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 Woody Allen's Café Society

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Donald McKinney
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Woody Allen's Café Society Empty
PostSubject: Woody Allen's Café Society   Woody Allen's Café Society EmptyThu Nov 03, 2016 9:47 pm

Woody Allen has directed 48 films since 1966, that's if you're counting What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966) and his segment Oedipus Wrecks for New York Stories (1989). Most directors wind down when they hit 60 and think about retiring. Not Woody Allen, this is a man who has given us slapstick comedies like Sleeper (1973) and Love and Death (1975), romantic comedies like Annie Hall (1977), Manhattan (1979) and Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), sobering dramas like Interiors (1978), Another Woman (1988) and Blue Jasmine (2013), black comedies like Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) and Deconstructing Harry (1997) and comical compendiums like Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* *But Were Afraid to Ask (1972) and To Rome With Love (2012). He's even experimented with a thriller like Match Point (2005), a mock documentary with Zelig (1983) and a full on musical with Everyone Says I Love You (1996). But, Woody Allen has usually returned to the subject of the 1920's and 1930's, and the Jazz Age. As seen in the aforementioned Zelig, and in Bullets Over Broadway (1994), Sweet and Lowdown (1999), Midnight in Paris (2011) and Magic in the Moonlight (2014), after all, Woody grew up in the late 30's, so there's a personal feeling about them. Café Society is a more wistful, nostalgic film, with more than a touch of The Great Gatsby about it, but it's better than Woody's last 2 films.

Set in the 1930's, Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg) travels to Los Angeles to work for his Uncle Phil (Steve Carell), a powerful and savvy agent working in Hollywood. Phil's sister Rose (Jeannie Berlin), convinces him to find work for her son Bobby. He arrives in Hollywood, and Phil finds him work in the mailroom, but sensing Bobby wants more, Phil has his secretary Vonnie (Kristen Stewart) show Phil around Hollywood. Bobby becomes smitten with Vonnie, but Vonnie tells Bobby that she's dating a reporter called Doug, but she's really dating Phil, who's already married. But, when Phil tells Vonnie he cannot divorce his wife, Vonnie and Bobby start a relationship, but Phil tries to win Vonnie back, and Vonnie has to make a choice. She choses Phil. Heartbroken, Bobby moves back to New York to run a nightclub with his brother Ben (Corey Stoll) who turns out to be a gangster, who buries his victims in concrete. Meanwhile, the nightclub proves to be a massive success, and Bobby meets Bobby meets divorcée Veronica Hayes (Blake Lively) at the club, and they soon marry and start a family. When Vonnie and Phil pass by the club on their way to Europe on holiday, now married, Bobby and Vonnie find out they still have feelings for each other. Meanwhile, Ben's past catches up with him, and he comes a cropper.

This is possibly one of the most visually stunning films that Woody has produced, and he doesn't usually like spending loads of money on his films, keeping things on a shoestring and relying on as few takes as possible. But, as it's a period piece, there's no way it could be done on the cheap. Here, he goes to Los Angeles, a place he's slagged off in his films, and in his films. So, he's out of his comfort zone, but he does well here. But, Café Society has a secret weapon in it's arsenal. The cinematography by the great Vittorio Storaro, best known for lensing films like The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970), Apocalypse Now (1979) and The Last Emperor (1987). The film has some vivid colours which leap out of the screen, the Los Angeles scenes are high contrast and sun snogged, while the scenes in New York have sharper, cooler colours, but they still look beautiful. Plus, it was shot digitally, and it looks crisp and vivid, and very striking to look at too. It's no surprise that Woody has got Storaro to shoot his next film, so it'll be exciting to see what Storaro does next. Cinematography aside, it's more or less what you've come to expect from Woody Allen, jazz music makes up the soundtrack, and it has some good dialogue with great performances throughout.

For the cast, Woody has got together both actors he's worked with before and also a few new faces too. Jesse Eisenberg worked with Woody on To Rome With Love (2012), and here, Eisenberg plays the Woody surrogate, but Eisenberg adds a sweetness to the part, while adding the neurotic edge you'd expect from a Woody type character. Woody possibly would have played this part had he made the film 45-50 years ago. But, a big surprise in the film is Kristen Stewart as  the smart, earthy Vonnie, who at the start of the film has no hairs and graces about her, and isn't seduced by Hollywood. However, when she gets with Phil, she becomes part of the Hollywood in-crowd, and it's a good character transformation, Stewart gives life to Woody's dialogue. Also in the mix is Steve Carell (who worked with Woody on Melinda and Melinda (2004)), who was a last minute addition to the film after Bruce Willis got sacked by Woody, and Carell seems like a better fit in the part, stuck in an affair, tortured but he never shows it in public. A confident man, but not with relationships. Also there's Corey Stoll as Ben, the gangster brother who also has a double life. Blake Lively makes for a glamourous new love for Bobby as Veronica, even if she is a tad underused. Oh, and there's Jeannie Berlin and Ken Stott as Bobby and Ben's parents, who make an amusing Jewish bickering married couple.

Woody Allen's Café Society Cafe20Society-47-1468373280

Woody Allen's Café Society Cafe_society-500x755

Café Society is late period Woody experimenting with different genres and mixing it up with different styles too. While something like Irrational Man (2015) felt a bit too safe and Woody had done it all before. There's something nostalgic, friendly and bittersweet about Café Society. It's not as good as recent efforts by Woody like Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Midnight in Paris (2011) and Blue Jasmine (2013), but it's beautiful to look at, and there's some lovely performances in the film. It's a lightweight film with some predictable moments in it, (Woody playing it safe), but it's still a nice film to watch. But, it's a film which harks back to the Golden Age of Hollywood, a Hollywood that doesn't exist anymore, and maybe never did. But, this is the Hollywood whose films a young Woody grew up with, and this is his love letter to those films and that era. The word to describe Café Society is elegant, and daring too, with it's visuals and scope. It's a pity Woody isn't more indulgent rather than relying on financial austerity to get by making films. The past year has been a very busy year for Woody, as well as making Café Society, he also made his 6 part series for Amazon Prime, Crisis in Six Scenes, which was really one of his silly films extended out. Oh, and Woody turned 80 last December. But, Café Society shows he still has it, and it'll be exciting to see what he does next.
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Gimli The Avenger
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PostSubject: Re: Woody Allen's Café Society   Woody Allen's Café Society EmptyFri Nov 04, 2016 11:09 am

I'm a bit behind on Woody Allen films. The most recent of his I've seen is You Will meet A Tall Dark Stranger.


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Donald McKinney
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PostSubject: Re: Woody Allen's Café Society   Woody Allen's Café Society EmptyFri Nov 04, 2016 4:37 pm

You haven't seen Blue Jasmine!? Shocked
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Gimli The Avenger
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PostSubject: Re: Woody Allen's Café Society   Woody Allen's Café Society EmptySat Nov 05, 2016 10:34 am

I know, right? You'd have thought I'd be right on that. I bought it back in March 2014. It's cirrently under my bed and still in the cellophane wrapper Embarassed
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Donald McKinney
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PostSubject: Re: Woody Allen's Café Society   Woody Allen's Café Society EmptySun Nov 06, 2016 4:50 pm

NO EXCUSES!! NOW!! Evil or Very Mad
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Gimli The Avenger
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Woody Allen's Café Society Empty
PostSubject: Re: Woody Allen's Café Society   Woody Allen's Café Society EmptyMon Nov 07, 2016 11:27 am

I'll try my best!
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» Woody Allen's Irrational Man
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