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#61
Nov 25 2011 01:45am
Quote (Kamahl16 @ Nov 25 2011 01:40am)
Watched Sweet and Lowdown last night.

I enjoyed the premise of the movie because I enjoy Django so much and love movies centered around a jazz culture. I thought Penn's acting was great but found it difficult to sympathize/like his character. He was such an enigmatic and non-empathetic tool most of the time I had a hard time caring for his misfortune. I'd go into this a bit more but don't want to spoil anything.

All-in-all I recommend it and thought it was one of Woody's better movies. It also isn't a typical Allen movie in terms of dialogue and subject matter thereof, but the plot is vintage Woody.


I'm glad you liked it! I think it's terrific, really. Sean Penn's best performance that I've seen. Great characters all around.

Also, I agree that it's hard to sympathize with such a repellent egomaniac, but you can't deny the raw power that the ending has. It's because we've spent so much time with him as a jerk that we learn to sympathize with him at his emotional nadir. It's just great story-telling.
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#62
Nov 25 2011 01:53am
Quote (Individuality @ Nov 25 2011 07:45am)
I'm glad you liked it! I think it's terrific, really. Sean Penn's best performance that I've seen. Great characters all around.

Also, I agree that it's hard to sympathize with such a repellent egomaniac, but you can't deny the raw power that the ending has. It's because we've spent so much time with him as a jerk that we learn to sympathize with him at his emotional nadir. It's just great story-telling.


It's written and shot so well you basically can't help but sympathize.

SPOILERS BELOW

It is interesting to see how he pretty much disappears after the ending scene and nobody knows where he goes. It kind of shows how a personality in music, good or bad, can transcend to legend status. I think of characters like Robert Johnson a lot for this very reason and it is cool to see this side of it (i.e. the process of those individuals becoming canonized as opposed to going in transfixed with their reputation).
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#63
Nov 25 2011 11:07pm
Just watched Midnight in Paris.

The idea behind the movie reminds me of one of his short stories where he writes about a person going back in time and sleeping with literary characters. In this one he is able to go into a different time and converse with literary and artistic personalities like Dali and Hemingway. I think this idea is one of Allen's better ones and thought it was the most interesting aspect of the film from a plot point of view. My absolute favorite thing about this film was the city itself. It was very crisp and I thought it really served Allen's purpose well, that is promoting a romanticized viewpoint of literary history.

The ending and some of the other points of the movie's plot were weak, or if not weak definitely cookie-cutter. All-in-all worth watching, very enjoyable.
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#64
Dec 7 2011 10:29pm
Saw Match Point, which is pretty much Crimes but more polished, set in England and more closely based on Crime and Punishment.
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#65
Dec 8 2011 06:36pm
Saw Another Woman, enjoyed it, thought the main actress did a hell of a job on this one.
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#66
Dec 8 2011 07:52pm
Quote (Kamahl16 @ Dec 7 2011 10:29pm)
Saw Match Point, which is pretty much Crimes but more polished, set in England and more closely based on Crime and Punishment.


It's a reworking of similar themes, not "pretty much" the same thing. Match Point is more concerned with fate and chance, and includes some of Allen's best imagery, namely the shot of the ring hitting the railing. Obviously, it's not as towering an achievement as that film was, but still has MUCH more to offer than almost anything Hollywood produces. Cassandra's Dream is even better, I think.

Quote (Kamahl16 @ Dec 8 2011 06:36pm)
Saw Another Woman, enjoyed it, thought the main actress did a hell of a job on this one.


You sound unimpressed on the whole. Oh well, at least you rightfully credited Gena Rowlands.

This post was edited by Individuality on Dec 8 2011 07:54pm
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#67
Dec 8 2011 09:04pm
Quote
It's a reworking of similar themes, not "pretty much" the same thing. Match Point is more concerned with fate and chance, and includes some of Allen's best imagery, namely the shot of the ring hitting the railing. Obviously, it's not as towering an achievement as that film was, but still has MUCH more to offer than almost anything Hollywood produces. Cassandra's Dream is even better, I think.


*SPOILERS BELOW

The main character's decision to murder the old women and his love interest who was pregnant with his son was just weak and it seemed kind of unbelievable to me that he would be so methodical about the whole ordeal. Not to mention that that is a tired theme literally hundreds of years old at this point didn't help.

It wasn't bad it just didn't offer me anything new, but I will agree with you that it is probably better than most movies of the last decade, but that's not saying too much.

Quote
You sound unimpressed on the whole. Oh well, at least you rightfully credited Gena Rowlands.


Well, it was definitely a nice character study and I feel I need to watch it again to appreciate it.
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#68
Jan 27 2012 07:20pm
Bumping this, going to download You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger and watch it sometime this weekend.
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#69
Feb 23 2012 01:27am
Just finished Anything Else.

Overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I thought the story was a bit convoluted at times and found myself disliking most of the characters by the end (with Allen's character being a notable exception). I thought the male lead was timid almost to the point of complete ineptness and the female lead all over the place. The mother who stayed with the coupled was really aggravating and the way she handled most everything made me dislike Biggs' character more.

The movie gets points for a few things, the first one being that it mocked psychoanalysis more than any of Allen's other movies. The second (and this one may be a bit shallow) is that the movie featured a host of very attractive female characters, from the various girlfriends Biggs had to the potential love interest that never happened.

I recommend it all the same.


EDIT -- Also, for those of you who have seen a Woody Allen or two expect more of the same in terms of various philosophical dialogue, particularly with reference to the fear of death, nihilism, pessimism, etc.


EDIT II -- By my count, this puts me at 30 Woody Allen films viewed to date. Jesus Christ.

This post was edited by Kamahl16 on Feb 23 2012 01:32am
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#70
Feb 23 2012 01:27pm
Quote (Kamahl16 @ Feb 23 2012 08:27am)
Just finished Anything Else.

Overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I thought the story was a bit convoluted at times and found myself disliking most of the characters by the end (with Allen's character being a notable exception). I thought the male lead was timid almost to the point of complete ineptness and the female lead all over the place. The mother who stayed with the coupled was really aggravating and the way she handled most everything made me dislike Biggs' character more.

The movie gets points for a few things, the first one being that it mocked psychoanalysis more than any of Allen's other movies. The second (and this one may be a bit shallow) is that the movie featured a host of very attractive female characters, from the various girlfriends Biggs had to the potential love interest that never happened.

I recommend it all the same.


EDIT -- Also, for those of you who have seen a Woody Allen or two expect more of the same in terms of various philosophical dialogue, particularly with reference to the fear of death, nihilism, pessimism, etc.


EDIT II -- By my count, this puts me at 30 Woody Allen films viewed to date. Jesus Christ.


it's actually one of my favourite Woody Allen films. I love when he throws in those dialogues and references, it's what I like the most of his movies, that's probably why it's one of my favourite ones out of his filmography :D
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