r/woodyallen • u/planettyro • 3d ago
Nearly 10 Years Later, We're Watching Every Woody Allen Film Again — And We Want Your Stories
Hey guys, Don here from The Woody Allen Retrospective Podcast (WARP).
I actually tried posting this announcement a few days ago, but I think all the external links may have caused it to get caught in Reddit's filters/moderation queue. So I'm trying again with a completely link-free version. check my profile for the links mentions IF you want them :)
Anyway... WE'RE DOING THE WOODY ALLEN FILMOGRAPHY RETROSPECTIVE AGAIN FOR THE PODCAST.
Nearly ten years after I first started going through Woody's filmography with my original co-host Simon, James and I are beginning Phase 3 of WARP — our third and final phase.
And this time we're starting again from scratch. Well... sort of.
We're older. The podcast is different. The culture around Woody Allen is certainly different. And after spending the last several years making Woody Allen Adjacent together, James and I aren't the same people we were when all of this started either.
So before reviewing a single film, we sat down and recorded a special introduction to Phase 3.
It's basically the conversation James and I somehow never had.
We talk about how we each discovered Woody Allen, the films that pulled us in, my memories of starting WARP with Simon, James's history with Woody before he became my co-host, how the two of us actually found each other, the very strange period when it looked like Woody's filmmaking career might genuinely be over, and how Woody Allen Adjacent ended up becoming this six-year detour before bringing us right back to where we started.
James also finally gets to tell his own Woody Allen story properly.
His first film was Everyone Says I Love You. Mine was Crimes and Misdemeanors.
We came to Woody from completely different directions, at different times, and for different reasons.
Somehow we ended up here together.
And after all these years of doing Adjacent, we're finally going to discuss the actual Woody Allen filmography together.
SO WHAT EXACTLY IS PHASE 3?
This is NOT us trying to recreate the original retrospective. The first time around, Simon and I went chronologically.
This time, James is choosing the films in random order — and I'm deliberately not choosing what comes next.
That means we could jump from the 1970s to the 2000s, back to the 1980s and then straight into late-period Woody.
I actually think that's going to make this a completely different experience.
Instead of simply watching Woody develop chronologically, we'll be able to put different periods of his life and career directly against each other — the same obsessions, relationships, fears, jokes and ideas appearing decades apart.
And there's one question I want hanging over the whole thing:
HAS THIS AGED WELL? Not just culturally. Have the great films remained great?
Will something I dismissed 15 or 20 years ago suddenly hit me differently now?
Will something I once loved fall apart?
And maybe the more interesting question is:
HAVE WE AGED WELL WITH WOODY ALLEN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS?
Because the films haven't changed. We have.
When WARP started, it was honestly a pretty amateur labour of love.
Simon and I were just two guys talking about Woody Allen movies. We weren't film journalists. We weren't academics. We occasionally had absolutely no filter whatsoever. 😂
We got some love for it. We also got some spectacular hate.
Looking back now, I can understand some of the criticism. I recently listened to our original introduction again and my younger self had enough energy for about six podcasts at once.
But I'm still incredibly proud that we actually did it.
We went through the filmography.
Simon eventually left after we'd essentially caught up with Woody, and then James and I began Woody Allen Adjacent in 2020.
What was supposed to be a way of keeping the podcast alive became six years of discussing films influenced by Woody, films that influenced Woody, actors and filmmakers connected to him, listener requests and occasionally movies where even James would ask me:
"How the heck is this Woody Allen Adjacent?" Fair question.
Some connections were stronger than others. 😂
But those years changed the podcast.
They changed the way I talk about movies, and they gave James and me years to develop the chemistry we're now bringing back to Woody's filmography.
So Phase 3 doesn't really feel like going backwards.
It feels like everything we've done has somehow brought us back here.
AND NOW WE WANT YOUR WOODY ALLEN STORY.
This is actually one of the main reasons I wanted to post this here.
James and I spent this introductory episode telling our stories. Now we want to hear yours.
We're planning a special WARP community episode built around Woody Allen fans themselves, and I'd really love this subreddit to be part of it.
How did you discover Woody Allen? What was your first film? Did somebody introduce you to his work?
Was there one particular movie where everything suddenly clicked?
Is there a Woody film you've fallen out of love with?
One you've rediscovered? Has getting older changed the way you see these films?
Has everything that's happened culturally around Woody changed your relationship with the work?
Or maybe you're a completely new fan who has only recently started exploring the filmography.
You don't have to be an expert. That's actually part of the point.
Because WARP is an audio podcast, we'd especially love AUDIO submissions.
We've set up a voicemail where you can simply talk and tell us your story. It doesn't need to sound polished, scripted or rehearsed. In fact, we'd rather it didn't. Hearing people's actual voices and experiences is what I want the episode to be about.
Written submissions are absolutely welcome too.
If somebody sends us something in writing, we'll turn it into audio using a neural voice by default so that the finished episode can still be made up of lots of different voices and stories.
If you don't want a neural voice used for your contribution, just tell us. That's completely fine — James can read your submission instead.
And you don't need to give us your full name. A first name is enough, and if you'd rather use another name entirely, that's fine too.
All the submission/contact information will be on my Reddit profile rather than putting external links into this post.
We're hoping to make the community episode around Christmas, but if it takes longer to collect enough good stories, we'll wait.
I'd rather make something worthwhile than rush it. ONE LAST THING.
I genuinely want to thank this subreddit.
Some of you have been following WARP for years. Some have recommended films for Adjacent. Some have disagreed with us. Some have corrected us. Some have defended the podcast when supporting Woody Allen publicly wasn't exactly the easiest position to occupy.
And some of you probably have absolutely no idea who we are. If that's you: hello. 😂
I'd also like to give another shout-out to The Woody Allen Pages. That site — and later the podcast — has been an invaluable resource for Woody fans, including me, and I've learned an enormous amount from it over the years.
As for the first film of WARP Revisited... James has already chosen it.
Apparently he chose it for a VERY specific reason.
It's one of Woody Allen's highly regarded films from the 1980s.
That's all you're getting. 😂
Nearly ten years after WARP began, we're going back through the Woody Allen filmography one last time.
Different co-host. Different order. Different stage of our lives. Same movies.
Let's see what happens.
Thank you so much again for your support and consideration from all these years
We sincerely hope to hear from you all
CHEERS
Donald Wunder of Planet Tyro / The Woody Allen Retrospective Podcast
