Annie Hall (1977, Woody Allen)

Steve says it doesn’t hold up anymore, and Katy was dismayed to find that Woody is a shrill & neurotic whiner and Diane Keaton isn’t much better… and on top of that, they don’t even stay together at the end of the movie! What is up with that? That’s not romantic. How then can it be #4 on the AFI’s list of all-time greatest comedies and the #125 top all-time film on the IMDB?

I’ve always loved this movie, but last time I saw “Play It Again Sam” (with the same three lead actors as this movie) I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed “Annie Hall” last night, so maybe that one’s due for another viewing. Or maybe I should stop rewatching comedies I used to like, so I can remember them as being funnier/better than they really are.

I mistook Shelley Duvall for Sissy Spacek, but they’re the same age so now I don’t feel as bad about that. Marshall McLuhan’s cameo was funny even before I knew who he was, and even now I only know who he is from reading some articles about “Videodrome”. Jeff Goldblum, who cameos at a party scene having forgotten his mantra, previously appeared in two Robert Altman films and “Death Wish”. Almost-co-star Tony Roberts is only recognizable from other Woody Allen movies. I didn’t recognize Paul Simon as a Hollywood hot-shot who flirts with Annie.

Wow, never noticed this before. Annie Hall was co-written by Marshall Brickman, who also co-wrote Manhattan, Sleeper, and Manhattan Murder Mystery, which are all my favorite Woody Allen movies. Coincidence? Can’t be. DP Gordon Willis shot eight Woody Allen movies including this one between Godfathers 2 and 3. He also shot the movie I am lately obsessed with, Pennies From Heaven.