Woody Allen

[agentman]

I just dont get it. What is the big deal about his films, i know this should be in the movie section, but this is really bugging me, kind of like that sliver you cant get out of your finger for days. Guy at work luvs Woody's flicks as well as some film critics, cant stop gushing about it, i've seen a few and i dont see the big deal. I mean i can understand the New York city sardonic humor in Seinfeld, so what gives, maybe i'm not sophisticated/worldly enuff. Any terbs out there who can clear this up? Thanks. Peace.

 

[papasmerf]

I just dont get it. What is the big deal about his films, i know this should be in the movie section, but this is really bugging me, kind of like that sliver you cant get out of your finger for days. Guy at work luvs Woody's flicks as well as some film critics, cant stop gushing about it, i've seen a few and i dont see the big deal. I mean i can understand the New York city sardonic humor in Seinfeld, so what gives, maybe i'm not sophisticated/worldly enuff. Any terbs out there who can clear this up? Thanks. Peace.

Woody Allen is considered so complicated that if you don't find the child-rapist good you must not know movies. He is like modern art a blank canvas with a dot in the center s a master piece. That said I did enjoy some of his Early work for its silliness.

 

[The Daulfin]

Woody Allen is considered so complicated that if you don't find the child-rapist good you must not know movies. He is like modern art a blank canvas with a dot in the center s a master piece.

Exactly. It's almost as if it is left minimalist enough to allow people to fill in their own meaning and then it becomes great by every person's standard. That's fine for comtemplative things like art but not really good storytelling for a movie if you ask me. I find that in artistic fields that some try to give things far more meaning than is actually there to justify charging too much money; Woody Allen is a great example of his, imho.

 

[jwmorrice]

Woody Allen is considered so complicated that if you don't find the child-rapist good you must not know movies.

What child did he rape?

jwm

 

[jwmorrice]

I think this is a pretty fair article on the appeal of Woody Allen:
http://stumpedmagazine.com/Articles/woody-allen.shtml

jwm

 

[papasmerf]

What child did he rape?

jwm

woody took up with his young adopted daughter at age 16 or 17

 

[jwmorrice]

woody took up with his young adopted daughter at age 16 or 17

Not his adopted daughter. (See the article I cited.) Not sure when he "took up" with her. Do you really know?

jwm

 

[papasmerf]

Not his adopted daughter. (See the article I cited.) Not sure when he "took up" with her. Do you really know?

jwm

Define the difference

 

[jwmorrice]

Define the difference

I would assume one of the most relevant differences is that you couldn't marry your daughter. Woody Allen and Soon Yi Previn are married.

jwm

 

[Toasted_Ravioli]

I would assume one of the most relevant differences is that you couldn't marry your daughter. Woody Allen and Soon Yi Previn are married.

jwm

It was his wife's daughter, living under Woody's roof. You don't see anything wrong with that?

 

[ig-88]

Well, at least there is honest work involved in making movies, even if they are crappy or too artsy fartsy.

What I don't understand is when modern artists do something like fill a glass case full of used cigarette butts and call that "art." And even worse, some rich person with nothing better to do pays $500,000 for it.

 

[jwmorrice]

It was his wife's daughter, living under Woody's roof. You don't see anything wrong with that?

I didn't say that, did I?

jwm

 

[Toasted_Ravioli]

I didn't say that, did I?

jwm

You may as well have, you were trying to justify what Woody did.

 

[jwmorrice]

You may as well have, you were trying to justify what Woody did.

No, I was trying to clarify what Woody did and didn't do. That's something else again, wouldn't you say?

jwm

 

[great bear]

Anyone see his first movie "Whats up Tiger Lilly"? Wonder if Woody can still get a Woody?

 

[agentman]

One of the lack of appeal is that alot of times he just does the same character over and over again, himself. I cant knock him alone there are alot of hollywood actors out there who do this as well and they get paid alot more than him.

 

[ThirtySeven]

Woody Allen wasn't a father to Soon-Yi. She didn't live with Woody, and Woody didn't have anything to do with her upbringing. Mia Farrow adopted Soon-Yi and acted as mother. Keep in mind that Woody and Farrow didn't live together for the entire course of their relationship. It's a little weird, yes, but we're at an escort review board, right? Not that I have any moral objections to the topic, but if you asked any little old lady on the street they'll probably look at the hobby and Woody Allen's actions the same way.

Woody is my favorite director, but I'm not going to go into a big defense of his work. If you don't see the big deal, then you don't see the big deal, and that's fine. I can understand audiences staying away because his dramas are more european in style and his comedies are very silly (Slipping on the giant banana peel in Sleeper for example). But I have to say that the big black dot in the middle of a white canvas analogy can't apply to his body of work. His themes and the motivations of his characters are very clear, and even though some references may go over our heads because of age or location, they make sense. I don't think there's any ambiguity in what Woody is saying with his films.

Plus, he has averaged a film a year for at least forty years. For that task alone he should get a bit of credit.

 

[C Dick]

His early films are pretty funny: Sleeper, <Whatever the Sex one is Called>, etc. He lost me around Annie Hall.

 

[PHNINE]

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion was pretty good. I guess all the praise really falls on his ability to direct his actors to really portray their characters from the script. He manages to capture or at least bring the best out of you when working with him. So they say...

 

[gar]

I haven't seen a Allen film in quite awhile, however I remember seeing Mahattan when it was release and it was easily the best film of the year. Annie Hall was amusing and a breakthrough for comedy films. Love and Death is tricky--it's been 25 years since I've seen the film, but I remember laughing throughout most of film.