tommyp007

Hey guys....

I'm just really getting into Woody Allen and would love some advice on some dvd's to get started with. So far I only have Deconstructing Harry and Small Time Crooks. I figure Annie Hall to be next to buy since it was a Best Pic Oscar winner, but any suggestions from Woody-philes would be great!

indycohiba

I am glad you posted this as I was planning to do so soon. I have only seen Annie Hall and The Purple Rose of Cairo and enjoyed them both. I am planning on trying these next in the following order:

Curse of the Jade Scorpion (only because I own it and need to purchase the others)
Manhattan
Hannah and her Sisters
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Zelig
Radio Days

MaudlinHarold

My favorites would be:

Zelig - A pretty straight-faced mockumentary that's quite entertaining, although subtly.

Hannah and Her Sisters - some kind'a stilted dialogue, but mixes seriousness and humor very well.

Purple Rose of Cairo - a sad little triumph, this movie is often called a love letter to the movies.

Crimes & Misdemeanors - probably his best "serious movie" although it has more humor than many of his Bergmanesque attempts.

Love & Death, Sleeper, and Play It Again Sam (which he didn't direct) are my favorites of his older, pre-Annie Hall material.

Thar ye go for my two cents. Enjoy any and all.

ckolchak

Annie Hall is good, but for some reason MGM didn't bother giving the transfer an anamorphic enhancement.
don't know if that is important to you or not.

otherwise, i've always felt Manhattan, his follow-up to Annie Hall, is a little bit stronger film (and has some of the most wonderful b&w footage of NYC ever committed to film to a sublime soundtrack of Gershwin).
after that the next Allen film that i still watch regularly is Crimes & Misdemeanors.

other popular & accessible titles would be;
Hannah & Her Sisters
Sleeper (this one is from his more 'marx bros-esque' humour phase)

Zelig is interesting, but never really did much for me.
Midsummer Nights Sex Comedy was one i really enjoyed, but have heard the a/v quality of the disc isn't all that great.

not a big fan of most of his 80's & 90's era films (apart from what i already mentioned), although if you enjoy what you've seen so far, you will probably want to see everything else at some point.

Manhattan & Crimes & Misdemeanors are the two films i still have enormous respect for.

audrey

I like the early funny ones ;-) Beyond Annie Hall my choices would be Manhattan, Stardust Memories, and Love and Death.

bigE

Love & Death
Bananas
Sweet & Lowdown
Radio Days
Mighty Aphrodite

would be my first choices, but YMMV! (I know, no Annie Hall or Manhattan)

Cheers
bigE

indycohiba

The R2 is anamorphic and supposed to be superior. Why it was not released this way here, I have no idea.

TomOpus

I'm more of a fan of his older stuff:

Bananas
Take the Money and Run
Play it again, Sam
and, of course... Sleeper

Oh and another recommendation for Zelig

CitizenKaneRBud

I'd say go with the comedies first, and then as you get used to his style, progress into the heavier material. All of his work is funny though.. except Interiors and maybe a few others.

IMO, his most creative films were made from Zelig (I think it's the first film to use the Forrest Gump technique) up until Shadows and Fog. I prefer his early comedies though. My two favorites of his are Annie Hall and Love & Death. The two are both hilarious, but deal with some real issues.

On a side note, I hope Woody still has some creative juice left in him.. I'd say his last good one was Sweet & Lowdown, but that was mainly due to the talents of Sean Penn. I'm sure a lot of great young actors idolize him and would love to work with him, so he should probably stop taking lead roles in his films.

jarsim

My favorite's are:

Manhattan
Annie Hall
Husbands & Wives
Crimes & Misdemeanors
Hannah & Her Sisters

RobCA

I can't recommend Hannah and Her Sisters highly enough. The first Woody Allen film I ever saw, and still my favorite, followed by Annie Hall and Radio Days.

Rob

mookyman

I agree with all above, with the 1975-1980 period in particular. I'd also add Everyone Says I Love You, though I'm not sure if that's on DVD. If not, it's at least worth a rental.

FreshOne

You've got Deconstructing Harry, which is awesome, probably my 2nd favorite. Yes Annie Hall is pretty much badass, gotta get that next. Crimes and Misdemeanors would be next on my list, then maybe Manhattan. For more serious stuff, Interiors is my favorite, then Another Woman. Round things out with Husbands and Wives, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Zelig.

Enjoy the Woody Goodness!

matome

Broadway Danny Rose
Mighty Aphrodite

funkymonk

annie hall
curse of the jade scorpion
bananas

gutwrencher

I'll second that list. I LOVE Judy Davis. anything with her is a huge plus. Husbands.....is KILLER.

Ginwen

Not too helpful, because I like so many of them, but my favorites are (I just put goofy by the ones that are just goofy, with no socially redeeming values)

Manhattan
Sleeper (Goofy)
Annie Hall
Take the Money and Run (Goofy)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (HARSH)
Love and Death (Pretty Goofy)

I also like
Hannah and Her Sisters
Purple Rose of Cairo
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But ... (Goofy)
Bananas (only like some parts) (Goofy)
Stardust Memories (only like some parts, also)
Play It Again Sam
Sweet and Lowdown
Broadway Danny Rose
A Midsummer Nights Sex Comedy (some parts)
Also, I can't remember the name of it, but the Japanese movie with fake silly dialog.
Edit: What's Up Tiger Lily is the japanese one, not sure if it's on DVD though.

Of the two you mentioned, though, I like Deconstructing Harry a bit, but really didn't care much for Small Time Crooks, so maybe you should go by the opposite of what I like.

gutwrencher

hey Ginwen...just wanted to say...nice collection.

Rizor

May favorites are Manhattan and Radio Days.

JuryDuty

Small Time Crooks and Curse of the Jade Scorpion are similar, humor-wise. If you enjoyed the one, get the other.

garmonbozia

Deconstructing Harry is probably my favorite Woody Allen film. It's the one that I rewatch the most and I think it is his funniest film.
Besides that, these are my favorites:

early Woody Allen:
Take the Money and Run
Bananas
Sleeper
Love and Death
Annie Hall
Manhattan

middle Woody Allen:
Broadway Danny Rose
Hannah and her Sisters
Crimes and Misdemeanors

later Woody Allen:
Manhattan Murder Mystery
Mighty Aphrodite
Deconstructing Harry
Curse of the Jade Scorpion

ahh crap, forget it....I am already feeling like I left some great ones out.....

Here's what I suggest....

I would get the first Woody Allen MGM box set (the one that has Bananas to Stardust Memories in it) and maybe one or two of his later films...like Mighty Aphrodite and Manhattan Murder Mystery, for example.....and start there.....if you like them all or most of them....get the other two MGM box sets and fill in the rest of the gaps.

sfsdfd

Please see the sticky post about genre recommendations threads.

Closing thread.

- David Stein