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 = Superheroes Gone Ballistic & Blah

Superman - 1978

Am I getting old or have superhero movies become super dark & violent?  I remember seeing Superman when I was a kid and loving it.  The special effects of the time were exciting - we suspended our disbelief  and believed Christopher Reeve could fly, the dialogue was funny and I felt a sense of “everything’s gonna be okay (or even better)” at the end.  Superman was invincible and saved everyone in his path in an effort to protect truth, justice and the American way.  And, he would do no harm (except to Lex Luthor) in the process.  In the new Man of Steel, Superman hides his powers for most of his life and then fights General Zod to the death, causing a wake of unreal catastrophe and saving only Lois Lane.  Cue disappointing music. Wah, wah. wah.......   

The fight scenes in Man of Steel go on forever and the destruction that these two beings from Krypton do to everyone & everything in their path is preposterous and incredibly unnecessary.  First of all, they can both fly so why not fight in the sky?  Second, what was the point of all the fighting anyway since they are both indestructible?  I don’t even understand how Zod is finally defeated after he survived Superman dragging his head through countless office buildings and parking lots.  The amount of damage is unthinkable, including leveling Manhattan and blowing up numerous gas lines.  Didn't A LOT of people get hurt or killed while Kal-El and Zod were senselessly demolishing buildings and cars, etc?  What's the point of saving the human race if there's nowhere left for people to live or work?

Henry Cavill in Man of Steel

Man of Steel is dark, boring and outrageously violent.  It is more like a video game than a movie.  I realize that there have been major leaps and bounds in digital technology since the 1970’s but must we use every bit of it in every Hollywood film?  It’s called “live action” for a reason.  Let’s keep filmmaking an art, not a science.  The biggest problem of Man of Steel is what I heard two reviewers say – this film is “joyless.”  It’s much ado about nothing and then there’s no payoff.  

Most of this iteration is about Superman trying to come to terms with his specialness, which is mostly sad and at times heartbreaking.  This is a common theme among superheroes and although it's important to address it, I don't think anyone wants to see a 2 hour multi-million dollar movie about just that.  It's simply a bummer.  I think that in these uncertain times, we need a little magic.  I want to be inspired by superheroes, not worried about them.  

I've seen all the Chris Reeve Superman movies, the Michael Keaton Batmans and the Tobey Maguire Spider-Mans and enjoyed them all.  I saw Batman Begins with Christian Bale and enjoyed it but the much lauded The Dark Knight was way too dark for me.  Unfortunately, I think that Christopher Nolan (also a producer of Man of Steel) has started a "dark" phenomenon that is getting darker.  Despite popular opinion, I am a superhero movie fan and I feel sad that maybe I can't go to see them anymore.  I was pulling for Man of Steel to be good.  I went to see it with an open mind on opening day and truly wanted it to be good and even, since it's almost 2.5 hours - get better.  But it didn't.  I never cheered for our hero or wanted Kal-El and Lois Lane to live happily ever after because Henry Cavill didn't do anything make me and he and Amy Adams have zero chemistry.  The film has a great cast btw, with the exception of Amy Adams.  Lois Lane - I think not.  Honorable mention goes to Russell Crowe and Michael Shannon.  The script is far from great but these two actors are.      

The saddest moment for me was when walking out of the packed theater, I heard two eight year old kids yelling “best movie ever.” I am truly concerned about the next generation.
 

   

Image = Crowdfunding for Famous Actors?

Zach Braff has gotten a lot of publicity this week – both positive & negative.  He’s been criticized about his crowdfunding campaign but he’s also raised $2.5 million on Kickstarter for his new film Wish I Was Here.  Personally I am torn about Braff’s fundraising success.  In his Kickstarter video, Braff says he didn’t want private “money people” to have final cut or dictate casting choices.  This is a very good argument.  Woody Allen built an entire career based upon this after a horrible experience making What’s New Pussycat.  But there are a lot of indie filmmakers (Ed Burns, Noah Baumbach, Mark & Jay Duplass, etc.) who have commercial success and Hollywood connections (like Braff) and also make indie after indie without selling their souls.  But it also doesn’t say anywhere on Kickstarter’s website that one has to be starving artist to apply.   

It’s easy to criticize famous people – because they’re out there – visible.  I heard one criticism on TV (I think it was SNL?!) - “Hey Zach – here’s an idea - how about using some of that Scrubs money?”  But in his very funny, very persuasive video, Braff is very convincing about involving all backers in the process and also confirms that he is in fact contributing an “ass-ton” of his own money.  It’s an interesting process – based on how much you donate, there are benefits promised, from t-shirts to invitations to screenings.  And apparently backers receive a lot of updates during the process as well.  It sounds cool.  I’m actually thinking of kicking in (pun intended) $10 just to get emails from Zach Braff.  He’s a funny guy.                    

I think the idea of crowdfunding in general is creatively brilliant & just plain inspired.  People need money for something and they ask THE WORLD for help.  Love it.  Recently, actress Karen Black raised over $45,000 on Gofundme after she spent all of her money from making movies with Jack Nicholson trying to cure her cancer.  Essentially, the world can help save her life.  That’s damn cool.  Is making movies anywhere near as important as saving a life?  Maybe.  I personally can’t imagine my life if no one ever made another independent film. 

The world is changing very rapidly.  We live most of our lives online.  The economy sucks.  A lot of things are harder than they used to be.  Even Woody Allen left New York to make movies for a while because it was easier to get funding in Europe.  Zach Braff is very social media savvy.  Maybe this is the only way that he can conceive of doing this project.  Maybe he just doesn’t want to be alone.  Maybe Braff’s a trailblazer and this is the way of things to come.  All I can say is that Garden State is one of the most unique films I’ve ever seen and I’d like to see what else he has to offer. 

Let's continue a dialogue about this.  What do you think?

Image + Film + NYC = Tribeca Film Festival

Robert De Niro & Jane Rosenthal

I want to pay tribute to the Tribeca Film Festival  which has its first full day today in New York City.  TFF began in 2002, founded by Robert DeNiro and his long-time producer Jane Rosenthal as a creative response to 9/11.  The website says it is an international film festival that "supports emerging and established directors" and has brought about $750 million to NYC.  It's a comprehensive festival, premiering 85-90 diverse films (many made in NYC) and helping them get visibility and ultimately - distribution.  The festival only lasts for 12 days but Tribeca Film works year round. Time Warner Cable offers Tribeca films On Demand before and during a film's theatrical run. 

The only problem I have with TFF is that it's become elitist, just like a lot of things that take place on the island of Manhattan.  If you are in the film business or have a press credential, no problem but if you are not, good luck seeing anything.  Films are sold out before the festival begins and TFF says no film is ever "sold out" because they have what they call a Rush line.  However, for more popular films, the Rush line can be 2 city blocks long.  It's definitely a crap shoot but not hopeless.  I've waited on the line to no avail and then I've also done Rush to an extraordinary end.  Last year as I waited for the world premiere screening of Travis Fine's Any Day Now - a film I have facebooked and blogged about many times - someone came up to me and offered me two tickets free of charge.  I was alone and so I paid one ticket forward to a man who needed a single ticket and totally made his day.  I will never forget what it was like to see that film with an audience who were all as blown away as I was by it and by the transcendent performance Alan Cumming gives.  Daniel Day you were amazing, but Cumming gave the best performance of 2012 hands down and Any Day Now won Tribeca's Audience Award.           

I attended TFF in 2011 and 2012.  This year, I will miss it because I have to be in California.  However, they have a Tribeca Online Film Festival - so I can watch a few features and shorts and vote on them.  There are about 25 intriguing docs this year and here are the narrative features I'm most looking forward to:  Adult World, Almost Christmas, Before Midnight, A Case of You, Just a Sigh, The Pretty One and Run and Jump.  They are also screening The King of Comedy, starring none other than Robert De Niro for it's 30th anniversary, and And the Band Played On for its 20th.     

Nora Ephron

This year TFF is implementing a new award - The Nora Ephron Prize given to an outstanding female filmmaker.  Nora was definitely one of a kind - as writer, woman, filmmaker and inspiration.  She will always be special to me because she wrote When Harry Met Sally - one of the best scripts ever.  Nora is being honored in numerous ways in NYC right now - her son is making a doc about her for HBO, Tom Hanks is making his Broadway debut in her Lucky Guy and now this award in her name.  Good for you Tribeca, for honoring a hometown hero.  

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.    

Add caption

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. 

Image = Live From New York, It's... The Tonight Show?!

OK – I stayed quiet when ABC fired Regis Philbin because they no longer wanted to pay his salary and when they cancelled All My Children in favor of a cheaper-to-produce talk show but I can hold my tongue no more…  Jimmy Fallon taking over The Tonight Show…  WTF?! 

Don’t get me wrong - I think Jimmy Fallon is one of the most talented Saturday Night Live alums ever.  (Here’s his amazing SNL audition – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1aKiolG2CA).  Brilliant impressionist, musician, and just plain adorable.  The Barry Gibb Talk Show is on my list of the top five funniest sketches in SNL history.  I even enjoyed his films Taxi and Fever Pitch.  I enjoyed them so much that I’ve been wondering for five years why he’s been wasting his immense talent on a late night talk show (besides the consistent network money).  He could easily have a landmark comedy career like Robin Williams or Jim Carrey.  In my opinion, Fallon is too goofy as a host and has no real hosting talent.  Just laughs and gushes a lot.  He truly idolizes most of the people he’s interviewing, which is endearing, but not that interesting.  As I said already – he’s very cute and talented so Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is a hit.  But The Tonight Show is a whole other ballgame and I don’t think Late Night’s childish 12:35am antics will translate. 

From an image perspective, it seems all that matters on TV is youth and the bottom line, and this is sad.  What about tradition?  The Tonight Show has been an American institution since 1957.  There was Jack Paar, then the beloved Johnny Carson and because Jay Leno is popular with an older demographic as well as the middle of the country, he has succeeded in keeping it the number one late night show for 22 years.  So - why is NBC firing him?  They’ve done it before and it was a disaster.  Why do they think they can do it again?  And since The Tonight Show is number one, why do they want to get rid of Jay?  The only feasible answer is that they don’t want to pay him anymore.  And I think this is a travesty. 

Nothing about this story makes sense.  First, Fallon’s going to host The Tonight Show.  Second, they are moving the show to New York and last, Lorne Michaels is going to be Executive Producer.  The majority of Hollywood actors live in LA.  How will they get guests?  Fallon’s young – if he really wants the gig, he should move to LA.  Conan did.  And why does Lorne have to exec produce EVERY SNL alum TV project?  It’s been 38 years - give someone else a shot, Lorne!     

If NBC really wants to save money, why not just cancel The Tonight Show?  It’s had a great run of over 50 years.  Sometimes it’s about ending something gracefully instead of stripping it of everything that made it great in the first place, just to try to make a buck.

Maybe the American viewing audience will revolt like they did with the Conan debacle of 2009.  I’m taking the time & energy to write this and I don’t even like Jay Leno.  I can only imagine what people who watch him every night feel like.  The saving grace for me in all of this is that I am Team Letterman all the way and right now CBS is the number one network.

Image = A Season About Nothing

I have not been to the movies since December 26^th - which is very weird.  I am a firm believer in seeing films on the big screen and I normally go at least once a week.  Honestly though, I saw a TON of films in 2012 and since the big award contenders, nothing has come out that has compelled me to go.  Which brings me to the topic of this post – film seasons. 

Every season has an image.  Films are released strategically throughout the year according to budget, genre and award winning potential.  Traditionally, award competitors are released in the Fall - from October through December 31 - so these films will stay fresh in Academy voters’ minds.  Since the 70’s, Summer has meant light feel-good comedies and musicals like Grease and more recently, superhero franchises and other action blockbusters like Independence Day & Men in Black.  (I once heard Will Smith say he “owned” Fourth of July weekend)…  For these reasons, usually Summer is the season when I don’t go to the movies.

    

But alas - the times they are a changin’ – I don’t think Fall awards season is going anywhere but in the past couple of years, I have seen more & more films with substance released in the Summer.  Yes, I said the SUMMER!  In fact, The Beasts of the Southern Wild was released in June.  And I saw a lot of other great films last summer – like Ruby Sparks and Magic Mike. 

    

For some reason, the first quarter of this year feels like a vacant space.  This Winter has brought a few moronic comedies, some underpublicized action films and (Billy Wilder forbid) Valentine’s Day love stories (I’m talking about you Safe Haven!) but January through March has provided nothing for this film buff to spend $10-13 on with any enthusiasm.  So, what’s up?  Did the industry forget about the Winter?  Is this part of the strategy?  Is this just a lull post Sundance/pre Tribeca?  Or is the world truly coming to an end?  I don’t know but I do hope that as with last Summer, the seasons of film are shifting.  And I am craving a Spring that brings warmer weather and more excuses to sit in a dark theatre - where I belong.