Do you like Woody Allen films?
Recently watched a few as they're on Netflix. Annie Hall, Hannah And Her Sisters and Manhattan. As far as I'm aware these are his 'big' three. Not sure if there's any other classics of his??
Can't make my mind up if I like his style or not. I like the way they poke fun at pretentious New Yorkers and those artsy types in general. The themes are all a little dour though - affairs, break ups, divorces, mid-life crisis etc. The neurotic characters he plays get a bit grating too. (Though he seems to have no trouble pulling attractive women with that style in all of his films)
I'd go with Annie Hall as my favourite out of them three and the most watchable.
Do you like Woody and his films?
Can't make my mind up if I like his style or not. I like the way they poke fun at pretentious New Yorkers and those artsy types in general. The themes are all a little dour though - affairs, break ups, divorces, mid-life crisis etc. The neurotic characters he plays get a bit grating too. (Though he seems to have no trouble pulling attractive women with that style in all of his films)
I'd go with Annie Hall as my favourite out of them three and the most watchable.
Do you like Woody and his films?
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best avoid Honey, I ****** the kids
Play It Again, Sam
Annie Hall (one of my favourite films of all time)
Sleeper
Bananas
Manhattan Murder Mystery
Interiors
Hannah and her Sisters
Manhattan
Bullets over Broadway
Love and Death
Never been convinced by him as a film director, I think he's pretty poor mostly in that regard.
But then he's admitted himself he's very lazy on a technical level and goes through the motions on set - I believe he kind of views it more as sticking a camera in front of a stage play as opposed to producing anything genuinely cinematic for an audience.
So yeah, not really my cup of tea. His early films were very well performed and funny though.
For example, there are the early, more slapstick-orientated ones such as Bananas, Take The Money and Run, Sleeper...the more mature classics such as Manhattan, Annie Hall, the homages and parodies of classic writers and directors such as Love and Death, Stardust Memories, Everything you always wanted to know about sex...his mid-period nostalgic comedies like Purple Rose of Cairo, Bullets over Broadway, Radio Days, Broadway Danny Rose...serious stuff like Interiors and Crimes and Misdemeanours,
But his output in the last 15 years or so has been fair-to-middling. Allen seems to be a workaholic, almost obsessive about making movies and churns out 1 or two a year...and then practically disowns them and moves on to the next. He does not do publicity, rarely gives interviews and his films never have commentaries or anything when released on blu ray and dvd.
Last film of his I saw was Whatever You Want, which I was intrigued by due to the inclusion of Larry David. But it was mildly amusing at best.
Personally I still like the early silly ones, because I grew up with them. But Purple Rose of Cairo would be my all time fave. Quite fond of Broadway Danny Rose, Sleeper, Zelig, and of course Annie Hall and Manhattan.
Always found Hannah overrated...but I was pleasantly surprised by Crimes and Misdemeanours.
I love all of these. Broadway Danny Rose is another of my favourites.
And when you make a film every year the law of averages inevitably means quite a few will be stinkers.
They can be very refreshing if you're looking for humour which is an antidote to the bashing over your head broad comedy of most Hollywood comedy in films.
I also enjoy his quite low key stories which focus on the characters. I really love Woody Allen films. They seem to connect with me in a way which big Hollywood films don't.
All those are great recommendations.
I'd also add
Zelig
Broadway Danny Rose
Radio Days
Take the Money and Run
The Purple Rose of Cairo
And that also means that his film releases are not seen as the event they once were.
I don't know about stinkers...there is a lot of his later output I have not seen, but I think its more that he makes so many, and they are simply so low key and light that they barely register.
I also wanted to say that I as pleasantly surprised by Crimes and Misdemeanours, not what I was expecting and quite serious, but a very good movie.
I would also recommend The Front...not actually directed by Woody Allen (Martin Ritt), and not really a comedy...its about the McCarthy 'witch hunts' of the 50's, and specifically about the 'fronts', the unknown writers who submitted the work of blacklisted writers as their own.
Possibly the best movie made about the subject, and contains a decent performance from Allen, but a heartbreaking one from Zero Mostel, himself a genuine victim of the situation, as was the director and many others in the cast.
Out of those, I've seen Radio Days and The Purple Rose of Cairo.