Familiar Faces: The Woody Allen Hierarchy.

Woody Allen's newest feature You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger opens today in movie theaters. It's currently confusing me with its Curse of The Jade Scorpion or The Purple Rose of Cairo -like silhouette poster. With this move the marketing department has made me recall both the worst and the best from Woody Allen's filmography simultaneously. It's very schizo... maybe this means the new feature will be right smack dab in the middle, neither essential nor embarrassing?

American Poster (left), a European treatment (right)

Why couldn't they have gone with the European poster treatment? European posters are always better. It's a law of Hollywood's nature.

To celebrate its release -- I haven't had time to see it yet -- I wanted to revamp an old list I started years ago. When Vicky Cristina Barcelona was cast in 2007, numerous media outlets were making ridiculously inaccurate claims about Scarlett Johansson being Woody's third most consistent muse (talk about A list tunnel vision!). Those inaccuracies of reporting died down as soon as Scarlett missed a movie. But this list I found interesting in the creation nonetheless and I hope you will in the reading. I've attempted a comprehensive list of collaborations but there are bound to be a few mistakes -- particularly in the area of tiny character actor roles so do note any omissions should you spot them in the comments.

For this ranking, I'm counting only the feature films he directed (plus his third of New York Stories and his one telefilm Don't Drink the Water). The actors, male and female, who've logged the most time with the prolific writer/director are...

Woody Players ... Quantitatively Speaking

01 26 Times. Woody Allen himself. Well you do have to direct yourself if you're also acting. It's 27 if you count a film he didn't direct but wrote & starred in: Play it Again, Sam.

02 13 Times. Mia Farrow is the queen. Remarkably and horrifically, despite the plentiful acting nominations earned by Woody Allen films, she's still never been nominated for an Oscar.

Keaton in Sleeper, Love and Death, Annie Hall, Interiors, Manhattan,
Radio Days and Manhattan Murder Mystery

03 7 and 7.5 Times. Diane Keaton is the runner up woman. Her most famous appearance was for her Oscar win as Annie Hall but she returned to the fold rather blissfully as his wife in Manhattan Murder Mystery and proved that the two of them hadn't lost an ounce of their chemistry. One wonders why they haven't tried an eighth time... (or ninth time if you could Play it Again, Sam which Woody did not direct so we gave her a half point there). Fred Melamed, who so recently nailed his supporting role in the Coen Bros' A Serious Man as huggy Sy Ableman, probably looked familiar to you. That's because he's all over the place in the Woody filmography albeit in small roles. And finally, there's Julie Kavner. Her most memorable part was as Woody's co-worker in Hannah and Her Sisters. Yes that's "Marge Simpson" we're talking about.

04 6 Times. Maurice Sonnenberg and Peter Catellotti have roles like "Movie Theater Patron" in Anything Else or "Sound Recordist" in Celebrity. But since they're in six movies each, one assumes they're either spectacular extras or friends with Woody or the casting director.

Stiers in Jade Scorpion; Wiest in Bullets; Shawn in Radio Days

05 5 Times. Dianne Wiest Wiest won both of her very deserved Oscars for Allen pictures (Hannah and Her Sisters & Bullets Over Broadway). If you've ever wondered why actors are so obviously desperate to work with him, consider this: He's guided thespians to 15 nominations with 6 wins among them - one of the best records of all time.) The instantly recognizable Wallace Shawn has also been in a whole handful of Woody film albeit in smaller roles. You may remember him as The Masked Avenger in Radio Days. David Ogden Stiers (of TV's MASH fame) was another regular.

06 4.5 Times. Louise Lasser has appeared in 4 films but she also does voice work in his first film What's Up Tiger Lily (1966) so let's allow for that with this special designation. Same goes for Tony Roberts, who appeared most famously in Annie Hall. His count would be 5 if you allowed for Play it Again, Sam but Woody only wrote that film and didn't direct it, so we'll give him a half credit there.

[clockwise from top left: Lasser in Bananas; Roberts in Annie Hall;
Waterston in September; Judy Davis in Husbands and Wives

07 4 Films. Judy Davis nearly won an Oscar for Husbands and Wives. Sam Waterston also appears in four films. His most significant role is, if I'm remembering correctly, in September but this was notoriously not a happy film, having been reshot and delayed and not causing much of a stir when it opened despite Woody's semi-popularity at the time.

08 3 Films. Scarlett Johansson has the leading role in three of his films, winning the most mileage from their first outing, Match Point. Alan Alda has also worked three characters in the Woody gallery, most notably in Crimes and Misdemeanors. The following actors have also been in three Woodys: Danny Aiello, Philip Bosco (a familiar TV face last seen on Damages), Frances Conroy (all of her roles predate the Six Feet Under career peak), Blythe Danner (Gwynnie's mom!) Julie Halston, Annie Joe Edwards and Camille Saviola and Jack Warden.

Theron in Celebrity; Daniels in Purple Rose; Hemingway in Manhattan; Huston
in Manhattan Murder Mystery; Balaban in Deconstructing Harry; Ullman in
Small Time Crooks; Clarkson in Whatever Works

09 2 Films. I'm sure to forget someone here but well over a dozen actors have done double duty including: Bob Balaban, Ewen Bremner (yes, that's "Spud" from Trainspotting), Josh Brolin, Patricia Clarkson, Lynn Cohen, Jeff Daniels (who deserved an Oscar nomination for The Purple Rose of Cairo), Larry David, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Gregg Edelman, director Nora Ephron (only cameos), Stephanie Farrow, Rupert Frazer, Joanna Gleason, Jessica Harper, Mariel Hemingway (Oscar nominated for Manhattan), Anjelica Huston, Erica Leerhsen, Debra Messing, Gretchen Mol, Zak Orth, Michael Rapaport, Deborah Rush, Marian Seldes, Tina Sloan, Charlize Theron, Michael Tucker, Loretta Tupper and Tracey Ullman.

10 1.5 Films. Christopher Evan Welch, pictured left, Vicky Cristina Barcelona's omniscient narrator, actually appears physically in Whatever Works. (He can currently be seen as "Grant Test" on AMC's new series Rubicon.) Great speaking voice, eh?

∞ 1 Film. Everyone with a SAG card... or thereabouts. Though when you look at people who made very strong impressions in their sole appearance, you do wonder why there wasn't another film. I'm thinking of Martin Landau (Crimes and Misdemeanors - Oscar nom), Elaine May (Small Time Crooks -NSFC Best Supporting Actress) and Goldie Hawn (Everyone Says I Love You) in particular, who all seemed like natural fits in the Woody-verse. Most of the members of the You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger ensemble are newbies save for Brolin and Bremner making their second films. Midnight in Paris, which recently completed shooting, is entirely Allen virgins but for Kathy Bates who was last seen as a prostitute in his experimental black and white picture Shadows and Fog (1991).

Who do you wish he would work with again?
*

To Judy on Her 55th Birthday

Glenn from Stale Popcorn here again to discuss one of the best actresses in the world and to help celebrate her birthday. Does she not amaze?

Today is Judy Davis' birthday. You may have forgotten just how good Judy Davis can be when she really wants to be - and not fluffing about on screen in stuff like The Break-Up, but I understand the need to let go once in a while - and that, by all rights, she should be an Oscar winner, not just an Emmy/BAFTA/AFI/Golden Globe winner. She seems to have moved primarily to television since even directors like Woody Allen have ditched her for younger, hotter property. But that doesn't mean we (well, I) don't still love her!

One could say that Judy Davis has had - oh yes, I am going there - a "brilliant career". Who can forget her temperamental "Sally" in Allen's Husbands & Wives, or her temperamental "Caroline Chausser" in The Ref, or her temperamental "Joan Fraser" in Children of the Revolution or her temperamental "Sybylla Melvyn" in My Brilliant Career? I'm sensing a pattern here! What about the most temperamental of all, playing Judy Garland in Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, a performance that Anne Hathaway is going to have a helluva time beating when that cinematic biopic eventually gets off the ground.


One of my very favourite Judy performances is her turn as "Kate Dean" in Phillip Noyce's Sydney-set political thriller Heatwave. This 1982 film revolves around the wheelings and dealings of a high-powered architecture firm with Davis playing the, you guessed it, temperamental environmental activist who stands in their way. It's a ripper of a film that just drips atmosphere. If you've ever lived through a heat wave in Australia then you'll recognise much in that film. It is unfortunately not available on Netflix for Americans, but I'm sure it's out there somewhere if you want to look.

She's been nominated for ten Australian Film Institute awards (won six), two Academy Awards (Passage to India, Husbands & Wives for which she should have won!), ten Emmys (won three), three BAFTAs (won two) and six Golden Globes (won three). And that's not mentioning the SAG Award, the Independent Spirit Award and a bevy of critics prizes. How is this woman not hailed as one of the best actresses of her generation? Express your love and devotion for this woman in the comments if you so wish. What's your favourite performance? Speak up!

Marisa vs. Miranda vs. Judy ~ 1992 Smackdown

I regret to inform that I had to bow out of StinkyLulu's Supporting Actress Smackdown for 1992. I haven't participated in a long time and I had really hoped to. 1992's women offer a wealth of Oscar discussables and tropes: the wisecracking dame, the old biddy, the longsuffering spouse, the maligned winner, the nominee who maybe isn't being thanked for the performance she's nominated for but for her entire year, the Woody Allen player, Oscar's perceived anglophilia versus its perceived nationalism.

The nominees were:

• Judy Davis, Husbands and Wives
• Joan Plowright, Enchanted April
• Vanessa Redgrave, Howards End
• Miranda Richardson, Damages
  
• Marisa Tomei, My Cousin Vinny
  

My vote would have gone to Judy Davis (Husbands and Wives) and by quite a large margin. To drive the point home further, she is roughly tied with Julianne Moore (Boogie Nights) for my favorite supporting actress performance of the 1990s altogether. Unless you count Michelle's Catwoman (Batman Returns) as supporting... and I'm never sure that you should. If I had a nominating ballot back in the day, these four women would have made it.

• Helena Bonham-Carter, Howards End
• Judy Davis, Husbands and Wives
• Miranda Richardson, The Crying Game (I'm not sure what it is about this performance that I find so spooky but she really puts me on edge. 1992 was such a peak year for Richardson: This film, Damage, Enchanted April, the BAFTA & Globe win, the Oscar nom. When will she get another chance like this? She was even better in Spider (2002) but no plum parts as of late)
  
• Marisa Tomei, My Cousin Vinny [new readers take note: she talked to me about this Oscar win on the first episode of the Film Experience Podcast]

Not sure about the fifth slot. I love Alfre Woodard in Passion Fish but it's kind of a dual lead film, isn't it? Who to put in slot five... Hmmm. Any suggestions?

Now get on outta here and enjoy Stinky's Smackdown!

P.S. Oscar prediction updates coming June 1st and 2nd. Sorry for the delay
*

I Could Go On BioPic'ing

Clang! Clang! Clang! Variety is reporting that Anne Hathaway is going to become Frances Ethel Gumm (i.e. Judy Garland) in a biopic called Get Happy

When will the madness end? If the pop culture on pop culture on pop culture joke weren't overplayed already, I'd be peering out from under a bedsheet, mascara running face contorted screaming...

LEAVE JUDY ALONE!!!

Judy Garland is one of the film experience's sacred ten* and just as She Could Go On Singing, I Can Go On Bitching that she does not get the credit she deserves. Another biopic detailing her sad life probably won't do much for her legacy which should be one of enormous contribution to cinematic and musical culture rather than yet another recounting of her personal tragedies. See, they didn't call her "The World's Greatest Entertainer" for nothing. Can we please talk about that.

Judy G was the subject of a popular television biopic as recently as 2001. Tammy Blanchard played her as a young starlet. Judy Davis took over as she became a great star and netted AFI, Globe, BFCA, SAG and Emmy statues, a sizeable haul by any account, for her impersonation.

Now, it's no secret that my love for Anne Hathaway has been growing exponentially (she made me love her. I didn't wanna do it. I didn't wanna do it) these past couple of years but is she right for this? She keeps getting stronger as an actress and she can sing beautifully but, here's the catch: Would they really let anyone not lipsynch to Judy? (This isn't a Tommy Femia show! It's a movie) And if Hathaway is going to be in a musical I want to hear that showtune friendly voice of hers, damnit.


Hathaway turns 27 this year and even though I'm no great fan of biopics I must admit that it's probably the perfect age to play Garland. It's young enough to just barely get away with playing her as a teen star and it's old enough to play her at the peak of her movie powers (the Meet Me in St. Louis years of the mid 40s) followed by her quick flameout and first career ressurrection. I think modern audiences tend to think that Judy Garland's comeback in A Star is Born (1954) was the comeback of a middle aged star, regaining her luster for another iconic role (in the same category as Bette Davis in All About Eve for example). But it's not so. Garland was in fact only 32 when A Star is Born surfaced. Like the last inimitable iconic vocalist to get a biopic (Edith Piaf, who some consider the French Judy) she aged rapidly. That's what numerous addictions will do to you. (Let us pray they don't feel the need to scramble Judy's narrative)

Would Hathaway win a Marion Cotillard style Oscar doing this or is this just a bad idea all around? I suspect it's a moot question. Remember when various actresses were going to play Marlene Dietrich (Uma Thurman, Gwyneth Paltrow, etc...)? That bio also didn't have a script or a director. It was merely a dream vehicle intended to drive someone towards gold statues. It never found keys for the ignition.

Updated to add ~ Paul Outlaw is right: Hathaway actually looks more like Judy's offspring Liza Minnelli



and she's never had a biopic. It figures. I have an unhealthy relationship to biopics and she's one of the only stars I'd love to see get one. Therefore it shan't happen. My love is a curse!

*for new readers, the other nine favorite actresses in alpha order: Deneuve, Davis, Fonda, Monroe, Moore, Pfeiffer, Streep, Taylor and Wood. But here's the top 20 and here's the top 100 ...because why stop at 10? There are so many actresses worth loving?

I Dream of Celebrity

In slumberland I was at an exclusive celebrity shindig directly following a mega budget photo shoot by David LaChapelle that I had starred in (Thank you id! Be silent superego). Details are fuzzy but I saw/spoke with Jackie Beat, Judy Davis, Tahmoh Penikett, Rufus Wainwright, Terence Stamp and Marisa Tomei. One can't imagine the filofax that would contain each and all of them but it surely belongs to an oneirologist.

I shared a table with Olivia Newton-John and Cyndi Lauper who both smiled at me simultaneously. For a split second I was 10 and unimaginably happy but then I became my jaded adult self again. I tried not to mention that the dream would have been better if Madonna had been seated between them. The last thing I remember was chatting up Reese Witherspoon. I told her that her drink looked like a candy cane and she laughed. Her civilian guest glared at me, angry to see her meal ticket's attention temporarily diverted.

I didn't want to wake up.

Who is the last celebrity to make an appearance in your dreams?
(Not the daydream variety. We'd be here all day!)

"Metabolically, it's not my rhythm"

2 random 'Top 5's... just because!

I had the poster to Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives (1992) above my drawing table in my college apartment for a whole year plus. I was obsessed with the movie and it remains among my top five from Woody Allen's filmography. The public and media were too entranced by the tabloid-ready Allen/Farrow split that preceded its release to notice how damn good the movie was. My five favorites (the top four being total freaking masterpieces to put it bluntly) are...

1. Manhattan (1979)
2. The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
3. Annie Hall (1977) sometimes this is #4
   
4. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) sometimes this is #3
   
5. Husbands and Wives (1992)
   

Even as the film was mostly ignored in favor of the scandals (it says a lot about Farrow and Allen's trouper professionalism after 13 films together that they made it through this one despite their nuclear meltdown offscreen) the towering performance of Judy Davis was impossible to shove aside in quite the same way. Though she eventually lost the Oscar many thought she would win, her turn remains one of the very best of the 1990s. This was revelatory work. Her "Sally" was alternately proud, juvenile, fussy, uncomfortable, pitiable, hilarious and despairing but it always an entire person you were seeing. So I want to wish a Happy 53rd birthday to the wondrous Judy Davis today! I still despise the movies for letting her drift away.

If they only had the Oscars once a decade, I'd still be nominating Judy for that performance and she'd be a threat to win. My ballot for Best Supporting Actress of the 90s would (probably ~ I haven't revisited) read...

• Patricia Clarkson as "Greta" in High Art (1998)
• Judy Davis as "Sally" in Husbands and Wives (1992)
• Catherine Keener as "Maxine" in Being John Malkovich (1999)
• Julianne Moore as "Amber Waves" in Boogie Nights (1997)
  
• Dianne Wiest as "Helen Sinclair" in Bullets Over Broadway (1994)

That comes with apologies to a whole lotta ladies some of whom are frequently discussed on this here blog. Obviously if you convinced me that Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns was supporting (I understand both arguments... I've just never firmly performed a demotion) you'd have to politely escort Keener from the list to make room. And she's kind of an über bitch, so move carefully.

You know you want to share your top 5 of the supporting actress 90s in the comments. And your top five Woodys, too!

Woody's Women (Ranked)

It's official: Scarlett Johansson will be making a third movie with Woody Allen (his Barcelona picture, set to film this summer). I've already seen three misleading entertainment reports circling that says she's his most frequent actress now after Diane Keaton & Mia Farrow. That's completely false so let's set the record straight before other outlets make the same mistake.

I'm counting only his feature films for this. The actresses who've logged the most time with the prolific writer/director are...

1. Mia Farrow -13 features. Remarkably (and horrifically) despite the plentiful acting nominations earned by Woody Allen films she's still never been nominated.
   
2. Diane Keaton -7 features including her Oscar win for Annie Hall
3. Julie Kavner -"Marge Simpson!" 6 features most memorably as his co-worker in Hannah and Her Sisters
   
4. Dianne Wiest -5 features including both her Oscar wins for Hannah and Her Sisters & Bullets Over Broadway (If you've ever wondered why actors are so obviously desperate to work with him, consider this: He's guided thespians to 14 nominations with 5 wins among them -one of the best records of all time.)
   
5. Louise Lasser -5 Films including Woody's first: What's Up Tiger Lily (1966) if you count voice work.
6. Judy Davis -4 Films including her Oscar nominated turn in Husbands and Wives
   
7. Blythe Danner, Julie Halston, Annie Joe Edwards and Camille Saviola -3 Films (character roles)
   
8. Scarlett Johansson -soon to be 3 Films. Even if you discount the actresses who never had prominent roles, Scarlett would still be in only 6th place.
   
9. A lot of actresses with 2 films including: Charlize Theron, Debra Messing, Lynn Cohen, Tracey Ullman, Mariel Hemingway, Julia Louis Dreyfuss, Joanna Gleeson, Anjelica Huston, Marian Seldes, Gretchen Mol, Tina Sloan, Erica Leerhsen and Loretta Tupper... possibly some others, too.

Who do you wish he would work with again? Or have you long since given up?

Actress + Performance: A to L

For no apparent reason I will now list my favorite performances by the top 17 actresses (in descending order) from the A to L poll last week.
* if a title is in all caps that means the performance would likely place somewhere in my all time lists for Best Lead Actress performance *

Nicole Kidman
1. Moulin Rouge! 2. Birth3. To Die For
Jodie Foster
1. Nell 2. Silence of the Lambs 3. Taxi Driver
Holly Hunter
1. THE PIANO 2. thirteen 3. Living Out Loud
Diane Keaton
1. ANNIE HALL 2. Looking for Mr. Goodbar 3. Reds
Glenn Close
1. DANGEROUS LIAISONS 2. Fatal Attraction 3. The World According to Garp
Joan Allen
1. The Upside of Anger 2. The Crucible 3. The Bourne Supremacy
Kathy Bates
1. Misery 2. Primary Colors 3. Titanic
Jessica Lange
1. Tootsie 2. Men Don't Leave 3. A Thousand Acres
Jane Fonda
1. KLUTE 2. 9 to 5 3. The Morning After
Judi Dench
1. Shakespeare in Love 2. Mrs. Brown 3. A Room with a View
Salma Hayek
1. Frida 2. TimeCode 3. Desperado
Judy Davis
1. Husbands and Wives 2. The Ref 3. A Passage to India
Julie Christie
1. McCabe & Mrs Miller 2. Afterglow 3. Shampoo
Sally Field
1. Norma Rae 2. Steel Magnolias 3. Places in the Heart
Madelin Kahn
1. Paper Moon 2. Young Frankenstein 3. Clue
Annette Bening
1. Being Julia 2. The Grifters 3. American Beauty
Angelica Huston
1. THE GRIFTERS 2. Prizzis Honor 3. The Witches