For the first time since he was in his 2006 picture “Scoop,” Woody Allen has given himself a part in his next film, which has the working title of “The Bop Decameron” and is due to start filming in Rome in July. The Decameron is the name of Boccacio’s erotic 14th-century stories, often made into film, most famously by Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1971 and also by Fellini/de Sica et al for the 1962 ... more >
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Midnight in Paris
Grand cru from Allen should charm for sure
Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates
Directed by Woody Allen
Yes, you can believe what you’ve been reading – "Midnight in Paris" really is the best Woody Allen film in a long time. It’s a love letter to Paris, an ode to the Jazz age and the writers of the Lost Generation, and a romance with the past. It’s also the handoff of the baton of cinematic neurosis between Woody Allen and the film’s star, Owen Wilson. Allen and Wilson have both formed their ... more >
Cannes Festival Announcement
Midnight in Paris to open French Fest
"Midnight in Paris" a new film by Woody Allen, will open the Festival de Cannes on May 11th in the Lumière theatre, in the presence of the Jury presided by Robert De Niro. The romcom, shot last year in the French capital, brings together a broad international cast, including Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams and Marion Cotillard, as well as Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Gad Elmaleh ... more >
You will meet a tall dark stranger
Double dating explained
Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins
Directed by Woody Allen
In You will meet a tall dark stranger coming out this week the stars are aligned once again. Woody Allen's new picture--its title wrily referring to what fortune-tellers will say as soon as you're in the door-- is a winner, vintage Allen, with idiosyncrasies firmly rooted in tradition, the endearing stranger doing the voiceover and even—even!—a character named Alfie, played by Anthony Hopkins. ... more >
Whatever Works
A sharper, wittier Woody Allen
Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood and Patricia Clarkson
Directed by Woody Allen
Whenever a new Woody Allen film arrives, I meet it with a certain discomfort. No matter how eloquently or ineloquently he handles his favorite ongoing theme –the role of chance, fate, luck in the universe –you know it is a ninety-minute attempt to escape culpability for that most infamous romantic episode in his life. What? Leave my partner for her teenage daughter? It’s just random chance. ... more >
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Woody Allen on the rise
Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz
Directed by Woody Allen
Woody Allen’s Vicky Christina Barcelona runs from promising to intriguing to agreeably incoherent to disagreeably incoherent to utter anarchy. A little frustrating as film, yes, but one might say it successfully mirrors the pathway of romance. It certainly mirrors the pathway of the volcanic marriage of artists Maria and Juan Antonio (Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem), a disturbed, bickering ... more >