leonblackwood Review: For some unknown reason, I really enjoyed this weird and wacky movie about a man trying his utmost not to war. The humour is quirky and way over the top, but funny in a Month Python type of way. Diane Keaton is also pretty funny alongside Woody Allen who plots to kill Napoleon so Allen doesn't have to go into battle. Although the storyline is completely ridiculous, it's very well written and entertaining throughout. The womanising, fast talking Allen, isn't as annoying as he is in his latter projects, which is why this movie really does work. Basically, it's silly humour which people will either find completely stupid or a work of art for its originality and warped sense of humour. Watchable!Round-Up: This is some of Woody Allens best work, which I didn't find annoying or boring. It's a straight out comedy which doesn't focus on troubled relationships, like most of his work in his latter years. Although the movie looks dated, it's a timeless film which can be enjoyed nowadays, if you don't take the political subject personal. Diane Keaton played her role convincingly, even though the jokes were quite warped, but Allen always brings the best out of her. In all, if your a fan of Woody Allen's work then this has to be at the top of the pile, but if your not into his type of comedy then you will find this a bit too much. I'm yet to make a verdict of his work because I'm slowly going through his movies, but I did enjoy this film. Budget: $3million Worldwide Gross: $20millionI recommend this movie to people who are into there Woody Allen movies about a womaniser who plots to kill Napoleon so he doesn't have to go to war. 7/10

popcorninhell Woody Allen is a revered and maddening figure in my world. Revered because he is an absolute genius; maddening for the same reason. Even if you have never seen a film he has written and directed, you have no doubt heard his one liners: "Don't knock masturbation, it's sex with someone I love." "I'm not afraid of death, I just don't want to be there when it happens." "I'm not really the heroic type, I was beat up by Quakers." His jokes have a delivery that mocks the greats like Rodney Dangerfield and Bob Hope yet Woody Allen's unique on screen persona imposes at least a superficial level of earnestness and faux-intellectualism. It's especially maddening to think he's so freakishly prolific! Since 1969 he has written and directed at least one film a year. Not all of them cinematic gold but considered he has been nominated for an Oscar 18 times for writing, directing and producing I'd say a good chunk of his filmography is pretty darn good.In fact while my exposure to his filmography is less than complete, there's truly not a film I wouldn't see again. The worst I've seen was a little known box office bomb by the name of Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) with a post Mad About You (1992-1999) Helen Hunt. It felt like a failed TV pilot but nevertheless was entertaining enough to slug through. If it were on TV about as often as The Mummy Returns (2001) I'd probably watch it again if nothing else were on.The best Woody Allen film I personally have seen is 1975's Love and Death. Like Curse of the Jade Scorpion it wasn't nominated for anything of significance. It didn't curry much favor with audiences either making just north of $20 million and while the critics enjoyed Love and Death it still remains one of Woody Allen's lesser known films. Yet while it's lesser known it's certainly not lesser loved. Vincent Canby of the New York Times calls Love and Death one of Allen's "most consistently witty films." It enjoys a 100% Fresh rating on Rottentomatoes.com and most "early Allen" enthusiasts swear by the Russian literature satire.Woody Allen's sixth directorial effort starts and ends centered on the life of Boris Grushenko (Allen), an impertinent yet cowardly Russian scholar who isn't too fond of going to war with the French and Napoleon. "She's (Russia) not my mother. My mother's standing right here, and she's not gonna let her youngest baby get shrapnel in his gums," Boris cries as he has pushed by his stout-hearted family to join the war effort. Once he's thrown into the fray, hijinks ensue in a Marx Brothers meets War and Peace kind of way. But while faced with the insanity of war, all Boris can think about is his lovely cousin Sonja (Diane Keaton) who he's had the hots for since childhood.Love and Death evokes memories of Duck Soup (1933) and The Great Dictator (1940) only with less political satire and more philosophical and humanistic satire. One of the reoccurring jokes involves Boris and Sonja taking inopportune moments to argue philosophy using jargon literally lifted from the existentialist writings of G.I. Gurdjieff and P.D. Ouspensky. Philosophy gets skewered along with the thick tomes of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, the historical significance of the Napoleonic wars and the films of Sergei Eisenstein and Ingmar Bergman. Who knew you could cram so many high-minded material into an 85 minute movie who's big battle scene involves Woody wearing a cheerleader outfit and a guy walking around yelling "get your red hots."While Allen has fallen out of favor since his heyday in the 1970's and early 80's (much of which is credited to his tumultuous personal life), his movies still create a blip on the cultural radar every once in a while. Friends my age were introduced to his comedic work through Midnight in Paris (2011). A movie that brought to mind another favorite of mine, The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985). His latest Blue Jasmine (2013), while closer in mood to Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) is nevertheless a stupendous film.I think most, if not everyone could find a Woody Allen film they'll enjoy. Perhaps there's a Quizilla that will assign you one based on your personality. Or perhaps you should just watch as many as possible and pick your favorite. That's what I did!http://theyservepopcorninhell.blogspot.com/

LeonLouisRicci Love and Death. The two title words announces the often muses of Sir Woody and this Movie is of two minds. The Intellectual, Philosophical head banging that are always amusing coming from the befuddled bean and prolific pondering of the Writer/Director/Star and the slapstick shtick that the bumbling Auteur so loved. This is as much Marx Brothers and Bob Hope as Tolstoy, Dovetsky, and Bergman. Woody has read War and Peace and is still angry for putting himself through it. But this spoof layers it on so thick that it is a juicy joy to behold. It is deliriously deep as well as silly and ridiculous. It is more fun than it ought to be considering that most of the literary references will go unnoticed. It is a hilariously profound and prickly Picture. The Genius here is that there literally is no time to contemplate the contemplations.An overlooked aspect of the Film is just how good it looks. Woody Allen is never mentioned as a great Director of Cinematography because, frankly, it matters little in most of his work. But here it is quite impressive. It has a visual style worthy of the best stylist. Just another feather in the cap that rests on the head of the most heady Comedic Filmmaker of his Generation.

Dave from Ottawa Back when Woody Allen movies actually sought to entertain, this was one of the best. The familiar Woody nebbish is caught up in the sweep of historical events paralleling those in Tolstoy's War and Peace. Typically, Woody plays the reluctant hero and revolutionary. He would rather pursue the promiscuous Diane Keaton, than fight in the Napoleonic Wars, but he cannot avoid his comic destiny, as events cleverly conspire to drag him from fire to frying pan over and over.The spread of targets for parody in this romp is its greatest strength. Even a well-schooled cineaste will be hard-pressed to catch the many clever references to famous Russian films and novels, notably the 1968 Sergei Bonderchuk version of War and Peace and the silent 1925 classic Battleship Potemkin.