Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask

Starring:Stanley Adams, Jack Barry, John Carradine, Erin Fleming, Elaine Giftos, Toni Holt, Lou Jacobi, Louise Lasser, Robert Q. Lewis, Heather MacRae, Pamela Mason, Sidney Miller, Regis Philbin, Anthony Quayle, Tony Randall, Lynn Redgrave, Burt Reynolds, Titos Vandis, Gene Wilder
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

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A collection of vignettes, loosely based on the book by Dr. David Rueben, written and directed by Woody Allen, Everything contains some very funny moments. It's easy to forget that the cerebral Allen excelled at the type of broad, Catskill, dirty jokes and visual gags that run amok here. It's also remarkable how dirty this 1972 movie really was--bestiality, exposure, perversion, and S&M get their moments to shine. The Woody Allen here, who appears in many of the sketches, is a portent of the seedy old Allen of Deconstructing Harry. Although the final bit, which takes place inside a man's body during a very hot date, is hilarious, most of Everything feels like the screen adaptation of a '70s bathroom joke book. Still, a must for Allen fans. --Keith Simanton

Description

Woody Allen pushes the frontiers of comedy by consolidating his madcap sensibility and wickedly funny irreverence with his developing penchant for visually arresting humor. Giving complete indulgenceto the zany eccentricity of his medium, Allen reveals himself as a filmmaker of "wit, sophistication, and comic insight" (Cue). Allen rises to the occasion with several hysterical vignettes that probe sexuality's stickiest issues! Aphrodisiacs prove effective for a court jester (Allen) who finds the key to the Queen's (Lynn Redgrave) heartbut learns that the key to her chastitybelt might be more useful. Unnatural acts get wild and wooly when a good doctor (Gene Wilder) fallsfor a fickle sheep. Jack Barry gives fetishism 20 questions on a wacky TV show called "What's My Perversion?" Sex-research goes under the microscope when a mad scientist (John Carradine) unleashes a monstrous, marauding breast. And the absurdity comes to a frenzied climax with Tony Randall, Burt Reynolds and Allen as sperm having second thoughts about ejaculation!

Customer Reviews:

One of Woody Allen's Funniest Films..........2006-12-28

Before "Annie Hall," Woody Allen's comedy was very different. Rather than the mature quips that any Woody Allen fan is used to post-Annie Hall, most of the movies made before that are wacky, hilarious, and out-there bits that show (nowadays) Woody Allen's comedic range. "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex*But Were Afraid to Ask" is a series of vignettes with Allen "answering" (supposedly) real questions. Usually in an unconventional, yet hilarious, way. Here is a brief synopsis of each:

1. Do Aphrodisiacs Work-Starring Allen and Lynn Redgrave, this story takes place near the Renaissance Period. Allen plays The Fool, the king's comedian who fails to impress anybody with his humor. The reason for this is, likely, because The Fool is written as a modern man placed in ancient times. Desperately wanting to have relations with The Queen (Redgrave), he gets a potion from a sorcerer before meeting his untimely end.

2. What is Sodomy-Gene Wilder plays a doctor who is shocked to learn that an Armenian shepherd has had sex with one of his sheep. When the man brings the sheep in, the doctor finds himself falling in love and conducting an affair with a sheep. Sounds morbid, but is just used as a (slightly insane) metaphor.

3. Why Do Some Women Have Trouble Reaching an Orgasm-This vignette is in Italian (I think) and stars Allen as a Marcello Mastroianni-like Italian man who has recently married. Problem is, he can't give his wife an orgasm...Except in a public place.

4. Are Transvestites Gay-In this one, a man goes to his daughter's fiancées parents house for dinner with his wife. Once there, he goes to the bathroom but finds himself in the room of the parents trying on the mothers clothing. Everything is fine, until he is forced to flee out a window and finds his purse snatched outside.

5. What Are Sex Perverts-In black & white, this vignette is about a gameshow in which people come on and reveal their perversions. Watch for a young Regis Philbin (looking very different, but with the same unmistakable voice) as himself.

6. Are the Findings of Doctors, Who Do Sexual Research, Accurate-This stars Allen as a man traveling to see a world-famous sexual research doctor. Picking up a pretty blonde reporter along the way, he finds the man to be insane and attempting to use them for his experiments. Pretty soon, a giant killer breast is on the loose.

7. What Happens During Ejaculation-This stars Burt Reynolds and Woody Allen as some workers in a man's body, controlling what he does. Allen plays a sperm that is scared about being "sent out" into the world.

The film contains lots of metaphors, lots of double-entendres, and lots of hilarity. Despite it's subject matter, it's not graphic. There's no nudity or anything. The movie has a large cast and is easily one of the funniest films Woody Allen has ever done. Every vignette is good and none of them overstay their welcome (the film is only 88 minutes). The movie is so different from other Woody Allen material that it's possible that people who DON'T like Woody Allen might enjoy this movie. It's one of his finest.
GRADE: A-

Singular Hiccup in an Otherwise Great Series of Comedies.......2006-07-03

From 1969's Take the Money & Run to well into the 80's, Allen created a series of comedies that established him as one of the preeminant writer/director/actor one-man-bands in the history of moviemaking. An argument can be made that Allen didn't really run out of gas until the mid nineties and the Soon-Yi & Mia Farrow public relations debacle trashed his image forever. The danger of filming a series of skits is, inevitably, some skits are going to be stronger than others. Thus, EYAWKASBWAA is a mixed bag with generally blah results. Allen starts the movie in fool's motley and ends dressed as a sperm. In between is some really funny stuff and some really tedious stuff.

Silly Allen is good Allen.......2006-04-17

`Everything You Always To Know About Sex' is probably the last time Woody Allen really fooled about and made an ass of himself with minimal artistic pretences, and given the mediocre quality of recent disposable duds like `Melinda & Melinda' and `Anything Else', it's quite refreshing. True, this 1972 collection of extremely lewd skits isn't quite as impressive and thought-provoking as some of Allen's best works, like `Annie Hall', `Manhattan' or for that matter even the follow-up `Sleeper'; yet there's an energy to `Everything You Always Wanted To Know' that Allen has not shown for at least a decade, and in that light it's still entirely classic.

If anything, the film is closest in its spirit to early Allen films like `Bananas' and `Sleeper', but it actually feels more like a British comedy, and is clearly influenced by shows like `Monty Python's Flying Circus' and `The Benny Hill Show', in it's chaotic and rude humor. Still, Allen's mark is all over the skits, even when he isn't in them. One of the best of the bunch, in fact, is the skit titled `What Is Sodomy', which stars Gene Wilder. Influences of both Monty Python and Mel Brooks can be felt in it, but it's entirely Allen; and still, it's Wilder that makes it perfect. Even more Pythonish is the fabricated game-show `What's Your Perversion'.

The best and most memorable is the last skit, entitled `What Happens During Ejaculation', in which Allen does a wonderful portrayal of a sperm, and we catch a glimpse of the action in the control room of a man's body during sexual intercourse. The skit is brilliantly satirical and ranks with Allen's best moments, nearly overshadowing the rest of the film. Still, it's not without it's unforgettable moments; other than Wilder, also worthy of special praise is John Carradine who is wonderful as the ultimate parody of a mad scientist, and let's not forget Woody Allen as a fool in the Middle Ages misquoting Hamlet and getting his hand stuck up the Queen's chastity belt, and his wonderful performance as an Italian Casanova.

So no, it's not quite one of Allen's best films, but it's close. The humor is dirty, yes, but not childish; Allen's intelligence is there, but it's much lighter than `Annie Hall' or other classics, and like a Monty Python or a Mel Brooks it bears multiple viewings. A movie that's funny as hell, essential for Allen fans, and recommended for all.

"My gynecologist told me to avoid excitement!".......2006-01-20

Every bit of Woody Allen's film is funny, but Lou Jacobi's performance in "What Is A Transvestite?" has to be one of the most hilarious performances in cinema history! For that alone, you must buy this DVD for your collection.

Which way are you going, Woody?.......2005-10-14

This irreverent and almost surrealistic film finds Woody in plenitude of humor and ingenious; he truly played hard with this free comedy which worked out as a magnificent exorcism exercise about the hidden dragons around this subject; every one of the vignettes is built around the sex and its implications but narrated in such caustic and bitter approach that it will be hard for you to avoid laugh and smile; because this is far to be a common place; it 's a true hitherto in what intelligence, refinement and good spirits you can imagine.

Watch for Gene Wilder and his weird passion: it 's an unforgettable classic that has not aged just a bit. On the contrary, It tends to improve through the years.

One of the five gems of Woody!