Yes, No, Maybe So: "To Rome With Love"

Jose here with a new edition of Yes, No, Maybe So. After the success of the Oscar-winning Midnight in Paris, all eyes were set on Woody Allen's next movie. First the movie caused a tiny outrage because of its "unimaginative" title, later we got a look at an underwhelming poster that had people once more complaining and accusing Woody of "losing his touch".

However, this has become the norm with his work. He's unarguably the most productive artist in moviemaking and people always have very strong reactions towards him and his movies. For all the people who loved Midnight in Paris there were a few who hated it because it wasn't Annie Hall or refused to watch it because they oppose Woody morally.

Here's the first trailer. Help us decide if it's Yes, No or Maybe So...

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Burning Questions: Lifetime Passes

Michael C. here. This week’s Burning Question came to me when my heart sank upon seeing the poster for Woody Allen’s latest.

Maybe it's the inexplicably prominent placement of Roberto Benigni. Maybe it's because the Committee to Blandify Movie Titles reduced the movie's name from the interesting The Bop Decameron to the acceptable Nero Fiddled to the yawn-inducing To Rome With Love. Or maybe it was just the beige Nancy Meyers-ness of the whole thing. Whatever the reason, my gut tells me this is a return to the lifeless, script-out-of-the-bottom-drawer rehashes that have been the rule and not the exception for Woody’s output over the last decade. 

Of course this would all be a lot less distressing if I didn’t know there was no way I would miss seeing it. Why? Because I, like many others, have issued Mr. Allen a lifetime pass out of gratitude for Annie Hall and Manhattan and a dozen other titles that constitute a large chunk of the foundation of my love of movies. Therefore I will keep setting myself up for disappointment, like Charlie Brown forever returning to kick that football.

Annie Hall by Al Hirschfeld

Would it not make more sense to ignore the completist in me that insists I see every title Woody releases even when it's an obvious gutterball? Does anyone really deserve a lifetime pass?

First off, lets be clear what constitutes a lifetime pass...

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House at the End of the Link

Untapped New York "My Day as a Paparazzo" how New Yorkers react to celebrity sightings and how it changes when the paparazzi are involved.
Roger Ebert remembers Diary of a Lost Girl one of my very favorite silents starring Louise Brooks.
Geekscape wonders what The Avengers might have looked like had it been made in the 1980s. Michael Biehn for Steve Rogers and Cary Elwes for Tony Stark? I could deal.
Stranger Than Most names the laziest tagline ever. Oh Safe House. Try harder!

In Contention Julian Fellowes to right Cameron's wrong on Titanic. Oh dear. Fellowes has let Downton Abbey go to his head. Aint nothing wrong with Titanic (1997) that isn't so wrong it's right.
Deja View remembers an animated bit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Awards Daily new images from Woody Allen's To Rome With Love. How many title-changes has this one gone through now? 
Animation Mag here's a fun one for Los Angeles based readers. There will be special one-off screenings of Snow White and The Seven Dwarves (1938) and  20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre next month.
Rope of Silicon first image of Jennifer Lawrence in House at the End of the Street. Elisabeth Shue co-stars (yay!) 
Vulture Star Market Jennifer Lawrence 

And speaking of... yeah yeah we'll talk about Hunger Games soon. My review will be up Sunday at some point. Stay tuned.

click to remember this house

DGA to Oscar? Hazanavicius Nears Finish Line

This weekend everyone is a winner! So many awards. And SAG continues the trend tonight (we'll be live blogging right here). Can clapping for 30 days straight give you carpal tunnel?

Let's start with the biggie, the DGA Awards. Last year's winner Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) passed the baton, in the shape of that golden eagle plaque, to this year's winner Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist). Tom Hooper got ambitious post awards flurry as is busy on Les Miserable. Hazanavicius will chase The Artist with another film inspired by Old Hollywood. He's going to remake The Search (1948) which The Film Experience readers will know as Montgomery Clift's debut. (All we can say is good luck finding another Monty. That's an irreplaceable star in Hollywood's firmament.) Given that The Search is a post World War II drama about an American soldier and a child who survived Auschwitz, maybe Hazanavicius won't be a one hit wonder with AMPAS. Time will tell.

One of the best things about the more specific awards night like the DGA is that there is time to honor the nomineees as well, so even if you don't win, the night is still about you. Each director takes the stage to receive their plaque. Kathy Bates accepted in person for Woody Allen who never shows up at this sort of thing although he did speak via satellite this time. 

Michelle Williams with James Marsh's prizeDGA PRIZES

• Director, Feature Film: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
• Director, Documentary: James Marsh, Project Nim (which was recently shut out of the Oscar nominations in its category)
• Director, MiniSeries: John Cassar, The Kennedys
• Director, Drama Series: Patty Jenkins, The Killing "Pilot"
• Director, Comedy Series: Robert B Weide, Curb Your Enthusiasm "Palestinian Chicken" (wow. people are still excited about this show? Who knew?)
• Director, Variety: Glenn Weiss, the 64th Annual Tony Awards
• Director, Reality Show: Neil P Degroot, Biggest Loser
• Director, Commercial: Noam Murro (Biscuit Filmworks)
• Director, Daytime Television: William Luel, General Hospital "Intervention"
• Director, Children's Television:  Amy Schatz, A Child's Garden of Poetry

Does this mean Hazanavicius has the Oscar sewn up?
Not necessarily...  More after the jump including stats and photos. 

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"No Relation" ...an Oscar Name Game

Last year 'round about this time our movie buddy Kurt was having fun with mash-ups of Oscar nominees. He sent us a few this year for posting (Thanks Kurt!) and, as he puts it..

These unlikely pairs of hopefuls may seem like they were separated at birth, but there's no relation aside from their mutual hunger for Oscar gold."

So here we go...

 

EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY GLENN CLOSE

 

MICHEL / MICHELLE

CLOONEY / ROONEY

Ha! Well Lisbeth definitely could use some sun. Though I can't imagine Hawaii would suit her exactly. Though she probably wouldn't flinch at berating defenseless coma patients or investigating ex-lover real estate agents.

Kurt had two more ideas that I visualized to wrap up (after the jump)...

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