Woody Allen

Started by Pedro, March 20, 2003, 11:46:16 PM

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Jeremy Blackman

After sort of being pro-cancel culture, I've come to realize there are a lot of problems with it (especially cancel campaigns). I think what finally convinced me was .

So I think "canceling" is a personal decision. Maybe (as I do) you believe you know enough about Woody Allen that you are not remotely interested in reading his book. Or maybe you have reasons for still seeking value in what he says. I get it.

Drenk

I don't believe Allen is cancelled. He's treated as a king in France. He can self-publish all his thoughts.The workers at Hachette made a strike, they're in their rights to be against publishing Allen, especially when the person has a contract based on his fame. We don't know the names of all the cancelled writers.
Ascension.

jenkins

It was workers at Little, Brown and Company, which is an imprint of Hachette

I've never been a Woody Allen fan and one time my friend tried to give me one of his books but I wouldn't take it, which was awkward and before cancel culture

Drill

Good lord, the excerpts I've read are so poorly written.

Sleepless

He held on. The dolphin and all the rest of its pod turned and swam out to sea, and still he held on. This is it, he thought. Then he remembered that they were air-breathers too. It was going to be all right.

jenkins

it's #1 in its category, which still has easy riders raging bulls at #4 to put that into perspective

©brad

Eh I think cancel culture is largely a myth.  The subtext behind people, comedians especially, who whine about it are really saying 'why can't I say the bigoted racist ignorant bullshit I used say with impunity.'

The very few instances of people legitimately being canceled (i.e. Weinstein) fucking deserve it.   


Drenk

If that's a real quote, then Allen wrote this thing in two weeks with his iPhone:


https://twitter.com/WillSloanEsq/status/1242913771334569984
Ascension.

Alethia

He probably spoke the damn thing into his iPhone then transcribed it directly.

Whatever, he hasn't been artistically relevant (to me) in 20 years.

wilberfan

Yeah, the last Allen film I actually enjoyed was probably in the early-to-mid 90s.   I must say, though, that son Moses' take on The Scandal (above) has made me question taking every assertion every time as unwavering truth.  There seems to be plentiful evidence that Woody has a "thing" for (very) young woman, but he's certainly not unique in that regard (Chaplin being the one that comes to mind immediately).  Doesn't excuse any inappropriate behavior, etc, etc.   

Alethia

I find Moses' take to be the more credible one, but we'll likely never know what really happened. If he's guilty, fuck him; if not, well, what's the point now anyway.

The films of his that mattered to me still matter, and the rest: I just don't care. He oughta just let himself fade away.

Robyn

The difference between Allen and other great directors is that in-between the good ones he makes 5-6 bad ones.

Sleepless

Quote from: eward on March 25, 2020, 04:24:55 PM
He probably spoke the damn thing into his iPhone then transcribed it directly.

I'm almost certain that he dictated a chapter every night while soaking in a bubble bath and sipping a martini, then had a secretary transcribe it to put the punctuation in the correct place.
He held on. The dolphin and all the rest of its pod turned and swam out to sea, and still he held on. This is it, he thought. Then he remembered that they were air-breathers too. It was going to be all right.

Alethia

Quote from: Robyn on March 26, 2020, 12:33:32 AM
The difference between Allen and other great directors is that in-between the good ones he makes 5-6 bad ones.

I think his run from the early 70s to basically 2000 is pretty damn remarkable, packed full of good-great films (admittedly, haven't seen many of them in some time) with only a handful of duds along the way. After that he pretty much goes to shit, every few years grinding out some half-competent retread of a past glory amidst a blizzard of general garbage that gets unanimously overpraised for, I don't know, sentimental reasons I suppose.

I was a huge fan growing up. Still love many of his films, yet don't really feel a need to revisit most of them these days because I want my memories to remain fond.

Still gonna read the book.

Neil

Quote from: ©brad on March 25, 2020, 04:00:36 PM
Eh I think cancel culture is largely a myth.  The subtext behind people, comedians especially, who whine about it are really saying 'why can't I say the bigoted racist ignorant bullshit I used say with impunity.'

The very few instances of people legitimately being canceled (i.e. Weinstein) fucking deserve it.

Perhaps I hang around people that aren't as open-minded as you, after all, I do reside in the mid-west, but I cannot imagine a scenario in which I could defend his films or his film career to one of my peers. Not saying I feel persecuted or anything, but the times in which I've tried to bring up Ronan's account, etc, it was not met well. I'm not sure how far and wide this goes, simply telling you this is my experience regarding Allen and his work.

Also, with this in mind, I'm wondering if you think the pendulum has leveled out/centered with regards to "cancel culture," because based on what I just said about Allen, it seems to me that we're still waiting for it to level out. Some people out there still think Louis CK is basically Harvey Weinstein. I think getting into the nitty-gritty of nuance is where this all heads and it is important to note that a lifetime/life lived is full of nuance.
it's not the wrench, it's the plumber.