My all-time top five Woody Allen movies just because...
4. Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)
The acronym for Allen's first post-scandal picture says it all - MMM. This is one to gorge on. Reunited with Brickman for the first time since Manhattan fourteen years earlier, and with Keaton landing her first Allen lead since that same film (though she had an effervescent cameo in Radio Days), this was Allen experiencing a new lease of life. Which was odd, as it was partly a make-do patchwork of odds and ends - the plot had been part of the original Annie Hall screenplay, and Keaton replaced Mia Farrow at the last minute. But there's little in Allen's work that's so zesty and footloose.
I love the rumpled joy in the Allen/Keaton partnership, the man-eating sexiness of Angelica Huston, Alan Alda all excitable in his comfy pullovers, the unusually upbeat perspective on middle-age, the priceless scene where they're splicing together the ransom tape. I also love the opening song and the closing gag. Allen always underrates his own films, especially his comedies. He's got no idea. This is worth 50 Septembers, 100 Match Points.
4. Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)
The acronym for Allen's first post-scandal picture says it all - MMM. This is one to gorge on. Reunited with Brickman for the first time since Manhattan fourteen years earlier, and with Keaton landing her first Allen lead since that same film (though she had an effervescent cameo in Radio Days), this was Allen experiencing a new lease of life. Which was odd, as it was partly a make-do patchwork of odds and ends - the plot had been part of the original Annie Hall screenplay, and Keaton replaced Mia Farrow at the last minute. But there's little in Allen's work that's so zesty and footloose.
I love the rumpled joy in the Allen/Keaton partnership, the man-eating sexiness of Angelica Huston, Alan Alda all excitable in his comfy pullovers, the unusually upbeat perspective on middle-age, the priceless scene where they're splicing together the ransom tape. I also love the opening song and the closing gag. Allen always underrates his own films, especially his comedies. He's got no idea. This is worth 50 Septembers, 100 Match Points.
posted by Gator at 4:04 PM
7 Comments:
Yes! I love this too. But will you get the top three right? The suspense is killing me. (Hint: not Melinda and Melinda...)
I know you're wanting some Hannah action here. And you know it's not gonna happen...
No sale! Watch it again...
But it's so compartmentalised. The comedy is over here, the sadness is over there. Here's the tormented artist, there's his free spirit muse. Allen's character is just this shrill self-parody. Compare with Crimes & Misdemeanors, where the two plot strands bleed into one another so that no one gets off the hook. But I like how Michael Caine looks such a lug in his big coat, and the scene where Carrie Fisher and Dianne Wiest fight to be dropped off last by Sam Waterston.
But Wiest's is both the funniest and the saddest character, surely, and at the same time. Von Sydow is the one thing I don't like in it, but otherwise it looks like we're on totally different pages here. Are you sure you're not talking about, I dunno, The Banger Sisters?
It's your blog. I'll shut up.
No, don't ever shut up. Because then there'd be, like, silence.
No more silence. I'm here! It's OK.
I think I can guess one of your last two, but the other one's got me a bit stumped. I suppose it could be C&M or H&W. He does like his three-word titles with "and" in the middle.
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