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Thursday, October 23rd

A Dabbler’s Guide to Woody Allen

Scott Kirkpatrick is the frontman of Crossroads of America Records band Chemic. One of Louisville’s best up-and-comers. He’s also a movie enthusiast. Since we like good music and (mostly bad) movies, we’ve asked Scott to school us cinematic neophytes (Blake excluded). Here’s his second entry in a series about everyone’s favorite whipping boy, Woody Allen.

There are so many great films in Woody Allen’s catalogue that it’s difficult to just give you five at a time. Here are five more films that dig a little deeper into his off-beat humor, featuring a little bit more of how his brain works — and a few dramas that amp up the stakes. This does not mean, in any way, that films not yet mentioned are lesser Woody Allen films. I just haven’t gotten to them yet, but I will. Please enjoy these if you have the time. If you watch them and hate them, let me know that, too.

	1. Sleeper (1973) — This is one of Allen’s earlier movies, and it was a part of his comedic career involving plenty of slapstick but none of the high-brow elitism that turns a lot of people away from his later work. Sleeper is a movie about a health-food store owner who is cryogenically frozen and then revived in the future to help start a revolution. He narrowly escapes and accidentally enlists the company of a poet played by Diane Keaton. Most of the movie is about his bumbling adventure in the futuristic world. This is comedy at its finest — and simplest. Rating: B+

	2. Love and Death (1975) — No matter what anyone says, this is one of Allen’s greatest films. It’s basically 82 minutes of Woody’s thoughts on (you guessed it!) love and death. Word on the street is that this film is Woody’s favorite, and it’s no big surprise why. It’s the beginning of his super-heady forays into injecting films with his intellectual neurosis. Some people are turned off by this, but I think it makes the films some of the most interesting ever made.Rating: A-


	3. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)- This Oscar-winning drama is undoubtedly one of the best sibling films ever made. Period. It follows three sisters, their inner circles and the complications that arise when their lives take very different trajectories. The film has a perfect cast and showcases two of Allen’s favorite leading ladies (Mia Farrow and Dianne Wiest). It’s also, most likely, the best performance Allen ever turned in as the hypochondriac ex-husband of Carrie Fischer’s character. The film also stars the ever-classic Max Von Sydow and Barbara Hershey, giving ovation-worthy performances.Rating: A

	4. Mighty Aphrodite (1995) — I’ve sold a lot of my DVD collection over the past couple years, but I can’t seem to part with this beauty. Mighty Aphrodite features a star-turning role for Mira Sorvino as Linda Ash the “working girl” and mother of Woody Allen’s adopted child. The movie’s real magic is the way he works in the story of Oedipus and his use of the chorus from Sophocles’ classic play to comment and showcase the tragic elements of this incredibly funny and heart-warming movie. The scene where he and Helena Bonham Carter (as his ethically questionable wife) are trying to come up with a baby name is classic Woody Allen Rating: A-

	5. Match Point (2005) — This is another one of the late-career efforts featuring Scarlett Johannson, set in the gorgeous city of London. The story, however, is not so gorgeous as it takes his typically hilarious crime-solver aesthetic and explores its dark side with a chilling authenticity. I will not beat around the bush here, I did’t really enjoy this film like a lot of his others because of the Hitchcock-ian eeriness that takes center stage — but it’s an incredible film in terms of bringing Allen back to the front line of making great films. And it got him digging into his cerebellum, coming out with something that marries his wonderful, nebbish sensibilities and the characteristics of his favorite classics. Rating: B+