It’s unfair to hold Woody Allen to the standard he set 35 years ago with “Annie Hall.”

Allen’s romantic comedy, which beat out “Star Wars” for the Best Picture Oscar in 1977, remains an unabashed delight in its newly minted Blu-ray format. You’ll fall in love with Miss La-dee-dah herself, Diane Keaton, and marvel how Allen could smuggle in so many laughs without sacrificing the film’s bittersweet core.

It’s that rare comedy that hasn’t aged a minute, even if we still scratch our heads over why a stunner like Annie would fall so hard for a neurotic comedian.

What’s more remarkable about re-watching the film is seeing how Allen the artist handled the political divide then … and now.

In “Annie Hall,” Allen’s Alvy Singer is a liberal stand-up comic who is seen at one point performing for an Adlai Stevenson fundraiser. It’s clear from that sequence, and from other stream-of-conscious bits, that he’s a man of the Left. Yet Alvy never rubs us the wrong way no matter how he kevetches about his inability to be truthful to his girlfriends or his unabiding hate for the Left Coast.

Contrast that demeanor to two of Allen’s more recent films, “Whatever Works” and “Midnight in Paris.”

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Writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait walked a gossamer-thin line with the excellent 2009 comedy “World’s Greatest Dad.”

How many auteurs could spin gold out of a father profiting off the accidental suicide of his son?

The “Police Academy” alum will have to be even more delicate with his upcoming film, “God Bless America.” (Warning: Attached trailer is the red band version meant for mature audiences).

The coal black comedy stars Joel Murray (“One Crazy Summer”) as a fed-up consumer who takes action against our debasing pop culture. Think trashy celebrities, sexually voracious reality show stars and the like.

Easy pickings, no doubt. But sometimes it’s impossible to parody material as over the top as Maury Povich, “Jersey Shore” or any “Real Housewives” scratch-a-thon. And the clip, while humorous at times, hints of the same faux civility debate the Left manufactured to silence dissent in the wake of the 2011 Tucson shooting. We also get a Fox News-like bit where a host paints President Barack Obama as a Nazi.

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There’s nothing pretty about Liam Neeson.

The Irish actor sports a disheveled nose and an accent that sounds like it belongs in a pub where the bar stools date back to the Second World War. And when Neeson puts up his dukes on screen, there’s no “Matrix”-style effects to give him cover. It’s all loping jabs and hay makers.

It’s why audiences are responding to his latest action film, “The Grey.” The film came in first over the just-wrapped weekend, earning $20 million without any big stars beyond Neeson and no existing brand to bank on. Neeson stars as a depressed sharpshooter who must survive the elements, and a hungry pack of nearby wolves, when his plane goes down in freezing terrain.

Compare the box office results for “The Grey” to the opening weekend haul of Taylor Lautner’s “Abduction” from late last year:

“The Grey” – $20 million

“Abduction” – $10.9 million

Lautner’s got Neeson by 40-odd years, and you just know Neeson doesn’t have six-pack abs like Mr. “Twilight.” Audiences didn’t care. They responded to the way Neeson goes about his business on screen. It’s never smooth or calculated, but Neeson’s characters settle scores and survive in a way that hearkens back to how male movie stars used to behave on screen.

He’s a man’s man, and that makes him a rarity in today’s Hollywood.

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You’ll never guess what the villain in the new movie “Man on a Ledge” does for a living.

No, Ed Harris’ character isn’t a crusading journalist, a nonprofit executive or a green energy czar. He’s a… wait for it… super rich real estate developer out to smite the common man. Harris plays him with all the requisite sleaze the Oscar winner can muster, which is plenty.

It’s Donald Trump without the unfortunate hair, but more importantly, the role represents Hollywood’s latest attack on the rich. It’s a trend already seen in recent fare like “In Time,” “Tower Heist,” and “A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas.”

“Ledge” producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura told The Huffington Post that the film’s choice of villain is no accident.

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Katherine Heigl could have been the next Meg Ryan, Hollywood’s new rom-com sweetheart. She was beautiful in an approachable way and could break our hearts with one crooked, well placed smile.

But the “Grey’s Anatomy” standout trashed the movie that started her big screen career, “Knocked Up,” and caused a ruckus on the set of her ABC hit series by pulling herself out of Emmy competition because she didn’t think she was given award-winning material.

She’s been doing damage control ever since.

How far has she fallen? Her latest film, “One for the Money,” opens tomorrow without critical reviews. That’s a sign the studio knows it has a clunker on its hands. Making matters worse, the discount company GroupOn is offering special deals on “Money” to help boost the film’s opening weekend ticket sales.

Last weekend, Heigl appeared on the cover of USA Weekend looking prim and apologetic next to a dog. She’s practically begging audiences to reconsider her as a movie star, but it didn’t have to go down this way.

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Even people who recoil at “Saturday Night Live’s” inability to hit the Left as hard as the Right will admit the show’s sketches look great.

Terrific makeup. Top-flight impersonations. Impressive production values.

Actor Justin Long proves in his latest video that’s he’s not ready for prime time, “SNL” style.

Long is partnering with far-left MoveOn.org to play up the already discredited meme that former Gov. Mitt Romney likes to fire people. “SNL” beat Long to the punch, but the “Live Free or Die Hard” star doesn’t want to let it go.

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The Stop Online Piracy Act resistance continues to draw players from both sides of the ideological aisle.

This week, the Free Press Action Fund blasted MPAA President Chris Dodd for threatening to cut off money to politicians who dared to block the unpopular legislation.

As a result, the media reform group wants politicians who previously pocketed Hollywood cash to return those checks, or at the least send the money to a charitable cause instead.

It all started with a tersely worded statement Dodd gave to Fox News regarding SOPA, according to a press release Free Press fired off this week:

After Congress shelved two controversial Web-censorship bills, Dodd told Fox News: “Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake.”

Free Press Action Fund President and CEO Craig Aaron made the following statement:

“The MPAA is so brazen in its efforts to buy legislation with campaign cash that its leader, himself a former senator, sees nothing wrong with threatening legislators on national TV. We think it’s time that Congress showed that its votes are no longer for sale. The first thing Congress must do is give back the MPAA’s tainted campaign cash or give it to charity. Congress must make it clear to the world that it won’t be bullied into supporting censorship.

“Last week’s unprecedented grassroots uprising, in which millions mobilized against the Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act, clearly got Washington’s attention. And we’ve since seen dozens of legislators scrambling to show they were really against these bills all along. But the real test is whether they will put their money where their mouths are by returning the MPAA’s dirty money.”

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The upcoming Comedy Central series “Key & Peele” got some viral video love earlier this month with a sketch reminding us just how cool, tough and awesome President Obama is.

Just ignore those pesky economic statistics, the flotilla of broken campaign promises and the roiling state of the world. Last night, the show’s co-hosts took to Twitter to ramp up their Obama defense during the State of the Union speech.

Caution: the language is pretty salty, although, to be fair, some of the Tweets are funny. Here’s just a short sample of what the pair fired off last night during Obama’s speech:

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Rev. C.L. Bryant isn’t about to apologize for comparing the plight of black conservatives to the “Peculiar Institution” in his new documentary “Runaway Slave.”

“There had to be something shocking enough to bring them around to seeing it,” Bryant says of the film’s intended audience, black liberals unwilling to consider another ideological viewpoint.

“Runaway Slave,” which recently had its sold out world premiere Jan. 13 at the Landmark Regent Theater in Los Angeles, features Bryant’s attempts to free his fellow black Americans from the shackles of liberalism. The film finds Bryant trying to win over stubborn converts, deploring how black conservatives are treated and interviewing prominent black conservatives like Herman Cain and Thomas Sowell.

Bryant is a former man of the left who switched sides in the early 1990s thanks in large part to radio talk show titan Rush Limbaugh.

“I was driving down the street looking for a client and looking for Jim Hightower,” he recalls. Bryant’s car radio happened on Limbaugh’s afternoon broadcast, and he found himself unable to change the dial. “The things he was saying about the Clintons that was totally alien to my ears, but it was captivating. And the reasons he was saying them were more captivating.”

“I discovered there was an entirely different world out there, trying to tell others how precious freedom was,” he says.

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Ben Stiller doesn’t have to work the boob tube circuit.

The star of those “Focker” films as well as the “Night at the Museum” franchise is a pretty safe bet in box office circles. So why did he just sign a deal with HBO to direct, produce and star in a new Jewish family comedy alongside Alan Alda?

A cynic might say it’s a sign Stiller feels insecure over the weak box office receipts for his last film, “Tower Heist.” Even mega-stars can be as paranoid as screen newbies. Why else would Will Smith sign up for “Men in Black III” after his drama “Seven Pounds” gave him a rare flop?

For Stiller, the chance to oversee his own HBO comedy offers the kind of creative outlet he can’t get with movies. And that’s a sad thing to say about an industry obsessed with remakes, sequels and other too safe bets.

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Whatever happened to Lawrence Kasdan?

How could the co-writer of “The Empire Strikes Back” and director of “Body Heat,” “The Accidental Tourist” and “The Big Chill” disappear while young hacks deliver video game-inspired duds and slapdash sequels in his absence?

Yes, Kasdan’s 2003 film “Dreamcatcher” deserves a place in the Razzies Hall of Fame, but even the great ones are allowed a mulligan.

Kasdan’s first directorial project in nine years, “Darling Companion,” sure has the pedigree to bring his career back from the brink. Kevin Kline, Diane Keaton, Richard Jenkins, Dianne Wiest and Sam Shepard star in a film showing just how far some people will go to find a lost dog.

What a simple premise, but our first look at the film doesn’t deliver much beyond trite sight gags beneath the veteran cast.

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Kevin Smith and Spike Lee have very little in common – on the surface.

Smith is the pudgy fanboy fave behind “Clerks” and “Chasing Amy.” Lee is the combustible auteur who gave us “Do the Right Thing” and “Malcolm X.”

But both directors find their careers in serious decline, and they’re not going out without a fight. But instead of making great movies to smite their critics, they’re opening up their mouths far too often.

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The new World War II film “Red Tails” hauled in a tidy $19 million over the just-wrapped weekend.

That’s an impressive figure for a period film with no bankable stars opening against a popular franchise entry (“Underworld Awakening”) as well as Oscar bait material from Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock (“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”).

So what gives?

“Red Tails” producer George Lucas hawked the film as a patriotic ode to our World War II heroes, specifically black pilots who pushed past racism to fight for their country. But patriotism doesn’t sell, right? If it did, Hollywood would be inundating movie theaters with pro-troop films and other tales of American soldiers in heroic action.

“Red Tails” also slices into another depressing Hollywood meme. The film industry doesn’t put out many films with predominantly black casts. Lucas himself talked about this during his publicity tour for the film, even if his chatter may have been more about film promotion than stark realities. Lucas’ harangue did spark a retort from filmmaker Tyler Perry, who warned films with black casts may soon become “extinct.”

The truth is black-led films sometimes struggle to make money overseas, one reason why Hollywood is uneasy about such projects. But will the success of “Red Tails,” combined with the recent smash “The Help” start to open up the industry to the black experience?

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Gina Carano might just be the next female action superstar, but it won’t be thanks to “Haywire.”

The new film shows Carana easily translating her MMA fighting chops to the big screen, and all that scrapping clearly didn’t mar her lovely features. But director Steven Soderbergh can’t leverage Carano’s unique screen presence, nor a cast far too good for such a rote spy caper.

“Haywire” marks Soderbergh’s second consecutive genre outing, and it’s clear he’s ill-suited for pulp. Last year’s “Contagion” couldn’t rouse our senses despite the fictional death of millions. Now, with “Haywire,” the soon-to-retire auteur wastes the debut of an electric lead.

Carano stars as Mallory, a private government contractor who takes assignments nations don’t want to claim as their own. The film’s electric opening finds her squaring off with a fellow agent (Channing Tatum, looking suitably hung over) in a diner and fleeing the scene in a stranger’s sports car.

It’s a grand introduction to Carano, who survives a splash of steaming coffee to the face and keeps on kicking.

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Will Ferrell’s career could use a Redbull following duds like “Land of the Lost” and “Everything Must Go.”

The latter reaffirmed Ferrell’s range without making a dent at the box office, and the former should be put in a time capsule and buried indefinitely. “The Other Guys” proved Ferrell could still draw a crowd, but the film couldn’t measure up to the likes of “Anchorman,” “Old School” or the brilliant “Elf.”

But Ferrell’s new comedy, “Casa de mi Padre,” hardly looks like a return to form. instead, It’s a one-joke premise without an actual laugh judging by the trailer. The Spanish-language film casts Ferrell as one of two brothers warring with a drug lord to save the family ranch. The film co-stars Diego Luna (“Contraband”), Nick Offerman and Gael Garcia Bernal.

The trailer looks like a wonderful starting point for a comedy, but we’re still waiting for the actual jokes to be weaved into the footage. The notion of Ferrell speaking Spanish might be good for a chuckle, but the gimmick wears out before the trailer’s two-minute running time elapses. That doesn’t bode well for the finished movie.

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Robert Redford is angry about the current state of Hollywood.

Why doesn’t the government subsidize artists and bring edgy, envelope pushing fair to the masses, cries Redford.

Redford shared his State of the Movie Union thoughts this week during the kick off to his successful Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. An event which began as a way to give power to independent films is now a place where major deals go down, sizable swag gets handed out and some of the biggest movie stars on the planet huddle to seize their next film roles.

As the founder of the festival, which showcases and gives opportunities to independent filmmakers, Redford hit at politicians who prefer to help big budget studios that toe conservative lines and present little risk….

Redford continued his attack, alluding to state-sponsored film funds in Europe and other countries that help filmmakers produce their movies, despite potentially risque messages.

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What’s a liberal comic to do when it becomes harder every day to defend President Barack Obama?

Why, play the race card – even when it’s not even in the deck.

Comedienne Wanda Sykes, who refused to lay a humorous glove on Obama during her short-lived talk show, is now slamming Gov. Rick Perry for something he hasn’t done.

Sykes appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” last night and tore into the GOP presidential field. Why bother speak truth to actual power – the president – when you can taunt your ideological foes?

But even by liberal standards Sykes’ shtick was out of line regarding Perry, who withdrew from the presidential field this week.

You know, he had to drop out,” she added, “because I’m pretty sure he was one more debate away from saying the N-word. He really was. Oh, he was right on the edge. He was like ‘Oh, I can’t speak in public anymore like that. One more debate, I’m just, it’s gonna fly out.’ He knew it.

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For some audiences it will always be too soon for a drama like “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.”

The new movie deals directly with the 9/11 attacks in the most emotional way possible, telling the tale of a young boy who lost his father in the World Trade Center.

Hollywood has danced around the subject for a full decade, but “Extremely Loud” stops the music cold. It’s manipulative in a manner that should feel offensive, and occasionally does, but director Stephen Daldry (“The Hours”) pulls the strings with a delicacy that makes one forgive the boldness of the enterprise.

But no amount of dexterity can save a final act filled with precious plot resolutions unworthy of even such a flawed presentation.

Young Oskar (Thomas Horn) is still mourning the loss of his father (Tom Hanks) in the 9/11 attacks, but a year after the “worst day” he finds himself starting to forget little things about him. So when Oskar finds a key tucked away in his father’s closet he decides it’s something his father wanted him to discover all along.

After all, father and son have been solving mental puzzles for years before 9/11, and Oskar thinks this is just one last riddle his father wanted him to crack.

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“Saturday Night Live” finally produced a bona fide female star in cast standout Kristen Wiig after years of cranking out male A-listers like Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy and Will Ferrell.

But Wiig refuses to play by modern Hollywood’s rules.

Wiig showed she could commandeer a movie with 2011’s surprise smash “Bridesmaids,” which she also co-wrote. Talk of a “Bridesmaids” sequel was a given thanks to the film’s theatrical haul of nearly $170 million.

Did it matter that a “Bridesmaids” sequel made no sense, and that the story it told wrapped in a more than satisfactory fashion?

Sequel talks hit a snag when it was revealed Wiig wasn’t sure making a second “Bridesmaids” was the best way to use her new clout. Maybe she caught “The Hangover – Part II” on Blu-ray, a prime example of a one-shot concept stretched to its breaking point. Now, Wiig is explaining why you won’t be seeing a “Bridesmaids 2″ with her any time soon.

We’re not planning on doing one. We had a special time making the first one, but we’re really excited to try something else.

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ABC’s “Modern Family” represents the very best of the current broadcast television lineup.

Smart scripts. Singularly great characters. Big laughs buffeted by an array of smaller ones.

So why are two of the show’s cast members trying to milk a controversy that doesn’t exist in the first place? Tonight’s new “Family” episode features gay parents Cam and Mitchell (Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson) freaking out when their adopted daughter says the F-word.

It’s a scenario many parents have faced, especially those who accidentally swear in front of their wee ones. How do you respond when your young child says a naughty word? Ignore it? Scold the child?

News outlets picked up the episode’s theme as if it were something truly revolutionary. Had the child actually uttered the word on-air, that would be a step in a more libertine direction.

That isn’t the case.The offending word will be bleeped during the broadcast. But both Stonestreet and Ferguson have been using their Twitter accounts to blast anyone offended by the storyline.

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