In many of Allen's films, there are characters who seem to want to dabble in different emotions and try them on like a new hat.  More than once he has written characters who contemplate suicide but it usually seems like they want to try to contemplate suicide to see how it feels.  In September, Lane (Mia … Continue reading September (1987)

Okay, so I haven't seen the original, but I have seen Seven Samurai (1954) that the original Magnificent Seven was based on.  But I also haven't seen Seven Samurai in years, and I barely remember the details. I really enjoyed this movie.  It was perfect for what I wanted it to be, just an entertaining shoot 'em up … Continue reading The Magnificent Seven (2016)

  Woody Allen shows his age, but in a good way.  He takes a break from the romantically-convulated stories of many of his best films and focuses on a time he remembers fondly: the Radio Days. The story takes place in the late 30s and early 40s in the New York area.  Woody Allen narrates, … Continue reading Radio Days (1987)

Life's a slog.  Is slog a word?  It felt like the right usage in this case.  Mickey (Woody Allen) thinks life has lost all meaning, and I don't know why that's what I was left thinking about.  This movie isn't supposed to be about Mickey.  He's just a side character, but he's so consumed in … Continue reading Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

  If you cut off the last two minutes of Broadway Danny Rose, it would feel a bit like the end of The Purple Rose of Cairo.  This might be one of the saddest endings of a Woody Allen film.  It's similar to Manhattan, but Cecilia (Mia Farrow) is so easy to root for that when she's left … Continue reading The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)

I love movie titles like Broadway Danny Rose, Good Will Hunting or Saving Private Ryan.  I don't know why, I just do. Woody Allen plays Danny Rose, a manager/agent for smalltime entertainment acts.  He's a hard worker, and he'll do anything to scrape by.  Picture a stereotypical salesman.  That's Danny. Well one of his clients is Lou, and Lou's … Continue reading Broadway Danny Rose (1984)

So Woody Allen made a second mockumentary, the first one being Take the Money and Run (1969).  Zelig makes use of old (staged) newsreel footage, specifically targeting a more historical type of documentary where as Take the Money followed a character as the story was unfolding. Woody Allen plays Leonard Zelig, the human chameleon.  He is a man … Continue reading Zelig (1983)

In A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, Woody Allen loosely examines a couple ideas: lust vs. love and spirituality vs. practicality. The story involves three couples: Andrew/Adrian, Maxwell/Dulcy and Leopold/Ariel. Andrew, an inventor, once knew Ariel, and when she tells him she might've loved him once, he becomes completely enamored with her though he won't admit it.  Part … Continue reading A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (1982)

  Woody Allen always plays himself in his films, but Stardust Memories is the closest to him just being Woody.  I think he would say he's no closer to being this character than any others, but because Sandy is based on Woody's public persona, it feels the most real to an audience that only knows Woody … Continue reading Stardust Memories (1980)

Manhattan opens with static shots of the city in black and white, accompanied by George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Woody Allen's stumbling narration about how best to capture the city's beauty and at the same time saying that Manhattan is "a metaphor for the decay of contemporary culture."  He's a pessimist. The music builds and crashes, … Continue reading Manhattan (1979)