Brilliant. An instant classic. Boris Yellnikoff (Larry David) is what you would normally call a grumpy old man but what he himself calls a genius who sees the bigger picture. He is divorced, living alone wanting to be isolated from all the imbeciles in the world when the young woman Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood) shows up at his doorstep, begging him to let her stay for a few nights. She has run away  from her family in Mississippi to start a new life in New York. Despite Boris treating her like she is an idiot, and despite the age and IQ difference, Melodie falls in love with Boris and they end up getting married. Everything is going well until Melodie’s mother unexpectedly pays them a visit…

Woody Allen has done it again: a theatrical masterpiece that is so wonderfully amusing through its intelligent dialogue and Boris’ never-ending ranting about society and religion. Melodie brings an unexpected innocence into the equation which disrupts Boris’ life completely. It seems like Woody Allen has moved away from his European way of filmmaking right back into his New York comedies.

Whatever Works definitely deserves a MovieCat award!

After two fairly weak films (Scoop and Cassandra’s Dream) Woody Allen has done it again: Vicky Cristina Barcelona is an entertaining, amusing film with interesting characters and a sexy story.

Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) are two young Americans who want to spend the summer in Barcelona, staying with Vicky’s relatives. The two girls are very good friends although they have completely different personalities and opinions, especially when it comes to love. Vicky is engaged to be married to a man who, in her eyes, is nice enough to be a good husband, whereas Cristina is exploring different types of love and therefore getting hurt a lot.

In Barcelona the two of them meet the Spanish painter Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) who immediately invites them to join him on a weekend trip. Cristina persuades her friend to go on the trip. Both girls fall for him, which causes all sorts of trouble, especially when Juan Antonio’s crazy ex-wife (Penélope Cruz) enters the picture.

Scarlett Johansson is as irresistible as ever. Her character in this picture seems to be a mixture of her Charlotte in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation and Nola in Match Point. She has some creative passion but is still trying to find how to express it, and at the same time she is very sure of herself, easily seducing Juan Antonio (not that it takes much effort, since he says he would like to sleep with both girls the first time he talks to them…).

I have to admit that I wasn’t aware of Rebecca Hall’s existence and I am not going to be a big fan, but she was right for the part and did her job well. Javier Bardem is certainly less scary then he was in No Country for Old Men, but somehow comes across a bit unsympathetic in this film. I don’t think I would have followed him anywhere. Penélope Cruz really steals the show. She is wild like a crazy animal and stunningly beautiful at the same time. A great role with the perfect casting.

So I quite enjoyed watching Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The story is not as intriguing as Match Point but the three main girls are great characters and it is a lot of fun to watch a part of their lives. The movie could have gone on forever, telling what happens after it actually ends.

Woody Allen could have been a bit more adventurous. E.g., he has Scarlett Johansson and Penélope Cruz kissing, but only for an unnaturally short time. It feels like he wants to do something sexy but doesn’t have the guts to go through with it. Nevertheless it is a great film.

(picture: flickr/Wolf Gang)

This film is absolutely hilarious. A very young and potent Peter O’Toole is having trouble with the ladies. Every girl he meets wants him. Poor fellow. He goes to see Dr. Fritz Fassbender (Peter Sellers) to help him, for he believes himself to be in love with his neighbour Carole (Romy Schneider).

Carole wants the two of them to get married, but O’Toole’s character Michael James wants to have some more fun before he settles down. He goes out every night to meet women (such as Bond girl Ursula Andress and the gorgeous Capucine), which is making Carole rather angry. She turns to Michael’s friend Victor (Woody Allen) because she knows that he loves her.

What’s New Pussycat is crazy and confusing, but a lot of fun. The characters are wildly overdrawn (for example, Peter Sellers speaks with a sort of Austrian accent and is wearing what is obviously a wig) and the dialogues are mad (Michael: “Pussycat from the sky. I can’t resist you!” Girl: “Don’t resist. Capitulate!”). It is Woody Allen’s feature film début (writing and acting in it) – a really impressive start to his long career!

The film inspired me to draw this little cartoon.

Woody Allen’s new film. (His latest film, Vicky Christina Barcelona, was just shown at Cannes. It will take a while for it to come to the cinemas.) Cassandra’s Dream is the last film of a London trilogy. But I would place it right in the middle: not nearly as good as Match Point (which is fantastic), but definitely not as bad as Scoop (which is simply not good).

Two brothers, Ian and Terry (played by Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell), are having serious financial problems and turn to their rich uncle (the wonderful Tom Wilkinson) for support. He is more then willing to help the boys out: “Family is the most important thing in life,” he exclaims. There is just one small favour he needs in return. Uncle Howard wants the two to “get rid of” a business relation who is threatening to disclose facts that would mean ruination for him. How far would you go?

McGregor and Farrell really make the film. They are hysterically tragic. Two failures looking for a bit of happiness in this world. There is just no way not to love them.

(Photo: Ness/ London 2007)