Woody Allen's Best Work?

I'm a week late chiming in here but I can't let the topic pass me by as a major fan of Woody Allen's filmography. Before Woody's quality started to dip and I found Pedro Almodovar, he was my favorite living director.

I can't find a suitable link to the original text that won't charge me money (dagnabbit) but apparently The Times of London asked Woody Allen to name his best films last month and his answers have had the internet all atwitter if not a twitter (I have yet to see Woody Allen "trend" even if he's contributed far more to society than, say, Justin Beiber).

Anyway, in case you didn't hear or would still like to discuss (Always up for a Woody!), the legendary writer/director/comic chose these six films as the cream of his crop. I've listed them in chronological order.

Woody's favorites

• Zelig (1983)
  
• The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
  
• Husbands and Wives (1992)
  
• Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
  
• Match Point (2005)
  
• Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008)

I find the list completely fascinating. I think how artists view their own work is always of interest even though I think, by and large, artists are not the best judges of their own work. Creation and criticism being two completely different skill sets (which is also what you can blame so many dumb Oscar honors on), especially about one's one work since there's no way to see it from a suitable distance

The obvious talking point is that Allen shunned what history has arguably favored as his holy trinity: Annie Hall, Manhattan and Hannah and Her Sisters. I was aware even as far back as 1987 that Woody didn't think as highly of Hannah and Her Sisters as the public and Oscar voters did -- he was all about David Lynch's Blue Velvet in 1986 if I recall -- and thought he'd done something wrong with Hannah when it became popular. But that he wouldn't list his late 70s giants as his best does surprise me.

Oscar's favorite Woody Allen pictures
Hall (5 noms/4 wins) Bullets (7 noms/ 1 win) Hannah (7 noms/ 3wins)

But then, no one seems to agree on these things. If you look around the web (Cinematical, Vanity Fair, Ken Levine, Awards Daily) everyone claims a different "best". To my mind that's a healthy argument that the man has made a lot of fine films, even if he himself doesn't think so stating

I've squandered an opportunity that people would kill for. I have had complete artistic freedom... There are a few better than others, half a dozen, but it's a surprising paucity of worthwhile celluloid.

It surely wouldn't kill him to slow down a little bit and fine tune his screenplays these days -- the concept is often better than the execution, now -- but I think he underestimates his early work.

The Best of Woody according to Nathaniel? This is how I'd personally rank them.

Nathaniel's favorites

1. Manhattan (1979)
2. The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
3. Annie Hall (1977)
   (all three are perfection)
   
4. Husbands and Wives (1992)
   (disgustingly underappreciated due to the scandalous climate in which it premiered)
   
5. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
   (also terrific)
6. Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
   (give or take a few others depending on my mood. But this one is just so rewatchable/funny.)
   

A lot of critics swear by Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) but I seem to have totally forgotten it. I cannot recall one single thing about it (???) A revisit is definitely in order.

You know what you have to do in the comments, don't you?

Further Archived Reading
Woody's Muses, Ranked By Number of Films ~ Mia Farrow reigns. Scarlett Johansson is still such a newbie, all told.