Rifkin's Festival | Woody Allen

[slumcat]

Originally Posted by Dining Dead

I'm pretty far left, but one thing that always blows my mind is that actors worked with Allen for many, many years after Dylan's accusation was very well known -- and they then later denounce their work saying they had no clue. Haha. I mean, that's kind of insulting to any thinking person's intelligence. I would have much greater respect for the actors if they instead issued a statement such as, "I didn't take Dylan's accusation as seriously as I should have. I now understand how my working with Allen was hurtful to both her and survivors of abuse." Full stop. The end. But to instead pretend they had no clue is beyond idiotic.

I mean, I was well aware of his relationship Soon-Yi and Dylan's accusation just as a casual movie fan. How could someone in the industry supposedly have no clue?

Want an even bigger example of Hollywood horrifying hypocritical deceit?

Harvey Weinstein. Every-****ing-body knew. Everyone. Meryl Streep. Leonardo Dicaprio. Everyone.

They were like the Germans in 1933-1945 Germany. They all were completely full well aware of what was happening. If not complicit in their acts, then complicit in their silence and inaction.

What about them? Who is going to call them out?

[Dining Dead]

Originally Posted by Frank TJ Mackey

Reviews for this are pretty bad. He is really scraping if Wallace Shawn and Gina Gershon are the most prominent actors he can get after all the scandals

Yeah, I'm guessing it's going to be terrible. I don't think he has another good movie in him. You make a good point about the lack of available, big name actors. After all the scandals (which, to my knowledge, were precisely two from over 25 years ago), he was basically able to get any A-list actor he wanted. So, yeah, he had an over 25 year run with any actor he wanted. Now, I suppose he *might* be able to get Javier Bardem and/or Scarlett Johansson.

[Dining Dead]

Originally Posted by slumcat

Want an even bigger example of Hollywood horrifying hypocritical deceit?

Harvey Weinstein. Every-****ing-body knew. Everyone. Meryl Streep. Leonardo Dicaprio. Everyone.

They were like the Germans in 1933-1945 Germany. They all were completely full well aware of what was happening. If not complicit in their acts, then complicit in their silence and inaction.

What about them? Who is going to call them out?

I agree with you. It's idiocy. And, honestly, while I VERY STRONGLY DISAGREE with their silence and inaction, I do understand why they did it, especially younger actors. He could have easily ruined their careers if they came out against him. In fact, he did ruin careers of those who tried. So, yeah, I get it.

[Dining Dead]

But, at the end of the day, it would be pretty naive to think this is solely a Hollywood industry issue. Where there's money/power, there is most certainly those who will look the other way to preserve their own comforts.

[BluBonnet]

Now available on iTunes

[BluCollector13]

Saw it this afternoon with a somewhat moderate turnout. Shawn takes a little bit of time to find his groove in playing the Allen-esque substitute and the script is definitely lower tier compared to some of the other films he's made in the last ten years but it generally works thanks to the ensemble, particularly Gina Gershon (and leave it to Christoph Waltz to run away with the film with his five minutes as Death), unsurprisingly beautiful cinematography by Storaro and the staggering recreations of classic scenes.

[BluBonnet]

This is the cinematic equivalent of a train wreck. You may have heard how awful it is, you may have seen some signs from a distance, but you really have to watch the whole darn thing to fully appreciate what a horrible mess this is.

Yes, it is kind of ironic to see Storaro is still at it, recreating famous scenes from Citizen Kane and some really great European masterpieces, which just makes it even more depressing because you realize just how inferior this big mess actually is.

[AnthonyGG]

I've been a Woody Allen fan since I was in my early teens in the mid-'90s. I've seen all of his films and here's my take on Rifkin's Festival. Is it great? No. Is there magic there? Nope. Is it anything original or new for Woody? Not really. Was it at least better than his last few films? Well, I kinda have to say yes. At least in this one his vessel is another old grumpy Jewish guy, Wallace Shawn, instead of a 20 something as in the last few mistakes Allen has made.

The only new things here are tiny nuggets within the homages to classic films he does that only Allen fans will notice. These little trinkets surprised me and actually made me smile a bit. If you're an Allen fan and you've seen EVERYTHING he's done as I have, trust me you've sat through worse than Rifkin's Festival.

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by AnthonyGG

If you're an Allen fan and you've seen EVERYTHING he's done as I have, trust me you've sat through worse than Rifkin's Festival.

1) I am
2) No, I haven't

[AnthonyGG]

Originally Posted by BluBonnet

1) I am
2) No, I haven't

You've seen every Woody Allen film and you thought Rainy Day in New York and Wonder Wheel were better than this one?

[BluBonnet]

How many times do you want me to repeat myself? This is by far the absolute worst thing he's ever ever ever ever ever made.

[AnthonyGG]

Originally Posted by BluBonnet

How many times do you want me to repeat myself? This is by far the absolute worst thing he's ever ever ever ever ever made.

LoL, alright fine. You gotta be a little b***h about it instead of discussing it. Typical on this forum.

[Moonlight Shadow]

I've seen pretty much every Woody Allen movie and I like "Rifkin's Festival". My wife liked it too. Sure, there a two dozen better Woody Allen movies but Allen rarely disappoints

[BluBonnet]

Anybody who thinks this is even remotely a decent movie is just in a state of denial. Allen used to be a pretty sharp observer of how people behave. This movie shows someone who hasn't a clue anymore about how people behave in the real world. There isn't even the remotest trace of actual human behavior, not even as a satire or parody of what people actually are like.

[principehomura]

I also think it is one of his worst. With You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Crisis in Six Scenes and Everything You ecc... one of the few I find hopelessly bad.

[AnthonyGG]

Originally Posted by principehomura

I also think it is one of his worst. With You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Crisis in Six Scenes and Everything You ecc... one of the few I find hopelessly bad.

It's one of his worst, yes. He hasn't made anything decent since Irrational Man in my opinion. I forgot about Crisis...yeah that was dreadful. I stopped watching after one episode.

I don't think Rifkin is his very worst though because I can at least buy that Shawn's character - another stand in for Allen, basically - could and would have the opinions and criticisms that he has. It was a believable lead character in that way at least and Woody was writing for mostly older characters this time around, unlike in films like Rainy Day in New York and Cafe Society where I was cringing constantly as he had his youthful leads speaking in ways that just sounded all kinds of wrong. I also liked the little Woody nuggets he threw in some of the homages he did.

It's not a film I'd watch again or buy on blu and I can't recommend it but for me at least, it wasn't all bad.

[Ivol]

This comes out on blu ray today. Out for delivery already.

[Mao]

Yup. Got mine!

[placebo]

Got my blu this week and watched it last night. Overall I liked it. As another person said on this thread, the ensemble cast saves it. The script is bare and covers territory very familiar to Allen, but that's fine with me. I laughed a few times and it overall kept my attention, particularly with the dream/movie re-creation sequences. I would take a full movie with Richard Kind as Allen's surrogate's father.

For me, Wallace Shawn is miscast and is the worst part of the movie. He settles into an OK groove as the Allen stand-in, but really the only way I could make it bearable was to imagine Allen saying the lines himself.

It's a gorgeous blu-ray. Looked really great on my TV. Excellent subtitles, too.

[wobelix]

Watched it last week and it is indeed a pleasant film, but that is not the first thing to expect from an Allen-film.
Yet I'm happy, and can't wait to hear more on the upcoming 'Woody Allen Paris Project' that is listed on the IMDb.

The greatest annoyance was again the weird lighting by Storaro.
Just like 'Café Society' it's way too warm, as if we're looking at a permanent Sunset or something.
Weird.
The man is a philosopher of Light & Colour, but goes astray lately, really.

For the Black & White sequences:
I liked it a lot, but we watched 'Stardust Memories' immediately after 'Rifkin's...' as a Double Biller (We like to do Double Billers; this one as theme ... Film Festivals + Woody Allen) and Boy, is that a glorious film!

Both Woody Allen as the Prince of Darkness, d.o.p. Gordon Willis, excell with 'Stardust Memories'.
The 1980 Black & White is superb and alive, where Storaro's B&W is merely okay, not vibrant.
But then again, he is a Philosopher of Colour (No Sarcasm intended), so why go there?

Back to Rifkin:
I'm happy to have it in my collection.
This coming week we're shifting to Wallace Shawn's work with Louis Malle on Criterion (interspersed of course with some episodes of 'Deep Space Nine', with Shawn shining as The Grand Nagus !)