Interiors (1978) - Allen's first serious film is enjoyable, smart; perhaps too much so

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A sparse, minimalist and entirely textual poster for Woody Allen's Interiors

A New York family with a mentally unstable mother and three adult daughters. The matriarch's husband, the father, requests a temporary separation, which eats through the mother. Meanwhile the daughters deal with each their own issues.

 

Interiors is written and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker Woody Allen (What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)), whose 8th feature it is.  

Good performances outline this dark film, - both thematically and literally speaking, although the central theme is elusive. Allen's writing is, as usual, solid, smart and adroitly carried out; the color choices and production design speaks volumes as to the family's problems.

This feels like Allen 'doing Bergman', (Swedish master filmmaker Ingmar Bergman that is), one feels, and being extraordinarily serious. It is well done, but it doesn't leap from the screen, so to speak, but rather may feel a bit sterile. Interiors is good nevertheless.

 

Related posts:
 
Woody Allen: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess

Café Society (2016) - The greatest living American filmmaker hands us another splendid gem

Irrational Man (2015) - Allen's pleasant morality tale divertisement

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 III]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Blue Jasmine (2013) - Allen presenets Blanchett, a woman under the influence

Fading Gigolo (2013) - Turturro's pleasant turn as a high-end NY prostitute  (as actor)

To Rome with Love (2012) - Woody Allen's slightest film to date  

2011 in films - according to Film Excess

Midnight in Paris (2011) - Allen's zany (and a little depressing) crowd-pleaser  

Cassandra's Dream (2007) - Allen's well-laid but inconsequentiel English cul-de-sac  

Match Point (2005) - Allen takes London with pensive thriller hit 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Anything Else (2003) - Perfect contemporary relationship comedy 

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) - Allen's hypnotic, noirish shenanigans 
Celebrity (1998) or, Stars in New York

Mighty Aphrodite (1995) - Sorvino soars in funny Allen dramedy (writer/director/co-star) 
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) - Sin and guilt up for laughs and rumination in unspectacular Allen work 

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) or, Manhattan Struggles and Wonders 
Broadyway Danny Rose (1984) or, Keep Your Heart   

Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Annie Hall (1977) or, My Relationship with Alvie Singer   

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972) - Allen's curious sex comedy is a riot
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)

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 3.1 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 10.4 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Uncertain but likely a big hit (projected return of 4.64 times its cost)

[Interiors premiered 2 August (New York) and runs 92 minutes. Shooting took place from October 1977 - January 1978 in New York. The film grossed 10.4 mil. $ in North America, and gross numbers from its foreign markets are regrettably not reported. It sold 41,636 tickets in the small market Denmark, coming to approximately 133k $. A conservatively projected foreign gross of 4 mil. $ would result in a 14.4 mil. $ world gross, which would rank the film a big hit. It was nominated for 5 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Actress (Geraldine Page (Loving (1983, TV-series))) to Jane Fonda in Coming Home; Supporting Actress (Maureen Stapleton (Passed Away (1992))) to Maggie Smith in California Suite; Art Direction - Set Decoration to Heaven Can Wait; Director to Michael Cimino for The Deer Hunter and Original Screenplay to Nancy Dowd, Waldo Salt and Robert C. Jones for Coming Home. It won 1/2 BAFTA awards, was nominated for 4 Golden Globes and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Allen returned with Manhattan (1979). Page returned in Harry's War (1981); Stapleton in The Runner Stumbles (1979). Interiors is fresh at 78 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Interiors? 

Something's Gotta Give (2003) - Meyers, Jack & Diane are a killer combo

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+ Best Screen Couple of the Year: Jack Nicholson & Diane Keaton

Few stars are established enough that marketing their major film relies solely on their first names, but in the case of Nancy Meyers' Something's Gotta Give, the confidence is understandable

A middle-aged playwright gets an unexpected visit in her house in the Hamptons by her daughter and her much older boyfriend. SPOILER He has several heart attacks; she falls in love easily; he does not...

Something's Gotta Give is written and directed by great Pennsylvanian filmmaker Nancy Meyers (The Parent Trap (1998)).
It is a wonderful film of a rare breed that I don't mind admitting being a sucker for. It features grand acting from Diane Keaton (The Godfather: Part II (1974)), Jack Nicholson (The Rebel Rousers (1970)), Frances McDormand (Bleeding Hearts (1994)), Amanda Peet (Identity Thief (2013)) and Keanu Reeves (Ellie Parker (2005)). It is completely sweet and smartly written and directed. Meyers' grip on the romcom genre is eminent. My only (small) qualm is that the third act is a little long.

Related post:

Nancy Meyers: It's Complicated (2009) - Meyers' delightful romcom star vehicle

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 80 mil. $
Box office: 266.7 mil. $
=  Box office success (returned 3.33 times its cost)
[Something's Gotta Give was released 12 December (USA) and runs 128 minutes. Nicholson and Keaton had previously starred together in Reds (1981). Shooting took place in Paris, France and in California, including Los Angeles, and in New York from February - July 2003. The film opened #1 to a 16 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for another 4 weeks (#3-#4-#3-#5) and grossed 124.7 mil. $ (46.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 22.2 mil. $ (8.3 %) and the UK with 12.6 mil. $ (4.7 %). The film was nominated for 1 Oscar: Best Actress (Keaton), lost to Charlize Theron for Monster. The film won 1/2 Golden Globe nominations, a National Board of Review award and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3½/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Meyers returned with The Holiday (2006). Nicholson returned in The Departed (2006); Keaton in The Family Stone (2005). Something's Gotta Give is fresh at 72 % with a 6.6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Something's Gotta Give?

Morning Glory (2010) - McAdams, morning TV and great co-stars spell good fun

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1 Film Excess nomination:

Best Supporting Actor: Harrison Ford (lost to John C. Reilly for The Extra Man)

A classy, upbeat poster for Roger Michell's Morning Glory that pushes its lovely stars

A young female workaholic loses her job in Jersey but then gains a new one as executive producer on New York's worst morning TV show. She now has to secure better ratings as well as her own romantic life. - Pheew...!

Morning Glory is a lot less of a romcom than I had expected; instead it is more a story about a young woman on the job market. The romance with Patrick Wilson (The A-Team (2010)) is tame: SPOILER Whether or not he is actually a womanizer gets dropped on the floor, and his being alternately for and against her work madness is also inopportune.
But Rachel McAdams (Southpaw (2015)) is sweet and credible in the lead, and Diane Keaton (Something's Gotta Give (2003)) shimmers. The film also have talents like Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson and Morley Safer in amusing cameos. But it is Harrison Ford (The Mosquito Coast (1988)) who is the movie's crowning jewel, splendid as a pompous and quite isolated character.
Morning Glory is written by Aline Brosh McKenna (We Bought a Zoo (2011)) and directed by great South-African filmmaker Roger Michell (Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)). It's a funny comedy.

Related posts:
  
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch an official trailer for the film here

Cost: 40 mil. $
Box office: 60 mil. $
= Big flop
[Morning Glory was released November 10 and runs 107 minutes. It was partially inspired by Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys. It is the first film with Keaton and Ford and the second with McAdams and Keaton, following The Family Stone (2005). Michell had to convince McAdams to star in the film, because she didn't think of herself as funny. Filming took place in New York and New Jersey from May - August 2009. The film opened #5 to a 9.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, (behind Megamind, Unstoppable, Due Date and Skyline), where it grossed 31 mil. $ (51.7 % of the total gross). It fell out of the top 5 (to #6) in its second week. The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 5.8 mil. $ (9.7 %) and Russia with 3.1 mil. $ (5.2 %). Morning Glory is rotten at 56 % with a 6 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Morning Glory?

Annie Hall (1977) or, My Time with Alvie Singer

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The iconic, hip B/W poster for Woody Allen's Annie Hall

We go through the ups and downs of New-Yorker Annie Hall's relationship with the city-born neurotic, Alvy Singer, who suspects everyone of anti-Semitism, gets physically sick from being in Los Angeles and shows great progress on the couch at his shrink's for 16 years. 

Both the Hall and Singer figures seem like caricatures of their actors Diane Keaton (Reds (1981)) and Woody Allen (Small Time Crooks (2000)) themselves. Keaton's role was in fact written for her specifically, and the relationship os at least partly inspired by Keaton and Allen's own real-life relationship prior to the production. New-Yorker master filmmaker Allen directed and co-wrote the film with Marshall Brickman (Manhattan (1979))
Annie Hall is definitely one of Allen's greatest, although I think it has plenty of company in his lustrous oeuvre; there are many great films, and some just as good, and a few even better, I think: The preceding Russia-set crazy-comedy Love and Death (1975) springs to mind, along with masterpieces Broadway Danny Rose (1984), Anything Else (2003) and Blue Jasmine (2013).
Annie Hall is nevertheless a bonafide American classic and a great, funny relationship comedy: Witty and creatively free-flowing with bountiful ingenuities in meta-plan scenes, (cameos, addressing the camera, animation, countless hilarious references etc.), and lots of bitter-sweet, very Allenesque dialogues about life and love. - Perhaps the dialog gets even a bit too dense, finally, even though it remains extremely smart and stimulating throughout.
Annie Hall also ages incredibly well; still today it is a fast-paced, unusually good time unlike anything that can be found today.

Related posts:

Woody Allen: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess

Café Society (2016) - The greatest living American filmmaker hands us another splendid gem

Irrational Man (2015) - Allen's pleasant morality tale divertisement

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 III]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Blue Jasmine (2013) - Allen presenets Blanchett, a woman under the influence

Fading Gigolo (2013) - Turturro's pleasant turn as a high-end NY prostitute  (starring actor)

To Rome with Love (2012) - Woody Allen's slightest film to date  

2011 in films - according to Film Excess

Midnight in Paris (2011) - Allen's zany (and a little depressing) crowd-pleaser  

Cassandra's Dream (2007) - Allen's well-laid but inconsequentiel English cul-de-sac  

Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Anything Else (2003) - Perfect contemporary relationship comedy  

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) - Allen's hypnotic, noirish shenanigans 
Celebrity (1998) or, Stars in New York
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) - Sin and guilt up for laughs and rumination in unspectacular Allen work 
Broadyway Danny Rose (1984) or, Keep Your Heart   

Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972) - Allen's curious sex comedy is a riot
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 (co-starring)   

Full of great, quotable lines and Allen's brand of New-York-Jewish humor, Annie Hall is a film you cannot miss

Cost: 4 mil. $
Box office: 38.2 mil. $ (North America only)
= Mega-hit (returned in excess of 9.55 times its cost)
[Annie Hall premiered 27 March (Los Angeles, USA) and runs 93 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, and in New York on and off from May 1976 - March 1977. Working titles included Anhedonia [the inability to experience joy], Rollercoaster Named Desire, Anxiety and Me and My Goy. It was the 11th highest-grossing film of the year domestically and is Allen's most successful film adjusted for inflation. (The international final gross is regrettably not reported, but the film probably crossed 50 mil. $.) The film was nominated for 5 Oscars, winning 4; for Best Picture, Actress, Director and Original Screenplay, thus earning Allen two statuettes. But he lost Best Actor, - to Richard Dreyfuss in The Goodbye Girl. It also won 1/5 Golden Globe nominations, 5/6 BAFTA noms, was nominated for a César (France's Oscar) and won 2 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Roger Ebert has given the film a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Keaton's unconventional wardrobe in the film, - chosen be herself, - became a trendy point of reference and inspiration to women globally. Allen returned with Interiors (1978) and as an actor in Manhattan (1979). Keaton returned in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977); Tony Roberts (Dead Broke (1998)) in 4 TV credits before he came back to theaters in Just Tell Me What You Want (1980). Annie Hall is certified fresh at 97 % with an 8.97/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Annie Hall?