Cafe Society (2016)

Café Society is a return to form for Woody Allen after some not-so-great movies in the last few years. It was actually quite reminiscent of some of his earlier work, relying on the same themes and characterizations and brilliant use of his beloved jazz that brought him fame. I could not help but see a little of Woody Allen in Jesse Eisenberg as Bobby. Eisenberg really embodies the neurotic, quirky, fast-talking, exasperated, sarcastic characters that Allen used to write for himself. This was especially apparent in the scene with Parker Posey in which he has an awkward encounter with a hooker. He says everything he's thinking as it comes to him in his high-level lightning-fast thought process. Allen holds nothing back in his dialogue.

All the acting was actually quite memorable for the right reasons, including all of Bobby's very-Jewish family back in the Bronx and a surprisingly adept Steve Carrell playing far away from his iconic character on the office. But of course, Allen is known for his female characters and Kristen Stewart is just superb. In her very first scene, she has just a couple lines of dialogue, but she has this afternoon glow (and smile to match) about her that radiates and holds your attention. And this lighting effect recurs several times for Stewart's character. There are some really great shots in Central Park that are made whole with this effect. She shows so much depth in her facial expressions and delivery that it makes me wonder if I have overlooked her work in the past (though on second thought I don't think there is any redemption for Twilight). She nails both the plain but charming secretary and the elegant society woman.

As for the story, it has been incorrectly marketed as a story about old Hollywood, but I think a majority of the film actually took place in Allen's beloved New York (it is even sort of anti-Hollywood). He doesn't use the words "café society" until Bobby returns to the east coast. In fact, for the first half of the film it seemed as though Bobby would stay in the middle class and not rise to the upper intellectual class that Allen typically writes about.  I think it is Allen narrating the film as well, though I wasn't entirely sure. Much of the plot is actually told to the audience through the narration instead of shown, which is a stylistic choice that works in well-written comedy. Like a classic Woody Allen plot, there is an impossible love triangle. It is delightful and fun. Have we seen it before? Yes, but it is good to see the master of romantic comedy returning to what he does so well.

Now, we're rubbing shoulders with this high society. We walked down the red carpet that the cast did and into the palace at the 11pm screening at Cannes. That was an experience in itself.

Magic in the Moonlight (2014)

It is not Woody Allen's finest movie.  The premise is not entirely enticing.  Colin Firth plays a magician who is attempting to defraud Emma Stone as a mystic.  The story is kind of silly and I had a tough time investing in any of the main characters, though Hamish Linklater's rich yet lovelorn singer is kind of funny.  All the action, or lack of action, takes place in the majestic French Riviera as Allen continues to make non-New York films in his later years.  He also continues to make romantic comedies featuring upper class older men and younger women, perhaps a bit of art imitating life.  Colin Firth is a good actor, and he carries the movie.  Emma Stone retains her quirkiness in this role and her wide eyes are fitting for a psychic.  She will get another go at a Woody Allen film later this year. Hopefully she will have some better writing to work with.       

Manhattan (1979)

This Woody Allen classic is a love letter to the great city of New York that so many of his films take place in.  But Manhattan is not just the setting, it is a character in and of itself.  It is a character that Isaac (Allen) "adores" in his quotable opening monologue.    Allen's musings on life and art are narrated over awe-inspiring black-and-white shots of New York and Gershwin's incomparable Rhapsody in Blue.  The shots are timed perfectly with the music, culminating in fireworks exploding on the beat.

The black-and-white photography gives a vintage look to some of the dark scenes, such as the iconic scene by the Queensboro bridge in which the audience sees only in shadows against the night.  The scene in the planetarium is so dark that the viewer can just barely make out the outlines of the characters in a beautifully romantic scene.

Allen delightfully depicts intellectual, upper-class life, epitomized by Diane Keaton's character (a different kind of character than Annie Hall).  But the best performance comes from young Mariel Hemingway, who has the most complex role.  She plays a character more mature beyond her years and it is her performance that keeps the plot grounded