New York Stories

I haven't seen this film yet, but on paper it looks good. The film is three New York stories directed by Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. Sounds good, but so did Four Rooms and Body Bags.

Has anyone seen this flick? Is it any good?

And since I can't rent it at my local Blockbuster, is it worth a blind buy?

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This Movie?

Borrow it at your local Library

I'll be sure to rent.

It's probably not worth a buy. Not at full price anyway.

Scorsese's tale is first, "Life Lessons", starring Nick Nolte as a pompus but blocked successful SoHo painter and Rosanna Arquette as his assisstant and also the object of his affection/obsession. Through their conflict, he gains his inspiration. It's a good little piece, with great work by Nolte, and Steve Buscemi also in the cast. It is far and away the best thing about New York Stories. No question.

Coppola's tale is second, "Life with Zoe", and it is beyond awful. Sofia, still a teenager, co-scripted, and it's just shrill and annoying and pointless. A pest of a priveleged girl makes mischief in a high-class hotel. Ugh. Avoid at all costs.

Woody's finishes up the flick, "Odepus Wrecks". It's OK, kind of mid-level Allen, but thin material even at just 40-minutes. Woody stars as a nebbish wuss (what else?) who watches his mother disappear during an on-stage magic trick (similar device as Curse of the Jade Scorpion), and she doesn't reappear until her gigantic, disembodied and still nagging head floats above Manhattan. A one-joke premise, not fleshed out particularly well. But after Coppola's failure, it's a relief, mild as it is.


So if you're a mega-Scorsese fan, yeah, it's worth it for "Life Lessons" alone. If you're just curious, no, don't bother buying it.

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Thanks. I just read a review of it, the reviewer also says that Scorsese's is the best. I'll keep bugging Blockbuster about it until they get it in stock. I'll probably buy it if it's really cheap.

Yes, "Life Lessons" is really the only reason to rent or buy "New York Stories". I saw it years ago and have rented it two more times just to see Scorcese's contribution. I tried watching "Life Without Zoe" again, but just didn't get it. Supposedly, Sofia Coppola also designed/picked out the costumes....it seemed more like a little self-serving fashion show than a story. Don't get me wrong, though, I love Sofia Coppola! I just think she was too young at the time to know what she was doing in terms of being in the movie business.

Richard Price, the novelist/screenwriter who also did The Color of Money for Scorsese and Clockers for Spike Lee, did the short script for "Life Lessons" (and he has a small cameo toward the very end too). While what it says about the toll those around an artist have to pay for the art isn't exactly new, it's a well done character piece, mixing drama and comedy. And Nolte is just perfect as "The Lion" Lionel Dobie. It's a movie that makes you want to chuck it all, rent a loft in Manhattan and pour every bit of yourself onto gigantic canvas. Oh, and to fu*k Rosanna Arquette too.

I have to agree with Holden. New York Stories as a whole is a complete disapointment. Three directors of that caliber should have been able to create an incredible piece, or pieces. Scorsese's story was by far the best, but in this case that isn't saying much at all. If you must see it rent it, but please lower any expectations that you may already have.

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Wow-- forgot about this one--just saw this 2/3 gem again the other night on cable. This older review by HP sums it up absolutely perfectly.

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