Woody Allen

[cine]

My favourite Allen films are "Annie Hall", "Manhattan", "Hannah and Her Sisters", "Everybody Says I Love You" and "Crimes and Misdemeanors".. thats a tough top 5.. since he made other great ones too.
He really shows signs of slowing down though, yeah. He once said though that if his movies aren't making a profit, he's doing something right. I disagree now because I think his films seem to be aiming at dumber, simpler audiences now, and thats what making them not that good. I'm sort of surprised by this though.. since Bergman was his main influence/inspiration and he made great films up until the day he died, whereas Allen can't really think of something great anymore.

[children with angels]

Yeah - Allen once said something like, "the only worthwhile art is that which strives for the essential themes of existance: anything less is being lazy..."

I feel like mailing that to him, along with one copy of Crimes and Misdemeanors and one copy of Hollywood Ending.

[cine]

I actually hope to god that "Anything Else" is a good movie. I found out that its rated R.. and maybe that'll be the difference maker with this PG-13 crap he's been making. Its seemed like Allen has been making movies lately for people around that age group. the last R movie he made was "Celebrity", unfortunately.. but the one preceding that was "Deconstructing Harry".. this movie coming up looks more like the latter.. so I'm still going in with high hopes.

[Ravi]

I only saw a few minutes of Celebrity, but it seemed that Kenneth Branagh was merely acting like Woody Allen would have.

[Pedro]

I actually hope to god that "Anything Else" is a good movie. I found out that its rated R.. and maybe that'll be the difference maker with this PG-13 crap he's been making. Its seemed like Allen has been making movies lately for people around that age group. the last R movie he made was "Celebrity", unfortunately.. but the one preceding that was "Deconstructing Harry".. this movie coming up looks more like the latter.. so I'm still going in with high hopes.

The Rating doesn't mean anything...Crimes and Misdemeanors was PG-13 and one of his greatest.  Annie hall is PG.

[Sigur Rós]

I'm being serious.....I hate this guy!!!

[Pedro]

I'm being serious.....I hate this guy!!!

You're not alone.  Most people love or hate him.  He's just not your cup o' tea which is groovy.

[Sigur Rós]

You're not alone.  Most people love or hate him.  He's just not your cup o' tea which is groovy.

Thanx, for being so understanding. I dont like him as a person. I dont like his naive-innocent-"nobody loves me"-"i'm married to my daughter"-thinh. I think he's a phoney.....yeah, that's the rite word.

[cine]

The Rating doesn't mean anything...Crimes and Misdemeanors was PG-13 and one of his greatest.  Annie hall is PG.

I know it doesn't mean much, but I just think his later films have been much more tame and he hasn't benefited from them. People don't like them. People liked "Deconstructing Harry", which was one of his recents that was R.. I dunno.. I'm just thinking that perhaps more people will be attracted to the content of it.. Hey, I like his PGs anyhow.. "Annie Hall", "Radio Days", "Hannah and Her Sisters", "Love and Death", etc.. I wish he could go back to that.. but maybe he needs to throw that edge back in so he can make better films again. Who knows.

[children with angels]

[quote="Sigur Rós I think he's a phoney.....yeah, that's the rite word.[/quote]

You can call Allen a lot of things, but I don't think you can call him a phoney. Maybe in his life he is, but in his art? His films are some of the most honest, wear-your-heart-on-you-sleeve efforts you could ever see.

Even if he does deny they're about him (the most ridiculous claim I've heard a filmmaker make). Is he lying or deluded - what does anyone think...?

[cine]

I would say neither. He's a very modest individual when you watch his interviews. I doubt he wants to draw attention to himself by saying they're all about him. He's smarter than that.

[EL__SCORCHO]

Woody's the man! Annie Hall and Manhattan are some of my favorite movies of all time.

[Keener]

Take the Money and Run was my first Allen movie and will always be my favorite.

[©brad]

I only saw a few minutes of Celebrity, but it seemed that Kenneth Branagh was merely acting like Woody Allen would have.

Just read a bio on Allen. Woody went up to Kenneth after a few weeks of shooting and was like "Um, it seems like you're just playing me." Kenneth insisted that he wasn't, but towards the end Woody said he just kind of threw in the towel and let him do what he wanted. I guess it has to do with the writing, that self-loathing neurotic protagonist is there in every script, no matter who plays him. In Bullets over Broadway (great movie) John Cusack also kinda plays Woody Allen.

For the Allen haters, look u can't deny Woody's talent. How many filmmakers write/direct one movie a year? And all this talk about ratings is nonsense. I've enjoyed Allen's last few movies- Small Time Crooks, Hollywood Ending, Curse of the Jade Scorpion. Why does a movie have to be offensive and disrupt the status quo in order to be meaningful?

[Keener]

I love Small Time Crooks and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. Hollywood Ending dissapointed me, though. But I really loved Small Time Crooks. It was my second Woody Allen movie.