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Scoop [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC)


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Clever And Funny.
Review date: 2008-10-14 Rating: 8 out of 10

Scarlet Johnasson and Woody Allen are two people trying to figure out the increasing deaths of young women by the Tarot Card Killer and one dead journalist reckons it's the handsome and very rich Hugh Jackman who may or may not be all his seems. She starts to fall for him while trying her hardest to find anything to link him to the murders and also not to lose her scoop. It's a very funny and clever story, lots of twists and turns. Everyone was very good and played their parts well, I'm glad I have seen it.

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Reviews


I say this in all sincerity....
Review date: 2008-04-28 Rating: 10 out of 10

This is not the angst-ridden 'Crimes and Misdemeanours' nor is it 'Annie Hall' but still it is sheer pleasure - the new Woody Allen murder mystery with the bizarre introduction.
Well, bizarre from some directors but not from our Woody.

Ian McShane, perfectly unkempt and rough looking, comes back to earth a few times as Joe Strombel, whose funeral provides us with the opening shot, to notify Sondra Pransky (Scarlett Johannson) that he has a perfect scoop for her, one which he would have loved to have had but unfortunately now that he has the disadvantage of being dead, he cannot use.

She is a wonderful, gauche young would-be reporter who sees the ghost of Strombel, and so does Sid Waterman (Woody Allen) and together they devise a scheme to expose Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman). There is some excellent acting from Woody Allen as the shy magician and later as the 'father' of Scarlett Johannson ' I wish you'd stop referring to me as the fruit of your loins.....'

Shades of 'Manhattan Murder Mystery' arise as they uncover more clues.
Some very funny dialogue, some wonderful shots of beautiful country houses, of Holland Park, the Grosvenor Hotel and of the Royal Albert Hall, and finally all is revealed.

After an accident in his Smart car, Sid Waterman joins the passengers on the Fellini-like ship of death rowed by the silent oarsman ( who could not be bribed by Joe Strombel) and assures them that what he says is ' said in all sincerity ' and to Grieg's 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' the credits come up.

Although some critics said that this is light and it lacks the substance of the earlier Woody Allen films, I feel that it is simply a departure from the norm which we have come to expect, but it is no less enjoyable for that.

The acting is good, the plot is interesting, the London backdrop is beautiful and the music - mostly Tchaikovsky, Strauss and Grieg is a pleasure.

This is a film which I would thoroughly recommend.

Val De Beer.


Hugely enjoyable Woody Allen romp
Review date: 2007-07-12 Rating: 8 out of 10

This second film of Woody Allen's Scarlett Johansson period sees his new muse playing a journalism student who encounters a ghost while participating in Allen's cheesy magic act. This ghost (the artist formerly known as Lovejoy, Ian McShane) gives Scarlett a scoop he's picked up in the afterlife - English businessman Hugh Jackman might be the infamous Tarot Card Killer. All Scarlett has to do now is team up with Woody and tell a bunch of lies to Jackman to get to the bottom of the story.

Several of Woody's recent films are strongly reminiscent of his earlier work, and in the case of Scoop the obvious precursor is Manhattan Murder Mystery. This one has the same lightness of tone and playful feel, a similar investigative framework, and plenty humour and charm. That's not to say it can't stand on its own two feet, because it actually does that very well, most notably because of a wonderful performance from Johansson, who's as funny here as I've ever seen her before, full of dweeby energy and osmosing (as you have to) quite a few of Allen's signature charactistics (she even wears glasses). Jackman is good, too, and Allen himself is ever-reliable as the same nervous wimp he always plays.

Of all the recent Woody films I've been watching lately, I think this one is the most genuinely enjoyable. It's a lot of fun and doesn't take itself too seriously, and the laughs come thick and fast. It's a shame this has yet to be released in the UK, but even so I highly recommend it to fans. Remember, this may be your only chance to see Woody Allen driving a SmartCar.

A Light Hearted Ghostly Murder Mystery
Review date: 2007-01-31 Rating: 8 out of 10



4.5 stars
"Orson Welles once said that a great artist does his best work in his 20s and his 70s. He didn't get a chance to prove it, but Woody Allen, who turned 70 in December, has released two films since reaching that milestone, and so far, he's two for two. For some, "Scoop" will be a comedown after "Match Point," which was meticulous in all its particulars, something "Scoop" decidedly is not. But "Scoop" has something "Match Point" didn't, something that none of Allen's films have had to quite this degree in 10 years. It's really, really funny" Mark Lasalle

Scarlett Johannsen and Woody Allen team up in this comedy/mystery and they have chemistry. Woody Allan plays a magic performer from Brooklyn known as the Great Slandini. Scarllett Johannsen is Sondra, a journalism student from New York. While Sondra is in the audience watching Slandini she is picked as a helper for one of his acts. While in a box being "dematerialized" she is visited by a ghost, Ian McShane- He was on a death boat off to his Heaven, when he learns the name of the Tarot Killer. A former journalist himself, he must get the goods on the killer, and he meets Sondra in the box. Wild, stange, yes, but it fits and it is humourous. The story takes off from there- Sondra and Saldini team up to find the killer, and the story is full of twists and turns and lots of water.

Woody Allen has his turn. One of the best has Allen declare he was born to the Jewish persuasion but later converted to Narcissism.
Woody Allen plays his stereotypes to the hilt. Sondra is a ditzy blonde, who immediately falls for the charm of Hugh Jackman, Peter. Sid, Woody Allen, is an old wind-bag, who talks Brooklynese "from the bottom of my heart" and "with all due respect".

"Allen is a good example of how success is defined in the art world: Do something surprising and zeitgeist-y early in your career, then rip yourself off forever. (Allen, who has been around for a very long time, has reached the point where he's also allowed to rip off others.) Whatever fresh cultural nerves his comedy touched 30 years ago have long limped off into the sunset." Carina Chocano

There isn't anything new in this Woody Allen comedy, at least nothing he has not done before. But it works, it is funny and smart and England has been very,very good to Woody. Recommended. prisrob 1-27-07




Direct from River Styx
Review date: 2007-01-08 Rating: 8 out of 10

A newsflash from the great beyond
Direct from River Styx
Delivered to a journalist
Through a magician's tricks

It seems that an aristocrat
May be the Tarot Killer
But don't look for the blood and gore
This ain't that type of thriller

The Great Splendini & the girl
Investigate the crime
The former is unwilling
But he gives in over time

She finds a way to infiltrate
And when his guard is down
Peter Lyman takes the bait
When she contrives to drown

Here's where the good part really starts
There's murder and romance
With a little touch of comedy
The movie to enhance

Is Jackman still like Wolverine
With hidden steely claws?
Or is he an aristocrat
With no obvious flaws?

This movie's in the major leagues
And Johansson is disarming
It's been a while since Woody A
Made something quite this charming




Amanda Richards

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Scarlett Johansson
Woody Allen
Julian Glover
Charles Dance
Ian McShane

Creators:
Charles Dance (Primary Contributor)
Julian Glover (Primary Contributor)
Remi Adefarasin (Cinematographer)
Alisa Lepselter (Editor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
EAN: 0025193121325
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Colour, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC,
Release date: 2006-11-21
Universal product code (UPC): 025193121325
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Region code: 1
Running time: 96 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2006
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)

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