Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)

1/04/2015

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) - Allen's hypnotic, noirish shenanigans

♥♥♥♥

The retro-cool poster for Woody Allen's The Curse of the Jade Scorpion

QUICK REVIEW:

Insurance detective C. W. Briggs feels terrorized by his office's efficiency expert, who also happens to be the director's mistress. Their hate-love-relationship develops, when a hypnotist uses them both to conduct his crimes.

Scorpion has attractive photography by Chinese cinematographer Fei Zhao (Sweet and Lowdown (1999)) and lots of witty dialog from master writer-director Woody Allen (Broadway Danny Rose (1984)), although they aren't from his top shelf; yet they still thoroughly amuse.
They figure in a seductive, original crime plot, which recalls noir classics such as Howard Hawks' The Big Sleep (1946). - In particular Charlize Theron's (In the Valley of Elah (2007)) femme fatale character is reminiscent of Lauren Bacall in that masterful film.
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion was not a happy movie to make, because the period sets were so expensive that there was hardly any time for re-shooting, and because Allen found that he shouldn't have taken the lead part himself. Perhaps the resulting stress is why he doesn't even seem to have changed into period glasses for the film. He has self-consciously remarked that it is perhaps his worst film, (which it isn't by a long-shot. In my opinion that would be To Rome With Love (2012)).

Related reviews:

The Big Sleep (1946) - The sexiest noir carousel you will ever ride
Woody Allen: 2014 in films - according to Film Excess
Magic in the Moonlight (2014) - Allen's irresistible French Riviera romance
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Fading Gigolo (2013) - Turturro's pleasant turn as a high-end NY prostitute (as actor)
Blue Jasmine (2013) - Allen presenets Blanchett, a woman under the influence
To Rome with Love (2012) - Woody Allen's slightest film to date
Cassandra's Dream (2007) - Allen's well-laid but inconsequentiel English cul-de-sac
Anything Else (2003) - Perfect contemporary relationship comedy
Celebrity (1998) or, Beautiful Celebrities Talk About Sex (guest review)
Broadyway Danny Rose (1984) or, Keep Your Heart
Annie Hall (1977) or, My Relationship with Alvie Singer
Bananas (1971) - Woody Allen's South American misadventure is still a barrel of laughs
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (as actor)

Woody Allen, David Ogden Stiers and Helen Hunt in Allen's The Curse of the Jade Scorpion

Watch the trailer for the movie here

Cost: 33 mil. $
Box office: 18.9 mil. $
= Big flop
[The film disappointed in the US with a scant 7.4 mil. $ gross. Though Rotten Tomatoes measures a measly 5.2 critical average for the film, general audiences (and Film Excess) are more enthusiastic; it has 6.8 at IMDb. Roger Ebert reevaluated the film and said, "No noir films were shot in color in the 1940s, but if one had been, it would have looked like this."]

What do you think of The Curse of the Jade Scorpion?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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1/04/2015

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) - Allen's hypnotic, noirish shenanigans

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