Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

Laura is fantastic. I love that film, though I've only seen it two or three times.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

Great topic for a thread, Citizen! Many of the movies you've reviewed, I've seen, others you've touched on I've wanted to see for a long time. So keep up the good work.

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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

HoneyKid, I had only seen Laura once a couple years ago and yet I still forgot the 'who done it' part....Good thing I watched it again.

Hey Dadgumblah, thanks. As sort of a new years resolution, I'm 'trying' to review every film I watch...So far so good. I have a Woody Allen film to review shortly.

Blue Jasmine (2013)

Director: Woody Allen
Writer: Woody Allen
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Sally Hawkins, Peter Sarsgaard
Genre: Drama
Length: 98 minutes

Woody Allen manages to do it again...he writes himself into the movie. This time as a nervous-neurotic, pill popping woman, Jasmine. Her character like many characters written by Woody, is a bundle of live nerves, rambling million words a minute while lamenting everything in life.

Premise: Jasmine (Cate Blancett) is an ultra rich snobby woman who's married to a weaselly financial investor/swindler, aptly played by Alex Balwin. They loose their fortune, so Jasmine leaves the glamorous life behind to live with her working class sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins) in San Francisco.

Actors: Cate Blancett is a well respected actress and she was admirable in the film. However her reserved nature is not so suited to playing a rambling neurotic woman.

Sally Hawkins is always great in her roles, she really adds much needed life to what feels like a very shallow film with people we don't really care about. Her scenes were the best part of the film. Andrew Dice Clay, yah that one, is pretty darn good as an opinionated working class stiff.

Cinematography: The camera work is fine but the film has this horrendous yellow tint. This is the same over-saturated yellow cast that Woody used in Magic In The Moonlight. It's very distracting, as is the flash back scene edits. They're abrupt and seem to happen at the wrong time in the film.

Conclusion: I didn't buy into the film or care about the characters, especially the relationship scenes. I wonder if Woody Allen knows much about women as the males who hit on the ladies in the film seem totally artificially....If you like Woody Allen type films, you should like Blue Jasmine at least the actors were good.

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Bummer you didn't care for it Citizen. Cool your checking out some more Allen though.

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I kinda felt bad panning it, seeing how you recommended it. But as a would-be reviewer I have to call em, like I see em.

I'm going to watch the other two Allen films, that were recommended. Blue Jasmine was better than the last Woody Allen film I seen.

How long ago did you watch it? Did you notice the yellow cast? It looks like a post processing technique to give the film a warm sun lite look, but it was really over done. In some scenes Cate's hair was canary yellow.

My personal feeling is, writing is not Woody Allens strong point. Maybe he's good at comedy, but these characters where not brought to life. He might understand himself but the characters in the last two movies had no depth to them.

Maybe it's just not my type of movie?

Citizen I'm still waiting for your review for Midnight In Paris. I really think you will like that one, probably my favourite Allen film, I have seen it maybe 5-6 times at this point, and just thinking about it makes me want to watch it again. Its probably his most imaginative and fun work, none of that depressing stuff here.

Simseboy, I do have Midnight In Paris and I should be watching & reviewing it very soon.So far I haven't liked the last 2 Woody Allen films I've seen....So sell me on Midnight In Paris! if you tell me what makes the film special to you, then I might see something I otherwise would miss.

The IMDB description should sell you enough:
"While on a trip to Paris with his fiancée's family, a nostalgic screenwriter finds himself mysteriously going back to the 1920s every day at midnight.".

I'm a big fan of the film, because it shows such an artistic and beautiful time period. Also its just so much fun to watch these characters, and I personally identify a lot with the main character, since I myself wish I could go back in time and meet my artistic idols. I mean COME ON, watching Hemingway talk about life and making love, or watching Salvador Dali talk about rhinoceroses, or Picasso painting his lovers. How can you be human and not love that?

Well, just watch the film. If you hate it, then in my opinion I think its fair if you dont wanna watch more Woody Allen.

Thanks, I will watch it with an open mind. Though I couldn't help notice the over-saturated yellow cast in the pic you posted (but that alone is not a deal breaker). The premise sounds like something I would like, plus I like period pieces, so who knows?

Yeah well, I think the gif might have done that with the colours.

Not a huge Woody Allen fan, but Blue Jasmine is my favorite so far. I've seen 8.

I saw it when it was released. I never noticed the yellow watching it. You posting that pic made me think I need to see it again because it feels like something I would notice. Maybe he is just not for you. I think writing is Allen's strongest point. I love his characters. I Have only seen a couple of his slapstick oriented movies and I don't like those at all. I think he is very funny when writing characters, not jokes, if that makes sense. I don't know what else to add. When I read your reviews it is like we are watching two different film makers. So maybe this will just be one of those areas where our paths never diverge. I will be interested to see how you feel about Midnight. I loved it but it is not my favorite. If you like it I have one other reco for you. I will hold it back until I see how you feel though.

It's funny, because now I'm watching more Woody Allen films just to find out if I like him or not. I feel I should see a smattering of his work before he joins my least favorite directors club. Another review coming up very shortly....

I'm not a big Woody Allen fan, but I recently saw a couple of his movies that I liked.

I saw Bullets Over Broadway for one of the movie tournaments here, and I liked it a lot. I thought maybe the reason I liked it more than some of his other movies was because he wasn't in it, so I tested that theory by watching Annie Hall.

I didn't love Annie Hall as much as most people do, but I thought it was a good movie, and I actually regretted waiting so long to see it.

I think I saw Midnight In Paris when it came out on DVD, and as I recall, it was a pretty good movie. I don't remember a lot about the movie, but I vaguely recall thinking that it was the first Woody Allen movie that I really enjoyed since Sleeper.

Out of the Past (1947)

Director: Jacques Tourneur
Writer: Daniel Mainwaring (screen play)
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas,Rhonda Fleming Genre/Style: Film Noir

Premise (spoiler free): Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum) has a mysterious past that he would like to keep secret from his girlfriend and from the folks of the small town where he runs his gas station. Then 'out of the past' comes a former associate of Mitchums.

Review: Out of the Past is the quintessential film noir. It oozes noir style with it's voice over first person narrative and it's catchy fast paced lingo. Robert Mitchum is cool as ice and so is the femme fatale on the lam (Jane Greer). Jane has a face of an angel but behind those doe eyes lurks a steely mind.

Kirk Douglas is on the money, as a man wronged and looking for revenge. His part is a small one but his time on screen is memorable. Out of the Past is full of twist and turns, frame ups and shakedowns. The fun of the movie is trying to following along as Mitchum, Greer and Kirk Douglas through curve balls at each other trying to gain the upper hand.

The film is intelligently written by Daniel Mainwaring and is based on his novel Build My Gallows High. The story is convoluted with more twist than a one lane country road. Be sharp, if you blink you might miss something.

See, I actually think he's funny on screen, or at least in his earlier movies he was. I'm watching Midnight In Paris tonight so keep your fingers crossed

I'll add Annie Hall and Bullets Over Broadway to my watch list, I've seen neither.

Oooh, you haven't seen Annie Hall, why did I think that was the one that started all this. Which movie got you going on your Allen journey?

It was a couple of pages ago that I reviewed it, Magic in the Moonlight (2014). Really didn't like that one. The last one was much better. Maybe I'm on an upward tread.

That's right, now I remember. You need to see Annie Hall and Manhattan.