VividSimon Simply Perfect

Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

christopher-underwood This is all rather grey. The visuals are not as well defined or striking as Interiors (1978) or indeed Manhattan (1979) the previous two films and the narrative also lacks drive and clarity. There are effective scenes, the opening train sequence for instance but there is also pretentiousness, the whole Fellini cross reference. It also is surprising that without any formal structure and able to slip anything in anywhere, he sets up what is essentially a stand-up comedy situation and then blows it with mostly below par jokes. Allen himself is, however, very likable and if he can get anything right here, I guess it would be conveying himself. I'm not sure he shows Charlotte Rampling in her best light but maybe she was unhappy in the odd role. Jessica Harper comes across much more sympathetically but is never given anything decent to wear while Marie-Christine Barrault bursts into the film threatening to take it over or at least breathe some life into it but seems to wither before our eyes into the greyness of everything else. Constantly watchable though because of Woody Allen as himself.

gcappadona This wasn't my favorite Woody Allen movie in comparison to Annie Hall but it wasn't bad. This film is like all other Woody Allen films, it deals with his fear of death/dying and his love for women. Throughout the film Allen seems to be looking back on his past relationships and tries to figure out what went wrong. It seems to me that Woody Allen is more of a method actor. All of the characters he plays in his films are all the same and seems to represent what I would assume Woody Allen is like in real life.Overall I would not personally recommend this as one of my top favorite Woody Allen films

Joshua Fraser "…obviously if you don't have enough to eat that becomes your major problem, but what happens when your living in a situation where you don't need to worry about that, then your problems become, how can I fall in love? or why can't I fall in love? Why do I age and die? and what meaning can my life possibly have? the issues become very complex for you." These lines are spoken by Sandy Bates the lead character played by none other than Woody Allen in one of the prolific director's best films. I choose the above quote to start this review as I believe that it perfectly elaborates the meaning of the film (and maybe all of Allen's films). Stardust Memories is about a film director who is on the verge of a mental breakdown, as he is feeling increasing pressure from his relationships, his career, his fans and himself. Sandy Bates finds himself being forced to attend a film festival celebrating himself. While Sandy is at the festival he is being constantly harassed by fans of his films, who are all painted in an extremely bad light and has often been called by both critics and the public as Woody Allen attacking his own fans who call for him to go back to making films like his "early funny ones" after the commercial failure of Interiors. The secondary story line focuses on Sandy's relationship with the many woman in his life, where he cannot decide between someone who is stable and wants marriage, another who has many psychological issues but is very exciting and sexy and one of whom he shares many common interests with but is indecisive and is dating a friend of his, and i believe that this is where the films main weakness lies, (along with inconsistent pacing, and slight tonal shifts), opposed to the fleshed out and well defined female characters in the past two films to star Woody Allen, Annie Hall (1977) and Manhattan (1979) the female characters in Stardust Memories are very thinly defined once you go past your initial impressions of them. The film takes obvious influence from the films of Federico Fellini especially 8½ (the working title was Woody Allen no. 4, in an interview Allen stated he wasn't even half the Fellini of 8½) The main evidence of the influence can be seen in the opening scene which seems to be taken straight from Fellini's 1963 opus, and many dream sequences spread throughout and the near mandatory beach scene. The difference between the two films is that in 8½ Fellini deals with internal issues effecting only the life of Guido, while Sandy Bates seems to have much more going on in his mind, as shown in the scene where he meets the aliens. While I don't believe that Stardust Memories can be seen in the same league as one of Woody Allen's greats which would include Manhattan, Annie Hall, Crimes and Misdemeanours and Hannah and Her Sisters, if never seen one of his films i would suggest seeing one of these before Stardust Memories, but it is an extremely effective film and if you are a fan of Woody Allen I would definitely recommend seeing it as it is certainly one of his best.

pontifikator Mr. Allen denies adamantly that "Stardust Memories" is in any way autobiographical. He does take up the issues presented in "8 1/2": fans' demands, critics' demands, life's demands. But Sandy Bates (the main character, played by Woody Allen) is sympathetic, unlike the oppressively narcissistic Guido. I think that's because Allen peeks through all his characters and, despite all Mr. Allen's faults, he remains a sympathetic person. Charlotte Rampling plays Dorrie, Bates's muse, and Jessica Harper and Marie-Christine Barrault play love interests of Bates. Allen and cinematographer Gordon Willis do particularly well by Ms. Rampling. Hidden away in small parts are Laraine Newman, Louise Lasser, Daniel Stern, Brent Spiner, Sharon Stone, Judith Crist, and various executives in Allen's life. According to IMDb, Lasser and Allen were divorced when the movie was made, and the character of Dorrie is based on Louise Lasser. (Yikes. "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" was a documentary!)There are other Woody Allen movies that I like better, and if you watch this, I'd recommend watching "8 1/2" just before "Stardust Memories." Some of the references Allen makes are obvious, and some are subtle (Dorrie being his mother in a beach scene, for example). The movie is definitely a fantasy, with the theme of the movie being presented in a non-linear fashion. Woody Allen has said that the 'reality' ends when Bates is looking at the dead rabbit in his kitchen. Up until then, the movie is what is really going on in Bates's life; after the camera shows the dead rabbit, the rest of the movie is Bates's reverie on what's going on in his life -- it is not really happening. I missed this totally the first time I saw "Stardust Memories," and having read Allen's comment about this, the meanings of the scenes we see change. I consider "8 1/2" to be a much more visual movie. Much of what goes on in Woody Allen's movies is interior monologues that he brings to the surface as speeches, most of them neurotic. Fellini draws a clearer demarcation on what are Guido's fantasies and memories than Allen does, and Fellini _shows_ us more of what is going on in Guido's mind than Allen, who has Sandy _tell_ us. It's interesting to contrast the similar scenes in the two movies and see Allen's use of dialogue vis-a-vis Fellini's use of image. I'm contemplating whether "Stardust Memories" or "8 1/2" was the better movie. I couldn't stand Guido, hence didn't like Fellini. Bates is a nebbishy neurotic, but he came across as more likable that then insufferably narcissistic Guido. However, "8 1/2" has more style, is more visual than Mr. Allen's prolonged monologue that is "Stardust Memories." Guido's flashbacks and reveries are more revealing than Bates's. In the end, I understand why Guido is the way he is, even though I don't like him. Woody Allen can't figure himself out, so he has no clues to offer his viewers. At the end of this movie (and of all Allen movies), Bates (Allen) remains as he is, a clumsy, neurotic, clueless man.Mr. Allen might be happier to know that I prefer his more serious work to his comedies. Or maybe not. Who can tell?*I'm joking. It's a joke.