I was quite excited by the idea of the new Woody Allen film Whatever Works. It's about a misanthropic scientist played by Larry David - of Seinfeld and Curb fame - but when I finally saw the flick over the weekend I was disappointed. It's not so funny or interesting and as I talked to a few people about it I realized that there was an entire generation out there who only know Woody Allen from his scandalous personal life and his weak later period works. He's also in the news this week for being the first signature on a creepy list of people who want the immediate release of Roman Polanski. Anyway it sometimes helps to divorce the artist from his work and as a very small corrective, here's my list of the Top 10 best Woody Allen films:...
1. Annie Hall (1977): Woody at the height of his powers. A bittersweet geek-meets-girl romance containing such classics as: Marshall McLuhan, the JFK conspiracy sex excuse, the Grammy Hall dinner, the party at Paul Simon's house etc. Genius. A+
2. Hannah and Her Sisters (1985). The story of Hannah and, er, her sisters. Funny, twisted, dark, very sad, and then funny again with a kick ass happy ending. Brilliant. A+
3. Love and Death (1975). Woody's take on classic Russian literature.
Sonja: You were my one great love.
Boris: Oh, thank you very much. I appreciate that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm dead.
Sonja: What's it like?
Boris: What's it like? You know the chicken at Tresky's Restaurant? It's worse.
Sonja: There are many different kinds of love, Boris. There's love between a man and a woman; between a mother and son...
Boris: Two women. Let's not forget my favorite.
Sonja: And I want three children.
Boris: Yes. Yes. One of each.
Anton Inbedkov: Shall we say pistols at dawn?
Boris Grushenko: Well, we can say it. I don't know what it means, but we can say it.
A
Sonja: You were my one great love.
Boris: Oh, thank you very much. I appreciate that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm dead.
Sonja: What's it like?
Boris: What's it like? You know the chicken at Tresky's Restaurant? It's worse.
Sonja: There are many different kinds of love, Boris. There's love between a man and a woman; between a mother and son...
Boris: Two women. Let's not forget my favorite.
Sonja: And I want three children.
Boris: Yes. Yes. One of each.
Anton Inbedkov: Shall we say pistols at dawn?
Boris Grushenko: Well, we can say it. I don't know what it means, but we can say it.
A
4. Sleeper (1973). A health food store owner from the 70's wakes up in the twenty third century. The giant pudding scene may the funniest thing ever put on celluloid. A
5. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1991). Martin Landau hires Lenny from Law & Order to murder Angelica Huston and that's when his troubles really begin. Nice subplot involving Woody and Alan Alda. A
6. Radio Days (1986). A sentimental favourite of mine. Woody captures the universe of pre war radio stars. The War of the Worlds bit is LOL hilarious as the kids would say if they could stop tweeting for five minutes and watch a good film for a change. B+
7. Manhattan (1979). Beautifully shot, bittersweet somewhat troubling romance between a young girl and an older dude. (No prizes for guessing who plays the older dude) B+
8. Take the Money and Run (1969). Early anarchic comedy about an incompetent criminal. The scene with the cello and the marching band just about kills me. B+
9. Play It Again Sam (1972). All the old Woody cast in a kind of prequel to Annie Hall. Its mostly shot in San Francisco and its a bit wackier than the mature Woodman, but there's some great stuff in there. B+
10. Match Point (2003). Much derided in England because Woody dared show the Swiss Re Building and had a lot fun with a London setting. Great central performances and Scarlett Johansson appears in a wet T shirt. Whats not to like? B+
47 comments:
I have plenty of time for Woody Allen.
His finding of a VW Beetle in a cave sometime in the future in 'Bananas' is branded in my brain.
Funny how succesful American directors get branded otherwise! Romans film 'Cul de Sac' is incredible- Chicago '20s and British pomposity visit a semi-island, old religious site, in Northumbria! Brilliant film.
oops, 'Sleeper', not Bananas, of course.....
I would agree with your list, but would add Zelig, which I think is brilliant. Also, maybe Broadway Danny Rose. Oh, and maybe Bullets Over Broadway. I'd give all those movies a B or higher.
He's done some REAL stinkers too, like the one where Kenneth Branagh acts and talks just like a Woody Allen carbon copy -- that movie (Celebrity) makes me want to hurl.
Woody Allen has done some magnificent stuff but not lately, and as a human being, he's a turd.
Brian, regarding your question on the last thread: [I'm a huge fan of Mamet's movies too, even though some of his plots get a little ridiculous. Did you see Redbelt?]
I haven't seen Redbelt, but will. I LOVE David Mamet -- his movies & plays have the best dialog ever. A personal favorite line: "Go to lunch. Go to lunch! GO TO F$%^&* LUNCH!!!" from Glengarry.
Thanks for this. I'm old enough to remember a little of Woody doing stand-up, and I read one of his books in high school. Genius.
My favorite Woody movie line is from LOVE AND DEATH. He and Diane Keaton(?) have just had sex. The bedroom is destroyed. She asks, "Where did you learn to make love like that?"
Woody says, "I practice a lot when I'm alone."
Runner-up. Teaching Diane Keaton to park a car in Annie Hall, and she asks how she did after about 75 up and backs.
"It's okay," he says. "I can walk to the curb from here.
Then there's his epic non-movie line about getting an F in his metaphysics class for cheating on an exam. He peeked into the soul of the boy sitting next to him.
I haven't seen MATCH POINT, but, then again, this is the first I'd heard about the whole Scarlet Johansen in a wet tee shirt thing. I'm old, not dead.
Hubert
And dont forget the orb from Sleeper too.
Holden
I liked Broadway Danny Rose and Bullets. Bullets would maybe have been 11 on my list.
I have not see Celebrity thankfully, it looks awful.
Holden
Alec Baldwin's cameo in Glengarry is the all time classic.
Dana
I thought Match Point wasnt bad at all.
I liked the play in Love and Death warning everyone about catching a social disease.
Nice list. Huge fan of Annie Hall, and I get a real kick out of Manhattan Murder Mystery. Also, I really dig the underrated, overridiculed Match Point, mainly because any movie that makes such a cool - and meaningful reference - to Crime and Punishment is good in my book.
Holden - Yeah, I love Mamet's hyperrealistic dialogue, but it seems to be tough for a lot of actors to pull off. When it works it works beautifully; when it doesn't, it's a bit jarring and forced. Chiwetel Ejiofor does a great job with the dialogue in Redbelt.
Brian
I liked all the bits in MMM when they're in bed under the giant Canal Street sign. I want me one of those.
here's the complete list of people demanding Polanski's release. Some big names on there: David Lynch, John Landis, Wes Anderson (they spelt his name wrong though!) Darren Aronofsky, Monica Belluci, Martin Scorsese etc. No Tarantino though which is good because Harvey must have really pressured him and no Coen brothers either.
I lost count of the number of times I'd seen Annie Hall at eighteen.
Hannah and Her Sisters was marred only by Woody Allen's belief that he can act. It's not that his performance was bad; it was as if he walked onto the set and started doing Woody Allen schtick in the middle of an unrelated movie, like a newscaster materializing in a Monty Python sketch.
His early writing may be better than his movies overall. He started out aping S.J. Perelman, then added a philosophical bemusement that was pretty original, I think.
And no one mentioned the great routine in Sleeper when those uber-goyim Diane Keaton and her boyfriend, Erno, stage a seder to try to bring Woody Allen's character out of his stupor. My favorite line: "Eat your shiksah!"
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com
I was really looking forward to this movie, disappointing to hear you didn't really like it.Still going to go see it on the 15th when it comes out. Where did you get to see it ?
I may be the only one here but I really like Curse of the Jade Scorpion, just silly enough and with enough good lines from Woody in it to appeal to me.
Peter
I liked Woody in Hannah and that stuff in the studio was the last time I saw Rhoda's sister Brenda who now voices Marge Simpson act in anything. Is that confusing enough?
Yeah some of his essays are great. His recent ones in The New Yorker though: Holy Christ they are bad.
Conor
I was lucky enough to get a preview DVD. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you...
Was that the one where they open the muffin shop next door to the bank so they can break into it, and then the muffin shop starts doing really well? I liked the premise but I dont recall being that thrilled by the movie.
I've seen a lot of Woody Allen movies. Not some of the major ones, like Love and Death, but I have seen some minor ones that haven't been mentioned yet, like A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, and even the documentary about his Klezmer band going on tour in Europe, some of which is actually pretty funny. Allen may be kind of a dirty old man, but he hasn't apparently crossed the line of coercion tht Polanski admittedly has, and that to me is the distinction.
Mostly, Allen leaves me in a state of bemusement. Early, late, it doesn't make much difference. I don't find him as funny as his fans do, but I would never say he's boring. I just don't always agree with his take on men and women.
I didn't really like Annie Hall. I don't find the Diane Keaton character appealing or intriguing, but really rather shallow. Which is how I always find her. Good natured would be on the positive side of the check list. And quirky fashion maybe. But I kind of wonder if this is how intellectual men see women's minds working. If so, it's kind of a caricature.
I don't really find Allen's latest efforts to be a slacking off from his earlier efforts. Vicky Cristina Barcelona seems very much of a piece with Hannah and Her Sisters to me. I think that the opportunities to play around with other peoples lives and get off lightly is very much a component of both. I understand the basic premise--at heart, we're all inglourious basterds and we drift into and out of things, and hurt other people in the process of quest or whatever, but it's a deeply solipsistic idea, and actually, not everybody comes to the same rather selfish conclusions that Allen does.
He can be very funny, but I think it's kind of a one note comedy act, which centers around his various neuroses. But any time he pays tribute to his one true Lady love, i.e. Manhattan, he hits a true note. People could do worse than to check out the clip on this very blog to see what I mean.
I hate that I have to work when I see one of his movies. I liked the early ones a lot...before he gave an interview to the BBC saying he hoped that Mia Farrow would give birth to a daughter and not a son (too bad for the son). The neurotic, ugly, whiny creature gets in the way of great productions - the lines and the acting by everyone else in the movies. And then marrying Mia Farrow's daughter...well, that came after.
I think of all the actresses in his movies, Diane Keaton is just like Allen, in that she plays the same kind of 'kooky' female character. Though she does this in other movies not just his. So much effort that I don't want to expend myself anymore.
I'd rather give my attention to a movie by Pedro Almodovar or something like Ghost World.
Maybe I'm just being a kooky female character.
Seana, your take on Woody Allen is unusual and interesting in two ways: You didn't like Annie Hall, and you don't think he's tailed off. Those are the second pieces of fresh thinking I've heard about him. The first came many years ago from a female friend who was sick of a sucessful, talented guy who could get all the women he wanted pretentinding he was a neibbish who couldn't get women.
People seem to have forgotten his movie Interiors. I'm old enough to remember when that movie was taken seriously because it was evidence that Woody Allen was a Serious Artist.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com
Maybe I'm just being a kooky female character.
No, Sheiler, you're not. Although ,maybe I am too, so perhaps you should consider the source.
Peter, as to Interiors, I remember my teacher Mary Holmes dismissing Allen's aspirations to be Bergman with a flick of the hand.
And I have to agree with her. He's not.
A dismissal with a flick of the hand is what that movie deserved. I don't begrudge Woody Allen the indulgence of making the movie as much as I do all the critics and moviegoers who took it seriously.
Hey, even I paid to see it.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com
Seana
I too commend your unconventional critique, however, I disagree.
I think Woody's films from 1991 - 2003 were much weaker and certainly less funny that his films 1969 - 1986.
I dont agree about Annie Hall either. About the only film that's won the Oscar that I've liked in the last 30 years. Its the Pygmalion myth and the film ends with her dumping him because she's outgrown him. Woody Allen is the one is the stuck trying to find a replacement for her by replaying some of their best scenes with other better. The director is showing himself to be the shallow silly one and her to be the flower that blossomed. Its also very funny. Marshall McLuhan anyone? Is this thing on?
I think you may need to get Jewish humor though, if you dont you dont and thats an end to it.
Sheiler
I heartily agree with you about Ghost World. Loved that film. I dont dig Almodovar though. I feel for him the way I feel about that film 8 Women. I just dont get it at all. I'm not a fan of camp. And his films seem to me pitched somewhere between Everest base and Camp 3 on the north Coll.
Peter
I'll admit that I havent seen the, er, serious ones. Interiors and that other one. But then I havent seen much of Bergman either. I like the idea of the 300 minute directors cut of Fanny and Alexander though. I like the idea of it as a sort of preparation for death.
Yep, all the way. I liked match Point a lot but after that...the one with Ewam MacGregor and Farrell?!!!!Sooo bad...
I know I'm never going to win any argument about Annie Hall, and to be honest, it's been so long since I've seen it all the way through,I might feel differently now. I don't think it's Jewish humor I don't get in this case, though I think it might be that male anxiety humor doesn't strike the very deepest chord with me. But I really think it's the very rarified Manhattanite life that all his characters seem to live in, which for all I know is practically cinema verite, but which seems completely artificial to me (and even more so when Manhattan becomes Barcelona). And I'll agree that he's less funny now, but that's because like many comedians, he has an aspiration to be "serious", thinking mistakenly that writing drama makes him a more serious artist.
Around the time Interiors was inflicted on the world, I remember reading that Woody Allen had said that he directed comedy, and now he was ready to sit at the adults' table. I don't remember if that bit about the adults' table was a quotation from Woody Allen, but its dripping condescension is repellant, regardless of whose the words were.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com
Paul
Did the McGregor and Farrell one even get released?
Seana
I dont know if its because comedians try to get taken seriously or if they just run out of funny. I think comedy is a lot like good melodies - every person has a finite portion and when they're used up they're used up.
Peter
I think he has done a few films that blend comedy with serious themes though; but in general I agree its a mistake not to take comedy seriously. Groucho for one took it very seriously.
Cassandra's Dream was relased here in Poland, where Woody's films are still a big event. The stiff acting and the really rotten dialogue were bad enough but it was so sloppy it was like a student film. And the accents....Dick van Dyke was a a genius compared to the two leads. I really like Bullets Over Broadway too. And Danny Rose. Forgot about them.
Not sure if anyone is still reading down here, but I clicked on the button on Slate that asked, what did the petition that all those directors signed about Polanski really say? I thought maybe they had been misled into showing support that they did not really mean, so thought I'd better read it before I villified them. Sad to say it is actually worse than I thought, though the between the lines commentary is good:
Steven Metcalf on the Polanski petition
I very much enjoyed the first interpolation and the but about the technicians. I don't know what Polanski's fate ought to be, but he certainly deserves no special consideration because he's so sensitive and talented.
Being jailed might take his artistry in new directions.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
Seana
Doesnt the petition say something along the lines of "you can't extradite him for a mere morals offence?"
Terrible.
Peter
Prison can be good and bad for artists. Boethius, Genet, Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Solzhintsyn = good. Oscar Wilde = bad.
He still has to go though.
Chester Himes probably belongs on the list, too.
Thanks heavens Maurice Chevalier is not around to have signed the Polanski petition.
The woman apparently says she wants the case dropped, and one can sympathize with a desire not to dredge up the case again. But a) As harsh as it may seem to say so, perhaps factors other than her feelings must be taken into account, and b) Is she being paid by Polanski or allies to say what she did?
We had a case here in the U.S. where a professional football player, under the influence of alcohol, ran over and killed a man. Now, the man apparently darted suddenly into the road, and the player cooperated in every way with authorities, but dead is dead, and drunk is drunk. The player was sentenced to 30 days in jail -- and paid an undisclosed cash settlement to the dead man's family. How much jail time would he have received had he not been a rich football player?
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
Yes. Equally bad, as the commenter points out, is that they are referring to it as a case in which opinion is still out, rather than a crime that he has not only been tried for, but actually admitted to. There isn't even a "he said, she said," element of extenuating circumstances. I suppose he will be retracting some of it in some way now.
My own recent experiences have led me to the conclusion that people with a strong sense of entitlement should actually pay double for their crimes, as it's that kind of wrongheaded thinking that got them into trouble in the first place.
And I do have to say again that it is more than a person's feelings that are at stake here. As much as it might gall everyone if Polanski got off I do have to wonder who justice is for if not the victim? It isn't just abstract theory to say that when the original crime involves a profound lack of choice, to once again put the same human being in that position of not having any choice seems problematic to say the least. Added to that, the way court proceedings delay and postpone and do everything but actually get to the case, it can mess with the victim's life big time. Conceivably, it could can put your life on hold for months if not years. I shouldn't say conceivably, as this implies some remote possiblity, when in fact this is much more the case than not.
Seana
I appreciate what you're saying but the law isn't just about restitution for the victim, its also about deterrence. Consensual incest is a good example of a case where we shouldnt listen to the victim.
I do understand what you're saying though. This is a very tricky area. In this case I have to say I've been shocked by Polanski's influential supporters in places like The Huffington Post and The New York Times. When they keep referring to it as a sex case or a morals case its positively Orwellian.
And of course one place the victim can speak and influence the judge is at sentencing.
From my point of view this is all abstract theorizing, but I cannot believe that justice is only for the victim. The perp and the culture are other parties. How much is lost if Polanski gets away with it? And, as a practical matter, would there be some way of bringing him to justice and still sparing the victim -- by not compelling her involvement with any court proceedings that might result, for example?
As I understand the current case, he fled before sentencing but after conviction. If he were to be returned to the U.S., what proceedings would result? As it stands now, I assume there would be no new trial and thus a good chance, I presume, of avoiding draggging the victim back into the legal system.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
It is extraordinarily tricky and I apologize that I have such a strong feeling about victim's rights--and dubiousness about the court's ability to protect them-- without actually being able to go into any of the particulars of why I feel so strongly.
And of course it's an even worse scenario when statutes of limitations have run out, as would be the case in this situation if he had fled before the trial, and there is no recourse to justice.
And it's also true that a victim is not always or even perhaps usually their own best advocate. But I really hope that Polanski's victim does not have to testify again. I hope the sentencing relies solely on the court record. I wouldn't want to be villified by that roster of directors, even if I thought they were all scumbags. And do you know who else signed? Tilda Swinton. That rather shocked me.
Seana
Tilda Swinton's a nut. I wouldnt take what she signs on to that seriously. She lives in an odd menage a trois with her husband and her boy lover. Definitely an odd fish.
Peter
I concur. The criminal justice system isnt just about protecting the victim but also about protecting future victims. deterrence is key here.
Hmm. Swinton's homelife doesn't sound so nutty to me. It's more a "nice life if you can get it" sort of thing.
I bet a lot of people signed this without really thinking the whole thing through.
It's funny that I haven't till now really thought about how recent experiences have changed my perception of the legal system, and even of my idea of what justice is. Of course the outcome is not just about the victim, but the victim has to bear so much of the weight of the whole thing.
It makes me want to read about new directions the law might be taking, or could take. I liked the work of Patricia J. Williams for instance, though it's been some time since I read her.
Beside the fact she denied there was a sexual side to the relationship with her friend, if that was true and all parties concerned were happy with it, more power to her. If sexes were inverted your reaction would have probably been different - long-term relationships between older married men and younger women haven't been exactly uncommon among artists and actors.
Would you call Picasso a nut or an odd fish?
Of course the only real question in this new enlightened model is who is doing all the cooking and cleaning in this arrangement?
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