Pash, I think you need to watch Broadway Danny Rose again. In my family we watch that film every Thaksgiving and it’s the highlight of the season. It’s one of the most real of Allen’s films – if someone asked me “What if Woody Allen took all the good stuff about life, lonliness, and fear from Annie Hall, shitcanned all the idiosyncratic 70’s sexual revolution hippy-dippyness of it, but kept it really funny?”, I’d hand them a copy of Broadway Danny Rose.
Plus, c’mon, the bit with the parade floats? Hilarious.
Love and Death also is great because it’s so funny. (“Do they all have these horns?”)
To reorder Pashnish Ewing’s picks in my order of liking:
Manhattan (1979)
Annie Hall (1977)
Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
Sleeper (1973)
Bananas (1971)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Radio Days (1987)
Zelig (1983)
Play it Again, Sam (1972-Dir. Herbert Ross)
Love and Death (1975)
Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)
Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
Stardust Memories (1980)
Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (1972)
A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (1982)
Mighty Aphrodite (1995)
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
Take the Money and Run (1969)
What’s Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
New York Stories (1989) (segment “Oedipus Wrecks”)
Hollywood Ending (2002)
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)
Small Time Crooks (2000)
Husbands and Wives (1992)
Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
Deconstructing Harry (1997)
Shadows and Fog (1992)
Celebrity (1998)
September (1987)
Alice (1990)
Interiors (1978)
Another Woman (1988)
To me, Manhattan is almost a perfect movie. I see something new in it every time, it’s both hilarious, (“What do you mean, how did I get past the guard? I just walked right past him!”), beautifully filmed in black and white, great plot, great acting, and IMHO the most insighftul of Allen’s movies.
Okay Cliffy, you and Avumede have convinced me to give Broadway Danny Rose another chance. Maybe I just couldn’t get past seeing Woody in that leisure suit.
You know, I can’t reorder the list because I keep getting different orders each time. The only films of his (that I’ve seen) that didn’t seem to work were “Stardust Memories” (though the line about “earlier, funnier stuff” is a classic) and “Celebrity” (which was working toward a point, but never really gelled).
I will point out a few observations:
A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy is not a comedy. It’s an extremely downbeat film about the transitory nature of love and the way we fool ourselves about relationships. These are incredibly sad and desperate people, clawing their way to any sort of relationship. The final scene is especially downbeat. Though ostensibly a happy ending, it is so silly and absurd that it indicates that any happy ending is absurd.
Allen did three films linked very strongly thematically: Bullets Over Broadway, Deconstructing Henry and Sweet and Lowdown. They had the same theme: That in order to be a successful artist, you need to walk over people. It may be a form of self-justification, but it’s clear that the three films are linked.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by RealityChuck *
**A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy… Though ostensibly a happy ending, it is so silly and absurd that it indicates that any happy ending is absurd.
Hmm – I hadn’t seen it this way before, but you’re right. I always thought the end was very hokey but read in this context it makes a lot of sense. Tell me, Chuck, have you ever read Neil Gaiman’s Sandman? It explores a similar theme – and it’s also kind of the converse in that it has an ostensibly sad ending that’s actually quite optimistic. (It too is partly inspired by "A Midsummer Night’s Dream.)
**
Hmm. While you may be right, I think Allen is less conscious of this than you think he is. Also, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Sweet, but was it really the case that Emmet was a better artist because of the way he treated Samantha Morton? I think it’s not that stepping on people leads to great art, but rather that great artists aren’t necessarily great men – but that itself doesn’t make the art less great. (Although I don’t think this theme is presented as hubristicially as it sounds; Emmet is clearly a heel and an unhappy one. I don’t see Allen saying it’s good or right to be this way.)
Also, I’ve heard rumors that Allen’s character in Harry is meant to be based more on Philip Roth than himself. That would explain why the character is a writer, and also why he dragged Richard Benjamin out of mothballs.
> A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy is not a comedy. It’s an
> extremely downbeat film about the transitory nature of love
> and the way we fool ourselves about relationships.
But that’s true of all of Allen’s films. The essential theme of Allen’s movies is that love is fickle. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. Allen believes that it’s merely a matter of luck whether it works out in any particular case.
Sleeper is an all-time favorite because I saw it when I was a kid. It’s probably my earliest movie memory, specifically Woody beating back the giant pudding with a broom. Chalk Pit is right - Sleeper had a great soundtrack. I’ve tried to find it on CD with no luck.
However, in terms of all-around movie making I declare a tie between Annie Hall and Radio Days. The latter has my favorite opening scene of any film.
Love & Death was great. Also had cool music.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex… had some great stuff in it. The chapter with Gene Wilder falling in love with a sheep was just priceless. Watch the scene again where the Greek guy explains that he has been carrying on a relationship with the sheep, and observe Wilder’s PAUSE. It seems to go on forever, as he seems to be trying out different responses and then discarding them. Finally, he says softly, “… I see.” And I love when he tells the guy, “Of course, I’m happy for both of you, but…”
It’s too bad that Woody Allen and Gene Wilder never worked together on a movie again. Wilder’s acting is brilliant in the part of the film about the sheep.