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Radio Days (1987)

Storytelling technique always stands out to me for some reason, and in Woody Allen films, especially, since he tends to change approaches from film to film.  In this one, the narrator is Joe (Woody Allen -- Seth Green as the child in the film). This is okay, except he ends up telling us things that he, as a child, wouldn't have any first-hand (and sometimes, probably not even second-hand) knowledge of. I know if you just accept the conceit of the storytelling device, it's not a big deal, but little stuff like that is hard for me to ignore. The fix? Make the narrator omniscient.  Other than the characters, the real star of the film is the music. Now, this is 1940s music, so big band stuff, mainly. It plays throughout the movie. It's the soundtrack of Joe's childhood. I know if the movie was set in the 1970s or 1980s, or even the 1990s, I would appreciate the music a lot more. As is, I hear it, but it doesn't register the same way for me as it does to Joe or someone w...
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Another Woman (1988)

I started re-watching this movie, and for some reason I had it in my mind that it was called "The Other Woman," which is what Marion (Gena Rowlands) was. But she has just turned 50, and maybe that's why this movie is called "Another Woman," because 50 has hit her as no other decade age -- 30, 40 -- has. Or maybe Hope (Mia Farrow) is another woman? Hope is the vague presence. She's mainly the woman Marion overhears through the wall when Hope is visiting her psychiatrist. Why does Marion listen in on Hope's sessions, specifically, and not anyone else's? Is Hope supposed to be a younger version of Marion? Does Marion take an interest in her because she's invested in her choices? I'm not really sure. I'm not sure how much different the movie would be if somehow Hope's entire character was cut from the final edit. I'm sure Hope is important and adds something to the film, but it's difficult to say exactly just what. One complaint I...
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Shadows and Fog (1991)

 Woody Allen's 21st film "There's nothing here." -- Roger Ebert An ensemble cast is pretty cool, as long as each member has time (and something) to contribute to the story. I'm not sure that's the case with this film, Often times, I simply found myself thinking, "Oh, there's Madonna," or "Oh, there's Kathy Bates," or "Hm, I wonder when Shawn Wallace will finally make an appearance?" (Gene Siskel apparently had the same reaction.) Woody Allen tries new stuff in every film, and so it's not surprising that some films will dud. This one is not necessarily a dud, but it definitely has received mixed reviews. Many suggest that the film lacks coherence and has a flop ending. I belong to that school of reviewers. Others are excited by the use of black and white, as well as Allen's paying homage, well, to whatever he's paying homage to.  Unfortunately, this is a film that never clicks for me. Kleinman (Allen) is involve...
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Alice (1990)

Maybe Mia Farrow works better in small doses for me. I just have a hard time seeing her as a lead in any movie, and she's definitely in this movie almost from beginning to end. That's somewhat annoying.  She's not a horrible actor, nor does she have a big hairy mole on her chin. And the reason I don't rate this movie higher has more to do with the writing, probably, than her as the lead. If Woody Allen wants to turn Alice (Farrow) invisible or to have her love potion accidentally get into the party drink, so that all of the men there fall madly in love with her, I'm okay with that. But this isn't "magical realism" to me. It's just hokey.  Alice is that unfulfilled women who wants something more out of life but can't quite put her finger on what she can to get it. She's rich and has kids. Her husband isn't mean to her, but he never takes her too seriously, and he has his own life -- and affairs. He's supportive to a point, and then h...
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The Hustle (2019)

My daughter loves this movie, and a few years ago on a Greenland cruise, we must have watched it a dozen times. In fact, this might very well be the movie that I've re-watched the most out of every other movie ever made. Weird thought.  Although I'm not going to try to convince you that it's a perfect 5-star movie, I will argue that it's really good for a comedy. Really good. The reason has a lot to do with the Anne Hathaway/Rebel Wilson pairing. They just play off of each other so well. They work together visually, too. Just something about them reminds me of Laurel and Hardy... well, maybe not, but still, I like this pairing. You would never expect Anne Hathaway to be funny, but she is perfect in this comedic role. Sometimes all she has to do is react to Wilson's over-the-top physical comedy. One facial expression from Hathaway says it all.  Josephine (Hathaway) and Penny (Wilson) are complete opposites. One is sophisticated, the other is raunchy. One is a master ...
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Boyz n the Hood (1991)

(Cuba Gooding, Jr.) has a father. Granted, Furious (Laurence Fishburne) was 17 when he had him, but Furious made up his mind to be a father his son could look up to. He's tried to teach him how to get ahead in life. How to stay out of trouble -- both on the streets and in the bedroom, and it's Tre who ends up successfully leaving the neighborhood. Both he and his girlfriend, we're told at the end, make it to HBCUs in Atlanta.  Ricky (Morris Chestnut) is not that lucky. He plays football and has been recruited to college, but he's not really equipped for the academic requirements. At 17, he's already a father, and he didn't have a father to help guide him.  It's funny that Ricky only needs a 700 on the SAT to qualify for his football scholarship. That's a score that anyone with a pulse could get, but he dies before learning if he met the score he needed. In fact, the letter came, but he keeps on walking to the store. He never bothered to open the envelope...
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Baby Boy (2001)

Am I watching something real? That was really my question as I watched this movie. What do I mean by that? Simply, are there real people like these characters? When I watch Boyz in the Hood, for example, I could think, yes, this is more or less real.  But is Baby Boy meant to be real, or is it meant to be simply, I don't know... some sort of fable, loosely speaking? In his review, Roger Ebert really liked the film, calling it "bold social criticism." I can see that. I can also say that I thought the acting was great -- from Tyrese Gibson to Omar Gooding to Ving Rhames to Snoop Dogg.  But then I find myself wondering about the practical stuff. I guess I shouldn't, but if the men don't have jobs and don't contribute to the bills, then how does Joseph's (Gibson) mom afford her house? We see that his baby mamas have jobs and some sort of family support system, but these neighborhoods are pretty nice looking. I just think about how expensive it is to live in Lo...
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Poetic Justice (1993)

Tupac. I've heard of him, as I'm sure everyone has, but I've never listened to his stuff, and I've never watched any film he's starred in. Turns out, he was a pretty good actor. Janet Jackson is an okay actor, too, but I can understand why she hasn't done a lot of film work.  It's neat to see Maya Angelou make an appearance as one of the Aunts at a random family reunion. And let's talk about this: The film somehow morphs into a road trip picture, with Lucky (and his partner) plus Justice (Jackson) and another woman driving from L.A. to Oakland. Keep in mind, they are in a post office truck -- a medium size one -- and I assume they are doing a mail delivery, which means they would be on the clock. Nevertheless, they end up stopping, as I mentioned, at a random family reunion, as well as some sort of African carnival in the middle of nowhere. They're seemingly somewhere in central or even west-central California before they end up taking the costal sce...
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Higher Learning (1995)

School Daze (1988) and Higher Learning (1995). Both are about life on an American college campus. Daze uses the HBCU setting, and Learning uses a traditional "state school" sort of campus.  The link between the two films is Laurence Fishburne. In Daze, he plays a student activist named Dap. This character wants the university to devest from South Africa. In Learning, he plays Professor Phipps, a seemingly humorless Political Science teacher who is eager to teach his students harsh life lessons.  Fishburne plays Phipps with an accent, but we never learn anything about this character. Where's he from? Where did he go to school? Why is he always on campus during crucial moments? The guy doesn't seem to have any sort of life or existence off campus. And although the two films are only seven years apart, Professor Phipps doesn't come across as especially young. (Fishburne would have be 34 during filming, which would be a little on the young side for a full professor. A...
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