Melinda and Melinda

[andyfox]

Terrible and terrible. More of the same from Woody Allen, and I didn't like it the first time. Or the second time. By the the fifth time, it's only good for catching up on one's sleep.

We got it, Woody, you're the greatest, art is an artist's preserve, who are we to judge you?

Ultimately, Woody Allen will be thought of as Jerry Lewis is, a tremendously funny and talented filmmaker who wasted his early promise by feeling unjustly maligned and answering his critics with nothing but volleys of me, ME, ME. How tiring.

Save your eight bucks. It's a misogynistic disgrace.

[Clarkmeister]

But are there two chicks named Melinda in it, and do they get naked and have sex with each other?

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
But are there two chicks named Melinda in it, and do they get naked and have sex with each other?

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Are you related to jakethebake?

[sfer]

You write thus, and I believe you, but it has Wallace Shawn, and so....

[andyfox]

Yes to the first question and, sorry, no to the second.

It's a PG-13 movie.

Go see The Upside of Anger instead.

[andyfox]

Actually, Wallace Shawn is just in the narration device, something Allen's used so many times before: he tells one story and another guy at the restaurant tells another. He's doesn't really "act" in the movie.

[mike l.]

is it that bad? we watched some movie the other night,, oh what was it, the curse of the jade scorpion. we liked it!

but i had to walk out of celebrity like ten years ago or whatever and i havent been to the theater to see a woody film since. what are the good recent ones to watch? we rented small time crooks. i dont want to see the one w/ sean penn because i dont like him or old time jazz. anything im missing.

[Paluka]

I think the last woody allen movie i liked was Everyone Says I Love You. Or Mighty Aphrodite, whichever is more recent.

[sfer]

Everyone Says I Love You is a wonderful movie.

[JTG51]

You should watch more movies so you can post more reviews.

[andyfox]

I liked Bullets Over Broadway (great performance by Diane Wiest, I think she won an Oscar, and also by Chazz Palmentieri) and I thought Crimes and Misdemeanors was terrific (another great performance by Martin Landau). Sweet and Lowdown wasn't too good, but Sean Penn was fantastic in it.

If I had to pick one, it would be Crimes and Misdemeanors.

[andyfox]

Is that the one where they all sing? If it is, don't follow my reviews, because I hated that one.

[mike l.]

"If I had to pick one, it would be Crimes and Misdemeanors."

ya know this one never gripped me, but i will return to it again and again anyway. anyway im just wondering about the ones he made in the past 5-10 years.

we've went over this before but im a sucker for another woman. it's a little one dimensional but i love gena rowlands so much that it makes it a favorite for me. im also really fond of husbands and wives. and the funny manhattan murder mystery that followed it is worth repeating as well.

what other movies should i get through netflix. i have a lot of trouble with the consistenly overly violent stuff that comes out nowadays. i like along with woody, rohmer, cassavetes, and altman. but most films just make my stomach turn. you seem to know a lot of film, what would be up my alley?

[Cyrus]

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I love Gena Rowlands so much that it makes it a favorite for me.

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My man.

[andyfox]

I used to see the Cassavettes gang when they hung out at Mateo's on Westwood Blvd. here in L.A. They were just as much fun as on screen. Gena actually had the sharpest, quickest wit of them all, although Peter Falk was the funniest by the end of the evening.

[andyfox]

John Cole's our resident film expert. Ask Rick N. to have him email you.

I loved The Upside of Anger, currently playing.

If you like Altman, and haven't seen Cookie's Fortune, I liked that a lot.

[mike l.]

"I used to see the Cassavettes gang when they hung out at Mateo's on Westwood Blvd. here in L.A. They were just as much fun as on screen. Gena actually had the sharpest, quickest wit of them all, although Peter Falk was the funniest by the end of the evening."

holy crap that's great! did you like hang out with them? tell me more!

[jakethebake]

Am i the only one disappointed there wasn't a pic of two hot chicks in this thread?

[andyfox]

Friend of mine was the bartender there. I didn't really hang out with them, but they kind of had the run of the place and so I saw a lot of them. Cassavettes was the quietest of the bunch, Gazzara usually the most vocal.

Other regulars who'd come by in those days were Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Namath (always with a different woman), Sinatra and his gang, Willie Shoemaker (saw him fall off the barstool, drunk, one night; it was kinda funny then, the world's greatest horseman and all, but the drinking didn't turn out so funny for Shoe later on), and Tom Jones. This would be the mid- to late-'70s.

[mike l.]

fascinating.

there's a scene in husbands where theyre drinking and being incredibly silly at a dark bar around a table. was it like that?

[andyfox]

Yeah, they were happy drunks.

[Cyrus]

[ QUOTE ]
Friend of mine was the bartender there. I didn't really hang out with them, but they kind of had the run of the place and so I saw a lot of them. Cassavettes was the quietest of the bunch, Gazzara usually the most vocal.

Other regulars who'd come by in those days were Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Namath (always with a different woman), Sinatra and his gang, Willie Shoemaker (saw him fall off the barstool, drunk, one night; it was kinda funny then, the world's greatest horseman and all, but the drinking didn't turn out so funny for Shoe later on), and Tom Jones. This would be the mid- to late-'70s.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm a huge fan of John Cassavetes. Could you extendyour reminiscing posts to something fuller? Say, 5,000 words?...

I saw Rowlands first in her husband's films. Years later, I caught her as a femme fatale in a Peyton Place re-run (don't ask). She was much younger and, for lack of better description, a statuesque goddess, the kind that you lose your mind over. A sex tigress, but I digress.

[Phat Mack]

I liked Bullets Over Broadway

This was the last Woody Allen flick I really liked. He didn't cast himself in it. I was hoping it would start a trend. Is he acting in this latest one?

[andyfox]

No, he's not in Melinda and Melinda. But Will Ferrel plays his usual role, complete with Woodyisms.

[andyfox]

Nothing really memorable comes to mind except that in those days women would order a rose wine often enough and the restaurant didn't carry one, so my friend would mix a red with a white and nobody ever returned one. This at what was then the place in town. Go figure.

Namath and his date would often drink 4 or 5 bottles of wine between them. Sugar Ray Robinson was a gentlemanly sort, but would always hit you up for a few bucks for his foundation. He was a bit punchy in those days; I note in today's paper there's a new bio out about him.

The owner of the place was quite a character. I once went to the track with him and he bet an ungodly sum of money on the first race and his horse finished out of the money. He went running up to the rail, reached into his pocket and grabbed whatever came out, lots of bills and silver, and flung it onto the track, yelling, "Here, you SOBs, why don't you take all my f-ing money!"

Ah, the good old days . . . But enough. You want war stories, see Ray Zee.

[theBruiser500]

[ QUOTE ]
No, he's not in Melinda and Melinda. But Will Ferrel plays his usual role, complete with Woodyisms.

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will ferril is the funniest ever

[mike l.]

"He went running up to the rail, reached into his pocket and grabbed whatever came out, lots of bills and silver, and flung it onto the track, yelling, "Here, you SOBs, why don't you take all my f-ing money!"

that rocks.

[andyfox]

He's about the only enjoyable actor in the movie.

I'm sad to say I'm done with Woody Allen. We used to wait on line for hours when his movies would premiere in Westwood Village in Los Angeles. I thought the early slapstick comedies (Take the Money and Run, Love and Death, Bananas, Sleeper) were hilarious. And Annie Hall and Manhattan showed him becoming an accomplished filmmaker. But after so many disapointing movies I can't think he will find anything new to say, or any new or entertaining way to say it, at this stage of the game.

[Cyrus]

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I'm done with Woody Allen. After so many disapointing movies I can't think he will find anything new to say.

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Come on, you know you're going to his next one!

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