Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12584 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-06-05
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 459 minutes

Customer Reviews

Two Fantastic Movies And A Lot of Solid Fun
Shadows and Fog and Alice are good clean fun, lots of laughs and a little magic. But I'm really here to write about three amazing movies.

1. Crimes and Misdemeanors. If you are a philosophy student, or a theology student, this is simply the best movie you will ever see. Period. I am not an Atheist, and Woody Allen is, but don't let this put you off. In this movie he shows in a very fair and balanced way that all of us, no matter what our belief system is, have hard challenged. Of course he makes statements that lean his way, but he really gives a whole lot of great treatment to all sides of the debate. The movie, above all things, is a masterpiece of humanity.

Also, Martin Landau simply gives the best performance of his life. Period. In this film he shows a range of talent that is just stunning, almost frightening. It's a darn shame that more directors didn't see the full scope of his talent. He tended to get pigeonholed in much of his acting career. But this performance shows us the genius that we all might have known more of, had other directors and casting managers had the skill that way employed in the case of this movie. Also, Jerry Orbach's performance as a gangster is shockingly convincing, more convincing than his excellent performances as a policeman. Any fan of Orbach just has to see this film to get a more information on this actor's great range.

2. September: When I saw this film, I realized that I had forgotten huge swaths of my own emotional life. The conversations between Waterston and Wiest are almost too emotional to handle. Also, Mia Farrow, who I have mixed feelings about, plays her very best role in this film as a psychiatric out-patient. I was stunned by her ability to master this part. This work has the heaviness of a Checkov or a Gogal. This powerful work made me look at my own boundaries and feelings in ways that were very surprising.

3. Another Woman: Mia Farrow does great work in this one too, as a secondary character. For reasons the plot shall reveal, we mostly hear her, but don't see her too much. The things we hear are very powerful. But the movie centers around an aging female Philosophy professor who slowly comes to terms with the lack of honest passion in her life. Gene Hackman plays a short but awesome role. His brutal honesty knocks us off our chairs and makes us really ask questions. The movie moves a bit slow at first, but don't let that fool you. It's all a perfect setup for some juicy cinema. Very interestingly, there's very little overt romance in the movie, and yet the movie is movingly romantic. Here Woody proves, perhaps against his own inclinations and perhaps against his own occasional anti-intellectual moods, that sexuality is far more a mental phenomena than a physical one, and that the resolution of a romantic problem can arise without ever having to carry out much in the way of "real world" romance.

If you've not seen these three films, and if you think you know Woody Allen, and if you think you know his range and limits, you're wrong. See these and have a new world open up before your eyes.

Mel C. Thompson.

The Genius Emerges
We have two masterpieces here. The first is "Crimes and Misdemeanors." The second is "Alice." The others are vintage Allen and deserve to be seen, for the first or tenth time. "Crimes" is a brilliant piece, gorgeously well-acted and directed. The cast is superb, probably the best ensemble performance since Cassavetes' films with Gena Rowlands and co. Martin Landau gives one of the most startling performances of the decade, a performance which must have helped give this remarkable talent a second life. But in the end, it is the writing and direction that make this such a deep, moving film. "Alice" has, of course, the incomparable Mia Farrow, who emerges here and in other Allen films as one of the most exciting actresses of our time. They made a great couple. She introduced him to the Upper-East side, grand WASP lifestyle that became his subject matter for the next twenty years. She was his muse. He has never really recovered as a film director from her loss.

THE WOODY ALLEN COLLECTION, SET 2
The second Woody dvd collection includes five films:
"Alice"
"Another Woman"
"Crimes And Misdemeanors"
"September"
"Shadows And Fog"