Annie Hall (1977)

5/5

Woody Allen's Annie Hall is the quintessential indie romantic comedy. Much like Psycho, it set the stage for all the parodies and homages to come (When Harry Met Sally, 500 Days of Summer). And watching it 35 years later, it loses none of its humor or warmth. It is still as engaging and moving as the day it came out. The bevy of flattering imitations and cheap knock-offs to emerge from the bowels of Hollywood since have only made me more nostalgic for the original. Because none of the replicas have the same charm that made this a classic; none have the same inventive curiosity and ceaseless awe about love that peppers every scene.

The film's structure jumps back and forth in time, focusing on the emotions of relationships rather than the chronology. This has been attempted in romantic stories since time immemorial, but never have I felt it as keenly as in Annie Hall. We see their moments of happiness, vivaciously experience that pure exhilarating joy. We cringe at the anger and resentment that builds up as their relationship falls apart, comes back together, and continues to breed turmoil. We want them to be together, because we love both of them, but life isn't always so sweet. Sometimes it's bittersweet.

There is so much about the directing to love. I'm constantly amazed that Allen put so much creativity into this film; anybody lesser would have spaced it out over several movies to keep people coming back for more. Annie Hall is filled to the brim and delightfully overflowing with ingenuity and novelty. He breaks down common filmic conventions--like split screen, subtitles, and the fourth wall--then rearchitects them for his own purposes. He has so much to say, and doesn't care how he gets his point across, so he uses anything and everything film has to offer.

But what makes this movie so good is none of that. It is the people. In Alvy Singer, Woody Allen both created and perfected the neurotic Jewish New Yorker; Harry Burns and Jerry Seinfeld are nowhere near as compelling or fulfilling to watch. There is something about how wiry and wimpy he looks, how piercing his voice sounds when he whines, that manages just the right amount of pity and sympathy. And Annie Hall is played to perfection by Diane Keaton, as beautifully awkward and fiercely independent as can be. She is soft, tender, naive, mature, and strong, all in one breath. The characters are nothing special, except that they are human beings, and that makes them more special than the characters inhabiting most movies. This movie will always stay in my heart. It is the first and best independent romantic comedy.

IMDb link:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075686/

Midnight in Paris (2011)

4/5

Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris is a delightfully light fantasy comedy that takes place in Paris over the course of several magical midnights. The plot follows Gil (Wilson) and Inez (McAdams) tagging along with Inez's parents in Paris for a few weeks. They bump into one of Inez's old pseudo-intellectual friends (Sheen), who is absolutely infuriating to Gil (and the audience), and Inez naturally wants to spend as much time with him as possible. After a few frustrating nights together, Gil decides to walk home by himself only to find himself wandering the streets of Paris utterly lost. An old Puegeot stops by at midnight and picks him up to take him to a very different kind of Paris (which I will let you have the pleasure of discovering for yourself).

The movie is very similar to Allen's previous works, especially The Purple Rose of Cairo, albeit with literary references instead of filmic ones. And it is just as charming, airy, and melancholy as that film. Unfortunately, because it feels so identical, I felt I didn't get much out of the film. It's hilarious in that Woody Allen way, but not much more. It's a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon, but nothing compared to Allen's best work.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1605783/

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

4/5

Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona tells its entire story in the title, which I'm sure Allen intended. It is about Vicky (Hall) and Cristina (Johansson) during a summer vacation in Barcelona, where they meet Juan Antonio (Bardem) who invites them to drink wine and make love to him. As a young narrator informs us, the two girls have differing views on love. Vicky is engaged to Doug (Messina) but is afraid she wants more than her boring but otherwise perfect marriage. Cristina is always looking for more and different ways to be pleased until she finds what she's looking for. Juan Antonio is frank and honest with his emotions and sexuality. While these all sound like unique characters, they're not; they're caricatures exaggerated to make fun of each social class (educated homemaker wishing for something more, ever-unsatisfied free spirit, and romantic bohemian artist). Even the side characters are laughable.

This is not to denigrate the acting, which was excellently understated, but rather to emphasize the humor. I was laughing throughout the entire piece, not because of the things that happened, but because of the characters' impressions of themselves--how they talked and what they said--that revealed Allen poking fun at each of these social circles. Technically, the movie was solid, with little risk and littler reward. (There was an odd cross dissolve during a shot/countershot conversation, but nothing else particularly awful comes to mind.) I actually didn't mind the narration that much (and thankfully they didn't try to explain it at the end like in Million Dollar Baby). The movie is a fairly light romp through what is clearly a male fantasy with nothing profoundly insightful, but it's well worth the ride.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497465/

Sweet and Lowdown (1999)

2/5

Sweet and Lowdown may have been funny, but it was not an enjoyable experience. My laughter hid my inner frustrations with the movie. The story had no arc; it was merely random event after random event with nothing to link them. There was absolutely no characterization; everyone had one character trait or tic, except for Sean Penn's Emmet Ray, who had three traits. That does not make them a character. The movie was vastly uncreative, something immensely disappointing given Allen's previous films of such exceptional creativity and quality. The abundance of music was overbearing and added very little to the overall piece, unless the intent of the piece was to annoy me. Some parts were good: it was funny and the acting was good. The cinematography and camera movement were good as well. But that does not make this a good movie. It is still a bad movie. I am disappointed in Woody Allen.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0158371/

Deconstructing Harry (1997)

4/5

Deconstructing Harry is a hilarious foray into a neurotic writer's life and mind. Harry Block travels to upstate New York where he's going to be honored by his old college. On the way, he gets a chance to reflect on the choices he's made, both in his writing and in his life. His stories and the characters that inhabit them stem from real people and real events, which has often caused anger and resentment by those whose secret and personal lives he's put on display through his work. I love this movie because it is both meaningful and entertaining. I found myself laughing the entire time. But it also made me think about this writer's life, how he took advantage of it, and what his creations (or are they merely alterations?) mean to himself and to others. Deconstructing Harry is an absolutely wonderful and delightful fantasy about real life that is witty, nostalgic, and philosophical all at once. I loved the acting by all parties and especially enjoyed spotting soon-to-be-famous actors in small roles (Tobey Maguire, Paul Giamatti, Jennifer Garner, etc.). I am in love with the way he made Robin Williams (and himself, later) blurry and out of focus while the rest of the scene was crisp and sharp. I wish I knew how he did it. You can see Allen's creativity positively brimming and overflowing in this movie (although not as profusely as in Annie Hall).

I fail to understand the purpose of the neurotic editing, except perhaps as a banal and gimmicky way of putting the director's own flightiness and anxiety into his work, as Harry Block replicates his life in his writing. Using this editing style to start the movie was extremely off-putting. Some scenes feel rather pointless, without adding much to the table in terms of plot, humor, or pathos. Also, most of the movie is told from Harry Block's point of view, and as such takes on a cynical and misogynistic quality, which obviously may not be for everyone (take his version of Hell, for example). Otherwise, though, a thoroughly fantastic movie that I enjoyed and appreciated from start to finish.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0118954/

Scoop (2006)

4/5

I saw this new Woody Allen comedy yesterday with Sameer and I must say, I was impressed. I laughed a lot. It was extremely funny in that New York/Woody Allen style that he's perfected over the years (fantastic one-liners), even though he saves most of the humor for himself. Scarlett Johansson plays a dumb but dedicated student journalist as best she can, but Allen's writing for that part just wasn't very convincing. Fortuitously, the failure of the role's realism gave the movie a more airy, light-hearted feel that helped overall. I liked the small reference to Match Point where Johansson pretends to be an actress. One thing I was especially fond of was how the movie comes full circle and ends up back where it started (on the River Styx); something about that just feels sublime to me.

The special effects distracted from the movie, besides just looking campy and 80's. Hugh Jackman's character was simply a poor rehashing of the upper class family from Match Point, and Allen didn't really do much to make him unique in any way, shape, or form. Also, some elements of the plot just don't add up, but who cares? It's a movie.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0457513/