"If anyone says 'Merry Christmas' once more, I'll kill 'em."

Merry Christmas to everyone from all of me us here at Hollywood Dreamland!

American Masters: Woody Allen

Yikes! Where have I been??? Anyway, just catching up with things during the holiday season, so here are some first thoughts on the recent PBS American Masters documentary on Woody Allen:

Part one was two hours and while it's interesting to have an extensive interview with Woody, there just seems to be a glossing over of the content of his films. A movie every year for thirty five years will do that. Part one stops at Stardust Memories...which has become my favorite Allen film.

I liked the stand up material they showed from 1962 and '63, when Woody was a Hefneresque-type comedian.

This aired on two of my local PBS stations and both of them had the screen all wrong; names cut off, etc. It's like they have it formatted for those widescreen TVs...they don't even know how to present their own medium. I also found it prude that they blurred out the huge plastic breast from Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex, even if it was hilarious to see a gigantic pixilated/censored fake boob trundling on screen. Friggin' puritans.

Part II of the American Masters doc was good as it showed Allen actually directing. It was also interesting to see the the (color) footage of him at work on Stardust Memories, both on set and in the editing room. I disagree with the oft-quoted critical unwashed belief that Stardust Memories is a "misstep." I wish they'd discussed more of Woody's use of music in his films, but overrall I was enthralled with the entire program.

Is There a 1920s Revival Going On?

Seems to me that there’s a 1920s revival going on! Numerous movies and TV programs have been released that either feature or take place in the ‘20s and I find it all quite exciting! Looks like I picked the right time to become enamored with the first truly modern decade! It’s a refreshing alternative for retro aficionados not really interested in the early ‘60s Mad Men craze currently sweeping the nation. A list of these Jazz Age-era projects includes:



Paris- The Luminous Years: Toward the Making of the Modern is a fascinating two-hour documentary about the Paris arts scene of 1905-1930. Much of the program is dedicated to the painters of the early 20th Century (Picasso, Chagall, Braque, et al.) Hemingway and the '20s get coverage, with the best part being the archival Sylvia Beach interview. There are also segments on Sergei Diaghilev's ballets, Stravinsky's music, and the Dada (anti)-art movement. Watch it HERE on the PBS website.

The doc is highly informative--particularly about the painters and makes it all worthwhile. It sheds light on the period 1905-1910 that I've always found interesting but evasive in terms of the level of coverage in documentaries such as these. Watch it HERE on the PBS website.

Midnight In Paris- Woody Allen’s latest film—and a HUGE hit, by Woodman box office standards—has captured the imagination of yours truly and a number of other bloggers, and has introduced many people to several Modernist icons including Man Ray, Luis Buñuel, Ernest Hemingway--yes, there are those who only know his name and nothing more—and Gertrude Stein.



Boardwalk Empire- The HBO series about Prohibition bootleggers produced by Martin Scorsese and Mark Wahlberg debuted last year and has garnered good press. I saw only one episode but was immediately hooked on the costumes, art direction, and brilliant performance of Steve Buscemi.

Prohibition- Documentary giant Ken Burns covers America’s “Noble Experiment” in an engrossing five-and-a-half- hour overview that’s definitely not “dry”, except in the temperance meaning of the word.

The Great Gatsby- Upcoming Baz Luhrman (Moulin Rouge) project of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel stars that seemingly retro-obsessed actor, Leonardo DiCaprio.

J. Edgar- Another film starring DiCaprio, as the eternally-youthful Leo takes on the role of controversial FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover became head of the Bureau in 1922. It remains to be seen how much of the film will spend time on that early decade, but I’m counting it anyway. It’s directed by Clint Eastwood.



I hope that this 1920s revival brings much interest in this most fascinating era. It's been a long time since movies chronicling a past era influenced style and various subcultures. I was the kind who held out hope that 2002's Gangs of New York would influence today's hooligans into wearing horizontal-striped shirts and stovepipe hats during their empty-headed pursuits, but alas, it was not to be. My fingers are crossed that we shoot for higher aspirations in this, the time of the 1920s revival.

Corey Stoll's Midnight In Paris Transformation

Please pardon my obsession with this movie, but one of the best aspects of Midnight In Paris is its vivid recreation of 1920s artistic luminaries like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Salvador Dali, and Luis Buñuel is the tremendous performance of the heretofore unknown to me Corey Stoll. His take on Ernest Hemingway is rendered with affection and humor, and it's clear that writer-director Woody Allen admires the More-Macho-Than-Anyone-Else-in-Human-History author a great deal.

In doing some quick research on Corey Stoll, I was surprised to learn that he wore a wig for Midnight In Paris and even more impressive, how his demeanor is totally unlike the legend he plays in the movie. I guess that's why they call it acting.