Amazon.com Essentials:
If Interiors was Woody
Allen's Bergman movie, and Stardust Memories
was his Fellini movie, then you could say that Sleeper is his
Buster Keaton movie. Relying more on visual/conceptual/slapstick gags
than his trademark verbal wit, Sleeper is probably the funniest
of what would become known as Allen's "early, funny films" and a
milestone in his development as a director. Allen plays Miles Monroe,
cryogenically frozen in 1973 (he went into the hospital for an ulcer
operation) and unthawed 200 years later. Society has become a sterile,
Big Brother-controlled dystopia, and Miles joins the underground
resistance--joined by a pampered rich woman (Diane Keaton at her
bubbliest). Among the most famous gags are Miles's attempt to
impersonate a domestic-servant robot; the Orgasmatron, a futuristic
home appliance that provides instant pleasure; a McDonald's sign
boasting how-many-trillions served; and an inflatable suit that
provides the means for a quick getaway. The kooky unthawing scenes
were later blatantly (and admittedly) ripped off by Mike Myers in Austin Powers:
International Man of Mystery. --Jim Emerson
Amazon.com video review:
Starting with 1971's Bananas, Woody Allen's second film as
director,
this set of eight movies includes all of Allen's work as a director up to
1980, when he wrestled with his own popularity in the Fellini-esque
Stardust Memories, showcasing the distinctive arc of a filmmaker who
moved from lighthearted movies to more serious fare that still remains
breathtaking after 20 years. In between those two movies, there are
wonderful trips of comedy, tragedy and romance to be had. Everything You
Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask is a hilarious
set of vignettes based on the popular instructional manual, the most
notable a segment featuring Gene Wilder's infatuation with a female sheep.
The futuristic Sleeper and the underrated Love and Death
showcase Allen at his funniest, especially the latter, which tackles the
weighty subjects of Russian novels and Bergman films with adroit parody.
Allen's Oscar-winning Annie Hall is one of the most joyous (and
melancholy) romances ever made, with a star-making turn by Diane Keaton and
a witty screenplay (cowritten with Marshall Brickman) that remains one of
Allen's best. Allen did a 180 with the Bergman-esque Interiors, a
sometimes stilted drama that nonetheless presaged the dysfunctional-family
drama of films like Ordinary People and featured outstanding
performances by Geraldine Page and Mary Beth Hurt, as well as unparalleled
cinematography by Gordon Willis. The last two films in the set--the
romantic Manhattan and the acidic Stardust Memories--are
both gorgeously shot in black and white and represent Allen at the peak of
his creative powers, as he wrestles with the meaning of life in terms of
both love and art, albeit from different perspectives. Indispensable to any
film fan, this boxed set represents nothing less than a landmark of
American cinema. --Mark Englehart
