New York Stories (1989)

(On VHS, June 2001) For commercial reasons, the short-film category never makes it in theaters, but when you can depend on Scorsese, Allen and Copolla to deliver a short film each, well, suddenly a theater short-film anthology doesn’t feel so weird after all. It’s a fair assessment to say that there’s probably a story for you in the three, whatever your tastes are. The first film, Scorsese “Love’s Lessons”, is undoubtedly the most artistic, the most ambitious and also the longest. It’s the type of film that suggests a deeper meaning, whether there’s one or not. After that, we’re off to Copolla’s “Life without Sophie”, a charming tale that somehow seemed to constantly refer to another story. Not a whole lot of substance, but certainly the most romantic tale of the three. We end with what will either be your favorite or your worst short film, Woody Allen’s “Oedipal Wreck”, which takes the concept of the all-seeing mom to its logical extreme. You’ll howl or you’ll grit your teeth.