Vic Sage

oh, what the hell. one more time, here's a recent update: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Woody Allen: Filmography Woody Allen's career has had high peaks and deep valleys, with occasional bursts of brilliance that still shone during any given low period. He's had a pretty unusual career by modern Hollywood standards. He's averaged almost 1 film a year now into his 5th decade, with very little studio involvement or interference. That is pretty remarkable, especially since the end of the Hollywood's "studio system", where directors were under contract, and made movies all the time. Looking at his films by decade (and I only include the features he both wrote and directed): 1969-79: Take the Money and Run Bananas Everything... Sex Sleeper Love & death Annie Hall Interiors Manhattan The films are still crude, finding their form until he breaks through with ANNIE HALL, but these are the "early funny ones" he would mock in his very next film, STARDUST MEMORIES. His Bergman-esque INTERIORS is an unfortunately recurring leitmotif he returns to twice more in the next decade. MANHATTAN is lovely but creepily foreshadows his subsequent obsession with much younger women. Also, the decade introduced his first 2 "leading ladies", Louise Strasser and Diane Keaton. 1980-89: Stardust Memories Midsummer Night Sex Comedy Zelig Broadway Danny Rose Purple Rose of Cairo Hannah and her Sisters Radio Days September Another Woman Crimes & Misdemeanors This period had some very high highs and very low lows. His Fellini-esque STARDUST is a fascinating film, though not everybody's cup of tea. His 2 Bergman films, SEPTEMBER and ANOTHER WOMAN, are interminable stabs at seriousness, while MIDSUMMER is his failed attempt at a Bergman comedy, though not totally without its charms. It�s cute, but forgettable. ZELIG is his ROPE, a cinematic experiment more interesting in concept than execution. But RADIO DAYS, DANNY ROSE and PURPLE ROSE show Woody in fine form, while HANNAH was a huge hit and a fitting final chapter to his ANNIE HALL / MANHATTAN / HANNAH �NYC� trilogy". These films show his transition from Diane Keaton to new lady-friend and leading lady Mia Farrow. Ending the decade, CRIMES & MISDEMEANORS is Chekhovian in its rueful balance of comedy and tragedy. Probably his most fully formed, layered, interesting movie, of this or any other period. 1990-1999: Alice Shadows & Fog Husbands & Wives Manhattan Murder Mystery Bullets Over Broadway Mighty Aphrodite Everyone Says I love you Deconstructing Harry Celebrity Sweet & Lowdown Mostly an artist in decline, but there are still some nuggets of worth. You can watch the painful transition from Farrow to nobody in particular (though Judy Davis continues to pop up for a while). His breakup with Farrow is unendurably scrutinized in HUSBANDS & WIVES. His cinematic experiments continue, with his Kafka parody SHADOWS, the magical realism of ALICE, and his godawful musical, EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU. MYSTERY is just Woody marking time with another slight comedy. Still, just when you think you can dismiss him, BULLETS OVER BROADWAY and MIGHTY APHRODITE are vintage quality works; hilarious, daring, and filled with style, ideas, fascinating characters and genuine laughs. But when his Fellini worship finally overtakes his earlier Bergman fixation with the 3-some of HARRY, CELEBRITY and SWEET & LOWDOWN (which is basically a remake of La Strada), Allen seems to be sliding into a parody of himself� the artist as an old man, wishing he had been a better filmmaker and so emulating one. These last 3 are interesting, at least, and Samantha Morton in LOWDOWN gives one of the best performances by a woman in any of Allen film. 2000-2009 Small Time Crooks Curse of the Jade Scorpion Hollywood Ending Anything Else Melinda and Melinda Matchpoint Scoop Cassandra�s Dream Vicky Cristina Barcelona Whatever Works After turning out a trio of flawed but interesting Fellini-esque films, Allen marks the new millennium by churning out another pair of slight, wan, minor-key comedies in CROOKS and CURSE. However, he�s able to turn out a decent comedic effort with HOLLYWOOD ENDING, satirizing the movie industry in a more lighthearted way than he�d shown in ages. Unfortunately, ANYTHING ELSE shows Allen trying to return to his neurotic relationship comedies from days of yore, but Jason Biggs is no Allen protagonist and the movie falls utterly flat. You can�t go home again, Woody. He then tries to take on the �big question� once again; (�is life a comedy or a tragedy?�) and with MELINDA it�s both and neither. But neither is it a good movie. Then comes the much lauded MATCH POINT, a flat, humorless depiction of loathsome people doing loathsome things and getting away with it. Its turn from UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS soap opera to noir-ish thriller is silly, with a script that induces inappropriate laughter. Marketed as his first "thriller", it's a thriller for about 15 minutes. Good ending, though. Allen's CRIME & MISDEMEANORS covers all the same philosophical ground, but with wry humor and melancholy to balance the heavy-handed goings on. The Martin Landau subplot from C & M seems, in fact, lifted whole and turned into MATCH POINT, but unburdened by C & M's humor, texture and Chekhovian �lan. All of that gets replaced by the mechanics of planning and committing a murder, and then covering it up. C & M left that stuff out to focus on the impact of the event on the characters, not plot machinations. SCOOP is another one of his slight and forgettable comic murder mysteries, this time seemingly made out of outtakes from MATCHPOINT, featuring his new muse, Scarlett Johansson (first in MATCHPOINT, then later here and in VICKY CRISTINA), still hanging out in London. CASSANDRA finishes Allen�s �London Trilogy� with a humorless tragedy about which the less said the better. VICKY CRISTINA continued his European sojourn with a well-received romantic sex comedy, featuring Johansson for the 3rd and last time (so far), and winning an Oscar for Penelope Cruz. It's just OK, but overrated, as it�s little more than a meandering travelogue with pretty scenery, bursts of acting excess, and Woody one-liners. WHATEVER WORKS ends the decade on a sour note, with Woody back in NYC, this time using Larry David as his comic surrogate� a ranting boor in a Svengali relationship with a 20-year old girl. Allen is trying too hard to be funny again, and it�s just ugly and sad. 2010-present You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger Midnight In Paris To Rome With Love Blue Jasmine Allen starts the new decade with a serio-comic romantic return to London with STRANGER, but the funny stuff isn�t funny and the tragic stuff is unengaging. However, Woody moves on to PARIS and rediscovers his touch for illuminating the magic of love with his best film in 20 years and his most commercially successful film ever. His last stop in Europe is ROME, an Italian romantic comedy which brings Judy Davis back out of mothballs but is otherwise episodic and dull. Now comes JASMINE, taking us to San Francisco to endure the straight-faced tragedy of a socialite going nuts. This may be one of his most unpleasant films ever, with hateful people doing awful things to themselves and others, ending badly for all, more or less. And this is where we are with Woody Allen now� a misanthrope and accused pedophile in his 70s, telling the same jokes about sex and death he wrote 50 years ago, offering us a parade of awful people who mirror him more than they do any other actual human beings, occasionally indulging his clich�d sense of tragedy and Euro-philia. He had a good run, but I think he should stop now. Proceed at your own risk. My personal top dozen (in chronological order): * BANANAS * SLEEPER * LOVE & DEATH [when they talk about the "early funny ones", these are the 3 they're talking about] * ANNIE HALL [his most critically acclaimed, and most sophisticated of his neurotic romances] * PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM [he didn�t direct it, but it�s his play and his performance; a blend of ANNIE HALL's landmark neurotic romanticism and PURPLE ROSE's magical realism, and as good as he gets] * STARDUST MEMORIES [a personal fave, Woody's "8 1/2" is not for everybody. A Fellini-esque rumination on his filmmaking career is funny, bizarre, a bit whiny, but moving in spots] * BROADWAY DANNY ROSE [flat out funny, with a touch of pathos] * RADIO DAYS [a sad/funny nostalgic rumination on the radio days of his youth] * CRIMES & MISDEMEANORS [perhaps the best crafted and balanced film of his career] * BULLETS OVER BROADWAY [funny insight into Woody's own insecurity about being an "artist"] * MIGHTY APHRODITE [another funny one with real weight] * MIDNIGHT IN PARIS [funny and romantic, with that touch of magic in his best films] 10 more honorable mentions: * TAKE THE MONEY & RUN (primitive, sketchy, but funny) * ZELIG, DECONSTRUCTING HARRY, SWEET AND LOWDOWN, HOLLYWOOD ENDING (these 4 are all flawed but interesting) * VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA (sexy) * PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO, ALICE (Woody in magical realism mode) * MANHATTAN, HANNAH & HER SISTERS (the rest of the NYC trilogy)

themetfairy wrote: FWIW, Cate Blanchett was incredible in the titular role. I figure if I use the word titular that Vic won't rip me quite as much of a new one for not hating the film. just another pretty girl hiding behind her titulars. you know what we need here? a decent Woody Allen Filmog.... never mind.

saw ONLY THE LONELY again on cable last night. Not a great film, but a sweet one, and an effective romantic comedy, more poignant than funny. Maybe the only film directed by Chris Columbus i ever liked (he wrote GREMLINS, but didn't direct it). Whatever happened to Ally Sheedy? She was a big star through the 80's, but this was probably her last decent role (except for HIGH ART in `98). She was never a great actress, but she had a kind of quirky appeal. I've seen worse actresses with better careers.

what's been a neat benefit of new technologies is the development of actual distribution channels for shorts in recent years. in ye olden tymes, there was never a way to see these films, except sometimes movie theaters showed pre-feature shorts and cartoons. Later, the animated shorts would get compiled and released briefly in art houses. then video evolved, and more access. then cable tv and their specialty channels came along, hungry for interstitial programming, so more access. Now, VOD and digital downloads on all different platforms make these films available to everybody.

...a longshot relative unknown... Unknown? Michael Fassbender was Magneto!

Hell, I don't blame her... even JACKASS got 1 nomination! They couldn't find something to nominate in this self-congratulatory self-flagellation of feel-good middle-brow liberalism? That's not the Hollywood i remember.

[u:1emw1h6e]Multiple nominees:[/u:1emw1h6e] AMERICAN HUSTLE - 10 GRAVITY - 10 12 YEARS A SLAVE - 9 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS -6 DALLAS BUYERS CLUB - 6 NEBRASKA - 6 HER - 5 WOLF OF WALL ST - 5 PHILOMENA - 4 --------------------- BLUE JASMINE - 3 HOBBIT - 3 AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY - 2 DESPICABLE ME 2 - 2 FROZEN - 2 GRANDMASTER - 2 GREAT GATSBY - 2 INSIDE LlEWYN DAVIS -2 LONE RANGER - 2 LONE SURVIVOR - 2

Blanchett is always fabulous; she's one of the best around. But i hated JASMINE with a white hot passion. Woody has always had an inclination to populate his films with awful people, but this one may have set a new standard.

I've only seen 3 of the best picture nominees so far (GRAVITY, HER, AMERICAN HUSTLE). Of that small group, i was most impressed with GRAVITY. While i appreciated HER (particularly Johannson's vocal performance -- when is that going to be a category?), i did find it meandering after a time, even though ultimately moving and worthwhile. I'm just not a big Joaquin Phoenix fan. But i did like Amy Adams more in this than in AMERICAN HUSTLE, which i think is entirely overrated. The performances are fun, in a cartoony, garish way, and its entertaining enough, more or less, but its mostly about hair... bad hair. I was not moved or particularly interested in any of it. And that the low-level scumbags figure out a way to get over on the high-level scumbags doesn't give me quite the uplift one might think. But Bale is certainly incredible (once again). But GRAVITY was masterful in every aspect; the beautiful cinematography and design, the stellar performances, the taut direction, the powerful themes... its all there. I definitely want to see WOLF OF WALL ST and have some interest in NEBRASKA, too, but no interest at all in CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, PHILOMENA, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, or 12 YEARS A SLAVE, . Well, I might catch up with SLAVE on cable, but the other 3 would require a "desert island"-type situation.

i haven't seen it in a long time, but i recall it being one of his lesser efforts and a mediocre work overall. Here's the Eastwood filmography: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=14559&hilit=Eastwood

i didn't hate it; i was engaged. I do hate that Jackson has padded the story out with lots of extra stuff to justify a trilogy (it doesn't), and this chapter ends in a particularly unsatisfying way, even given the usual problems a middle chapter has in its inconclusiveness. EMPIRE STRIKES BACK manages to be a middle chapter that has a relatively satisfying ending in and of itself while still leading you into the next and final (we thought) chapter. But this one just stops, right before a big battle. There are some stupendous set pieces, however... particularly the dwarf escape in barrels down a river as the elves and orcs chase them while battling each other. A spectacular sequence. And Watson & Sherlock squaring off in the guise of Bilbo and Smaug had its own additional resonance.

well, if we're going up to adulthood, I had food poisoning in the middle of AMERICAN PRESIDENT. I doubt that theater bathroom was ever the same afterwards.

1) CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG - i was a little freaked out at the end, where the child catcher was snatching up kids with a big net, but otherwise liked it alot. i always had a soft spot for dick van dyke. 2) my only bad memory of childhood movie-theater attending was actually when i was 13 (the summer of 74; i had just finished 7th grade) I went to a movie without my parents for the first time, going with some friends to the theater in Kings Plaza. My dad drove us to the mall, then killed time til our movie was over, so we could have the experience of "going ourselves" without, you know, actually having to go ourselves. so anyway, it was PG, and we were allowed to go without parental supervision, but I was 13 so had to pay adult price (which was cool!). But when we got inside, the usher made us sit in a special "kid's section" for unsupervised kids. i WAS OUTRAGED! If they were going to charge me full price, i was damn well going to sit wherever i wanted. i told the usher the only way i'd sit there is if i had purchased a child-price ticket. There was a bit of yelling and threatening and the manager threw me out. I sat in front of the movie theater until it was over and my dad came back to drive us home. I told him what had happened, thinking 'these guys are going to get it now!" but he didn't do anything. I think he said something about the theater needing to keep an eye on kids in their theater or something. i was devastated. Even though i had just turned 13, I had not had a Bar Mitzvah (our family didn't go in for that sort of thing), but that day i became a man... or at least suffered a loss of innocence generally associated with manhood. I don't remember the movie; it may have been MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN. I remember seeing it on TV years later and thinking "god, what a piece of crap...i'm glad they didn't let me see this!"

holy shit. i'm old.

they re-released LAWRENCE in theaters about 10-15 years ago (i think), when it was digitally remastered for a deluxe DVD set. I had never seen it on screen (having only seen it on TV before that), and so I saw it at the Ziegfeld, in NYC, which is a huge, first-rate movie palace of the old style. It was as close as i get to a religious experience.

i think the post-apocalyptic ending is a hoot and a half; as if to say we'd just as soon pull this world down around our ears than conform to your middle-class notions of propriety. We have the right to be assholes even if it means the world's end. And they prove this point at every football match over there, so it seems a deeply held cultural value worth commenting on.

PETER O�TOOLE: A SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY Over the course of seven decades, Peter O�Toole played a range of desiccated kings, glorious emperors, power-mad generals, besotted aristocrats, and delightfully daft artists, philosophers and scientists� with the genius to show us the humanity in them all. He was so much larger than life that the screen could barely contain him. Yet he came from modest circumstances that he never forgot, infusing even his maddest of kings with the lowest of human foibles, evoking sympathy even when none should have been possible. Peter Seamus O�Toole was born Irish and raised English, with a bookie for a dad and a brutal catholic school education. He followed his years in the navy with training at RADA (with classmates Albert Finney, Alan Bates and Richard Harris), then spent his early professional years (the 1950s) on the stage of the Old Vic, and doing inconsequential TV and low-budget films in the UK. Then, when Albert Finney turned down a part over contractual demands, the dashing young O�Toole was cast instead... as T.H. Lawrence. And the rest, as they say, was history. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA became one of the biggest hits (and best movies) of all time and launched O�Toole into international superstardom. With his striking features, piercing blue eyes, Nordic blonde hair, and a smooth articulate cadence, he filled out the next decade with memorable films which forged his heroic screen persona. * Lawrence of Arabia (1962) � At 4 hours, it still isn�t long enough; an absolutely breathtaking masterpiece by David Lean and O�Toole stands astride it like a colossus * Becket (1964) � O�Toole�s high-spirited but regal King Henry II outshines friend Richard Burton as Becket in a still brilliant adaptation of the Anouilh play Lord Jim (1965) � Adaptation of the Conrad novel about the redemption of a coward is not quite there, but it still worth seeing for O�Toole and co-star James Mason What's New, Pussycat (1965) � Swinging 60s sex comedy co-starring Peter Sellers (with a script by Woody Allen) allowed O�Toole a change of pace, but it�s unwatchably dated How to Steal a Million (1966) � A charming romantic comedy caper with Audrey Hepburn; have not seen it in ages and so have no idea how dated it may feel, but I remember it fondly The Night of the Generals (1967) � WWII-era murder mystery; O�Toole as a mad Nazi general offers his first (of very few) performances as an unabashed screen villain * The Lion in Winter (1968) - Nominated again for playing Henry II (as he was in Becket), this time opposite Kate Hepburn; it�s a wordy, stagey film adaptation of a great play, but still enjoyably black fun, well worth seeing for O�Toole and Hepburn and their sizzling repartee (�oh god, but I do love being king!�) * Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) - O�Toole in an unexpected role as a repressed school teacher, and Petula Clark as the music hall performer he falls for, in this unnecessarily musicalized and dated remake. Murphy's War (1971) � not too bad WWII action/drama, with O�Toole obsessed with revenge against the U-Boat that sunk his ship * The Ruling Class (1972) � A mad aristocrat becomes Jesus who becomes Jack the Ripper in this surreal black comedy satirizing the British class system and conformity; over the top and not to everyone�s taste, but I love this one Man of La Mancha (1972) � A critical and commercial disaster, with O�Toole�s songs all dubbed, this adaptation of the Broadway musical is still a sentimental favorite of mine, and I say this without arguing for its quality O�Toole�s career was derailed in the 1970s due to his alcoholism and stomach cancer, leaving not much of note from that period. Zulu Dawn (1979) � solid action epic about a South African war, with O�Toole in a supporting role as an arrogant British lord and commander. Caligula (1979) � Penthouse's soft-core porn version of Roman history; O�Toole plays his �mad king�-type signature role, here intended to class up a classless enterprise Beginning in the 1980s, after giving up alcohol and undergoing extensive medical treatment, O�Toole reemerged with two of his best films, then appeared regularly thereafter in supporting roles in Hollywood films through the 80s and 90s. He also did a number of European features and some TV work during this period, as well. * The Stunt Man (1980) - O�Toole as an omnipotent film director; this comedic contemplation on the nature of reality is one of my all-time faves Masada (1981, TV miniseries) � O�Toole was Emmy-nominated as a Roman general in this celebrated mini-series * My Favorite Year (1982) � Comedy about early days of TV, with O�Toole as a drunken aging ex-movie star; his physical comedy and droll wit are drenched in poignancy. Another all-time fave Creator (1985) � Genial comedy with O�Toole as an old professor trying to clone his dead wife; sweet, if not memorable Club Paradise (1986) � O'Toole is here as governor of a Caribbean island, adding a bit of style to a crappy Ramis comedy with Robin Williams The Last Emperor (1987) - A small role in a big film, O�Toole resonates as the British advisor to the emperor High Spirits (1988) � This comic fantasy features O�Toole as the lord of a haunted castle; the film is ruined by the presence of Steve Guttenberg (which is true of every film he was ever in) King Ralph (1991) � O�Toole is an aristocrat advising John Goodman, a bumbling American, on how to be a king, in this otherwise pedestrian goofball comedy Gulliver's Travels (1996, TV Movie) � O�Toole is the emperor of Lilliput in this mediocre Hallmark mini-series (still, it was better than the Jack Black version) FairyTale: A True Story (1997) � As Arthur Conan Doyle, O�Toole plays a supporting role in this whimsical, lovely film about 2 girls who photograph fairies in WWI England Joan of Arc (1999, TV miniseries) � Won an Emmy for his supporting role as Bishop Cauchon; * O�Toole had been nominated 7 times for an Academy Award as Best Actor, but never won. In 2003, he was given a special and overdue Oscar for his lifetime of work, but he was not done yet. He ended his career strongly, with some solid supporting roles in good films over the next few years. He would even get one more nomination for Best Actor in VENUS, for a total of 8 nominations without winning, which may still be the record. Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003, TV movie) � Another Emmy nomination, this time for his role as the German president. Troy (2004) � Wolfgang Peterson�s terrific adaptation of Homer�s epic offers O�Toole his penultimate �old king� role, this time Priam of Troy, and he does it justice, with his usual steel * Venus (2006) � His last Oscar nom came for this acclaimed little indie; O�Toole is an old actor playing an old actor, this time in love with a very young woman. Bittersweet, funny, but kind of creepy, and slow as molasses in January. Stardust (2997) � O�Toole in a small part, and his last �King� role, in a criminally underrated fantasy adventure based on a Neil Gaiman graphic novel The Tudors (2008, TV Series) � O�Toole�s last significant role, as Pope Paul III, in this justifiably acclaimed Showtime series He would do some more TV and film work over his last years (some projects still waiting for release) before announcing his retirement in July of 2012. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Peter Seamus O'Toole (8/2/31 Galway, Ireland - 12/14/13 London, England) �Good-night, sweet prince; and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. � - WS �The only exercise I take is walking behind the coffins of friends who took exercise.� � PO So long, my liege, and thanks for all the fish. TOP 12: Lawrence of Arabia (1962) Becket (1964) The Lion in Winter(1968) The Stunt Man (1980) My Favorite Year (1982) The Ruling Class (1972) ----------------------------- Lord Jim (1965) Venus (2006) Masada (1981, TV miniseries) Creator (1985) The Night of the Generals (1967) Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)

I love the Simon Pegg "oeuvre". This is a funny satire, with some great performances.

Melissa McCarthy may not be a comedy genius, but gosh she's close. And Bullock is better than most folks give her credit for, particularly in comedic roles.

obvious, cliched, trite... and totally hilarious.

my dad was a swimmer; he was a lifeguard in Hawaii while in the service during WWII and, growing up, we lived 3 blocks from the beach. He'd go lay on the sand and swim from Coney to the tip of Sea Gate every weekend. so it was a big part of his life. And for some reason he loved this movie, depressing as it was.

Don't know, don't care... the might of the US Navy against four starving guys in a row boat, and i'm supposed to cheer for the battleships? Pass.

Gotta admit, not a fan of ARROW. But maybe where he lives there is alot of evil eurotrash who have failed the city.

they've remade CAPTAIN PHILLIPS already?

It was a pretty decent undercover cop/drug movie from the 90s, with Jason Patric and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and the underrated and relatively obscure character actor Max Perlich, who i always like. As for this car-racing thing... no interest whatsoever.