What are currently your 3 (or even 4 or 5 fave picks, if 3 makes it too difficult) personal favorite Woody Allen films made and released so far and please say why (for either the writing, the acting and casting, the direction, or a combo of all of these factors) for each film named.
1. The Purple Rose of Cairo- extremely fast-paced, excellent writing, and tackled some deep philosophical issues.
2. Annie Hall- one of my favorite comedies. Comedic writing at its finest, and woody allen plays such a good little weasel.
3. Match Point- so delightfully un-Woody Allen. proved to me that he can write something which doesn't move a mile a minute, and I liked that.
I'd say *currently* these would be
1. Annie Hall - for honest depiction of a relationship, and some of the best lines in comedy IMHO
2. Hannah and her sisters - for lovingly shown N.Y.C., I could relate to the abortive "Pygmalion" relationship
3. Manhattan murder mystery - very tongue-in-cheek
I used to think Desconstructing Harry, Mighty Aphrodite and Bullets Over Boradway are hilarous, but eventually they didn't stand up to multiple viewings (five is probably the limit; I used to like them for being irreverent, sex and relationship-focused comedies and good lines; on second thoughts, I'll be coming back to Bullets over Broadway in a year or two for the funny characters)
"Having sex with you was a Kafkaesque experience. I mean it as a compliment."
1. Interiors: Allen doing Bergman in a colorfully black and white, depressing sort of way.
2. Match Point: Caught totally off-guard by the ending.
3. Annie Hall: La-dee-dah, la-dee-dah. A wonderful depiction of the life and death of a relationship.
4. Hannah and Her Sisters: So many wonderful performances.
5. Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex* But Were Afraid to Ask: Comical, funny and sophmoric. Fine adaptation of the novel. Loved the scene of Gene Wilder drinking a bottle of Woolite.
I'll tell you what...Husbands and Wives seems more brilliant every time that I see it.
1) Crimes and Misdemeanors
2) Everyone Says I Love You
3) Husbands and Wives
right now, it's
1) Crimes & Misdemeanors - the fireside confession scene changed me as a person
2) Manhattan - his most "epic" looking film, and I always love a good roast of pseudo-intellectual snobs set to Gershwin
3) Love & Death - my favorite of the 70's comedies, both funny and insightful, it gave me a lifelong crush on Diane Keaton, and the "wheat" shot/nod to Bergman is just priceless
4) Match Point - i like the slow-paced buildup and i was absolutely squirming in the theater during the last 30 minutes or so. the construction of every shot has significance of some kind, which makes it stand up to repeated viewings quite well. some lines are lifted right out of C&M, but infidelity is the prevailing Woody theme, after all. shameless crush #2 on Emily Mortimer.
5) Annie Hall - the film that got me into Allen in the first place, and easily the best place to start. it's not my favorite, but i can still find absolutely nothing wrong with the film. funny, touching, and honest. "Jew? Jew eat?"
Hannah and Her Sisters
Mighty Aphrodite
Bullets Over Broadway (one of my favorite movies ever)
Crimes and Misdemeanors
In No Particular Order:
-Bananas: C'mon, I just can't help loving it. And the scene where Woody tells the dream of the crucified men, it cracks me up just to think about it, same thing with the scene in the subway (where Stalone appears), and also... well, I think you get it.
-Deconstructing Harry: I think Woody managed to express all the anguish and hysteria in a hella funny way. And, corny as it may sound, in the end it has a good moral.
-Small Time Crooks: Underrated, in my opinion. Not a great movie, of course, but it's less dramatic than his 90's movies. You could say it's "lighter", which is a good thing and a bad thing.
Special mentions:Annie Hall (It's the obvious one), Take The Money And Run (First Woody movie I saw, I was about 8 years old and remember watching it with my parents on TV, I didn't get the movie but I remember my mom and dad being very amused by it), Stardust Memories (Just beautiful), Sweet & Lowdown (Not the typical kind of movie).
Thanks for mentioning small time crooks. I love when Allen's character threatens frenchie at the beginning hahaha classic
sharewhy can't threads like this stay in the woody allen forum?
shareManhattan- oddly enough i've only seen it once and it was when i was much to young to really understand it but i remember loving it for how different it was from other films. I consider this the greatest mature comedy.
Annie Hall-i could read and re read the script and watch and re watch this film over and over again and never find a single line or detail or even a word that could stand to be removed. The messages one gets from annie hall go beyond pure relationships. never has a film so visually broken down the human mind.
Sleeper-By far the most hilarious. The sex machine, the robot dog, and the nose leave me gasping for air so much that i have to pause the film. OH. and the line "but they all ate organic rice!" haha
Husbands and Wives-I just finished watching this one for the first time and I loved how allen managed to reiterate the theme so many times as it dawned on each individual character. Another great note is how all main character seemed so similar yet I'm sure any viewer could pick and easy favorite and least favorite.
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1. Take the Money and Run.
2. Bananas.
3. Sleeper.
Take the Money and Run was the first one I saw, back when I was a kid. I found it was hilarious and to this day think it has some really whacky ideas.
Bananas was a little different but pays off with some really funny gags. I didn't get a lot of them until I grew up.
Sleeper I've only seen once years ago but it was unforgettable, and turns up in sci-fi reviews all the time. I hope to see it again one day.
Scenes from a Mall comes a close battle for third place! Woody and Bette Midler were great together as the bickering married couple.
Take the Money and Run
Sleeper
Love and Death
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Annie Hall