match point...

ok, so this from salon.com...."Match Point" is being heralded as a return to form for Woody Allen, which means anyone who doesn't like it is likely to be accused of not bowing low enough at the altar. And the picture is crisply made, at least for the first 45 minutes or so: This is a drizzly dramatic thriller set in London -- as opposed to Allen's usual favorite setting, New York City -- and its structure shimmers with a kind of dark, gunmetal elegance. The movie's meticulous construction alone is something of a relief, considering the half-asleep sloppiness of Allen's recent comedies: Few people, even die-hard fans, were able to muster much enthusiasm for stale Raisinettes like "Hollywood Ending" and "Melinda and Melinda." And "Match Point" -- which bears some resemblance to "Crimes and Misdemeanors," in that both are obsessed with those twin serpent heads, adultery and murder -- has a sheen of seriousness to it. Next to the Bert's Beanery quality of, say, "Small Time Crooks" (worth seeing for the great Elaine May only), it makes for a classy take-in.

But while "Match Point," which opens Dec. 28, may be a return to form for Allen, is it really a form worth returning to? The movie is a window into the lives of the rich and tastefully color-coordinated, seen from the point of view of the less-privileged guy who wants in: Jonathan Rhys-Meyers plays Chris, a tennis pro who's tired of the circuit and has decided to take a job at an upscale club. There he meets and befriends the upper-crusty Tom (Matthew Hewitt). He strikes up a romance with Tom's sister, Chloe (the always lovely, and here, misused, Emily Mortimer), but also finds himself dangerously attracted to Tom's fiancée, the American femme-fatale actress-wannabe Nola (Scarlett Johansson).

ok, so we were just fine until we got to Nola......omg......in my personal wikipedia....Nola is a man's name......my dad's dad was Nola Otis Crown.....no idea where Nola came from....an actual person, a boxtop.....a babynames book...but there it is Nola.......not a name i replicated when i had my chance.......Andrew came out of thin air.....Stephan was a family name.....and Cayle came pre-assigned only to name herself C.C.........there is the family lore of the time we all gathered in the church basement to be with dad's mother Helen Kreager Crown one last time.....she was not the next to go.....she lost 2 sons before her time was up......I have a vivid memory of chatting with her and Ernst.......and having her ask aloud loudly...to no one in particular...why nobody had named a child after HER mother Cordelia Blanche.......i must admit that i smiled and made no promises......Cordelia Blanche is a lot to promise.....and we ended up having no opportunity to do so......but back to Nola......the man was always Grandpa Crown to me....they fellow who turned 70 the week i turned 7...the guy who didn;t happen to eat tomatoes on the day in question and didn't care to eat cream cheese unless he didn't know it was in the recipe......he once screamed at me to get out of his hayloft....but that is the only time i can remember that he spoke to me directly.....he was always backround noise rather than a centerstage player......not like my grandma Crown....who taught me how to make egg noodles by mounding flour on the counter and cracking a few eggs on top.....and working it all into a baby'sbottom dough....and cutting it with a knife........granted...i have never done this......but i cherish the image nonetheless.........i have oft blogged about my Grandma Crown...she who was the lone democrat in a clan of republicans....and who never learned to drive....and bascially managed a family of children and a farm with no indoor plumbing and no paid help..........and if ever i needed a mental picture of a woman to emulate with my meager days on this earth...it would be her.....wife of Nola.....which reminds me of yet another family joke.......my dad's oldest brother vernon had blue eyes....nobody before or since had blue eyes....and the family used to joke that the milkman had blue eyes.........there are times that i wish that the milkman's blue eyes were no accident and that my grandma crown was nobody's fool and nobody's dogservant........