Image = The Eternal Magic of Woody Allen

As a self-proclaimed Woody-phile, I look forward to a new Woody Allen film every summer. (And since he’s 78 ½ who knows how many more he will make? Although he is shooting the next one right now)...  Naysayers like to lament about the golden age of Woody, completely discounting anything he’s had to offer since the ‘80s. I strongly disagree. In fact, I assert that Magic in the Moonlight, opening today, is one of the most intelligent and articulate scripts the Wood-man has ever written.

The main character is the typical Woody-esque curmudgeon but the dialogue is so infused with British aristocratic jargon that it sounds much more elegant than usual AND it is still funny as hell. The film is also a beautiful period piece, with more color and elaborate costumes than Woody used to use in his early Upper East Side stories. The thing that I love the most is that Woody is still asking questions about faith and magic in the universe versus knowledge and science.

The entire company is led brilliantly by Colin Firth. His performance is pitch-perfect and he must be acknowledged for being Woody’s leading man without doing a Woody Allen impersonation. Bravo Mr. Firth! It is another engaging character I have seen Firth do in an always fantastic career.   

It will be interesting to see if this film gets the acclaim that Blue Jasmine did. It seems like a good formula: Woody plus seasoned lead actor from another country = greatness and acclaim. We shall see… 

Image = Comedians Doing Something Dramatically Different

It is fascinating to me when performers are known for one thing and then they do something totally different very effectively.

Ricky Gervais is best known for his toxic persona and skewering everyone in the room as two-time host of the Golden Globes.  And now he has created a lovely series like Derek.  He is wonderfully affecting as a seemingly mentally challenged man who works as a caretaker in a nursing home.  This mockumentary style show has so much heart and compassion that all I could think was - how is this the same person?  Is his persona just a persona?  Or is this poignant stuff just a bunch of bunk?

Now, I’ve seen other comedians do drama very well – Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, Steve Martin, Will Farrell – but this is something different.  Derek is a different kind of comedy – or dramedy if you will – and there’s also an element of social commentary on Derek – about caring for the elderly and the bureaucracy of institutionalized care.  It took me completely by surprise and moved me to tears.  Derek is simply wonderful and everyone should watch it.    

Saying that, I definitely would not call myself a Ricky Gervais fan.  I hated what he did on the Golden Globes.  What’s the point of hiring a host to tear apart Hollywood at an event meant to honor Hollywood excellence?  And I can’t stand The Office – British or American.  However, The Invention of Lying (which Gervais also wrote) was ingenious and he was great in Ghost Town.  After two seasons of Derek, I am now definitely more inclined to seek out other projects Ricky is involved in from now on.

{An aside - It’s interesting that Netflix is getting so much acclaim for Orange is the New Black & House of Cards and no one is talking about Derek, also a Netflix original series}. 

One more thing about comedians crossing over.  I am intrigued by Steve Carell, who displayed some non funny chops last summer in The Way Way Back.  Since Cannes, there is Oscar buzz for his portrayal of a paranoid schizophrenic murderer in the film Foxcatcher.  I definitely would call myself a Steve Carell fan and I would love to be forced to call him “Academy Award winner Steve Carell” for the rest of my life. 

Image = Woody's Dark Side

I love Woody Allen. To me, he is an unparalleled genius. I’ve been a fan of his films for years and I have always felt connected to him. He & I share a birthday, he is a year younger than my mother and he grew up in Brooklyn like my parents. In the past few years I’ve studied Woody’s life & process. What fascinates me most is his work ethic. He has literally been employed continuously since he was 16 years old. No other filmmaker in history has made a film per year for over 40 years. I literally don’t know how he does it, especially at age 77 ½.

Yesterday, I witnessed firsthand how people still show up for Woody in New York City. His new film Blue Jasmine opened Friday and there were sold out shows and crowds outside of theaters on the East Side and as usual on the Upper West Side at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, where I go every year to see the new Woody. I spoke to one man who said simply, “It’s a New York thing.”  I think it is much more than that.

Woody Allen is considered a comedy legend by many but what few know is that he is actually much more interested in drama.  When Woody talks about his favorite films, he doesn’t mention Billy Wilder, but Ingmar Bergman and Akira Kurosawa. And he’s not very sentimental. He said he has never been able to get through Casablanca because it is boring. This is fascinating through the lens of image. For years, the public demanded him to be funny and criticized him when he first tried drama in Interiors. Years later, one of his most successful films (and his personal favorite) is MatchPoint which is in no way funny. In Blue Jasmine he masterfully blends comedy & drama, showing how they are not that far apart. The reviews are great and I hope that Cate Blanchett grabs a bunch of awards for her brilliance. 

I think sometimes about how long Woody will keep doing what he does every year. Woody’s parents lived until 96 and 100 so he’s got great genes. I voraciously look forward to another 20 years of Woody’s work – funny or not. For everything you always wanted to know about Woody, I highly recommend two books by his longtime biographer Eric Lax: Conversations with Woody Allen: His Films, the Movies & Moviemaking and Woody Allen: A Biography.               

Image = Brooks & Reiner, A Love Story

Recently I have seen Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner in interviews talking about how they spend every evening together and I think it’s very sweet.  Mel goes to Carl’s house around 8:00 and they eat dinner and watch Jeopardy and any movie where one character says, “Secure the perimeter!” and another says “You should get some rest…” 

Estelle & Carl Reiner

I saw these two comedy legends on Jerry Seinfeld’s great web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee and wondered where Carl’s wife was.  I knew that Anne Bancroft – one of my favorite actresses of all time - died way too soon in 2005 at age 73 but I didn’t remember that Estelle Reiner had also passed at age 94 in 2008.  Estelle was a jazz singer and not really an actress, but that didn’t stop her from delivering one of the most famous lines in film history, “I’ll have what she’s having” in When Harry Met Sally. The Reiners were married for 65 years, until her death. 

Mel Brooks & Anne Bancroft

Anne Bancroft & Mel Brooks were married for 40 years and I always got the impression that they had a lot of fun together.  On her IMDB page, Bancroft is quoted with saying this about Mel:  “When he comes home at night and I hear his key in the lock I say to myself, Oh good!  The party's about to begin.”  They didn’t work together often (only the remake of To Be or Not To Be I believe) but it was Anne’s idea to turn The Producers into a Broadway musical and what great idea that was.

People talk trash all the time about how Hollywood marriages never survive and I love when someone beats the odds in Hollywood.  Brooks & Reiner are two great examples of shattering that image.  They have both had exceptional careers and great loves as well.    

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Carl & Mel met in 1950, so they’ve been friends longer than most marriages and almost as long as Carl & Estelle’s.  My mother was diagnosed with dementia a few weeks ago and it’s made me wonder about the future.  We never know what’s going to happen.  Life is a mystery and so uncertain.  But no matter what – it’s nice to know you have a best friend to share your evenings with.