User reviews

"New York Stories" tells three tales of the Big Apple. Martin Scorsese's "Life Lessons" shows artist Lionel Dobie (Nick Nolte) trying to assess his relationships with people, Francis Ford Coppola's "Life without Zoe" shows a very mature girl, and Woody Allen's "Oedipus Wrecks" is about Sheldon Mills (played by Allen himself), a man who quite literally cannot get away from his mother.

I have to say that Scorsese did a very good job looking at troubled relationships, and Allen shows how hard it is to have certain kinds of people as parents (of course he often shows that). But Coppola's segment was so dull that I choose not to even write about it. But don't worry; the movie is overall really good, and we should assume that it really sucks to be Allen's character, given what happens in that segment.

Three 40 minutes short films by three of the greatest American directors; Scorsese, Coppola and Allen. I personally like Scorsese's introducing segment the most, Life Lesson. Even if I personally is not a fan of Nick Nolte, the movie has depth and it's just as good as you would expect from a director like Scorsese. Unlike many other directors, Scorsese manages to capture sexual attraction, in this case felt by the main character (Nolte). Freshly photographed and good ending that makes you recall upon your own life. Not a masterpiece but indeed great.

Coppola's segment "Zoe" is a total disaster. It is beautifully filmed, but the acting and the story is far below good. Better fit for the children's hour on TV. I don't know if the story was supposed to be ironical, a satire of spoiled extremely rich kids on Manhattan, which could be the fact since there were some scenes where the young girl interacts with a homeless man. That could have been a good theme, if it was Coppola's intention, but no matter the case - it just don't work. It is silly and it doesn't feel satirical at all. Another idea is that it was supposed to be funny, a short comedy, however, neither does it work on that layer. It somewhat makes me lose my respect for the director.

Woody Allen's part however is a pleasant refresher after Coppola's borer. Very funny, typical Allen, good acting from Allen's side and good music.

Overall rating is a mere 6, dragged down by Coppola. Without his segment I would rate this movie an 8.

I'll step out of the loop here about "New York Stories," three tales of New York from 1989, directed by three formidable directors: Martin Scorcese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Woody Allen.

I happen to think all three films had something to offer, and the fact that the Zoe sequence is about a child does not for me make it the weakest segment.

I found the Scorcese segment starring Nick Nolte and Roseanna Arquette the most thought-provoking, the Zoe segment the most charming, and the Allen segment the wackiest.

The first episode is about a tortured artist (Nolte) who expresses his sexual frustrations and problems with his young protégée (Arquette) in his work. She no longer sleeps with him and wants to quit New York and go home; he wants to kiss her foot and professes undying love for her.

To Puccini's Nessun Dorma, he stares at his artwork and goes through a variety of emotions as he paints another masterpiece. This particular muse in the form of Arquette is used up; one sees him at his art show connecting with another would-be artist/muse whose identity will also be lost in his genius.

The second sequence, directed by Coppola, is a take-off on the Eloise stories by Kay Thompson. This little girl's name is Zoe. Her father, Claudio Montez (Giancarlo Giannini), is a famous flautist who travels, and her mother (Talia Shire) is a photo journalist who travels. Zoe lives with a butler and her dog Vegas at the Sherry Netherlands Hotel. She proves herself smarter than either parent in this charming film.

My only question is why Giancarlo Giannini speaks Italian to his daughter when the name Claudio Montez is emphatically not Italian. Okay, it wasn't typical Coppola, but who said it had to be?

The last one is pure Woody, Oedipus Wrecks, about a man with a nagging, critical mother who wants to marry a young woman (Mia Farrow) with children. He loves his mother, but he wishes she'd disappear.

During a magic show, he gets his wish, when his mother goes into a magician's box and never comes out. Later she shows up in the sky telling him what to do, with the world as a witness. His girlfriend can't take it. He then goes to a psychic (Julie Kavner) who makes him a boiled chicken dinner. A complete delight.

Three different, interesting stories by three great directors.

The anthology that include three short films that take place in New York City was made by three great American directors, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, and Francis Ford Coppola.

"Life Lessons" directed by Martin Scorsese, literally took my breath away - it made me want to rewatch all Scorsese's films (with the one exception, GONY, though). What a magnificent work - visually it is as powerful as the painting Nolte's Lionel was painting. Combining in one short film Procul Harum's "A whiter shade of pale" and Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" from "Turandot" was a stroke of genius. This film is an ode to the power of talent; it is about greatness and curse of the gift, not about love to the woman. The best scene of the film and I'd say one of the best ever made about the Artist's work is Nolte triumphantly painting his masterpiece - his love, desire, lust, cries, whispers, tears, and humiliations magically transform with every stroke of his brush into the immortal, triumphant, brilliant work of art. By the time the painting is finished, he would need a new source of inspiration and self-torture, and the cycle will repeat over again. Devilishly clever portrait of an Artist as Not a Young Man. 9.5/10

I loved Woody Allen's "Oedipus Wrecks" and I think it is very funny and touching. Looks like Allen has met mothers or grandmothers like Mrs. Millstein in real life and his little gem is his love-hate letter to them. In the end, mom always knows what is best for her little boy. Mae Questel and Julie Kavner (Marge Simpson) were wonderful. Woody's face after his mom "disappears" and the scene when he practically makes love to the chicken drumstick are pure delight; also the commentary that New York is used to everything and readily accepts the crazy situation - it is so true. One of the best Allen's films I've seen lately - I am very glad that I finally saw it.

Larry David ("Seinfeld", "Curb Your Enthusiasm") plays the Theater Manager. It made me think if Estelle Costanza created by David and Mrs. Millstein (Woody's omnipresent mother) have a lot in common in making the lives of their sons miserable and smothering them with their merciless love? 9/10

Coppola's "Life Without Zoë" was much weaker than Scorsese's and Allan's stories and paled in comparison - this episode "from the lives of the reach and beautiful" was pretty and cute but you can skip it. 5/10

**1/2 of****

Three completely different short stories told by three of Hollywood's most influential and profilic directors in the most exciting and mythical city on earth. Seems like a shoe in doesn't it? Well almost. Looking forward as I did to the Woody Allen piece "Oedipus Wrecks" the wait was worth it, but still somewhat unsatisfying. This featurette would've been a welcome change of pace for Woody at the time given that he hadn't made a flat-out silly comedy for a while and he manages to make good use of every moment. He has a great cast,(Kavner, Questral are particular standouts) and a genuinely strange premise to work with and the results are a riot, dare I say one of Woody's best. So what's so unsatisfying? As good as "Oedipus Wrecks" is , it still suffers because it has to follow Coppolla's god awful and charmless "Life Without Zoe." Seriously I had absolutely no clue what the hell was going on in this obnoxious, cutesy-poo clinker. Can anyone help me understand why Coppola thought anyone would like this? Sitting through "Zoe" is so emotionally draining that by the time you get to "Oedipus" you're too annoyed and confused to fully enjoy it. As a result Scorsese's "Life Lessons" comes off the best of the three. Nolte and Arquette are flawless and the intensity and friction between them make for an engaging if not distressingly tense 35 minutes.

New York Stories is so uneven that not only is it impossible to refer to it as one movie, it's impossible to treat it as a coherent anthology. Martin Scorsese's 'Life Lessons' is a interesting little drama piece, following After Hours and The King of Comedy in Marty's tackling less-obvious themes. The writing is uneven, but tremendous performances by Nolte and Arquette make it work. 4 stars.

Coppola's 'Life Without Zoe' is ridiculously bad on each and every level, from the acting and writing to the ludicrous theme song. Unlike many, I don't think the blame lies entirely with Sofia Coppola, Francis's directorial work is sub-par here. 1 star.

'Oedipus Wrecks' is, by itself, enough to make this essential viewing for Woody Allen fans at least, as it's classic Allen and possibly one of his finest works. Mae Questel (of Betty Boop and Popeye fame) is brilliant as Allen's mother. 5 stars.

So, the only fair way to rate New York Stories is with a completely objective average, which comes in at 3.33 stars. If at all possible, watch the first and third segment and completely skip the second, and you'll get an enjoyable and not-too-long double feature.

In New York Stories, three segments are shown back to back, and they are all engaging in their own ways however it's only 2/3 successful as a total motion picture. Martin Scorsese's Life Lessons is a good example of what caliber of work Scorsese had when he made those three student films in the 1960's. It is a film that has a lot of depth, but it is quite worth it for fans of the actors and those who could get interested in Richard Price's story.

Coppola, director of THE GODFATHER and APOCALYPSE NOW makes Life Without Zoe here, a film that is 180 degrees out of whack from those two movies in that it tells the story of a little rich girl whose best friend is a doorman and revolves around a rich boy's birthday party. In a way, it almost could appeal to kids, but it's the wrong place to put in between a story of artists by Scorsese and a comedy of mother and son troubles by Allen.

Which brings me to the last short film, Oedipus Wrecks, where Woody plays a character whose mother suddenly out of the blue disappears. This is a good showing of what Woody can do in comedy without having to have a picture length presentation (not that he makes many bad films by the way).

So, New York Stories is worth checking out for Life Lessons and Oedipus Wrecks, and there could be an audience somewhere for Life Without Zoe, although the biggest flaw of the movie comes that neither one can connect at all outside of the fact that they all take place in New York and are made by New York directors- in short- fascinating and imperfect in some ways. B+

In these three short stories set in New York, Allen boils a funny but flavourless chicken, Coppola conducts a disastrous flute solo, and Scorsese paints a masterpiece.

Yeah I'm absolutely shocked the Woody Allen segment was the one I enjoyed the most, because I tend to like his films less than Scorsese's and Coppola's. It had some humour and characters that were kind of fun, though as a short film it certainly wasn't amazing- but certainly decent enough.

Scorsese's segment was serviceable. Good enough performances and visual style, but the story was dull and of course more than a little creepy... even though the creepiness was surely intentional, I just still couldn't get invested.

Francis Ford Coppola's is easily the worst; I definitely agree with the general consensus here. No plot, no humour, no enjoyable characters.... at least there's some good visuals in the first segment and some decent humour in the third. The second segment has nothing. It's awful, and absolutely baffling that the same man directed Godfather 1 & 2, Apocalypse Now, and The Conversation (even Dracula and The Outsiders and Rumble Fish and yeah, even Godfather 3 are much better than his short film here).

Life Lessons - I've probably seen it 10 times. You can refer to it as a 'short', but I get so wrapped up in it that I almost consider it to be a full-length movie. It's very close to perfect.

Life Without Zoe - Past comments have stated that this is the weakest of the three. I don't like to think of any of the stories as weak. I think the order of the stories is what is important. First is the tense art world drama, then the fairytale-like Zoe. Zoe doesn't have the punch of Life Lessons, but it's a relaxing follow-up. Enchanted flutes, princesses, sheiks, diamonds, parties, sunsets. I hate to use the word 'cute', but that's what it is - very cute, and that's not a bad thing in this case.

Oedipus Wrecks - Leaves the movie ending on a very outrageous and very funny note. This short is better than several of his movies (and I'm a HUGE Woody Allen fan).

I'd seen NEW YORK STORIES (NYS) before on cable, and I'd enjoyed the trilogy of short films by Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Woody Allen. However, I hadn't been aware that a teenage Adrien Brody was supposed to be in it until I happened to look up his credits on the IMDb. Since he was listed in order of appearance as part of the cast of Coppola's segment LIFE WITHOUT ZOË, I kept a sharp eye out for young Brody in the school cafeteria scene -- at least it *looked* like it was supposed to be the cafeteria! The artistically dim lighting made things a little hard to see, which may be why I (and other Brody fans I know) could hardly find Brody at all. Judging by the order in which he's listed in the credits (as a character named "Mel"), Brody should've shown up in Zoë's school right after the know-it-all character Andrea (Alexandra Becker) shows up, just before the Sherry-Netherland robbery scene with Chris Elliott. Brody must have had dialogue at some point, or he wouldn't have been in the credits at all. However, I guess Coppola & Company pulled a THIN RED LINE on the adolescent Adrien, because I didn't see or hear him utter a single syllable. My only inkling that Boy Brody was in the scene at all was that when I looked very closely and pressed my DVD remote's "Slow" button, I thought I detected a familiar noble-nosed profile amongst the students stylishly silhouetted in the background. Oh, well, at least Brody got an early screen credit and presumably a paycheck out of the experience, as did another future Oscar-winner: Sofia Coppola, who co-wrote the script and designed the cute opening credit sequence. Nevertheless, I found LIFE WITHOUT ZOË entertaining even when the game of "Spot the Adrien" came a cropper, despite its reputation as the weakest of NYS's trio of vignettes. While it has its overly precious moments, it's basically an uncredited 'tween update of Kay Thompson's ELOISE AT THE PLAZA book series, one of my faves; think of this as ZOË AT THE SHERRY-NETHERLAND. With gorgeous New York locations, catchy songs by Kid Creole & the Coconuts, and a likable cast including young Heather McComb, Don Novello, Giancarlo Giannini, and Talia Shire, you could find worse ways to pass the time. As for the other entries, Scorsese's LIFE LESSONS, with a screenplay by Richard Price, is well-crafted and well-acted, though the temperamental, manipulative artist and assistant/muse/lover played, respectively, by Nick Nolte and Rosanna Arquette were so immature and strident they got on my nerves after a while. Hands down, my favorite of the 3 vignettes (and the fave of most folks who've seen NYS) was Allen's uproarious OEDIPUS WRECKS, the story of a Jewish mother (Mae Questel, the cutie who voiced Betty Boop and Olive Oyl, is a devious delight) whose well-meant domination of her henpecked son (Allen) gets out of hand when the audience participation portion of a magic show goes horribly yet hilariously awry. Mia Farrow and Julie Kavner provide able support; CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM fans should keep an eye out for Larry David in a brief bit as the magic show theater manager. Kavner's home-cooked chicken drumstick gets my vote for "Best Performance by an Inanimate Object"! :-)

I have viewed the "Life Lessons" segment of New York Stories probably 80 times. I use the film religiously in my college writing classes.

The assignment I give my students is to define art for Lionel, for Paulette, and for themselves. After some analysis, students realize that a big problem between Lionel and Paulette is that they view art differently. Paulette constantly needs external validation ("Can you tell me if I'm any good or not") while for Lionel art is a compulsion - his life and art feed off each other. Students who are able to get past Lionel's somewhat dysfunctional personality are able to understand and discuss some very important concepts about what it is to be an artist.

I would highly recommend "Life Lessons" to anyone teaching art, aesthetics, writing, or theater classes. It's a great way to initiate a discussion about art.

This film is actually three short films, only connected by the fact that they take place in New York City. So I will comment on them individually.

The first short, 'Life Lessons', is directed by Martin Scorsese and is about Lionel Dobie, an artist (Nick Nolte) whos girlfriend Paulette (Rosanna Arquette) dumps him as a lover, yet stays in his atelier to live. Nolte, from the first scene, portrays a neurotic, 'typical' New York abstract painter, complete with discrete little temper tantrums about deadlines. He seems balanced and normal. But his painting is going nowhere. So he drives to the airport to pick up his girlfriend, and she discloses to him that she is leaving him and going home to her brother. She fell for a stand-up comedian (played by Steve Buschemi - his comedy scene is great because it's bad humour in a stunning setting) but he dumped her the day after. But, this fling flung her out of her comfortable relationship with Lionel (where we get the image that she was never happy anyway) and now she's going home. Lionel stays cooler as you would expect and convinces her to stay with him, no strings attached, for her sake. We believe him, at this stage.

Back at the atelier, however, the reality of this new relationship starts to shine through. Paulette doesn't like Lionel very much and has a real identity problem (you get the impression that she paints just because Lionel does), but Lionel appears more and more obsessed - not so much with Paulette herself, but with the company. He percieves Paulette as his property and becomes ragingly jealous when she brings guys home. Paulette, stuck in his atelier, teases him by dressing provocatively and asking him questions like 'Do you love me? - Then prove it by...'. Because of Paulette not being within his grasp, Lionel goes down the tubes. It's not love, in my opinion. It's pride.

But, as Lionel's real world fades and collapses, his painting grows and changes and comes to life. The moment his own life with Paulette ends, the life of his painting begins.

It's sort of a heavy story in the way that you really have to concentrate and suss out the character's motives. It's not light 'E.R.'-type drama, but it's a lot more fulfilling.



And so we are led into 'Life without Zoe', directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It's about a 12-year-old girl and her little life. If Martin Scorsese had stayed in the director's chair for this segment too, we could have had a re-run of 'Taxi Driver', where the 12-year old was a prostitute and the story was rough, but excellent. Instead, the 12-year-old is a rich Vada Sultenfuss, and the story is saccharine and empty. This middle film is destined to be the one people forget. For one thing, there is no narrative drive in the story as far as I can see - there is a robbery which is pretty pointless, there is a rich little boy who has a costume party, and there's the parents. While there are a few charming qualities - that the parents act childishly and their child mothers them; that the costume party is ludicrously lavish to the extent of having violinists and flambeed whatever at the baby's table - this segment is a children's movie. Nothing more, nothing less. Kids would get a kick out of seeing the wealth and possibilites of the kids and the fun of the party, but that's about it. Bad acting is acceptable in children - and abundant here - but it's also present in the adult performances. Some loser says after the robbery 'Wow if I could only hold on to that sense memory I'd be head of my acting class'. You've got a long way to go, buddy...

And so it's time for 'Oedipus Wrecks' by Woody Allen. This is the funny one. In fact it's so wonderfully absurd that I won't spoil it by telling you much about it. Only that Woody Allen surprisingly plays a neurotic New Yorker, and this time he is embarrased because his mother is always on his back and bothering him. The development of this story is just so strange and funny that I'll let you find out about it for yourself. It's not Woody at his best, but it's still funny.

Altogether, the segments I would rate 7,4,7 giving an average of 6.

I have just watched it, and I agree with everyone about the Coppola segment. And it got me thinking 'why would a great director willingly make a bad short film?' And then I noticed Sophia Copolla's name in the credits. And I read in other reviews here that she has co-written the script and designed the clothes.

Life without Zoe is about a girl of absent, albeit, talented parents. She is affluent but growing up alone because her parents have to spend a lot of time abroad for their creative jobs. She has a soft spot for her father. She parents her parents.

I am thinking that this project is a personal bonding experience and a hands-on little film school, a gift from a father to his daughter perhaps? And If this is the case, I find it sweet and bold and remarkable.

Then I am thinking how much I did not like Sofia Coppola's last film On the Rocks which felt weird and out of place the same way Life without Zoe did. And it is again about a woman and her charming father, that she is more of parent to.

Both films just feel like inside jokes between father and daughter.

This is three separate stories directed by three quintessential NY directors. The first "Life Lessons" is directed by Martin Scorsese. Lionel Dobie (Nick Nolte) is a successful artist unable to paint. His assistant Paulette (Rosanna Arquette) is moving on after their romance but he's still clinging on. Her presence fuels his jealousy and his paintings. Francis Ford Coppola directs the second part "Life Without Zoë" with school girl Zoë (Heather McComb) living in a luxury hotel. The final story "Oedipus Wrecks" is directed by Woody Allen. Sheldon (Woody Allen) brings his fiancé Lisa (Mia Farrow) to meet his overbearing mother (Mae Questel). His embarrassing mother disappears after a magic box trick.

The Scorsese part is basically one dysfunctional co-dependent relationship. These characters don't change. It's a couple of grumpy people bouncing off of each other. I don't love this section but I do get the angry relationship. The Coppola section is just one rambling string of scenes. The little girl doesn't have enough charisma. There isn't enough fun or magic which is sorely needed in a story reminiscent of 'Eloise at the Plaza'. The Woody Allen section is the most fun. It's whimsical and mildly comical. It brings a smile to my face.

New York Stories is another anthology film that I was suckered into because of the credentials. Other anthology films that I've seen, like Four Rooms, have not been very good despite the amazing credentials. I haven't been a fan of most movies with more than one director, hence more than one vision thus many colliding like an orchestra playing unharmonious notes. New York Stories is satisfactory however, eve if its mood swings leave one feeling many different ways about it. You'll feel stimulated, yet strangely unfulfilled.

Martin Scorsese's segment, Life Lessons, is very melodramatic in that hardened, grungy way of his. Nolte gives a wonderful performance, very intense, and Arquette is very realistic and effective. Scorsese employs his usual machine gun multi-genre soundtrack and plunging, stylistically passionate and energetic cinematography. His segment says something very profound and important about the human characteristic of selfishness and how much more abundant it is in ourselves than we care to accept.

Then comes Francis Ford Coppola's segment, Life Without Zoe. Arg. The acting, despite the leniency one may generously give child actors, is awful. Heather McComb did in fact fill out very very nicely when she grew up, but that does not excuse her very scripted performance here. She's the least of the cast's problems, though. Everyone sounds like the salesmen on the used car commercials. The story is something quite silly. Perhaps it would be fine if it were its own film, but Coppola had to know that he was being teamed with Scorsese, his fellow creator of quintessential Mafia cinema, and Woody Allen, the prolific source of mature and sophisticated comedies about sex and relationships. Did he submit this segment for shock value? I guess so. Well, it worked. I don't understand why Coppola works with kids. His daughter Sophia, who at age 18 here co-wrote the script and designed the costumes, did in fact go on to become a fine director herself, but did he not notice his pattern after awhile? He makes The Conversation, the Godfather films, and Apocalypse Now, and we think he's found his niche. Then he starts making movies like this, following up with films like Jack with Robin Williams.

Woody Allen's segment saves the film. I suppose this is one way anthology movies are interesting. In a single feature-length narrative film, when it takes a plunge in the middle, it can't really be saved in the end, especially if it was as bad as Coppola's segment. In an anthology, if the middle of the movie is terrible, you still have the end to look forward to. This is the case in New York Stories, because Woody Allen's segment, Oedipus Wrecks, the final third of the movie, is hilarious. It's one of the funniest satires he's ever done of the Jewish Brooklynite's culture. It's goofy in a subtle way, and fascinatingly surreal the way a lot of Allen's best and most creative work is. Actually, Oedipus Wrecks is perhaps the only one of the three parts that actually clearly represents a hue of New York's culture. Scorsese's part didn't represent New York as much as it represented the emotional tempests of an artist and happened to take place in the meatpacking district. Coppola's mid-section represented the lives of wealthy children whose lives are so free that they live practically like very spoiled and gossipy adults, but to such an outlandish degree of family-oriented fantasy that it's not at all credible. Woody Allen firmly focuses upon his division of New York culture. And by the by, it's a very pleasant surprise to see a younger Larry David, pre-Seinfeld and pre-Curb Your Enthusiasm, in a bit role in Oedipus Wrecks.

Whatever was going through Coppola's mind, it's because of him that New York Stories can be described as a film in the shape of a circular saw. It's on one level, then takes a ninety- degree plunge to a different level, then again with the third segment it takes a ninety-degree ascension to the precise level it was at before.

New York Stories has three episodes, three little movies in it. One of them belongs to the masterpieces of the 80's. The film is called "Life Lessons", and it's directed by Martin Scorsese. I suggest you watch New York Stories because of Scorsese's fine achievement. The episode of Woody Allen represents that regular Woody we all know, and the piece of Francis Coppola is just plain boring and stupid. Scorseses picture is about a famous painter -played brilliantly by Nick Nolte-, and his source of inspiration -a beautiful woman. Life Lessons is an electric, sharp and funny film, you might call it art.

Three short films are strung together in New York Stories. The first is Martin Scorsese's "Life Lessons", written by Richard Price, and starring Nick Nolte and Rosanna Arquette. Nick is a tortured artist, and has a passionate but strange relationship with Rosanna, his assistant. This vignette is a little weird, but if you're into art and emotional, volatile relationships, you might like it.

The second is Francis Ford Coppola's "Life without Zoe", co-written by him and Sofia Coppola. Talia Shire plays an incompetent mother to Heather McComb, who's spoiled, rich, and pretty much only serves to annoy the audience. In general, I don't like Sofia Coppola's work, but if you do, you might appreciate this directionless piece.

Woody Allen's "Oedipus Wrecks" concludes New York Stories. It's equally as weird as the previous two vignettes; a man who hates his mother wishes she would disappear and then she does. Look for Mia Farrow, Julie Kavner, Mae Questel, Larry David, and Woody himself in the cast. If you liked Woody's Magic in the Moonlight or The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, you'll probably think this vignette is cute.

This is a movie made of three short movies made by three of the most maverick american directors of that time. In common, they have a passion for the city which they have chosen as a backdrop to their shorts. Now let's get to the business: if you're expecting the "best of the best" selection that could come out of this pack of directors, forget it. Because this was no pretentious project, but a way to express the love the directors have for New York and the people who live there. The inevitable mixed review follows:

1. "Life's Lessons", by Scorsese. A typical Scorsese movie, with a way of filming and characters which resemble their art: painting. Here, like the main credits, we get the stories and the reactions like slobs of paint, apparently thrown at random but with an intentional instinct behind them. Nick Nolte tries to be different for a change, and suceeds. Rosanna Arquette still looks like Marcy from "After Hours", but struggles to snap out of it.

2. "Life without Zoe", by Coppola. Complete with the trademark beautiful cinematography by Vittorio Storaro, this segment comes out as maybe the most trivial of the three, but it is still a sweet tale of how a child has to become a grown up before time, forced by the circunstances which surround them. This segment can be placed between the section of the flops and the section of the victories by director Coppola, which is one of the most unstable directors known.

3. "Oedipus Wrecks", by Allen. Here, I have to take my hat off. Because this is a proof that Woody Allen always delivers when we expect something from him. This hilarious segment will make seeing the movie all worth it, and I will not spoil it so that those who see it can have the most fun with it possible. I just can say that this is a wonderful pearl, and you can expect the usual high-quality Woody Allen fare.

Altogether, I think that after seeing this one few of our lives will be changed, but one will also feel that they gained something from the experience. Anyway, give it a go.

Couldn't wait till these three movies were over, how directors of such fame and name can give birth to this mess is completely beyond me, had I not known who was sitting in the director's chair I would be commenting on terrible acting choices by some individuals, but this is not the case.

Martin Scorsese-Kudos to Rosana Arquete's performance, I never liked her at all, but she makes herself a pretty unbelievable (especially considering her actual age) 20sth woman. Nick Nolte, however, counterbalances this amazingly, how he landed this part is beyond me. He is only good in roles where his emotional capabilities don't go beyond facial expressions yet here he is a deeply emotional guy who's in love. The story-plain simple nothing special Francis Ford Coppola-Incredbly lame story, the title kind of puzzles me. Annoying kids living posh lives, some kwazi romance in between and that's about it. It felt like living in an 8 year old's body and watching kids movies on Saturday morning or something. Except this time I'm not eight anymore. When you miss my man, you hit rock bottom Woody Allen-Actually had potential of a really intriguing story. The second half ruins it completely. Annoying old Jewish lady...

Final verdict-I'll try to forget about this junk as quickly as possible, it doesn't deserve to take up space in my already small head.

This film is quite fascinating-in parts. My best advice to anyone renting it is to sit back and thoroughly enjoy the first segment by Martin Scorsese ("Life Lessons")-although you may be sick of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by the end of it, or you may have a new reason to love it. Then, I suggest you fast forward through the painful middle story by Francis Ford Coppola. I really tried to like it, seeing as how this was the same man who brought us "The Godfather." Alas, even I couldn't sit through it. Then, watch Woody Allen's very funny "Oedipus Wrecks." This short film, like Albert Brooks' "Mother" will have you going, "My God, it's Mom!" A satisfying rent. Try to get the people at Blockbuster to knock fifty cents off the price for not watching the middle part.