Jul 25, 2014
Out of Frame: Magic in the Moonlight
The meaningless “Magic in the Moonlight” is quintessential Woody Allen distraction.
As a hybrid of his artsy dramas and comedies, Woody Allen’s latest film has been compared to Tennessee Williams and John Cassavettes, but it is neither as heated as the former or as real as the latter.
The brother of the actress and activist Mia Farrow was arrested Thursday morning by police in Anne Arundel County on charges of child sex abuse dating back more than a decade.
Jun 29, 2012
Out of Frame: To Rome With Love
The storyline with Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page and Alec Baldwin in Woody Allen’s latest would have made a featurette on par with his better stuff. It’s too bad the director surrounded it with fluff.
Feb 25, 2012
Afternoon Snack: Jelly Donut Edition
Tasty news bites featuring Woody Allen, The Simpsons vs. Downtown Abbey and a messin’ Texas.
May 27, 2011
Out of Frame: Midnight in Paris
Woody Allen often takes flack for being stuck in the past. That early 20th-century Windsor font he’s used for the opening titles of every film he’s made since 1980 (one per year, like clockwork, apart from a double helping in 1987), coupled with the ever-present classic jazz music not only immediately identifies the films as Allen’s, but hearken back to times long past, no matter when the movie itself is set. His latest, Midnight in Paris, is no different in that respect. But when those titles are over, the film finds Allen inventively criticizing the same brand of nostalgia of which he’s so often guilty.
Annie Hall: The Musical. Does the concept cause chills of horror to run down your spine? An odd thrill of excitement? An eye roll and a laugh? Complete and total apathy?
Oct 25, 2007
At Theatre J, a Speedier Plow
For all his success outside of it, David Mamet has done all right by Hollywood. More than all right, in fact: His screenplays for The Verdict and Wag the Dog were nominated for Oscars, and, like Woody Allen, he gets to direct his own scripts just the way he wants to because 1) he’s got such unassailable artistic cred that everybody wants to work with him, and 2) he never spends very much money….
Oct 11, 2007
Popcorn & Candy: Workers’ Playtime
DCist’s highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week. Repertory: D.C. Labor FilmFest Strictly speaking, the D.C. Labor FilmFest isn’t a repertory festival, but with over half of their programming falling into that category, plus a dedicated retrospective to the great Ken Loach, we’ll go ahead and shoehorn it into the category this week. The festival is put on by the Washington Metro Council of…
Apr 05, 2007
5 O’Clock Meeting: Alero on U
In the 2001 film Not Another Teen Movie, Chyler Leigh plays Janey Briggs, a misfit high school artist-girl who wears a ponytail, paint-stained overalls and horn-rimmed glasses. When the popular starting quarterback Jake Wyler bets that he can turn nerdy Janey into a prom queen, hilarity (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) ensues for the duration of the flick’s twisted Cinderella storyline. Near the end of the movie, Janey takes off her Woody Allen style spectacles,…