of her duties at home. Her work leads her to a Puerto Rican jewelry designer named Ramon (Allen Payne) and this relationship begins to threaten Sonia's private and professional lives.
As I consider the film and revisit the story I have discovered that A Price Above Rubies has an interesting plot even if none of it was evident when I watched it. The film lacks the necessary emotion and intensity that a story of this nature requires. The entire film felt like a melodrama with laboured acting and pacing. Several reviews that I have read have praised Renée Zellweger's performance, including Roger Ebert. In his review Ebert talks about how the Hasidic community is treated as a mere backdrop for Sonia's story. It is a shame that a film that depends so much on religion could ignore it so completely. I know next to nothing about Hasidic Judaism and probably know even less after viewing A Price Above Rubies. It has been so long since I have disliked a film so intensely... well at least since I saw Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I could never recommend this film and I will only ask that you pretend this film was never made.
My rating: 1 star out of 4.
Woody Allen has twice made films about celebrated artists (Stardust Memories and Deconstructing Harry), but 1998's Celebrity is about fame itself and those trying to achieve it. Celebrity is similar to Deconstructing Harry and Everyone Says I Love You with an incredibly talented cast, including Kenneth Branagh, Judy Davis, Joe Mantegna, Winona Ryder, Melanie Griffith, Leonardo DiCaprio, Charlize Theron, Famke Janssen, Allison Janney and Bebe Neuwirth. Celebrity is shot entirely in black and white which enhances the film's mystique while the storyline is too sporadic. Kenneth Branagh's Lee is the film's common link but viewer is never given the opportunity to empathize with his character. Unfortunately Celebrity's moments of genius are too far and few between.
At the centre of Celebrity is the divorce between Lee and Robin (Davis). Lee is a wannabe novelist who works as a travel writer. His assignment leads him to encounters with movie star Nicole Oliver (Griffith), a fashion model (Theron), up-and-coming star Brandon Darrow (DiCaprio), while balancing a new relationship with Bonnie (Janssen) and his infatuation with Nola (Ryder). Robin is a one-time teacher who randomly meets Tony (Mantegna), a television producer, and their relationship blossoms and Robin becomes a television celebrity.
Judy Davis was so wonderful at playing neurotic in Husbands & Wives but she and Kenneth Branagh seem ill-suited to this Woody Allen film. Surprigingly Leonardo DiCaprio is quite charismatic in his role as a spoiled star.
Next up: Sweet and Lowdown.
My list:
1. Hannah and Her Sisters
2. Everyone Says I Love You
3. Manhattan
4. Bullets over Broadway
5. Annie Hall
6. Crimes and Misdemeanors
7. Radio Days
8. Husbands & Wives
9. Another Woman
10. The Purple Rose of Cairo
11. Broadway Danny Rose
12. Love and Death
13. Mighty Aphrodite
14. Interiors
15. Sleeper
16. Manhattan Murder Mystery
17. Zelig
18. Stardust Memories
19. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
20. Take the Money and Run
21. Deconstructing Harry
22. Oedipus Wrecks from New York Stories
23. Bananas
24. What's Up, Tiger Lily?
25. Alice
26. Shadows and Fog
27. Don't Drink the Water
28. September
29. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
30. Celebrity
Scoop is Woody Allen's second film shot entirely in London and the second film in a row to star Scarlett Johansson. It is an unfortunate letdown after Match Point, his best film of the decade, and part of the problem with this film is Woody Allen. His jokes feel tired and forced and his presence weighs the film down.
