Movie Monday -- Narrators

Share on your blog your favorite narrated film, linking back to The Bumbles here.

Annie Hall. Oh, how I loved Woody back in the pre-Soon-Yi days! And never more than in this movie, where he narrates the romance between Annie and Alvy Singer. Like a true stand up, he opens with a joke:

'I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me as a member.' That's the key joke of my adult life, in terms of my relationship with women.

… and closes with one, too.

A guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, 'Doctor, my brother is crazy. He thinks he's a chicken,' and the psychiatrist asks, 'why don't you turn him in?' and the guy says, 'I would, but I need the eggs.' That's how I feel about relationships. They're crazy and irrational and absurd and I guess we keep going through them because most of us, well, we need the eggs.

Reds. Instead of one narrator, this historical epic had more than 25. Referred to as "the witnesses," they were the real-life friends, acquaintances and participants in the life and times of journalist Jack Reed. They looked square into the camera and gave "testimony" as to events in the story and kept it moving along. It's a kick to see people like Adela Rogers St. John, who were giants in their own right speak for themselves, and it helped me keep the story straight. Before this movie, I had no idea who Jack Reed and Louise Bryant were, and I would have been lost without the "witnesses." It was an interesting story-telling device, and Rob Reiner used it to great effect in When Harry Met Sally.