With "A Rainy Day in New York" Being Shelved, is this the End of Woody Allen's Career?

Woody Allen

Whether or not you like him, there is one thing apparent: Woody Allen is one of the most prolific filmmakers of the past 50 years. With limited exceptions, he has stuck a movie-a-year release schedule since the 1970's and has earned four Oscars for his writing and a Best Picture win for the romantic comedy Annie Hall. With all of this said, he has once again fallen under fire for an old scandal regarding sexual allegations against his daughter Dylan Farrow. With the Me Too and Time's Up movements causing The Academy to kick out other members with notorious reputations Harvey Weinstein and Roman Polanski, one has to wonder if Allen's days are numbered. Considering that Amazon has shelved his next film, A Rainy Day in New York, and his previous film, Wonder Wheel, was a legitimate Failed Oscar Campaign contender, it does seem like maybe just maybe this is the end of his career.

The Oscars Remove Cosby, Polanski from Membership

Roman Polanski

With the Me Too and Times Up movements taking a hold over the movie industry, there's been a lot that I've unfortunately not covered during my hiatus. There have been rules set in place for on set conduct, as well as the news that Bill Cosby has been found guilty of sexual assault in court. Which leads to an interesting point that shows a major shift in The Academy of recent. It looks like the talk is more than just hyperbole. The change is going to come fast, coming for those who have used their influence for wrongdoing within the industry for decades. Among the first two to go are Cosby and Oscar-winning filmmaker Roman Polanski. It only raises the question as to who's next, and whether The Academy will be able to fully change. 

Failed Oscar Campaigns: The Weinstein Company

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Wonder Wheel" (2017)

Scene from Wonder Wheel

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

The First "Wonder Wheel" Trailer Takes Woody Allen for a Beautiful, Magical Spin on Coney Island

Scene from Wonder Wheel

It seems like no year is complete without a new film from Woody Allen. Last year marked the first since the early 90's to feature two (Cafe Society and the "limited series" Crisis In Six Scenes). Still, it's been awhile since he's released an out and out hit. With Wonder Wheel, he looks to be making a return to the awards race with a film that potentially puts Kate Winslet into the Best Actress race. Based on the first trailer, it looks like the odds are more than in her favor. It also helps that this is also one of his best looking movies in years and one of the most promising since Blue Jasmine, which was his last movie to receive Oscar consideration. All things are looking up in the first trailer, which looks to at least be his most upbeat and accessible movie in awhile.

A Look at Woody Allen and Separating the Art and the Artist

Woody Allen

While my main goal on this blog is to not get too political, it's hard sometimes to avoid discussing certain things. If you're anyone who follows the media circuit, you'll know that this was a big day for Woody Allen. For starters, his new film Cafe Society opened Cannes. However, it was overshadowed by a variety of events including Ronan Farrow's excellent piece regarding the media's handling of Allen's own molestation charges. This has raised the obvious statement, and one when pieced together with a recent interview that suggested that he saved his wife and adopted daughter (the same person) Soon-Yi from misery, is that he's a creepy pervert. Here's my opinion: I acknowledge that all of this really does it make more conflicting for me to like his work, but it's also harder to not admit that I still like his work. It's time that I discuss the unfortunate deed of separating the artist from the artist.

My 10 Favorite Double Digit Oscar Nominees

Chris Rock

Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially getting close to one of the biggest days in every Oscar season: the nominations! That's right. In 10 days, we will be informed on every nominee for this year's festivities. While I intend to make a predictions list, I am choosing to celebrate the last 10 days of uncertainty by paying tribute to a different kind of double digits. That's right, I'm going to pay tribute to the nominees and winners of Academy Award history who have earned 10 or more moments of recognition. While it was hard to whittle down the list (sorry Edith Head fans), these are the ones that I like the most and feel are more than deserving of their legacies. This category will look at everyone beyond acting that has been nominated, so expect a nice and diverse crowd.

My Top 10 Favorite Woody Allen Movies

Left to right: Woody Allen and Meryl Streep in Manhattan

Love him or hate him (I'm more in the former camp), Woody Allen has remained one of the most prolific and distinguished directors in American comedy. From his earliest days writing for Your Show of Shows to his later successes with films such as Annie Hall and Manhattan, he has made an enviable career with a film-a-year schedule that means that he has more misses, but his hits aren't without mention. Today marks the multi-hyphenate artist's 80th birthday, and with that, I am going to share my personal Top 10 favorites. Keep in mind that while I have seen 24 of his films, that's only half of his impressive total - meaning that I likely haven't seen all of the greats. If I'm missing one that's more obscure, please feel free to reference it in the comments section.

The Oscar Buzz Celebrates Its Third Anniversary!

Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu

Looks like we've made it through another year. Today marks the third anniversary since the launch of The Oscar Buzz. So much continues to happen in each year that makes me grateful to have this as an outlet. One of the highlights was expanding my coverage to include occasional dives into Oscar history as well as various think pieces that has inspired more frequent audience participation. I hope in the year ahead to achieve the same amount of success, increasing the output along the way. To commemorate this anniversary, I keep true to past years by establishing a theme. This year, I have chosen to tackle the "triple threat." More specifically, I am going to list 20 great films in which there is someone involved who acted, directed, and wrote at least a portion of the script. It's a lot harder than you'd think.

Check This Out: The Academy Remembers 9/11

Tom Cruise

On this date in 2001, a major tragedy struck America in which two planes flew into The Twin Towers. From there, uncertainty arose and the future didn't look as optimistic as it once did. For many, it was a question as to when we could laugh and enjoy ourselves again. For the state of New York especially, the involvement of Mayor Giuliani was crucial and the weeks and months surrounding that day was bleak. Thankfully, with his involvement on a Saturday Night Live episode, the world was able to persevere. Even The Oscars had that same question arise when it came to their 2002 ceremony: should they continue? They did, with a few surprising, moving tributes to film and the state in general.

Films to Watch Out For From This Year's Cannes Festival

As the case with every year, the Cannes Film Festival remains the peak of international cinema. More than Sundance or Toronto International Film Festival, the award embodies a prestige that few other awards can get. In a long and storied run, the festival has awarded some of the finest in world cinema including last year's winner Winters Sleep and the previous year's more successful Blue is the Warmest Color. With the festival now wrapped up, it feels like as good of a time as any to look back on the few films that may likely be worth checking out when they finally arrive stateside. 

Birthday Take: Sally Hawkins in "Blue Jasmine" (2013)

Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine

Welcome to The Birthday Take, a column dedicated to celebrating Oscar nominees and winners' birthdays by paying tribute to the work that got them noticed. This isn't meant to be an exhaustive retrospective, but more of a highlight of one nominated work that makes them noteworthy. The column will run whenever there is a birthday and will hopefully give a dense exploration of the finest performances and techniques applied to film. So please join me as we blow out the candles and dig into the delicious substance.

Nothing But the Best: "Annie Hall" (1977)

Left to right: Diane Keaton and Woody Allen

Welcome to the series Nothing But the Best in which I chronicle all of the Academy Award Best Picture winners as they celebrate their anniversaries. Instead of going in chronological order, this series will be presented on each film's anniversary and will feature personal opinions as well as facts regarding its legacy and behind the scenes information. The goal is to create an in depth essay for each film while looking not only how the medium progressed, but how the film is integral to pop culture. In some cases, it will be easy. Others not so much. Without further ado, let's start the show.

The Directors Project: #1 - Woody Allen

Scene from Cinema Paradiso

With the many lists and essays written on the subject of film, there has been one thing that The Oscar Buzz has tried to understand: Who is my favorite of the film world? For 10 weeks this summer, I will be exploring this with a countdown of the Top 50 names based on a numerical ranking of ratings from various sources, the following is a list of directors who rank above everyone else. With occasional upsets, this is intended as both a discussion opener as well as a better understanding of me as a film critic and fan. Please enjoy and leave any comments you have regarding the entry's selection.

Review: "Magic in the Moonlight" is a Delightfully Familiar Film from Woody Allen

Left to right: Emma Stone and Colin Firth

Over the decades, director Woody Allen has made an impressive career out of mixing philosophy with jazz and bites of small, intellectual humor. His plots may often be pointless or not even thought out, but his consistency in overall quality is something to be amazed about. He is one of the most reliable directors out there, provided that you love what he dishes out. Following last year's phenomenal Blue Jasmine is more of the same in Magic in the Moonlight in which a magician debunking a psychic attempts to become a commentary on religion. The plot isn't all that amazing, but thanks to Allen's penchant gift for screenwriting, it doesn't matter. It is whimsical and funny in all of the predictable ways.

A Closer Look at the Best Original Screenplay Nominees

Now that we have covered the acting fields, it is time to look at the constructs of what makes those performances pop. First up is the Best Original Screenplay category that mixes modernist sci-fi (Her) with the AIDS epidemic (Dallas Buyers Club) and classy cons (American Hustle). It may even arguably be more interesting than the Best Adapted Screenplay category, as almost every selection on here provides an alternative view of American culture and chooses to explore the bigger themes of our lives. This is where the race becomes less solidified and the nominees are equally up for debate. Even then, this category is rather impressive and reflects what made 2013 a solid year for films.

Review: "Blue Jasmine" is One of the Most Creatively Twisted Woody Allen Film in Years

Cate Blanchett

In Annie Hall, Woody Allen famously said about people in Hollywood: "They don't throw their garbage away, they turn it into television shows." In a sense, the director's career has almost seemed to be a huge tirade against the west coast lifestyle. His films were always famously shot in New York or later on Europe. With the announcement that his latest film Blue Jasmine would be taking place on the coast he had so long chosen to ignore, it almost seemed like a resurgence for the American filmmaker to make something equivalent to the west coast as his films like Manhattan did for the east. In a way, it does live up to Allen's vision as predicted in Annie Hall. It is by no means a flattering vision.

Will "Blue Jasmine" Spice Up the Oscar Race?

Cate Blanchett

*I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has been reading my work. As of this piece, I have published 100 entries. Quite a milestone and I hope to do a lot more as the months drag on.


For most cinephiles, the gift of a Woody Allen movie every year comes as a mixed bag. Sometimes it produces gems, and others end up awkwardly. That is the pain of releasing a film annually, though it has resulted in some exciting prospects, including Vicky Christina Barcelona and Midnight in Paris. With Allen's latest film, Blue Jasmine, he tackles a new place and a new coast: San Francisco. With an eclectic cast and a new location, is it possible for the savant to strike inspiration once again from someplace new?