The man has made a movie every year since 1992. 1991 was the last year which did not see a feature film directed by Woody Allen hit the big screen. Before that it was 1981. Since 1977's Annie Hall, there have only been two years without an Allen film.
Say what you will about his films, he's been busy and just keeps trucking at a breakneck pace despite the fact that his best known movies came out before 1985.
Even so, he has branched off away from his trademark neurotic humour (except flicks like Scoop and Small Time Crooks where he remains in the cast). Instead he has taken on thrillers (Cassandra's Dream, Match Point), dramedy (Melinda & Melinda) and even absurdist mock-umentary (my favourite Allen film, Sweet and Lowdown).
Nothing seems to phase him. He writes and writes and puts it to celluloid, he's mass production on the indie scale! Not all of it is quality but it's all original, he's the closest thing going to a filmic novelist.
The sad part is that his films are always in limited release. Vicky Cristina Barcelona will be available on DVD down the road but I won't have the choice to see it in theatres before then. New York, Los Angeles...no doubt, but certainly not New Brunswick.
Maybe theatre bosses don't expect his films to make money, that would make sense especially in a small market like Fredericton.
In fact last weekend Vicky Cristina Barcelona was only playing on 692 total screens. Somehow it made more money in receipts than The Rocker with Rainn Wilson - and that did come to Fredericton. Where's your messiah now?!
Woody Allen is not a perfect filmmaker, I bet he'd even admit that. His films, however offer something off the beaten path more often than not. Independent cinema is also not perfect, but everyone should have the opportunity to see these films with the same amount of ease as it takes to see Disaster Movie or any number of lame soulless films that grace our cinemas on a weekly basis.
I may be an elitist, but damn it, I wouldn't want it any other way.
Top five Woody Allen movies (keep in mind I haven't seen a lot of them...not even Annie Hall):
1. Sweet and Lowdown
2. Hannah and Her Sisters
3. Bullets Over Broadway
4. Match Point
5. Manhattan
