what is woody's funniest movie - Sleeper (1973) Discussion

[–] 21 years ago

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[–] bobandweave_57 21 years ago

I agree, the Gene Wilder sketch is one of the funniest bits ever in any movie.

My all around fav of Woody Allen's is The Purple Rose of Cairo. Great stuff.

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[–] corrupt200 21 years ago

I'll go by decade: 1960s to present

1960s: What's Up Tiger Lily? (though it's just a japanese film dubbed with funny dialogue)

1970s: Sleeper

1980s: Crimes and Misdemeanors

1990s: Manhattan Murder Mystery (or maybe Mighty Aphrodite)

2000s: Hollywood Ending

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[–] AKonigsberg 19 years ago

Woody's FUNNIEST by decade:

60s: Take the Money and Run
70s: Annie Hall
80s: Radio Days
90s: Bullets Over Broadway
00s: Small Time Crooks

(...was very close between Annie Hall and Love & Death.)

Woody's BEST by decade:

60s: Take the Money and Run
70s: Annie Hall
80s: Stardust Memories
90s: Bullets over Broadway
00s: Match Point

Woody's WORST by decade:

60s: What's Up Tiger Lilly?
Awkward, ambitious, strange, inaccessible.

70s: Sleeper
Woody's run in the 70s was incredible in that NONE of these films were bad AT ALL. However, it came down to Interiors and Sleeper and I recall enjoying Sleeper a bit less.

80s: Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
Woody actually wrote and began production of this film as a way to pass time during many the snags and delays with the completion of Zelig, which is of course his technical masterpiece. But MNSC suffered greatly for it. I wonder if he even wrote more than one draft. It's hard to watch.

90s: Celebrity
This is like Stardust Memories run through the deflavorizing machine, left without the laughs and without the feeling and without Woody himself. Plus, I hate Leo Decaprio. (Who doesn't?) Oh well; at least Woody never cast Tom freaking Cruise.

00s: The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
I need to watch Melinda & Melinda again though, as I may ultimately determine it to be worse. However, I have given Scorpion three or four chances, and it has consistently failed the test. Helen Hunt may be the most overrated actress ever. Horrible.

If anyone wants to reply to the WORST BY DECADE list, I think i'm going to start a new thread with it on the ANNIE HALL board.

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[–] leopoldstotch911 18 years ago

I like this format a lot.

Woody's FUNNIEST by decade:
60s-Take the Money and Run
70s-Bananas
80s-Radio Days
90s-Deconstructing Harry
00s-Melinda and Melinda

Woody's BEST by decade:
60s-Take the Money and run
70s-Annie Hall
80s-Stardust Memories
90s-Deconstructing Harry
00s-Anything Else

Woody's WORST by decade:
60s-Whats up Tiger Lily
70s-Love and Death
80s-Another Woman
90s-Manhattan Murder Mystery
00s-Hollywood Ending

although it should be noted I enjoyed all his films

Everyone I implore you to check this film out http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015532/

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[–] jeffreydahmer_8 16 years ago

it probably has to be sleeper or annie hall simply because i admire his neurosis in both films it is something i can relate to

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[–] clockworkpurple 21 years ago

Sleeper all the way.

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[–] brower8 21 years ago

I agree 100%.

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[–] Hankster06 21 years ago

Sleeper is the best.

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[–] twitch1021 19 years ago

for me its a tie between Sleeper and Love & Death

twitchproductions.tripod.com

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[–] mcerion 21 years ago

I love and in no particular order:

Sleeper
Broadway Danny Rose
Deconstructing Harry
Annie Hall
Stardust Memories
Love and Death
Take the Money and Run

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[–] coolmatth 21 years ago

I'd say Annie Hall by far

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[–] iammadeofcheese 21 years ago

"comedies"

1Annie Hall (1977)
2Love and Death (1975)
3Bananas (1971)
4Sleeper (1973)
5Take the Money and Run (1969)

"dramas"

1Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
2Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
3Manhattan (1979)
4Husbands and Wives (1992)
5Interiors (1978)

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[–] ecarle 21 years ago

Love and Death.

It's got the best lines, great visual gags (like "Sleeper") and is very polished, unlike the more crude (but still funny) "Take the Money and Run," "Bananas" and "Everything About Sex."

"Love and Death" is really the last "pure funny Woody." "Annie Hall" came next, with enough drama to win Best Picture -- and Woody never really went back to "pure funny" again.

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[–] phil-loughborough 21 years ago

don't you think some of his recent pastiches could be called pure funnies?

You see, in the end, our truest opinions are not the ones we have never changed...

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[–] Shirtless_Sawyer 20 years ago

I completely agree. Love and Death is Woody Allen's masterpiece.

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[–] 20 years ago

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[–] rsbarros2 20 years ago

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Play it Again, Sam. I don't think it's necessarily his funniest, but I think it ranks with most of these others, and I'd take it over Bananas or Everything you Ever Wanted to Know About Sex. The scene where his first date shows up and he throws the record and knocks the chair over is one of the funniest I've ever seen.

Speaking of that, perhaps THE funniest scene I have ever seen in ANY movie, is the one in Sleeper where he battles the instant pudding with a broom. Holy crap, 25 years after I first saw it as a child, it still kills me to see him in the backgound, while Diane Keaton greets guests, sparring with that blob. The scenes with the "orb" and when he is disoriented in the electric wheelchair are also pretty darned funny.

Sleeper may or may not be my pick for his funniest movie (I'm not sure really), but that pudding scene competes for funniest ever with the "death" scene in Meaning of Life. "You Americans, all you do is talk, and talk, and say 'let me tell you something' and 'I just wanna say.' Well, you're dead now, so shut up!" Then they all drive their cars into the void. Very funny.

This is all very subjective, of course.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I love the rain - it washes memories off the sidewalk of life."

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[–] scorp_gal_03 20 years ago

I LOVE "Play It Again, Sam." Woody didn't direct it though. It may be the film with the best chemistry between Woody and Diane.

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[–] cyninbend-149-610489 9 years ago

I did. And agree completely! Loved it immensely, just a hair less than Sleepers and Annie Hall. A hair more than Love And Death. :) Love Woody!

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[–] itsnotginger 20 years ago

Funniest? Love and Death. Or Bananas. Sleeper is an honourable third.

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[–] rolo90lopez1 20 years ago

I think his funniest movie was Love and Death. In terms of 'funniness' and extreme ridicule (the part when he's dancing with death is just....) and provides some good symbolisms (when there are commandants seeing the battle from above, and they see a lot of sheep runing around).

Now, his most dramatic movie is Manhattan. it has a WOW cinematography and a WOW-er ending (everytime the screen goes black, and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue goes full sound a chill goes up my bones, does anybody agree with me by the way?) and one of the most touching movies he's ever made. Period.

But my favorite... is Zelig. I don't know of the others in here... but i identified deeply with Zelig, the poor chameleon man who just wanted a personality. To fit in. The ending also gets a chill up my bones (All he wanted to do was finish reading Moby Dick).

and who could forget, his best 'all-around' movie, Annie Hall?

I knwo he has lotsa and losta classics (hannah and her sisters, crimes and misdemeanors, interiors, stardust memories, etc), but those are my favs.

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[–] tiberijegrozni 20 years ago

You are right Zelig is the best.

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[–] Kensith 20 years ago

This is a tough one as he has made so many great films he's my favorites

Funniest Films
Play it Again Sam
Love and Death
Manhattan Murder Mystery
Sleeper
Bananas

Best Films
Annie Hall
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Manhattan
Hannah and her Sisters
Broadway Danny Rose

there that wasn't so tough

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[–] rhinestone_sunglasses 20 years ago

sleeper is definitely the funniest.

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[–] TheBrothersCarruthers 20 years ago

This might be the hardest question in the world!
However, with a gun at my temple, I'd say:
1. Sleeper.
2. Husbands And Wives.
3. Love And Death.
4. Bananas.
5. Deconstructing Harry.
But, it's a hairline decision between all of them. Ask me again another day and I'll probably give you "Sleeper" and four different films. By the way, I like "Annie Hall" a lot - it's funny, profound and is quite stylistically daring - but, compared to his other films, it isn't one of my favourites at all(?).

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