My Dinner with Andre 2: Woody Allen (film)

My Dinner with Andre (film); Sheldon S., Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Rifkin's Festival or My Dinner with Wallace

(Woody Allen) Pariah Woody Allen made a new movie that's just being released. It's not clear why. It's not much of a movie, except perhaps for cinema buffs. It's hard to imagine the few remaining Woody fans will have much fun watching it. Here's the story in nutshell:

Rifkin's Festival is the story of a married American couple go to the San Sebastian Festival and get caught up in the magic of the event, the beauty and charm of the city, and the fantasy of movies.

Or this might be a better summary: A middle-aged man (Wallace Shawn) is losing his spouse to a younger, more charming lothario right in front of his face, every person's fear, as he searches for life's meaning.

But My Dinner with Andre, featuring Wallace Shawn as a New York schmuck desperately searching for meaning while Andre recounts his actual quest for it, did a much better job of setting up the angst than Rifkin's Festival does in paying off with any answers.

• FilmWeek: ‘Rifkin's Festival,' 'New Worlds: The Cradle of Civilization,’ ‘Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild’ (KPCC/NPR)
• My Dinner with Andre: Old friends Wallace (Wallace Shawn) and Andre (Andre Gregory) haven't seen each another in five years and agree to meet for dinner. Andre, a once well-known theater director, dropped out of the NYC scene to travel the world, while Wallace stuck around the city, finding only mixed success as a playwright. As they eat, Andre regales Wally with a series of fantastic stories from Asian and his time away searching for enlightenment and the meaning of life, and Wallace can't help but notice how different their worldviews have become. (Release: USA, Oct. 11, 1981, directed by Louis Malle).

Written and directed by Woody Allen, starring Wallace Shaw, Gina Gershon, Elena Anaya, and Christoph Waltz.  #WoodyAllen #Rifkin's Festival #Rainydayinnewyork.