Day 195, Part 2: My Top Ten (Good and Bad) Woody Allen Films

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Bill

Here are my 10 favorite Woody Allen films, ranked in order:

1. Annie Hall (1977)
2. Midnight in Paris (2011)
3. The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
4. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
5. Take the Money and Run (1969)
6. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)
7. Manhattan (1979)
8. Match Point (2005)
9. Blue Jasmine (2013)
10. Small Time Crooks (2000)
10. (tie) Zelig (1983)

Here are my 10 least favorite Woody Allen films, ranked in order:

1. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972)
2. What’s Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)

(Two of the worst movies I’ve ever seen in my life, bar none.)

3. Sleeper (1973)
4. Bananas (1971)
5. Love and Death (1975)
6. Deconstructing Harry (1997)
7. Another Woman (1988)
8. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
9. A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (1982)
10. Celebrity (1998)
10: (tie) Husbands and Wives (1992)

I was surprised how many of Woody’s movies I didn’t like. But his films seen in context, one after another, I could definitely discern high and low points of creativity, as well as inspired versus uninspired screenwriting.

Woody Allen in the 1990s was caustic. Almost unwatchable. The patina of artistry had rubbed off and he was pure cynic, especially regarding relationships. The level of unhappiness in his characters is palpable. I can only take just so much watching people hurting each other, and themselves.

He rebounded in the early 2000s with some truly funny comedies.

And then he hit pure gold in 2011 and 2013 with Midnight in Parish and Blue Jasmine, respectively, two of his best movies – which is cool because he seems to get better the older he gets.

Day 195: Blue Jasmine

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Bill

Gee whiz. If Blue Jasmine – the 44th movie Woody Allen directed – was any more depressing, it would be Husbands and Wives or Crimes and Misdemeanors.

The film is about a wealthy New York wife (Cate Blanchett), married to a high-rolling financier (Alex Baldwin), a Bernie Madoff-type who suddenly finds herself without a husband, without a home, and without money after her husband goes to prison for fraud.

The dramatic drop from the highest high to a humbling low takes a toll on her life and she more or less snaps, ends up talking to herself.

She moves in with her sister in San Francisco and takes a job as a receptionist in a dentist’s office while she attends school to better herself. The pressure of juggling her job, her class, her sister’s lower-class lifestyle and friends (who hit on her), and her boss (who hits on her), and a growing drinking problem takes a toll.

Her last chance at escaping the downward spiral is meeting a wealthy state department diplomat (Peter Sarsgaard) at a party, inventing a different past, and posing as an interior decorator. The two fall in love.

But when Jasmin’s ruse is discovered, the bottom totally drops out.

Blue Jasmine was nominated for Continue reading →

Day 193: Midnight in Paris

Posted on April 12, 2014 by Bill

Midnight in Paris is a perfect movie, one I’ve watched dozens of times since it was released in 2011.

It is my second-favorite film by Woody Allen, second only to Annie Hall.

The Academy-Award winning script (Best Original Screenplay) is tight, witty, clever, and intelligent.

The casting is exceptional, although at first I couldn’t see Owen Wilson as Woody Allen, the stammering, gesturing writer looking for inspiration. He eventually grew on me.

Even the soundtrack is outstanding – so much so that I bought it as soon as it became available.

Midnight in Paris combines everything I love in a movie – including the kind of magic that could transport someone back in time…in this case, Paris in the 1920s, the city filled with ex-pats like Ernest Hemingway, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and Cole Porter. Other characters making an appearance are Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Man Ray, Matisse, Gauguin, Degas, and others.

The cast is remarkable:

Owen Wilson … Gil
Rachel McAdams … Inez
Kurt Fuller … John
Mimi Kennedy … Helen
Michael Sheen … Paul
Alison Pill … Zelda Fitzgerald
Tom Hiddleston … F. Scott Fitzgerald
Marion Cotillard … Adriana
Corey Stoll … Ernest Hemingway
Kathy Bates … Gertrude Stein
Adrien Brody … Salvador Dalí
Tom Cordier … Man Ray
Léa Seydoux … Gabrielle

Standout performances were turned in by Tom Hiddleston as Scott Fitzgerald, Alison Pill as Zelda Fitzgerald, Corey Stoll as Hemingway (possibly the greatest performance in the film), Adrien Brody as Dali (the second best performance), and Marion Cotillard as Adriana, one of the sexiest woman ever to Continue reading →

Day 192: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Bill

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is a movie I could have done without seeing.

It’s yet another movie about relationships, divorce, infidelity, lust, love…and hookers.

Woody seems to have a thing for sleazy bimbos.

In Tall Dark Stranger, it’s the character played by retiree Anthony Hopkins who divorces his wife and falls for a hooker much younger than himself that he says he wants to marry.

In another relationship, James Brolin lusts for the young guitarist across the way while wife Naomi Watts tolerates his pretentious writer bullshit. But that’s okay because Watts’ boss – played by Antonio Bandaras – wants her.

If the adage “write what you know” is true, then all Woody Allen has ever known is broken, mismatched relationships, May-December romances, lusting for someone else’s significant other, and depression.

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is the 42nd movie Woody Allen directed. He was 75 when it was released.

Day 191: Whatever Works

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Bill

Whatever Works doesn’t.

Not on any level.

Larry David (playing the anhedonic Woody Allen character this time around) is terrific casting – if you want a douche bag as a protagonist.

Here’s how the movie starts: A bunch of friends sitting around in New York talking. Boris is insulting them. Mercilessly.

After a few minutes, Boris starts talking to the audience, calling them (us) mouth breathers.

He gets up and walks away from his friends, still talking to the camera (“breaking the fourth wall”). He says:

Why would you want to hear my story? Do we know each other? Do we like each other? Let me tell you right off, ok… I’m not a likeable guy. Charm has never been a priority with me. And just so you know, this is not the feel-good movie of the year. So if you’re one of those idiots who needs to feel good, go get yourself a foot massage.

And there you have it. That sets the tone of the movie. He tells us from the get-go he’s not a likeable character. The movie proves that. Repeatedly.

He even warns us mouth breathers up front:

Boris: What the hell does it all mean any how? Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nothing comes to anything.

Boris is right.

This isn’t the feel-good movie of the year.

And this movie, essentially, means Continue reading →

Day 187: Match Point

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Bill

Match Point is a brilliant, brilliant movie. And my eighth favorite Woody Allen film.

It is not a comedy.

And it was not filmed in New York.

It’s a drama, or perhaps a “thriller” (as it’s billed), and it was filmed in London, England.

The story is about relationships, infidelity, death – all the traditional Woody Allen themes.

Only this time they’re told differently, with more skill.

And with greater impact.

And with the uber-sexy actress Scarlett Johannson as the femme fatale.

The opening voice-over narration sets the tone for the movie:

The man who said “I’d rather be lucky than good” saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It’s scary to think so much is out of one’s control. There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net, and for a split second, it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck, it goes forward, and you win. Or maybe it doesn’t, and you lose.

And it only gets better from there.

Match Point is story is a former tennis pro (Rhys Meyers) who becomes a tennis instructor at an exclusive club. He gets serious with the sister (Mortimer) of his Continue reading →

Day 180: Celebrity

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Bill

Celebrity, Woody’s 29th movie as director, features another massive cast and themes of relationships, love, infidelity, sexuality…wait.

Haven’t I seen this before?

Celebrity features a number of interesting performances, notably the leggy, sexy, and model-esque Charlize Theron playing a leggy and sexy model…British actor Kenneth Branagh doing a very fine impression of Woody Allen throughout the movie – stuttering, gesturing, and trying to get into the pants of every woman he meets – theatre director, author, and actor Andre Gregory (of My Dinner With Andre fame) making a cameo appearance as film director John Papadakis…character actor J.K. Simmons as a souvenir hawker…Leonardo DiCaprio, whom someone on IMDB noted was in this film for exactly 10 minutes and 20 seconds.

My favorite scene is when Robin Simon (Judy Davis) and Tony Gardella (Joe Mantegna) are at a screening of a film. Robin says she’s ought to know more people there. Tony points to Andre Gregory.

Tony Gardella: You see that guy?

Robin Simon: Mmm-hmm.

Tony: That’s Papadakis, the director of the film were gonna see.

Robin: Oh, yes.

Tony: Oh, yeah, he’s very arty, pretentious, one of those assholes who shoots all his films in black and white.

Robin: [laughs]

[Camera picks out a handsome young guy talking on the phone.]

Tony: Tom Dale. *Big* star. He’s in New York filming an adaptation of a sequel of a remake.

[Camera picks out a guy who looks like the late film critic Gene Siskel.]

Tony: Oh, and getting out of the elevator I see there’s a famous critic.

Robin: Him, I recognize.

Tony: Oh, he used to hate every movie. Then, he married a young, big-bosomed woman, and now he loves every movie.

The line about the pretentious asshole who shoots all his films in black and white was an inside joke because Celebrity is shot in black and white, which Continue reading →

Day 170: Crimes and Misdemeanors

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Bill

Crimes and Misdemeanors is a captivating, brilliant, ironic, and thoroughly depressing movie about an opthamologist (Martin Landau, 1928- ), his mistress (Angelica Huston, 1951- ), and a married documentary filmmaker (Woody Allen) who is infatuated by another woman.

The theme of the movie comes early on, in a scene in which Juda Rosenthal (Landau) delivers an acceptance speech for some kind of award:

“I remember my father telling me, ‘The eyes of God are on us always.” The eyes of God. What a phrase to a young boy. What were God’s eyes like? Unimaginably penetrating, intense eyes, I assumed. And I wonder if it was just a question that I made my specialty opthamology.”

“Eyes” is the theme of Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Staring eyes. Watching eyes. Jealous eyes. Failing eyes.

Once again, the movie is about relationships, infidelity, love, death, religion, God…you name it. It’s Woody through and through.

But it’s a Woody more focused and Continue reading →

Day 165: Hannah and Her Sisters

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Bill

Hannah and Her Sisters, the 14th film Woody Allen directed, was awarded the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

I can see why. It is a very consistent, compelling movie.

From its entry on Wikipedia:

Hannah and Her Sisters is a 1986 American comedy-drama film which tells the intertwined stories of an extended family over two years that begins and ends with a family Thanksgiving dinner. The film was written and directed by Woody Allen, who stars along with Mia Farrow as Hannah, Michael Caine as her husband, and Barbara Hershey and Dianne Wiest as her sisters.

The story is told in three main arcs, with almost all of it occurring during a 24-month period beginning and ending at Thanksgiving parties hosted by Hannah (Mia Farrow) and her husband, Elliot (Michael Caine). Hannah serves as the stalwart hub of the narrative; her own story as a successful actress (a recent success as Nora in A Doll’s House) is somewhat secondary, but most of the events of the film connect to her.

Part of the film’s structure and background is borrowed from Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander. In both films, a large theatrical family gather for three successive year’s celebrations (Thanksgiving in Allen’s film, Christmas in Bergman’s). The first of each gathering is in a time of contentment, the second in a time of trouble, and the third showing what happens after the resolution of the troubles. The sudden appearance of Mickey’s reflection behind Holly’s in the closing scene also parallels the apparition behind Alexander of the Bishop’s ghost.

An interesting exchange occurs in a segment titled “The Hypochondriac.”

The scene is with Mickey (Woody Allen), a TV writer and Ed Smythe (J.T. Walsh), a Standards & Practices representative. Gail (Julie Kavner) stands nearby, offering support for Mickey.

Mickey: Why all of a sudden is the sketch dirty?

Smythe: Child Molestation is a touchy subject with the affiliates.

Mickey: Read the papers. Half the country’s doing it.

Smythe: Yes, but you name names.

Mickey: We do not name names. We say the Pope.

Smythe: That sketch cannot go on the air.

This subject – child molestation/pedophilia – is one that recurs in Continue reading →

Day 161: A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Bill

In this, Woody’s 11th turn behind the camera, we are introduced to Mia Farrow (1945- ), the actress who becomes Woody’s muse for the next several films.

There’s no jazz music in A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy. But there is Classical music. It opens with Mendelssohn’s Wedding March. And closes with another Classical piece the name of which escapes me.

The cast is probably the most attractive and consistent of any Woody movie to date.

Woody Allen … Andrew
Mia Farrow … Ariel
José Ferrer … Leopold (as Jose Ferrer)
Julie Hagerty … Dulcy
Tony Roberts … Maxwell
Mary Steenburgen … Adrian

Wood was 47 in this film. It’s a much happier movie than his last one. Of course, World War II was happier than Stardust Memories.

“Marriage is the death of hope,” says Maxwell (Tony Roberts).

It’s odd to see a movie in which Woody (who plays a quirky inventor in this film) is more positive than other characters. In Midsummer Night’s he’s practically a ray of sunshine, a regret-filled ray of sunshine. But still.

Essentially, this 1982 movie is about Continue reading →

1095 Days With the Masters and Me

In Which I Spend Three Years Exploring the Works of the World's Greatest Composers, Authors, Filmmakers, Musicians, and Actors. I'm Not Crazy. Just Insatiably Curious. (Oh, like you're not?)

Category Archives: Relationships