The 'Scoop' On Woody

The first trailer for Woody Allen's newest flick Scoop is online and in theaters, and it's just such a damn fun tease that I can't help but be excited for the potential of the final film.

Allen marked a return to form (the degree of which is a matter of great variance across his fan base) with 2005's Match Point, and appears to be on the brink of another hit. Two in a row? That's what we call a winning streak.

The common thread in the films? The lovely and talented Scarlett Johansson. If Allen has chosen a new muse, I applaud the decision and offer my sincere hope that the union doesn't go sour or stale.

Check out the fun for yourself with some screen captures below (the availability of production photos is nil at the moment), and view the trailer over here.

Great Expectations

This article really isn't very good at all – you're probably better off to stop reading right now, actually. I'm just warning you up front. I don’t want your expectations to get out of control.

Through many years of watching, enjoying, and – more often than not – disliking movies, I've noticed that the fate of some films is determined before they even begin production. The best example that I could come up with involves the three latest films set in a galaxy far, far away.

The first of these – “Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace” – was destined for box office success before George Lucas ever put pen to paper (though some would argue that's the point where the movie went wrong). In the three or four years between announcement and release, hype for the film grew to the point of total cultural saturation. Everybody and their brother wanted you to see this film, including Frito-Lay.

It came as a surprise to few, then, that the hundreds of moviegoers (and handful of Jedi Knights) attending midnight screenings left the theater with something short of an positive opinion concerning what they just saw. Following a media push unrivaled in recent memory, they really should not have been surprised - had Lucas delivered the finest “Star Wars” film to date, it would have still seemed to fall short.

Need proof? Six years (and another mediocre film) later, “Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith” opened to smaller fanfare and more conservative expectations. The result was not disappointment, but rather ferocious arguing over “Episode III's” rank among the trilogy. Given reasonable expectations, Lucas finally had his hit.

While it's obvious, then, that the media can hype a film beyond all reasonable expectations, that's not the only way such a thing can happen. Two years ago, I read a blurb on joblo.com about a film called “V For Vendetta.” The producers of the film had just announced Natalie Portman as their star and were set to begin filming in various cities across Europe. Little was said of the story except that Portman's character would become an unlikely ally to V, a mysterious and masked revolutionary, and that it was based on the graphic novel of the same name.

Instantly intrigued by the story, I mentally noted the release date of November 4, 2005 (easy, as it was the closest Friday to play on the tagline of the film: "Remember, remember the fifth of November."). I stumbled upon the graphic novel a few months later and, against my better judgment, purchased and read it. November could not come soon enough, now; I was hooked.

A release delay in the wake of the London subway bombings extended my wait to March 17, but nothing could suppress my anticipation. A few Super Bowl commercials secured its place as the must-see flick of the spring as the film entered the public consciousness. March 17, as you know, did come, and I was finally able to take in the film (after a small delay while I was in Detroit to cheer on the Mountaineers).

As you may have guessed, the film that I saw last week wasn't the film I was expecting; minor deviations from the graphic novel that I had liked so well served to annoy me enough that the minor flaws of the film seemed to pile too high for enjoyment. It was a good film, I finally decided, but I had hyped it to myself far too much and would have enjoyed it more had I not read the source material.

It's a hard problem to avoid in these days of bad movies – we're all so hungry for a good film that we'll get excited about pretty much any sliver of promise. Of the eighty-three 2005 releases I saw in theaters, I would consider watching less than a quarter of them a second time – any film that has any hope of success is one worth hyping.

Be careful what you wish for, however. You might just get it, and never even realize it.

Originally appeared in The Daily Athenaeum on March 28, 2005. © 2005 The Daily Athenaeum.