![\"StardustMemories_poster\"](\"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/StardustMemories_poster.jpg\")
It would’ve been morbidly amusing to sit in a packed house during the original theatrical release of Stardust Memories<\/a><\/strong>, a self-critical drama \/ black comedy, which didn’t offer the romance, lush music, and dreamy atmosphere of Manhattan<\/strong> (1979), and apparently pissed off some fans and snooty \/ overly emotional critics who expected More of the Same and received a javelin to the heart.<\/p>\nStardust<\/strong> works, but it is a jarring experience for those expecting fast zingers and absurd antics, and as I state twice in my review, it’s a film for the puzzled to revisit at a later time, knowing from first exposure it’s not a dry comedy.<\/p>\n I get a sense Allen worked out the idea as a short story before stretching it out into a feature film because it follows a solid structure that’s the antithesis of Stardust<\/strong>.<\/p>\n I also wonder if the cinema of Peter Watkins had any influence in the vivid recreations of faux newsreels and interviews, but being Allen, Zelig<\/strong> is also the tonal antithesis of Watkins’ brilliant (and justifiably bleak) The War Game<\/a><\/strong> (1965).<\/p>\n Then again, Allen may have been tickled by this vintage BBC short on’spaghetti trees’ that’s brilliant and utterly deadpan.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Zelig_poster\"](\"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Zelig_poster.jpg\")
To the other end is Zelig<\/a><\/strong> (1983), a technical masterpiece and seminal mockumentary that works because every ingredient is near-perfect. Without the vintage look and sound, the film would lose a bit of its grainy luminance, but it’s the script, direction, and performances that make this extremely odd tale of a ‘human chameleon’ so compelling.<\/p>\n