Happy Birthday, Woody Allen

[filkertom]

On this date in 1935.

What are your favorite works by Allen? I love Annie Hall and Sleeper and Getting Even and Without Feathers, and I should re-watch Love and Death.

Comments

[shrewreader.livejournal.com]

The Moose monologue. :)

Especially on Saturday.

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

Annie Hall and Sleeper for sure. There are certain sequences in Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex that crack me up. But I think I'd put Manhattan at the top of the list.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

I'd go with The Purple Rose of Cairo myself.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Love and Death, Bananas, I love the "Makin' Whoopie" sequence from Everyone Says I Love You and the conversation with the spaceship in Stardust Memories. Some of the stories told in Radio Days (the robbery it opens with, the pitcher) are fantastic.

About the only Woody Allen film my wife will watch by choice is The Purple Rose of Cairo.

[saganth.livejournal.com]

Sleeper, Radio Days, plus Allen's appearance in Casino Royale (the first one, of course), and his stand-up comedy routines, with the ones about the aliens with laundry and the moose in particular.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Manhattan, Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Zelig are the ones that stand up to time. But the early stuff (Sleeper, Bananas, Play It Again, Sam), plus the Roses (Broadway Danny Rose and Purple Rose of Cairo) are all still fun to watch.

[joecoustic.livejournal.com]

While I like most of the movies and books, Hannah and Her Sisters will always have a special message for me. I remember walking out of the movie with a friend and one of us said to the other that Woody Allen was now letting us know that it was okay to be happy! :)

[tandw.livejournal.com]

I'm partial to What's Up, Tiger Lily?, myself. ("An egg salad so good you could plotz!")

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

Good choices so far. I'd pick several of them and add Take the Money and Run, which is for my money the most quotable one after Annie Hall.

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

Annie Hall
Purple Rose of Cairo
Broadway Danny Rose
Crimes and Misdemeanors

I guess I haven't really seen many of his movies since about 1990. Hmmm.

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

Zelig was brilliant. Radio Days was amusing. Since that general era, he has done nothing noteworthy.

[fredhuggins.livejournal.com]

After all this time, my favorite Woody Allen movie is still Bananas. Sweet lord, what a beautifully, deliriously hilarious film.

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

This particular scene from Annie Hall:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpIYz8tfGjY

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

Take The Money And Run by far. I love all his books, but Investigating Psychic Phenomena holds a special place in my heart, since it was a standard for use in Humorous Interp competitions back in high school. If you could do good characterizations, it was a gold pass to the finals.

[gimmeahand.livejournal.com]

My favorite double feature that I have ever read on a movie marquee:

"Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Sex" and "Bananas".

Really.

[woyro.livejournal.com]

my favorites: The Early, Funny Ones.

i havent watched a Woody Allen film since CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION. i loved reading his books when i was younger and i still have his stand-up album. havent played it in ages, though. i really should.

Hate to say it...

[brute-farce.livejournal.com]

but Woody Allen's not one of my favorite people. In fact, while many of the movies were amusing, in person he was a bit of a prick. No, edit that - remove "bit of a" from that.

See, back in the mists of history, I worked in the Stamford Town Center, which is where Scenes from a Mall was filmed. And no, they did NOT close down the mall for filming. At one point, the Props department asked my store (A Herman's Sporting Goods) to borrow a wakeboard as a prop that an extra would be carrying. I was elected to go and bring said wakeboard to the Prop master.

Anyway, I get to where they told me to go, and I'm carrying the thing on my shoulder. The Prop master (mistress, actually) tells me to take it over to the extra who's using it.. and pushes on my shoulder to turn me the right way.

You guessed it.. I spin - and the board catches Mr. Allen right in the back of the head. Not hard, I didn't hurt him or lay him out or whatnot - but a complete Three Stooges moment. I was, naturally, apologetic. But apparently that wasn't enough... I wound up the target of a 45-minute bitchout, followed by my boss catching another just like it. (See, when I got back to the store I had to tell MY boss where I was... and he got mad and tried to defend me. Sigh)

So, yeah. Good actor - lousy person - funny story.

-Brute_Farce