Favorite Woody Allen movie/Happy birthday, Woody

[abcdefz]

I wonder when watching a Woody Allen movie won't feel vaguely icky again.

Anyway. Happy birthday, ya old perv. You've done a lot of great stuff. (y)

[abcdefz]

Me, I actually agree with the man himself: I think Purple Rose of Cairo is the best thing he's done. Very funny, beautifully performed and shot (Jeff Daniels, Mia Farrow, Danny Aiello, Dianne Weist), and it's a solid, solid story with rich philosophical depth.

A. (y)

[saz]

annie hall, manhattan, radio days, crimes and misdemeanors, manhattan murder mystery, and match point

[The Notorious LOL]

no one under the age of 35 gives a shit about Woody Allen word up

[abcdefz]

radio days



Shit -- that's a great one I forgot.(y)

[Yorkshire~Rose]

Too.many.to.choose.from.

I plumped for Annie Hall but i love love love Manhattan Murder Mystery (which was on TV here last night spookily enough), Radio Days and Play It Again Sam.

[beastiegirrl101]

no one under the age of 35 gives a shit about Woody Allen word up

.

[Yorkshire~Rose]

I'm under the age of 35.








Just. :D

[b i o n i c]

fucking zelig! when he tries to play the cello in a marching band... omglololololol(y) (y)

[Yorkshire~Rose]

fucking zelig! when he tries to play the cello in a marching band... omglololololol(y) (y)

OK now i need to see this - you just saying that made me guffaw (y)

[abcdefz]

Too.many.to.choose.from.

I plumped for Annie Hall but i love love love Manhattan Murder Mystery (which was on TV here last night spookily enough), Radio Days and Play It Again Sam.



Yeah.... I got into his stuff in the early '80's, which was a great time, because he was just cranking out movie after movie that was such a good body of work. He has been kind of derivative, but that stretch from about 1973-1990 or so is one of the great runs any director has ever had. Jeez, look at that -- Sleeper, Love and Death, Annie Hall, Interiors, Manhattan, Stardust Memories, Zelig, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, Radio Days, Hannah and Her Sisters, Another Woman, September, Crimes and Misdemeanors... not bad.

[abcdefz]

fucking zelig! when he tries to play the cello in a marching band... omglololololol(y) (y)



Zelig is beautiful. (y) The special effects are flawless, too.

[b i o n i c]

oh man what was that scene where he's being questioned in jail and he suddenly turns into a rabbi. i think it was after he tries to escape with a gun he made out of soap and shoe polish, but his sweaty palms foam the thing up in his hands. oh man lolololololololol.... good times

[icy manipulator]

isn't he the sick fuck that married his own step daughter?

[abcdefz]

isn't he the sick fuck that married his own step daughter?



That's the one.

Not his stepdaughter, actually, but more or less, yeah.

[abcdefz]

oh man what was that scene where he's being questioned in jail and he suddenly turns into a rabbi. i think it was after he tries to escape with a gun he made out of soap and shoe polish, but his sweaty palms foam the thing up in his hands. oh man lolololololololol.... good times



I love it when Dr. Fletcher puts him under hypnosis and he starts talking about what a rotten cook she is.

[mickill]

Either Zelig or Manhattan.

I also think that Everyone Says I Love You and Mighty Aphrodite are slightly underrated.

There's a few spectacular moments in Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex..., as well.

[Lyman Zerga]

never saw his movies

[abcdefz]

Gotta say -- I'm happy to see Zelig get a lot of love. Criminally underrated. (y)

[YoungRemy]

I voted Annie Hall but only because "Sweet and Lowdown" wasn't on the list...

"Bullets Over Broadway" and "Hannah and Her Sisters" tie for third on my list...

[abcdefz]

Sweet and Lowdown? I didn't know that one had fans. The acting is amazing, but I didn't like that one.

Can you say why it's your favorite? Maybe I should give it another shot.

[Documad]

Sleeper is the best early movie. Annie Hall is a perfect time capsule movie that shows what the late 1970s looked like in a big urban american city. Hannah and Her Sisters is my sentimental favorite because it's the first one I saw in theatrical release that I loved. Husbands and Wives is another big favorite of mine. With Woody's movies, there is usually about 20 minutes of the movie that I'd like to cut. In husbands and wives, it's obviously the juliette lewis parts, but Judy Davis and Sydney Pollack make up for it. Manhattan Murder Mystery is perfect. I've been thinking about seeing that again soon.

I know that I enjoyed Radio Days, Zelig, Broadway Danny Rose, Purple Rose of Cairo, and the one with Tracy Ullman when I saw them in the theater but they didn't stick with me and I have no desire to see them again.

Woody used to always release his movies in the spring and I used to see one every year on easter sunday.

[DandyFop]

Manhattan. It's the only one of his that I've watched repeatedly though, making me love it more and more each time. So I might feel like that if I watched his others the same way. I loved Sleeper, but I didn't like Annie Hall as much because we watched it right after Sleeper and they were just so different I don't think I was in the right mood for it then.

[YoungRemy]

Sweet and Lowdown? I didn't know that one had fans. The acting is amazing, but I didn't like that one.

Can you say why it's your favorite? Maybe I should give it another shot.

Sean Penn and the music

[Documad]

I loved Sleeper, but I didn't like Annie Hall as much because we watched it right after Sleeper and they were just so different I don't think I was in the right mood for it then.
That's how people felt when Annie Hall was released. When it won the oscar for best picture, a lot of people complained that woody's first unfunny movie was the one that won.

[mickill]

I know that I enjoyed Radio Days, Zelig, Broadway Danny Rose, Purple Rose of Cairo, and the one with Tracy Ullman when I saw them in the theater but they didn't stick with me and I have no desire to see them again.

If you're talking about Small Time Crooks, I thought the first half of it was quite brilliant. Then it all went to hell from there.

There's always something memorable about all of his films for me; whether it's just one exchange of witty dialogue or a couple of great performances. I don't think that I've ever seen a movie by him that I just thoroughly hated.

As far as other actors playing the Allenesque male lead parts, I thought that Will Ferrell did a great job in Melinda and Melinda. Kenneth Branagh in Celebrity, on the other hand, was just really annoying. Neither film was spectacular, but both had their moments. Oh, and Jason Biggs in Anything Else was decent, I guess.

[abcdefz]

Sleeper is the best early movie.




-- you mean Love and Death. :D

[abcdefz]

That's how people felt when Annie Hall was released. When it won the oscar for best picture, a lot of people complained that woody's first unfunny movie was the one that won.


Lord -- if people thought Annie Hall wasn't funny, it must've been sailing way over their heads. I know it was a major gear-shift for him, but, c'mon -- keep up, people.

[beastieangel01]

I honestly haven't seen one Woody Allen movie all the way through.

Someone needs to come over with a bunch of DVDs and sit with me to watch I think.

[Genocide Tulips]

Sleeper was a good one.

[abcdefz]

With all the water under the bridge? I think I'd honestly consider starting with Husbands and Wives. Knowing as much of his personal history as we do now kind of smudges things. But Husbands and Wives kind of gets at that directly, plus it's a great, great movie. Then maybe a little forgiveness can work its way in, and it'll be acceptable to watch him without so much ick factor.

The early, "straight" funny ones: Sleeper, Love and Death

Classic Woody period: Annie Hall, Manhattan, Zelig, Purple Rose of Cairo, Radio days, Broadway Danny Rose

Classic Woody (if you can take it pretentious, slow, and somber): Interiors

Classic but overrated Woody: Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors

Classic underrated Woody: Another Woman, Stardust Memories

Later, great Woody: Bullets Over Broadway, Husbands and Wives

Late, awfully good Woody: Match Point


I think that's most of 'em, though other folks will obviously have their prefernces.

[YoungRemy]

what the hell is wrong with you? the man is a f*cking pedophile.

you might be thinking of Roman Polanski...

although sleeping with your adopted step-daughter is frowned upon, she was 22 and he was 57 at the time that they started their relationship...

[YoungRemy]

he raised her.......thats like incest.

but you just said he was a pedophile!
and what does any of this have to do with his filmmaking ability or your favorite Woody Allen film?

[Documad]

-- you mean Love and Death. :D
I never liked it, but I saw it when I was too young. I tried to watch it again a month ago and still didn't like it much.

People really complained about Annie Hall at the time. I remember because I thought it was quite funny even though I was too young to get a lot of it. My dad laughed his ass off, which always made me laugh. I remember when her brother drives them at night my dad was gasping for air. I suppose it wasn't as silly as Bananas and Sleeper, and people liked his silliness -- Annie Hall had more of a complete plot than his earlier movies that felt more like a series of bits.

[abcdefz]

I remember when her brother drives them at night my dad was gasping for air.



Christopher Walken! Priceless. Whoever did Woody's casting on that should've gotten a bonus for finding him.

[Yeti]

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask

HA! Gene Wilder romancing a sheep. What more could you ask for?

[yeahwho]

Broadway Danny Rose, it is a small story, edited brilliantly and very funny. Broadway Danny Rose is also a love affair with NYC, great great cinematography. I think I've seen every movie on that list except Love and Death, that said I like Sweet and Lowdown next, Sean Penn plays Emmet Ray, the irresponsible, free-spending, arrogant, obnoxious, alcohol-abusing, miserable human being, who was also arguably the best guitarist in the world. Cool Flick.

I can barely stomach the others....too 70's hip or some such nonsense........ I did see some movie he was in where he did a good job of playing a sperm. Woody Allen plays one hell of a sperm.

[fucktopgirl]

I did not read all the thread but you forgot to mention SLEEPER

I think that movie is awesome and fucking funny!
The surrealist and futurist elements in the movie are hilarious , the sarcasm and irony are well made and well tough!