Woody Allen movies

jadis · 10-11-2025, 06:47 PM

Dianne Keaton's passing reminded me how much I used to love Woody Allen in my late teens. Especially the 1970s comedies but also some later stuff too.

I found this ranking, which is actually not as bad as these things tend to be. Some very intelligent write-ups.

This, about Vicky Cristina Barcelona, is spot on: "The best of Allen’s Europe-trotting films is the one most in touch with its touristic soul."

And this

Quote:

Every scene, every gag in Annie Hall is so familiar that it’s easy to forget how abrasively strange it is: the subtitled romantic double-speak, the outpoured soliloquies to camera, the temporal freeness, even Allen’s character, Alvy Singer, wandering through his own childhood flashback. It’s a romantic comedy the like of which cinema had never seen before and hasn’t since. Allen and Diane Keaton are jousting here on such a perfectly even footing, and with such supremely matched warmth and wit, that you half feel she should be credited as co-director.

And I couldn't agree more that Another Woman is an underrated emotionally devastating masterpiece.

What are some of your faves?

jadis · 10-12-2025, 06:38 PM

Ranking The Curse of the Jade Scorpion as his second worst film is an act of profound humorlessness in my book. It's a weird little exercise in retro but it's really fun to watch! Made me want to rewatch it, which I don't have the time to do now, but got this tune from the soundtrack is now stuck in my head.

It makes a bit more sense when you learn he wanted to cast Jack Nicholson as the hot shot investigator who gets all the ladies but Jack turned it down and he ended up playing the role himself, really unconvincingly lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOoRrFix_hs

Psy-Fi · 10-13-2025, 06:41 AM

I got into his films in my late teens to my mid twenties. Watched most of them in theaters except for his first two which I rented on VHS. 'Hannah and Her Sisters' was the last one I watched before I lost interest in his career. Haven't followed any of his films since. Probably should check into his output from the past 37 years to see if there are any gems that I've overlooked.

I've seen all of his films from 1965 to 1986. Of those, the ones which still stand out and are memorable to me are 'Bananas,' 'Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask),' 'Sleeper,' and 'Annie Hall.'

jadis · 10-13-2025, 10:49 AM

I watched most of his films on my parents' TV, there was something pleasantly casual about how I got into him. And then I just wasn't living at home anymore and wasn't watching any of them. I did rewatch the odd film here and there through the years.

The mid-1970s is my favorite period too. If I had to rank my favorites Bananas would be at the very top. It's just an insanely funny film. Sleeper too, there are bit there that made me laugh uncontrollably though I hardly know any science fiction so I'm sure the exact targets of parody flew over my head.

Sounds like I'm not the only who doesn't get what's so goddamn great about Hannah and Her Sisters. The Telegraph calls it "not just Allen’s creative pinnacle, but perhaps the most perfectly assured braiding of comedy and drama in mainstream American film" and I have no idea what gave rise to this. It's a pretty good film, wonderful actors, but come on. Same with Crimes and Misdemeanors, which the Telegraph ranked at 2. Never a top 10 for me.

jadis · 10-13-2025, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psy-Fi

I got into his films in my late teens to my mid twenties. Watched most of them in theaters except for his first two which I rented on VHS. 'Hannah and Her Sisters' was the last one I watched before I lost interest in his career. Haven't followed any of his films since. Probably should check into his output from the past 37 years to see if there are any gems that I've overlooked.

I've seen all of his films from 1965 to 1986. Of those, the ones which still stand out and are memorable to me are 'Bananas,' 'Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask),' 'Sleeper,' and 'Annie Hall.'

Since you're British I wonder what you'll make of Match Point. It's one of his most successful films, it's set in Britain and has social criticism of a society he was not that familiar with. Many loved it but I absolutely hated it.

jadis · 10-17-2025, 05:03 PM

Don't remember seeing this one, sounds pretty good. Still haven't found the time to rewatch The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.

Quote:

14. Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
This is a throwback to when Allen’s sheer confidence with the pen ruled: the idea of a theatreland gangster farce, with playwright John Cusack finding an unexpectedly brilliant collaborator in the form of Chazz Palminteri’s Mob bodyguard, isn’t inspired per se, but the characters he flings together keep it brimful of pep and ideas. Jim Broadbent and Tracey Ullmann both ham it up marvellously as seen-it-all Broadway stars, and Jennifer Tilly scores as the squeaky moll cast to guarantee financing, but the jewel in this ensemble is Dianne Wiest, walking off with her second Allen-derived Oscar as the sublimely melodramatic diva Helen Sinclair.

Psy-Fi · 10-18-2025, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jadis

Don't remember seeing this one, sounds pretty good. Still haven't found the time to rewatch The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.

I was looking at a list of his films from the past several decades, none of which I've seen, and 'Bullets Over Broadway' stuck out to me for some reason. It'll probably the first one on the list that I'll watch.

jadis · 10-18-2025, 11:27 AM

Sounds like a very good choice

jadis · 10-18-2025, 11:31 AM

This is another one that blew me away when I saw it. One of his unarguably great ones IMO. Another one in the rewatch queue.

Quote:

8. Zelig (1983)
Throughout his career, Allen has downplayed the degree of self-portraiture in his work, but perhaps this ingenious spoof documentary, about a once-famous ‘human chameleon’ who lived in the first part of the 20th century and who could alter his personality and appearance to blend in wherever he went, is the quintessential Allen-as-Allen movie. It’s about the horror of conspicuousness when all you want to do is fit in, and the humour bites down on all kinds of personal and political pressure points. (Allen’s chosen time period and Zelig’s Jewish-American heritage are not accidents.) The special effects, in which Allen is seamlessly inserted into vintage newsreels, are still astonishing, and draw out the aching tragicomedy of Zelig’s plight. He’s the original man who wasn’t there.

10-12-2025, 06:38 PM	#2 (permalink)
jadis Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: dont ask Posts: 1,826	Ranking The Curse of the Jade Scorpion as his second worst film is an act of profound humorlessness in my book. It's a weird little exercise in retro but it's really fun to watch! Made me want to rewatch it, which I don't have the time to do now, but got this tune from the soundtrack is now stuck in my head. It makes a bit more sense when you learn he wanted to cast Jack Nicholson as the hot shot investigator who gets all the ladies but Jack turned it down and he ended up playing the role himself, really unconvincingly lol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOoRrFix_hs __________________ Wireless enthusiast intercepts government secret radio band and uncovers secrets and scandals of deceitful type proportions

10-13-2025, 10:49 AM	#4 (permalink)
jadis Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: dont ask Posts: 1,826	I watched most of his films on my parents' TV, there was something pleasantly casual about how I got into him. And then I just wasn't living at home anymore and wasn't watching any of them. I did rewatch the odd film here and there through the years. The mid-1970s is my favorite period too. If I had to rank my favorites Bananas would be at the very top. It's just an insanely funny film. Sleeper too, there are bit there that made me laugh uncontrollably though I hardly know any science fiction so I'm sure the exact targets of parody flew over my head. Sounds like I'm not the only who doesn't get what's so goddamn great about Hannah and Her Sisters. The Telegraph calls it "not just Allen’s creative pinnacle, but perhaps the most perfectly assured braiding of comedy and drama in mainstream American film" and I have no idea what gave rise to this. It's a pretty good film, wonderful actors, but come on. Same with Crimes and Misdemeanors, which the Telegraph ranked at 2. Never a top 10 for me. __________________ Wireless enthusiast intercepts government secret radio band and uncovers secrets and scandals of deceitful type proportions

10-18-2025, 11:27 AM	#8 (permalink)
jadis Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: dont ask Posts: 1,826	Sounds like a very good choice __________________ Wireless enthusiast intercepts government secret radio band and uncovers secrets and scandals of deceitful type proportions