I won’t debate Woody’s personal life and as a artist he is just like any other. There are some people who don’t like him and some who do. Just like Speilberg or Soderburg (sp?).
Anyway I will chime in that
Crimes and Misedemeanors is one of the best movies I have ever seen.
Woody is in the film but his role is not the typical Woody role. (at the end of the film his is alone and pretty much a loser) The film has two story lines that only intersect at the end of the film.
Just remember these things about film.
You don’t have to like it.
Even if all the ‘smart’ movie people love it you don’t have to like it.
Movie critics see hundreds of films a year. So when one is ‘different’ they tend to like it.
If you don’t like Woody’s movies, what movies do you like?
I’ve seen every one of his movies three times at least, except Scenes From A Mall and Interiors. They were OK, but not appealing enough to repeat. The rest win me over every time. Bananas and Sleeper.
Woody has stolen from himself a lot, but I caught one last year in the New Yorker that depressed me. He stole a line from one of these recordings. Maybe he figured nobody who listened to those records was still alive, but it was a cheap steal. He borrowed the remark about re-writing “My Fair Lady” as a non-musical.
I happen to disagree with a lot of the criticisms of his work here. While he’s almost as self-indulgent as Oliver Stone, his wit does sometimes shine through. Nah, trying to fine a cite for his wit isn’t worth the effort- sometimes it’s just the timing of the material.
I also feel there’s something to be said for the ability to wring a laugh out of people without resorting to crotch-grabbing, " Yo Yu Suk Dik " humor. His skills may be a bit weathered, but at least he’s GOT the skills.
This is a pretty stupid reason for not liking Allen’s stuff, but…
I love musicals. I liked Allen’s writings (WITHOUT FEATHERS is hysterical). I thought that EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU would be great. Wrong…
Background: I’m Jewish and conservative. My family (everyone else in my family) is Jewish and liberal. My family and I have been somewhat distant as a result of this for years. We’ve slowly started to reconnect and it means a lot to me.
In EVERYONE, Allan makes Alda’s son a conservative. Alda, of course is a liberal. Some of the tension between them was very familiar. He really riffed on some of the confrontations I’d had with my extended family. I was really identifying with the character and wanted to see how Alda and son would resolve their issues.
However, rather than dealing with anything, Allen resorts to a dumb, offensive, mean gag about the kid being brain-damaged and now that the brain-damage is repaired, the kid’s liberal again, so he and Alda can be close again. When I was watching it, I felt like someone kicked me in the stomach.
Yes, I know it was supposed to be a comedy.
Yes, I know I’m projecting my personal issues onto something that was intended to be a humorous sub-plot.
Yes, I know everyone involved in the movie is a liberal and they intended it as a joke.
It was the sort of mean-spirited joke “all conservatives must be brain-damaged” with ugly implications behind it (“If you don’t believe our way, then there’s something wrong with you.”) that I had to put up with from my extended family for years. I know he meant it to be funny, but it really, really bothered me enough that I had to stop the movie and take a couple of deep breaths. I never have to stop movies.
He also cheated from a storytelling point of view. He sets up this great conflict and wimps out with a bad joke.