Travis Simpkins

Stardust Memories (1980): Woody Allen, Charlotte Rampling and Sharon Stone

Written and directed by Woody Allen, Stardust Memories (1980) is amongst the few films that Allen himself considers to be his best work. With intermixed drama and comedy, the plot concerns a filmmaker who reminisces about past romances while attending a retrospective of his own work. Many elements of the film mirror Woody Allen's own feelings at the time, as his career progressed. The black and white cinematography is beautiful and the cast is great, including Woody Allen, Charlotte Rampling, Tony Roberts, Jessica Harper, Marie-Christine Barrault and Sharon Stone in a brief early role (as a smiling girl on a train).

Stardust Memories. 1980. Woody Allen

Stardust Memories. 1980. Woody Allen: Sharon Stone

Stardust Memories. 1980. Woody Allen

Stardust Memories. 1980. Woody Allen and Charlotte Rampling

Stardust Memories. 1980. Woody Allen: Charlotte Rampling

Stardust Memories. 1980. Woody Allen

Sleeper (1973): Woody Allen and Diane Keaton

Written and directed by Woody Allen, Sleeper (1973) showcases Allen's early near-slapstick style in it's finest form. Part Marx Brothers, part Charlie Chaplin, but all Woody Allen... the film depicts the strange circumstances faced by a health food store owner who was cryogenically frozen in 1973 and defrosted 200 years later into a weird future Dystopia. Woody Allen and Diane Keaton co-star, displaying the great on-screen chemistry for which their work together is famous.

Sleeper. 1973. Woody Allen

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982): Woody Allen and Mia Farrow

Written and directed by Woody Allen, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982) was the first of more than a dozen films he would make starring his then-romantic flame, Mia Farrow. It also marked the first time Woody Allen acted in anything but a lead role in one of his own films, appearing as just another member of the ensemble cast. Set at a rural vacation home in the early 1900's, and dealing with a tangled web of crisscrossed amorous feelings within a group of people, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy is a take on Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night (1955). The period detail and atmosphere is compelling and the cast is great, including Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Jose Ferrer, Julie Hagerty, Mary Steenburgen and Tony Roberts.