EVERY WOODY ALLEN MOVIE - BLOGGING BANANAS

Do you know what? There are times when you can't help but fall in love with a website. Mainly due to 'it' an 'you' sharing a common ground. Ideally it would be for the best if the website in question was pornographic in nature, and had some sort of stimulating incentive. Or else it could be about a Jewish comedian who wears glasses and makes very diverse movies. Hey! My mate Trevor knows what I'm talking about. If fact that's what we were discussing just the other day, whilst in a brothel situated in a synagogue.


The Woody Allen Collection


1) What set of circumstances led you to develop everywoodyallenmovie.com Trevor?   I have a pervasive need to tell people my opinions on things. Since I don't have many friends, and those who do are tired of hearing me talk about things they don't care about, I decided to just start dumping my thoughts onto the Internet.

I toyed with a number of different ideas, considering just a general movie review site, but came up with the idea of watching and discussing all of Woody Allen's movies in order after I read an interesting article in Slate titled "I've Seen Every Woody Allen Movie: Here's what I've learned".

I'm obviously a big fan of Woody's, and, unlike directors such as Stanley Kubrick or Martin Scorsese, whose work often feels like it's going over my head, I feel like I "get" his movies, and think, in a general sense, that I understand what's going on. I figured the format would let me rant about movies I love, and talk about some more obscure movies no one's ever really discussed much.

2) If your site was an object or a piece of music, what would it be and why?   If my site was an object, it would be a funny-looking tree in an alley somewhere: every once in a while, someone who's really into trees would stumble across it and go "huh, that's kinda cool," but most people never see it, and wouldn't care if they did. If it was a piece of music, it would probably be a Rush song, because it bores most people to tears and goes on forever.

3) As best you can, please name your top five Woody Allen movies, and why?  Off the top of my head, right now, I'd say Annie Hall (1977), Manhattan (1979), Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Hannah and her Sisters (1986), and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), five bold, funny, visually stunning films. That said, I've watched all those movies so many times, I feel 'done' with them, to a certain degree. If I was going to watch a Woody Allen movie tonight, I'd probably pick the messy, hilarious Stardust Memories (1980) or the incredibly entertaining Broadway Danny Rose (1984).

4) What is your least favorite Woody Allen Movie?   Of all the films Woody Allen has directed, The Curse of The Jade Scorpion (2001) and Hollywood Ending (2002) are the two I enjoyed the least. I don't think I laughed a single time during either of them, and both they showcased a depressing lack of effort. At his worst, Allen's movies can feel like filmed table-reads of unfinished scripts.

5) Has your site had any recognition in the press or by Woody himself?   If the Academy Awards can't get Woody's attention, I doubt I will. If Allen did somehow stumble across it, maybe after one of his grandkids sends him a link or something, he probably wouldn't spend ten seconds on it. If he was in a good mood maybe he'd think it was kind of cute, but it's more likely that he'd find it quite pathetic. He might even call Soon-Yi in and say something like, "look at this loser!" As for the press, I was once cited as a reference by The Guardian, which was probably unwise on their part, given my tendency to misquote people and mis-remember facts.

6) Do you have any unusual stories you can tell us about your site?   The best stories I have come courtesy of the bizarre messages I get via the contact page. Every week or two, someone (usually someone with very bad English, but not always) confuses my site with Woody Allen's official site and sends me their acting resume and/or a request for an autographed photo. One time, someone even thought I myself was Woody Allen, writing about my own movies.

7) How was you first introduced to Woody’s work, and did you take to it straight away?   My parents were fans, and I remember watching Annie Hall with my mother when I was too young for that to be appropriate. For a long time, I don't think about his movies too much, but then in the '00s I remember seeing movies like Anything Else, Melinda and Melinda, and Match Point, and even though they've never been particularly well-regarded, something about them made them stand out from the other films coming out around the same time. It was enough to make me go back and watch movies like Crimes and Misdemeanors and Hannah and her Sisters and renew my superfan status.

8) If you had the opportunity to speak to Woody one to one, what would you say to him, and what would you hope his response would be?   I feel like I've read so many interviews with Woody, there's not much about his movies left for me to ask him. Allen has demonstrated very questionable taste when it comes to his own movies - he claims that Hollywood Ending is one of his best pictures, and was so ashamed of Manhattan that he tried to block its release - so the stubborn part of me would probably want to try to convince him of how wrong he is. Other than that, I'd probably just want to hang out and pretend to be friends with him.

9) Now not to sound too facetious or pedantic in any way shape or form, but as a Woody Alan fan myself, I find that I am a lot like him in certain ways. Are you too Trev? And if so, how?   I think we share a pessimistic outlook on life as well as the tendency to be melodramatic. Woody and I are also both judgemental, self-pitying, and self-involved. We also have the same glasses.

10) What was your favourite Woody Allen era, and why?   After he finished his early, funny movies but before he started focusing on gravely serious chamber dramas, a period encompassing approximately 1977 to 1985, Allen made a series of ambitious, meticulously crafted, boldly original movies bursting with wit, intellect and insight. It's a string of unbridled artistry unmatched in American cinema.

Thanks for that Trevor old buddy old pal, that was a hoot and a half. So there you have it folks, everywoodyallenmovie.com, its one hell of a site if you like Mr Allan Stewart Konigsberg (that's Woody's real name by the way). Go on, give it a click or two when you have the time. But remember to come back here and check out my Woody section too (click here). It's only fair. Right Woody?