Day 176: Don’t Drink the Water

51K2CVB5NDLWoody Allen adapted this 1994 movies from his 1966 play of the same name.

Don’t Drink the Water, the 25th film Woody Allen directed, opens to voice-over narration, delivered in that sonorous, well-modulated radio-announcer (or TV news anchor – a la Ted Baxter, “The anchor man”) style, and period visuals of the Cold War, circa early 1960s.

But the narrative is convoluted, hard to follow, runs on too long, and uses too many words.

Sort of like the movie itself.

By the time Michael J. Fox appears – and he seems woefully miscast – I’m not only not hooked, I’m turned off.

Plus, Woody used hand-held cinematography again. Yuck. It totally interrupts the flow of the movie, although it appears he was going for a documentary style. So perhaps he Continue reading

Day 175: Bullets Over Broadway

51W6CN4Y3FLBullets Over Broadway is the 24th film Woody Allen directed.

This time around, he co-wrote his movie with Douglas McGrath.

Released in 1994, this “crime-comedy” – according to its entry on IMDB – is about:

In 1920s New York, a struggling playwright is forced to cast a mobster’s talentless girlfriend in his latest drama in order to get it produced.

It’s a heck of a cast:

John Cusack … David Shayne
Dianne Wiest … Helen Sinclair
Jennifer Tilly … Olive Neal
Chazz Palminteri … Cheech
Mary-Louise Parker … Ellen
Jack Warden … Julian Marx
Joe Viterelli … Nick Valenti
Rob Reiner … Sheldon Flender

And there are some great performances.

However, this movie is loud, talky, and frenetic, even by Woody Allen standards. Shouting appears to be the preferred method of delivering lines. And, when that fails, bullets from a Tommy gun help punctuate a scene.

The end result is loudness. Times 10.

For example, Continue reading