February Film Club

Greetings!  Thank you to everyone who made it out for Rashomon, we had a good turnout.  I'd also like to doubly thank those you who were willing to stick around for a bit of discussion.  I'm going to try and continue that trend so we can have some communication, or at least some sort of dialogue about these great films.  Discussions after the films will definitely continue for all those interested in participating.  I look forward to hearing your reactions.

So, February will be here in four days and that means a new film approaches.  For the month of February, we will be watching:

Manhattan

Directed by: Woody Allen

Manhattan is a 1979 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Woody Allen from his screenplay co-written with Marshall Brickman and produced by Charles H. Joffe.  The film opens with a montage of images of Manhattan accompanied by George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.  Isaac Davis (Woody Allen) in introduced as a man writing a book about his love for New York City.  He is a twice-divorced, 42-year-old comedy writer for television dealing with the women in his life who quits his unfulfilling job.  He is dating Tracy (Mariel Hemingway), a 17-year-old girl attending the Dalton School.  His best friend, Yale Pollack (Michael Murray), married to Emily (Anne Byrne), is having an affair with Mary Wilkie (Diane Keaton).  Mary's ex-husband and former teacher, Jeremiah (Wallace Shawn), also appears.  Isaac's ex-wife Jill Davis (Meryl Streep) is writing a confessional book about their marriage.  Jill has also since come out of the closet as a lesbian and lives with her female partner Connie (Karen Ludwig).  Isaac himself ends up falling in love with Mary (Diane Keaton).

Manhattan was filmed in black-and-white.  The decision to shoot in black and white was to give New York City a "great look".  The film also features music composed by George Gershwin, including his arguably most famous musical piece, Rhapsody in Blue, which inspired the idea behind the film.  Allen described the film as a combination of his previous two films, Annie Hall and Interiors.

The film was met with widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for two Academy Awards:  Best Supporting Actress for Hemingway and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for Allen, although it lost both awards.  Often considered Allen's best film, it ranks 46th on AFI's list of top comedy films.  In 2001, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.  The film holds a 98% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rottentomatoes.com (Click for more info) based on 49 critical reviews.

This is one of my absolute favorite Woody Allen films, not quite as funny as Annie Hall but not quite as serious as Interiors, Manhattan is a wonderful blend of both.

We will be meeting Thursday, February 21st at 6:15pm

Hope to see you there!

Here's the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuU6XU0_Gfs