In terms of my opinions, I'll give you credit for choosing 14 films that I really like and would be happy to watch again tonight ("Shadows and Fog" being the sole exception - it wouldn't dent my top 25). "Small Time Crooks", for me, has the feel of two films with the same characters stitched together. When the "Larceny Inc." inspiration runs out, it moves on to the "fish out of water" film.
Curious why Stardust Memories fails to crack the top 10 on so many good lists…it may not be his best work, but in my mind, is the definitive Woody Allen film.
In the first Woody Allen biography I did read Stardust Memories was considered one of a trilogy of masterpieces (with Annie Hall and Manhattan). Later I found out that American critics seemed to hate it. I always thought that was because European critics saw him in the tradition of the auteur theory, while the film was to artsy for American critics and that they felt attacked by the film. I like it, but you could say it's the poor man's 8 1/2.
With 75 minutes to proctor an exam, I found sufficient time to complete this exercise. I rather arbitrarily included and excluded some of the fringe films. I guess I included "The Front" because it's good and left out "Picking Up the Pieces" because it's awful. "Stardust Memories" did not crack my top 10 (or 20). I found the "early, funny" films the hardest to compare to the other films. "Match Point" is surely better filmmaking than "Bananas", but I tried to just go with the gut feeling of what I like and what I want to see again and again. 1 - Crimes and Misdemeanors 2 - Hannah and Her Sisters 3- Annie Hall 4 - Manhattan 5 - Deconstructing Harry 6 - Radio Days 7 - Broadway Danny Rose 8 - Love and Death 9 - Play It Again, Sam 10 - Zelig 11 - Purple Rose of Cairo 12 - Bullets Over Broadway 13 - Another Woman 14 - Take the Money and Run 15 - Vicky Cristina Barcelona 16 - Sleeper 17 - Bananas 18 - Husbands and Wives 19 - The Front 20 - Match Point 21 - Manhattan Murder Mystery 22 - Stardust Memories 23 - Interiors 24 - Mighty Aphrodite 25 - Blue Jasmine 26 - Cassandra's Dream 27 - Sweet and Lowdown 28 - Everything You Always ... 29 - Small Time Crooks 30 - Whatever Works 31 - Midnight in Paris 32 - Scoop 33 - Wonder Wheel 34 - Irrational Man 35 - September 36 - Everyone Says I Love You 37 - Melinda & Melinda 38 - Shadows & Fog 39 - Magic in the Moonlight 40 - New York Stories 41 - Cafe Society 42 - Celebrity 43 - A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy 44 - A Rainy Day in New York 45 - Anything Else 46 - To Rome With Love 47 - You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger 48 - Curse of the Jade Scorpion 49 - Don't Drink the Water 50 - A Crisis in Six Scenes 51 - Alice 52 - Rifkin's Festival 53 - Hollywood Ending
You know what? I just forgot. Maybe that's a subject in itself. Why would I forget it? It outght to be on there.
Amazed at how well Radio Days places now. It wasn't warmly received when it came out, although I enjoyed it a great deal when I caught it on cable a few years later. Now it often appears in individual Top 10 lists, sometimes in the Top 5.
I think some people may have initially found "Radio Days" slight compared to some of his other films, and perhaps self-indulgent.
I would include it because his character has all the hallmarks of the exact same nervous-nilly persona that he's portrayed in literally every other film.
Love your list, Ray. Seen everything by Woody, and own a ton. I even watched Annie Hall on a flight last week...I guess because I’ve watched it everywhere else. Which ones would I watch over and over? Over the years, only two really...Annie, of course, and...Bananas!
In the days when a DVR was a box you had on top of your TV and not a "cloud" feature, I had my ReplayTV programmed to record anything with Woody Allen in it. So I'd rewatch films or portions of films over and over again as they were recorded, while I worked out. I found that "Hannah and Her Sisters" and "Radio Days" were the two films that you could watch any random 30 minutes of and still get something out of, over and over again. Not something you can pull off with "Interiors" or "Another Woman".
Most underrated: Cafe Society You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger Alice Manhattan Murder Mystery Cassandra's Dream Small Time Crooks
The discussion in this thread caused me to pull out "Annie Hall" last night for the first view in a long time (since we covered it in this thread, I assume). It's still great. It still makes me laugh out loud numerous times, and I yell some things at the screen like it's "Rocky Horror Picture Show" like ... "Ivan Ackerman, always the wrong answer ... ALWAYS." And the ending is still so real and so bittersweet.
Mine would be not too dissimilar to this, Purple Rose of Cairo makes my top 10 though and Manhattan would be lower, hasn't aged as well as some of his other 70s movies
Re: Radio Days I didn't quite enjoy it the first time I watched it, and shelved it for years (we're talking the VHS era here). Then, for whatever reason, the second time I watched it, years later, I loved it and savoured every minute. It's a favourite now. Lovely film, I don't really know why I couldn't enjoy it the first time. Re: Play It Again, Sam The fact that the director credit belongs to someone else is something I consider moot. I do absolutely always see it as a Woody film. He wrote it and starred in it (and that goes for the Broadway play that ran for hundreds of performances too), and I don't believe for a second he wasn't ever consulted or that he never had a say in directorial matters. But even if he actually was completely hands-off, it's still total Woody, and prime Woody at that. No way I can think of it as not-a-Woody-Allen-film. I'll always include it on any list of his major works.
Here are my ten post-Harry films: 1. Midnight in Paris 2. Sweet and Lowdown 3. Vicky Christina Barcelona 4. Blue Jasmine 5. Whatever Works 6. Match Point 7. Small Time Crooks 8. Rifkin's Festival 9. Curse of the Jade Scorpion 10. Scoop A more controversial choice, I know...
play it Again Sam is a favorite, but I recall thinking after seeing Annie Hall that Sam seems a lot like a practice run for Annie.
Last night I pulled "Small Time Crooks" down from the shelf. This may turn into a trend. I still really enjoy the first portion of the film, even Ray's Ralph-Kramden-inspired empty threats about what he'll do to Frenchy if he doesn't get his way or she doesn't stop insulting him. The sunset scene on the roof has some beautiful cinematography that is somehow not out of place in a comedic farce. Michael Rapaport's character raises dumb to an entirely new level. The film loses some steam after the cookie company becomes a success, and loses even more steam in its last 15 or so minutes, IMO. There was probably more comedy to be mined from the supporting players in the second half of the film, when almost all the focus falls on Ray and Frenchy's marriage. Hugh Grant is terrific.
In my younger days (in college, and all through my 20's -- so circa 1988-99), I routinely ranked Stardust as one of my 2 or 3 favorite Woody Allan films (and quite often #1). I'm less of a Woody Allan fan overall for the last couple decades -- but I'm sure it would still be in my top 5.
Inspired by others' rankings of The Woodman's films, I spent (too much!) time reviewing my comments in this thread and elsewhere and came up with the following. *before the name denotes projects not always mentioned in his filmography. 1. Crimes and Misdemeanors 2. Annie Hall 3. Husbands and Wives 4. Hannah and Her Sisters 5. The Purple Rose of Cairo 6. Manhattan 7. *Play It Again, Sam 8. Deconstructing Harry 9. Stardust Memories 10. Midnight in Paris 11. Broadway Danny Rose 12. Bullets Over Broadway 13. Match Point 14. Bananas 15. Blue Jasmine 16. Sweet and Lowdown 17. Take the Money and Run 18. Love and Death 19. Sleeper 20. Zelig 21. Manhattan Murder Mystery 22. Another Woman 23. Vicky Cristina Barcelona 24. Radio Days 25. Small Time Crooks 26. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger 27. Café Society 28. Interiors 29. Scoop 30. Alice 31. Irrational Man 32. Magic in the Moonlight 33. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* 34. Mighty Aphrodite 35. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy 36. Cassandra's Dream 37. Rifkin's Festival 38. September 39. *Oedipus Wrecks 40. Celebrity 41. Everyone Says I Love You 42. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion 43. *Don't Drink The Water 44. Shadows and Fog 45. Melinda and Melinda 46. *What's Up, Tiger Lily? 47. *Crisis in Six Scenes 48. To Rome with Love 49. Wonder Wheel 50. Whatever Works 51. Hollywood Ending 52. A Rainy Day in New York 53. Anything Else
