Woody Allen: A Life In Film
 

Did anyone get a chance to see the Woody Allen documentary on TCM??

Basically he just talked to the camera for 90 minutes about his films. It was terrific.

They had clips from a lot of them over the last 30+ years and talked about how Husbands and Wives was one of the few films of his that he liked and turned out the way he visioned it beforehand.

He talked about the quote: "Eighty percent of life is just showing up" He said he can't believe how that phrase caught on and was stuck with him throughout the years.

Allen also mentioned how Annie Hall is the lowest grossing best picture winner in history (at the time).

One thing he never really said anything about were the actors he's worked with. Woody mentions a few of them in talking about the particular film but not else.

I'm sure TCM will replay this thing, so look for it if you're a Woody Allen fan.

BTW: This is uncut......there is strong language unedited from some of his films.

Time's Richard Schickel is the person who got this thing going.

I caught this thing twice last night, and I think they will be replaying it every Saturday this month. If you haven't seen some of Woody's movies but are planning on seeing them, you may not want to watch this. It contains numerous spoilers, as he explains a lot of the meanings behind his movies. It shows the endings of a few movies. So be forwarned: some definite spoilers if you haven't seen some Woody's movies.

A very good program, but 90 minutes was not enough. I would have liked to have seen more interviews and less clips. I don't know how long Allen spoke on each film, but his comments would make for great running commentary. I wonder if they'll release a longer version of this on DVD?

Speaking of DVD, did anybody notice that they used the god-awful Annie Hall DVD as the source for the "Thinking" clip?

I did see it--and as someone new to Woody Allen's work, it really gave me a good overview of everything he's done and his thoughts behind them.

For those interested, there will be a repeat of this episode on TCM on Saturday, May 18 at 12:30 am ET.

Excellent, I hated having to miss this Saturday but we were in Portland. Definitely will catch it 5/18, glad it sounds like it's pretty good!