Post: #1

Woody Allen's latest movie "Blue Jasmine" is good all around. It stars Cate Blanchett as the lead. I suspect it will win her an Oscar.

It's about a Manhattan socialite who's completely broke after her Bernie Madoff-like cheating ex-husband got caught swindling. The Feds RICO her out of her assets and there she is alone and broke on the street. Down and out, and mildly crazy, she decides to meet up with her estranged sister Ginger who's her polar opposite: a folksy, fun-loving, divorced working-class woman who dates a mechanic. Until this moment the movie is almost exactly like the script of 'A streetcar named desire', but adds a layer with flashbacks showing how things used to be. We see Ginger and her ex-husband Augie visiting Jasmine and her swindler husband Hal (Alec Baldwin) in New York. They proudly tell how they won 200k $ in the lottery.

Quickly, Hal manages to swindle the money from a trusting Augie (we later learn). At first Augie was hesitant and wanted to use the money to start his own company/ nest egg. Despite this, he trusted Hal's seemingly financial sense. I especially like the role of Augie, played by Andrew Dice Clay, because he plays an honest working-class man, who loves his wife & means well, but gets completely fucked over. Augie isn't portrayed as the usual fool/dumb dad we usual see in sitcoms. Augie correctly sees through Jasmine's 'innocence', in the sense that she must have known about Hal's swindling, because she was married to the guy for years -- but chose to ignore Hal's wrongdoings because her life with Hal was -- before it broke down -- great (hypergamy alert!). Augie's got the best line in the whole movie, putting the stuck-up Jasmine into her place; "Some people, they don’t put things behind so easily." And with that line, he gives Jasmine a moral knock-out. For once, the working-class man is triumphant in the movies.

I also like how this movie shows the other side of the story of "The Wolf of Wall Street"; ordinary people who mistakenly trusted sociopath swindlers. The movie ends with Jasmine sitting in a park, alone, broke and going crazy, but I had zero sympathy for her plight.

It seems to me, Woody Allen's been incorporating sexual dynamics in his screenplays over the years, but, then again, maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just more awake for the message that was there all along.

Post: #2

Seems like a great movie, will definitely watch. Is it still around in theaters?

Post: #3

It is a good movie.

I downloaded it through torrents. It's out there.

Post: #4

I only started watching Woody Allen movies post-red pill. There are definitely a lot of interesting relationship dynamics in his movies. I was surprised since he seems like such a wimpering beta in real-life. In his movies he often plays a guy who has tons of neuroses but always games attractive, younger women by simply being cavalier, interesting, sarcastic/funny and accomplished. Pretty much how short, skinny Jewish men have been gaming hot blondes for centuries

Almost all of his movies involve infidelity and players. I recommend Husbands and Wives and Manhattan. Vicky Christina Barcelona should be required watching for all men. For all the others, I've found them very hit-or-miss. Sometimes his movies are great, others are complete bores and do nothing new or interesting.

As for Blue Jasmine I found it to be OK. Cate Blanchett does some awesome crazy acting. While I love Dice as a comic I thought he was pretty pointless in the movie. Not the character, but nothing about his performance was very good IMO. He says a few lines, looks/acts stiff when put next to Alec Baldwin and Blanchett. Dunno why they insisted on a non-actor for that part. Worth a watch for sure but the relationship stuff isn't too compelling.

Post: #5

I wasn't familiar w/ Andrew Dice Clay, but I thought he did a very good job of portraying your typical decent, yet prolish f#cked over beta hubby; I've personally known guys like him who were not brainy, well-mannered or cultivated but they are ten times the man any Pajamaboy will ever be. Augie's the guy who has to "man up" because he lost his nest egg and now has to go work in Alaska to do shitty hard work to make some money. Money he has to earn for himself, kids and ex.

Hypergamy is a big theme in the movie: Blanchett's character "Jasmine" is solely motivated to marry up. All through the movie she's looking down upon all sorts of men she deems below her (not always without reason..), but the real scumbag is her ex swindler husband Hal who cheated everyone out of their place in the sun without blinking twice. Whatever losers Augie, Chili, the dentist, etc. may be, they're miles above moral degenerates such as Hal. But we all know most women, motivated by Darwinian motives, tend to choose Hals over Augies, because the former can give them more wealth and excitement.

PS I liked VCB also. Many of Allen's movies are quite good.

Post: #6

Diane Keaton once said Woody Allen had balls of steel. Nebbishy and all, he's someone to emulate. He's the only working filmmaker today who does not have to show his script to the financiers or to the actors he casts—yet he gets the money and the actors he wants.

An object lesson for us all.

GL