AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Mark Turner In 1980 director/writer/actor Woody Allen had been making hit comedies for several years. With the success of films like SLEEPER, LOVE AND DEATH and ANNIE HALL he was the critic's darling. But he felt unfulfilled and turned his back on comedies for more insightful dramatic fare. While ANNIE HALL had slightly turned in that direction he followed that with INTERIORS a near total drama that didn't do well. The next year he came out with MANHATTAN garnering praise once more as he melded drama and comedy. Then he made STARDUST MEMORIES.Allen had admitted more than once that he was influenced by director Ingmar Bergman. Scenes in LOVE AND DEATH often reminded critics of Bergman's films. But here he was using much of the style that Bergman used to tell a more personal story. STARDUST is perhaps one of Allen's most autobiographical films.He stars as director Sandy Bates, a fan favorite for the comedy films he's made in the past who now wants to direct more serious pictures. He wants to make films that explore the meaning of life and how we fit into the scheme of things. But the studios are reluctant to let him move in that direction. They want to insert humor into his work in an effort to bank on his past successes.Bates is convinced to attend a film festival where they will be honoring him for his past achievements. While there the fans continue to push him towards the comedies they are used to and they as well as numerous friends he runs into try to monopolize his time and attentions. Still he finds time to reminisce about his life and reflect on what he's accomplished.While there he also reflects on the loves he's had over the years. Dorrie (Charlotte Rampling) continues to haunt him, appearing in his mind at various times. A troubled woman she represents his past. At the festival he meets and is attracted to Daisy (Jessica Harper) even though she's there with a pompous college professor Jack (John Rothman). But before that romance can be set in motion Bates' current girlfriend Isobel (Marie-Christine Barrault) arrives unexpectedly at the festival.A combination of fantasies, dreams and reality mix to swirl around in the head of Bates as he tries to figure out his place in life. Mixed with the weekend of festival activities and adoring fans as well as friends he's known for years he stirs the pot and by the end of the film may or may not have come to terms with his life.As with the reality of Allen at the time the film delves into his own personal issues of leaving behind more blatant comedy in an effort to make more serious films. There was an effort to force him back to that mold which he broke from. The end result was a career where he was capable and able to make both kinds of films with more success than those who didn't seem to have faith in him expected.Allen's love life was also part and parcel with his role here. He'd had more than one muse in various women, most of whom had become his leading ladies as well. That struggle with what to do not only with his work but his personal life is a major issue discussed in the film as well.When I first saw this film I loved it. Watching it now it remains one of his better films though many might not recall it. Hopefully more will discover it and realize there is a more complex mind at work than the simple joke writer so many have thought Allen is.Perhaps my favorite scene in the movie though involves an alien spaceship that lands and a group of aliens who talk to him. It turns out they are fans of his earlier films. One goes so far as to tell him he should go back to making funny movies.Twilight Time is releasing this film in their standard beautiful style with a gorgeous edition in the clearest black and white cinematography seen. Extras are sparse here with just an isolated score track and the original theatrical trailer. As with all their films this one is limited to just 3,000 copies so pick one up if you're a fan.

oOoBarracuda After positively loving Woody Allen's 1980 film Stardust Memories, and finding myself surprised that I hadn't heard it called one of the filmmakers' best, I did what I have never done before writing my own thoughts on the film--read other reviews on it. I was shocked to learn that Stardust Memories was nearly universally panned by critics. Roger Ebert called Stardust Memories a "disappointment", even. I'm still not sure why this film was so hated, but what I am sure of is that I am firmly in the apparent minority of viewers who loved Stardust Memories.Sandy Bates (Woody Allen) is embarking on a career transformation; the filmmaker, renowned for his comedic films is looking to pivot to directing more serious films. Sandy is hoping this change helps him discover the meaning of life, particularly his own. At every point in Sandy's life, there are people praising him for his wonderful films, no one can imagine any reason Sandy would want to leave these films behind. His struggles only worsen when he is invited to a retrospective weekend of his work. He struggles listening to the praise of his work, films that have not brought him any sense of purpose to his life. Then, there are the film executives Sandy must contend with. The producers working with Sandy on his newest film, attempt to put comedic moments into any place possible in hopes of making the film more like those in Sandy's past that audiences already love. No aspect of Sandy's life is free from the intense introspection he is currently experiencing. Sandy is also evaluating his love life questioning whether to keep his relationship with his married girlfriend going, or, to explore a possible relationship with an attendee he has come to know during the retrospective weekend of his work. Sandy is searching for the meaning of life, love, and art, which he hopes will lead him somewhere before the earth's decaying matter leaves only stardust memories.One of my favorite happenings in life is when fans of cinema make a film. From the opening of Stardust Memories and its nod to Fellini to the iris out of the camera lens to the constant noir use of shadows, you can tell Woody Allen is a fan of cinema. Such loving homages to classic cinema will always find a place in my heart, and Stardust Memories is full of such loving nods. While blatant in its instances of homage, I reject the claim that Stardust Memories is "Woody Allen's version of a Fellini film", as I've heard. I especially reject the portion of Roger Ebert's review in which he opines: "In the Allen picture, there's no depth, no personal context" Ebert covers in the review that he is displeased by what Allen has to add to the struggle and Allen's imagination as an artist is stunted because all he seemed to add was uncertainty. That's just it though, Woody Allen in every film I've seen of his so far grapples with life's uncertainty and whether or not he or anyone else even has meaning. That's what Allen's imagination is focused on and he shouldn't be shunned simply because he refuses to trade in his black-rimmed glasses for a pair of rose-colored ones. It's funny, in my limited knowledge of the artists life as a painter, I am often criticized for not painting "something happier" or using brighter colors; there are enough artists who take the tribulations life has to offer and attempt to make it pretty, I want to grapple with the possibility that maybe there isn't a way to make this better, and maybe it is really all for naught. Maybe I just figured out why I like Woody Allen films so much.

leonblackwood Review: This film felt more like a series of sketches than a whole movie. The storyline is all over the place and I didn't have a clue what was going on most of the time, but I understood the main concept which was that the popular filmmaker is fed up with the critics questioning his work and his love life is a right mess. Basically, it's your usual Woody Allen movie, were he uses every chance to get his leg over. As this movie was made in the early 80's, I can actually imagine Woody Allen's life being like it is in the movie, with the paparazzi constantly on his tale, fans asking for autograph and many beautiful women on his tale but it eventually leads to him losing the plot. He eventually becomes tired of making funny movies and I have actually witnessed this after watching a lot of his movies. He seems to sway from comedy to drama through his career so he obviously had this problem in his real life. Anyway, the film is funny in parts but the storyline is sketchy. Watchable! Round-Up: After watching a few of Woody Allen's movies, I'm beginning to see a pattern with the box office takings, which isn't that great. He only started to make serious money when he decided to stick to writing and directing, which must have been a tough decision because he seems to be the main character in most of his earlier projects. He still adds some of his warped sense of his humour to his latter scripts, but he doesn't have that million words per minute, annoying humour, which I saw in some of the scenes in this movie. At the end of the day, this is a watchable movie which is better than some of his latter projects, but I'm still struggling to understand the mind behind his work.Budget: $10million Worldwide Gross: $10.3millionI recommend this movie to people who are into there Woody Allen movies about a popular director who is going through a nervous breakdown because of the pressure of being a comedy genius and his constant problems with relationships. 5/10

Red-Barracuda Stardust Memories seems to be a somewhat divisive Woody Allen movie. In it Allen plays a film director who attends a retrospective of his work at the Stardust Hotel. While there he is constantly harassed by fans who bestow unconditional devotion on him. His contempt for them is quite clear. It's this last bit that has made this movie so divisive amongst Allen fans. A few seemed to have taken some offence at this. Allen has been at pains to say that Stardust Memories isn't autobiographical at all. Well, no one can say for sure but to be perfectly honest a movie where Allen stars as a film director frustrated with a public who want him to make more funny films when he wants to make serious ones really sounds a little bit autobiographical but what do I know? Like several of Allen's movies this one is shot in black and white. It's one of his most interesting looking films. There are several comic segments taken from the movies in the retrospective scattered throughout the film. These are all beautifully conceived, funny and original. Their fantastical nature only adds to the interesting aesthetic, along with a beautiful montage of images of Charlotte Rampling towards the end. It's overall a visually bold film. The combination of comic fantasy, flashbacks and serious drama make for involving viewing.Overall, Stardust Memories is one of Allen's finest efforts. Its combination of the autobiographical and the inventive is very successful. It's a movie that probably deserves at least two viewings in order to fully appreciate it. Furthermore, it ends with a very nice little twist that just makes it even better.