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Yay! A new Wood-Bot movie that's actually decent. I read an early review from Cannes where the reviewer said pretty much the same that James did about the lack of subtlety. Pete had a nice post about an Allen movie where he said that Woody no longer trusts the audience and feels compelled to spell out his themes. That's sad, because when Woody was good he was truly great. I still think Match Point is one of his better movies but at this point it seems as if we're doomed to accept merely decent films as the best Allen can muster. In any case, the description sounds good so I'll check this out at some point.

This is far and away the best film I've seen so far in 2011.

I'm guessing you haven't seen THE TREE OF LIFE.

Holy. Crap. We haven't had a 4 star movie since 2009...

Just cause he implied that it's the best film of the year so far dosen't mean it's gonna be a 4 star review.

Not yet, but that boosts my expectations considerably!

And you still won't have one.

LMMFAO

James

I genuinely appreciate your reluctance to hand out 4 star reviews

Rob

At no point did I assume this was an assured 4 star movie. I was, however, excited by the fact that this could be one. It isn't. *shrugs*

Preview parts of it look exceedingly pretentious....

That was kind of weird, right? Kind of annoying? Maybe not, but there was really no reason you should have had to explain yourself here.



Care to elaborate on which parts?

I saw this over the weekend, and while I think Blondie liked it more than me, it is easily the best movie I've seen this year. The more I think about it, the more I like it. Tree of Life might be better (I haven't seen it), but this is still an excellent film.

Care to elaborate on which parts?

I saw this over the weekend, and while I think Blondie liked it more than me, it is easily the best movie I've seen this year. The more I think about it, the more I like it. Tree of Life might be better (I haven't seen it), but this is still an excellent film.[/quote]

i was talking about tree of life...

For the most part I have a low tolerance for Woody Allen movies and haven't watched one in a couple of decades. This actually sounds like one that I would enjoy. Won't be able to see it in the theater since the rest of the family in completely not interested, but I'll be all over it on Netflix when its available.

Filmspotting podcast loved the new Woody Movie
Adam was ***
Matty was *****

Rob

I think Pete and me are the only two on the forum that have seen this so far. My reaction was very similar to Matty's; listening to the podcast, you can hear the unbridled enthusiasm in his voice. I think Pete's reaction was closer to Adam's, although still more favorable.

Seriously though, this is the only film I've seen this year so far that I feel confident will make my year-end Top 10 list. I'll be seeing The Tree of Life on Thursday, and hopefully that will meet my expectations.

This was a breezy, fun little movie. I am very unfamiliar with Woody Allen, having seen maybe only two of his films...but this was nice.

The only thing is that I wish that I was more well read. Although I recognized the names of the 1920's artists present in the film, I'm quite certain that there was a lot of references that went over my head. I was sitting in the theater feeling a bit dumb, but anyways...

Speaking of the 1920's artists, what a blast it was seeing these actors inhabit their characters. Corey Stall plays that fool Hemingway just like I envisioned the writer was...big balls, a man. Marion Cotillard was sultry as hell playing Adriana. My favorite though was Adrien Brody's Salvador Dali. It is the scenes with these characters that makes the film worth watching, because once we're back in the present, all you feel like doing is throwing something at the fiance's face. Who knew Rachel McAdams could play that part so well (loved the Katherine Heigl reference Mr. B).

I'm guessing there will be no 4 star movies from James this year. But who Knows he hasn't yet reviewed: Drive, Melancholia and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is coming soon