Thank you all for your input, I greatly appreciate it and you’ll be glad to hear I am LOVING his films. I’m an amateur at the moment but I’m keeping track of what I’ve watched so far on this list: http://mubi.com/lists/woody-allen—23 Feel free to comment.
Thanks again!
Dennis Brian
I am not big on lists but I will give you my top and bottom five Top: 1) Curse of the Jade Scorpion: Allen feels he was miscast here but that is because this is one of very few times he has played a regular guy. He is not a dumb hood (ala Take the Money and Run or Small Time Crooks) or a rich intellectual (almost all his films). He is complex here, smart but unconfident, brave yet vulnerable and when all is said and done, aging and lonely. It is my favorite rom com of all time because like some of the best Allen films it choses fantasy over reality, (when he thinks he hypnotizes Helen Hunt at the end, one has to remember that no one does anything under hypnosis they do not want to). More importantly, as he says, “Everyone deserves to have somebody they feel that way about.” The movie is also interestingly cast, lovingly detaled in set design and plot and hilarious. 2. Deconstructing Harry: A profane Woody Allen comedy where he answers all his moral critics by behaving as immorallly as possible (supposedly he was playing a version of Phillip Roth who Mia was dating at the time, weird). The film is profound and hilarious and one of the things that made me want to be a writer, another film were fantasy is chosen over reality and he gets an ovation from the only people that matter to him, his characters. 3. Another Woman: Woody’s coldest film is all about self delusion. A cold woman actually thinks she is liked by people. It takes a journey into the mind (better than any Cassavetes and with Gena Rowlins) for her to see that she is not; she will then retreat into her work. 4. Anything Else: One of Woody’s most personal films, spot on black comedy with strange sci fi elements and a troubling interest in violence that finally comes to the surface (instead of merely being hinted at in Manhattan and Annie Hall) 5. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger: Against the grain Woody, I just wrote why I love this in a Woody Allen thread. Bottom: 1) Whatever Works: a lecture from a bitter old man.Said to have been written in the 70s, it would have been out of touch then and is downright anachronistic now. 2) Cassandra’s Dream: The only Allen film that I fell asleep on in the theater. The cast is charmless and the story is depressing without being insightful. 3) Bananas: a lot of funny of paper ideas, but none bring much more than a smile. 4) Don’t Drink the Water: Not bad, just completly unnecessary 5) Annie Hall: Few of the jokes have stood the test of time and he matured before Hall with the wonderful Play it Again Sam.