Woody Allen

Vicky Cristina . . . Rio de Janeiro? The Brazilian city has formed a new film commission, hired a longtime movie industry pro to head it and set an ambitious first goal: landing the next Woody Allen flick. Taking a cue from Barcelona, the Spanish city that was the principal setting for Allen's last film, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Rio is dangling $2 million in subsidies to attract the director's as-yet-untitled next movie. This month, Rio was named the site for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, and city fathers hope it's on a roll.

For this scene, Woody Allen won't be on the couch. After all, he's 10 years into a loving marriage now. He's crazy about his kids. Every day he brings them to school, takes a turn on the treadmill, then sits down to write. Almost every night there's dinner with friends. It's all happy and healthy, and besides, for this session he has chosen to sit on the bed.

Years ago, at a dinner party on Manhattan's Upper West Side, I found myself in a shouting match about whether it was fair to make fun of intellectuals. The person with whom I was arguing, herself the daughter of prominent scholars, said she was offended by the work of Woody Allen because of his mocking portrayal of educated, urban elites.

It WASN'T likely that Rebecca Hall was going to be able to sneak quietly into an acting career in England. Her father is one of the world's most renowned theater directors, Peter Hall. Of course, in the less-than-stage-crazed United States, that heritage is no bar to her anonymity. "It's quite refreshing, actually," she says happily. "In America, I think people are a bit more welcoming to the idea that your family might all do the same thing.

THE word "holocaust," used to comic effect, appears in the very first selection of Woody Allen's latest festival of shtick and genius, "Mere Anarchy." Here's Max Endocrine, alterna-healer charlatan and professional levitator, whining eloquently about his rogue offspring: "My one son from a previous connubial holocaust gives up his lucrative law practice to become a ventriloquist.... " "Connubial holocaust." Perfect! "Connubial Auschwitz" might have scraped nerves.

Filmmaker Woody Allen will make his opera directing debut with Puccini's comedy "Gianni Schicchi" to open the Los Angeles Opera's 2008-09 season, the company announced Thursday. Allen's staging will be part of a new production of Puccini's "Il Trittico," a trio of one-act operas. The production will run for seven performances beginning Sept. 6, 2008. Director William Friedkin will stage the other two works, "Il Tabarro" (The Cloak) and "Suor Angelica" (Sister Angelica).

BARCELONA, Spain -- Director Woody Allen has promised that his new movie, starring Scarlett Johansson, will be a "love letter to Barcelona, and from Barcelona to the world" in the same way that "Manhattan" was to New York. But Barcelona's people are not so keen to be helping foot the bill for the movie, which local media have called the biggest public investment in the history of Spanish cinema.

Of the iconic American filmmakers of the last half-century, Woody Allen has suffered mightily for his professional and personal proclivities. The sheer weight of his output -- nearly 40 films in the last 40 years -- dwarfs his peers, but the results have varied wildly.

If Woody Allen were a painter, a lot of his movies could be classified as studies for works in progress. "Scoop" feels like a tentative doodle in the general direction of "Match Point," only chronologically reversed and more or less amusing. A murder mystery in the vein of "Manhattan Murder Mystery," the action unfolds in London, in the crispiest parts of its upper crust.

The existential question of the week: Can Woody Allen really play the clarinet? And the answer is "yes." His dedication to the New Orleans clarinet playing typified by the likes of Johnny Dodds and Buster Bailey, combined with a natural affinity for the instrument, has resulted in an engaging, authentic jazz style. No joke. When Woody has a clarinet in his hands, he's the real deal. Woody Allen and his New Orleans Jazz Band, Royce Hall, UCLA, 405 Hilgard Ave., Westwood. 8 p.m. Saturday.