I pretty much like 'em all. So my opinion is worthless on all matters Woody. But this article has got me excited. Of course Melinda & Melinda came out at Cannes last year and it did not hit theatres til March '05.


A. O. SCOTT | 05.12 10:36 AM
Is Woody Allen Back?

My head is still spinning. A truly shocking thing happened this morning. I saw a really good Woody Allen movie. Really. But wasn't there just a new Woody Allen movie, like a month ago, you ask. Well yes, and now there's another one. But this one (called "Match Point") is different. It's longer than most of his recent ones have been (more than two hours), with a scratchy old opera record playing over the opening titles instead of a scratchy old jazz record, and it was shot (beautifully, as usual) in London, with a mostly English cast (except for Scarlett Johansson, who plays an expatriate struggling actress from Colorado).

It's also serious, in the manner of "Crimes and Misdemeanors," and marvelously witty. When he's not trying to force out comic dialogue (the one-liners haven't been sharp for at least a decade), the man can really write. Not only at the level of what the people on screen say. This is one of the most crisply and ingeniously plotted American movies I've seen in some time. If there's one thing critics hate, it's a surprise twist, but Mr. Allen planted one near the end of this picture and the audience at the early morning press screening clapped and cheered.

Some of them will find things to complain about later on (and may be trashing it in the cafes as I write this), but I was happy. And while a ghost does appear briefly in "Match Point," the ghost doesn't have sex with anyone, as in "Lemming" and "The Bow." So things are looking up.

i remember seeing "Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Sex..." on late night TV when I was a kid and being aroused.

i remember hearing NY papers say that about every Woody Allen movie ever.

I lost touch with Woody after Celebrity. How was the one with Jason Biggs?

Yeah, Woody said he really liked filming over there and I think his next picture will be set there too.

No, the NY media has turned on Woody over the last few years too.

The only reason Europeans like him is that he does interviews over there and talks about how stupid Americans are for not "getting" his films.

Steve

i want to someday own the woody allen filmography - all of it - on dvd.

I liked that Jade Dragon movie, or whatever it was called about the jewels.

I wanna see the one with Will Ferrell.

Okay, you just got my whole office to wonder what in the hell I'm laughing about.