[S Clark]

What a story!  Lower class couple just trying to get by, wife's rich, older sister loses fortune and come to live with them.  Older sister with mental problems tries to find another man to latch onto to solve her problems.  Where ever does Woody Allen come up with these great ideas..... perhaps by simply lifting them from Tennessee Williams and his great classic "Streetcar Named Desire".  This is a direct steal.  Perhaps next... Mel Brooks does a kooky version of "Hamlet"?  Owen Wilson as Hamlet +++ I see it.  Hamlet, Horatio, Yorick's skull, and the diggers cracking wise and farting around the open grave.

My wife liked it (and all things that Allen produces).  I didn't.  Regardless, Cate Blanchet was excellent.  I had high hopes for this one after Allen's "Midnight in Paris", which began as a self parody and creatively changed directions into an interesting movie. I think Woody's artistic ideas are just about played out.

[Folsom]

He must have a lot of friends that are just a pain in the rear, to inspire so many stories. He's all over with good and bad movies. I prefer predominately ones without him in the movie. I suppose I should check this one out. I liked Midnight in Paris and Whatever Works quiet a bit.

[jonbee]

I liked it quite a bit, as did my wife. There are obvious references to Blanche in Streetcar, but the story itself is nothing like that of the play. No Stanley, to begin with. Instead it focuses on the life of Jasmine (Blanche). It is a character study, and all the characters are very well drawn and written, and all the performances excellent. A disturbing story, really, but captivating by virtue of the writing and particularly the performances.

[S Clark]

Nothing like Streetcar???  The boyfriend/mechanic is Stanley.  There are too many other copied plot and character items to list w/o giving everything away.  This is not loosely based on Streetcar, it is Streetcar with a change of color- Blanche (white)  du Bois (wood) to Blue Jasmine.

[jonbee]

Sorry. Stanley is the main character in Streetcar, the "mechanic" is not even Jasmine's boyfriend, but a tertiary character. Yes, the elements are very similar but the story has an entirely different focus. This is Jasmine's (or Blanche's) story, not Stanley's. Streetcar did not tell Blanche's story, we only know it in pieces.
Allen clearly wanted to tell Blanche's story on its own, not as seen through Stanley's own troubled life.

[S Clark]

Sorry. Stanley is the main character in Streetcar, the "mechanic" is not even Jasmine's boyfriend, but a tertiary character. Yes, the elements are very similar but the story has an entirely different focus. This is Jasmine's (or Blanche's) story, not Stanley's. Streetcar did not tell Blanche's story, we only know it in pieces.
Allen clearly wanted to tell Blanche's story on its own, not as seen through Stanley's own troubled life.

You think I'm wrong, I think you're wrong.  Not going to lose sleep over it.

[jhm731]

I really enjoyed it and thought Blanche deserved the award a lot more than Bullock bouncing around Gravity.
Now if it was Kate, I may have changed my vote.

[Rob Babcock]

I love Cate Blanchett but I was disappointed that Judi Densh didn't win.  She was flat out stunning in Philomena.  How many more great roles will she get?

[wushuliu]

Interesting, never would have thought of those parallels w/ Streetcar. That said my gf and I turned it off after about 30min. Partially because it was getting heavier than we anticipated and partly because it seemed more like Allen when he's coasting. At this point we are watching the work of an artist who is just making films because that's just what he does. Almost like looking at all the sketches of an older painter, their skill diminishing but their output still prolific if not totally complete.

Eastwood's work has been similar and Ridley Scott as well. Frankly I think Ridley Scott has been the most consistent of the three when it comes to his strengths, production design and cinematography. He and Allen are almost the same age.

[Rob Babcock]

I actually think Eastwood is getter better with age.