Saturday, October 8, 2011

Top Ranked Films of Woody Allen

Woody Allen
(6 titles, 20th in pts with 22,541)

These are all the films of Allen’s that made the top 1000 (and all the others that were ranked in polls) in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls.

1. Manhattan (1979) bw #67
2. Annie Hall (1977) #77
3. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) #215
4. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) #271
5. Zelig (1983) #741
6. Purple Rose of Cairo, The (1985) #886

These were outside the top 1000, but were ranked on enough polls to get mentioned.
7. Match Point (2005) #1380
8. Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008) #1456
9. Broadway Danny Rose (1984) #1522
10. Radio Days (1987) #1561
11. Love and Death (1975) #1679
12. Stardust Memories (1980) #1792
13. Husbands and Wives (1992) #1838
14. Deconstructing Harry (1997) #1954
15. Interiors (1978) #2135
16. Bananas (1971) #2196
17. Sweet and Lowdown (1999) #2230

Woody has made so many films (he's directed 47) that he has an equal share of misses as well as hits. One thing is certain, the top three films listed here are among the best romantic comedies of all time. For me they flipped the order, however - I think Hannah and Her Sisters is his best screenplay and film overall, a compex story that weaves the lives of four related families together. Annie Hall is also brilliant, albeit much simpler, it's kind of like one-third of Hannah, minus the comedic genius of Dianne Wiest, who won Oscars for Hannah and Bullets Over Broadway, which oddly wasn't ranked on any polls or it would have made this list. They also missed the boat on Alice (1990), check it out, it's a magical love story, with the magic coming from a Chinese herbalist.



My favorite Woody's
1. Hannah and Her Sisters
2. Annie Hall
3. Manhattan
4. Alice (1990) - one herb makes you invisible, another makes someone fall in love with you
5. The Purple Rose of Cairo
6. Match Point
7. Radio Days
8. Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008)
9. Bullets Over Broadway
10. Interiors

..and had he directed Play It Again, Sam (Herbert Ross did) rather than just writing it, that would be about 6-7 on this list.  When his fantasy Bogart character tells him "Say something nice about her eyes" while he's wooing Diane Keaton, he turns to her and says "You have the most.... eyes I've ever seen" (Play It Again, Sam) One morning she's reading the newspaper and says to Woody, "Look, there was another rape in Berkeley last night", he exclaims "I was NOWHERE near the East Bay last night!"

See the full list of top ranked 100 directors here: Top Ranked 100 Directors, 2011 Edition