Top 10 Movies - Woody Allen Discussion

[–] letess (1059) a year ago

Match Point
Blue Jasmine
Manhattan Murder Mystery
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Midnight in Paris

These are my favorites - I know Hannah, Annie, Manhattan are critically acclaimed. Even a “lesser” Allen film is better than most films.

Allaby’s list is better. Below.

reply

[–] SandyR (7541) a year ago

Very interesting. I admit I don't think of his more recent movies the same way I do the movies he made before the scandal(s). But I saw Midnight in Paris more than once, so it must be a good movie!

reply

[–] letess (1059) a year ago

I think Match Point is a masterpiece. I think Allen liked this one too. I don’t think of the “scandal” when I watch his movies. I am just so happy that he makes such great movies.

reply

[–] Ace_Spade (9431) a year ago

Match Point is brilliant and under rated. It's a great Woody Allen movie, but it's also just a straight-up great movie. Extremely good and some of the best performances given by a very talented cast.

reply

[–] SandyR (7541) a year ago

I understand there's no 'scandal' at all, that he did nothing wrong, but if you've ever been the object of a public fishing expedition despite you're being entirely innocent of whatever it is you're being accused of, you know that you can't help but be psychologically affected by it. He's done some interesting work over the last thirty years (I love Vicky Christina Barcelona, which I rarely hear people talk about), but I just don't get the same vibe from the newer movies that I do from the 70s and 80s movies when he still obviously felt he could be entirely himself without worrying about phony morality police shaking a finger at him.

reply

[–] letess (1059) a year ago

What can I say. I just love these two movies - Manhattan Murder Mystery and Match Point. I also loved - and I haven’t seen it in many years - Repulsion (I’m a huge fan of Deneuve). Two different directors with masterpieces - one I feel completely different about than I do of the other.

I also loved Vicky Christina Barcelona. And after Covid and not being in theaters, I really enjoyed seeing in a theater Rifkn’s Festival. I loved the many film references and also just seeing San Sebastián. It was perhaps the most enjoyable experience during or after Covid that I had in a theater.

reply

[–] Ace_Spade (9431) a year ago

I agree with you that Woody's work has changed over the years and of course it's influenced by his life's travails, but I don't think it's affected his film making as much as it could have. I don't think he's worried about the morality police or being cancelled. In interviews, he just basically says, "I'll make movies until they don't want them, and then I'll go do something else."

The vibe changes because he changed, but he doesn't seem that worried about being careful with his art.

reply

[–] TrentnQuarantino (8747) a year ago

Have you seen Jade Scorpion?

reply

[–] letess (1059) a year ago

And Hollywood Ending and Scoop. So, not everything is great. I think that one - Jade Scorpion - might be Allen’s least favorite. I’m not sure.

reply

[–] TrentnQuarantino (8747) a year ago

I love that movie, it's hilarious, and Helen Hunt is great in it, as are all the others. I never heard Woody saying anything bad about it. I prefer Woody's serious stuff, but his best comedies are every bit as good.

reply

[–] letess (1059) a year ago

Well now I will see it. A lot of people didn’t like it. There are so many of Allen’s films I haven’t seen and then within his films he references so many other films - I wish someone would do a list - because I would like to see those movies as well. We all know he likes Bergman but he (through Wallace Shawn) references a lot of films in Rifkin’s Festival during that one dinner conversation.

reply

[–] Wuchak (8213) a year ago

and Scoop. So, not everything is great.

Maybe not great, like "Match Point," but entertaining enough. It's a fun, quirky flick with ScarJo, Jackman and Allen.

reply

[–] [deleted] a year ago

Annie Hall (1977)
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
Match Point (2005)
Zelig (1983)
Love and Death (1975)
Midnight in Paris (2011)
Blue Jasmine (2013)
Sleeper (1973)
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972)
Take the Money and Run (1969)

reply

[–] Ace_Spade (9431) a year ago

Match Point - belies the claim that Woody always makes the same movie by being a drama/thriller with plenty of erotic overtones.

Annie Hall - cliche, yes, but for a reason. Annie Hall seems like a rom-com, but it's so much deeper than that. It's about life, love, and the human condition.

Manhattan - dramatic and poetic, the story is a drama or maybe even a tragedy, but Woody's one-liners keep the movie funny and deceptively light.

The Purple Rose of Cairo - an inventive plot provides insight and big laughs.

Zelig - great message, extremely creative, and deserves more credit for its mockumentary prowess.

Radio Days - a coming of age story that wraps many stories into one. All of them are touching and hilarious. From the opening sketch to the closing of the film, this is seriously underrated.

Love and Death - might be Woody's funniest picture and a perfect transition from his early work to his next phase.

Husbands and Wives - extremely deep - all the more "real" in the aftermath of Woody's real life.

To Rome with Love - this one grows on me more and more. Some of Woody's funniest material, several great stories - really a treasure.

Hannah and Her Sisters - narrowly edged out Crimes and Misdemeanors due to Woody's monologue near the end (about the Marx brothers...kinda)

...and about a dozen others that could have been on the list. Every time I make a Woody Allen top ten I think they've shifted around to a greater or lesser degree. I really could have put C&M or Stardust Memories on the list and still felt it was awesome.

Also, although MP, AH, and Manhattan would almost certainly be my top three, I'm not sure they'd be in that order. Same for the rest of the list. This is a very rough order and I could easily re-arrange it.

Allen is one of the most consistently interesting, funny, insightful filmmakers of all time.

reply

[–] letess (1059) a year ago

A great post with great synopses. I don’t know how true it is but according to biographer Eric Lax's book on Allen, Woody Allen's favorite films of his own are: Match Point (2005), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Stardust Memories (1980), Broadway Danny Rose (1984), and Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993). And there is the mystery itself - in all these lists, no one ever mentions Manhattan Murder Mystery and this is one of the best ones for me. A play on Rear Window. I loved it - he and Diane Keaton work so well together. When I went to NYC - I went to some of these places - Café des Artistes is closed now.

reply

[–] Ace_Spade (9431) a year ago

I love Manhattan Murder Mystery. I looked for a place for that film on my list, too, but I couldn't find one. Too much great WA.

When I first watched Manhattan Murder Mystery I was enthralled by the mystery itself - did their neighbour kill his wife or not? - and the humour, but as the film went on, I found myself more and more engrossed in the relationship between Woody and Diane. The best part about that movie is that Allen is really looking at a relationship that has been everywhere (love, romance, careers, raising a son, etc.) and the question is: where does it go? They're stagnating, and the real tension in the film isn't about murder, it's about whether or not Keaton's character will get with Ted or Allen's with his author client. It's about a marriage that's right on a tipping point between commitment and dissolution. That's wonderful.

And, hey, despite loving MMM and Rear Window, I never connected the two before, and you're right, there is a big similarity there with the paranoia and a mystery about whether or not there's a mystery at all. Thanks for that insight.

reply

[–] letess (1059) a year ago

And…. The Rear Window thread also ran into the setting when Alda and Keaton view the spot for her restaurant.

Allen did do this in other films - use a part of the plot of a renowned American film and use it in his movie. Match Point - A Place in the Sun. Blue Jasmine - Streetcar. But yes. Their marriage was on the line. Keaton and Allen were in sync throughout - that’s why it works so well, especially the comedic scenes. But “my marriage is about to fall apart, folks” was key. The marriage was not saved in Allen’s latest movie, Rifkin’s Festival.

My favorite scene - just a visual- was when he was playing poker with Angelica in the window seat table of Café des Artistes and it was pouring outside in NYC.

I loved the ending in Match Point because that’s how it goes. Like The Talented Mr. Ripley. In A Place in the Sun, Clift gets the chair but not in Match Point.

reply

[–] Ace_Spade (9431) a year ago

I think my favourite scene is the elevator with the blackout. Woody does such fine, comedic work.

Match Point's ending is brilliant. The use of luck as a theme also makes it one of the rare (almost singular) uses of fortune as a plot device where it doesn't feel cheap or like a trick. Also because "lucky" isn't necessarily "good" in the case of Match Point and the ending doesn't give us neat answers or a pat moral to take home. It's very "stare into the abyss" stuff.

reply

[–] letess (1059) a year ago

The elevator scene is brilliant. Classic Allen. The interiors of The Waldron were supposedly filmed in The Chelsea. “I love a hotel that's got lots of blue powder sprinkled along the baseboards.” Also, when Allen and Keaton are with the NY cops at the hotel crime scene - Keaton: “I’m thinking of opening a little restaurant….”

I love when movies have the perfect ending regardless of what the audience would like if tested before release.That’s why the best endings for me have been Se7en, Usual Suspects, and Match Point. Originally, Kate Winslet was supposed to play Nola Rice. But Scarlett was fantastic. How a woman ends up not playing her cards right. Unlucky and not smart all in one for her.

reply

[–] Ace_Spade (9431) a year ago

I just remembered about Allen petulantly trying to put his foot down when Keaton is doing more snooping. "I command it! I command it!"

Test audiences are such a bad idea - the clear brainchild of an executive. Audiences don't know what they want. Filmmakers have the vision. If you fight the artistic impulse, you almost always lose. Match Point wouldn't be as powerful without its ending and all of the nihilistic, chilling implications it holds.

reply

[–] letess (1059) a year ago

I started to think about the other poster’s commentary and your response how the “scandal/s” might have affected his work. I think, like you, that his art is strong. The locations of the films were definitely affected however. I thought I would see if there was a soon-to-be-released movie of his on the horizon. And I’m glad I did. Coup de chance. It looks good. It’s in Paris. One of my favorite French actresses. It’s been selected to screen at Cannes. It’s a crime story with romance and infidelity. They say it’s his best in years.

reply

[–] Ace_Spade (9431) a year ago

I love that he just keeps going. I really think that his work has not been affected by the scandal. I mean, every life event - especially big ones - would influence his work to some degree. A perfectly happy, bliss-filled life for Allen might have meant some less pessimistic worldviews (although probably not), but I don't see him as pussyfooting around anything. I don't see him making movies about scandals or about how women are all conniving and out to trap the men they're with. Nor do I see him making apology films where men commit sins of greater or lesser degree and seek forgiveness and absolution. I just see him as continuing to see life as grim and funny, to talk about relationships, to put writers forward as lead characters, and so on.

Perhaps this is best illustrated simply: with his work. Even having been scandalized, he made To Rome with Love. He made Magic in the Moonlight. These aren't films that reek of scandal. They're the kind of stories Woody always loved to engage with.

reply

[–] letess (1059) a year ago

I also think that the best remedy psychologically is to stay working and make good to great movies since nobody else seems to be. And you’re right, the substance in his movies is fresh without messages or contrivance. Whereas, Polanski’s An Officer and a Spy wasn’t. I read this. I haven’t seen this movie.

French moviegoers love Allen. Whereas their opinion of Polanski has changed. It isn’t about not recognizing the quality of his movies, but whether or not he deserves accolades that come with making a movie. In 2019, many French actresses walked out of the awards. The two directors’ stories are completely different. Ironically, Mia fully supports her time with Polanski. “I will never regret working with Roman.”

Re Match Point - I wonder if we would have gotten the London location and the great British actors (Scarlett was last minute but truly exceptional) if the “scandal” hadn’t happened.

reply

[–] Ace_Spade (9431) a year ago

Woody has talked about filmmaking as one way to distract himself from the bleakness of the universe, so maybe it works for scandal and public opprobrium as well. Then again, as far as public opinion goes, it seems like he never gave a shake of a rat's tail.

Maybe a movie with something to say about humanity without cramming a message down my throat is what's so refreshing about Allen's oeuvre.

I haven't seen An Officer and a Spy, either. The last Polanski I watched was The Ghost Writer, which I quite enjoyed. I didn't know it was Polanski until half-way through. I was thinking, "This is a lot like a Roman Polanski movie," and I paused it and looked up who the director was. Made a lot of sense in retrospect. It had his vibe. I like his thrillers (The Ninth Gate for one, and Chinatown, for the best of them) a lot.

Yes, Allen and Polanski aren't the same case. Polanski definitively did his crime. I separate art from artist to some extent. I like his movies. That said, I do think it's wrong that he never faced jail time or any similar legal ramifications for his nasty behaviour, and I do think justice should be served. I know the victim does want it to just go away, so that complicates it slightly, but in a justice-first world, Polanski should see cell bars.

Mia's support of Polanski is one of many, many reasons I don't think Woody's as guilty as she claims. It's also a clear reason to dislike Mia. Either it's evidence she's lying about Allen, or it's evidence she doesn't care about evil, criminal activity when it doesn't directly affect her. The former makes her nasty, the latter? Even worse.

Match Point might have been Stateside, yeah, but London might have happened, anyway. That was a funding thing as much as a retreat. Woody just happened to get funding in the UK. But, yeah, that's an interesting thought. I like it in the UK, but it could have worked elsewhere. While social climbing and class-consciousness is very prominent in the UK, it exists everywhere.

reply

[–] Kowalski (61596) a year ago

TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN

BANANAS

SLEEPER

ANNIE HALL

RADIO DAYS

SMALL TIME CROOKS

CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION

HOLLYWOOD ENDING

WHATEVER WORKS

BLUE JASMINE

reply

[–] SandyR (7541) a year ago

WOW, CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION IS A BOLD CHOICE!

reply

[–] Kowalski (61596) a year ago

I LIKE THAT MOVIE...SAW IT AT THE THEATER.

reply

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (10740) a year ago

"Bananas" is one of my favorite Allen films.

reply

[–] Crocodile (2983) 9 months ago

1- Match Point
2- Annie Hall
3- Manhattan

reply

[–] [deleted] 7 months ago

I've actually only seen one Woody Allen movie. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), I checked it out because it starred Hall and Johansson, I think it's absolutely amazing so I've been meaning to check out some more of his work. First up will be Match Point (2005). I hope to watch it some time this week.

reply

[–] Ace_Spade (9431) 7 months ago

Match Point is one of my all-time favourite Allen films. I hope you love it!

reply