Latest news with #AnnieHall
San Francisco Chronicle
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Mount Rushmore of Directors: Ranking America's Most Iconic Filmmakers
Mike and Nancy Pfeffer, Albany Dear Mike and Nancy Pfeffer: By American, I'm going to assume you mean people who made the bulk of their movies in the United States. And I'm going to go by the criteria set by director Peter Weir, who said that, to be among the greatest directors, a filmmaker has to have made three masterpieces. By that standard, among living directors, I'd go with Martin Scorsese ('Raging Bull,' ' The Wolf of Wall Street,' ' The Irishman '); Woody Allen ('Annie Hall,' 'Hannah and Her Sisters,' 'Crimes and Misdemeanors'); Quentin Tarantino (' Inglourious Basterds,' ' Django Unchained,' ' Once Upon a Time in Hollywood') and Richard Linklater ('Before Trilogy,' ' Boyhood '). All four have met that standard. So have Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg, so this is a crowded Mount Rushmore. Among dead directors, I'd go with Ernst Lubitsch ('Ninotchka, 'Design for Living,' 'The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg'); Monta Bell ('Lady of the Night,' 'After Midnight,' 'Downstairs'); Alfred Hitchcock (' Vertigo,' North by Northwest,' 'Psycho') and Charles Chaplin ('The Gold Rush,' 'City Lights,' 'Modern Times'). Dennis Briskin, Palo Alto Dear Dennis: That's true, and I repeat that I didn't even meet him. I was just relieved that I didn't have to. I was at a press conference for 'Get Shorty,' and after seeing the way he talked to the press, I was glad that I wasn't assigned to interview him one on one. (Instead, I had to interview John Travolta, who might actually be the nicest guy in the world.) In any case, Hackman made enough of an impression that, 30 years later, I wasn't surprised to hear that he left his kids out of his will. I mean, leaving out one kid might be an oversight. Leaving out two is pushing it. But leaving out all three begins to seem like it might be his fault. Hey Mick: You've never met Gene Hackman, yet you took the opportunity to make him out to be a 'prickly and difficult person.' Shame on you. I had a brief encounter with Mr. Hackman while on vacation in Southern California years ago. My wife and I approached him, and I told him how much we admired his work. He was very nice, asked where we were from, why we were down in SoCal, and if we were having a good time. He actually told us to check out a local eatery off the main drag. Seemed like a really nice, down to earth, regular guy. Lloyd Cavalieri, Berkeley Hey Lloyd: You may be right. Then again, it's not much of a strain to impersonate a human being when approached by two nice people saying, 'We both think you're great.' Even Charles Manson probably could have held it together for that long. And when he mentioned the local eatery off the main drag, did you consider the possibility that he was trying to tempt you with food just to get you to stop talking to him? And if he was really such a regular guy, why did he recommend an 'eatery' and not a plain old restaurant? Sorry, but there are other angles to consider here.
India Today
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Nostalgia alert! Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji's Hum Tum to re-release on May 16
Actors Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji's classic rom-com 'Hum Tum' is all set to re-release in the theatres on May 16. Originally released in 2004, the Kunal Kohli directorial was widely embraced for symbolising the OG romantic comedy of film showcases an engaging love story between Karan Kapoor, a cartoonist, and Rhea Prakash, who cross paths on a flight. Though they don't connect at first, luck brings them together to kindle a beautiful than Saif and Rani's emotional performances, the film's songs and narrative cemented 'Hum Tum' as a beloved rom-com among the film was inspired more by Annie Hall, directed by Woody Allen. 'Hum Tum' drastically altered the career of lead star Khan, who not only won commercial and critical acclaim for his act but a National Award romantic comedy starred Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji in the lead roles. Apart from the duo, the movie also featured the late Rishi Kapoor, Kirron Kher, Rati Agnihotri and Abhishek Bachchan, among others, in pivotal roles.
The Guardian
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘A loose-limbed trifle': why Manhattan Murder Mystery is my feelgood movie
Some sounds are immediately comforting. Gulls, trains, a kettle. The opening chords of I Happen to Like New York, which, despite Bobby Short's vocals escalating in volume and emphasis ALARMINGLY FAST, signals the start of one of Woody Allen's loveliest little pictures. This 1993 comedy is like an unaffected Annie Hall – an impromptu reunion for Allen and Diane Keaton, playing essentially more functioning versions of those characters, 15 odd years on. Impromptu because although the first seeds of the idea came from an early draft of that 1977 film, the fairly elaborate plot was only properly written years later as a vehicle for Mia Farrow. She and Allen's split during the end of the shoot on their previous film, 1992's Husbands and Wives, kiboshed that plan. I say kiboshed – in fact, Farrow still wanted to star in Manhattan Murder Mystery, and turned up for costume fittings shortly after accusing Allen of sexually assaulting their adopted daughter. Indeed, those still committed to the notion of Allen's guilt, despite the two lengthy investigations that dismissed any charges being brought, may find further reading on the production backstory illuminating. Anyway, Keaton came on board, which proved helpful in all sorts of ways. Their co-star Anjelica Huston credited the actor with the set feeling 'oddly free of anxiety, introspection and pain' – quite something in the mobbed circumstances. And it transformed the central dynamic, too. Keaton is funnier than Farrow and so makes Allen the straight man – a mode in which I, at any rate, can find him more amenable than when going full-antic. Larry and Carol, a couple with a son at college (Zach Braff, making his debut), he in publishing, she thinking of starting a restaurant, are happy and affectionate but locked in a state of permanent bicker. The director Paul King, prepping the first Paddington film, made his stars, Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins, watch Manhattan Murder Mystery on repeat, the better to ape this particular friction. (For Paddington 2, he took the homage one step further, lifting a whole plot device, in which a villain is duped by a phone call to someone they think they know which is actually just half a dozen bumbling good guys with various dictaphones of covertly-taped audio. This is fine, because Paddington 2 is also delightful, and because Manhattan Murder Mystery's climax pays similar homage – if a bit more explicitly – to The Lady from Shanghai.) The story starts when the Lipton's next door neighbour, Lillian (Lynn Cohen), a fit woman in her late 60s, drops dead unexpectedly of a heart attack. Carol suspects something fishy after her husband, Paul (Jerry Adler, genially evil), seems surprisingly chipper afterwards – plus there's an inconsistency over the whereabouts of her remains. The scene in which Carol filches the key to Paul and Lillian's apartment to search the joint, only for Paul to return home unexpectedly, is a lo-fi masterpiece. Soundtracked by Bob Crosby & The Bob Cats' 1938 drum and bass (and whistling) classic Big Noise From Winnetka, it manages to be kinetic (the whole film is shot on hand-held cameras), amusing and breathlessly tense. In the face of Larry's lack of enthusiasm for her sleuthing – 'It was a coronary, folks! It was a coronary!' he protests in a borderline fourth wall break – Carol finds a much more willing wingman in their newly divorced friend, Ted, played by Alan Alda, in a miles more charming spin on his unctuous parallel role in Husbands and Wives, when he nicked Farrow from Allen. The scene in which Ted confesses his – entirely obvious – feelings for Carol at an afternoon wine tasting is romantic, weirdly real, beautifully played by both and then, abruptly, very exciting, as Carol suddenly spots the dead woman riding the midtown bus. Huston, meanwhile, plays Marcia, a devastatingly attractive author who may or may not have her sights on Larry, and is considerably better used by Allen than as the hysteric mistress in 1989's Crimes and Misdemeanours. Their lunch at the Café des Artistes, in which she instructs him in the finer points of poker is another breezy treat in a film full of highlights. Manhattan Murder Mystery is gripping and satisfying and emotionally astute enough to not be throwaway. But it is at heart a loose-limbed trifle: warm, nimble, smart, really endearing and properly funny. I can't think of the sequence in which Carol and an ever more panicky Larry pretend to be detectives at a seedy hotel without laughing; the scene in which they're then trapped in an elevator and a corpse falls through the ceiling hatch ('claustrophobia and a dead body – this is the neurotic's jackpot') is especially great. It's also a film that offers an appealing view of late middle age as a time for fun and adventure. Rather than slumping into something comfortable, the couple are spurred into spontaneity by the modestly horrible events. Something to emulate when the time comes, I always thought; to look forward to on the approach to dotage. Then I looked up how old Keaton was when they shot it: 46. Suddenly it feels a little less good. Manhattan Murder Mystery is available to rent digitally in the US and UK
See - Sada Elbalad
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
Shannen Doherty, Michelle Trachtenberg, Tony Todd Excluded from Oscars In Memoriam Tribute
Yara Sameh The 2025 Oscars got reflective with the traditional In Memoriam segment celebrating the entertainment figures who passed away over the past year as the names scrolled onscreen. Notable names in filmmaking including David Lynch, Maggie Smith, James Earl Jones, and Donald Sutherland were recognized during the emotional segment. 'Harriet the Spy' star Michelle Trachtenberg, who died the Wednesday before the Oscars, was not included in the In Memoriam segment. This year, actors including Tony Todd, Chance Perdomo, Alain Delon, 'Annie Hall' star Tony Roberts, Linda Lavin, Martin Mull, and 'Romeo and Juliet' star Olivia Hussey were also omitted. Gene Hackman, who was found dead with his wife on Wednesday, was remembered with a tribute from Morgan Freeman, who worked with the two-time Oscar winner on 'Unforgiven' and 'Under Suspicion.' The tribute reel unspooled to an orchestral presentation of Mozart's 'Requiem in D Minor,' known as 'Lacrimosa.' But no matter how many people are remembered, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences can't dedicate an unlimited amount of time to listing names and photos. So every year, a few notable entertainers are omitted, which often causes an outcry on social media. Other performers and creatives who were remembered during the segment include Gena Rowlands, Teri Garr, Shelley Duvall, Bob Newhart, John Amos, Roger Corman, and Robert Towne.
Fox News
08-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Tony Roberts, ‘Annie Hall' and ‘Serpico' actor, dead at 85
Tony Roberts, best known for his role in "Annie Hall" and "Serpico," has died. He was 85. The Tony-Award nominated actor's daughter Nicole Barley told The New York Times he died on Friday at his Manhattan home following complications with lung cancer. Roberts appeared in several Woody Allen movies — often as Allen's best friend. This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
