# The Woody Allen Appreciation Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woody-allen-appreciation-thread/284506 "2005-01-13T04:44:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woody-allen-appreciation-thread/284506/41 "2005-01-14T17:37:44Z")
I think most would agree with me that **Sweet and Lowdown** achieves greatness, **Pash**. (P.S. Glad you liked **BDR**.) –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woody-allen-appreciation-thread/284506/42 "2005-01-14T17:59:12Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > I think most would agree with me that **Sweet and Lowdown** achieves greatness, **Pash**. One could say that it’s the best in the world…well, except for this Gypsy. Hey, I loved **S&L** , and wouldn’t argue it’s greatness with you. But for me, it’s just on the cusp. Dangit, **Cliffy** , are you going to make me watch this one again, too? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woody-allen-appreciation-thread/284506/43 "2005-01-14T18:48:05Z")
Much as I like **Deconstucting Henry** , it’s probably not a good way to get back to Woody. Henry is such a nasty bastard that it can be very offputting. **Bullets Over Broadway** covers the same ground, but it much more charming and fun. “Don’t speak.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woody-allen-appreciation-thread/284506/44 "2005-01-14T19:25:46Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > I meant merely that he was given the Oscar before the others, although most people associate the start of actors winning Best Director with Redford in 1980. Even so, Woody had triple-threated several pictures before Eastwood. For that matter, Mel Brooks got there first with _The Producers_ in 1968, a year before _Take the Money and Run_. (I don’t count _What’s Up Tiger Lily_.) If you’re counting Brooks, don’t forget Preston Sturges. He was writing and directing and won an Oscar in 1940. He even did some acting later on (and Brooks didn’t appear onscreen until after his Oscar win). And, of course there’s Orson Welles, too. Definite triple-threat, including an Oscar for **Citizen Kane.** But, of course, none of these three won a best director Oscar – they were all best screenplay. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woody-allen-appreciation-thread/284506/45 "2005-01-14T22:59:54Z")
If you want to go back that far, don’t forget Charlie Chaplin. Laurence Olivier in the 1944 Henry V, the 1948 Hamlet and the 1955 Richard III. And Buster Keaton in the silent era. But Jerry Lewis was the first to take that kind of control over his movies in the post-studio era. I can’t stand to watch him any more, but I have to give him props. He was even producer on several of his movies. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woody-allen-appreciation-thread/284506/46 "2005-01-14T23:49:46Z")
From the books, and/or pieces in the New Yorker: “The fact that you tell me I have no rooks means little in actuality when I need merely glance down at the chessboard to see them darting about with cunning and vigor.” “Because you were white and had the opening move (had I known your limitations I would have spotted you more.” “I assure you, all my meals have now become pleasureless experiences.” ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woody-allen-appreciation-thread/284506/47 "2005-01-14T23:55:34Z")
No one’s mentioned _Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know About Sex…_ yet?? Burt Reynolds saying, “Alright we’re gonna try to bone her right there in the car” makes everything right with the world. And Gene Wilder with his sheep… “I’m a doctor, dammit… Call me _doctor_, not waiter!” I’m not so much a fan of Woody’s theatre ventures, although there’s an obscure one-act called _God_ that’s hilarious. Fans who think they’ve read or seen all of his work should check it out. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woody-allen-appreciation-thread/284506/48 "2005-01-15T02:33:24Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > The bakery movie is **Small Time Crooks** …Helena Bonham Carter is Allen’s wife in **Mighty Aphroditie** , in which he discovers his adopted son’s birth mother is a ditzy hooker (Mira Sorvino) with whom he begins to fall in love. I can see why you’d get them confused – they’re only five movies apart. (Heh. With any other director, that’d be an absurd statement.) Almost a case of crap and crapper to me - with _Small Time Crooks_ being crapper, but that may be because my compatriots Grant and Ullman had the potential to be so much better than they have been in Hollywood. > [@Cliffy](#): > > This brings me to another point – even ignoring his TV work, **Tiger Lily** and **Oedipus Wrecks** , Allen has directed **33** films. What other director has made that many movies? Yes, it was common during the days of the studio system, but those guys were mostly done by the '60’s, and they didn’t have to worry about _writing_ the things. His “prolificity” is incredible. Just saw the director’s comments on _The Life of David Gale_, and Alan Parker said he’d made 14 films in 28 years. Not strictly comparable directors but both lean towards the less commercial “personal-project” type of director. > [@NoClueBoy](#): > > I lean towards the idea that his farces and comedies can be seen as deeper social commentaries than any of his “serious” stuff. Of course, it can also be viewed as simply silly fun when one doesn’t want to put any effort into the viewing. To me, that’s what makes him a genius. Excellent point. _Crimes and Misdemeanors_ is perhaps the exception that proves the rule? (Or maybe you were thinking of this movie as the one that is the exemplar of your hypothesis?!) Maybe one can use that well-used academic get-out of a cline or continuum to avoid having to assign the category comedy or serious (drama?) to Allen’s movies. Ah, it’s wonderful to spout suich pretentious crap. I feel I’ve gained some kind of entry into Allen’s psyche through this discussion! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woody-allen-appreciation-thread/284506.md?page=2)