Annie Hall

Year:  1977

Director:  Woody Allen

Screenplay:  Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman

Starring:  Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Paul Simon, Carol Kane, Janet Margolin, Shelley Duvall, Christopher Walken, Colleen Dewhurst

Running Time:  93 minutes

Genre:  Comedy

In New York City, neurotic comedian Alvy Singer (Allen) and Annie Hall (Keaton), an aspiring singer form the Midwest embark on an on-again, off-again romance.

Woody Allen has made approximately 50 films in his career, many of which he not only writes and directs but also stars in.  His early films were pure comedies, where everything was about the jokes, and the plot was basically just a string to hang a series of gags on.  Most of them revolved around the neurotic, intellectual, weedy, uptown New Yorker Woody Allen character, that he had honed in his standup act, being thrust into unlikely situations.  By the end of the 1970s, however, Allen became interested in working with more substantial, dramatic plots, and indulging in some of his more philosophical interests.  Annie Hall is kind of a crossover film, while it is a comedy, it also has some more dramatic elements.  These days Woody Allen is something of a controversial figure, due to his private life, but his influence on American cinema is undeniable, and Annie Hall is probably the quintessential Woody Allen film.  If you have never seen any of his films, and are curious to give them a try, then this is probably the one to go for.  It is a very simple story, told in a very inventive way.  There are flashbacks, Woody Allen frequently breaks the forth wall and addresses the camera directly, in one scene Allen and Keaton are having a conversation and their thoughts appear as subtitles, there is even an animated sequence where Allen imagines himself dating the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).  Allen essentially plays the typical Woody Allen character.  Diane Keaton shines as Annie Hall, who is kind of an early example of the "manic pixie dream girl" stereotype, but the part is elevated by Keaton's performance.  Also in the cast is singer Paul Simon and early appearances from Christopher Walken as Annie's creepy brother, Dwayne,  Jeff Goldblum as an LA party guest on the phone to his guru, complaining that he has "lost his mantra", and a very early non-speaking appearance from Sigourney Weaver as one of Alvy's dates.  It is a very funny, well-constructed, clever film, and while it has inevitably dated, it is certainly one of Allen's finer, if not finest, works.

Diane Keaton and Woody Allen in Annie Hall

Communion

Year of Release: 1989
Director:  Philippe Mora
Screenplay:  Whitley Strieber, based on the book Communion by Whitley Strieber
Starring:  Christopher Walken, Lindsay Crouse, Frances Sternhagen, Terry Hanauer, Andreas Katsulas, Joel Carlson
Running Time:  105 minutes
Genre:  Science-fiction, horror

New York City, 1985:  Whitley Strieber (Walken) is a novelist living in Manhattan with his wife Anne (Crouse) and young son, Andrew (Carlson).  During a weekend away at their cabin in the woods, Strieber and Andrew experience a bizarre visitation.  Initially dismissing it as a bad dream, Strieber begins to experience bizarre recurring nightmares and displays increasingly irrational behaviour.

The film is based on Whitley Strieber's purportedly non-fiction 1987 bestseller describing his alleged abduction by aliens.  The book is probably best known now for it's front cover which is regarded as one of the most iconic images of the popular "Grey" aliens. Whether you believe that Strieber was really abducted by aliens, or that he was hallucinating, or that he just made the whole thing up, this film will not change your mind.  The film has some striking images, even if the special effects range from the serviceable to the pretty dire.  As Strieber, Walken acts as if he's alternatively in a domestic drama and a manic comedy (apparently, the real Whitley Strieber was very unhappy with Walken's portrayal of him), when he's writing he wears a hat and films himself doing animal impressions.  Another problem with casting Walken is that he is so intense he kind of unbalances the film, and is far scarier just being normal than any aliens.  Lindsay Crouse does well at trying to keep the nonsense grounded.  It's a frustrating film that is mostly pretty bad, but has some good moments.  It plays it's hand to early by showing the aliens too early, and is too ambitious for it's own good.  There are no explanations as to what the aliens want.  It's become something of a cult movie, which must be partly due to the scene where Christopher Walken does a dance with little blue aliens.
The movie Fire in the Sky (1993) is a better film that covers similar ground, as indeed do many episodes of The X-Files (1993-2002, 2016-2018).

Christopher Walken in Communion     

King of New York

Year of Release:  1990
Director:  Abel Ferrara
Screenplay:  Nicholas St. John
Starring:  Christopher Walken, David Caruso, Laurence Fishburne, Victor Argo, Wesley Snipes, Janet Julian
Running Time:  106 minutes
Genre:  Thriller, crime, gangster

Convicted drug lord Frank White (Walken) is released from prison, and immediately returns to New York City and sets about expanding his already vast criminal empire, making a bid for legitimacy by using the profits to help an underfunded inner city hospital.  However, White and his gang ruthlessly proceed to wipe out anyone who stands in their way and, as the body count rises, a group of police officers are determined to stop Frank, by any means necessary.

This is one of the best films from prolific director Abel Ferrara, a gritty, action-packed urban thriller, which rattles along with nary a dull moment.  Christopher Walken is effective in the lead, looking almost more ghostly than usual against his all black clothing and shadowy locations.  His Frank White is an interesting character, calm, cool, reasonable, soft-spoken, who can erupt with sudden, ferocious violence, an absolutely ruthless killer, who nevertheless has a strong social conscience and who claims that he has never killed an innocent person.  The film features several well-known actors in relatively early roles, including David Caruso, Laurence Fishburne (here billed as "Larry"), Wesley Snipes, and Steve Buscemi.  There are few female characters and they are given very little to do, except look pretty.  It contrasts the world of opulent hotel rooms, lavish galas and lunches in top-class restaurants, with the gritty mean streets, dark clubs and back rooms, and the film uses it's locations very effectively.  The film's frequent graphic violence may be off-putting for some viewers, but it is one of the best urban thrillers of the period.

Christopher Walken reflects in King of New York    

Wayne's World 2

Year: 1993
Director: Stephen Surjik
Screenplay: Mike Myers, Bonnie Turner and Terry Turner
Starring: Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Tia Carrere, Christopher Walken, Kim Basinger
Running Time: 95 minutes
Genre: Comedy

Summary: Aurora, Illinois: Wayne Campbell (Myers) hosts a local public-access TV show called Wayne's World with his best friend Garth Elgar (Carvey). Aside from his TV show, Wayne's main interests in life are his girlfriend Cassandra (Carrere) and heavy rock music. However he feels like his life lacks direction. One night, Wayne has a mystical dream where he encounters rock legend Jim Morrison (Michael A. Nickels) in the desert, who convinces Wayne to put on an open-air rock concert.
As the arrangements progress for the concert, which Wayne dubs "Waynestock" (after Woodstock), he discovers that Cassandra, who is the lead singer in a band, is being lured away to Los Angeles by her sleazy producer Bobby Cahn (Walken), who has a more than professional interest in her.
Meanwhile Garth meets an alluring woman (Basinger) who ropes him into a passionate relationship but is quickly revealed to have ulterior motives

Opinions: This movie is the sequel to the original Wayne's World (1992) which was in turn based on a series of short sketches on the comedy TV series Saturday Night Live. The movie uses the kind of scattershot comedy style where there are so many jokes thrown at the audience that even when some fall flat there are bound to be enough that stick enough to keep the laughs coming at a good rate. The frequent jokes about rock music from the sixties through to the eighties might go over the heads of some younger viewers, and also there are quite a few flat sections of the film, it is certainly not as consistently entertaining as the original. However, Wayne and Garth themselves are pretty much impossible to dislike and the movie is consistently engaging.
The cast all perform their parts well, and there is a lot of fun to be had from spotting the celebrity cameos, such as Drew Barrymore, Charlton Heston (as a "Good Actor") and the rock band Aerosmith.
While not as good as the original, this is still a fun film which provides plenty of laughs.

"Sleeping like this will add ten years to your life. I learned it from Keith Richards when I toured with the Stones. This may be the reason why Keith cannot be killed by conventional weapons."
- Roadie Del Preston (Ralph Brown) explains why he sleeps upside down in Wayne's World 2



Mike Myers and Dana Carvey in Wayne's World 2

The Prophecy

Year: 1995
Director: Gregory Widen
Screenplay: Gregory Widen
Starring: Christopher Walken, Elias Koteas, Virginia Madsen, Eric Stoltz, Viggo Mortensen
Running Time: 98 minutes
Genre: Horror, thriller, supernatural, religion

Summary: Just before he is to be ordained as a priest, Thomas Dagget (Koteas) experiences a nightmarish vision and loses his faith. Years later he is a homicide detective and assigned to the bizarre case of a corpse seemingly born with no eyes, and a hermaphrodite, he also has an ancient hand-written Bible with an extra chapter in the Book of Revelations. Translating the chapter, Dagget learns of a second war in Heaven due to some angels who were jealous of God elevating humanity over them. Dagget discovers that the leader of the rebel angels, the archangel Gabriel (Walken), who has an extreme disgust for humans - he refers to as "talking monkeys" - has arrived in a small Arizona town in search of an evil soul to use as a devestating weapon.

Opinions: This movie, which was also released as God's Army, is a striking mix of action, horror and theology. It benefits enormously from a very strong cast full of familiar faces from independent films, with Christopher Walken being a particular standout as the charismatic and malevolent archangel. It also provides a lead role for Elias Koteas, a talented and prolific actor who tends to be quite underrated. The film is well-written with the complex storyline unfolding with enough twists and turns to sustain interest and keep the viewer guessing without being unecessarily convoluted. It also has a strong thread of dark humour. Packed with originality and invention, it is certainly the best religious themed horror movie of recent years. The film's main problems are mainly down to it's low-budget, the special effects are at best adequate, although the film is wisely sparing in it's use of special effects, and it lacks a distinctive visual style, although some image are very effective - most notably a brief glimpse of Hell. Although the film was not a huge success on it's original release, it's reputation has grown and it has become something of a cult hit, and to date has been followed by four sequels.



Christopher Walken in The Prophecy