Movie Review: Interiors (1978)

Directed by Woody Allen                                              

Movie Review by Greg Goodsell

Mama Eve (Geraldine Page) is an elegant, highly vaunted interior decorator who proves to be a handful for her husband Arthur (E. G. Marshall) and three adult daughters Renata (Diane Keaton), Flyn (Kristin Griffith) and Joey (Mary Beth Hurt). Maintaining an icy façade, Eve is overbearing, manipulative and controlling. One of her chief activities is staging elaborate suicide attempts in which she knows she will be rescued at the nick of time. It comes a no surprise that papa shortly declares at the dinner table that he will be leaving Eve for a trial separation. While the delusional Eve pines for reconciliation, dad shortly arrives at the family’s seaside home with his fiancée Pearl (Maureen Stapleton). The clash is immediate from the get-go; whereas the other characters dress in limpid grays, whites and browns, Pearl is first introduced in a blood-red dress (future superstar director Joel Schumacher served as the costume designer for this film, and Woody Allen gave him a prominent credit at the beginning of the film – and for good reason.) The sassy, brassy and outspoken Pearl grates upon the clan’s nerves. As Julie Kirgo points out on in the liner notes to this Twilight Time release – 3,000 copies, snap them up quick), while it is never made evident, Pearl is implied to be Jewish, and anti-Semitic sentiment seems to bubble just beneath the surface. Eve faces the fact that she and her husband will never be reunited and high tragedy ensues – but in a surprise twist, Pearl grants life to one of the daughters in the manner of the real-life Eve.

Movie Review: A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (1982)

Directed by Woody Allen

Movie Review by Greg Goodsell

It is the Edwardian Age. Academic Leopold (Jose Ferrer), a proponent of secular humanism just as tedious as any religious fundamentalist, is off to the countryside to marry the far younger Ariel (Mia Farrow). They are set to reconnoiter at Leopold’s cousin Adrian’s (Mary Steenburgen) country manor for a weekend of fun before the nuptials. Adrian’s husband Andrew (Woody Allen) is a wealthy Wall Street investor and part-time inventor who terrorizes the local wildlife with his flying bicycles. Thrown into the mix is randy Doctor Maxwell (Tony Roberts) and naughty nurse Dulcy (Julie Hagerty). The sultry summer air weaves its spell on the sextet. It appears that Andrew and Arial are going through marital troubles, inflamed by the fact that Ariel and Andrew are former lovers. Everyone wonder aloud if it’s appropriate that Arial and Leopold are set to be wed, the differences in their ages at least three decades! Maxwell, while trying to pitch and woo to everything in a skirt (“He’s never lost a patient,” Andre declares. “Made a few of them pregnant, yes!”) however, befalls a series of comic injuries.

Things come to a head when Andrew presents his latest invention, a “Spirit ball,” a device that can reach into the unseen world to see the past, present and future. The resolutely non-metaphysical group is treated to a ghostly vision of a couple meeting clandestinely at the nearby lake. There is a death – but the film has a happy ending regardless.

Movie Review: Radio Days (1987, Twilight Time)

Reviewed By: Hal Astell

Woody Allen pretty much always wrote stories about himself, though he tweaked the truth so none are actually autobiographies. This one is about him as a young Jewish kid in Rockaway when the radio was on all day every day and all he ever wanted was a Masked Avenger ring with a secret compartment. He's played by someone you wouldn't expect on the face of it to be believable as a young Woody Allen, here called Joe, let alone appear in a Woody Allen film, but Seth Green does a solid job. He's really young here, long before Buffy the Vampire Slayer let alone Robot Chicken, but he looks exactly like a really young Seth Green.

The script is really nothing but a dramatized collection of reminiscences, and as you'd expect from such a setup some are better than others. The biggest challenge of all is to make it hold together as a single entity. It works best as a box of treats to dip into whenever we feel like it, so unlike most films, catching five minutes here and there while channel surfing roughly equates to watching it in an 85 minute stretch. You could probably even watch it backwards, scene by scene, and it would still make about as much sense.

The first reminiscence is a peach and sets the stage very nicely for all the rest. It has two crooks breaking into a house when the phone rings. They answer it to avoid waking everyone up and end up winning the grand prize on a game show called Guess That Tune. Mr and Mrs Needleman arrive home the next morning to find their home robbed but no end of goodies arriving in the place of their own stuff. It's hilarious but ludicrous at the same time, and quite a few of the other reminiscences fit the same bill. There's a sports story show that involves a baseball pitcher with heart, even though he loses a leg, an arm and his sight. There's even a radio ventriloquist.

Movie Review: Broadway Danny Rose (Blu-ray)

Review By: Mike Heenan

Perhaps it was the use of black and white film stock or the natural lighting of the recently deceased cinematographer Gordon Willis, but in many ways Broadway Danny Rose feels like a classic 70’s Woody Allen film. I’ve always believed his decline began around the time of the Soon Yi scandal, and he’s never really recovered the early magic of his 70’s output since, with the exception of a few films like Small Time Crooks and Midnight in Paris.

The film begins with comedians in a deli reminiscing over the olden days and agent Danny Rose, played by Allen, comes up in conversation.  They all trade stories about their dealings with him, and one comedian (Sandy Baron who you all may remember from Seinfeld as Jack Klompus), tells the “ultimate” end all story of Rose.  Rose is a loveable agent, the kind who sticks up for the underdog - the one who’ll never truly make it anywhere, just like Rose himself.  Rose takes to representing washed up crooner Lou Canova, a one hit wonder in the 50’s.  Rose gives Lou his everything in terms of representation and truly believes he’s on the cusp of a major comeback.  When Lou has money issues, Rose offers to defer his salary.  He also constantly gives Lou pep talks and bolsters his confidence.

Movie Review: Crimes and Misdemeanors (Blu-ray.1989)

Movie Review by Greg Goodsell

Directed by Woody Allen

Wealthy ophthalmologist Judah Rosenthal (Martin Landau) has everything. A prosperous practice, a loving wife and family and a flight attendant mistress, Dolores (Anjelica Houston). Tiring of their go-nowhere affair, Dolores threatens Judah to go to his wife about their relationship – as well as reveal some of financial shenanigans. Back against the wall, his life and career on the line, he listens to his hard-as-nails criminal brother Jack (Jerry Orbach) who can have Dolores whacked for X amount of dollars. Appalled that he would even consider such a thing, he goes ahead with the idea, and Dolores is killed, her murder made to look like a burglary break-in. After going through moral qualms, Judah becomes more confident than ever and returns to his world of high-class prestige.

A concurrent story involves documentary director Cliff Stern (director and writer Woody Allen) who is paid big money to make a film about talentless, overbearing TV personality Lester (Alan Alda). Stern wants to do a documentary about Professor Louis Levy (Martin Bergmann) who proffers fascinating theories about the God of the Old Testament. Stern justifies the high-paying project do fund his dream documentary, and takes the high road. Both Stern and Rosenthal meet, where Stern wonders if virtue really is its own reward.

I would never invite Stephen King to my house for movie night. He champions crap like The Boogens (1981), hates Dario Argento and he despises Kubrick’s adaptation of his The Shining (1980) to this very day. There’s one thing that both King and I agree upon: we’re no Woody Allen fans. He once wrote about putting off a trip to the drinking fountain in the movie theater’s lobby while watching Stardust Memories (1980) in order to give himself something to look forward to. Crimes and Misdemeanors is Allen at one of his most accessible while at the same time giving the viewer food for thought.

Movie Review: The Front (Blu-ray)

Review By: Mike Heenan

With all the recent media attention and personal attacks on Woody Allen from his crazy ex, it’s hard to remember that at one time he was actually a respectable filmmaker, writer, and in the case of The Front, an actor.  It was the first film that he didn’t have any control over writing or directing and was simply just an actor.  Allen was quoted as trusting director Martin Ritt as Ritt had survived the McCarthy years of the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee), as did co star Zero Mostel.

Allen stars as Howard Prince, who works as a cashier in a diner and is a bit of a con artist and gambler. One day one of his old friends Alfred Miller, played by Michael Murphy, stops by to tell Howard that he’s been blacklisted from his industry, of which Howard assumes to mean he has some sickness.   Over a game of chess, Miller comes up with a scheme to present to Howard that apparently has worked in the past, which is a “front”.  The blacklisted writer would write his scripts, but use an unknown person to be the public writer of the script.  Howard easily accepts his cut of 10% of the sales due to his many gambling debts.