Category Archives: Woody Allen

Eight Nights of Hanukkah, Eight Entertaining Jews: Night #2

The old insult goes, “Jews run show business.” To that I say “thanks.” 

Jews make up about 0.2% of the world’s population yet they have always been a loud (emphasis on the loud) and prominent voice in film, television, music, and comedy. The next eight days are Hanukkah, which is not the most important Jewish holiday, but we do get presents. For each night of Hanukkah, I will share one Jewish entertainer who has had a big impact on me. For the second night of Hanukkah, let’s talk about Woody Allen:


And the second face on the Mount Rushmore of Jewish comedians: Woody Allen.

At first glance, Woody Allen looks like the stereotype of the typical Jewish man: nebbish, scrawny, neurotic, and intellectual. On his own account, Allen is far from this in real life. He is an actor playing a part that he happens to be really good at playing.

Allen has a different kind of Jewish humor than Mel Brooks, who I profiled yesterday. Instead of telling funny stories from the Lower East Side, Allen is more the kind of Jew who tells jokes that began with the setup, “so three Rabbis walk into a bar…”

Like many other Jewish entertainers before him, Allen anglicized his name (he was born Allen Konigsberg). However, that did not stop Jewish ideas from influencing his writing. Just look at “Annie Hall,” where the funniest scene is about the differences between a Jewish and a non-Jewish family. “Crimes and Misdemeanors” is about a man dealing with faith-induced guilt after committing a crime. You can change your last name all you want, but that won’t stop you from being influenced by your upbringing.

Whether or not his presence fulfills stereotypes is moot, because Allen is one of the hardest working people in all of show business. Without a laptop or a cell phone, he has been putting out one movie a year for most of his career. Sure, some of those turn out to be flops (as might happen when your creative output is that high), but its always worth it to get classics like “The Purple Rose of Cairo,” “Hannah and Her Sisters,” and “Midnight in Paris.”

Just like Mel Brooks, Allen has not rendered himself irrelevant, despite duds like “To Rome with Love”. Two years ago, he won an Oscar. This year, he wrote and directed “Blue Jasmine,” which is by far one of his finest features. Allen has gone from standup to TV to film and dominated each medium. He has recently talked about a possible return to standup comedy. I don’t know if this was just talk, but if Mr. Allen decides to return to standup it would make the Jewish community, and the entire world, very happy.

Fun Fact: My first exposure to Woody Allen was through the movie “Antz” where he voiced the lead ant. Seriously, it’s an animation classic.

Come back to The Reel Deal tomorrow night for Jew #3.

Top 5: Summer Movies

We live in a weird time for movies. The phrase “TV is better than movies” gets thrown around constantly. While this statement is accurate most of the time, with “Breaking Bad” and “Orange is the New Black” providing hours of entertainment, there is still a beauty in telling a complete story in 120 minutes or less. While this summer had its share of mind-numbing blockbusters, it was also as good as ever. Summer is the time when all the movies that got distribution deals and big praise at Sundance get released so if you look closely enough, you’ll find a slew of great films every summer. So here it is, the top six films of the summer of 2013. I chose six because numbers.

6. The Heat

“The Heat” was by far the best surprise of the summer. Then again, I was wrong to ever doubt the meeting of the minds of Paul Feig (“Freaks and Geeks,” “Bridesmaids”) and Katie Dippold (“Parks and Recreation”). The fact that this is a female buddy cop movie doesn’t make it special, it’s the fact that it holds nothing back. In its third act, “The Heat” suddenly goes balls-to-the-wall. Never in my life did I think a tracheotomy could be so funny. There are also scenes of never-ending banter that never feel too long. In the end, the surprisingly palpable chemistry between Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy helps to keep the film afloat and funny.


5. Frances Ha

Note to the brave men and women out there who cut movie trailers together everyday: try and hold back on the ukelele scenes, they tend to be misleading. “Frances Ha” is less a pretentious little indie than a truthful look at the lives of confused, pretentious twentysomethings. “Frances Ha” is the most satisfying film of Noah Baumbach’s oeuvre so far. Maybe it’s because him and Greta Gerwig have such a natural chemistry as a director-writer-actress team, or maybe its because this is the first one of his films that has a satisfying ending. Also, listen for one of the most diverse and catchiest soundtracks of the year.

Soundtrack sample:


4. Blackfish

I cannot tell a lie: I’m not quite sure how to review a documentary. What makes a good documentary anyway? Is it because you agree with the point its making? Or is it because of the way it’s gotten that point across? I guess it’s a little bit of both. Regardless, “Blackfish” is one of the most terrifying documentaries I’ve ever seen. “Jaws” made people never want to go back to the beach again. “Blackfish” guarantees that you’ll never want to step anywhere close to a Sea World for the rest of your life. “Blackfish” has an argument (keeping orcas in a tiny tank is dangerous on their physical and mental health) and it presents it in such a way that its impossible to dispute it. “Blackfish” has haunted me all summer long, but what people aren’t talking about is the detailed way that it focuses on the beauty of the orcas.

See the top three after the jump:

3. This is the End


They say that once you go meta, you can never go back. Then why do I still want to see movies written and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg? “This is the End” is the funniest movie so far this year. It includes some of the best comedians and actors out there skewing their personas. It’s the only place this summer that you’ll see Michael Cera get impaled by a flagpole. What really makes “This is the End” a winner is that despite the apocalyptic explosions and demons, this is a very sweet, very human comedy, mainly because the friendship between Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel is the true focal point here. Think of it as “Superbad,” but with well endowed demons.


2. Blue Jasmine

Woody Allen makes so many movies that it seems like he has a comeback every few years. “Blue Jasmine” is the darkest and sharpest he’s been in years, as he chronicles broken middle-aged people dealing with the fallout of the financial crisis. Allen navigates a new territory (San Francisco) well as well as a flashback structure that he hasn’t dealt with in years. As the disturbed and broken Jasmine, Cate Blanchett gives the best performance so far this year. She’s equal parts frightening and heartbreaking and I wager a lot of Reel Deal posts praising her performance that she’ll be on the Oscar ballot next year.

1. The Kings of Summer

This was one of the first films I saw this summer and it is still my favorite. “The Kings of Summer” managed to avoid all of the cliches of the teen summer comedy. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts delivers a comedy that is fresh and original. While it is often light and fun, it deals with some heavy issues in a mature way. Think of it as a more grounded version of “Moonrise Kingdom.” “The Kings of Summer” includes tremendous breakout performances from the three teen leads, especially Moises Arias as Biaggio, one of the most memorable characters of the summer. The film also has some of the strongest performances of the year from the likes of Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally as well as a variety of great cameos (Hannibal Buress, Kumail Nanjiani). Inexplicably, “The Kings of Summer” couldn’t find an audience this summer. However, in terms of comedies about a group of friends running away from home for a life in the woods, “The Kings of Summer” is up there with “Stand By Me.”

Honorable Mention: The Spectacular Now

Top 10: Woody Allen Films

10. Match Point

Sure, this is just the serious half of “Crimes and Misdemeanors” stretched out into an entire film. Yet, “Match Point” was a significant moment in Allen’s career. It served as both a career revival, and a rare chance for him to leave New York and find a new footing in Europe. It turns out that he was actually a good match for adulterous English drama. As long as there are neurotic characters with twisted love lives, Woody Allen will be there to write it.

9. Manhattan

“Manhattan” is one of the most influential films Woody Allen ever put out. Its influence can be seen in everything from “Frances Ha” to “Louie.” It displays his talent for balancing comedy and drama. While most of Allen’s films are known for being shot quickly, you’d never be able to tell by the style of “Manhattan.” The black and white is unforgettable. For once, the 59th Street Bridge actually looked beautiful.

Yes, that’s Meryl Streep.

8. Hannah and Her Sisters

While not Allen’s best comedy, “Hannah and Her Sisters” contains the funniest exchange from any of Allen’s movies (hint: it involves the Holocaust and a can opener). “Hannah and Her Sisters” contains a lot of supposedly good people doing bad things, and then doing whatever they can to prove that they’re not bad people. The ending of “Hannah and Her Sisters” is surprisingly life affirming. Allen said this was not intended, but nonetheless, it works so well.

7. Sleeper

There was a time when Allen was known for straight up slapstick. During that time, Allen was in top form with “Sleeper,” a brilliant futuristic farce. Allen’s impersonation of a robot as well as a sex orb (that’s what I call it) are amongst the funniest moments in the film. Some of the jokes might require a little research (you had to be there, man), so hopefully you’re in the mood to do some research on New York in the 1970s.

6. Midnight in Paris

“Midnight in Paris” is perhaps the greatest achievement of the latter part of Allen’s career. It combines the whimsical fantasy of some of his earlier works with the wisdom of somebody much more experienced. Allen mines some great humor out of a pseudo-intellectual (Michael Sheen) as well as some of the most famous authors of the 20th century. “Midnight in Paris” is one of the best concepts Allen has ever come up with, and it is topped with nearly flawless execution. Not to mention, Owen Wilson does a better impression of Woody Allen than any other actor who has attempted it thus far.*

See the rest of the list after the jump


5. Radio Days

Nearly every film that Allen has made feels like it was ripped right out of a page of his life. Yet, “Radio Days” feels the most personal and autobiographical. “Radio Days” chronicles the rise and fall of radio from the perspectives of its stars and its listeners in a way that is equal parts funny and moving.

4. Mighty Aphrodite

This is one of Woody Allen’s most overlooked films. Containing a literal Greek Chorus, “Might Aphrodite” constantly pokes fun at itself all while moving its story along at a flawless pace. “Mighty Aphrodite” is a comedy of missed connections and miscommunications. What isn’t said is way funnier that what is said. And it all leads up to an ending scene brimming with painful, hilarious irony.

3. The Purple Rose of Cairo

“The Purple Rose of Cairo” does for movies what “Radio Days” does for the radio. This is Allen’s original “Midnight in Paris”; it’s a film that deals with one’s longing to be elsewhere. It is whimsical and tragic all at once but in the end, it is a work of escapism that celebrates escapism itself.

2. Crimes and Misdemeanors 

What a strange yet brilliant idea: tell two different stories with similar themes and events, yet make one a comedy and the other a drama. Along with great writing (no surprise here), “Crimes and Misdemeanors” also displays top notch performances from Martin Landau, Alan Alda (in total Alan Alda-ness), and Allen himself. Even at his worst, a Woody Allen joint is always entertaining and deep on some level. But rarely has he looked at faith and morality in such a complex way.

1. Annie Hall

This seems like an obvious choice. However, there’s a good reason that “Annie Hall” remains one of the few comedies (unless you include “Crash”) to have won Best Picture. Unlike most Best Picture winners in general, “Annie Hall” deserved to win. And what a film this is. 36 years later and it’s still as innovative as ever. “Annie Hall” contains so much that it feels like it’s going to just pop out of the screen at any moment a la “The Purple Rose of Cairo.” Alvy Singer (Allen) talks directly to the camera. Characters turn into cartoons. Marshall McLuhan pops out from behind a poster to school some pretentious dude. “Annie Hall” is a rare film about relationships that holds nothing back. It’s brutally honest while still being hilarious. In the wide spectrum of romantic comedies, there is nothing like “Annie Hall.” And I don’t think there ever will be again.

*Unless Michael Stuhlbarg’s dentist in “Blue Jasmine” was meant to be an Allen surrogate.

Movie Review: Blue Jasmine

“Blue Jasmine” begins as Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) lays out the entire exposition of her life. It’s a little odd because she’s not talking to anyone. She’s not even talking to the camera. She’s just talking to herself, in hopes that some random passerby will accidentally be dragged into her delusional vanity.

Woody Allen has a drawer filled with hundreds of ideas in his room. I wouldn’t be surprised if he just handpicked one at random every year. However, this seemed like a nearly perfect time to release “Blue Jasmine.” It’s context is the Financial Crisis. It came out far enough away to not seem like a cheap, timely story but close enough to it where it is still relevant.


Despite this, “Blue Jasmine” is about people, not politics. After the imprisonment of her investment banker husband Hal (Alec Baldwin), a swindler akin to Bernie Madoff, Jasmine is thrown into the real world for the very first time. She trades a ritzy Manhattan apartment for a significantly smaller one in San Francisco with her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins). And for the first time in her life, she finds herself looking for a job. While doing this, her anxieties and neuroses slowly begin to take hold of her.

As Jasmine, Cate Blanchett gives a wunderkind performance. It’s the kind of acting that breaks a lot of hearts and wins a lot of awards. Watching her here is like watching an emotionally unstable child: you never know when she’s going to snap. It is this part of her performance that ends up being so heartbreaking, because nobody knows less about what is going to happen to Jasmine than Jasmine herself. At a few points, she even partakes in the Kubrick Stare.

Blanchett is joined by an ensemble as good as any seen in a Woody Allen movie. As usual, Baldwin can be a menacing figure even when he’s being nice. As Ginger’s ex-husband Augie, Andrew Dice Clay provides some of the film’s most surprising moments of comic relief. No surprise, Louis C.K. is a standout here. Surprisingly, it’s for a much more serious role. As Ginger’s romantic fling, C.K. is sweet and vulnerable, displaying a very different persona than the one he presents to the world onstage.

 “Blue Jasmine” is one of the darkest films Woody Allen has ever made, and he’s made ones where people are murdered right in front of our faces. In “Blue Jasmine,” some of the most horrifying things are simply implied. “Blue Jasmine” reminded me of a similarly titled film, “Blue Velvet,” which pulled back the curtains on suburbia and exposed the darkness beneath. Similarly, “Blue Jasmine” pulls back the overly expensive curtains on the upper class and exposes the pain, shallowness, and phoniness. According to “Blue Jasmine,” materialism can actually drive a person insane.

Woody Allen has been well known throughout his career for writing excellent female characters. I believe it is partly because he seems to know women so well. But also, he puts little pieces of himself into all of his characters. Jasmine’s fears might just be a more elevated version of anything Alvy Singer was thinking about in “Annie Hall.”

There is an inherent sadness to many of the female characters in “Blue Jasmine.” While they are strong characters, they are also victims of circumstance and deceitful men. It’s as if they are in a sleepwalking mode of helplessness. And once both Jasmine and Ginger awaken for the first time, they both get sucked back in. Dependence is a deadly trap but for them, dependence equals comfort without question.

Woody Allen likes to make films that tell two stories at once that both reflect on one another. Whether it is “Crimes and Misdemeanors ” which tells two separate stories, one as a comedy and one as a drama, or “Blue Jasmine,” which reflects on two different characters similar mistakes in the past and present. Sometimes, it is hard to tell which story is which, because they blend so well together.

Through this film, Allen beautifully expresses the struggle of comfort versus happiness, and whether or not they can go hand-in-hand, or if they are mortal enemies. As the film moves along, Jasmine’s mental illness overtakes her. But the crazier she becomes, the more she seems to be able to see the truth. It’s like in “Silver Linings Playbook,” that those who best understand the world are those who are maybe a little bit crazy. At one point in the film, Jasmine says she got her name from the eponymous flower, which only comes to life in darkness. Woody Allen would probably make fun of me and call me a “pseudo-intellectual” for looking to far into that statement, but Jasmine definitely becomes enlightened as her life spirals further out of control.

Movie Review: To Rome with Love

Besides a few new shooting locations, Woody Allen hasn’t changed a lot during the span of his career. Not that he has to. Every one of his films open with the same white font against a black background as classical music plays. It never gets old.

“To Rome with Love” opens in this same way. However, this time around, classical music will become a pertinent part of the film. The film opens with a crossing guard on a busy street in Rome, who is the first narrator introduced. As is the typical narrator in a Woody Allen film, he directly addresses the camera while in front of it, instead of only existing as a voice offscreen. This makes sense, as Allen’s films seem to be a way of letting his odd subconscious run wild. “To Rome with Love” doesn’t come near the same territory that “Midnight in Paris” dwelled in, yet it is almost always exciting and funny. “To Rome with Love” is told in four vignettes which never interlock, and never should. Three of them thematically fit together. Another one is kind of just there and has just a few inventive moments. 


The film opens as a young Italian couple (Alessandro Tiberi and Alessandra Mastronardi) get off of a train and get ready to start their new life together. Antonio (Tiberi) is hardworking businessman who is always nervous about something. While his wife Milly just wants a haircut that will make her look young and hip, Antonio worries that she won’t make it back on time to meet his family. She gets the same terrible directions to the salon from every Roman she encounters, and ends up lost and without a cellphone. While wandering the streets of Rome, she bumps into her favorite actor, dines with him, and then faces a moral dilemma. Antonio, meanwhile, is involved in a classic mixup, and a prostitute with a sharp and dirty sense of humor named Anna (Penelope Cruz) is sent to his room. She poses as his wife, since his family has yet to meet Milly. However, Anna doesn’t look like much of a Milly, but she plays along. Milly’s story becomes one of the story’s most amusing. Of course Anna is on speed dial for every businessman at a fancy party Antonio attends. Both Antonio and Milly learn how to be better lovers from other lovers. Antonio and Anna’s story feels inconclusive, but Allen definitely doesn’t take it down the predictable road.



Another vignette stars Allen himself as Jerry, a now retired music executive with too much ambition who is itching to go back to work. Allen is a welcome presence after being absent from the screen since last acting in “Scoop.” It is only natural that he enters this film complaining about turbulence. Despite Jerry’s claim that no psychiatrist has ever been able to diagnose him, it is easy to see where some of his neuroses come from. His wife (Judy Davis, in deadpan glory) is constantly trying to analyze him. In a very Woody Allen joke, the typical Freudian model of id, ego, and superego doesn’t work on him because he is a man with three ids. But I digress. The couple heads to Italy to meet Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti), the new boyfriend of their daughter (Alison Pill). The interesting story is not the budding Italian love affair, but rather the hidden talent that Michelangelo’s father possesses.

Next, there is John (Alec Baldwin), a renowned American architect who has sold out and now builds mini-malls. Instead of seeing the ruins for the hundredth time with his wife, he decides to go for a stroll. Going for a stroll and finding something unexpected seems to be a big theme in Allen’s European chapter in his career. On a side street, John meets Jack (Jesse Eisenberg) a student studying architecture in Rome with his architect girlfriend (Greta Gerwig) and living in the same place John once lived. John becomes quite interested in retracing his old footsteps, and finds that Jack is making similar mistakes he once did, as he falls in love with his girlfriend’s best friend Monica (Ellen Page). The conversations between John and Jack at times appear to only be happening in Jack’s head. However, if this is his subconscious, then the other characters at times seem to have the ability to communicate with it. However, this is one of those outlandish elements that is never explained and doesn’t need to be, like the time-travel in “Midnight in Paris.” As John constantly criticizes Jack and gives him life advice, they talk to the audience without directly addressing them, saying that they know as well as we do that this story will not end well.


This unaware self-awareness might be Allen’s way of saying he knows that this story has been played out. After all, this vignette contains a very similar story to “Match Point,” which was already basically the same story as “Crimes & Misdemeanors.” This definitely feels like the most familiar Allen story, and it even contains one of the archetypes that he basically invented (the pseudo-intellectual). The kind-of inner monologues and speaking back-and-forth to the audience between Jack and Jessie never do carry quite the same spark as, say, Marshall McLuhan’s drop-in in “Annie Hall.” Allen is at his best when he is expanding on his most common ideas, rather than just repeating them.

The fourth story follows Leopoldo (Roberto Benigni), an average, middle class Roman. You can tell from his gleeful strut to work everyday that he is totally satisfied with where he is. As long as he can eat breakfast with his children, gaze at the beautiful young woman in the office, and understand movies slightly better than his friends, life can’t go wrong. Then one day, he is pulled out of obscurity, put on a newscast, and becomes the most famous man in Rome. He is pestered by swarms of paparazzi all day long and is constantly asked to make a statement on subjects such as the weather and shaving. Leopoldo comes to realize that it’s not always so good to be in the public eye.
Leopoldo’s story is not necessarily the most complex nor the best of the four stories. However, in the end, it feels the most satisfying and leaves no loose ends dangling. Benigni gives his best performance since “Life is Beautiful” all those years ago. And yes, it does make sense that an ordinary schmuck (his words) like Leopoldo could end up becoming famous over night for doing nothing at all. He’s not much like a Hilton or a Kardashian. He is more like Joe the Plumber, as he is famous simply because he has an opinion on whatever you ask him about. Newscasters want everyone’s opinion but what “To Rome with Love” shows is that not everyone’s opinion actually matters.
“To Rome with Love” is at its best when it embraces visual slapstick that is oddly philosophical. For example, it asks why people sing under the shower with the obvious answer that everyone sounds better under a shower head. This observation is then taken to the next level when Michelangelo’s father becomes a renowned opera singer by bathing himself while onstage during shows. Things like this work because it fits very well into the world that’s been invented, where everyone becomes fully exposed in the public eye. Woody Allen is the quintessential intellectual everyman.
Still, the greatest pleasure of “To Rome with Love” is seeing Woody Allen act again. Before he is even seen, his recognizable voice is heard, and the whole audience I experienced the film with immediately burst out into laughter. It was a familiar kind of laughter, the kind that welcomes back an old friend who can make our lives just a little more entertaining. 
If you liked “To Rome with Love,” then you should check out these similar Woody Allen films: Sleeper, Crimes & Misdemeanors, Annie Hall, Small Time Crooks, The Purple Rose of Cairo

Valentine’s Day: The Best Anti-Romantic Romance Movies

SPOILER ALERT: This post vaguely reveals the endings to the movies listed below. This is not to discourage you from reading, but I advise that you proceed with cautions. Although at this point, it’s hard not to know the ending of “The Graduate.”  


1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind


Some common themes on this list are couples who act cutesy and people making big decisions without putting much thought into them. After breaking up, Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) get the memories of their relationship erased, only to realize there was something there that was worth remembering. It’s peculiar that movies about love going wrong have the most to say about love in general. Being treated to Joel and Clementine’s relationship crumbling from the top to bottom is just as devastating as it sounds.The ending leaves a bittersweet feeling: they are finally getting back together again, but they are also subject to hate each other again as in their previous relationships. The question of whether or not the two of them are meant to be together, or if they constantly breakup because they truly hate each other, haunts me to this day.



2. Annie Hall


Sure, Alvy (Woody Allen) and Annie (Diane Keaton) have fun together and they both enjoy playing with live lobsters and making fun of Truman Capote lookalikes, but they are far from soul mates. Alvy is New York (close-minded, uptight) and Annie is Los Angeles (free-spirited, unpredictable). “Annie Hall” contains some of the grandest romantic moments in the movies (Alvy and Annie in front of the Brooklyn Bridge), yet in its ending, it reduces relationships to a need, and not a desire. Nonetheless, this is one of the most enjoyable instances of a failed relationship you’ll ever be a part of.



3. The Graduate


Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) sweeps in and saves Elaine (Katharine Ross) on the day of her wedding to tall, blonde, and handsome Carl. The shot of them sitting on the back of the bus together, laughing and smiling over what they have just done, could bring the hopeless romantic in all of us to tears. But then, reality, unhappiness, and ambiguity quickly set in. Maybe these two were acting on impulse and not calls of fate. Maybe they are making the same mistakes their parents once made, which they both wanted to escape from. The uncertainty of the future lies ahead for them, one likely filled with Vietnam War protests and occasional acid flashbacks.

4. (500) Days of Summer


Sure, Tom’s (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) belief in true love is reaffirmed in the end when he meets Autumn, but the path to getting there is filled with doubt. Watching Tom be misled into a relationship with Summer (Zooey Deschanel) is as painful as it is funny. While Tom goes on a tirade against greeting cards and pop music, there is no need to start protesting Hallmark or plan a mass burning of Smiths records. Rather, try not to fall in love with someone because they also think “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” is a good song. A lot of people like The Smiths.



5. Blue Valentine


Most of these movies end with the main character meeting someone who they at least think they will spend the rest of their lives with. If you were looking for a movie that could diagnose you with chronic depression, than look no further. “Blue Valentine” is about a marriage completely falling apart in grueling detail. Any movie that could make you want to punch Ryan Gosling in the face must be well made because seriously, nobody hates Ryan Gosling.* “Blue Valentine” is ultimately a cautionary tale, and its greatest lesson is that you should never marry anyone just because they can play your favorite song on the ukulele.

*This is not an assumption
Thanks to friend of The Reel Deal Josh Fisher for the “Blue Valentine” suggestion.

Movie Review: The Purple Rose of Cairo

Warning: The following review contains some content that many would consider to be spoilers, mainly because it is hard to discuss this film without giving a lot of the story away (especially the ending). So if you haven’t seen this movie, just go rent it right now based on this sentence alone. 

When I was younger, I was one of those kids who thought I could free the miniature people trapped inside the TV set. Luckily, my parents never let me play with a hammer.

Woody Allen probably never had a hammer either, but he did have the ability to write a superb script. “The Purple Rose of Cairo” combines Allen’s gift for realistic fantasy story telling with chaos theory. The result is one of his finest films.

Cecilia (Mia Farrow) is a wishful thinker and a bit of a dreamer. That might be because she lives in Depression era New Jersey (any era New Jersey would probably be bad enough), has an abusive husband (Danny Aiello), and works a dead end job as a waitress which she is eventually fired from. Things like this would want to make anyone want to escape into the comfort of a good movie every single day.

Cecilia frequents the action-adventure-romance picture “The Purple Rose of Cairo.” Enough is seen of this movie’s story that “The Purple Rose of Cairo” becomes a movie-within-a-movie with the movie within it also being called “The Purple Rose of Cairo.” Hope your head doesn’t hurt too much yet, because the main character of the movie within a movie, the explorer Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels) literally walks off the screen and into Cecilia’s life.

Tom is the kind of man that could only exist in Cecilia’s dreams: he’s strong, brave, and romantic. Meanwhile, she’s used to a weak-willed alcoholic. The best part of this whole act is that there is absolutely no explanation for it. It is similar to the way that Allen goes to no length to explain Gil’s ability to travel back in time in “Midnight in Paris.” Save the science behind it for a J.J. Abrams movie. All that matters to Allen is the ensuing reactions if seemingly impossible situations such as a movie character coming to life were to happen to an ordinary person.  

In accordance to Chaos Theory (sorry, there has to be at least a little background philosophizing here), the movie-within-a-movie’s story cannot go on without the presence of even a minor character such as Tom. This leaves the characters in the movie within to partake in much philosophical kvetching. Meanwhile the actor playing Tom, Gil Shepherd (Daniels, again), is left to ponder his next career move after this debacle occurs, and he eventually, like his own character, finds himself falling for Cecilia after they meet.

“The Purple Rose of Cairo” might be Allen’s saddest movie. Well, almost every one of his movies ends on some sort of note of melancholy. However, this is one of the few that leaves its protagonist with too many problems and too little hope. Maybe the funniest thing about this movie is that even though it tells us that movies provide the best form of escape, the bigger movie itself is as far from escapism as possible.

This is a movie that tends to also be really funny at times. I love the way the characters attending the screening of “The Purple Rose of Cairo” interact with the characters on the screen. Everyone is so surprised as to what as happened, but no reacts in any over-the-top way. Reacting as little as possible to a situation that requires a more emotional reaction is always funny. Escapism is okay as long as we know that we are escaping into a realm of fiction, and not into a realm of reality.

“The Purple Rose of Cairo” is a great black comedy about the absurdity of reality. Every one of its characters, even the minor ones, are memorable in some way. Farrow steals the show as the abused mess of a woman, and she is absent of the high-pitched shriek voice that she would have to take on two years later in “Radio Days.” She also owned the ukulele before Zooey Deschanel and her army of hipsters decided to take it over. Daniels also gives my favorite performance I have ever seen him in (“Dumb & Dumber”) in two different roles, one being the overly confident pseudo-intellectual that Allen so frequently mocks.

The scene in which Tom Baxter first jumps off the screen, even by today’s standard of special effects, still feels magical and jarring. Maybe it is the way he so suddenly changes from black and white into color.

The conclusion of “The Purple Rose of Cairo” is one that is beautiful even in its sadness. Cecilia seems to have become more self-aware, yet she remains just as sheltered by the cinema. After Gil leaves town without telling her and she realizes her husband won’t change, she returns to the theater and watches Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing with a sense of both desolation and wonderment. Perhaps it was at that moment she understood that that was the best her life would ever get: to sit inside a theater and watch two people who don’t exist feel a sense of happiness that she would never get to feel. Maybe every once in a while, being drawn in by the flashing light of film from a projector can be a good thing. It can heal wounds and make the pains of life feel just a little bit better.

Eight Nights of Hanukkah, Eight Nights of Movies: Night #3

Radio Days


“Annie Hall.” “Manhattan.” “Hannah and Her Sisters.” I could have gone with any of these timeless Woody Allen classics, so why did I choose “Radio Days”? It wasn’t an attempt to be original (“Annie Hall” is an easy choice, but it is a deserving one at that), but rather that “Radio Days” may just be the ultimate Jewish family comedy, and both a heartwarming and heartbreaking nostalgia trip.

Set during the 1930s and 40s, “Radio Days” is told in a series of vignettes that all connect back to the audio device that once ruled the world. Allen himself is never present onscreen, although he is the story’s narrator. A very young Seth Green is Allen’s stand-in onscreen under the name Joe. Joe obsesses over the radio so much that it starts to concern everyone in his family, especially his father (Michael Tucker). Joe is the youngest in a loud and rowdy household that includes an aunt and uncle and grandparents, as well as a family of Communists that live next door. His Uncle Abe (Josh Mostel, perhaps better known as Principal Anderson in “Billy Madison”) brings home a huge bag of fish everyday and eats them. Raw.

 Allen so lively brings about an era in which imagination was king. It’s funny to hear Joe’s parents complain that he’s rotting his brain away by sitting in front of the radio all day, and think that parents said the exact same thing about television decades later.

“Radio Days” is as much about the stars of radio as it is about the listeners. One in particular is Sally White (Mia Farrow) who has a difficult time making it as first, as listeners couldn’t see beautiful face but could hear her voice, which sounds exactly like Lina Lamont’s fingernails-on-a-chalkboard voice in “Singin’ in the Rain.” Luckily, one of these two people was actually able to make it.

Joe’s family, who spends all their time in Rockaway, and the radio stars, who spend all of their time at fancy parties, never come together. However, the idea Allen wants to bring about is that the radio brought these stars, these stories, into Joe’s living room, and they never left. That is the beauty of radio, of television, and of film: they make the unreal become a very real part of our lives. In that sense, Joe’s family came to life for me and almost felt like my own. However, arguments, while frequent for us, never amount to debating whether or not the Atlantic is a greater ocean than the Pacific.

While the movie’s end is sad in one sense, as the stars of radio realize they will not shine forever, it is also optimistic in that sense. When one star flickers and dims, another one shines, and a new opportunity comes about. Celebrities might not be famous forever, but the art they create makes them immortal.

“Radio Days” is that lasting artifact of Allen’s self-deprecating humor and a prime example of why the king of neuroticism can never be dethroned. While it is funny, it is also so realistic. If you’ve ever had more family members piled into your house than you can count, and you remember it as a terrifying yet hilarious experience, then you should pile every single one of those family members back together in one room and watch “Radio Days.”

Summer 2011: In Which Woody Allen Saves Hollywood

Summer is the season that studios are supposed to provide audiences with movies that provide unforgettable entertainment. In the past, this season has given us “Jaws” and “Star Wars.” Gone are those great days. In the outside world, it was one of the hottest summers on records. In cinemas across the country, it was one of the most miserable.

The summer of 2011 was the summer in which 3D killed itself along with good storytelling, with few notable exceptions. Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris,” without even meaning to be, became everything that the summer movie should be: wise and whimsical escapism. It is the most memorable movie he has made in years, and one that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as “Annie Hall” and “Hannah and Her Sisters.”
Summer movies are all about creating a spectacle and the site of 1920s Paris is a spectacle, albeit one that didn’t cost $300 million to shoot.”Midnight in Paris” is Allen’s return to his anti-intellectualism roots. Some scenes are about as good as the Marshall McLuhan scene from “Annie Hall.” Plus, Owen Wilson is the most convincing Woody Allen stand-in to grace the screen thus far.
Before getting to the mediocre, it is necessary to acknowledge the good. Most of the best summer movies were definitely not saved for last. “Bridesmaids” was not the groundbreaking triumph in the women’s rights movement as some suggested, but simply a near-perfect comedy. “Bridesmaids” works because of its playful anti-romantic comedy feel that’s sometimes nasty but never really mean. In other words, it loves every single one of its characters. All of the dialogue and situations flow with the awkward and unforced feel of reality. One of the most underrated masters of awkward comedy (Paul Feig) got his moment in the sun. And the star and co-writer, Kristen Wiig, has gone from “Saturday Night Live” skit saver to bankable Hollywood actress. Sometimes, success in Hollywood can be well deserved.
Also at summer’s beginning was the superb “The Tree of Life.” It was a head scratcher, but more in the “2001: A Space Odyssey” sense. At this point in his career, Terrence Malick has earned the right to tell a story that jumps back and forth between the creation of the universe, 1950s Texas, and dinosaurs. Even in their shortest moments, those family scenes felt so real. It was never meant to create a complete portrait of their lives, but it is rather the story of how our memories, and our very existences, fit in to the universe as a whole. In the whole scheme of things, does it really matter how we live our lives? That is a question, along with many others that Malick raises, that countless people will explore for years to come.
The great thing about a film about “The Tree of Life” is that it didn’t pander to its audience in order to make something that they want. Sometimes, the best directors make different and difficult movies because sometimes, those are the movies we ought to be seeing more of. Unfortunately, some filmmakers don’t seem to realize that, and that plays a part in this mediocre summer. I didn’t see “Transformers 3″ or “Green Lantern” or “Thor,” so I can’t speak for any of those movies. However, I did see “Super 8.” While it was a highly entertaining and superbly made piece of 70s nostalgia throughout, its ending reversed all its progress. It is great that J.J. Abrams took his time on his film and didn’t reveal the monster instantaneously. However, its ending resolved every plot line too quickly and too easily and what should have been thrilling came out as dull.
“Horrible Bosses” also missed the mark just slightly. While its three leads (Jason Bateman, Jason Sudekis, Charlie Day) pulled off three of the best comedic performances I’ve seen in years, a certain part of the story involving a navigation system turned the film into a sellout. The characters get themselves into some pretty terrible situations thanks to their stupidity, but letting them off the hook that easily doesn’t seem fair to anyone. Despite that, Bateman can still deliver a punchline with flawless deadpan, and Day can seem innocently insane even when he’s not parading cats with mittens around.
In the end though, 2011 can be defined as “The Summer of Meh.” This is not the state of an angry reaction, but rather an uncaring one. I could talk about how terrible “Cowboys & Aliens” is but nothing about that movie really motivates me to. “Midnight in Paris” was the rare film that deserved to be seen by a wide audience and with a little patience, it was. “Terri” is probably going to go on my year end list, but it won’t be in a theater near you anytime ever.
This summer, movies lost their mojo. Hopefully, Hollywood will take this as a learn from their mistakes rather than ignore them, as they always do. Perhaps superhero movies and shoddy 3D are on the way out. While it is understandable that story doesn’t always get people in the theater, it should go without saying that the audience enjoy the product they are paying to see. Luckily, the fall and winter seasons look promising (“Moneyball” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” particularly). For now, just enjoy some of the fine programming cable television has had to offer this summer. For instance, have you watched “Breaking Bad” yet?
This is one of the funniest still images from a movie ever. Why isn’t this a meme yet?

Movie Review: Midnight in Paris

“Midnight in Paris,” Woody Allen’s fantastic new film, begins with an overly long, yet beautifully crafted montage of Paris. The introduction gives off the impression that Allen doesn’t even want to make a movie, he just wants to sit back and see what the streets of Paris have to offer. And that is exactly what he does.

For over a decade, the Woody Allen we once knew has seemed pretty lost. He tried to find himself by leaving New York and exploring Europe. Even with the successes that has brought (“Match Point,” “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”), he just hasn’t been able to equal the success of his early days. However, “Midnight in Paris” shows that everyone’s favorite neurotic Jew has not only rediscovered his voice, but figured out how to turn it into perfect comedic cinema.
“Midnight in Paris” details hack screenwriter Gil (Owen Wilson) and his fiancee Inez (Rachel McAdams) as they venture through Paris. While Inez focuses on their wedding and future, Gil focuses on his first novel, and his dream of living in Paris in the 1920s. While trying to find inspiration for his work, Gil finds something totally unexpected in Paris after midnight. What he finds is a mystery that would feel almost like a crime to reveal.
I wouldn’t call “Midnight in Paris” Allen’s big comeback, because he’s had so many comebacks over the years. When you make as many films as he does, there are bound to be misses. Yet, this is his first film in a long time that feels informative, free, and most importantly, fun. Sometimes, you don’t have to sell your soul and buy a ticket for “Fast Five” in order to have fun at the movies.
“Midnight in Paris” is a mixture of everything Allen is great at. In the film, he is given a chance to mock the pretentious intellectuals of the world as he slips subtle literary references into the story. Its combined slapstick and whimsical tone made me think of “Sleeper.” Its light and fast mood also evoked the great comedies of the era Gil wished he could have lived in.
Wilson, meanwhile, is the best Allen reincarnation there could possibly be. He perfectly takes on Allen’s wisecracking, neurotic New Yorker-type personality. He delivers every line with the right amount of anxiety. The rest of the ensemble is utilized well. It would be easy for someone who is writing about themselves to only focus on the character based off of themselves, yet Allen never forgets that there are many people involved in Gil’s life. Most notably is Michael Sheen as the way-too-sophisticated-for-his-own-good Paul and Kurt Fuller as Gil’s always furious father-in-law. McAdams is also an always enjoyable screen presence even when she’s being a cold and unsupportive girlfriend.
Oh yeah, and that writing. Comedy is one of the most intelligent forms of writing, yet few ever do it right. Only Allen can be so funny and so observant. After all, the greatest observations about life are the funniest ones.
Whether he be in New York, London, Barcelona, or Paris, setting is an essential part of every Allen story. Even with such strong characters, location is always key to the story. It usually sets the mood, whether that be uptight, mysterious, or free-spirited. In “Midnight in Paris,” Paris might as well be the center of the entire universe. It exudes both light and life, it is the center of creation. Just as he knows his beloved New York so much, Allen acts as if he’d lived in Paris for centuries, nailing the culture down right.
As I continue to write this review, I am debating going deeper into the plot. It would be great for further discussion, yet I feel like I’d be ruining something. In a world where it’s usually movies never keep their best parts unspoiled, “Midnight in Paris” offers plenty of surprises that are best to see for yourself. In one short film, the excitement of many years of culture, the beauty of a city, and the over-analyzing complexities of being a writer are captured. Most importantly, this film is just so full of joy. It is the very reason why escapism was created. And that is why it is my favorite film so far this year.