Woody Allen Four Movie Comedy Collection (Anything Else / The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion / Hollywood Ending / Small Time Crooks)

Comments

1. Guest says

   September 15, 2013 at 12:00 am

   Although the movies included in this set are not some of Allen’s most well known or appreciated works, one couldn’t ask for more at this price! The movies are fun and quirky, of course, and the box set is nice and durable. Worth the money and highly recommended!

2. Guest says

   December 29, 2012 at 12:00 am

   I have a friend who is a huge Woody Allen fan but after checking out his collection, there were a few titles he actually didn’t have. This collection has them. The 4 movies in this collection are actually hard to get by themselves for some reason. They are not Mr. Allens best work but they are very good films and a must for any serious collector of comedy movies. You can’t go wrong purchasing this fine movie collection on DVD.

3. Guest says

   July 13, 2010 at 12:00 am

   The only movie I didn’t like was \\”Anything Else\\” – it wasn’t bad, but not hilarious as \\”Small Time Crooks\\” and others.

4. Guest says

   June 7, 2008 at 12:00 am

   Woody Allen Four Movie Comedy Collection Excellent quality and fast delivery. Highly recommended collection.

5. Guest says

   July 3, 2007 at 12:00 am

   I’m a big Woody Allen fan. Other than \\”What’s New Pussycat\\” I had enjoyed everyone of his movies that I’ve seen. I’ll now add one more to the mediocre list; \\”Anything Else\\”. Unfortunately, \\”Anything Else\\” was the last of the four movies that I watched and it was spoiling my impression of the set. I took time out to reflect on the unique Woody Allen style that is strongly present in the other three movies and reassessed my rating of this set. All four movies are what I would call light entertainment. These are movies that you can relax and enjoy. The humor is good but not overwhelming like is is in \\”Bananas\\” or \\”Love and Death\\”. What appealled to me in the three good movies in this set was the way Woody Allen constructed such oddball plots and twists within those plots. These wacky roads end up leading us to a lot of amusing relationships. These are all romantic comedies the most of which have the leading man (Woody Allen) fall for the leading lady. In some, the relationship is a reunion, in another, it is making opposites attrack. In \\”Anything Else\\” it’s, well, a sort of agonizing patience. I missed these movies when the originally came out. Part of that is due to the fact that Woody Allen movies usually don’t make it to our local theaters. That’s too bad because Allen can do more with less than any director I know.

6. Guest says

   March 10, 2007 at 12:00 am

   Let me preface this by saying my \\”collecting\\” habits revolve around movies, etc. filmed in NYC. I wasn’t always a huge Woody Allen fan, but have grown to appreciate his humor over the years.

   These are all decent Woody Allen movies.

   Some of the acting in the lesser of this group, seems forced. Usually Woody’s humor slips under the radar, and forces one to think for a second or two. In some of these, the jokes seem telegraphed between the parties. Especially in the first few minutes of each film. My personal test is if I ever use a Woody Allen one liner from one of his films, that film gets a passing grade in my book. The title of my review might be found in one these four.

   I’m ranking these within the set from Best to Worst. (within this set)

   Small Time Crooks

   The best of the lot, with the best simpleton plot. Strong supporting cast in Tracey Ulman, and Hugh Grant.

   If you are simply looking for quality over quantity, simply buy this title on its own, and call it a day. It’s a rags to riches and back to rags again story. Some very funny moments packed into this one.

   Anything Else

   This is another good NYC movie. Some awesome scenes filmed in wide sweeping shots, and some great streets scenes. Christina Ricci is really something to look at it this film, too. She is believable in the \\”struggling / tortured actress\\” role. Woody plays a mentor role to the love sick male co-star (Jason Biggs), however, Mr. Biggs is not a good fit for this movie. The film gives a nice \\”sunny Sunday afternoon, in NYC feeling\\”, along with a few laughs.

   Curse of the Jade Scorpion

   This is one of Woody’s \\”flash back\\” to the 30’s pictures. Good upbeat jazz soundtrack. Fun story line, but a little corny and forced. This movie almost lost me in the first 10 minutes of joke dialog, but stick with it. (If you’re looking for something from the 30’s era, skip this, and go to \\”Sweet & Lowdown\\”)

   Hollywood Ending

   Good NYC scenery and some good cinematography, but WAY TOO LONG. My wife and I gave up on this before we could see the \\”Hollywood Ending\\”, so that’s all I’ll say about it.

   Overall, I give the set a B- rating, as a set. However, the price per film is excellent, if you are collector, or like to have an occasional Woody film to queue up, on a Sunday afternoon. You might have a hard time finding one or two of these movies at a standard circuit city or Best Buy store, so it’s worth it to grab them at an average of $6 per movie. If you don’t like Woody’s style, you probably won’t like most of these, and you might be better off reviewing them on a title by title basis.weet & Lowdown\\”)

   Hollywood Ending

   Good NYC scenery and some good cinematography, but WAY TOO LONG. My wife and I gave up on this before we could see the \\”Hollywood Ending\\”, so that’s all I’ll say about it.

   Overall, I give the set a B- rating, as a set. However, the price per film is excellent, if you are collector, or like to have an occasional Woody film to queue up, on a Sunday afternoon. You might have a hard time finding one or two of these movies at a standard circuit city or Best Buy store, so it’s worth it to grab them at an average of $6 per movie. If you don’t like Woody’s style, you probably won’t like most of these, and you might be better off reviewing them on a title by title basis.

7. Guest says

   January 14, 2007 at 12:00 am

   I admit I’ll buy anything with Woody’s name on it. Some of these are not great movies, as it seems he’d been trying to set a Guiness record for volume of work, but as a collector I had to have them, and this is a great deal.

8. Guest says

   August 4, 2004 at 12:00 am

   Woody Allen is one of the greatest comedic voices of our time. Be it as a stand-up, a writer or a director of countless films, Allen is not only unquestionably funny, but clever as well. The four films in this box – Anything Else; The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion; Hollywood Ending; and Small Time Crooks represent the most recent period of his film history, under the Dreamworks banner.

   Many say Woody has lost his magic, and to some extent they may be right. I’m not sure whether audiences have seen this "talky" humour to death now (the modern sitcom was born out of pictures like ‘Annie Hall’, in my opinion), or there is a distaste towards Allen because of his private life or much-imitated performances, but these four movies are largely overlooked gems.

   First up, two of these pictures are not Woody standards. ‘Small Time Crooks’ and ‘Curse of the Jade Scorpion’ are caper and detective stories respectively, and as full of Woody-isms as they are, it works beautifully. The last two movies are more Woody standards – lots of talking, lots of film references and a lot of humour. ‘Anything Else’ has been the subject of most of the criticism of Woody’s recent work, but it is hard to see why. ‘Anything Else’ is like a cross between ‘Annie Hall’ and ‘Stardust Memories’, although not quite as good as either. For detractors of Woody, he is not in it nearly as much as his on-screen protge (Jason Biggs). I really couldn’t see that much wrong with it (although as one critic said, you know Allen has lost touch with the youth of New York when his characters go to a Diana Krall concert and enjoy it). The script is still sharp too. Christina Ricci’s character at one point warns Biggs not to kill himself because it is "so middle class".

   So don’t let the critics fool you – these films are the work of a man who has certainly earned, and continues to earn, his place in the pantheon of great directors. And you can’t pass up four Woody Allen films for under $25.

9. Guest says

   July 13, 2004 at 12:00 am

   Small Time Crooks (2000)
   The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)
   Hollywood Ending (2002)
   Anything Else (2003)
   Thses are all great films destined to become Woody Allen classics. This is a must own boxed set for any Woody Allen lover.