grantss Many of Woody Allen's movies have been introspective and autobiographical, yet this is the most introspective and autobiographical of all of them. Incredibly layered and complex, probably too much so. Still contains the usual Allen wit and clever dialogue, but toned down to be more serious. Truly captures the spirit of a director at a crossroads, and a quandary over where his true direction lies.However, as mentioned, it is overly complex. Scenes seem discontinuous and random at times. Also, if you aren't a Woody Allen fan (luckily I am one), many of the in-jokes and self-references will be lost on you.Solid performances all round, especially as the roles would have been difficult to play, considering the complexity of the script. As always, Woody Allen gets to play himself, though this time the character is actually himself.Probably the least accessible Woody Allen movie, but definitely worth the watch if you are a fan.

gcappadona This wasn't my favorite Woody Allen movie in comparison to Annie Hall but it wasn't bad. This film is like all other Woody Allen films, it deals with his fear of death/dying and his love for women. Throughout the film Allen seems to be looking back on his past relationships and tries to figure out what went wrong. It seems to me that Woody Allen is more of a method actor. All of the characters he plays in his films are all the same and seems to represent what I would assume Woody Allen is like in real life.Overall I would not personally recommend this as one of my top favorite Woody Allen films

Joshua Fraser "…obviously if you don't have enough to eat that becomes your major problem, but what happens when your living in a situation where you don't need to worry about that, then your problems become, how can I fall in love? or why can't I fall in love? Why do I age and die? and what meaning can my life possibly have? the issues become very complex for you." These lines are spoken by Sandy Bates the lead character played by none other than Woody Allen in one of the prolific director's best films. I choose the above quote to start this review as I believe that it perfectly elaborates the meaning of the film (and maybe all of Allen's films). Stardust Memories is about a film director who is on the verge of a mental breakdown, as he is feeling increasing pressure from his relationships, his career, his fans and himself. Sandy Bates finds himself being forced to attend a film festival celebrating himself. While Sandy is at the festival he is being constantly harassed by fans of his films, who are all painted in an extremely bad light and has often been called by both critics and the public as Woody Allen attacking his own fans who call for him to go back to making films like his "early funny ones" after the commercial failure of Interiors. The secondary story line focuses on Sandy's relationship with the many woman in his life, where he cannot decide between someone who is stable and wants marriage, another who has many psychological issues but is very exciting and sexy and one of whom he shares many common interests with but is indecisive and is dating a friend of his, and i believe that this is where the films main weakness lies, (along with inconsistent pacing, and slight tonal shifts), opposed to the fleshed out and well defined female characters in the past two films to star Woody Allen, Annie Hall (1977) and Manhattan (1979) the female characters in Stardust Memories are very thinly defined once you go past your initial impressions of them. The film takes obvious influence from the films of Federico Fellini especially 8½ (the working title was Woody Allen no. 4, in an interview Allen stated he wasn't even half the Fellini of 8½) The main evidence of the influence can be seen in the opening scene which seems to be taken straight from Fellini's 1963 opus, and many dream sequences spread throughout and the near mandatory beach scene. The difference between the two films is that in 8½ Fellini deals with internal issues effecting only the life of Guido, while Sandy Bates seems to have much more going on in his mind, as shown in the scene where he meets the aliens. While I don't believe that Stardust Memories can be seen in the same league as one of Woody Allen's greats which would include Manhattan, Annie Hall, Crimes and Misdemeanours and Hannah and Her Sisters, if never seen one of his films i would suggest seeing one of these before Stardust Memories, but it is an extremely effective film and if you are a fan of Woody Allen I would definitely recommend seeing it as it is certainly one of his best.

FilmCriticLalitRao Let us start by getting to the heart of the matter.Stardust refers to an extremely naive romantic quality.By this yardstick,stardust memories are those romantic remembrances of the past which are an integral part of human consciousness.Old memories must be assessed on a timely basis in order to make sense of the life one is leading.This is precisely something which Woody Allen chose to depict in his film "Stardust Memories".In many ways,this film gives viewers an idea about Woody Allen's status in American cinema.We get to see through this film that he is neither a product of Hollywood studios nor a leading light of American independent cinema movement.He is quite simply an American director who has embedded a lot of European sensibilities in his films.Stardust Memories reveals that film directors like to lead different kinds of lives outside of their film making activities.It is a common fact that everybody would like to be associated with a film director in order to promote some social cause.This aspect has been nicely depicted by Woody Allen in this film.One word about Woody Allen's women characters.The women characters of "Stardust Memories" are not weak but they have also not been shown as strong willed women.In this manner their is a mysterious ambivalence concerning this film's women protagonists.Black and White format is a nice method chosen by Woody Allen as all our dreams,all our memories are invariably made up of black and white images.