The two-year volte-face

As recently as a scant two years ago (17 April 2016) I wrote (what today strikes me as ridiculous):

I may be in a minority, but I am more or less of a mind that Manhattan may be the only Woody Allen movie I need to return to now and again.

At about that time, I revisited Zelig (which I had also originally seen in the cinema at the time of its release) and – quite possibly unfairly, as I may discover now – considered it still not quite my thing.

Even then (2016) I really should not have said any such thing, if I honestly reflected on my earlier experience:  I had watched Stardust Memories in the cinema, too, and if perhaps it did not immediately win my heart as did Manhattan, I appreciated its look and dramatic tone.

In all events, gawd, but I was glibly dismissive of a large body of work in a state of practically complete ignorance.  Subsequent to my “minority report,” I watched Crimes and Misdemeanors, and Shadows and Fog.  The scales fell from my eyes.

The scales have fallen pretty hard, because the list of Woody Allen movies to which I happily return has grown from the one item (Manhattan) to a list of 20+.

Should I list them?  Why don’t I list them–

(In reverse chronological order)

Blue Jasmine (2013)

To Rome With Love (2012)

Midnight in Paris (2011)

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010)

Whatever Works (2009)

Vicki Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Match Point (2005)

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)

Shadows and Fog (1991)

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)

Broadway Danny Rose (1984)

A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (1982)

Stardust Memories (1980)

Manhattan (1979)

Interiors (1978)

Annie Hall (1976)

Love and Death (1975)

Sleeper (1973)

Play It Again, Sam (1972)

Bananas (1971)