It would be tempting, in the current media narrative of Woody Allen’s now-tarnished career in the United States, to view his first foreign-language film as a necessary retreat. After all, the story goes, the guy can only shoot overseas because no American actors will agree to work with him anymore. Allen’s cancellation is regional, not global. Maybe there is some truth to … [Read more...]
Allen’s memoir, like many of his films, is a cut-and-paste job
It seems unlikely that the employees of Hachette Book Group that walked out in protest of that company’s effort to publish Woody Allen’s new memoir, Apropos of Nothing, actually read the manuscript before taking umbrage that the firm would be associated with such an innocuous, albeit entertaining, tome. Cries of censorship could be heard beyond the insular publishing … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: July 29-31
Film: Any Woody Allen movie is a much anticipated event and Café Society – his 46th feature film – is no exception. Not a home run, but more of a solid double, it casts Jesse Eisenberg as the Allen surrogate schlemiel, who leaves the Bronx for 1930s Hollywood, takes a job in the office of his talent agent uncle (Steve Carell) and promptly falls for Carell’s secretary/mistress … [Read more...]