Tag: woody allen

Written by malikaziz

‘Top Five’

  Chris Rock’s best film so far. The comparisons to Woody Allen’s most popular films are appropriate for the most part.  In this film, Chris plays an ‘alternate version of Chris Rock’: a hugely successful stand up comedian who’s successfully transitioned into mainstream Hollywood stardom.  But as ‘Top Five’ starts, ‘Andre Allen’ doesn’t want to […]

Written by malikaziz

Dialed In

  ‘Editing is that moment when you give up every hope you have of making a great piece of art and you have to settle with what you have.’ – Woody Allen To any of ‘the Commission’ reading this, don’t take that quote too literally.  ‘Holiday Project’ is in good shape. But personally I’m starting […]

Written by malikaziz

Deconstruction

  Taking a quick break from reviewing films because I have to talk about this. A few days ago, Ava DuVernay asked the question all film geeks have had to think about the past few weeks (paraphrasing): can we still love some of these artists if we believe they’ve committed these universally accepted wrongs? My […]

Written by malikaziz

‘Blue Jasmine’

  Let me start by telling you (if you didn’t already know) that whenever I see the title card that says ‘Written and Directed by Woody Allen,’ that’s an automatic plus one on the review. Blue Jasmine follows a middle aged woman (the always on point Cate Blanchett) who has to move in with her sister […]

Written by malikaziz

Song of the Day – ‘Lady In My Life’

  A few years later, the feature length script for Lady In My Life is done.  Have I written my ‘Annie Hall’?  Am I entering my ‘Woody in his prime’ stage of my acting/writing life?  We will see, we will see. My deadline for getting this done story written has been mostly self-imposed.  One thing I can […]

Written by malikaziz

First Oscar Impressions

Some quick thoughts on this morning’s nominations… Best Picture – 9 films, wow.  I called 6.  Extremely Loud and War Horse haven’t been on my ‘must see’ list, but now I feel obligated… Best Actor – Gary Oldman, it’s about damn time!!!!! (yes I’m biased, been a fan for decades before he played Commissioner Gordon). […]

Written by malikaziz

Midnight in Paris

  First off, hope everyone had a nice New Year.  Now let’s get back to business… As I watched Midnight in Paris, I appreciated the irony of this particular story.  A writer who spends quite a bit of time daydreaming about his idols finds a time warp that allows him to hang out with Hemingway, […]