New on DVD this week is the latest morality/crime thriller from Woody Allen Cassandra's Dream (2008) starring Colin Farrell, Ewan MacGregor and Tom Wilkinson. The Weinstein's played a release shell game with the theatrical release, finally dumping it in January's no-man land. The outcome was predictable: It became one of Woody's biggest flops only outperforming September (1987). Pity that, given that Woody had his biggest hit since the '80s with Match Point. Scoop seemed to benefit from that momentum.
One wonders how the Weinstein's will treat the far buzzier Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008)... which is currently due in August. Is there any momentum left from that Match Point resurgence?If you don't adjust for inflation, Woody's top 5 looks like this
- Hannah and Her Sisters (1986, Orion) $40
- Manhattan (1979, MGM) $39.9
- Annie Hall (1977, UA) $38.2
- Match Point (2005, Dreamworks) $23.1
- Love and Death (1975, UA) $20.1
Older Films: There's a Dario Argento Box Set for the devotees or the curious. You also have a new opportunity to see Cheng Pei-Pei (pictured right), who you'll remember as the old and evil Jade Fox in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, back when she was a deadly young thing in the influential wuxia landmark Come Drink With Me (1966)Also just out: The Air I Breathe, a four part ensemble story with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Forest Whitaker, Kevin Bacon and more; Cleaner with Samuel Jackson as an ex-cop who cleans crime scenes; Darfur Now which is that documentary starring Don Cheadle we've heard so much about; Rambo for the fourth time; FlashPoint an action flick starring Donnie Yen; Grace is Gone, John Cusack's strangely dumped-at-the-last-second Oscar bid as a widower who lost his wife in Iraq; and the Paul Schrader flick The Walker in which Woody Harrelson plays a gay escort of society women in DC.
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