ANNIE HALL, 1977
Director Woody Allen
JOHN: Given the state of modern films Spanky and I thought it might be interesting to look back over the last fifty years of movies and find some that were breakthroughs for directors, actors and/or audiences.
Before Annie Hall, Allen seemed to be caught between being a nerd among Playboy bunnies and a stand-up comedian popular with college intellectuals. But here there is more. Some of his phobias about California, prejudice against Jews and confusion concerning women are played out, not for the sake of the script but because he really wants to find answers. Later he was to visually try being Bergmanesque, but in this vital pursuit, he is, and we in the audience feel it on all levels.
GO, GO, GO, GO (4 GOs out of 4)
SPANKY: When Diane Keaton sings “Seems Like Old Times,” watching this Allen classic, you melt. And the collage at the end takes on a kind of retrospective too. But this isn’t just about Woody. It is our lives, that we re-create to fit our present. Movie as talisman. Rich, ever growing in significance, not because of what it says to us, but what we can find in it that we didn’t until we grew. And this one is as good today, no better today, than it ever was. The Woody Allen, the Diane Keaton, the New York, love, the role movies and plays and books play in our lives, could not be more satisfying. 34 years from now we will not be watching Hangover 2.
BARK, BARK, BARK, BARK (4 BARKs out of 4)
1977: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Diane Keaton), Best Original Screenplay.
