Woody Allen is best known and loved for the laugh-a-minute movies portraying him as a lovable schlemiel, but in his scrawny breast beats the heart of a serious artist -- and this five-disc set proves it by collecting five of his most ambitious films. The clear standout is Crimes and Misdemeanors, the controversial 1989 story of a married man Martin Landau whose attempts to terminate an adulterous affair end in murder. Woody balances this ...
Woody Allen is best known and loved for the laugh-a-minute movies portraying him as a lovable schlemiel, but in his scrawny breast beats the heart of a serious artist -- and this five-disc set proves it by collecting five of his most ambitious films. The clear standout is Crimes and Misdemeanors, the controversial 1989 story of a married man Martin Landau whose attempts to terminate an adulterous affair end in murder. Woody balances this sobering plotline with a more humorous one in which he courts Mia Farrow while filming a documentary about egotistical TV producer Alan Alda. Audacious and unique, Crimes remains Woody's most artistically successful attempt at combining breezy comedy with heavy drama. In September 1987, writer-director Allen uses a weekend stay in Vermont as the backdrop for the angst-ridden diatribes of a sextet that includes Farrow, Sam Waterston, and Dianne Wiest. Another Woman 1988, a finely wrought drama starring Gena Rowlands as a sheltered woman whose carefully structured life suddenly unravels, reflects the influence of Woody's favorite director, Ingmar Bergman. Mia Farrow again takes center stage in Alice 1990, portraying a pampered wife who toys with the idea of taking a lover. The supporting cast is especially strong, including William Hurt, Judy Davis, Alec Baldwin, Joe Mantegna, Cybill Shepherd, and Blythe Danner, among others. Shadows and Fog 1992 has Kafkaesque overtones but features Woody in a familiar leading role; he plays a nervous nebbish caught between rival factions in a town being terrorized by a nocturnal strangler. Kathy Bates, John Cusack, Jodie Foster, and the then-ubiquitous Farrow costar with Allen. Legions of fans revered Allen for his early, freewheeling, gag-filled comedies, but by the early '80s this talented filmmaker was determined to test artistic boundaries. This collection gathers together some of his most fascinating experiments, the results of which seem even more interesting with age.
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Editorial Reviews
Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse
Woody Allen is best known and loved for the laugh-a-minute movies portraying him as a lovable schlemiel, but in his scrawny breast beats the heart of a serious artist -- and this five-disc set proves it by collecting five of his most ambitious films. The clear standout is Crimes and Misdemeanors, the controversial 1989 story of a married man Martin Landau whose attempts to terminate an adulterous affair end in murder. Woody balances this ...