The Woody Allen Pages Podcast

To Rome With Love is the 42nd film written and directed by Woody Allen, first released in 2012.

It’s an anthology film of four farcical, romantic stories. They include stories of a man who can sing opera but only in a shower, a man mentoring a younger man on love, a newly married couple getting lost in Rome and a man who finds himself suddenly famous.

Made and released at a high point in Allen’s career, it stars Elliot Page, Jesse Eisenberg, Alec Baldwin, Penelope Cruz, Greta Gerwig, Roberto Benigni, Judy Davis and for the first time in 5 films, Woody Allen himself. It continues Allen’s fascination with Europe, having filmed in London, Paris and Barcelona in the last decade.

Welcome to the Woody Allen Pages Podcast. Thai week we look at 2012’s To Rome With Love. How it was conceived, how it was made, and how it really makes me want to travel. Spoilers are everywhere so watch the films and then come back.

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Take The Money And Run is the first film written and directed by Woody Allen, first released in 1969.

Woody Allen stars as Virgil Starkwell, a bank robber and petty criminal. Told as a mockumentary, we learn about his childhood, his first crimes, his arrests, his getaway, and his eventual fate. What it really is though, is a chance for Woody Allen to create sketch after sketch of absurdist humour.

Take The Money And Run is a highly regarded comedy – the first of a run of purely comedic films Allen would make (or, as Allen coined them, the ‘early, funny ones’) before heading into more interesting ground.

Welcome to the Woody Allen Pages Podcast. This week we look at 1969’s Take The Money And Run. How it was conceived, how it was made, and how, after all these years, its still quite funny. Spoilers are everywhere, so watch the film and come back.

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Anything Else is the 33rd film written and directed by Woody Allen, first released in 2003.

Jason Biggs stars as Jerry Falk, a young comedy writer in New York, who has to sort out his life. He’s in a relationship with Cristina Ricci’s Amanda that’s going off the rails and a terrible manager played by Danny DeVito. But a friendship with an older writer, Woody Allen’s David Dobel, could provide a way out, but he’s also a psychopath.

Anything Else was Allen giving people what they thought they wanted from him – a sprawling romantic comedy with some deeper meaning. But it was a box office flop, and that failure overshadows how this film was Allen’s most deeply personal in over a decade.

Welcome to the Woody Allen Pages podcast. This week, we look at 2003’s Anything Else. How it was conceived, how it just wasn’t what people wanted. Spoilers are everywhere – so watch the film and then come back.

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Manhattan Murder Mystery is the 22nd film written and directed by Woody Allen, first released in 1993.

Woody Allen and Diane Keaton stars as Larry and Carol Lipton, a couple that live in a New York apartment building, across from an elderly couple. One night, one of the elderly neighbours die from a heart attack. Nothing seems strange, but Carol begins to suspect something – and she can’t let it go despite the doubt from her friends and husband.

After a period of drama – both on screen and off – Allen returns to something that is brightly comedic with Manhattan Murder Mystery. It’s a much needed breath of fresh air, compared to his previous film, Husbands And Wives. And in a crowd pleasing move, it reunited Allen with Diane Keaton.

Welcome to the Woody Allen Pages podcast. This week, we look at 1993’s Manhattan Murder Mystery. How it was conceived, how it was made, and how it was a bit of a laugh. Spoilers are everywhere – so watch the film and then come back.

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The Woody Allen Pages podcast season 3 continues. It was split in two, and we have five more films and a special episode on the way in the next six weeks.

To listen, just look up Woody Allen Pages in your favourite podcast app. Or links are below.

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Wonder Wheel is the 47th film written and directed by Woody Allen.

The film stars Kate Winslet as Ginny, a former small time actress who has ended up a waitress at the faded Coney Island in the 50s. An affair with the local lifeguard Mickey (Justin Timberlake) can’t make her happy either, especially when her husband’s estranged daughter Carolina (Juno Temple) turns up.

This is a tight, taut and claustrophobic drama about flawed people. It unfolds like a play anchored by an incredible performance from Kate Winslet, who sits in a beautiful backdrop of a recreated Coney Island from another time.

Welcome to the Woody Allen Pages podcast. This week we look at 2017’s Wonder Wheel. How it was conceived, how it was made and how it’s really, really bleak. Spoilers are everywhere, so watch the film then come back.

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Zelig is the 11th film written and directed by Woody Allen, first released in 1983.

Woody Allen stars as Leonard Zelig – the human chameleon. The film is presented as a documentary on his life in the 20s and 30s. This strange man who could take on the characteristics of the people around him. He is studied as a scientific curiosity, and forms close ties with one of his doctors, Dr Eudora Fletcher, played by Mia Farrow.

Zelig is not one of Allen’s most recognised films, and perhaps it’s the strange title, and the air of modesty that surrounds it. It’s certainly a far cry from his witty, neurotic, modern New York comedies. But it is emotionally touching, very funny, sometimes too clever and a spectacular special effects ride to boot. For someone else, this is a career defining film.

Welcome to the Woody Allen Pages Podcast. This week we looks at 1983’s Zelig. How it was conceived, how it was made, and how it took a long time. Spoilers are everywhere so watch the film and then come back.

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Interiors is the 7th film written and directed by Woody Allen, first released in 1978.

Diane Keaton, Mary Beth Hurt and Kristin Griffith play three sisters who barely get along. Their parents (father Arthur played by E.G. Marshall and mother Eve, played by Geraldine Page) have recently separated, leaving the daughters to deal with their family, their partners, their ambitions and their lives.

Interiors is Woody Allen’s first serious work – a quiet drama about a family. It’s not only his first dramatic film – it’s his first dramatic ANYTHING. Years of stand up, playwriting, acting and writing comic short stories was put aside for 100 minutes. Not in a bad way- but there is nothing funny about ‘Interiors‘.

Welcome to the Woody Allen Pages podcast. This week we look at 1978’s Interiors. How it was conceived, how it was made, and how it’s so unlike any of Allen’s other work. Spoilers are everywhere so watch the film and then come back.

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Whatever Works is the 39th film written and directed by Woody Allen.

‘Whatever Works‘ sees Allen return to the US for the first time in many years. It was made amidst the writer’s 07/08 strike, when Allen was unable to make a new script, so he used one he had previously discarded, originally written for Zero Mostel.

Larry David stars as Boris Yelnikoff, as big a curmudgeon as you are likely to meet in cinema. The grumpy old man has his views challenged when he meets Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood) and forms an unlikely relationship.

Welcome to the Woody Allen Pages Podcast. This week we look at 2009’s Whatever Works. How it was conceived, how it was made and how it was a victim of circumstance. Spoilers are everywhere – so watch the film and then come back.

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Deconstructing Harry is the 27th film written and directed by Woody Allen, first released in 1997.

Woody Allen stars as Harry Block, a cantankerous writer who is accused by the people in his life of using them in his work. Those in his life, many of them women, are also portrayed as their fiction selves. Together they form one of the biggest casts Allen has ever assembled. When Harry is honoured at his old school, he goes on a strange journey with his kidnapped son and a prostitute.

This is one of Allen’s harshest films. There’s prostitution, kidnapping, infidelity, nudity and more explicitness. There’s even the casual use of the “c” word. But that harsh surface obscures some pretty astute comedy, deft directing and a pretty fantastic film.

Welcome to the Woody Allen Pages podcast. This week – episode 21 – we look at 1997’s Deconstructing Harry. How it was conceived, how it was made and how it is really quite rude. Spoilers are everywhere so watch the film and then come back.

So much more at our website – Woody Allen Pages.

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