Alvy Singer stands in front of an orangey sort of backdrop and tells us, the movie audience, the joke about two women at a Catskill resort. “The food,” says the first woman, “is terrible.” “Yes,” the second woman agrees, “and the portions are so small.”
This, says Alvy Singer, is just about the way he feels about life. It’s not great—in fact, it’s pretty evenly divided between the horrible and the miserable—but as long as it’s there, he wants more.
In this fashion, Woody Allen introduces us to the particular concerns Annie Hall, a comedy about urban love and incompatibility that finally establishes Woody as one of our most audacious filmmakers, as well as the only American filmmaker who is able to work seriously in the comic mode without being the least bit ponderous. And you know what? It’s a story full of love, and surprisingly enough, pure romance. Hit the jump to see more about it. Continue reading MasterChugs Theater: ‘Annie Hall’