Showing posts with label woody allen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label woody allen. Show all posts

9/25/2013

Blue Jasmine (2013)


Blue Moon Martini, Xanax-Stuffed Appetizer with Denial on the Side




Blue Jasmine is a typical Woody Allen comedy. Jazzy tunes, a fucked-up protagonist and a simple plot that flows around the characters' flaws. Jasmine is broke, delusional and hooked on Stoli martinis. Before she was, Jasmine had her whole life figured out. She had a successful social life and was married to a wealthy finance mogul. When her husband's financial fraud was discovered, Jasmine's world collapsed. She lost everything she had from the money to the husband who committed suicide in jail. Now she is forced to leave New York City and temporarily move in with her sister in San Francisco to start a new life. This witty film reminds me a lot of Allen's Melinda & Melinda in which the core protagonist was also a mentally damaged alcohol and pill-popping addict. Woody Allen definitely has a thing for depressed yuppie female leads. Those generally occupy my favorite Allen movies. The way the writer punctuates the basic plot with insightful flashbacks transforms the story into a very interactive viewing experience. Blue Jasmine's cast is impressive. Actors and comedians from Louis C.K. to Peter Sarsgaard and Alec Baldwin are part of the picture. But the main character and by far the most mind-blowing performance of the panel is Cate Blanchett's. She is phenomenal and masters the art of a cinematic nervous breakdown with such dexterity that those 98 minutes alone are an Inside the Actors Studio's seminar of its own. 

1 reason to watch: Cate Blanchett's astonishing presence



8/08/2013

Manhattan (1979)


Defining NYC Since '79



Gershwin's jazzy tunes fade in a black and white majestic skyline. Welcome to New York City. Enter the lifestyle of Isaac (Woody Allen), a disillusioned writer. You witness his odd attempts at getting over his failed marriage. This old Allen classic is a masterpiece of witty comedy and an ode to the Big Apple. If you adore this city and are a sucker for clever lines, sarcasm and black humor, this movie should be on your must-see list. I find this film to be very avant-gardist for the time. More than 30 years later, Manhattan is still a sincere and accurate portrait of contemporary relationships. It deals with very modern-love topics. Cheats, underage sex, homoparental families, divorce, hate at first sight... those are among the plot's core themes. I can't get enough of Meryl Streep's interpretation of Isaac's deadpan emasculating ex-wife. Diane Keaton depicts an exquisite and impossible know-it-all. Her performance of this pain in the ass who can never be happy in a relationship is flawless. Even after so many years, the brilliant direction of Woody Allen has a very modern feel. The black and white commitment and the still-like shots make of Manhattan a surprising first-person-style comedy that didn't age.

1 reason to watch: Fun Fact - Woody Allen looked older in 1979 than he does now