The Oscar Project #50: Annie Hall (1977)

by Chris Marshall:

I went into this expecting to like Annie Hall. I really did. But while it had its moments, I wasn’t the biggest fan. I think that most of the problem is my aversion to Woody Allen himself. I’m willing to give him a chance—when my Director of the Week project starts, I’ll devote a week to him—but there’s just something about his on-screen persona that grates on me.

And I do think it’s just a persona. While there are undoubtedly similarities between Allen the human being and the characters he plays, here and elsewhere, I’ve heard that he’s not quite as crazy in real life. Then again, there was all that unpleasantness with his adopted daughter Soon-Yi, so there are still plenty of doubts about how nice of a guy he really is.

But I’m not in the business of criticizing a film based on the director/ac tor’s personal life[1]. There are plenty of examples of people who are infinitely more stupid in real life than their work is. My main problem with Annie Hall is that I just didn’t like any of the characters. I found both Alfie and Annie to be pretty annoying.

The Oscar Project #45: The Godfather (1972)

by Chris Marshall:

“I believe in America.”

This line, spoken by Amerigo Bonasera in a prelude to his request to Vito Corleone, opens The Godfather, and in a way, it is a summation of the film’s theme. America has been good to the Corleones. They have gained power and riches, even if they have had to resort to, shall we say, underhanded means to obtain it.

But it is a time of transition for the family. Vito is getting old, and the burgeoning drug trade threatens to destroy the existing paradigm. Vito wants no part of it; it’s a dangerous, dirty business.  Unfortunately, that’s the way of the future. Sonny understands this, and it seems like Tom Hagen understands it, but the Don refuses. And his word is law.

I’m breaking one of my general rules in this post by referring to characters without any introduction or any actor names, but I believe that for most people, they need no introduction. Even Roger Ebert has said that, despite knowing Robert Duvall well in real life, his first reaction upon seeing him on screen in this film is “Hey, that’s Tom Hagen.”