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2009 | 2008

9 articles from 2009

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Sophie Barthes letter to audiences about 'Cold Souls'

7 August 2009 6:57 PM, PDT | Pretty/Scary | See recent pretty-scary news »

As director/writer Sophie Barthes's sci-fi fantasy/comedy Cold Souls hit United States theaters today (It will hit the U.K. Nov 2009,) she has a message for audiences who might be going to see her film.

Three years ago, I had a strange dream. I had just read C.G. Jung’s 'Modern Man in Search of a Soul' and watched one of my favorite Woody Allen films, 'Sleeper'. A strange synaptic connection must have happened in my brain....

In my dream, I am holding a box and waiting in line to see a doctor in a white futuristic office. A secretary explains that our souls have been extracted. A doctor will examine them and assess our problems. Woody Allen is also in line, just in front of me! When his turn comes, he discovers that his soul is a pale yellow seed: a chickpea. He is furious. »

- Superheidi

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Is Funny People Judd Apatow's Annie Hall?

3 August 2009 8:55 AM, PDT | Vanity Fair | See recent Vanity Fair news »

There might come a day when people long for Judd Apatow’s early, funny films. If so, then his latest movie, Funny People, will have been the dividing line just as Annie Hall was for Woody Allen’s oeuvre, representing a seismic shift in tone, and announcing grander ambitions than simply jamming the biggest number of gags into two hours. At 41, Apatow is exactly the same age as Allen was when Annie Hall was released, in 1977, when he was considered as Apatow is today the top comedic filmmaker of his time. And just as Allen did with such goofy farces as Sleeper, Bananas, and Love and Death, Apatow amassed enough political capital in Hollywood with The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up to convince studios to allow him to spend it all on a more serious passion project. Perhaps Alvy Singer, Allen’s character in Annie Hall, speaks for both men »

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Review: ‘Whatever Works’ Doesn’t

18 June 2009 6:13 PM, PDT | FilmSchoolRejects.com | See recent FilmSchoolRejects news »

Whatever Works marks Woody Allen’s much-heralded return to New York, where his ongoing European sojourn has felt like a profound betrayal, even if the high cost of shooting in NYC necessitated it. Though he’s done some of his best recent work abroad, unpacking London and Barcelona with his unique, carefully observed eye for high-end urban spaces, the man as closely associated with New York as anyone belongs on this side of the Atlantic. So there’s definitely some pleasure to be had in the specter of Allen coming back home, with a multitude of Lower Manhattan locations once again playing a major role in his storytelling. Casting Larry David as his Doppelgänger also seems, on the face of it, a coup, a melding of the minds of two of the all-time great masters of Jewish humor. Yet Whatever Works, which Allen wrote for Zero Mostel in the 1970s and recently updated, comes »

- Robert Levin

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List This: Top Ten Sci-Fi Comedies

6 June 2009 6:03 PM, PDT | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »

In spite of the some rather negative early reviews, I plan on plunking down my cash to see Land of the Lost this weekend. It's a silly move, but I can't help myself; I blame my addiction to Danny McBride. Plus, I wasn't around for the original series, so it's not like Ferrell can mess up any childhood memories. But it did get me thinking; sci-fi and comedy are two genres that usually work pretty well together, right? So what does any movie geek do in this situation? That's right, we make a list. So now I present in no particular order, my top ten sci-fi comedies:

1. Hellboy

So technically, maybe not a pure sci-fi flick (it has gadgets...does that count?). But you definitely can't argue with funny; and it made for a nice departure for those of us tired of seeing our heroes 'brood' all the time.

2. Innerspace »

- Jessica Barnes

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"Cold Souls" - Sundance Film Festival Review. Paul Giamatti is hilarious playing himself.

22 January 2009 6:31 AM, PST | Movie Jungle | See recent Movie Jungle news »

A smart but loony plot about actor Paul Giamatti, who has his soul extracted in order to give a better performance in Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" and then fights to get it back, invites quick comparisons to the recent Charlie Kaufman comedy "Synecdoche, New York," or any Kaufman story for that matter. "Cold Souls," the debut film of writer/director Sophie Barthes, is as much a brainteaser as "Synecdoche." After all Giamatti plays a hilarious, exaggerated version of himself. Yet with a standout cast featuring David Strathairn, Emily Watson and Dina Korzun, "Cold Souls" is noticeably sweeter than Kaufman's comedies. It's also more straightforward, a crowd pleasing, funny look at technology used to goofball effect, think Woody Allen's "Sleeper" without the non-stop slapstick. »

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"Cold Souls" - Sundance Film Festival Review. Paul Giamatti is hilarious playing himself.

22 January 2009 6:31 AM, PST | Movie Jungle | See recent Movie Jungle news »

A smart but loony plot about actor Paul Giamatti, who has his soul extracted in order to give a better performance in Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" and then fights to get it back, invites quick comparisons to the recent Charlie Kaufman comedy "Synecdoche, New York," or any Kaufman story for that matter. "Cold Souls," the debut film of writer/director Sophie Barthes, is as much a brainteaser as "Synecdoche." After all Giamatti plays a hilarious, exaggerated version of himself. Yet with a standout cast featuring David Strathairn, Emily Watson and Dina Korzun, "Cold Souls" is noticeably sweeter than Kaufman's comedies. It's also more straightforward, a crowd pleasing, funny look at technology used to goofball effect, think Woody Allen's "Sleeper" without the non-stop slapstick. »

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"Cold Souls" - Sundance Film Festival Review. Paul Giamatti is hilarious playing himself.

22 January 2009 6:31 AM, PST | Movie Jungle | See recent Movie Jungle news »

Cold Souls reviewby Steve Ramos, Writer   Paul Giamatti is hilarious playing himself in ‘Cold Souls’   A smart but loony plot about actor Paul Giamatti, who has his soul extracted in order to give a better performance in Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" and then fights to get it back, invites quick comparisons to the recent Charlie Kaufman comedy "Synecdoche, New York," or any Kaufman story for that matter.   "Cold Souls," the debut film of writer/director Sophie Barthes, is as much a brainteaser as "Synecdoche." After all Giamatti plays a hilarious, exaggerated version of himself. Yet with a standout cast featuring David Strathairn, Emily Watson and Dina Korzun, "Cold Souls" is noticeably sweeter than Kaufman's comedies. It's also more straightforward, a crowd pleasing, funny look at technology used to goofball effect, think Woody Allen's "Sleeper" without the non-stop slapstick.   After his performance in "Vanya," Giamatti returns to "Cold Souls" (the company »

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"Cold Souls" - Sundance Film Festival Review. Paul Giamatti is hilarious playing himself.

22 January 2009 6:31 AM, PST | Movie Jungle | See recent Movie Jungle news »

A smart but loony plot about actor Paul Giamatti, who has his soul extracted in order to give a better performance in Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" and then fights to get it back, invites quick comparisons to the recent Charlie Kaufman comedy "Synecdoche, New York," or any Kaufman story for that matter. "Cold Souls," the debut film of writer/director Sophie Barthes, is as much a brainteaser as "Synecdoche." After all Giamatti plays a hilarious, exaggerated version of himself. Yet with a standout cast featuring David Strathairn, Emily Watson and Dina Korzun, "Cold Souls" is noticeably sweeter than Kaufman's comedies. It's also more straightforward, a crowd pleasing, funny look at technology used to goofball effect, think Woody Allen's "Sleeper" without the non-stop slapstick. »

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Don’t Call it a Comeback -- Dellamorte reviews Vicky Christina Barcelona

20 January 2009 | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »

Woody Allen has been making films for forty years now. Forty years, with forty feature length films to his credit if you include What’s Up Tiger Lily? That’s a lot of movies. And it’s understandable that if he makes some bad movies (which he has throughout his career) and then makes a great film (which he’s made a ton of). It’s Woody, so let’s say Sleeper, Love and Death, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Zelig, The Purple Rose of Cario, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Husbands and Wives, Bullets Over Broadway, Deconstructing Harry, Match Point. Twelve great films. And that’s not including his merely good films. As a batting average that’s pretty great. So add another one to the fire, because Vicky Cristina Barcelona is one of his great ones. Rebecca Hall plays Vicky, Scarlet Johansson plays Cristina. Vicky is about to »

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2009 | 2008

9 articles from 2009

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