Lou Picetti Movies
Woody Allen's romantic comedy of the Me Decade follows the up and down relationship of two mismatched New York neurotics. Jewish comedy writer Alvy Singer (Allen) ponders the modern quest for love and his past romance with tightly-wound WASP singer Annie Hall (Diane Keaton, née Diane Hall). The twice-divorced Alvy knows that it's not easy to find a mate when the options include pretentious New York intellectuals and lifestyle-obsessed Rolling Stone writers, but la-di-dah-ing Annie seems different. Along the rocky road of their coupling, Allen/Alvy weigh in on such topics as endless therapy, movies vs. TV, the absurdity of dating rituals, anti-Semitism, drugs, and, in one of the best set pieces, repressed Midwestern WASP insanity vs. crazy Brooklyn Jewish boisterousness. Annie wants to move to Los Angeles to find that fame that finally does in the relationship -- but not before Alvy gets in a few digs at vacuous, mantra-fixated California. Originally entitled Anhedonia (the inability to enjoy oneself), Annie Hall blended the slapstick and fantasy from such earlier Allen films as Sleeper (1973) and Bananas (1971) with the more autobiographical musings of his stand-up and written comedy, using an array of such movie techniques as talking heads, splitscreens, and subtitles. Within these gleeful formal experiments and sight gags, Allen and co-writer Marshall Brickman skewered 1970s solipsism, reversing the happy marriage of opposites found in classic screwball comedies. Hailed as Allen's most mature and personal film, Annie Hall beat out Star Wars for Best Picture and also won Oscars for Allen as director and writer and for Keaton as Best Actress; audiences enthusiastically responded to Allen's take on contemporary love and turned Keaton's rumpled menswear into a fashion trend. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
- Starring:
- Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, (more)
- 1974
A meek and mild mailman decides that the only way to escape the constant nagging of his battle-ax of a wife is to turn himself into the title tree in this off-beat fantasy. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jason Robards, Jr., Sandy Dennis, (more)
- 1973
The made-for-TV The Class of 63 is set at a ten-year college reunion. Joan Hackett and Cliff Gorman play a married couple who eagerly anticipate meeting old friends at the event. But Gorman's festive spirit dissipates when Hackett's old boy friend James Brolin makes an appearance. In fact, Gorman harbors dreams of eliminating Brolin for keeps. First telecast March 14, 1973, Class of '63 was filmed on location at Princeton University and USC. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In 1973, health-food store owner Miles Monroe (Woody Allen) enters the hospital for a routine gall bladder operation. When he expires on the operating table, Miles' sister requests permission to cryogenically freeze her brother's body. After 200 years, Miles is unwrapped by a group of scientists and awakens to a "brave new world" of deadening conformity, ruled with an iron fist by a never-seen leader. Miles is forced to flee for his life when the scientists -- actually a group of revolutionary activists -- are overpowered by the leader's police. He eludes the cops by pretending to be an android, and in this guise is sent to work at the home of Luna (Diane Keaton), a composer of greeting cards who thinks that the world of the future is perfect as it stands. There's more, but why spoil your fun? Sleeper is the most visual of Woody Allen's earlier films, and demonstrated a more pronounced rapport between Allen and his off- and onscreen leading lady Diane Keaton than had previously existed. The Dixieland score is performed by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, (more)
- 1970
- PG
In this drama, a romance is sparked when two people, dissatisfied with their lives, move to San Francisco in hope of a fresh start. Ex-horror star Matthew South (Jason Robards, Jr.) encounters unhappily-married Anais Appleton (Katharine Ross) and the two fall in love. Their newfound happiness is threatened, however, when Anais' jealous husband David (Scott Appleton) sets out to find her. Songs by Kenny Rogers and The First Edition are featured in this film. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jason Robards, Jr., Katharine Ross, (more)
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