Again with the terrible people...

Is there some unwritten rule somewhere that says all good filmmakers must make X number of films about people with ill intent? Seriously. Robert Altman did it. Akira Kurosawa did it. Albert Hitchcock did it. The Coen Brothers are no different. All of the movies that we watched involved a certain amount of death and/or money. Now of course, 3 movies is hardly a fair representation of their entire filmography. However I do find it interesting that all they could think of to write about for the 3 that we watched was greed and murder. I wonder what would have to happen to them before making all of these films that inspires such pessimism. Maybe they had a good long talk with Robert Altman before making all 3 of these films, which in my opinion would cause anyone to instantly lose hope. But don't get me wrong, these are certainly good movies and are worthy of seeing a few times just to take in all of the details, however I think they could use a bit less death... ~PSH

Robert Altman

This man has one of the most cynical views of the human race as anyone I've ever known. Of the movies that we watched, all of them included something about greed, deception, and murder. Seriously. I don't understand where he gets all of these ideas from. Maybe it's just that every experience he had with other people was a bad one. That's the only reason I can think of as to why he would have such a negative viewpoint. As for something a little more reasonable, I can see where he gets his ideas about Hollywood for "The Player." If someone with such a cynical view on people already spends all of his time around the type of people that work in Hollywood then I can very easily see where he gets his inspiration for a movie about how horrible and corrupt the movie making industry is. Yeah. ~PSH

Akira Kurosawa

One thing that I noticed about Kurosawa's movies were his interesting use of sound. There were always plenty of scenes that included very long sequences that had little to no sound. I think this is effective in creating a bit of suspense. When you take out all sound in a scene, it forces the viewer to focus on the images in front of them. This also allows the director to be a bit more creative in what he does with the images. Perhaps he can add some sort of visual queue that turns the scene in to an unrestricted narration of whats going on. Basically the use of silence or limited "noise" allows the director to be more creative without bombarding the viewer with too much information. ~PSH

Purple Rose of Cairo

Here's my thought. What the %$^#? This is a movie about a movie character (not actor mind you) who magically walks off of the screen during a movie to run away with this girl so they can fall in love and kiss and then the screen will fade out just before they make love. Well sorry Mr. Allen but I ain't buyin' it this time. Your other movies were funny, and although this one had it's moments, I have to say I don't know why it got good reviews. Where was the wit? The kind of humor that you have to think about? All of the things that I had found to be defining parts of Woody Allen's films were absent. All of the jokes were very uh...well I guess the only word I can use to describe them would be "American." That is to say they were instantly satisfying, a lot of one liners with no intelligence behind them. That and both the leading characters were idiots. Sure we're made to feel sorry for Cecelia but she's just a dumb broad who will believe anything the movie tells her. Oh and I have a question: is there a movie in which Danny Aiello does NOT play an angry Italian guy who beats people up? Granted the only other movie I've seen him in was "Do The Right Thing" where he play an angry Italian guy. But really, if such a movie exists, please tell me. ~PSH

Hitchcock's Favorite Device...

The Macguffin. This is an item within the movie which drives curiosity and desire in order to progress the plot of the film. However, the actual identity of this item or person is unimportant to the viewer. For example, in "Vertigo" we have Carlotta Valdes. Her life and death are unimportant to the viewer, but the idea of her ghost haunting Madeleine Elster is the reason for Scottie's investigation, and the entire plot of the movie. ~PSH

A Nervous Romance

This is Woody Allen's take on a romantic comedy. I must say I thought it was very...er....I guess intuitive is the word I would use. It's the same story you've all heard. Two people who are basically polar opposites are attracted to each other. It's good for a while, then they break up. And a few years later they see each other again on good terms, even though both of them have different lovers. The thing that makes this movie interesting is Allen's breaking of the "fourth wall." The fourth wall, which is derived from theatre, is an imaginary wall through which the audience views the action happening in the play. To break the fourth wall is to acknowledge the audiences existence and often times to speak directly to them. There are several scenes in Annie Hall in which Allen uses this technique to describe his feelings about relationships. Here's a perfect example: This man is hilarious...this is what makes me like Woody Allen so much is his unconventional way of filmmaking. ~PSH

Mighty Aphrodite

Woody Allen is a funny man. Not sure I know of any other directors that could have made this movie work. It's about two people, Lenny and Amanda, who have adopted a son, Max, since they aren't willing to have their own children for some reason. The kid grows up and they discover that he is a genius. Lenny wants to meet Max's parents, and discovers that his real mother, Linda Ash, is a porn star and is the dumbest person he's ever met. The thing that sells this movie for me is the fact that Allen decided to add a Greek Chorus to it. It adds a whole other level of hilarity to the movie. The typical Greek chorus is just there to keep the audience from getting too confused, because in ancient Greek theatre there were usually 2-3 actors on stage playing several parts. In Allen's movie, the chorus adds to the humor by actually interacting with the characters of the movie. Roger Ebert says:

Although the Greek chorus might seem an unwieldy addition to a Woody Allen comedy about modern Manhattan neurotics, the addition actually functions nicely. Chorus members including F. Murray Abraham, Olympia Dukakis and David Ogden Stiers make dire observations about the decisions Lenny is making, and their ironic counterpoint helps Allen get away with some of the more obviously mechanical plot developments.

Even though it's a little unconventional, Allen's foray into Greek Tragedies was very successful, and makes for a very enjoyable movie. ~PSH