Katiousha

The new Woody film is neither a masterpiece nor is it bad - as some reviews here seem to claim. It is actually better than some of his recent films (i.e "Autumn in NY"). Parts of it reminded me of "Scoop" or even of the masterpiece that is "Manhattan Murder Mystery". Unfortunately without the humour and star actors of his older films. Although acting is decent and photography, script and directing are even better- it misses the quality and sparks that great stars have brought to Allen's films in the past turning a small-talk scene into something brilliant and funny or a personal impasse into tragedy.

For Allen fans it is very pleasant entertainment with some Hitchcockian touches and a nice Paris-in-the-autumn atmosphere.

The underlying "philosophical" motif of beleiving or not in the power of chance in life is rather superficially dealt with, rehashing the ideas of "Matchpoint". The ending could be more developed while the whole film seems at places to work on auto-pilot following similar plots of his previous films. However, as the "captain" here happens to be one of the greatest living directors who - despite his old age and the witch hunt against him- continues to offer us one film per year I can only say, thanks again Woody!

A beautiful and very interesting fiction film, the first one I have seen about or from Nagorno Karabakh. The narrative gradually acquires an immersive, poetic quality allowing the viewer to calmly observe a western engineer's efforts in trying to assess the possibility of opening the airport on the one hand and a young boy's daily wanderings trying to survive in a dry and unhospitable nearby area on the other.

War is recent and still not really over, one senses and violence can erupt at any time. But there is also tranquility as people and animals are getting on with their lives. And above all there is hope.

We need more of this kind of cinema and the West should listen to such diverse voices.

I couldn't disagree more with the bad reviews.This is a quiet film about a woman losing herself in her various roles as mother, wife, daughter, writer. It is also about communication (much like Lost in translation) and misunderstanding, about growing up and finding the confidence to define oneself as a woman apart from your father's shadow. In the end it is about love and relationships (also New York looks great). This is not a shallow film as some would have it, it is just not pretentious or full of pseudo-intellectual dialogue like most Baumbach or Ethan Hawke films. It's light -weight, real, tender and feminine and we need more of these. You can always rely on Bill Murray's charisma but Rashida Jones' sensitive performance is still the focus here.