tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post8089360428698337301..comments2024-01-11T05:02:32.321-05:00Comments on Goodfella's Movie Blog: #25: Woody AllenDavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07134196370913749544noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-87709914074271497572010-06-17T12:00:22.488-04:002010-06-17T12:00:22.488-04:00Woody Allen has been one of my favorite filmmakers...Woody Allen has been one of my favorite filmmakers, and I go back even further having seen him do standup on Ed Sullivan in the 1960's and seeing Clive Donner's 1965 film "What's New Pussycat?" which Allen wrote a small part for himself. In watching this film you see the "Woody" character already fully developed. A consummate writer and visually a lot more stylish than he is sometimes given credit for, Allen remains one of the most prolific filmmakers around. Along with Scorsese, Spike Lee and Sidney Lumet he has been responsible for shaping many folks vision of New York City. <br /><br />Annie Hall<br />Hannah and Her Sisters<br />Manhattan<br />Crimes and Misdemeanors<br />Manhattan Murder Mystery<br />Husbands and Wives<br />Match Point<br />Love and Death<br />The Purple Rose of Cairo<br />Vicky Christina Barcelona<br />Broadway Danny Rose<br />Radio Days<br />Bullets Over Broadway<br />Zelig<br />Take The Money and Run<br />Sleeper<br />Banannas<br />Stardust Memories<br />Everyone Says I Love You<br />Sweet and Lowdown<br />Shadows and Fog<br />Scoop<br />Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex...<br />New York Stories (Segment)<br />Curse of the Jade Scorpion<br />Small Time Crooks<br />Hollywood Ending<br />Whatever Works<br />Interiors <br />What's Up Tiger Lily<br />A Midsummer Nights Sex Comedy<br />Anything Else<br />Don't Drink The Water (TVM)<br />Mighty Aphrodite<br />AliceJohnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01808503055317962289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-10708987014733670272010-06-11T17:02:49.539-04:002010-06-11T17:02:49.539-04:00I've always liked Woody Allen and have seen mo...I've always liked Woody Allen and have seen most of his films at the cinema as they came out from the late 70s onwards, except for the last few years when some of them haven't had a cinema release in the UK and one or two haven't even been released on DVD here. However, I find that a lot of them blur together in my memory - my favourites out of those I've watched again more recently are Sweet and Lowdown, Hannah and Her Sisters, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Small Time Crooks<br />Radio Days and Stardust Memories.Judyhttp://movieclassics.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-25774831706472622382010-06-11T14:27:25.272-04:002010-06-11T14:27:25.272-04:00Absolutely JAFB. I was going to write back before...Absolutely JAFB. I was going to write back before and admit that I was giving you the 7, when in fact who said that those had to be those seven?!? LOL!!! And WHO made the decision that those were the Big Four among Japanese directors? What about Ichikawa, Shindo, Kinoshita, Kobayashi, Yamanaka, Oshima, Imamura, Matsumura, and others? You are quite right. If it's open-ended, then there are no sacred rules to be abided by.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-16924868719141626962010-06-11T13:28:22.031-04:002010-06-11T13:28:22.031-04:00Sam, Excellent set of arguments there. You know, i...Sam, Excellent set of arguments there. You know, it has so much in common with the ongoing discussion at the Spielberg post (Where Bay is pitted against the giants!). <br /><br />I'm all for subjectivity. But there sure is a point where, as Ebert once said, it's not merely your opinion. The point is that I do like some objectivity in judgments. But within the pantheon of greats, where everyone is objectively so good, the only ranking possible is based on tastes and your idea of greatness and beauty. So, I really have no qualms with that list, even if you present me all the 7!(=5,040) possible rankings (although some might have reservations about some of those directors)!!!<br /><br />Cheers!Just Another Film Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17880550053788464732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-86029490681566844142010-06-11T13:05:11.512-04:002010-06-11T13:05:11.512-04:001. Malick--3 masterpieces
2. Scorsese--3 masterpi...1. Malick--3 masterpieces <br />2. Scorsese--3 masterpieces<br />3. Coppola--3 masterpieces<br />4. Lynch--3 masterpieces<br />5. Altman--2 masterpieces<br />6. Spielberg--2 masterpieces<br />7. Allen--0 masterpieces<br /><br />This is my own personal ranking from Sam's directors list. Malick may have made very few films but the overall quality cannot be discounted. I'm a atypical Malick fan because I find Badlands to be his weakest film. The Conversation by Coppola comes very close to being his fourth masterpiece (Dracula is also very good)......M.RocaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-27032957764505254312010-06-11T12:47:37.842-04:002010-06-11T12:47:37.842-04:00Similarly, if someone asks me who the greatest Fre...Similarly, if someone asks me who the greatest French director of all-time is, what would I say? Renoir? Bresson? Gance? Godard? Max Ophuls? (worked in French) Rivette? Rohmer? Truffaut? It's a foolhardy bait to take. Ha!<br /><br />I once tried rating Ozu, Mizoguchi, Kurosawa and Naruse (the Big Four of Japanese cinema) and found that I was changing my mind all the time, even if the whole of Ozu's work has made the most profound impression on me in the matter of taste, where humanism has always floated my boat.<br /><br />And who is better? Fellini, DeSica or Visconti?<br /><br />Murnau, Pabst, Lang, Fassbinder, Herzog?<br /><br />Eisenstein, Pudovkin, Dovshenko, Tarkovsky?<br /><br />I think the only thing that you and I and others can agree on without any question is that S. Ray is the greatest Indian director of them all, Luis Bunuel the greatest Spaniard, and Ingmar Bergman is the greatest Swede.<br /><br />Or can we? Ha!Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-90288331468652001422010-06-11T12:36:41.810-04:002010-06-11T12:36:41.810-04:00JAFB: That numerical list I posed can really be f...JAFB: That numerical list I posed can really be flushed down the toilet, as it changes every week, depending on what mood I'm in. And to be honest, it's obnoxious and foolishly definitive, when in fact there is no way to defend such a position aside from personal taste. I think dave would agree that even in his own listing there is an overriding desire to create high drama and to fuel discussion. On Monday, I might thing Allen is tops, on Tuesday, Spielberg, one Wednesday, Scorsese, on thursday Coppola, and so on. My colleague, Allan Fish, favors numerical placements based on the number of "masterpieces" each has directed, and in this scenario Coppola would win from him, as he has THREE masterpieces of cinema to his credit. While I do think Spielberg, Scorsese, Coppola and Allen has exert incalcuable influence on the medium, I also know that is only one barometer of measurement.<br /><br />I've found through blogging over teh past two years, where many are on roughly even ground in knowledge, writing skills and energy, that personal taste is always the factor that means the most.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-52391852967304949432010-06-11T10:36:48.699-04:002010-06-11T10:36:48.699-04:00Ed, I too believe that Woody has directed some hig...Ed, I too believe that Woody has directed some highly skillful pieces (Match Point, Manhattan and Interiors are jawdropping). Even in visual terms, he is an auteur. But somehow, it seems to me, that he is not very confident as a director. More often than not, he wants to get the message across and verbalizes it. And there is also the progressively acerbic tone of his films that now bothers me a bit.<br /><br /><br />Sanm, thanks for the list. My own would be something like<br /><br />1. Jarmusch 2. Cassavetes 3. Scorsese ... maybe later!Just Another Film Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17880550053788464732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-81348408112347637542010-06-11T09:30:27.719-04:002010-06-11T09:30:27.719-04:00JAFB:
I definitely do not rate Jarmusch with the ...JAFB:<br /><br />I definitely do not rate Jarmusch with the likes of those seven myself, and Cassevettes is certainly important, but not quite on par with those seven either. I would rate both on a second tier, but hey, that's only my own view, which is no better than anyone else's. Other names could also be posed here by some: P.T. Anderson, the Coens, Aronofsky, Haynes, Eastwood, and a few others, but I still think some of those are in the "proposal" stage.<br /><br />Since Goodfellas is a place of numerical listings, I can certainly feel at home in making such a list:<br /><br />1 Spielberg<br />2 Scorsese<br />3 Allen<br />4 Coppola<br />5 Lynch<br />6 Altman<br />7 Malick (only this "low" because of scant output, but what an output!)<br /><br />As always JAFB, you raise the bar with your rightful suggestions.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-28619148150975268542010-06-11T09:25:08.588-04:002010-06-11T09:25:08.588-04:00It's no secret that I love Woody Allen, and co...It's no secret that I love Woody Allen, and consider him not only a great writer, and a great performer (those two are granted even by those who are ambivalent about him), but a great director as well, and an underrated visual stylist. Check out Linden Arden's <a href="http://lightsinthedusk.blogspot.com/2010/06/september.html" rel="nofollow">passionate defense</a> of Woody's <i>September</i>, which really highlights Woody's cinematic skill.<br /><br />Here's my (long) list:<br /><br />Hannah and Her Sisters<br />Broadway Danny Rose<br />Vicky Cristina Barcelona<br />Annie Hall<br />Manhattan<br />Anything Else<br />Celebrity<br />Love and Death<br />Deconstructing Harry<br />Sleeper<br />September<br />Stardust Memories<br />Crimes and Misdemeanors<br />Manhattan Murder Mystery<br />Husbands and Wives<br />Another Woman<br />Zelig<br />Shadows and Fog<br />Sweet and Lowdown<br />Radio Days<br />Scoop<br />Bullets Over Broadway<br />The Purple Rose of Cairo<br />Match Point<br />Take the Money and Run<br />Everyone Says I Love You<br />A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy<br />Mighty Aphrodite<br />Whatever Works<br />Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Sex...<br />Small Time Crooks<br />Cassandra's Dream<br />Bananas<br />Interiors<br />Alice<br />Don't Drink the Water<br />Melinda and Melinda<br />Curse of the Jade Scorpion<br />Hollywood EndingEd Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18014222247676090467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-54036756421168774352010-06-11T09:04:14.364-04:002010-06-11T09:04:14.364-04:00The 1980s was my fave period for Woody Allen films...The 1980s was my fave period for Woody Allen films altho, I do like many of the ones he cranked out in the 1990s. I agree, say what you will about the man and the quality of his films, but that he manages to crank out a film pretty much every year is impressive.<br /><br />My faves:<br /><br />1. Manhattan<br />2. Hannah and Her Sisters<br />3. Annie Hall<br />4. Manhattan Murder Mystery<br />5. Crimes and Misdemeanors <br />6. Husbands and Wives<br />7. Broadway Danny Rose<br />8. Bullets Over Broadway<br />9. Mighty Aphrodite<br />10. Sweet and Low Down<br />11. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy <br />12. Celebrity<br />13. Melinda and Melinda<br />14. The Purple Rose of Cairo <br />15. Radio DaysAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08164105442273577128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-30477861103394184412010-06-11T08:34:41.617-04:002010-06-11T08:34:41.617-04:00Sam!!!
Your seven most important American directo...Sam!!!<br /><br />Your seven most important American directors of the past 40 years doesn't include Jarmusch and Cassavetes (who are two of my ALL TIME favorites)? Well, that's OK (whimpers...).Just Another Film Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17880550053788464732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-69920765210415218902010-06-11T08:11:51.934-04:002010-06-11T08:11:51.934-04:00The quintessential New Yorker, and with Scorsese, ...The quintessential New Yorker, and with Scorsese, Coppola, Spielberg, Altman and Lynch, and Malick, one of the seven most important American directors of the past 40 years. In fact even on that shortlist, he rates in the top three. What he has done in the later period would be formidable even without the stellar legacy he forged in the 70's and 80's, and as you rightly note above he's a vital filmmaker for all sorts of reasons, not least of which is the dedication to release a film virtually every single year, despite his advancing age. He's a legacy, and in Europe especially, intellectual critics adore him. I'll restrict my list to my twenty personal favorites, though a long list like JAFB's is a pleasure to read, and is marvelously and passionately comprehensive. Your own list is superbly compiled, and I share your affinity for so many, and concur with your #1 choice:<br /><br />1 Crimes and Misdemeanors<br />2 Annie Hall<br />3 Manhattan<br />4 Everyone Says I Love You<br />5 Stardust Memories<br />6 Broadway Danny Rose<br />7 Bananas<br />8 Love and Death<br />9 Match Point<br />10 Zelig<br />11 The Purple Rose of Cairo<br />12 Sleeper<br />13 Bullets Over Broadway<br />14 Hannah and Her Sisters<br />15 Radio Days<br />16 Interiors<br />17 Sweet and Lowdown<br />18 Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex<br />19 Mighty Aphrodite<br />20 Deconstructing HarrySam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-14790636495241435772010-06-11T06:44:19.144-04:002010-06-11T06:44:19.144-04:00Dear Dave:
I am Woody Allen’s age, a native New Y...Dear Dave:<br /><br />I am Woody Allen’s age, a native New Yorker and an admirer. He and I have much in common – shared New York experiences and films seen. But I am not funny – and there is some other stuff. Hard to argue with your list -- no one agrees consistently on ranking, particularly when one works down the list. <br /><br />Your top eight are close to mine, except I would have “Manhattan” at 1 and “Purple Rose” much higher than you. I am pleased that you left off “Shadows and Fog” and I could do without “Melinda and Melinda”. And I could make a case for “Mighty Aphrodite” and “Alice”.<br /><br />I am new to your site and read your top 100 Film Noir list. On first reading I knew I had seen 93 of them and wrote down the seven numbers of which I was unsure. I checked the seven and memory kicked in that I had seen six of them. I have not seen number 63, as you indicated is often the case. But it is on Netflix so that is on its way to remedy. Thank you. I like your site and will visit regularly.<br /><br />Gerald of Laszlo’sGordon Pashahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18177101489742741815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-33659680537545008542010-06-11T00:52:10.138-04:002010-06-11T00:52:10.138-04:00"It is kind of easy to take potshots at Woody..."It is kind of easy to take potshots at Woody now" - Indeed, Dave. What Allen writes in half-sleep turns out much better than certain modern comedies. And it is really remarkable that he churns out about a movie per year. And yes, I like his acting more than many do. <br /><br />Somehow, I find Woody's films are better before they are filmed. I'm not saying that he should stick to script writing (His direction and acting are something to behold too), but that he's far less a great director than he is a great writer, IMO. <br /><br />01. Manhattan (1979)<br />02. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)<br />03. Broadway Danny Rose (1984)<br />04. Stardust Memories (1980)<br />05. Deconstructing Harry (1997)<br />06. Zelig (1983)<br />07. Annie Hall (1977)<br />08. Interiors (1978)<br />09. Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)<br />10. Husbands and Wives (1992)<br />11. Match Point (2005)<br />12. The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)<br />13. Everyone Says I Love You (1996)<br />14. Love and Death (1975)<br />15. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)<br />16. Take the Money and Run (1969)<br />17. What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966) <br />18. Another Woman (1988)<br />19. September (1987)<br />20. Radio Days (1987)<br />21. Bullets Over Broadway (1994)<br />22. Cassandra's Dream (2007)<br />23. Anything Else (2003)<br />24. Sweet and Lowdown (1999)<br />25. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)<br />26. Small Time Crooks (2000)<br />27. Shadows and Fog (1991)<br />28. Sounds from a Town I Love (2001)<br />29. Sleeper (1973)<br />30. Celebrity (1998)<br />31. New York Stories (1989)<br />32. Melinda and Melinda (2004)<br />33. Scoop (2006)<br />34. Every Thing You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972)<br />35. Alice (1990)<br />36. Don't Drink the Water (1994)<br />37. Bananas (1971)<br />38. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982)<br />39. Hollywood Ending (2002)<br />40. Whatever Works (2009)<br />41. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)<br />42. Mighty Aphrodite (1995)Just Another Film Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17880550053788464732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-72248516962933072202010-06-11T00:26:43.495-04:002010-06-11T00:26:43.495-04:00Dave, I lost interest in Allen for no particular r...Dave, I lost interest in Allen for no particular reason sometime during the 1990s, and I don't believe I've seen any of his films from the new millennium. Even by the time I stopped paying attention he had a formidable filmography, and here are my favorites from it.<br /><br />1. Zelig<br />2. Sleeper<br />3. Crimes and Misdemeanors<br />4. Bullets Over Broadway<br />5. Stardust Memories<br />6. Bananas<br />7. Annie Hall<br />8. Love and Death<br />9. Broadway Danny Rose<br />10.Manhattan<br /><br />And if asked to name a least favorite of those I've seen, I'd say Shadows and Fog.Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.com