tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post8340512517560391419..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: An open letter to Woody AllenBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-29201670511808102462013-01-27T03:31:44.219-08:002013-01-27T03:31:44.219-08:00I'm even later to the game but can't resis...I'm even later to the game but can't resist leaving a comment. <br /><br />So long as Woody Allen continues to enjoy the process of film making and there are still people in Europe and elsewhere willing to watch new Allen films, thus ensuring financial backing for each year's project for the forseeable future, then I'm inclined to think: good luck to him. <br /><br />For me personally, things started going downhill with Manhattan Murder Mystery, but it's not the business of the artist to be respectful to his oeuvre: the point is to keep on doing it so long as the need and the opportunity are both there. <br /><br />Maybe there will come a time when the worldwide audience votes with its feet, but that will be the only opinion that need concern Allen directly, if it means he no longer gets the backing to make more movies. In which case he will, I hope, find another outlet. <br /><br />It's entirely appropriate for Mr Levin to express an opinion but I don't think it need concern Allen himself. It may simply be that Woody Allen is doing the best he can these days. Maybe he's incapable of a change in his methods at such a late stage. But so long as he wants to continue, let him do so - whatever way he wants.Tony aka Pismotalityhttp://sweetwordsofpismotality.blogspot.co.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-35572473747732968272012-01-11T23:49:05.194-08:002012-01-11T23:49:05.194-08:00Over a year late to the game, but I just wanted to...Over a year late to the game, but I just wanted to address the poster who not only thinks Rickey Henderson and Woody Allen are overrated, but actually had the overconfidence to say it to others, out loud. <br /><br />You are a dumbheaded dummy who is dumb. <br /><br />It is likely that you have many other thoughts on the same mental level. Do not express them.The decent part of the worldnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-31794609691633054982010-11-23T17:07:37.505-08:002010-11-23T17:07:37.505-08:00Finally! A devoted fan echoing my thoughts. How I ...Finally! A devoted fan echoing my thoughts. How I wish I could be excited about a Woody Allen film again. I'm saddened he's lost me.Pete Grossmanhttp://infauxtainment.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-50156763490561566062010-11-18T08:50:23.257-08:002010-11-18T08:50:23.257-08:00"I would make that argument that a lot, if no..."I would make that argument that a lot, if not MOST, filmmakers -- who are writer/directors and work purely from original material - rehash the same material over and over again."<br /><br /><br />Which can sometimes be the fault of the audience for not wanting to accept anything different from them, Kevin Smith with Jersey Girl and Tarantino with Jackie Brown being prime examples (though one was obviously a better effort than the other).<br /><br />MikeMBungenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-7343182792302654902010-11-18T05:25:59.530-08:002010-11-18T05:25:59.530-08:00I actually saw Allen's latest film and was mil...I actually saw Allen's latest film and was mildly amused...not the greatest, but entertaining.<br /><br />That being said, I agree that Allen keeps repeating himself, but I would make that argument that a lot, if not MOST, filmmakers -- who are writer/directors and work purely from original material - rehash the same material over and over again. Sure, they may change the characters and tweak the plot, but they're delving into the same basic themes.<br /><br />I certainly feel this holds true for Kevin Smith, Ed Burns, Spike Lee and other self-proclaimed writer/directors. What started out as fresh, original voices quickly gets old if they don't evolve as men or find ways to explore issues that have meaning to the world at large (and not just themselves).<br /><br />It's human nature. As writers we write what we know and we write to explore with OUR issues or exorcise our own demons. At a certain point if we don't hook up with writing partners (and start exploring their major issues) or adapt books or other material, our original stuff is all a rehash of the same basic themes that dictate our own personal LIMITED experiences.<br /><br />I think what makes Allen's work more "stuck" than even the others is that he simply isn't willing to be honest. He doesn't really bring his own voice/experiences into focus. Rather he keeps an odd distance, mocking other older men for their romantic choices without shining a spotlight on his very own dysfunctional relationships. <br /><br />If he wants to "say something" that is truly provocative -- he needs to be more honest. Otherwise, why bother writing original material? He may as well direct Pirates of the Caribbean 9 if he doesn't want to make a "personal" film.Lizbethhttp://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/lizfinnarnoldnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-8993477089991253952010-11-17T14:56:23.315-08:002010-11-17T14:56:23.315-08:00You're assuming, of course, that the film is e...You're assuming, of course, that the film is even playing in Kansas. In the capital city, with a population of 123,000, it is not. (Megamind and Unstoppable start every half hour, though!)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04787392323693753547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-76913695651081446682010-11-17T11:10:14.351-08:002010-11-17T11:10:14.351-08:00stopped watching him years ago. he said what he ha...stopped watching him years ago. he said what he had to say, quite well, then kept repeating himself, not as well. <i>then</i> i read mia's book, vomitted and moved on.normadesmondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17325110017442011627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-75482977885330452722010-11-17T08:36:25.387-08:002010-11-17T08:36:25.387-08:00An artist's fans do him no favors when they ma...An artist's fans do him no favors when they make excuses for poor work.<br /><br />And the problem with a great artist continuing to churn out sub-standard stuff is that it endangers the status of his best creations for future generations. 50 years from now, somebody's first Woody Allen movie is going to one of the things he's churned out in the last decade. Is that person going to even bother watching anything else he did?<br /><br />MikeMBungenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-90381279114203177662010-11-17T06:18:14.083-08:002010-11-17T06:18:14.083-08:00If you had just written that you wished Woody Alle...If you had just written that you wished Woody Allen would make better movies, I might agree. After that, your open letter just makes you look like an asshat.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-23131649590693423682010-11-17T05:02:28.371-08:002010-11-17T05:02:28.371-08:00I LOVE Woody Allen, but Ken, i couldn't agree ...I LOVE Woody Allen, but Ken, i couldn't agree with you more. He needs to slow down, he is being making the same movie over and over and over again for the last decade. Don't get me started on Vicky Cristina Barcelona, cause yeah, no, i may be biased cause i can't stand Penelope Cruz but no. I'd just re-watch the classics and wait for something i KNOW he can do again.Palomanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-10934633921369540962010-11-17T04:50:25.899-08:002010-11-17T04:50:25.899-08:00Good column, Ken. I am always annoyed by Woody All...Good column, Ken. I am always annoyed by Woody Allen's casting; every year he picks some hot new actress who's just earned some fame and acclaim, and she's young and dumb enough to be honoured to work with Woody Allen. What about discovering new talent? Or writing roles for mid-life and older women? Something seems emotionally stunted in the body of work from past 15 yrs or so.Hester L. Richeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11017177485270395626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-7119300337282307492010-11-16T23:46:21.501-08:002010-11-16T23:46:21.501-08:00Ok, woah.
All of you (reactionary commenters / sh...Ok, woah.<br /><br />All of you (reactionary commenters / shmucks) (pick one) need to chill out.<br /><br />A lot of you are missing the point.<br /><br />What Ken said was not a slam. It wasn't "Stop making movies, because you're no good at making them."<br /><br />It was, "I think one way to ensure that whatever you make next is of the highest quality is to take some time before you make it."<br /><br />And that, quite frankly, is not just a fair point, but pretty good advice to any artist: take your time before you dive into doing something for the sake of it.<br /><br />It's pretty clear that his post was written with adulation and in the hopes that the advice would be of help. (If Woody ever even saw it, which, let's all be honest, we all probably rightly doubt.)<br /><br />Ken may not have chosen to phrase it as lightly as that, but then, where would the controversy be if he did?<br /><br />Right on, Ken. Those of use who heard you, heard you loud and clear.... And who knows, maybe Woody will too.Woody Allen Fannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-30010352872822848732010-11-16T23:13:07.123-08:002010-11-16T23:13:07.123-08:00" Vermonter17032 said...
I guess the question...<i>" Vermonter17032 said...<br />I guess the question is this: Which is the better entertainment, a mediocre Woody Allen film or a top-knotch James Cameron movie?<br /><br />I think I'll still take Woody Allen."</i><br /><br />So would I, <i><b>IF THOSE WERE MY ONLY TWO CHOICES IN THE WHOLE WORLD!</b></i> However, with <i>thousands</i> of viewing choices available to me, Woody hasn't made a film since <i>Match Point</i> that even got on my "Want to See" List, and hasn't made a film I <i>had</i> to see, and see over and over since <i>Bullets Over Broadway</i>. Woody's recent films, like Cameron's <i>Avatar</i>, are entirely missable.<br /><br />I was a huge Woody Allan fan <i>40 years ago</i>. I even went and saw him perform one of his final stand-up gigs. Best joke writer in the world then. It pains me to see him turn out crap on an assembly line that even he doesn't watch. Of course Woody doesn't watch his own films after they're finished. No one does. Maybe if he made movies he wanted to see, we'd want to see them also.<br /><br />Frankly, he started to lose me with <i>Manhattan</i>. I know it's considered one of his good films, and there is much excellence in it. But what I saw was a middle-aged man making a movie about how right and natural and wonderful it was for a middle-aged man to have an affair with a girl who <i>is still in high school!</i><br /><br />My friends, defending it to me when I said it made my flesh crawl, said: "But she was so much wiser and purer than the jaded women his own age."<br /><br />A. Talked to a high school girl since high school? They are, for the most part, idiots, and beyond jaded!<br /><br />B. I don't care if she was Helen Keller and Madame Curie rolled into one gorgeous package, <i>she was still in high school and he was a middle-aged man!</i><br /><br />To this day, I do not understand why people aren't creeped out by <i>Manhattan</i>, as it's a hymn of love to pedophilia.<br /><br />"That's just your dirty mind," my friends told me. (It's not an unusual thing for people who know me to say.)<br /><br />Then, some years later, along came Soon-Yi Previn, and people were shocked. Hello? Did they see <i>Manhattan</i>, in which he employed all of his considerable talent to put over the idea that the most-mature thing an aging man can do is seduce high school girls?<br /><br />I don't care if he keeps making movies or not, since I am not required to go see them. Will the unending parade of third-rate blah movies dilute the esteem in which his masterpieces are rightly held? I don't think so. People still thought <i>Hamlet</i> was pretty good, even if they'd seen <i>Perecles</i> or <i>The Merry Wives of Windsor</i>.<br /><br />It was Soon-Yi that forever destroyed him in my estimation.<br /><br />Some comics remain forever funny, right up to the end. Jack Benny anyone? But for every Jack Benny, there is a Bob Hope, whose last even remotely funny movie was <i>The Facts of Life</i> in 1960, and it wasn't very good, but he had 40 years still to go, and a number of wretched movies still to make.<br /><br /><i>"Michael Ostomy said...<br />The Bob Hope analogy is flawed, because Hope's latterday </i>[sic]<i> reputation as a calcified reactionary hack came from his high-profile NBC specials, Carson guest spots, and so on, in the days of three networks.</i><br /><br />And from such dreadful, unfunny movies as: <i>How to Commit Marriage, The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell, Eight on the Lam, Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!, I'll Take Sweden, A Global Affair, Call Me Bwana, The Road to Hong Kong</i>, and <i>Bachelor in Paradise</i>. This list goes on.<br /><br />Bob's being a calcified reactionary warmongering asshole had nothing to do with his not being funny past 1960. His becoming a hack was a separate horror.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-18005818968867766442010-11-16T23:04:31.009-08:002010-11-16T23:04:31.009-08:00I don't think stopping and re-writing would ne...I don't think stopping and re-writing would necessarily help Woody. Whatever Works was a script he wrote 30 years ago, pulled out, rewrote and it still wasn't that great. As disappointing as his movies have been for 15 years or so, someday when he's not around anymore we will all marvel at the body of work as a whole. The fact that major movie stars will take massive pay cuts to be in a film that almost no one will see says a lot about the respect Allen still gets. So his movies are no longer "events" you'll look back on decades from now. I for one am against telling elderly artists to hang it up because they're not as great as they were when they were younger. As creaky as Bob Hope was in the 90's (and his 90's), I loved that he was still around and miss him dearly. We will say the same about Woody Allen.A Non-Emusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-56973117103381898832010-11-16T22:25:33.153-08:002010-11-16T22:25:33.153-08:00I don't understand why he should stop. He enjo...I don't understand why he should stop. He enjoys what he's doing. People pay him money to do what he's doing. They make money on his movies.<br /><br />If you were doing something you enjoyed, and you were being paid for it, would you stop because some people think you're not doing your best work?<br /><br />This isn't about an athlete. When an athlete is over the hill, their diminishing ability hurts the team around him. Even if Allen's ability isn't what it used to, he's not hurting anyone around him. <br /><br />He doesn't owe his fans anything. You don't get to take ownership over him and his decisions because you feel he isn't making movies that are to your taste anymore.<br /><br />He does what he does because he loves to do it. If that's not a reason to continue working, I don't know what is.Davenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-77116847586861873562010-11-16T20:43:00.742-08:002010-11-16T20:43:00.742-08:00Body of work, hell. Let other people make judgmen...Body of work, hell. Let other people make judgments on your body of work after you're dead. <br /><br />Maybe what Woody enjoys is the *process*. I haven't made anywhere near the dent in this business as Woody has, or as Levine has for that matter, but I hope I can keep on working in it until I keel over.Chris Fnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-41241626013880961462010-11-16T20:01:20.489-08:002010-11-16T20:01:20.489-08:00The Bob Hope analogy is flawed, because Hope's...The Bob Hope analogy is flawed, because Hope's latterday reputation as a calcified reactionary hack came from his high-profile NBC specials, Carson guest spots, and so on, in the days of three networks. Worst of all, an entire generation of Americans grew up knowing this version of Bob, rather than the sharp, snappy comedian of the 1940s. <br /><br />The only people who are being disappointed by Allen's later work are already Allen fans. They've all been exposed to his earlier work. Do you think there's a person in the world who was introduced to Woody's career via "Melinda and Melinda" or "Anything Else"?Michael Ostomynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-31512561481236748942010-11-16T19:44:16.822-08:002010-11-16T19:44:16.822-08:00On a tangent: The justifiable laments about what&#...On a tangent: The justifiable laments about what's lacking in Woody's recent films could also apply to his humor pieces primarily appearing in The New Yorker, which he'd resumed sometime in the 1990s, I think. The earlier stuff was often hilarious, the latter-day pieces not so much. Don't know why he does it if his ability to (or need to) productively self-edit has gone by the wayside, replaced by unalloyed self-indulgence, as sometimes happens with successful writers over the age of 65 or so (another good example might be Robert Heinlein). <br /><br />And I started out as big a Woody fan as anyone - even saw <i>Interiors</i> during its theatrical run.gottacooknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-79059010300975477082010-11-16T18:01:28.152-08:002010-11-16T18:01:28.152-08:00My observation is that most of Woody's best fi...My observation is that most of Woody's best films were made during his relationship with Mia Farrow. Since their breakup, he has not made a single film as good as the best ones from that period. <br /><br />That was obviously a stormy and tempestuous relationship, and I'm sure it must have been the catalyst that inspired the best of the artist in him. That relationship, from beginning to end, was passionate, absurd, sad, funny, and all-consuming -- like his movies. (You could say similar things about his affairs with Keaton and Lasser, who also inspired him greatly.)<br /><br />Ever since Woody's become content, settled and happy with his current bride (regardless of your judgement of how they came to be), his movies have become the same -- content, settled, coasting along with no spark. Not that I wish him unhappiness, but I think his own life experience is leaving him little in the way of inspiration. If he married someone his own age, he'd probably be making films with storylines more relevant to his and his audience's generation.Michael in Vancouvernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-23443542976943187582010-11-16T17:16:32.840-08:002010-11-16T17:16:32.840-08:00Technical comment: the Willie Mays analogy doesn&...Technical comment: the Willie Mays analogy doesn't work because Willie was hurting his team going out there; Woody is only hurting his reputation. That's a big difference.<br /><br />I recently read a biography of Woody that explained how Jean Doumanian had obtained his foreign backers. The backers are happy with his stuff and there are moments in some of the films that are interesting or even new. <br /><br />What bugs me is a technique I first noticed in one of his last enjoyable films (for me), which is "Everyone Says I Love You." It's something you never see in anyone else's movies and it's totally grating. What I'm referring to is exposition by someone talking in the second person. In this particular scene, Woody is refusing to go to the Marx Brothers party in Paris and people are lamenting it and someone says, "especially because you are on the committee that puts on the party." Telling someone something they know about themselves is an awkward (and in many cases in which he uses it, unnecessary) way to inform the audience. This from the guy who put subtitles underneath Annie Hall and Alvy Singer.Breadbakernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-9616217995659219702010-11-16T16:51:33.211-08:002010-11-16T16:51:33.211-08:00I still recall the explosion of laughter in the au...I still recall the explosion of laughter in the audience that greeted the 'Albert Shanker' line in 'Sleeper' at a movie theatre near Carnegie Hall. The 'cocaine' scene in 'Annie Hall' caused me to fall out of my seat, it received a audience laugh that matched the one you get when you see Lemmon and Curtis in dresses for the first time in 'Some Like it Hot'. <br /><br />But Woody Allen lost me too some time ago. I think the line in 'Hollywood Ending' about Haley Joel Osment was so gratuitous that it was then Woody 'jumped the shark'to me.<br /><br />It would be one thing if his later films were like Bergman's or Kurosawa's which reflected the view of aging. Of the great directors not too many made great films after the age of 75; Billy Wilder was 75 when he made 'Buddy,Buddy', his last film. David Lean was about that age when he made 'Passage to India'. John Huston made 'Prizzi's Honor' and 'The Dead' after the age of 75 but I think he is an exception.<br />I agree with those who have written that the absence of a strong, other voice has hurt his work. In the 1970's his film editor could insist that he reshoot, or rewrite, scenes. The comparison to Bob Hope is also apt. <br />Out of love for the past work I saw 'V-C-B' and 'Whatever Works' and was stunned at how unneccessary they were.scottmcnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-67651400375105352272010-11-16T16:46:00.271-08:002010-11-16T16:46:00.271-08:00Woody: don't listen to him. He's just maki...Woody: don't listen to him. He's just making a joke (like what else would he do?) <br /><br />We really really need your take on, yes, yes, *Godzilla*.Samuelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06255700565947978423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-2036918804257257582010-11-16T16:33:39.863-08:002010-11-16T16:33:39.863-08:00Was this really necessary? "Take Soon-Yi to D...Was this really necessary? "Take Soon-Yi to Disneyworld"<br /><br />Other than that snide shot, good and thoughtful postdroszelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17897688611911694566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-32661505898167115552010-11-16T16:04:00.252-08:002010-11-16T16:04:00.252-08:00You could've (should've?) written this pos...You could've (should've?) written this post at least a decade ago...KXBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08983189903120381242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-78708636194254094922010-11-16T15:48:49.392-08:002010-11-16T15:48:49.392-08:00Interesting that someone mentioned Philip Roth jus...Interesting that someone mentioned Philip Roth just now. He has switched to short novels in recent years (he's 77 now) and has had some successes in doing so, such as <i>Everyman</i>. If there were some similar alternative that would enable Woody to change up his game, that would be great - but there isn't in the feature-film world; his only short film that I can recall was his segment of <i>New York Stories</i>, an anomaly.<br /><br />The last Woody Allen film I chose to see in a theater (16 years ago?) was a collaboration: <i>Bullets Over Broadway</i>, which he wrote with Douglas McGrath. I don't see why he's been (evidently) averse to having a co-writer since then; the only other instance since <i>Manhattan</i> in 1979, if I'm correct, was <i>Manhattan Murder Mystery</i> (Marshall Brickman in both cases). Collaborating on a script would help him to loosen up, I think.gottacooknoreply@blogger.com