Woody Allen

[cannonball-addict]

I think Woody Allen is great. Besides being a godawful clarinetist, he has had some great music in some of his movies including Radio Days and Mighty Aphrodite.

My favorite routine he used to do is "The Moose."

Any other recommendations of his movies? Soundtracks? Comedic routines?

[Dan Gould]

Have you read his books?

[jazzbo]

Yes his books are truly insightful comedy works if you ask me. And I find that I really like his nightclub acts as preserved on United Artist lps (and several import cds). . . . REALLY FUNNY STUFF.

[Gary]

"I once knew a girl who believed in oral contraception. I asked her for sex and she said no."

[brownie]

Woody Allen makes careful selections of the music that plays on his films sountracks. And he likes a wide variety of jazz!

Another great soundtrack was the one for 'Husbands and Wives'. Not my preferred Allen film but while watching it you could listen to Leo Reisman's 'What Is This Thing Called Love?' (with the trumpet of Bubbey Miley well featured), Wes Montgomery's 'West Coast Blues' and 'That Old Feeling' by Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan, and more...

[patricia]

My two favourites:

"Manhatten Murder Mystery"

"Small Time Crooks"

Least favourite:

"Celebrity" [usually I like Kenneth Branaugh, but he's no Woody]

[DTMX]

My two (underated) favorites:

Radio Days - Woody Allen's memories of his childhood and how they tied into the radio shows that his family listened to. Very funny, very clever. Seth Green plays the young Woody Allen character, "Joe". Josh Mostel is great.

"Allen cuts between Joe's working class Brooklyn neighborhood and the glittery and glamorous world of radio in Manhattan. Joe's favorite radio hero is The Masked Avenger, and he dreams of getting The Masked Avenger Secret Decoder Ring. Using all the money they have collected for Israel, Joe and his friends buy the ring, much to the shock of his mother (Julie Kavner) and the local rabbi. His father (Michael Tucker), a business failure, is an ineffective and distant man. His uncle Abe (Josh Mostel) is obsessed with eating. His Aunt Bea (Dianne Wiest) is obsessed with getting married. All together, these relatives make up a rather chaotic life in Brooklyn for Joe. Interspersed with these family relations are vignettes of radio lore —from the cigarette girl (Mia Farrow) who wants to strike it big in radio, to the "Name That Tune" jackpot telephone call answered by a burglar, who guesses the right answer and wins the victimized homeowners a cornucopia of valuable prizes." - Allmovie.com

Zelig - a mockumentary about a human chameleon, with old black & white newsreel footage. More clever than funny - it trumps Forest Gump by 20 years or so.

"An appropriately pompous narrator details the life and times of Leonard Zelig, whose overwhelming desire for conformity is manifested in his ability to take on the facial and vocal characteristics of whomever he happens to be around at the moment. He shows up at batting practice with Babe Ruth, among William Randolph Hearst's guests as San Simeon, side by side with Pope Pius at the Vatican, and peering anxiously over the shoulder of Adolf Hitler at the Nuremberg Rally. Becoming a celebrity in his own right, Zelig inspires a song, a dance craze, and a Warner Bros. biopic..." - Allmovie.com

[BruceH]

Manhattan Murder Mystery is my favorite "late" Woody Allen film (by which I guess I mean post-80s.) Nothing world-shaking here, but there's just something very pleasing and comfortable about it.

[BFrank]

"Annie Hall" was on TV last night and I watched it for the ump-teenth time. Still a classic!

[BruceH]

  BFrank said:

"Annie Hall" was on TV last night and I watched it for the ump-teenth time. Still a classic!

I caught the end of it! Then there was a documentary which had Woody talking about his movies...stayed up way too late watching that, and now I'm paying the price.

[Leeway]

I've been a Woody Allen fan for a long time; however, I must admit I ten to like his earlier films more than his later ones. Still, hardly any of his films are without reward.

Favorites:

Bananas- flat out funny

Play It Again, Sam (there's a great scene where Woody is putting a jazz LP on the turntable and completely destroys it from nervousness). Funny and sophisticated.

Annie Hall - funny and romantic.

Manhattan- I think this is his masterpiece

Hannah and Her Sisters - underrated and underdiscussed I think. Check this one out. Excellent.

Manhattan Murder Mystery - this draws on many Hitchcock motifs and techniques. Maybe Woody's tribute to Hitch.

[ajf67]

I really like his movies, and my favorites are (in ever-changing order):

Hannah And Her Sisters

Crimes and Misdemeanors

Manhattan

Annie Hall

Broadway Danny Rose -- totally underrated hilarity.

[SEK]

Yeats and Hygeine

[Gary]

Of the later films I found the Mighty Aphrodite hilarious in places.

[king ubu]

  DTMX said:

Zelig

I try to catch it each time it's in some theater over here! Love that film!

[maren]

  ajf67 said:

Broadway Danny Rose -- totally underrated hilarity.

And the sweetest and most touching, IMHO.

[Dan Gould]

Nobody's mentioned "Take The Money and Run" or "Bananas"?

[maren]

  Leeway said:

I've been a Woody Allen fan for a long time; however, I must admit I tend to like his earlier films more than his later ones. Still, hardly any of his films are without reward.

Favorites:

Bananas- flat out funny

And to Take the Money and Run:

"I have a gub"

Playing cello in the marching band!

[king ubu]

"Manhattan" is probably my sentimental favourite... there's the clarinet glissando from "Rhapsody in Blue" in the opening somewhen, yes?

[Dan Gould]

  maren said:

  Leeway said:

I've been a Woody Allen fan for a long time; however, I must admit I tend to like his earlier films more than his later ones.  Still, hardly any of his films are without reward. 

Favorites:

Bananas- flat out funny

And to Take the Money and Run:

"I have a gub"

Playing cello in the marching band!

Or the interviews with the parents who are so ashamed, they're wearing Groucho glasses.

[Brad]

Bananas and Take the Money and Run are classics. But Broadway Danny Rose, what a portrayal. What's the one where's they go into the future. That is priceless. The later ones are funny but in a different way. These are more slapstick.

[Gary]

  Brad said:

Bananas and Take the Money and Run are classics. But Broadway Danny Rose, what a portrayal. What's the one where's they go into the future. That is priceless. The later ones are funny but in a different way. These are more slapstick.

The sleeper.

[Jim R]

Sleeper. One of my favorites- I've almost seen it too many times. "Take the money and run" was an early, lower budget film, but one of his funniest of all time. I always liked "Love and death", too. "Radio Days' is another personal fave. "What's Up Tiger Lily" is fun also.

I need to catch up with more of the later films.

Before I saw many of his films, I was in love with his books "Without Feathers" and "Getting Even". I especially enjoyed the play "Death knocks", and the "Gossage-Vardebedian Papers" (chess match by mail).

[brownie]

Glad to see 'Manhattan' listed several times. This is still my favorite Woody Allen film.

Every time I see it, I fall in love with Mariel Hemingway all over again

Too bad she never managed to make another appearance as attaching as this one.

Woody Allen was filming scenes from 'Everyone Says I Love You' right around my corner several years ago. Watched the shooting one full evening! Enjoyable film too but not among his best.

[jazzbo]

I forget the name of it right now, but the one with the jazz saxophonist and the magic of the Chinese herbalist is one of my very favorites.