THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION (2001)

1940, New York City.  Woody Allen is an insurance investigator who has an outstanding success rate thanks to his numerous underworld connections and his ability to "think like a criminal". His glory days might be coming to an end though when the insurance company he works for hires an efficiency expert (Helen Hunt) to streamline the office.  She's even considering getting rid of the investigation division altogether! Allen tries to talk to Hunt, but it's of no used because all they do is end up trading insults.

One evening, some employees go to a nightclub, where there's a hypnotist act as part of the floor show, to celebrate a co-worker's birthday (and Allen's recovery of a stolen Picasso).  Allen and Hunt are selected as volunteers for the hypnotist (with hilarious results), but the hypnotist (David Ogden Stiers) has more sinister motives.  Later that night, Allen receives a telephone call at his apartment from the hypnotist who puts him back under hypnosis and orders him to use his insurance company knowledge to break into a customers mansion and steal their jewelry.  The next day, Briggs is called in to investigate the crime he doesn't even know he committed!

I love THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION and have watched it dozens of times over the years.  Although I usually turn it off about 3/4 of the way through, because the ending isn't that great...but the first half of the movie is hilarious!  The script is almost nothing but one-liners and witty remarks that are fired off so quickly that you'll have to watch the film multiple times to catch them all.

Beautiful set design, awesome looking 1940's clothing (some of the women's dresses were amazing!), strong acting by an impressive cast, quick pace, fantastic music that really sets the mood.  Highly recommended.

Would make a great double-feature with SMALL TIME CROOKS.

SMALL TIME CROOKS (2000)

When career criminal (and career idiot) Ray "The Brain" Winkler (Woody Allen) comes up with the idea to open up a cookie shop (fronted by his wife Tracey Ullman) near a bank and then tunnel into the bank's vault, he recruits some of his closest friends to help...unfortunately they're all as dumb as he is.  (Example: they wear their lighted miner helmets backwards because it "looks cool".)  Despite their collection of low IQ's they still end up extremely rich.  So now with their new money, Tracey wants to learn how to fit in with high society.  She hires art dealer Hugh Grant to educate her Pygmalion-style, but he has his sights set on stealing Tracey (and her money) away from Woody.  At the same time, Woody misses his old life of crime, so he hatches a plan to steal a one-of-a-kind necklace at a society party.

SMALL TIME CROOKS is a great film that I've enjoyed it many times over the years.  I love it when Woody does light-hearted comedies like this.  From beginning to end, the story moves along so quickly, with so many great small touches, that you can't take it all in with just one viewing.  Excellent cast, wonderful script, very natural camerawork that fits the story perfectly, quick pace...SMALL TIME CROOKS is simply a joy to watch.  Highly recommended.

Would make a perfect double-feature with THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION.

BIG DEAL ON MADONNA STREET (1958)

HIGH SIERRA (1941)

WHITE HEAT (1949)

ANOTHER WOMAN (1988)

Reminiscent of Bergman's WILD STRAWBERRIES, ANOTHER WOMAN tells the story of a professor who is in her 50's and beginning to reexamine her life.  Taking a leave of absence from work to write a book, she rents an apartment next door to a psychiatrist's office, but soon discovers that through some "acoustical oddness" she can hear all of the patients quite clearly.  She tries to ignore them, but one patient in particular (Mia Farrow) captures her attention and brings back sad memories from her own past.  Failed relationships, estranged siblings and parents, her decision to not have children, her current dead end marriage to Ian Holm which began with him cheating on his wife with her, her turning down a suitor (Gene Hackman) who was clearly in love with her.

Needless to say, ANOTHER WOMAN is not a happy film.  It's not as depressing as Allen's last film, SEPTEMBER, but it's no walk in the park either.  Intimate photography by Sven Nykvist, a steady pace, strong performances by a great cast, interesting story.  ANOTHER WOMAN has a lot of the ingredients to make an outstanding film, but for some odd reason it just falls into the "above average" category.  I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it just doesn't have that magic spark to it.  Still, it's 100% worth watching.