Husbands and Wives (1992)

Much of Allen's work on DVD is available in boxsets. This is a film that didn't make any of the boxsets, and so I left it unviewed for a long time. It's also the film that Allen and Mia Farrow were working on when they separated and Allen started dating his current wife. I was curious to finally track down a copy and watch it, not only because I wanted to see it, but because I was curious how Allen and Farrow would "act" while the drama of their personal life was also playing itself out in the background. To be honest, if anything "bled over" from their personal lives, I couldn't tell. They act just as much like they always do in previous movies.

Not every Woody Allen movie needs to be funny, but I did feel like this one lacked the humor of some of his better films. The thematic material is the standard choice: Is it better to suffer through a bad marriage, or is the grass greener on the other side? And the related idea: People are "happier" once they realize life requires us to lower our expectations.

The film technique in this one is handheld cameras and a "documentary" approach. It's noticeable and ultimately doesn't work. When the handheld is in a public space, that's fine. But when it's used at parties, in the bedroom, or other intimate, private locations, it's not plausible. Likewise, if we're to believe that a film crew is everywhere filming the lives of these individuals --as well as all the individuals they interact with -- why doesn't anyone "notice" or acknowledge the cameras? For that matter, why would the different main characters willingly sit down and discuss their private lives and share their most intimate thoughts? They would have nothing to gain and much to lose.

I guess a third technique used in the film is the "talk over" dialogue. I felt like this was also more noticeable than in other Allen films. I'm sure it was to add to the "authenticity" to the conversations, but I wasn't a fan.

One last thought on the plot: Gabe (Woody Allen) and his wife Judy (Mia Farrow) do end up divorcing. Gabe has the chance to date one of his students, 21-year-old Rain (Juliette Lewis). Gabe, however, knows better than to try to start a relationship with her. She's too young, and for that matter, she has a history of dating older men -- and those relationships never work out. Gabe admits to "daydreaming" about dating younger women, but it's not something he would ever pursue. The subject matter hits close to Allen's personal life, and it's interested that Allen elected to arguably make his character "wiser" and more prudent than he ended up being himself.

Rating: 3/5 stars

"Digging for the Truth" Experiment #4 -- The Federalist Radio Hour

I first heard of Sean Davis last week. He created an online magazine called The Federalist in 2011, and he currently has about 500,000 followers on X. It was about last week that he posted something amazing. He suggested if the Supreme Court doesn't rule the way they should, not only should Trump just ignore the ruling, if they keep obstructing the administration, he should just dissolve the Court altogether. And I thought, wow. This guy is saying outrageous stuff like that, and there's an audience for it. So, I decided I'd listen to an episode of The Federalist podcast: April 17, 2025 -- Deportation, Due Process, and Deference to the American People (40 minutes) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deportation-due-process-and-deference-to-the/id983782306?i=1000703904873 In the 40-minute conversation, the host and guest discussed why due process wasn't required for illegal immigrants. The case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was mentioned for a brief second, but...

In Utero

In 1994, I wore my In Utero shirt to college. I’d walk down the hall, and people would look at the shirt. I still remember a professor looking at it, not apparently hip to the scene. She asked, “Bret, is there something you’re trying to tell us?” I had no idea what I was trying to say. Kurt Cobain had just shot his head off with a shotgun. Before that life-changing event, I hadn’t been the biggest fan of Nirvana, but I did recognize the immediate impact “Smells Like Teen Spirit” had on music, or at least on MTV. Nirvana had seemingly killed and buried Hair Metal, and they had done it single-handedly. What exactly was this “Alternative” sound? It was weird, because soon it felt like everything was “alternative,” and that didn’t make any sense. Once everything is the same, how can it be anything but standard, normal? Nirvana was okay, but at least at the time I was wearing the merch, I was much more into Offspring and Green Day and Tool. And that’s about as far as I went into...

I Must Betray You -- Ruta Sepetys

I appreciate the pacing. The author's epilogue includes her mission statement -- historical fiction as a way to keep history alive. Romanis is an obscure place, but she hopes people reading the book will take an interest in its history. She also makes the point that there are no clean endings. So, the evil dictator and his wife were killed, but the problems they created didn't magically go away, the country still had to find its way and move forward, and it was a process.

The Writer's Poke

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