Whatever Works

John Waters Lists His Top 10 Films of 2009

by Ramses Flores    Posted: December 15th, 2009 at 9:30 am

Yesterday, we brought you Quentin Tarantino’s Top 8 Films of 2009 and today we have John Waters, another film buff/director, listing his best of the year. I always find anything that Waters writes or says to be entertaining and his thoughts on these ten films are no different.  Here’s what he thought were the Top 10 Films of 2009:

1. Import Export (Ulrich Seidl)
2. Antichrist (Lars von Trier)
3. In the Loop (Armando Iannucci)
4. World’s Greatest Dad (Bobcat Goldthwait)
5. Brüno (Larry Charles)
6. Lorna’s Silence (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)
7. Broken Embraces (Pedro Almodóvar)
8. The Baader Meinhof Complex (Uli Edel)
9. Whatever Works (Woody Allen)
10. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel)

To read Waters’ thoughts on each film, head over to ArtForum.

WHATEVER WORKS Blu-ray Review

by Andre Dellamorte    Posted: October 26th, 2009 at 4:19 pm

There are two things it’s hard to get away from when discussing Woody Allen: the first is that his output is so constant, there’s going to be winners mixed with losers. Over the last couple years, Allen’s talent has been scattershot to say the least, but then he might surprise you with a film like Match Point, or Vicki Christina Barcelona. Even his early funny period had some misfires, but that leads into the second point, which is that Allen has not been strong for a long time. You can never count him out, but the 21^st century is easily his weakest period of cinema. Whatever Works, however, was written a very long time ago, and it shows, so it combines early funny with later Woody. My review after the jump.

WHATEVER WORKS Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: July 4th, 2009 at 11:46 am

After forty-two films and the current rate of one film per year, Woody Allen remains his own greatest ally and foe.  His innate talent and ability coupled with his freedom to make a film entirely on his own terms with just about every professional actor willing to drop everything and work for him (except Nicole Kidman who couldn’t find a good movie with two hands a flashlight) is refreshing in an age of endless franchises and inevitable compromise to hit all four quadrants in a demographic.  Sadly, Allen’s greatest drawback is his insistence to make one film per year.  Perhaps his process works best at an accelerated rate but I feel that it forces him to retread and neglect the polish that would best serve his film.  His latest, “Whatever Works”, is a good film but could be great with just a little more time and effort. Thankfully, it’s not a disappointing and eye-rolling “been there, done that”.

Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood and Patricia Clarkson Interview WHATEVER WORKS

by Christina Radish    Posted: June 12th, 2009 at 4:50 pm

In the offbeat Woody Allen comedy Whatever Works, a crotchety misanthrope (Larry David) meets a naive, impressionable young runaway from the South (Evan Rachel Wood), and is confronted by her uptight parents (Patricia Clarkson and Ed Begley, Jr.), who arrive to rescue her.

After the failure of his career, his marriage and his suicide attempt, Boris Yellnikoff (David) spends his days irritating his friends with his never-ending tirades about the worthlessness of absolutely everything. A self-proclaimed genius who came close to winning a Nobel Prize for Quantum Mechanics, Boris fancies himself the only one who fully comprehends the meaningless of all human aspirations.

One night, Boris is approached by a young runaway, Melody St. Ann Celestine (Wood), who begs to be let into his apartment. From that moment, Melody becomes such a part of Boris’ life that the unlikely pair end up getting married, only to later uncouple and realign as they seek to fulfill their emotional needs.

This film sees Woody Allen return to a New York setting in fine form, as he illustrates how everyone must learn to be flexible and realistic because it’s whatever works that will get you through life.

Co-stars Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood and Patricia Clarkson recently did a press conference to speak about working with a director like Woody Allen. While there to promote the film, Larry David gave some hints as to what fans can expect from the upcoming season of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Evan Rachel Wood revealed that she’d just been fitted for the fangs that will help her bring the 400-year-old, gay Vampire Queen of Louisiana to life in the new season of True Blood.

Read what was said after the jump:

4 Clips from the new Woody Allen Movie WHATEVER WORKS

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: May 25th, 2009 at 10:54 pm

Opening June 19th is the new Woody Allen movie “Whatever Works”. This is the one where Larry David (“Seinfeld, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) plays the Woody character. I managed to see a screening at this year’s ShoWest and while it isn’t the best Woody Allen movie I’ve seen, there was plenty I liked. Also, it was great to see Woody return to his New York City roots after being in Europe with his last few films.

Anyway, we’ve been given a few clips from the film and you can watch them – along with the trailer – after the jump. Finally, here’s the full synopsis:

An eccentric New Yorker played by Larry David abandons his upper class life to lead a more bohemian existence. He meets a young girl from the south and her family and no two people seem to get along in the entanglements that follow. This is a comedy also starring Ed Begley Jr., Patricia Clarkson, Conleth Hill, Michael McKean, Evan Rachel Wood, and a number of other amusing types.

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