Review of Stardust Memories (1980) by Melvin W — 19 Dec 2011

Sandy Bates: You can't control life. It doesn't wind up perfectly. Only-only art you can control. Art and masturbation. Two areas in which I am an absolute expert. .

Stardust Memories isn't a movie that jumps to mind when you think about Woody Allen. It is nowhere near his best and actually may be my least favorite film of his. I found it unlikable in a lost every way. This is odd because it is Allen paying his respects to Fellini and one of my favorite movies, 8 1/2. But just because you use Fellini type images and elements of plot from 8 1/2, doesn't mean you are making a worthwhile movie. This is just a bore of a film and probably Allen's most annoying.

Sandy Bates is a talented director. He makes funny movies and when he decides to change direction and start making more serious pictures, he gets pressure from studio heads to stick to the comedy. While he stays at the Stardust Hotel, while attending a festival of his films, he has memories of the past and his loves. Along the way, we see him spend a great majority of his time fighting fans off who want to go him movie ideas and who want to shower him with praise for being such an intelligent filmmaker.

This whole experience got tedious after the first twenty minutes and became the most disappointing of any Woody Allen film I have ever seen. It isn't a movie I would ever recommend, but obviously people do like it, so I might just be crazy. I'll stick to Hannah and Her Sisters and Match Point; you can have this garbage.