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When Woody Allen examines New Yorkers’ neuroses it’s always something special; “A RAINY DAY IN NEW YORK”

Produced by Erika Aronson, Letty Aronson, Ronald L. Chez, Howard E. Fischer, Helen Robin and Adam B. Stern
Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning and Liev Schreiber
Directed by Woody Allen

“We are two different creatures, right? You like the sound of crickets and I like the rattle of the taxis. You blossom in the sun and me, I come into my own under grey skies.” It’s no longer a secret that Woody Allen owns New York, is it? With a passion that fuels his creativity, Allen has turned the city into a canvas that transcends time and space, any attempt to imagine a time before or after, ... more >

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Woody Allen’s “Cafe Society”

A great Allen vintage
Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg
Directed by Woody Allen

2016 is starting to shape up as the year of the love letter to Hollywood’s Golden Age. We started the year with the Coen Brothers's "Hail Caesar!," a kidnapping comedy set in a fictional fifties studio with million-dollar mermaids, crooning cowboys and blacklisted commie screenwriters. Still to come is Damien Chazelle’s musical "La La Land" with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. Stuck in the middle is ... more >

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CANNES FESTIVAL | Laurent Lafitte, unmaster of ceremony

He was supposed to host, not roast!

CANNES, France - Seems like French actor and host of this year's Cannes Festival mistook Master of Ceremony with Roastmaster. Everyone, probably, was therefore caught off-guard when he made a seriously foul comment about Woody Allen, who was seated in the room with Soon-Yi Previn and the cast of his latest film, "Cafe Society." Making a reference to Roman Polansky's rape-related legal problems ... more >

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Buoyant “Cafe Society” opens Cannes Festival

Film was shown this morning
Blake Lively, Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart
Directed by Woody Allen

The Cannes Festival opened today with the best possible film it could open with: the buoyant and lighthearted “Cafe Society,” directed by Woody Allen. I walked out of this morning’s screening with my spirits raised. But, then became quickly hungry for lunch. In Allen’s perfectly-told, jaunty tale a young man, played by Jesse Eisenberg, moves to L.A. from New York to find work. He meets the ... more >

Revisiting ANNIE HALL

'The Marshall McLuhan scene'

Here is one of the best (and most discomfiting) scenes from "Annie Hall" (1977) in which the funny conversation isn't the one taking place between the two protagonists Alvy Singer and Annie Hall but rather the one that's overheard between some holier-than-thou faux-cinephile who spends the whole scene shooting down Fellini and his companion. Alvy and Annie are standing in line to go watch "The ... more >

Blue Jasmine

[Perdido Productions]
Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin and Sally Hawkins
Directed by Woody Allen

“Blue Jasmine” is a perfect film, the first perfect film I’ve seen all year. It is smart, well-written, entertaining, beautifully filmed and the performances are unbelievably good. The film is also more remarkable for what it demonstrates of the faculties of Woody Allen. After his amusing but rather shallow exercises of the past years, not only with his European forays but even before (remember ... more >

To rome with love (Penelope Cruz)

To Rome with love

Four stories intersecting in la bella città
Roberto Benigni, Alison Pill and Penelope Cruz
Directed by Woody Allen

Woody Allen continues his European wandering, this time taking on four stories centered around love, infidelity and fame and set in beautiful Rome, la bella città. Only the narrative is so slight and the comedy so unfunny that "To Rome with love" quickly grows tiresome. This is the first time that Allen has gone in front of the camera in a while and it helps because he gives himself all the ... more >