Episode 722: Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

The Projection Booth Podcast

The Projection Booth

Film Reviews, Film Interviews, Film History, Tv & Film

4.8 • 686 Ratings

🗓️ 25 December 2024

⏱️ 144 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Explore the dualities of morality, fate, and human frailty in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Woody Allen's masterful blend of dark comedy and philosophical drama. To close out 2024 and our Patreon-requested series, Mike White welcomes Andras Jones and Keith Gordon for a spirited discussion of this haunting tale. With Martin Landau and Allen himself leading parallel storylines—one of an ophthalmologist spiraling into ethical darkness, the other of a struggling documentarian chasing unrequited love—the film weaves an intricate tapestry of guilt, ambition, and existential reckoning. Along the way, a blind rabbi offers wisdom (and serves as a poignant metaphor) as the characters navigate their moral crossroads.

The episode features an interview with Woody Allen's friend and biographer Eric Lax who describes Allen's process and the evolution of Crimes and Misdemeanors.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hold your ears, folks.
0:06.8	It's showtime.
0:08.6	People pay good money to see this movie.
0:10.9	When they go out to a theater, they want cold sodas, hot popcorn, and no monsters in the projection booth.
0:17.3	Everyone pretend podcasting isn't boring.
0:20.0	Shut it off.
0:25.5	Turn it off.
0:26.6	All I do is dream of you the whole night through
0:42.5	You told me over and over again you'd leave, Merriam
0:45.9	We made plans
0:46.8	You did
0:47.7	With the dog still go on dreaming of you
0:50.7	I know I told you this before
0:52.4	But if you play your cards right
0:53.6	You could have my body.
0:54.9	Wouldn't you rather leave it to science?
0:56.6	You're every thought, you're everything, you're every song I ever sing.
1:00.3	The woman won't listen to Reason, then you go on to the next step.
1:03.8	What, threats?
1:05.0	Violence? What are we talking about here?
1:06.7	She can be gotten rid of.
1:08.2	I mean, I know a lot of people.
	...

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