Annie Hall

Though Woody Allen has made films that rate as more accomplished and more profound, 1977’s Annie Hall remains his clearest, cleanest intersection of whimsy, riotousness, and angst. It’s a film that lovers and would-be lovers bond over—a jumbled sketch of a romance, with well-observed moments of what love is really like, as well as a fair amount of anecdotal exposition on Allen’s own career as a stand-up comic. Diane Keaton won a Best Actress Oscar as the title character, an insecure singer whom Allen nurtures and then loses to the settling of time.

Updated 10/10/2011