Radio Days

I saw Radio Days yesterday, and it totally made up for the disappointment that was Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Where VCB is predictable, cliché-ridden, and unsteady in its pace, Radio Days easily unfolds a wide gallery of characters and atmospheres, while presenting something that's not exactly a story, nor a memoir, and would be best described as a tableau vivant recreative of a very special time and place.
Allen's memories introduce us to the heyday of the radio in 1940s New York City. The film develops around two distinct poles: the inner world of the bussiness, with its various broadcasts, stars, and stars in the making, and Allen's regular, if eccentric, low-class family whose lives revolve around what they hear on their receiving set.
Aside from the characters and the great little stories it contains, RD also has a great script, full of funny situations delivered with Allen's distinctive punch lines. Being a comedy, it has very moving moments, even for those of us whose radio memories are linked to last.fm. In short, it's one of those brilliant Woody Allen films that I advise you not to miss!

As Good As It Got

Paul Newman died on Friday after a long fight against lung cancer. At 83, he was a living legend who had changed more lives than most of us ever will, as an actor, philantropist and family man.
I didn't know much about him until I read Vanity Fair's 2008 Style Issue, which features a piece on him by Patricia Bosworth. The article covers all of his life, from his beginnings at the Actor's Studio to the famous Newman's Own line of products, which he created on condition that all the profits go to charity. Bosworth unveils an unknown side of Newman's, as a fame-wary family man who founded a camp for children with life-threatening diseases that he visited personally once or twice a year. For space reasons I cannot post the entire article. However, I'm enclosing a description of Newman by himself:

"Paul Newman (known as ol’ PL to both friends and enemies): The “L” stands for “Leonard” or “Lunkhead.” He answers to both. He is probably best known for his spectacularly successful food conglomerate. In addition to giving the profits to charity, he also ran Frank Sinatra out of the spaghetti-sauce business. On the downside, the spaghetti sauce is outgrossing his films. He did graduate from Kenyon College magna cum lager and in the process begat a laundry business, which was the only student-run enterprise on Main Street. Yale University later awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters for unknown reasons. He has won four Sports Car Club of America National Championships and is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest driver (70) to win a professionally sanctioned race (24 Hours of Daytona, 1995). He is married to the best actress on the planet, was number 19 on Nixon’s enemies list, and purely by accident has fifty-one films and four Broadway plays to his credit. He is generally considered by professionals to be the worst fisherman on the East Coast."

You can read the whole article at
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/09/newman200809?currentPage=1

Click on the video for the poker game scene from The Sting (1973)

Woody Does Barcelona

I just went to see Woody Allen's latest film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and I don't really know if I like it. It's got an amazing cast and setting, and yet it fails to enthuse .
The thing is, I have mixed feelings towards Allen's filmography, probably because of its irregularity -some films are just great, while others are unbearable. And then there is a third cathegory, where I would place works such as Cassandra's Dream or VCB, that consists of Woody Allen films one doesn't know what to make of.
To me, the main problem would be that the storyline in VCB doesn't really make sense. The twists in the plot are often implausible, and the relationships between the characters are absurdly cliché-ridden: hot-blooded Spaniards, red-wine fueled bursts of passion, even attempted murder (obviously caused by jealousy). I expected Woody Allen to see through these lieus communs and into the real Spain, Catalunya and, ultimately, Barcelona, and I felt disappointed.
This said, the film does have its perks. The atmosphere there develops is, albeit unreal, irresistibly appealing: the funny lines, the painter's studio, Javier Bardem's boldfaced seduction of the girls... But the two things that make it wortht the price of the ticket are Barcelona and Penélope Cruz. The city is portrayed beautifully, and it makes for a very charming setting. And Penélope's character, the violent Maria Elena, totally steals the show with her authenticity and irrationality, as well as with her bitchy comments in Spanish, mostly for the benefit of Bardem.
To sum it up, this is not the best film you'll ever see, nor the best film Woody Allen has ever made. However, if you feel like taking in a light comedy with a bonus trip around Barcelona, then don't hesitate to see it.