Woody Allen

Heywood Allen, born Allan Stewart Konigsberg, is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many accolades, including the most nominations (16) for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He has won four Academy Awards, ten BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Grammy Award, as well as nominations for a Emmy Award and a Tony Award. Allen was awarded an Honorary Golden Lion in 1995, the BAFTA Fellowship in 1997, an Honorary Palme d'Or in 2002, and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2014. Two of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Allen is a favorite director of the hosts and guests of the movie review show On Cinema. Frequent guest Gregg Turkington once described Allen as “a genius,” and that he “defined modern film comedy.”^[1] He also stated that while many other movies were made “from the wallet,” Allen's movies were made “from the heart.”^[2] Host Tim Heidecker would often bring his wife Stephanie to watch Woody Allen movies.^[2]

He was once the subject of the segment On Cinema Presents Stars on Directors. During the segment, Heidecker and Turkington interviewed actor Joe Estevez about his thoughts and perspectives on Allen. Estevez ranked Allen as his #2 American director, behind Alfred Hitchcock, and felt that his films would be underappreciated until Allen passed away and his body of work was re-evaluated.^[2]

Despite generally positive reception from the On Cinema crew, Allen has made missteps in the show's eyes. Match Point was looked upon negatively and would not be declared an On Cinema Gold Standard film, due to fact that Allen, who frequently would also star in his own films, did not appear in the movie.^[3]