On Woody Allen in NYC

Patricia Clarkson offers this perspective on the difference between shooting a Woody Allen film abroad vs. at home in NYC:

"It was so nice to be shooting with Woody Allen in New York. It was divine," said Clarkson, who introduced "Whatever Works" to the ShoWest crowd. "There were a couple of days I walked to work. It was beautiful.

"He was definitely on his own turf," Clarkson said. "When we were shooting in Barcelona, it was like shooting with Mick Jagger. I mean, the streets were lined wherever we went for Scarlett and for Woody. It was like they were rock stars. In New York, the crowds gather, but I think because it's Woody, they're actually respectful of him."

Whatever Works: Reaction and Teaser

Mali Elfman, third verse same as the first. She writes:

This is what Woody Allen is best at, writing and making movies about himself. Putting his words and thoughts into other peoples mouths. Every character in some way shape or form show us how Allen feels about the world. He may be a “genius” (which he references many times in the film) but he’s always best when he leaves it simple and funny.

I was laughing out loud at a number of the witty lines, which I can’t even re-write because they would never read as well as they sound. Although my favorite part was not the laughs but when the “ohhhhh’s” that people uttered at come of his more pointed jokes.

Overall, it was a fun ride! Can’t wait until I can review it!

And she leaves us with this grainy trailer:



Yes, Woody Watchers, I've noted the limp.

Whatever Works: Second Reaction

From Alex Billington:

It is his standard New York talky, but actually one of his best films in recent years...

Out of some of Allen's most recent films, including Vicky Cristina Barcelona, this has been my favorite, for reasons I can't really describe. Maybe it was just a pure fascination with Larry David's character, who is one of those kind of guys that you feel bad for, even though he is kind of an asshole, or at least overly rude and racist, most of the time. I also just enjoyed how self-aware the film was, with David talking to the audience multiple times, and the way it's a retrospective piece on life in this world and dysfunctional relationships, not a deep analysis on how perfect love can be (or how completely un-perfect it can be, sometimes).

Even if you're not the biggest Woody Allen fan (or even if you are), Whatever Works is definitely worth seeing, whenever it comes to theaters. Writing a character for and casting Larry David was one of the best choices Allen has made in recent years. And with the right amount of positive buzz, this might end up becoming a bigger hit than his last few films. I will certainly say that it deserves to be one!

Whatever Works: First Reaction

Friends, consider this a SPOILER ALERT.

Now that that's out of the way, point your browser here for a very positive first review of Whatever Works. A little tease:

Patricia Clarkson storms into the movie after approximately 40 minutes, and plays a role in many ways comparable to Penélope Cruz's tempestuous Oscar-winning Maria Elena. While I was initially skeptical of Allen's treatment of Wood as a young Lolita, Clarkson actually plays the much more sexualized character. After showing up on Boris's doorstep in a hot pink ensemble (scrunchy included!) fit for the Southern pageant circuit, she is quickly awakened to the culture of New York. Naturally, this involves sex and art. In an interesting inversion of the much discussed relationship between ScarJo, Javier Bardem, and Penélope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Clarkson moves in with two men without giving it a second thought. Her character transitions from praising Jesus to opening an exhibit of nude collages. Clarkson is dynamic and sexy and once again demonstrates her unbeatable range. I don't think it is any stretch to consider her worthy of this year's Oscar race.

Whatever Works: Not Like Mighty Aphrodite

Woody Allen has supplied the Irish Times with an interview. If you've read any Allen interviews in the last decade, you've more or less read this one. Not Allen's fault. The questions are always retread, and Allen, if he's anything, is consistent. The answers are always the same. I suppose most audiences don't spend their leisure hours reading this blog, so what's old to us is new to them. My favorite snippet:

Evan Rachel Wood has said that Whatever Works is closer to Mighty Aphrodite than any other Allen picture.

“She said that? My God! I can’t see any similarity whatsoever between the two movies – not a remote similarity. It’s interesting how a person can see a movie so differently. I remember when my sister saw Hannah and Her Sisters and she thought it was closer to Sleeper than my other movies. I told her she must be crazy, that there was no comparison between the two. Yet she saw some similarity there, although nobody else in the world did. And I don’t think there’s another human on the face of the earth who will find the most remote similarity between Whatever Works and Mighty Aphrodite .”

Brolin, Hopkins, and London

Whatever Works is set to open on June 19. We're all happy about that.

The other thing that will be happening this summer is Woody Allen will film his next in London. Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins are set to star. More details forthcoming.

Whatever Works Images

Thanks to Tim S. for bringing our attention to these photos from the set of Whatever Works.

Sony Picture Classics Picks Up Whatever Works

Buried in this article, you'll find a throwaway line that we're only too happy to retrieve and dust off for you. Or, you can just read the subject line and carry on with life.

Evan Rachel Wood Talks Whatever Works

Evan Rachel Wood, interviewd by Moviehole:

Question: How did Woody get along with Larry David?

Wood: They got along great. I loved watching them talk to each other, because they are similar, but they are very different. And I think that's why Woody cast him, because - if you read the script, the character seems like it is Woody Allen. You don't see how anybody else could play it. I think he really brought something different, so that it's not just the Woody Allen character.

Question: How did you enjoy working with Larry?

Wood: I loved Larry. Larry's great. And we kind of looked out for each other, because he had never done a film, or had to memorize lines. And I'd never done comedy. So, you know. We kept each other's spirits up in that way.

Question: Would you do another comedy, after doing this?

Wood: Absolutely, yeah. I love comedy. And it was such a great change of scenery for me to go on set and see Larry David, and Michael McKean and Ed Begley Junior. people I grew up watching, but have never seen behind the scenes. So, it was so cool. [LAUGHTER] I was so excited.

Question: What kind of a girl do you play in that?

Wood: She's a very sweet, Southern belle and so naïve that she comes across dumb, because she just wants to see the good in everything. She just loves everything. So she shacks up with Larry David, who's the complete opposite. He's like, an Ebenezer Scrooge kind of character. Just, "Bah humbug" to everything. So, it's just opposites attracting.

ISA Nominations and Tidbits

After a couple slow weeks, the Woody Allen-related universe is back to the business of expansion. Vicky Cristina Barcelona has been given an actress (Cruz) and screenplay (Allen) nomination by the ISAs.

Woody Allen's character Maria Elena continues to bring laud and honor in Cruz's direction. Dennis Hopper recently remarked,

"To me, she’s the best actress around right now.”

“She gives good performances this year - one in Woody Allen’s film Vicky Cristina Barcelona and one in Isabel Coixet’s Elegy - and they’re two of the best performances I’ve seen in years.”

We're willing to bet that this is not the last Allen-Cruz collaboration.

Elsewhere, VCB cast member Patricia Clarkson raves about working with Woody Allen on consecutive films:

"I love working with Woody [Allen], and I did another film, Whatever Works, with Woody after Vicky Cristina, so I got to work with Woody twice in the span of 10 months. I'm like the luckiest person alive," she gushed.

"Whatever Works is a completely different film but it's still classic Woody Allen. I can't even talk about it too much so I can't tell you about it, but it's very funny. I think it's going to be hysterical. I mean, it's Woody Allen and Larry David. Whereas Vicky Cristina's more soulful, beautiful, lyrical and sexual."

Finally, something more for our Talent Imitates files, comes another great review of Alex Holdridge's In Search of a Midnight Kiss, which continues to draw positive comparisons to Woody Allen's Manhattan.

It's a Los Angeles love story, photographed in black and white, considered by many to be this generation's response to Woody Allen's "Manhattan."

While Allen's characters are seen and heard against a background of a sleek Big Apple and the music of Gershwin, Holdridge's are photographed against an often faded looking downtown L.A., with much of the music provided by a United Kingdom group called Okkervil River.

More on Whatever Works

First Look is running a short piece on Whatever Works, which contains a few new images from the film. If you want more information on the film, see this post.

Whatever Works: What We Know So Far

As with all Allen projects, Whatever Words is veiled in a fair amount of secrecy. The IMDB page is helpful in the ways you would expect: Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Clarkson, etc... We're especially eager to see how Henry Savilles has fared.

The movie has been in the can for a few months. The plot details are sparse, but it's reportedly a romantic comedy, with sex, about older people. Oh yeah, it's "different" and "darkish" too. In other words, we know nothing.

In the recent Eric Lax book Conversations with Woody Allen, the director mentions having written a comedy about a suicide attempt gone bad, but shelving the project after his sister warned that critics would portray it as autobiographical.

I might call this new movie Scoop. It's the third film I wrote in the last twelve weeks. I wrote a film to be done in London and then after I wrote it I found that the phenomenon I was satirizing didn't really exist in London, so I had to scrap that film. Then I wrote another idea quickly, a dark comedy about a guy who jumped out of a window and tried to commit suicide and walked with a limp. But when I gave it to Juliet Taylor and my sister to read they both felt that while it was very funny it would be perceived as very personal, autobiographical in a way they would rather I didn't do. They thought the film would never get a fair shake, that no matter how good in came out, all the focus would be on this sense of autobiography that in fact did not exist but still would distract from the audiences enjoyment of the movie. (26)

Some IMDB commentators have wondered if Whatever Works is not this scrapped comedy dusted off and set on the coffee table for visitors to see.

Beyond that, those same commentators believe Wood's character is married to Larry David's to the great displeasure of her mother. In turn, mom sets her little girl up with someone closer to her age.

Re-reading that passage from Conversations with Woody Allen begs the question, how many screenplays does Allen have laying around? We know from elsewhere that he is sitting atop an unpublished novel. We suppose and hope that these works will see posthumous production/publication.

Allen is nearing the point of requiring a back-up director for insurance purposes. He's in fine health, from all accounts and appearances. But age is age. Perhaps, Allen could gift each of his back-up directors, or directors heavily under his influence, with screenplays to be produced after his death. He's a prodigious writer who loves the work, and we know he has an impossible surplus of ideas from which to choose. Such a move would be a lovely baton-passing gesture to his cinematic descendants, not to mention a delight to his tiny band of faithful fans worldwide.

This is especially the case if said works are already in existence. We couldn't imagine a good reason for them to come to nothing.

And, while we're adrift in daydream, it's our hope that he tries to exhaust his famous idea drawer, converting each jotted thought into a short story, play, screenplay, novella or novel, whatever fits the material. It would be fitting that someone as industrious as Allen leave his public with a treasure trove of postmortem production.

We digress.

Whatever Works.

We'd like to know more. What do you know?

Update: On a related note, some fans of both Woody Allen and Larry David have hoped that Whatever Works would receive treatment in a new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. This morning brings the news that such hopes are a step closer to becoming reality. Curb will begin filming its 7th Season in December, with plot rumors involving Whatever Works and its director. If the timing is right, David's show and Allen's movie can leverage one another for promotion.