Filmmakers: Woody Allen

Recently, I watched two Woody Allen movies--Hannah and her Sisters and Husbands and Wives. I liked both of them a lot! There's something about Woody Allen movies that really appeals to me. It might be the quick and clever dialogue, the kind of neurotic hyper self-awareness that Allen incorporates into all of his characters, and the chiding of such characters by their equally conflicted friends.

Oh yeah, and the font is to die for.

It was during the credits for Hannah and Her Sisters that I realized most of his movies use the same fonts! After some online searching, I found out, it's true! Woody Allen does use the same font for ~90% of his films.

Take a look:

What is this font, you might ask? It's Windsor Condensed Light OT, made by Elsner + Flake.
Nice, right?

The story behind the font is provided by Randy J. Hunt. I have copied the text from the original Kit Blog post:


I'm currently taking a typeface design course with Ed Benguiat, and just last night he described a time when he would have breakfast at the same New Jersey diner every morning. Among the other that would dine there was Woody Allen. On one occasion, referring to Benguiat as a "printer," Allen asked him what a good typeface was. Benguiat had an affinity forWINDSOR and suggested it to him that morning. He's used it in every film since.




For those who aren't familiar with Allen's work, I highly recommend his films! I've seen four:

• Annie Hall
• Manhattan
• Hannah and Her Sisters -- Carrie Fisher (more famously remembered as Princess Leia) and Michael Caine costar. Woody Allen and Mia Farrow appear also. 
• Husbands & Wives -- Allen + Farrow appear again as two of the four main characters. A very young Liam Neeson also acts. 

Oh em gee, it's a young Liam Neeson! God, what a voice...

Here are some trailers: 
Manhattan Trailer


Annie Hall Trailer

Trailer: Conan O'Brien Can't Stop

Entertainment Weekly states, 'Behind-the-scenes gold.' That's enough of a headliner for me.

Everyone heard about the big Jay Leno-Team CoCo debacle, and you're going to hear about it again in this film. During the career limbo between his NBC show and his new show on TBS, Conan did nothing and then did everything. This film goes behind the scenes with Conan--documenting his personal thoughts on the matter (anger and bitterness with a strong dose of humor, it seems) and his whirlwind multi-city tour.

The film looks like a lot of fun, and is out in theaters now.


For those interested, here are some reviews. 

• Stephen Holden for the NYT: 'Mr. O’Brien [...] is certainly smart. The way he tosses off witticisms both onstage and back suggests a mind so supercharged it risks eating itself. [...] If “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” is consistently watchable, it isn’t especially funny, nor does it give any deeper insight into its star than you might get from seeing his late-night shows. '
• John DeFore for THR: 'Conan O'Brien should take some satisfaction in the thought that Jay Leno will never earn as much laughter in half an hour as he and his crew does in the first third of Conan O'Brien Can't Stop. 

Film: Kings of Pastry

Critics on the new film Kings of Pastry: 
'Forget Master Chef. This is the culinary Hurt Locker.' - Herald Scotland
'Thrilling, heart-stopping, exquisite.' - The Independent
'I never saw so many strong men sobbing at once.' -The Guardian (U.K.)
'Leaves viewers on the edge of their seats.' -LA Times
'Gripping, even for non-foodies' -Variety
'French accents galore! Pretty pastries abound! Exciting! Touching! Me likey.' -Me


Every four years, the best of the best pastry chefs participate in the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (Best Craftsmen of France). Pushed to mental and physical extremes, these men (no, I didn't see any women competitors in the movie) compete for the title of MOF. It's hard to believe, but some of these individuals are returning for their second or third attempt. That means they've been working towards this title for 8 or 12 years! 


Filmmakers and married couple Chris Hegedus and D A Pennebaker have created a documentary covering featured participants and the competition as a whole. This movie is a pleasure to watch on multiple levels--the craft of these kitchen masters, the simultaneous intensity and humor that exists behind the scenes, and the clearly evidenced passion these chefs have for their art. 


My favorite moments are many. Here are a few:
[1] At one point in the film, one of the competitors drops his sugar sculpture--an occurrence that many consider damning. We, along with the chef, feel the shock and horror after the event, but we also are lucky to feel the real support and love displayed by the MOF judges. They come to his side, whisper words of encouragement, and some even put their own previously won medals on his counter top in silent support. It's really a touching moment in the film. 


[2] Watching Chef Sebastienne Canonne really prove that he is a neat freak. At around 6:00, he scolds a chef pastry student for having a messy counter top (It's true--a messy room means a messy mind.). And at around 37:00, after cutting a pastry for a taste-test, Cannone picks up the crumbs with his fingers and deposits them onto the plate. It's not really emphasized in the film, but I found it to be pretty adorable/amusing. 


[3] Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer giving us a step-by-step tutorial for a wedding cake. He has it all--a whiteboard, EXPO markers, and assigning different drawn textures to different cake components. It's the best. 


[4] The impassioned speeches of French president Nicolas Sarkozy and MOF jury president Philippe Urraca. I'm sure this is a sweeping generalization, but it seems that the French make speeches that are much more intellectualized than American ones. Sarkozy talks about whether manual and intellectual art differ in value, and Urraca compares each individual test-taste to a 'moral dilemma.' I love it.


This is the film's trailer: 


If this seems like something you like, this video will be available until September 20, 2011. I have embedded it below for those interested.


To learn more about the film, visit the Kings of Pastry site here.

Note: A big thanks to the Baker for directing me toward this film!

Movie: Midnight in Paris

The recent Woody Allen Film is a big hit! The Vulture reports both monetary and critical successes. In fact, the film will likely become Allen's biggest commercial hit in recent decades. You can read the original blurb here.

To view the trailer, check out my original post here.

Trailer: Beginners

I saw this trailer a long time ago when it first appeared on my AppleTV and hadn't thought about it until recently. Beginners stars Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer as son and father, respectively. Our attention is directed at McGregor's character's love life and his complicated relationship with his father. The film gives off an indie, off-beat, touching, philosophical, funny, etc. kind of vibe.


Here's the trailer. 



So far, the reviews have been for the most part very positive! Here's a list of links for those interested:


New York Magazine (David Edelstein)
   "Mike Mills’s marvelously inventive romantic comedy Beginners is pickled in sadness, loss, and the belief that humans (especially when they mate) are stunted by their parents’ buried secrets, their own genetic makeup, and our sometimes-sociopathic social norms. [...] Beginners is a movie about laboring to understand your own wayward impulses, and Mills has a Charlie Kaufman–like gift for devising gags that double as metaphors.
    It's lines like these that make me smile: "His first encounter with Laurent (she was Shosanna in Inglourious Basterds) isn’t just meet-cute. It’s meet-omigod-the-cutest-ever."


New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
   "[T]he movie’s attractions are undeniable, including its narrative design, which seems more complex than it is, but is engaging to piece together. And the performers are charming, particularly Ms. Laurent and Mr. Plummer, with his killer eyes (still seducing after all these years) and a voice that echoes in your ears."


The Hollywood Reporter (Kirk Honeycutt)
   "All the movie’s playfulness rubs off on the actors. Scenes crackle with life. The chemistry among all the actors is terrific."

Trailer: Another Year

This movie was shown early in 2011, but I never got a chance to see it while it was in theaters. The film is directed by Mike Leigh, who also made Vera Drake (I havent seen this yet) and Happy-Go-Lucky featuring Sally Hawkins (I saw this film and liked it.) Leigh seems to be skilled at communicating the nuances of relationships, and from what I've read this film carries his signature touches.


Here's the trailer:



And as usual, here are some links to reviews for those interested. It seems that the reviews are either intensely positive or somewhat negative:


Roger Ebert
   Four Stars. Two thumbs up.  "Mike Leigh's new film is one of his best, placing as he often does recognizable types with embarrassing comic and/or dramatic dilemmas."


NYT
   An NYT Critics' Pick. "Like “Happy-Go-Lucky,” though on a somewhat larger scale, “Another Year” is about the unequal distribution of happiness. Why do some people — like Tom and Gerri, the post-’60s 60-something couple at the center of this episodic story — seem to have an inexhaustible, even superabundant supply, while others seem unable to acquire even the smallest portion? Can happiness be borrowed, stolen or inherited? Is it earned by meritorious works or granted by the obscure operations of grace?"


NY Magazine 
   A slightly more critical look at the film. "Leigh fans will be in clover amid all this garrulous despair and grotesquerie. For others, Another Year will test the paradox of Leigh’s work. It’s well known that he presents his actors with characters and a premise rather than a finished script and sends them out to amass details, physical and psychological. "


The Hollywood Reporter
   Another less than glowing review. "Acutely observed but gloomy and lacking narrative, it tells of 12 months in the life of a decent but dull suburban couple and their friends, most of whom you would go out of your way to avoid at a party. [...] It's a sedate film without drama that festival juries could well fall in love with, but moviegoers might decide that their own brand of misery is quite sufficient, thanks."

Trailer: The Illusionist

I've been eyeing this movie for a while, and I will be sure to rent it once it's available on iTunes!


Here's a nice description of the movie's premise from the NYT: 
"Set in the late 1950s, the story opens on an unnamed French magician who is struggling to keep audiences interested in his old-fashioned sleights of hand. The bouquet tucked up his sleeve has become a gift that nobody seems to want. [...] The illusionist’s lonely gloom brightens when, while performing in a pub in an isolated Scottish village, he finds an appreciative audience of one in the form of a teenager, Alice." And thus the stage is set for the audience, who watch as their relationship (no, it's not like Lolita) develops. 





Here are some reviews:
Roger Ebert
   Four stars.


NYT
   One of the things that attracted me most to this film was the artwork. The influence of hand-drawn animation is strong, as described in the article. "Mr. Chomet’s muted palette is beautiful, and his love for the 1961 Disney classic “101 Dalmatians” is evident in his gently exaggerated character designs (the father in “Dalmatians” and the illusionist have noble honkers), though he fills in his backgrounds, forgoing the strong, sketchlike lines that help give “Dalmatians” its modernist look." 

Trailer: 50/50

Read about this movie on Vulture this morning. Seth Rogen wrote a screenplay about a young man diagnosed with cancer. Where the title comes from? His 50/50 chance of survival. (In reality, I'm pretty sure they don't give these kinds of diagnoses. They're more likely to give percentage survival rates at the 1 year, 5 year, 10 year, etc. marks. But for the purposes of entertainment, it's probably better their way. Imagine '60% chance at 1 year, 30% chance at 5 years, and 10% and 10 years' as a movie title. Yeah, I don't think it works either.)

The film stars Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, two actors I admire. In the supporting roles are Anna Kendrick of the more recent Up in the Air fame, Bryce Dallas Howard of Ron-Howard's-my-dad fame, and Anjelica Huston of comedic and I'm-part-of-the-Huston-dynasty fame. Sidenote, the director of Up in the Air wrote the character for Anna Kendrick after seeing her in 2007's Rocket Science. Because of this fact, I watched the film and enjoyed it a lot! Kendrick plays a similar fast-talking cold-but-not-cold girl.

I think 50/50 will have just the right combination of adorableness and humor based upon the cast.

Trailer: The New Muppets Movie

I super <3 Jason Segel. If legend is right, he was signed on to the Muppets movie after demonstrating his puppets mojo in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Here's a funny video that pays tribute to The Hangover 2 Trailer:

Here's a look at the Hangover 2 trailer:


Now, see if you can catch the similarities.


I love how the font is even the same--Impact. The Impact font should only be seen in the 90s--back when people over-used Microsoft Word Art for anything and everything.

Interview: Terrence Malick

I liked this statement by Terrence Malick. It's another way of saying cliches are cliches because they have a grain of truth to them. 


When people express what is most important to them, it often comes out in clichés. That doesn't make them laughable; it's something tender about them. As though in struggling to reach what's most personal about them they could only come up with what's most public. 


   -Terrence Malick, director of the much lauded and anticipated film, Tree of Life


From what I've read, Malick is a very reclusive director. His interview with New York Magazine was pretty short, and he is one of Hollywood's famously private elite. His most recent film, Tree of Life, received the Palm d'Or, the most prestigious award given at the Cannes Film Festival. Past recipients of the award include...I just wikipedia-ed it, and I don't know any of them! Except for Michael Moore for Fahrenheit 9/11 and Roman Polanski for The Pianist. 


For a very rare glimpse at the movie, you can watch this clip exclusively revealed to EW.com. The trailer was released more recently, and I've included it below. 




You can read reviews about the film here.
NY Magazine ('Terrence Malick’s overblown, goofy, slightly ridiculous The Tree of Life should be seen immediately.')
Rogert Ebert (It's too difficult to identify a quotation from this piece. I recommend reading the entry in its entirety. I don't think you'll regret it. Ebert's an excellent writer.)
NYT ('“The Tree of Life” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Birth, death, the end of the world." These end bits of NYT film reviews are my favorite. Sometimes they get kind of snarky, which is always fun.)

Film Release: Midnight in Paris

Midnight in Paris is out now! Click to watch the trailer here from an earlier post.

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: James McAvoy

It's been much too long, Mr. McAvoy. The last time I remember him onscreen was in Atonement (which I basically watched just for him) and Becoming Jane (which I watched for the period-piece loveliness, found to be uncannily similar to Pride & Prejudice v2, was horrified by the scene copying, but then was calmed by watching McAvoy enjoy more screentime).


Here he is promoting his new movie X-Men: Evolution (Whoops, that was the cartoon I used to watch on Kids' WB) First Class. 

X-Men: Evolution--not to be confused with X-Men: First Class

Here's McAvoy's interview. Oh that Scottish brogue. Too bad I can't go around bragging about my American brogue. I don't even think that term exists! (Not like there'd be much to brag about anyway.)

When I first watched this clip the Baker sent me, I was expecting him to talk about his Confederacy-era period piece drama: The Conspirator. The film stars McAvoy and Robin Wright Penn (of Forrest Gump fame), with the former playing a lawyer set out to represent the latter's character--a woman wrongfully accused of assassinating Lincoln. I expect lots of fist-on-wood action in this film. Papers strewn, tempers flying, that sort of thing. Another thing to look forward to? Robert Redford's direction! Did you know he also directed Motorcycle Diaries? A film that excels for its music, acting, cinematography, and the filming locations.

Here's a trailer for the film. 

Trailer: The Help

Trailer: Our Idiot Brother

Trailer: The Trip

Oh gosh, I loved their impressions. This should be a lot of fun!

Behind the Scenes: Pirates 4

He's baaaaaacccck. That's right, everyone, Johnny Depp is reprising his role as Cap'n Jack Sparrow in the 4th installment of the Pirates franchise. 

In this week's The Hollywood Reporter, there was a whole spread about the development process, interviews with the actors and production team, and notes about the Black Carpet (!!!) premiere.

For the premiere, the team transformed Disneyland into a haven for Pirate wannabes. This has been a veritable tradition in the past, with all previous Pirates movies having their premieres at Disneyland also. They rolled out a black carpet (still !!!ing about this. So cool.) and the cast and crew came parading down it on May 7th (no, nobody was walking tipsy a la Jack Sparrow because Disneyland is a strict no-alcohol zone. Even for premieres.) 

This movie has been long in the making. It started pre-Writers strike, was delayed by the writer's strike, and then resumed in mid-2008. About 2 years later, a screenplay was had. Between January 2010 and release date of May 2011, Bruckheimer and his team would travel around the world with their very fancy, very expensive, and very fragile 3D cameras. Shooting finally finished in November 2010. Finally after much post-production modifications, the film was ready for its release! 

Disney hopes to make some big bucks with this film--the Pirates franchise is actually in very good standing for becoming the top-grossing set of first 4 installments. To give you an idea of how other collections fared at the box office:

• Star Wars - 2.83 billon
• Indiana Jones - 1.98 billion
• Die hard - 1.13 billion
• Harry Potter - 3.55 billion

From the first three films, Pirates has 2.7 billion. Between 'Arry Pottah and Cap'n Jack Sparrow, I would much rather see the latter win. 

The magazine also featured some interesting comments made by various individuals involved in the film-making process (these first-hand quotations are my favorite part about this magazine!). Below, I've transcribed a few:

Writer Terry Rossio describes Depp's involvement in the film. "We worked very closely with him on the story design," Rossio adds. "We'd have late dinners where the wine and the ideas flowed freely." 

-Depp regularly devotes himself to the creative process. In the film Alice in Wonderland, Depp worked very closely with Tim Burton in creating the role of the Mad Hatter. He even drew some character sketches for the character! Isn't that cool? 

Marketer MT Carney describes the basic motivation for making this film. "We wanted to remind people of why they fell in love with Jack Sparrow in the first place and also introduce new elements in a way that was elegant," says Carney.

Just saying, but I'm pretty sure I don't *need* to be reminded about why Jack Sparrow is my hero. However, I wouldn't *mind* to be reminded of why...and that's my main reason for seeing the film when it comes out. 

Carney continues to describe the difficulties of making the new Pirates installment fresh and appealing to audiences. "When we only focused on the new elements and minimized Jack Sparrow, that didn't work; there needed to be a solid amount of him," Carney says. "And when we made it more serious, that didn't work so well, either. People wanted a fun adventure."

That's right, screw fancy plot lines and continuity with whatever-the-heck happened in the previous films (Who remembers anyway? It's been four years!). I want this movie to be a Jack Sparrow extravaganza. 

Director Rob Marshall (you can read his interview here) talks about his and Depp's love of old cinema. "We felt, from our first meeting, exactly the same way: We were born in the wrong time," Marshall says. "I should have been working in the 1940s in the Arthur Freed [musical unit at MGM], and Johnny would have loved to be in the 1930s or '40s. He loves Hollywood lore."

If you ever read this, Johnny, you love 1930s/40s films, and I love 40s/50s films. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. 

In a separate interview, Depp answers questions about whether a 5th Pirates film is in the near future. "I've seen nothing yet. It boils down to story, script and filmmaker. But it's not something where I would say, 'Let's shoot it next month to get it out by Christmas 2012.' We should hold off for a bit. They should be special, just like they're special to me."

:)  

Trailer: Midnight in Paris

Woody Allen's new film! I think Owen Wilson will be great--if this film is similar to Allen's older ones such as Annie Hall and Manhattan, I can totally see Wilson as a neurotic, very likeable main character.

Also of note, Rachel McAdams and Charlie Sheen began their little relationship after meeting on this film.

Interview: Jon Hamm on Conan

Conan O'Brien interviews Jon Hamm about Mad Men in England, his dog, and Bridesmaids (the film, not the ones that probably swoon over him at real weddings).

One thing I've noticed in some interviews (such as that with the Doctor Who cast) is the difference in American and British fans. It seems for the most part, that Americans are just a wilder and crazier bunch, and British people are more restrained in their expression of fan-dom.

Tina Fey, Sara Silverman, and Paul Rudd have said that Jon Hamm is one of the funniest guys they know. (Silverman and Rudd both go way back with Hamm.) And the more I watch it, the more I recognize that Jon Hamm is pretty funny! That fact probably goes most unrecognized because Hamm's most famous role, as Don Draper in Mad Men, is one of such tense restraint. It was great to see how expressive he actually is in this video! I especially liked his defense of Jack McBrayer. Adorable!

30 Minutes or Less

I loved this trailer! I hope the movie is good. Thanks to the Panda for sending it to me! 

Aziz Ansari is so funny. I love the bit he does about his cousin Harris in his stand up.

In a recent Parks & Rec episode, Tom (Ansari's character) tells us all his bizarre nicknames for different foods. It is HIGH-larious. Someone was clever enough to make up a website dedicated to Tom's gastronomic short speak. Each time you click on the site's picture, a new pairing shows up.

Some of the highlights:

Animal crackers = Mini mascots

Salads = Leaf piles

Ice cream = Milk on the rocks

http://tomhaverfoods.com/

But as amusing as the website is, you can't beat Ansari's delivery of the lines.

What do Fred Astaire & Joseph Gordon Levitt have in common?

Last week was Easter, and I had Easter Parade on the brain. Released in 1948, the film stars Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. It's a fun musical, with two undeniable attractions--Fred Astaire's fancy footwork and Garland's voice. 

If you get impatient, skip to 2:20 for Fred Astaire's big number. It's a lot of fun!

A mental jump, hop, and skip away from this film was Fred Astaire's Royal Wedding. One of its most famous scenes involves Fred Astaire dancing on the ceiling in one of the set rooms. It was, I think, pretty advanced for its time (and even now, I'm still impressed by the visual fun). 

The basic premise for how it works is that Fred Astaire is dancing in a rotating room, and the camera must rotate at the same angular velocity as the room. In the final filmed product, we can't see the room moving because the room's velocity relative to the camera is zero. And voila, Fred Astaire is dancing on the ceiling! 

Here's a clip showing both the scene as it appears in the film, and the scene if you were an onlooker watching them film the scene. 

In Christopher Nolan's Inception, a similar premise was used to film the a-MAY-zing fight scene featuring Joseph Gordon Levitt. 

I've a huge behind-the-scenes fan. A big fan of minutiae and all things 'trivial,' I value the Special Features on DVDs and Blu-Rays almost as much as the film itself. (You will never catch me buying a DVD with no special features. Never.) The subdued music playing behind a director's commentary, the smooth transition between production stills--I love it all. Much to my glee, there is a clip online with commentary about Joseph Gordon Levitt's hallway acrobatics. You can check it out below. I never thought about it before, but a rotating set that has props requiring electricity poses a special problem for set designers. To find out how they solved that issue, and to hear Joseph Gordon Levitt talk about the intense training needed for the scene, watch the clip! :)