Vicky Cristina Barcelona

[abuck1220]

does woody know what a pathetic cliche of a person the studying abroad, don't-define-my-sexuality, wannabe photographer is or is he just kind of out of touch? despite that fairly shallow and annoying character, i liked this. all the other characters are so much more complex, it's hard to believe the same guy wrote scarlett's character.

[New Feeling]

It's like you guys complaining about Scarjo and her character in this don't understand that she's supposed to be a cliche, and a simple one at that.  Like Pete said.  At least that's the way I saw it, which is why I thought it was great.  I think it shows that he's in touch, because he's making movies about what people are really like, not what they're like in movies when they're played by movie stars.  Some people are complex, some arent, they're just confused.  That's Vicky.  or was it Christina?  I forget

[pete]

does woody know what a pathetic cliche of a person the studying abroad, don't-define-my-sexuality, wannabe photographer is or is he just kind of out of touch? despite that fairly shallow and annoying character, i liked this. all the other characters are so much more complex, it's hard to believe the same guy wrote scarlett's character.

I think you're out of touch by thinking that scarjo doesn't always play some sort of annoying corny character.

[hedwig]

i think abuck meant all of the other characters in VCB are more complex, not scarjo's other characters.

[tornado]

how were the other characters more complex? they were complex like...artists are complex, but really they seemed just as predictable as scar... for example, bardem and cruz's actual art had nothing to do with the movie...i don't even remember seeing cruz's paintings. no one ever made any shocking decisions outside of our assumptions of their general character types, it was just interesting to see how these people with different approaches to openness and passion could influence each other and how far they would allow themselves to be influenced.

at the time i thought the narrator was pretty pointless, but maybe it would have felt a lot different had he not been there with that somewhat distanced tone.

[MacGuffin]

I'll start by saying Scarlet was tolerable here, and that was only because she was finally playing a character age-appropriate (Match Point, for example, was a role far too mature for her). But the real revalation was Rebecca Hall. Where did she come from, and why isn't she doing more? She breathed life into her character and showed everything that Vicky was feeling. I found her character the most interesting because of Hall's performance. I thought this was Woody as close to the Woody of the 70's and 80's has been in a looooong time.

[matt35mm]

This film isn't even out in the UK yet.  It's opening in a week or something.  And I'm like, OH MY GOD I SAW THAT FUCKING 9 MONTHS AGO IN THE U.S.!  Like.

[Stefen]

Scarlett Johansson continues her streak of being a shitty actress in good movies. Woody Allen better be fucking her. Rebecca Hall's back must have been killing her after this shoot from having to carry Scarlett during all their scenes together. She should have charged her a fare. I hope Penelope Cruz gets Best Sup Act. Out of everyone nominated, she deserves it the most. No homo, but by the end, even I wanted to sleep with Javier Bardem.

Overall, it was entertaining. Kept me interested, I found it sexy, funny at times, and as a movie, it did what it's supposed to do. It's my second favorite Woody Allen flick this decade after Match Point, which Scarlett also could have ruined, but didn't. Has he even made anything else that was good this decade?

[New Feeling]

Has he even made anything else that was good this decade?

Cassandra's Dream and Melinda and Melinda are pretty good.

[WideShot]

I thought every film since Sweet and Lowdown was pretty good.  Some better than others.  I love how Woody has changed his whole storytelling style since the beginning, with some traits (his neurotic character for one), staying the same.

I found VCB to be superb.  A bit superficial and cliched but incredibly sexy.  Can't wait to see how Whatever Works.

[Alexandro]

Really, the one thing I never expected from th woodman is to make such a sexy film. This one is sexier than pretty much any other film that tries to be sexy, at least recently. Everythins is sensual and desirable. Me too man, I also wanted to sleep with everyone in this picture.

Anyway, it would be a mistake to not point out that the film really comes alive when Penelope and Javier talk in spanish. They seem to free themselves from the excessive respectability that actors suffer when working with Allen, something that usually ends up working against the films themselves. Sometimes Woody's dialogues sounds too much like woody's dialogues, and here, with a different language, obviously they felt more free to improvise and the results are evident.

Penelope was incredible here.

[WideShot]

SPOILERS BELOW

I agree but after Match Point I knew Allen still had some fire left down below, but even that film's early raw sexiness fleeted as the film went on, and wholly pales compared to the sustained sexuality of VCB.  it was quite funny because VCB even had one of those "how far does the rabbit hole go" moments when Cristina drops the Ménage à trois bomb which is just so sexy that I almost simultaneously combusted.  Storytelling wise it was great timing too because it was a nice release from the earlier tension between the three, and wondering exactly how it would work out with Cruz and Scarlett (which if it was following in the Match Point/Cassandra's Dream tradition, would have one killing the other, and I think this directly works against that.

The Spanish incorporation was realistic and wonderful, although IMDB forumites still talk about how they should have been speaking Catalan and not Spanish.

That's also not to take away from Vicky, but compared to the other storyline happening, it was a little tame, and to be quite honest, predictable.  Like, take away Cristina from the movie and it is suddenly just a romance save for the one moment in the bushes. I also didn't quite buy Rebecca Hall's acting through a lot of the film, but again, thats probably because I already knew her character type and what role she needed to play in the story to have it come off.

Penelope was indeed incredible, and perfect casting.  Although I wish we had at some point seen a little more of the "sensual" side not just the sexual and bitchy artist side.

Then there was the photography, which seems to be a refreshing change back to original Di Palma style, more vector lined photography especially with the wider shots and city backdrops.  Much more pleasing to the eye.  Coincidentally my friend didn't like the tobacco color grading.  I absolutely loved it.  So refreshing and different for an Allen film.

BTW I wanted to use the spoiler tag but it told me I didn't have permission.

[Stefen]

  You should post more.

[pete]

I dunno, I was pretty much in love with cristina - rebecca hall did enough with someone who should've been a lot more boring.  she was barely movie boring, undergoing a tiny struggle that someone like me will enjoy watching.  I actually found her to be a whole lot more ravishing and charismatic than scarjo, who, in my opinion, peaked at 8-Legged Freaks.  Rebecca Hall reminded me of those watchably lame characters that mia farrow and diane keaton used to play a lot back in his glory days.  People that you know are ultimately no fun, but it was fun watching them trying to sway our way in the meanwhile.  Am I making sense?  I'm talking about diane keaton in Manhattan primarily - you almost thought Woody could've transform her into someone more lively, but he couldn't.  I like it when Woody does things like that, 'cause it's always a revelation - even in real life too, when you break up with someone and realize she was never the person you wanted her to be - I find that in Woody's films sometimes and it always brings me solace.

[modage]

rebecca hall did enough with someone who should've been a lot more boring

i saw her on the street the other day.  i like her.