Hollywood Ending
The Woodman vs. “Star Wars”: Back in 1977, Woody Allen’s Annie Hall beat George Lucas’ Star Wars for the Best Picture Oscar. Now Allen is opening his funny but perilously slight Hollywood Ending in the same month as Lucas’ Clones. Whatever Oscar decides, the French are already in Allen’s corner. Hollywood Ending, in which Allen plays a washed-up filmmaker who directs his comeback movie while suffering from psychosomatic blindness, opened the elitist Cannes Film Festival on May 15th. And to kick their eccentricity up a notch, the French intellects — who famously worship Jerry Lewis — will celebrate Monsieur Adam Sandler, whose film Punch-Drunk Love will compete for the Cannes grand prize. The film, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia), is clearly more seriously intended than, say, Sandler’s Little Nicky. But what’s with zee French and these American comics? As Allen recently joked, “The subtitles must be incredibly good.” Maybe Lucas should try subtitles for Jar Jar.