I also respect Allen the writer, but as a filmmaker he is primarily a "borrower". Allen seems to think verbally more than visually. I enjoy most of his films but no longer consider any of his films to be great cinema. As a teenager I loved "Annie Hall". Nowadays I find the film graceful and often funny, but CLEARLY inferior to Chaplin's, Keaton's, Tati's and Sturges' comedies, as well as  Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, to name a few. In "Manhattan", he takes such care in ensuring that no black or latino enters the frame that I wondered about his views on race issues. His Manhattan never existed. At least Jeunet has the excuse that the Paris in Amelie did, many years ago.     