Excellent but underrated film

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

This three-part anthology film opens with a bang: Martin Scorsese's "Life Lessons" is a dynamically directed drama that works primarily on a sensory level, much like Nick Nolte's abstract painting; Nolte and Arquette give terrific performances, and Scorsese's selection of music is so on-target that it's possible to forever link some of these songs in your mind with this short film. Finally, kudos to Scorsese for discovering and introducing to the world the very beautiful Brigitte Bako! I'd rate it ***1/2 out of 4.Francis Ford Coppola's "Life Without Zoe" has maintained, through the years, the reputation of being a dud....and unfortunately it lives down to that reputation. It seems to be an exercise in pointlessness - and plotlessness. But it does some have some bright spots: newcomer Heather McComb is cute and talented, and Carole Bouquet looks positively heavenly in a 10-second cameo as a princess. I'd rate it *1/2 out of 4.Woody Allen's "Oedipus Wrecks" (great title, by the way) is possibly his purest comedy - and his funniest film - in a over a decade. Apart from some killer one-liners, Woody acts a lot with his face here - his grin while his mother is being subjected to the magic trick, for example, says a thousand words. He even goes as far as using old-deaf-lady jokes - but they are very funny! The only problem with this segment is that it runs just a tad too long. I'd rate it *** out of 4.

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.

"New York Stories " it's a collection of three shorts made by Martin Scorsese ,Francis Ford Coppola ,and Woody Allen . The ending result ,even when it isn't the best work of those filmmakers , at least was very enjoyable to watch , and give us the chance their different styles . The first ,By Martin Scorsese"Life lessons " it's my favorite .The short story it's very well developed and the direction was quite good . It have nice music too . The second "Life Without Zoe " by Francis Ford Coppola is the short who received more bad reviews . Actually isn't bad ,but the story was very different to the other two .Anyway ,I liked it too . The third "Oedipus Wrecks " by Woody Allen , it's the funniest . The story it's very funny ,the script is clever and it is a satisfying ending for the trilogy . Although "New York Stories " isn't a perfect movie ,it is a worth watching .

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.