Day 195: Blue Jasmine

71XsC--9m-L._SL1500_Gee whiz. If Blue Jasmine – the 44th movie Woody Allen directed – was any more depressing, it would be Husbands and Wives or Crimes and Misdemeanors.

The film is about a wealthy New York wife (Cate Blanchett), married to a high-rolling financier (Alex Baldwin), a Bernie Madoff-type who suddenly finds herself without a husband, without a home, and without money after her husband goes to prison for fraud.

The dramatic drop from the highest high to a humbling low takes a toll on her life and she more or less snaps, ends up talking to herself.

She moves in with her sister in San Francisco and takes a job as a receptionist in a dentist’s office while she attends school to better herself. The pressure of juggling her job, her class, her sister’s lower-class lifestyle and friends (who hit on her), and her boss (who hits on her), and a growing drinking problem takes a toll.

Her last chance at escaping the downward spiral is meeting a wealthy state department diplomat (Peter Sarsgaard) at a party, inventing a different past, and posing as an interior decorator. The two fall in love.

But when Jasmin’s ruse is discovered, the bottom totally drops out.

Blue Jasmine was nominated for Continue reading

Day 187: Match Point

4102J5QS38LMatch Point is a brilliant, brilliant movie. And my eighth favorite Woody Allen film.

It is not a comedy.

And it was not filmed in New York.

It’s a drama, or perhaps a “thriller” (as it’s billed), and it was filmed in London, England.

The story is about relationships, infidelity, death – all the traditional Woody Allen themes.

Only this time they’re told differently, with more skill.

And with greater impact.

And with the uber-sexy actress Scarlett Johannson as the femme fatale.

The opening voice-over narration sets the tone for the movie:

The man who said “I’d rather be lucky than good” saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It’s scary to think so much is out of one’s control. There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net, and for a split second, it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck, it goes forward, and you win. Or maybe it doesn’t, and you lose.

And it only gets better from there.

Match Point is story is a former tennis pro (Rhys Meyers) who becomes a tennis instructor at an exclusive club. He gets serious with the sister (Mortimer) of his Continue reading

Day 168: Another Woman

510CBVA0W0LAnother Woman, Woody’s 17th turn behind the camera, is another film about relationships.

And infidelity.

And awkward, uncomfortable moments.

The movie opens with the shot of the inside of a house, a corridor. Empty.

Then, voice-over narration – this time, from a woman, whom we discover is Marion (Gena Rowlands, 1930- ), a professor of philosophy on sabbatical writing a book. Marion’s apartment butts up against the office of a psychiatrist and she discovers that she can hear the sessions going on next door.

One voice from the psychiatrist’s office – sounds like Mia Farrow to me – causes Marion to listen more intently, and then begin to question her own life’s choices.

The cast is amazing:

Gena Rowlands … Marion
Mia Farrow … Hope
Ian Holm … Ken
Blythe Danner … Lydia
Gene Hackman … Larry
Betty Buckley … Kathy
Martha Plimpton … Laura
John Houseman … Marion’s Father
Sandy Dennis … Claire
David Ogden Stiers … Young Marion’s Father

But this is another very intense film about break-ups and regrets and living lives of quiet desperation, usually with the wrong person, that requires Continue reading

Day 167: September

41QX6GHNP2LSeptember, the 16th movie Woody Allen Directed, opens with a push in shot of the interior of a home.

Then, we hear two people – a man and a woman – speaking French.

The two people are revealed to be Howard (Denholm Elliott) and Stephanie (Dianne Wiest), sitting on a couch. Howard is teaching Stephanie the language.

According to its entry on IMDB, this is what September is about:

At a summer house in Vermont, neighbor Howard falls in love with Lane, who’s in a relationship with Peter, who’s falling for Stephanie, who’s married with children.

Sounds like typical Woody Allen.

It’s a great cast, one that includes some of my favorite actors:

Denholm Elliott (1922–1992) … Howard
Dianne Wiest (1948- ) … Stephanie
Mia Farrow (1945- ) … Lane
Elaine Stritch (1925- ) … Diane
Sam Waterston (1940- ) … Peter
Jack Warden (1920-2006) … Lloyd

I wasn’t familiar with Elaine Stritch prior to September. So I looked her up. Here’s what her bio says about her:

A brash, incorrigible scene-stealer now entering her sixth decade in a career that has had many highs and lows, veteran Elaine Stritch certainly lives up to the Stephen Sondheim song “I’m Still Here”. Having stolen so many moments on stage that she could be convicted of grand larceny, this tough old broad broaching 80 with the still-shapely legs, puffy blonde hairdo and deep, whiskey voice isn’t quitting anytime soon – or so it seems.

Why haven’t I seen her in anything else? Born in 1925 in Detroit, Elaine was Continue reading

Day 158: Interiors

41PDMR1B9PLWoody Allen’s 1978 movie Interiors – his first serious drama – opens with shots of interiors of homes, just sparse, empty rooms.

A woman we soon come to know as Joey (Mary Beth Hurt, 1948- ) appears and walks over to window. She stands, silently, peering out.

Then, a woman named Renata (Diane Keaton, 1946- ) appears on screen. She, too, looks out a window. She raises her hand to gingerly touch the glass. It’s a pretentious gesture that is hard for me to accept coming from Keaton, who I had just seen as Annie, a ditzy actress, in Annie Hall.

Then, a man we later learn is named Arthur (E.G. Marshall, 1914–1998) is seen from behind. He’s wearing a suit and he’s looking out a window in a high-rise office building. He’s speaking.

The overall effect of all of these images and scenes is one of loneliness, alienation.

Then, a man we later learn is named Mike (Sam Waterston, 1940- ) appears on screen. He’s sitting, alone, at a kitchen table speaking into a tape recording, saying something about Marxist-Leninist ideologies. We later discover he is married to Joey.

A woman named Eve (Geraldine Page, 1924-1987), whom we later learn is an interior designer married to Arthur, rings the doorbell, interrupting Mike. She enters Continue reading