tracy

When a movie's vibes are already rancid on account of #MeToo, it should also try not being awful. Contains great references to Hamilton, Jeb Bush, and Asperger's, and Jude Law doing a great impression of philosophy professor Abe Lucas. Selena Gomez is the only actor who commits, despite the Gatsby-Chan arc being extremely underwritten. Horrible ending. Visually, this mostly just looks like a commercial, but the part of me that enjoys looking at real estate did enjoy the various apartments/homes.

7 _72%

Sleeper (1973) - Rated 08 Aug 2024

Not quite as lol-per-minute as Bananas, given instead of a bunch of crazy sketches it actually tries telling one of those "story" things. Still, though, it is quite funny. Given how averse to risk aesthetic-wise as a filmmaker he rapidly became, the novelty of a Woody Allen movie that has so many futuristic sets and sci-fi props/gadgets more than makes up for any slow stretches. Also, Rags the dog.

6 _47%

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) - Rated 08 Aug 2024

Gets off to a rough start, with an extremely grating narrator and 25-year-old Rebecca Hall being saddled with some brutal Old Man Allen dialogue. Once the Oviedo stuff starts, though, this is pretty unobjectionable. Bardem is enjoyable and the polyamory stuff gives the movie more teeth than your typical Woody infidelity narrative. It's weird Cruz won the Oscar, given the 2000s were probably Woody's biggest Dark Age. Any sort of award-season fêting feels like they breached containment.

7 _72%

Everyone Says I Love You (1996) - Rated 05 Aug 2024

Ignored this during my previous spells of Woodmania because I figured it'd be gimmicky and stupid. And it is, but also it's good. Maybe I just enjoyed the novelty of seeing a Woody movie that has this many kid/teen characters. I anticipated a ho-hum Woody love plot surrounding the songs, but the insanity of WA♥Julia and the Tim Roth thug keep things from getting too rote, and Woody and Goldie Hawn have good chemistry. Everyone knows Natalie Portman is in it, but how about Christy Carlson Romano?

7 _72%

Blue Jasmine (2013) - Rated 05 Aug 2024

I was pretty indifferent to this movie when it came out, but now, having seen most of the truly abysmal Woodys, I'm a lot more impressed by it. The plot thread with Jasmine taking a computer class is really the only truly bizarre Old Man Woodyism. Does he really think that if you want to learn to use a computer, you have to go to school? Particularly for something basic like an online class? I mean, yeah, we all know he's a Luddite, but true Woodyheads know that he can at least send texts.

6 _47%

Sweet and Lowdown (1999) - Rated 05 Aug 2024

A watchable novelty. Not very funny (the scene with the moon prop is a good gag, though) or emotional, but the period visuals are nice and it moves along quickly enough. I don't like the mockumentary interviews, which don't add much and halt the momentum of the story. Good bleak ending. Why does John Waters get a starring credit when he's in the movie less than "co-stars" Brad Garrett and Kaili Vernoff?

6 _47%

Café Society (2016) - Rated 29 Jul 2024

This anecdotally seems to enjoy some faint praise here and there as Not Particularly Bad For A Late Woody Allen Film. It's not hard to see why; it's set in the past, so our friend Woody doesn't have to spend his time writing ridiculously alien "modern" protagonists, and the Hollywood scenes are nice to look at and a fairly unique vibe for WA. Drags when the action moves to NY, but Corey Stoll's arc is pretty amusing. How was Bruce Willis gonna play the Carell part? Ken Stott is a great faux Jew.

6 _47%

Coup de chance (2023) - Rated 29 Jul 2024

Pretty thin on suspense (by making the killer the obvious villain, the moral dilemmas of other Woody crime films are mostly absent). The French dialogue isn't as unnatural as many modern Woodys, but there aren't enough of his typical quirks present either. Distractingly orange lighting throughout. That being said, this moves pretty briskly for a modern Woody, it has some alright gags, and the cast is having a good time. Committed Woodyologists will probably not hate it. Maybe.

7 _72%

Take the Money and Run (1969) - Rated 04 Jan 2024

I like the more blatantly incoherent vibe of something like Bananas a little more, but I mean, you can't lose when you've still got a 5/5 joke every minute. The chain gang stuff is a little slower than I remembered, but everything before that is red hot. Really like Marvin Hamlisch's music (which he composed at only 24... sheesh) and it makes me sad other Woodman films don't have such epic theme tunes.

7 _72%

Play It Again, Sam (1972) - Rated 26 Jun 2023

Very funny. Contains many good scenes of Woody Allen accidentally smashing shit and/or making a mess. Jerry Lacy should've won the Oscar for playing Bogart. Many say that Herbert Ross' direction is indistinguishable from Woody's typical style, but I was able to appreciate the score during the frenzied airport scene at the end as something the Woodman himself would probably never do.