Five points about Annie Hall
Normsmilay
1. The change in personality of Annie throughout the film.
It seems like Annie changed way too much during the course of one year. (This
is also discounting her earlier change from dating the artist to dating Alvy.)
She started out as a clumsy moron and turned into a confidant lady over the
course of only about a year or so. Is this trying to indicate hor much therapy
can help you? If that is true, then I dont buy it. This girl would need years
to change for the better, at least that much.
2. What is the deal with Max calling Alvy "Max"? I mean, why would max call
alvy by the wrong name? Especially if Max is your own name! I am guessing
this could be explained one of two ways. Tony Roberts character is so
egotistical and selfish that he believes his name is a very good one. Or, the
whole name calling thing should be so absurd that it is funny. I buy the
latter theory.
3. Why did Alvy have such a horrible time with the cop? Was this to suggest
that Alvy can really be an asshole if he wants? Or was this trying to show
that Alvy can get so nervous he loses his mind. I find the latter harder to
explain simply because he rips up his liscense. No matter how nervous you are,
that is pretty moronic.
4. I believe the worst joke in the whole movie is when Alvy is talking with
his second wife during her book show. He does the joke about how commentary
and dissent had merged and they formed dissentary. That joke is too akward.
There is no way he could have ad libbed that joke, so it seems like Alvy (not
Woody) had been storing that joke for an occasion. It just comes across like
Woody (not Alvy) is trying to force the audience to life. Kinda like a joke
you might see in the trailor of a film.
5. How famous do you think the Alvy Singer charcater was compared to how
famous Woody Allen was during that same time period. I think Woody Allen would
have been a little more famous, but I dont know. I think about the 80s and
90s, and I know WA is a household name. Does that mean he didnt reach his
popularity until after Annie Hall? Alyvy has people recognize him, like Tony
Lacey and the teamsters, but would he be like Carrot Top or like Paul Reiser?
I mean, he is searching for work and is doing the college rounds. HE seems
like he might have his first big break with his play. Is this similar to Woody
Allen's position in 75?
Bonus: What is the best joke in Annie Hall?
Nutsyvol
Belzer
My Favorite Line : "You wrote your name in all of my books because you knew
this day would come."
robertandrews
>She started out as a clumsy moron and turned into a confidant lady over the
course of only about a year or so.
I don't think she was a moron to start with, & I'm not convinced she was the
picture of confidence at the end. Sometimes in film the character changes
are bit hurried, but this one is very believable.
>What is the deal with Max calling Alvy "Max"?
Maybe it's like the "old sport" bit in Gatsby (or something like that).
Also shows the pretentiousness of La La Land, while still being humorous.
>Why did Alvy have such a horrible time with the cop?
Pretty funny scene, one of my faves. I love Woody's relationship with the
automobile.
>I believe the worst joke in the whole movie is when Alvy is talking with
his second wife during her book show.
It was so bad, I forgot it.
>How famous do you think the Alvy Singer character was compared to how
famous Woody Allen was during that same time period.
Woody Allen was considerably more famous: a working actor/director with many
successful films, a big comedy star & highly respected by his peers. Annie
Hall, of course, made him incredibly famous.
Bonus: What is the best joke in Annie Hall?
It's not a joke, but I'll always remember the dead shark line. That's one
of the truest things I've ever heard about love.
Miles Long
> 4. I believe the worst joke in the whole movie is when Alvy is talking with
> his second wife during her book show. He does the joke about how commentary
> and dissent had merged and they formed dissentary. That joke is too akward.
> There is no way he could have ad libbed that joke, so it seems like Alvy (not
> Woody) had been storing that joke for an occasion. It just comes across like
> Woody (not Alvy) is trying to force the audience to life. Kinda like a joke
> you might see in the trailor of a film.
My favorite line in the movie!
eidolon
Normsmilay <norms...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000716044344...@ng-cr1.aol.com...
> *please start some discussion*
>
> 1. The change in personality of Annie throughout the film.
> It seems like Annie changed way too much during the course of one year.
(This
> is also discounting her earlier change from dating the artist to dating
Alvy.)
the
therapy
> can help you? If that is true, then I dont buy it. This girl would need
years
> to change for the better, at least that much.
>
depends on who
you go to...you call your pyshtrist, ronnie??
P N Werner
> Bonus: What is the best joke in Annie Hall?
First old woman: "The food's so terrible here."
Second old woman: "Yeah, and such small portions."
(at the very end of the film)
[close second: Woody's face when he's being driven home by Christopher
Walken who has just told him about his compulsive urge to drive into the
headlights of oncoming cars]
--
Pierre Werner, Bristol, UK
http://go.to/pnwerner
BrYan Westbrook
>2. What is the deal with Max calling Alvy "Max"? I mean, why would max call
>alvy by the wrong name? Especially if Max is your own name! I am guessing
>this could be explained one of two ways. Tony Roberts character is so
>egotistical and selfish that he believes his name is a very good one. Or, the
>whole name calling thing should be so absurd that it is funny. I buy the
>latter theory.
I knew a guy in college (an insufferable jerk, BTW) who called
everybody "Chuck" (even some of the women) except for his roommate.
He called his roommate "Lou", and that wasn't his name either.
I never did find out why. It was just something he did.
---------------------------
http://www.geocities.com/~madcap/
---------------------------
Mort Middleman
<west...@ev1.net> wrote:
>On 16 Jul 2000 08:43:44 GMT, norms...@aol.com (Normsmilay) wrote:
>
>>2. What is the deal with Max calling Alvy "Max"? I mean, why would max call
>>alvy by the wrong name? Especially if Max is your own name! I am guessing
>>this could be explained one of two ways. Tony Roberts character is so
>>egotistical and selfish that he believes his name is a very good one. Or, the
>>whole name calling thing should be so absurd that it is funny. I buy the
>>latter theory.
Tony Roberts' character's name in Annie Hall was not Max, it was Rob.
So these two guys, neither of whom were named Max, were calling each
other Max.
I have two friends from high school named Jack and Ed, who call each
other "Deem" or "Deemo". That was over 50 years ago, and they still
do it. (Both of them call me "Ment".)
Will
Mort Middleman <mor...@att.net> wrote in message
news:39748925...@netnews.att.net...
> On Tue, 18 Jul 2000 06:48:49 -0500, BrYan Westbrook
> <west...@ev1.net> wrote:
>
> >On 16 Jul 2000 08:43:44 GMT, norms...@aol.com (Normsmilay) wrote:
> >
> >>2. What is the deal with Max calling Alvy "Max"? I mean, why would max
call
> >>alvy by the wrong name? Especially if Max is your own name! I am
guessing
> >>this could be explained one of two ways. Tony Roberts character is so
> >>egotistical and selfish that he believes his name is a very good one.
Or, the
> >>whole name calling thing should be so absurd that it is funny. I buy
the
> >>latter theory.
>
> Tony Roberts' character's name in Annie Hall was not Max, it was Rob.
> So these two guys, neither of whom were named Max, were calling each
> other Max.
>
Roberts call each other Max in real life. - this adds to the whole
unavoidable autobiographical nature of Anie Hall
Martin Lau
>
> >2. What is the deal with Max calling Alvy "Max"? I mean, why would max
call
> >alvy by the wrong name? Especially if Max is your own name! I am
guessing
> >this could be explained one of two ways. Tony Roberts character is so
> >egotistical and selfish that he believes his name is a very good one.
Or, the
> >whole name calling thing should be so absurd that it is funny. I buy the
> >latter theory.
>
There's a million possible reasons for that. It doesn't really need to be
explained. Doesn't Alvy himself ask why, but never get the answer?
> I knew a guy in college (an insufferable jerk, BTW) who called
> everybody "Chuck" (even some of the women) except for his roommate.
> He called his roommate "Lou", and that wasn't his name either.
>
> I never did find out why. It was just something he did.
>
In the North of England, "chuck" is a term of affection, like "love" or
"dear", and can be applied to both men and women. "Loo" is the proper
English word for "toilet", though I hate it myself. So, assuming that either
this guy was English or had watched a lot of English TV via satellite or
cable, the explanation is that he really liked everyone except for his
roommate, whom he hated.
martin
dhmac
news:20000716044344...@ng-cr1.aol.com...
> *please start some discussion*
>
> 1. The change in personality of Annie throughout the film.
> It seems like Annie changed way too much during the course of one year. (This
> is also discounting her earlier change from dating the artist to dating Alvy.)
> She started out as a clumsy moron and turned into a confidant lady over the
> course of only about a year or so. Is this trying to indicate hor much
therapy
> can help you? If that is true, then I dont buy it. This girl would need years
> to change for the better, at least that much.
>
really think deeply about things. Being with Alvy helped increase her
confidence and his influence also helped her become more intellectual in
thought. But as she became more self-assured and self-confident, she also
became more independent until she didn't need Alvy in her life anymore.
Changes like this could happen in only a year.
eidolon
BrYan Westbrook <west...@ev1.net> wrote in message
news:u2f8ns48idgrldo8o...@4ax.com...
> On 16 Jul 2000 08:43:44 GMT, norms...@aol.com (Normsmilay) wrote:
>
> >2. What is the deal with Max calling Alvy "Max"? I mean, why would max
call
> >alvy by the wrong name? Especially if Max is your own name! I am
guessing
> >this could be explained one of two ways. Tony Roberts character is so
> >egotistical and selfish that he believes his name is a very good one.
Or, the
> >whole name calling thing should be so absurd that it is funny. I buy the
> >latter theory.
>
> I knew a guy in college (an insufferable jerk, BTW) who called
> everybody "Chuck" (even some of the women) except for his roommate.
> He called his roommate "Lou", and that wasn't his name either.
>
> I never did find out why. It was just something he did.
>
> ---------------------------
> http://www.geocities.com/~madcap/
> ---------------------------
>
>
Sadly Doltish
>Roberts call each other Max in real life. - this adds to the whole
>unavoidable autobiographical nature of Anie Hall
>
>
Although I believe that was as a result of Annie Hall.
I can't be positive.
-bDouglas
Episkopos Sadly Doltish Gna, Professor of
Eristocratic Enlightenment at the
CHIMON [Cabal for Highly Important Matters Of Nonsense]
And High Priest of His Own Madness
"Enormities and Preposterousnesses will march." -Charles Fort
Sadly Doltish
>1. The change in personality of Annie throughout the film.
>It seems like Annie changed way too much during the course of one year.
>(This
>is also discounting her earlier change from dating the artist to dating
>Alvy.)
>She started out as a clumsy moron and turned into a confidant lady over the
>course of only about a year or so. Is this trying to indicate hor much
>therapy
>can help you? If that is true, then I dont buy it. This girl would need
>years
>to change for the better, at least that much.
>
A bit nit picky if you ask me. Actually, I think it is incredibly easy to
believe, and I've seen that kind of chage (it is not as drastic as you
describe) happen plenty of times in real life to the same or a larger extent.
One thing to remember, though, is that this is Woody's movie and even in
the case that he wanted to exaggerate Annie's progression throughout the course
of the year, he can certainly do so.
I don't doubt that Woody was or is still influenced by the absurdist
playwrights and in theater ( or anywhere! ) a writer often exaggerates the
change because, simply, all that matters is that the person did go through a
change -- The point has come accross.
But as I said, I don't think Annie's character demonstrates an example of
this type of exaggeration.
>2. What is the deal with Max calling Alvy "Max"? I mean, why would max call
>alvy by the wrong name? Especially if Max is your own name! I am guessing
>this could be explained one of two ways. Tony Roberts character is so
>egotistical and selfish that he believes his name is a very good one. Or,
>the
>whole name calling thing should be so absurd that it is funny. I buy the
>latter theory.
>
I don't think this is something that should be analyzed. If I were to start
picking this apart, I could only imaging Woody Allen smacking his forehead.
>3. Why did Alvy have such a horrible time with the cop? Was this to suggest
>that Alvy can really be an asshole if he wants? Or was this trying to show
>that Alvy can get so nervous he loses his mind. I find the latter harder to
>explain simply because he rips up his liscense. No matter how nervous you
>are,
>that is pretty moronic.
>
I'm not sure what your purpose is in picking out these insignificant pieces and
trying to figure out their significance.
Alvy was nervous, so he tore up his liscence. Don't believe it's
possible? Well Alvy Singer did it, believe it or not.
A pretty good line if you ask me...
A lot of times I think you can tell that his gags were on hold for a good
moment. It's a joke. Alvy is a Standup Comic in the movie. All standup comics
reserve jokes for the right moment.
Since Woody Allen's jokes are usually conceptual humor, wit, sarcasm,
satire, they often come accross this way, unnaturally in some way. But at
least consider the Marx Bros. movies before you criticize Allen's delivery.
They are built around what I think you are describing, and for me, it is one
of the many elements that makes up a great Woody Allen film.
>5. How famous do you think the Alvy Singer charcater was compared to how
>famous Woody Allen was during that same time period. I think Woody Allen
>would
>have been a little more famous, but I dont know. I think about the 80s and
>90s, and I know WA is a household name. Does that mean he didnt reach his
>popularity until after Annie Hall? Alyvy has people recognize him, like Tony
>Lacey and the teamsters, but would he be like Carrot Top or like Paul Reiser?
>
>I mean, he is searching for work and is doing the college rounds. HE seems
>like he might have his first big break with his play. Is this similar to
>Woody
>Allen's position in 75?
>
I think this one was answered....
>Bonus: What is the best joke in Annie Hall?
>
Would I get extra credit if I answered this?