- Joined
- Jul 3, 1997
- Messages
- 66,690
- Real Name
- Ronald Epstein
The Woody Allen Collection '82-'87
Time to get a bit chatty....
My most favorite film comics include The Marx
Brothers, Jerry Lewis and Woody Allen. I have
always been an immense fan of Woody Allen's early
film comedies from Take The Money And Run to
Sleeper to Bananas. Woody's comedic
charm was that he was able to make people identify
with his neurotic self.
When people think of Woody Allen movies, there are
always the funny ones and the more serious ones.
That change started with Annie Hall (1977).
By 1979, when Manhattan was released, the
critics were hailing Woody Allen as an acclaimed
Director.
Some of his fans, like myself, weren't very happy
that Woody Allen was no longer doing screwball comedy.
It was at that point that I stopped watching all his
future releases. I wanted the screwball comedy that
made me fall in love with his movies so long ago.
Jettison ahead nearly 22 years later....
MGM begins releasing their huge library of Woody
Allen movies. Fortunately, the first collection
consists of his most memorable screwball comedies.
I imagine that MGM did very well selling these films.
After all, this is the period in which we most fondly
remember Woody Allen. Titles included: Sleeper,
Bananas, Annie Hall, Everything you always wanted
to know about sex, Love and Death, Stardust Memories,
Interiors and Manhattan.
Months later, a second collection is released.
That collection includes Alice, Another Woman,
Crimes and Misdemeanors, September, Shadow and Fog.
Although I had received a screener of this set, my
heart was just not into wanting to review many of
these Allen films that were the least known of his
fillm period.
Last week I received a screener of the new 6-disc
Woody Allen Collection covering the years 1982-87.
These films include: Broadway Danny Rose, Hannah
and her Sisters, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Zelig,
Radio Days, A Midsummer Night's sex comedy.
I must be honest. I had just come home from a
10-day HTF National Meet in Los Angeles. I had a
stack of screeners that every studio had sent me.
Watching Woody Allen was the least thing I wanted
to do when I had movies like THE GODFATHER, THE
PHANTOM MENACE waiting for me.
I decided to dedicate my time to THE WOODY ALLEN
COLLECTION because MGM has been kind enough to
send me product, and I felt I wanted to review
something that none of the other websites wanted
to cover. I also knew that HTF has many Woody
Allen fans who had been anticipating this set's
release. I also realized that this set is a
compilation of Woody Allen's most highly acclaimed
award-winning films.
I did not watch the entire collection. There
just was no time. I do pride myself in being
able to watch 4 of the 6 titles in this set in
a matter of 24 hours. I will now talk about the
set and the titles I watched....
The Woody Allen Collection, as with the previous
releases, comes housed in a sturdy box. The box
gives little information more than displaying icons
for each of the individual DVD cover art.
The Purple Rose of Cairo is an extraordinary
fable about set against the depression area. A lonely
waitress (Mia Farrow) has an abusive life. She finds
escape at the movie theaters, getting lost in romantic
films. She soon becomes addicted to a film called
"The Purple Rose Of Cairo". To her surprise, the main
character of the film steps right off the screen into
her life.
The movie takes many humorous turns at the characters
left on the movie screen become disgruntled, as they
insult the audiance who has paid to watch them. There's
also the real-life actor who portrays the runaway
screen star who must locate his character and get him
back on the screen.
Zelig is perhaps my favorite of all the 4
films I watched. The early comedy of Woody Allen
is captured in this painstakingly hilarious comedy
done in 1920s documentary style. Zelig (Allen) is
a neurotic who's insecurity forces him to mimic
any person or group he is amongst. Through movietone
newsreels and filmed footage that is made to seamlessly
interact with that period, we laugh as Zelig becomes an
irishman, a negro, a rabbi, a greek, or an obese person.
Psychiatrist Dr. Eudora (Mia Farrow) is the only person
that cares about Zelig as a person, as she tries to
cure him.
I enjoyed this film the most because it is a
throwback to Woody's screwball years. There are
some hilarious one-liners in this film that you
just sit and wonder about the kind of mind that
could think them up.
Radio Days is a simple comedy that affectionately
takes a look at the 1940s, before television, where
radio was what the world had their ear to.
Narrated by Woody Allen and seen through the eyes of
his fictional young self, we meet his whacky family.
With each song that is played on the radio, a story is
reminisced. There are also stories about the radio
personalities themselves.
This was another Allen film that surprised me.
It's a very warm, nostalgic comedy.
Hannah And Her Sisters is perhaps the most
complex of Allen's comedies about families. The movie
centers around Hannah (Mia Farrow) and her two
sisters (Barbara Hershey and Dianne Wiest). The
movie takes these 3 sisters and presents a spinning tale
of their seprate lives, their loves and losses, as
well as the sibling rivalry that exists between them.
The film is superbly supported by Michael Caine and
Carrie Fisher.
Another thumbs up for this finely directed film.
One thing I noticed about Woody Allen -- especially
with this film -- is that his stories are character
driven. He does such an excellent job of defining
his characters. Many times, a simple expression
on the face of an actor or actress evokes more
emotion than any dialogue could.
How do these films look?
Unfortunately, there is nothing to brag about
as far as transfer quality. It is obvious that
all these prints came off of older masters. All
the movie prints have some dirt and wear specs
scattered throughout. I am also sorry to announce
that the transfer on Hannah and her Sisters
is pretty bad. The film is full of noticeable grain.
I expect many of you will not be overly pleased
with the transfer. Do realize, however, I can
see why MGM would not put a lot of effort into
restoring these titles.
Menus are plain. Each of these titles contain
an original theatrical trailer, and best of all,
are english subtitled -- something I depend on
when watching a film.
Summation
It took a great deal of effort to watch these
movies with the amount of other screener product
waiting for me. However, I feel very fortunate that
I made the decision to look into this set. All these
titles are terrific films. Even though they aren't
screwball comedies that put Woody in the forefront,
they are instead intelligently directed comedies
that definately have Woody's influence. These are
all warmly entertaining movies, most set against
Woody's favorite backdrop, New York City.
Release Date: November 6th
------------------
Ronald Epstein (pronounced like the English "Ronald Epstein")
Circa 2000
Home Theater Forum Administrator
All forum questions & to get on our private forum mailing list (new members)... Email: [email protected]
Problems with the webpage or site? Contact WEBMASTER
Email Packy [email protected]
