{"id":13314,"date":"2016-10-28T15:07:05","date_gmt":"2016-10-28T22:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=13314"},"modified":"2016-10-28T15:07:37","modified_gmt":"2016-10-28T22:07:37","slug":"review-cafesociety-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2016\/10\/review-cafesociety-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Cafe Society BD + Screen Caps"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Caf\u00e9 Society<\/em><\/strong> is perhaps one of Woody Allen\u2019s weaker films though it is at least watchable if only for Jesse Eisenberg who now appears to be Allen\u2019s pick to play the neurotic Jewish character he perfected back in the day. This might be worth a rental particularly if you generally like most of Allen\u2019s works.<\/p>\n

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Cafe Society<\/span>
\n(2016)<\/span>
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Genre(s): <\/strong>Drama, Comedy, Romance
\nLionsgate | PG13 \u2013 96 min. \u2013 $39.99 | October 18, 2016<\/p>\n

Date Published:<\/strong> 10\/28\/2016 | Author:<\/strong> The Movieman<\/span><\/p>\n

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MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/u>Directed by: <\/strong>Woody Allen
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Woody Allen (written by)
\nCast: <\/strong>Jeannie Berlin, Steve Carell, Jesse Eisenberg, Blake Lively, Parker Posey, Kristen Stewart, Corey Stoll, Ken Stott, Wood Allen (narrator)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DISC INFO:
\n<\/u>Features: <\/strong>Featurette, Gallery
\nDigital Copy: <\/strong>Yes
\nFormats Included: <\/strong>Blu-ray, DVD
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Audio: <\/strong>English (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
\nVideo: <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 2.00
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH, English, Spanish
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>NA
\nCodec: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A, B, C<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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THE MOVIE \u2014 3.0\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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\u201cLife is a comedy written by a sadistic comedy writer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woody Allen in all facets (acting, directing and writing) has been hit or miss for me for the entirety of his career with highlights being downright brilliant (I love Manhattan<\/em>, Annie Hall<\/em> and Match Point<\/em>) but his recent offerings have been, at best, average. Midnight in Paris<\/em> has been no doubt his best in years and enjoyed aspect of Irrational Man<\/em> and now we get Caf\u00e9 Society<\/em><\/strong>, a 1930s era Hollywood romantic-dramedy that is hardly terrible but at the same time, entirely forgettable though it does include many Woody-isms.<\/p>\n

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Bobby (JESSE EISENBERG) is a young, quirky and neurotic Jewish man (sounds familiar) who has moved out to California with hopes of the good life in Hollywood and where he reaches out to his uncle Phil Stern (STEVE CARELL), the head of a major studio. Bobby gets a menial job as a gopher working for his uncle and makes friends with his secretary, Veronica aka Vonnie (KRISTEN STEWART) whom he immediately falls for.<\/p>\n

Of course, there\u2019s a catch. Vonnie reveals she has a boyfriend but unbeknownst to Bobby, she\u2019s having an affair with his married uncle. And soon enough she finds herself torn between the two after Phil breaks up and she falls for Bobby. Things get even more complicated once Bobby and Phil find out about one another and ultimately Vonnie must make a choice especially after Phil does leave his wife.<\/p>\n

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The film kind of diverges to a B-side type of story going back to Bobby\u2019s home in the Bronx where we meet his eccentric family: father Marty (KEN STOTT), mother Rose (JEANNIE BERLIN), sister Evelyn (SARI LENNICK) and older brother, and town gangster, Ben (CORY STOLL). It\u2019s basically a dynamic we\u2019ve seen in many of Woody Allen\u2019s other movies and as with Eisenberg, who is now playing proxy to Allen, it\u2019s almost Allen-lite in some regard. Funny enough, I actually found Ben\u2019s story, albeit it is the typical criminal character, more interesting than the main plot and comedic love triangle thanks to Cory Stoll\u2019s fun performance.<\/p>\n

As far as the main cast are concerned, however, Jesse Eisenberg actually isn\u2019t bad as the idiosyncratic leading man and he reunites with Kristen Stewart now for a third time following Adventureland<\/em> and American Ultra<\/em> where, at least for the latter, I found them to be a more believable couple whereas in this film, I never quite found Stewart that alluring, at least to the point there\u2019d be a tug of war for her affections. It could very well be the material as Stewart actually isn\u2019t a bad actress, but she does need a better screenplay to work off of. And then there\u2019s Steve Carell whose character, as well as Carell\u2019s style, doesn\u2019t quite mesh with Allen\u2019s screenplay. He\u2019s not bad but isn\u2019t very funny either. Or even good on a dramatic level and Carell has proven he can play both effectively.<\/p>\n

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Woody Allen\u2019s Caf\u00e9 Society<\/em><\/strong> may not be a complete misfire but it certainly one of his weaker films and at times the story and characters he has written makes me wonder if he\u2019s a shell of what he once was. While Midnight in Paris<\/em> was a damn good flick, some of his more recent offerings also fell short and this newest one is no different. That said, I wouldn\u2019t count him out from writing and directing another winner down the line.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 1.0\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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This release comes with a matted slip cover<\/strong> and inside is a code for the Digital HD<\/u><\/strong> copy. Features-wise, it\u2019s light with only a On the Red Carpet (2:13; HD)<\/u><\/strong> featurette and a Photo Gallery<\/u><\/strong>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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VIDEO \u2013 4.5\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Lionsgate releases Caf\u00e9 Society<\/em><\/strong> onto Blu-ray presented with an AVC encoded 1080p high-definition transfer in its original 2.00 widescreen aspect ratio. If Allen can do one thing, he certainly knows how to shoot historical set pieces and while this isn\u2019t a bright looking movie as the tinge is more toward the gold spectrum yet detail is still sharp and there were no noticeable artifacting, aliasing or other flaws.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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AUDIO \u2013 3.5\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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The disc comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which almost sounds like stereo with some minor ambient audio coming out of the rear channels. But being this is almost entirely a dialogue-driven movie, the bulk of the sound was coming out of the center speaker and in that regard, it\u2019s crisp and clean throughout.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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OVERALL \u2013 2.5\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Overall, Caf\u00e9 Society<\/em><\/strong> is perhaps one of Woody Allen\u2019s weaker films though it is at least watchable if only for Jesse Eisenberg who now appears to be Allen\u2019s pick to play the neurotic Jewish character he perfected back in the day. This might be worth a rental particularly if you generally like most of Allen\u2019s works. The Blu-ray released through Lionsgate offers good video, so-so audio but limited features.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers<\/strong>.
\nThese are only here to give an idea of the movie\u2019s video quality and may not be truly representative of it.<\/p>\n