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New York Stories

New York Stories (1989)

March. 10,1989
|
6.4
|
PG
| Drama Comedy Romance

Get ready for a wildly diverse, star-studded trilogy about life in the big city. One of the most-talked about films in years, New York Stories features the creative collaboration of three of America's most popular directors, Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola, and Woody Allen.

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Reviews

Colibel
1989/03/10

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

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FeistyUpper
1989/03/11

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

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Chirphymium
1989/03/12

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

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Salubfoto
1989/03/13

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

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SnoopyStyle
1989/03/14

This is three separate stories directed by three quintessential NY directors. The first "Life Lessons" is directed by Martin Scorsese. Lionel Dobie (Nick Nolte) is a successful artist unable to paint. His assistant Paulette (Rosanna Arquette) is moving on after their romance but he's still clinging on. Her presence fuels his jealousy and his paintings. Francis Ford Coppola directs the second part "Life Without Zoë" with school girl Zoë (Heather McComb) living in a luxury hotel. The final story "Oedipus Wrecks" is directed by Woody Allen. Sheldon (Woody Allen) brings his fiancé Lisa (Mia Farrow) to meet his overbearing mother (Mae Questel). His embarrassing mother disappears after a magic box trick.The Scorsese part is basically one dysfunctional co-dependent relationship. These characters don't change. It's a couple of grumpy people bouncing off of each other. I don't love this section but I do get the angry relationship. The Coppola section is just one rambling string of scenes. The little girl doesn't have enough charisma. There isn't enough fun or magic which is sorely needed in a story reminiscent of 'Eloise at the Plaza'. The Woody Allen section is the most fun. It's whimsical and mildly comical. It brings a smile to my face.

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itamarscomix
1989/03/15

New York Stories is so uneven that not only is it impossible to refer to it as one movie, it's impossible to treat it as a coherent anthology. Martin Scorsese's 'Life Lessons' is a interesting little drama piece, following After Hours and The King of Comedy in Marty's tackling less-obvious themes. The writing is uneven, but tremendous performances by Nolte and Arquette make it work. 4 stars.Coppola's 'Life Without Zoe' is ridiculously bad on each and every level, from the acting and writing to the ludicrous theme song. Unlike many, I don't think the blame lies entirely with Sofia Coppola, Francis's directorial work is sub-par here. 1 star.'Oedipus Wrecks' is, by itself, enough to make this essential viewing for Woody Allen fans at least, as it's classic Allen and possibly one of his finest works. Mae Questel (of Betty Boop and Popeye fame) is brilliant as Allen's mother. 5 stars.So, the only fair way to rate New York Stories is with a completely objective average, which comes in at 3.33 stars. If at all possible, watch the first and third segment and completely skip the second, and you'll get an enjoyable and not-too-long double feature.

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Baron Ronan Doyle
1989/03/16

Having first heard of New York Stories many moons ago, I was pleased to see it scheduled on TV last night. Eager to see it, an interesting collaborative project between three key directors of the New Hollywood movement, I even rushed home from a prior engagement.Three shorts banded together with the unifying setting of New York, New York Stories consists of: Life Lessons, Scorsese's tale of the relationship between an artist and his apprentice; Life Without Zoë, Coppola's take on the life of a child of wealthy parents, left to live alone in a luxurious hotel; Oedipus Wrecks, Allen's exploration of mother-son relationships.A distinct danger with films of this sort is in the directorial differences which can vastly disrupt the overall film's flow. Monumental shifts in tone can be quite disconcerting and often do a lot to detract from the effect of the piece as a whole. Lucky, then, that these directors all come from the same period, each counted among the upper echelons of those filmmakers who graduated from the 60s/70s "movie brat" generation. Not, that is to say, that there is a homogeneity to the shorts—each offers something distinct in terms of both narrative and tone—but rather that they are at least of similar minds and sensibilities. Scorsese's contribution is perhaps the most interesting of the three, a look at the artist culture that is so key to the New York of fiction. Nolte's artist is a classic tortured soul, channelling his torment into his canvas and creating a work that evolves and develops just as he fails to do so, trapped in a cycle of depression and dependency. Intelligently structured and driven by character depth, Life Lessons is a very solid start. Coppola's follows, showing us the life of the wealthy and privileged and seeming to comment upon the laissez-faire parenthood of the rich which develops their children so early into adulthood. What sounds an interesting idea with room for probing into a social issue turns into a ridiculous story of princesses and parties, set in a fairytale world complete with a happy family ending. It drags, it sags, and it asks us to fall in love with hideously uninteresting characters. Life Without Zoë is an appropriate title for what the audience will come to desire by the time it all ends. No thank you Francis, get off the stage. When he does, at last, it is Allen's turn. Having never before experienced the supposed wonders of Allen's comedic efforts, Oedipus Wrecks was the most highly anticipated of the three for me, and brought some very welcome laughs into the mix. Fantastic situational humour coupled with Allen's sublime comedic timing quickly steered it toward becoming the best of the bunch. It takes a rather disappointing bad turn along the way, but still maintains enough of a laugh factor to keep it from sinking. Not masterful, but quite, quite funny, and with a nice dash of comment on the issue at hand.The kind of idea that's interesting to see played out, New York Stories is neither as bad as its worst nor as good as its best. The Scorsese and the Allen each make for entertaining viewing, the former more substantial in its thematic depth, the latter more immediately thrilling in its hilarity. The Coppola pulls the standard down a stretch, really testing audience patience between the two infinitely better pieces. Much more three shorts banded together than a feature film, it's worth watching, but only just.

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mkw-5
1989/03/17

"Life Lessons" (Scorsese)-This is really different from the Scorsese we are used to see. This special form (=short episodes) seems to have given the directors some new possibilities and freedoms. The movie is great. Nick Nolte and Rosanna Arquette are absolutely perfect. The story is simple on the surface, but the characters are very well build and very realistic: They are both lovable, sympathetic and stupid and selfish at the same time. The characters are maybe the deepest and most multi-dimensional that I've ever seen in a Scorsese movie."Life Without Zoe" (Coppola)-Very interesting movie. The story is about rich people, a rich and well succeeded family. The movie shows that rich people are people also. Very specially directed and acted. Very interesting."Oedipus Wrecks" (Allen)-I don't know if Allen is a director or an artist at all. He don't have anything to say, at least in this short picture. He's again acting himself, and comically, not acting very good. He's a super-neurotic person that creates problems out of nothing. He doesn't seem to have anything else in his life than whining about nothing and making movies about that. This is his most boring work I've seen. OK, maybe he's done something good also. But this was so bad, so boring and uninteresting that I hardly could watch it even with fast forwarding.Overally, because the Scorsese's piece is so great, and the Coppola's piece also in it's own way, this episode movie was very good, and very interesting. Allen's part couldn't make the other parts worse. Recommended for everybody.

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