Woody Allen

Taschen Movie Icons

by Glenn Hopp, Kobal Collection (Photographer), Paul Duncan (Editor)

Woody Allen began his career writing jokes and scripts, then progressed to stand-up and acting, and finally wrote and directed his first film, Take the Money and Run, in 1969. This was a screwball comedy that starred Allen as a hapless and self-demeaning schlemiel who bumbles his way through preposterous and hilarious situations. His first serious recognition as a filmmaker came with the Oscar he was awarded for Annie Hall in 1977. Allen progressed from joke comedy to psychological comedy with films like Manhattan, Stardust Memories, and Hannah and Her Sisters. Allens work has also come to reveal the poignant emotional mix of tragicomedy in the charm and fantasy of The Purple Rose of Cairo, the nostalgia of Radio Days, the multiple plots of Crimes and Misdemeanors, and the bittersweet tone of Alice. Movie Icons is a series of photo books that feature the most famous personalities in the history of cinema. These 192-page books are visual biographies of the stars.

Genres: Nonfiction, Film, Reference

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book as a Kwanzaa/Ramadan gift from my sister, who would probably sooner schedule pointless elective surgery (i.e., have her earlobes removed and replaced with identitical polystyrene replicas?) than watch a Woody Allen film -- although wait a minute. She did in fact see (and halfway enjoy) Match Point, but that doesn't really count because in her selective classification system it was a Scarlett Johansson film, not a Woody Allen film. And to be fair, in many respects, Match Point wasn't a real Woody Allen film at all, even with its apparent thematic similarities to the far superior Crimes and Misdemeanors and its obligatory depiction of a certain endangered cultural species: the urbane, well-heeled, high-brow intellectual who sups at Elaine's (or, in this case, the London equivalent) and both reads and mocks (as is fitting) The New York Review of Books.

First of all, the over-the-title star of most Woody Allen films after Love and Death -- the Mythical Allenesque Manhattan -- was sadly absent in Match Point in a seemingly strategic bid to reinvent the Woody Allen Film®, which by most counts is beyond repair. (I still insist that Allen hasn't made a Woody Allen Film® since Deconstructing Harry, a dozen years ago.) Allen has joked many times, here, there, and everywhere, that -- like a wild animal adapted to one specific climate -- he would simply shrivel up and die if relocated to a new habitat. And the old habitat he is clinging to here isn't New York City; it isn't even Manhattan; it's, more particularly, one of the wealthiest zip codes in the United States, the Upper East Side. This same regionalism apparently applies to his films. Yeah, sure, I know there are advocates of Match Point and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, but there's something about them that rubs me the wrong way. They're too theoretical and artificial. It's as if -- in the case of Vicky Cristina Barcelona, for instance -- Allen studied his options carefully ahead of time and turned to Soon Yi one day and said, 'I'm going to make a Pedro Almodovar film now.' Not a straight-up Almodovar film, mind you, but an Almodovar film filtered through the prism of Allen's cultural elite, a subset so specific and 'real' that it probably rivals J.D. Salinger's. (You could probably even argue Broadway Danny Rose is informed by a down-one's-nose glance at the social milieu of that film. But I won't.)

Anyway. What was I saying? Oh yeah. I got this book from my sister, and it's pretty worthless. It's just a couple of film stills from each of his films paired with short quotes (usually quips) from Allen (some of which are already very familiar to Allen fans). What's the point really? I could try it out as a coffee table book, but (1) I don't like books on my coffee table, (2) it's too small to be a coffee table book, and (3) the cover is kind of cheap-looking. In short, this is far from the best that Taschen has to offer.

There. I've reviewed the book. Now that I've taken care of that, I'm gonna list my favorite Woody Allen films (in order of preference) because that's the real reason this review exists.

1. Manhattan
2. Manhattan Murder Mystery*
3. Annie Hall
4. Crimes and Misdemeanors
5. Hannah and Her Sisters
6. Husbands and Wives
7. Love and Death
8. Interiors
9. Sleeper
10. Broadway Danny Rose
11. Deconstructing Harry
12. Mighty Aphrodite
13. Stardust Memories
14. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
15. Bullets Over Broadway
16. Zelig
17. Another Woman
18. The Purple Rose of Cairo
19. Match Point
20. Alice

* I take a lot of flak for placing MMM so high on the list, but these are my favorites -- emphasis on my -- so bite me. (Hear that, Reynolds?) Interestingly enough, there is a quote from Allen in this book in which he claims MMM is one of his best films (and one of the most fun to make)... not that his self-evaluations are usually very trustworthy.

[Brian J · Rating 3 out of 5]

An index of Allen films from What’s New Pussycat to Vicky Christina Barcelona, with stills, quotes, synopses, and trivia for each film. Nothing new or particularly interesting for fans.

[Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more or less a coffee table/photography book that gives a visual biography of Woody's career. It's mostly captions and quotes from Woody, some of which are very enlightening. At $10 this book is an absolute steal of a deal!

[Stella Begonias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hey, it's Woody Allen stills from movies galore throughout his career. fun stuff. classic.

[Georgina Koutrouditsou · Rating 5 out of 5]

υπέροχη έκδοση;-))

[Denise Luna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sólo son sinopsis pero lleno de fotografías. Llega hasta "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"(2008).