Woody Allen

[Dylan]

I know that there are a few fans of Anything Else on this forum. I saw it in 2003 and just adored it, and have seen it many times since and for me it keeps getting better and better. It is most notable now as being one of Quentin Tarantino's top ten of the 2000's, but it'd make my top ten of last decade, as well.

In any case, there has always been some unconfirmed speculation that the film initially had a science fiction element where Woody Allen's character Dobel was an older version of Jason Biggs's character who has traveled back in time to guide his younger self through a particularly tumultuous period of his life. None of this speculation is based on behind the scenes stories or rumors, this is just what a number of people have speculated based on what's in the film now. This interpretation never occurred to me personally during my many viewings of the film, but a quick search on Google yields a number of discussions that cite specific scenes and moments from the film as evidence that speaks to this interpretation. The most notable being an article by screenwriter Todd Alcott (who has no use for the film beyond this reading, but is still an interesting write-up).

There have also been quite a few threads on IMDB over the years that have generated a good deal of response (some of these threads no longer exist but a couple are still on there) where one person will begin the thread entertaining this idea of time travel, then a number of people will actually respond saying that the "time travel" element also lapped in their mind - if only briefly - during the viewing.

Here is where it gets really interesting. There is an article in the book New Cinematographers that includes a two-page spread about Darius Khondji shooting Anything Else. In the article, Khondji writes:

"The character of Dobel was a very shady, contrasty character and I loved the idea that Woody wanted to make him always in a darker area or background of the park. He's a paranoid character and initially he was also a character that appeared in a surrealistic way. He would sometimes appear and talk to Falk then disappear almost like a ghost, but Woody took this out of the film."

So everybody was right? In any case, even if this just points to the film once having even slightly more of a fantasy than it is now, this bit of information is kind of amazing given how many people actually called the fantasy element long before this vague confirmation (though the book was published in 2004, nobody outside of this forum has cited it). Woody certainly changed the film in the editing process, but clearly enough remains in the final cut for people to read the discarded sci-fi concept. Since Dobel does talk to people outside of Falk in the final film, I'm guessing that those scenes were re-shoots after Woody abandoned the time travel element (revisited later, of course, for Midnight in Paris).

As has been discussed elsewhere on the forum, Glenn Close shots scenes for this film but her character was dropped at some point before release. A member on here cited a period article from memory where Close was pretty bitter about her part possibly not having survived the final edit (she caught wind of there being re-shoots but she wasn't called back herself to do any), saying that she would attend the premiere just to see if she was still in it at all. I personally remember the movie's release being held-over for a time after an original release date was announced. My guess is that there was a version of the film completed that had Close's character and the time travel element, then at some point Woody ordered re-shoots to ground the film in reality, and in doing so dropped the Close character. I'm curious as to who she was, though - maybe Christina Ricci's mother? In the spread, Khondji also seem to allude to Central Park having served as a much more prominent setting in the film than what one gets out of it now - that is Dobel and Falk's meeting place, but something tells me that the Park may have functioned as a time warp originally.

I find all of this pretty fascinating. But not uncommon for Woody for the most part. Vanessa Redgrave was initially one of the leads in Celebrity but was deleted, most of Hannah and Her Sisters and half of Crimes and Misdemeanors & the entirety of September were re-shot, Annie Hall had close to 50 minutes deleted from it, etc.

It is also interesting to note that Woody Allen originally wrote Anything Else as a novel sometime in the late 90's I believe, but when a friend of his he trusted read it and didn't believe it would be a good move to publish it (I forgot the reasoning), Woody followed that advice and subsequently wrote this screenplay. More trivia - because I'm on a roll - is that Anything Else was originally a proposed title for Crimes and Misdemeanors.

[albucat]

I'm actually a big fan, to the point that I wrote a paper in college on its complex relationship with Annie Hall. I'd never heard about it originating as a novel before, that's pretty fascinating.

The more I think about what you've said, the more I feel the need to re-watch the film soon.

[wigwam]

sounds like he re-used that concept loosely for Alec Baldwin and Jesse Eisenberg in To Rome With Love

if you haven't read Ralph Rosenbaum's When the Shooting Stops, please do so, it has lots of this fun kind of post-production re-writing during Sleeper and Annie Hall and I think the unused scenes/story ended up being Manhattan Murder Mystery

also in Stardust Memories he talks about how he has an ever-growing reel of cut scenes he watches before writing his next movie to find starting points, and then there's that great scene in the Robt D Weide doc where he pulls that giant messy pile of scraps of paper from his drawer and spreads them across his bed

[Professor Wagstaff]

also in Stardust Memories he talks about how he has an ever-growing reel of cut scenes he watches before writing his next movie to find starting points, and then there's that great scene in the Robt D Weide doc where he pulls that giant messy pile of scraps of paper from his drawer and spreads them across his bed

I was thinking recently about that messy pile of story ideas and figured Allen just strung a bunch of them together to make From Rome with Love. That's the only way I can rationalize that picture.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

I'm a huge WA fan from way back, and have seen almost all of his films. In no particular order, here are some edited reviews that I posted on another website last year:

Manhattan (1979): A classic, extremely well-done film. Coming a couple of years after the iconic Annie Hall must have been tough, but IMHO in some ways Manhattan is actually the superior film. As was mentioned, nice b&w photography of NYC in which the city may as well have been another character in the movie, good story, & great acting by everyone involved, especially the young MH. What moved me most in this film was the very sad, poignant break-up scene near the end with the Muriel character and Woody, when he revealed to her that he met someone else (in the coffee shop/deli) - Wow. Also very memorable was one of the last scenes when Woody realized it was not working with the DK character, and went off to catch MH before she went off to Europe - the last scene in the her apartment complex entrance when she said something like, "You just have to trust people" was also quite moving.

Anything Else (2003): Hilarious & very underrated film; I liked how the J. Biggs character seemed to be channeling WA.

Another Woman (1988): Brilliant movie - definitely one of the best dramas I've ever seen. Not sure how much of a splash this made when it was first released in the late '80's - however, I haven't heard much discussion regarding this over the years, and IIRC it was barely mentioned in the 2011 WA documentary. What really got me the most about the film were the two themes involving Marion (G. Rowlands) looking back at her past & also reevaluting her present life - very touching & poignant. I especially enjoyed the scenes when she was looking back at her youth & seeing it through a haze of wistful nostalgia, when in fact things were later revelaled as not being as blissful or innocent as they initially appeared to be. The meeting with the old friend (whom she hadn't seen in years) was very negatively revealing, and the scenes towards the end of the film when her carefully-ordered life slowly unravelled were almost painful to watch; though, it was nice to see a Woody Allen drama with a (relatively) happy ending...The last line(s) in the film that Marion voice-overs as she sits at her desk in the empty apartment are especially powerful, "I closed the book, and felt this strange mixture of wistfulness and hope, and I wondered if a memory is something you have or something you've lost. For the first time in a long time, I felt at peace".

Interiors (1978): one of WA's most underrated films; very powerful & extremely depressing, I'm sure this was a surprise when it came out, coming as it did on the heels of AH.

Stardust Memories (1980): Great b&w film, and seemingly inspired by '60's arthouse European films like "8 1/2", etc. I really needed to pay attention to this movie, since there was a lot going on and it didn't seem to follow a traditional narrative path. However, everything came together in the end. Charlotte Rampling was great in this movie (as always).

September (1987): What an amazingly powerful film, and possibly Mia Farrow's best acting, period - she deserved at least an Oscar nom. for this role, IMHO. This is a film that starts off almost softly, disturbingly builds up to the revelation/climax (i.e. when Farrow's character reveals what happened on that terrible day 30+ years before), and then ends just as softly as it began. The actress that played Mia's mother in the movie was fantastic, and I liked how her casual attitude about everything contrasted sharply with the Mia character's seriousness/concern. The final quiet scene when Farrow and her friend were sitting at the table & discussing what needed to be done re: selling the house, going back to the city, etc. was great & very understated; I liked how the camera almost sadly panned around the house during this last scene, since it was probably the last time that all of the characters would be together there (since the house was almost certainly going to be sold soon after). The film also strongly reminds me of the time period right after Summer is coming to an end & Fall is beginning. IMHO, this is another of WA's most underrated movies.

Radio Days (1987): Another incredible film, and the extreme contrast with September (which came out in the same year) really shows how diverse WA can be. Nice nostalgic & bittersweet homage to days gone by when Radio was king; I liked how the film was a combination of connected vignettes/stories.

Play it Again, Sam (1972): Though not directed by WA, this was an excellent film which was both an funny homage to old b&w noir movies, as well as being a great film on it's own. Though the whole film was fantastic, two of the funniest sequences were: When Woody was getting ready to go out on the date with the girl that his friends (Diane Keaton & Tony Roberts) had set him up with, and, because of nervousness, ended up making a fool of himself in the apartment as they were getting ready to go out, i.e. tripping over furniture, accidentally throwing a record across the room, etc. - hilarious! And, the scenes when the TR character kept letting his work know the various phone #'s where he could be reached (so he was always available), which led to DK mentioning that he should give them the phone # of the payphone on the street corner between two of his destinations - LOL!

The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985): Nice homage to a bygone era, as well as being a commentary on how some people can really identify with films & characters in films as a means of escaping their hum-drum lives.

Midnight in Paris (2011): Great movie, and better than I expected. This is probably my second-favorite of Woody's Europe-based films (Match Point being my first). The time-travel angle was well done & didn't seem out of place in a WA film, and the scenes of modern Paris were amazing.

Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993): Both funny & dramatic, this was a superb film. Alan Alda, WA, and DK were at the top of their form here, and this film was perfect from start to finish. The mystery itself was very interesting, since I initially thought WA & DK were being paranoid in regards to the neighbor & his wife, and the briliance of the film was how it made you slowly realize that they were right to be concerned. Also, seeing DK & WA as an older married couple somewhat brought to mind their characters in AH, i.e. this is maybe what would've happened if those characters had stayed together.

Alice (1990): Extremely underrated, and not a WA film you hear too much discussion on. However, this was another very well-done film; one of the funniest scenes is when Alice (or someone else) accidentally put a potion/ingredient in some of the food/drinks at a large party she attended, which caused all of the men to fawn all over her - truly hilarious ;)

Curse of the Jade Scorpian (2001): Great film noir homage with a fantastic story. One of the funniest sequences was when the WA character was hypnotized - LOL.

Scenes from a Mall (1991): Though not directed by WA, this was as funny as many of Woody's films, with an obvious CA twist; WA as an aging hippie (i.e. the half-ponytail) added to the humor. The scenes with the mime were hilarious, and the movie also reminded me of why I used to dislike going to the mall back in the day (horrible traffic - especially during the holidays, obnoxious crowds, etc.).

Take the Money and Run (1969): One joke after another; very, very funny; I especially liked the soap weapon that melted in the rain - LOL. To quote from "Stardust Memories", this was one of WA's "early, funny movies".

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989): Simply superb. Great morality tale, and the ending understated conversation between the Martin Landau character & Woody was pure cinematic genius.

Sleeper: Hilarious spoof, with numerous laugh-out-loud moments. The intentionally bad/sub-par "effects", sets, etc. added to the ridiculous aspects of this film.

Bananas: One of my favorite scenes is when Woody's Fielding Mellish (great name - LOL) hurts his back while doing exercises with the other soldiers, and walks off in a squatting position.

Deconstructing Harry (1997) - Brilliant, with extremely funny dialogue.

Match Point (2005): I saw this film in the theater and had no clue how it was going to end, since I had intentionally stayed away from reviews/spoilers - and, I completely predicted the ending before it happened since this was quite similar to the ending of Crimes and Misdemeanors. Obviously, Woody had the right to copy the plot-point from one of his previous films, and if I hadn't already seen CAM I wouldn't have seen this coming - however, this did leave me cold none-the-less. That being said, the acting in the film was excellent & the London setting was amazing.

Also last year, I watched Woody Allen: A Documentary (2011) and was extremely impressed! IMHO this is almost required viewing for any WA fan, and is definitely one of the best documentaries I've ever seen of a filmmaker. Fairly comprehensive 3+ hour long doc., and covered WA's early year's in the '60's as a stand-up comic, his early TV appearances, his early film appearances (What's New Pussycat), etc., all the way up to his Europe-centric films in the 2000's (including Midnight in Paris). Also discussed his jazz playing, and featured interviews with friends, family members, etc. Also, before seeing this doc. I was largely unaware of the significant changes in casting that were made prior to completions of September and The Purple Rose of Cairo.

My only complaint about the documentary was that it largely ignored his films from around 1998-2004; a lot of this was probably because, as was mentioned in the doc., many felt the films he came out during that period weren't as good as his earlier work. I strongly disagree however, since I really enjoyed Celebrity, Sweet & Lowdown, Small Time Crooks (Hilarious!) Hollywood Ending, Curse of the Jade Scorpian, Anything Else, Melinda & Melinda, etc. - though, I will admit some of these films seem to require more than one viewing to be fully appreciated.

Anyway, I highly recommend this doc. And, if you do see this on DVD, check out the deleted scenes.

[Brian C]

Midnight in Paris (2011): Great movie, and better than I expected. This is probably my second-favorite of Woody's Europe-based films (Match Point being my first).

Match Point (2005): ... this did leave me cold none-the-less.

[mfunk9786]

He's trying to say that even though OW was a really good WA stand in he prefers something a little more chilly from WA like ScarJo getting 86ed

[dustybooks]

Manhattan M. Mystery (1993)

Why abbreviate the shortest word!?

[Brian C]

Maybe he was trying to avoid a spoiler. Now I'm wondering what kind of mystery it is, guess I just have to watch it to find out.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I have corrected the post to include the full title for that film - and, yes, it's well worth checking out.

Re: my comments on Match Point, overall, I thought the film was excellent & quite powerful. Great story, acting, and picturesque London setting. At the time it came out, it created quite a splash since it was the first of Woody's "Europe-centric" films, which was a departure from his NY-based films in the past. And, it's still probably my favorite of his European films (so far).

The problem I had when I first saw the film was that I felt the ending was way too much like the ending of Crimes and Misdemeanors, to the point that I correctly predicted this before it happened. Again, this isn't really a negative since many movies out there are derivative of other films, but I guess I was expecting something different from Woody.

That being said, after seeing MP again recently I think it's perfect.

[Roger Ryan]

Given that Allen was borrowing heavily from Dreiser's "An American Tragedy", which itself had already been adapted into film by Sternberg and Stevens (1951's A PLACE IN THE SUN), made MATCH POINT more than a little predictable. All the same, I still enjoyed it. I appreciated Allen's chutzpah in reusing the plot yet again, this time as a comedy, for his very next film (SCOOP); a meta idea that is better than the actual movie.

[Lemmy Caution]

This is kind of cute:
Woody Allen’s Films As Infographics
I think it works best to watch the video montage at the bottom first and then read through the charts.

[GaryC]

This week, BBC1 showed the Weide documentary over two nights (with intros to both parts by Alan Yentob) in its Imagine strand, and I've spent this afternoon watching it all in HD via BBC Iplayer. I could easily have watched more. The many film extracts looked really good in HD - especially the black and white ones - and reminds me I haven't seen some of these films in many years. And also how few of his films are available on Blu-ray in the UK.

My first Allen I saw in the cinema was Zelig - I think I'd seen Love and Death and Sleeper on television before then. I've seen the earlier films, in 35mm in the case of Annie Hall and Manhattan, in 16mm (University film society) and/or TV viewings for the others, then everything in the cinema for the next decade and a half up to Sweet and Lowdown with just The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, Vicky Christina Barcelona and Midnight in Paris in cinemas since then and Small Time Crooks on DVD. I had picked up that most of the others were at best disappointing and at worse stinkers (Hollywood Ending and Scoop missed UK distribution, though the latter has been shown on TV) but to be fair I haven't seen them. While I enjoyed Midnight in Paris especially, I've been a disappointed former fan of his for over a decade now.

I didn't know that his parents lived to be 100 and 96, so he clearly has genetics on his side (and seems to be in good shape) for quite a long career ahead of him, as long as he wants to continue working and he can still get financing.

[Ibnezra]

If there was ever any fear of Woody Allen failing to find the financing to make his films, I'm sure it's been quelled by the success of "Midnight In Paris". I personally loved the Weide documentary, and one hopes if he's opened up enough to participate in such an endevour, perhaps he'll give his back catalogue a rethink. I consider him the "Great White Whale" of the Criterion Collection, and if they could aquire the rights to some of his films I'll be first in line with cash in hand. Even a release of the more obscure titles ("Interiors" please) would be exciting, and possibly prompt a re-evaluation of sorts.

[tavernier]

Stockholm calling

[Graham]

I wish MGM would up their Woody Allen blu-ray release schedule to more than two films per year. I don't mind the lack of extras, but at least get the films out there in HD.

[MovieMark]

I'm interested to see what people think about "Everyone Says I Love You?"

In my opinion it's a really funny movie, quite strange but I did enjoy it! The soundtrack stuck in my head..

[Randall Maysin]

this is no doubt the wrong thread, but I can't find a more suitable one. anyway can anyone tell me the name of the piece of music that plays in "Love and Death" at the end as Woody Allen and Death dance around the trees?

[tavernier]

Prokofiev's "Lt. Kije" suite

[Randall Maysin]

thanks ever so!

[fdm]

I wish MGM would up their Woody Allen blu-ray release schedule to more than two films per year. I don't mind the lack of extras, but at least get the films out there in HD.

Crimes And Misdemeanors coming to blu via Twilight Time in February. Hope this will be in addition to MGM's paltry 2 per year rather than instead of.

[Dylan]

Has a copy of the shooting script for Celebrity ever surfaced, or does anybody know of a website online where it might be ordered or even available to read? I watched this film again for the first time in many years and I noticed that Vanessa Redgrave (whose character was cut from the film) can actually be seen in one of the last shots of the movie

SpoilerShow

she's sitting in an aisle seat as part of the movie theater audience, and is quite conspicuous

I'm really, very curious as to what her role was before it was deleted.

[domino harvey]

So, seven of Woody Allen's late period films have been released on region-free 1080p Blu-rays in Sweden-- Bullets Over Broadway, Celebrity, the Curse of the Jade Scorpion, Everyone Says I Love You, Hollywood Ending, Mighty Aphrodite, and Small Time Crooks-- which is especially good news since several of these only have non-anamophic shitty R1 representation until now. I upgraded for five of the titles-- I don't like Hollywood Ending and Small Time Crooks enough to do better than the DVD copies I already have-- which run for around $19.99 on DaaVeeDee (with only $1.99 flat-rate shipping per order). DaaVeeDee has a warning that some of their discs might be opened or whatever, but all of mine were still sealed and one even came with a slip-cover. So, reasonable and still cheaper than Twilight Time, for sure. I did a spot check this afternoon after they arrived and while I look forward to revisiting all of the films at-length, I can confirm that all discs are region-free and have removable subtitles. The transfers are pretty good, with Celebrity and Bullets Over Broadway exhibiting a lot of grain, but that may be inherent in the source, and considering what those two looked like before, it might as well be Life of Pi-levels of clarity. None of the titles have been restored, so there's the occasional speckle, but overall they look nice and un-futzed with.

[Calvin]

Kaleidoscope Entertainment in the UK are releasing Bullets Over Broadway, Celebrity, Sweet and Lowdown, Small Time Crooks, Mighty Aphrodite, Everyone Says I Love You and Deconstructing Harry in July both separately and as a box set. DVD only though. I enquired about this and they claim that "the films weren't shot in HD so the quality required for Blu-Ray is unavailable" - a response I'm not entirely convinced by, not only because some of the films have been released on Blu-Ray in Sweden (as domino says above) but also because surely they were all shot on film? I admittedly haven't checked, but correct me if I'm wrong!

[Ishmael]

Kaleidoscope Entertainment in the UK ... claim that "the films weren't shot in HD so the quality required for Blu-Ray is unavailable"

Allow me to be the first to laugh uproariously at this idiotically misguided response.