| Danny Devito Movie: Woody Allen Four Movie Comedy Collection Anything Else / The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion / Hollywood Ending / Small Time Crooks
Movie Woody Allen Four Movie Comedy Collection (Anything Else / The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion / Hollywood Ending / Small Time Crooks) |  |  | | List Price: $19.99 | | Label: Dreamworks Video
Salesrank: 7046
Released: July 6, 2004 | | Our Price: $9.49 | | Used Price: $11.57 | | MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: DVD | |
Editorial Review: Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 08/21/2007 Woody Allen Four Movie Comedy Collection (Anything Else / The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion / Hollywood Ending / Small Time Crooks) Reviews: I would like everybody to have it  2008-06-07 - Woody Allen Four Movie Comedy Collection
Excellent quality and fast delivery. Highly recommended collection.
Woody Lite  2007-07-03 - 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.
Not Apocalyptic but Adequate!  2007-03-10 - 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.
Not all great films, but collectable  2007-01-14 - 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.
Madagascar: the twist and turn word!  2006-04-23 - This is very funny film immersed in the great tradition of Woody Allen. A hypnotist (Voltan Polgar)will make a true mess of entangles I this fantastic comedy of mistakes that included the prestigious presence of this talented and beautiful actress. Helen Hunt. A delightful movie that finds an inspired script, a towering cast and obviously, the acid occurrences of this remarkable and irreverent filmmaker.
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