Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen, 2008)

[tavernier]

We all know Joe Queenan is a film expert.

[domino harvey]

Europe, please stop funding this man

Ultimate

[MadJack]

I believe that Joe Queenan was, in another thread, described as a 'smug, trite dildo'. So, so true.

Although that 'Hannah Montana & Her Sisters' remark did make me smile.

[MichaelB]

I believe that Joe Queenan was, in another thread, described as a 'smug, trite dildo'. So, so true.

I was almost about to post that link until I clocked the name of the author - and since I was appalled by his total musical illiteracy on Newsnight Review last month when he described Harrison Birtwistle's (brilliant) new opera as "just sound effects", I can't take anything he writes seriously ever again.

Mind you, his piece "Mickey Rourke For A Day" is still a classic.

[domino harvey]

I liked his piece about standing outside a theatre and offering refunds to people who saw Gone Fishin, but his writing tends to rest uneasily on Queenan's lowbrow "superiority" to his subjects, which rarely comes across as anything other than unchecked anti-intellectualism.

[Barmy]

Report from Cannes:

Scarlett Johansson's demands are as "bloated" as her chest. And to such an extent that she's in New York and not with costars Penelope Cruz and Rebecca Hall in Cannes promoting her third Woody Allen movie, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The branch of Warner Brothers responsible for distributing the film in France had spent weeks negotiating with Johansson's representatives about flying her to Cannes, reports the Daily Mail. But unlike Cruz and Hall, the 23-year-old diva wanted too much in the way of special and costly treatment, demanding her own exclusive make-up consultant at a cost of 20,000 Euros, and insisting on staying at a hotel 30 miles away from the festival. "Nobody cared she wasn't there," remarked a New York socialite who witnessed the 10-minute standing O the film received. "I think, while Woody's terribly fond of Scarlett," said one of the film's executives,"he was a little upset that she wasn't being a team player."

[Tom Hagen]

Well she does have that Tom Waits covers album coming out today to deal with . . .

[Antoine Doinel]

Report from Cannes:

Scarlett Johansson's demands are as "bloated" as her chest. And to such an extent that she's in New York and not with costars Penelope Cruz and Rebecca Hall in Cannes promoting her third Woody Allen movie, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The branch of Warner Brothers responsible for distributing the film in France had spent weeks negotiating with Johansson's representatives about flying her to Cannes, reports the Daily Mail. But unlike Cruz and Hall, the 23-year-old diva wanted too much in the way of special and costly treatment, demanding her own exclusive make-up consultant at a cost of 20,000 Euros, and insisting on staying at a hotel 30 miles away from the festival. "Nobody cared she wasn't there," remarked a New York socialite who witnessed the 10-minute standing O the film received. "I think, while Woody's terribly fond of Scarlett," said one of the film's executives,"he was a little upset that she wasn't being a team player."

I love how one of the two sources on this story is an unnamed New York "socialite". And I don't see how it's a surprise the ScarJo doesn't want to stay in the midst of the festival where she can be hounded at all hours by papparazi and journalists. Frankly, they'll probably save money by booking her away from the Croisette.

[tavernier]

Well she does have that Tom Waits covers album coming out today to deal with . . .

Jon Pareles in The NY Times:

As workarounds go, Scarlett Johansson’s collection of Tom Waits songs, “Anywhere I Lay My Head” (Periwinkle/Rhino) verges on the heroic. That hero is the producer, Dave Sitek, the guitarist from TV on the Radio. He and Ms. Johansson mostly chose tales of traveling and wanderlust, name-checking places from New Orleans to Melbourne. There’s no danger of imitation. Mr. Sitek relocates Mr. Waits’s sparse, earthy songs (and one with Ms. Johansson’s lyrics to Mr. Sitek’s music) in crystalline, synthetic edifices that shimmer and pulsate and plink. The arrangements can evoke music boxes, the Beach Boys, Abba, Phil Spector, Stereolab and the Velvet Underground, and they conjure up dizzying, echoey dreamscapes around Ms. Johannson’s low voice, which is strangely inexpressive. Isn’t she an actress? Mr. Waits has reportedly approved the album, perhaps because it makes his own gravelly growl sound eloquent.

[Cold Bishop]

From what I've heard of the album, it would have been great if it had an actual singer behind the songs. Dave Sitek's work is great, and of course, they're Tom Waits songs, but Johansson's singing just isn't there, which is a shame, since the album could have been a great cover album with just a slightly better singer.

"I Don't Want to Grow Up" is great, and one of the few instances where her voice kind of works.

[Barmy]

Can we please get back to discussing ScarJoGate? If the Croisette is good enough for PeCru to stay at, why isn't it good enough for ScarJo? This portly nonactress (and, apparently, nonsinger) has ideas WAY above her station.

[Barmy]

[colinr0380]

I love how one of the two sources on this story is an unnamed New York "socialite".

Could it be Herr Schreck?

[Polybius]

I believe that Joe Queenan was, in another thread, described as a 'smug, trite dildo'. So, so true.

Although that 'Hannah Montana & Her Sisters' remark did make me smile.

I also compared him to his lookalike, Bill Maher, after hanging the sex toy reference on him. Like Maher, he's nowhere near as smart and funny as he clearly fancies himself, but he can occasionally stumble on the odd sharp remark. It's just beyond his capacity to sustain that past a few sentences.

The worst part of all of this, to me, is to see his byline in The Guardian. His style is more New York Post, or maybe Entertainment Weekly.

[Jeff]

poster

[domino harvey]

It looks like an Urban Outfitters catalog. And wait, PG-13? #-o

[Barmy]

who is the director?

[Antoine Doinel]

Who came up with the tagline? The Love Guru?

Here's the trailer for Anton Chigurgh Has A Three Way.

[Cold Bishop]

These recent Woody films don't really work well as trailers.

[AWA]

Once again, I can't help but feel the American trailer just spoiled the whole movie by just offering a summary of the entire thing in two minutes. Yet another brain crap from the powers that be in America who reduce the standards of the American public by assuming this is the only thing that can make them interested in watching a new film.

[Dylan]

Soundtrack Press Release:

Telarc Releases Soundtrack to New Woody Allen Film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Barcelona has long been considered one of the most romantic cities in the world – a place where the human heart has been known to explore new and uncharted territory, leaving any preconceptions about passion and romance forever changed. The city’s timeless mystique makes it the perfect setting for director Woody Allen’s newest film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, a breezy romantic comedy starring Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson.

Two young American women, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Johansson) come to Barcelona for a summer holiday. Vicky is sensible and engaged to be married; Cristina is emotionally and sexually adventurous. In Barcelona, they’re drawn into a series of unconventional romantic entanglements with Juan Antonio (Bardem), a charismatic painter, who is still involved with his tempestuous ex-wife, Maria Elena (Cruz). Set against the luscious Mediterranean sensuality of Barcelona, Vicky Cristina Barcelona is Woody Allen’s funny and open-minded celebration of love in all its configurations.

The film’s eclectic mix of music reflects the storyline’s passionate yet lighthearted tone. The bouncy, Spanish-sung title song, “Barcelona,” was written and recorded by Giulia y los Tellarini, a little-known indie band from Barcelona. Acting on a whim, the girlfriend of one of the band members sent a copy of the band’s first album, Eusibio, to Allen at his hotel during the shooting of Vicky Cristina Barcelona. “I must admit that the second I heard it,” says Allen, “I knew it was perfect for my film.”

Initial attempts by Allen’s management to contact the band via their MySpace page were met with skepticism. “I thought it was a joke,” said lead singer Giulia Tellarini in a recent Billboard interview. “I didn’t think something like this could happen.” Giulia y los Tellarini’s other contribution to the soundtrack is the more pensive and sultry “La Ley Del Retiro,” also from Eusibio.

As might be expected from a collection of Spanish music, instrumental guitar pieces make up the lion’s share of the soundtrack. Guitarist Juan Serrano, whose reputation as a flamenco virtuoso spans six decades, delivers the churning and complex “Gorrión” early in the set, followed much later by the equally intricate closer, “Entre Olas.”

Other noteworthy performers include Paco de Lucia, whose “Entre Dos Aguas” opens with a simple and casual guitar/percussion arrangement that eventually segues into something much more fiery and ambitious, and Emilio de Benito, who gives a thoughtful reading of the Isaac Albeniz guitar classic, “Granada.”

The Biel Ballester Trio creates an infectious chugging guitar rhythm on “When I Was a Boy,” but later takes a more melodic approach on “Your Shining Eyes.” In contrast, Juan Quesada’s smooth, easygoing “Asturias” is just this side of hypnotic.

“I knew I wanted Spanish music for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, but I didn’t know any Spanish music,” says Allen. “I nosed around and picked up a few stray items here and there, and by compiling the tunes of a few known players and composers with the tunes of relative unknowns, found myself with one of the most lovely scores in all of my films. It’s an eclectic mix, to be sure, but mostly Spanish and reflecting the feeling of Spain – or certainly Barcelona as I’ve portrayed it.”

TRACKLISTING
1. Barcelona
2. Gorrion
3. Entre Dos Aguas
4. El Noi De La Mare
5. Granada
6. La Ley Del Retiro
7. When I Was A Boy
8. Big Brother
9. Asturias
10. Your Shining Eyes
11. Entre Olas

So, I'm absolutely ecstatic about seeing this next week! Also, it's opening on an estimated 700+ screens across America, making this the widest distribution of a Woody Allen film ever.

[domino harvey]

Is that more than Scoop played on?

[Dylan]

Is that more than Scoop played on?

According to Box Office Mojo for Scoop:

Widest Release: 541 theaters

[swo17]

Never underestimate the box office draw of lesbian chic.

[Fielding]

So, I'm absolutely ecstatic about seeing this next week! Also, it's opening on an estimated 700+ screens across America, making this the widest distribution of a Woody Allen film ever.

No, it's not. The Dreamworks films got wider releases. Small Time Crooks was on 886, Curse of the Jade Scorpion was on 909, Hollywood Ending was on 772, and Anything Else was on a whopping 1,033.

But 700 is still very good for a Woody film. After all, Match Point was on just over 500 and did very well.