Ick.
One question: Has Woody Allen always been covered with a thin film of mold and dried body fluids, or is this a new development? For once, Maureen Dowd hits one out of the park:
Woody Allen has proposed writing a memoir, if he can get enough dough.
In this Untitled Woody Allen Fall Project, the most secretive filmmaker in history is ready to spill about Diane Keaton, his ex-girlfriend; dish on his acidic legal fights with his mother-in-law, Mia Farrow, and former business partner, Jean Doumanian; and rhapsodize about the journey of his wife, Soon-Yi, from poor child in South Korea to lady of fashion ordering about her own servants in her Upper East Side mansion.
More than a kiss-and-tell, he reportedly promises a titillating romp of breaking “taboos.”
“For this,” said the man who once savored privacy, in his proposal to market and spin his own scandal, “I want a lot of money.”
I mean: Ick.
October 19th, 2003 at 11:46 pm
Maybe it’s not being a New Yorker, but I just never really, really got Woody Allen. Yeah, Without Feathers and Getting Even were kind of cute, but I didn’t walk away feeling like this was the work of some grand intellectual.
Sure I liked some of his movies, but I never really felt much empathy for any of the characters. Then, when he talked about someone being shat upon…well, I guess he’s topical or somesuch.
Maureen Dowd, otoh, rocks. An intellectual redhead. Boo-ya.
October 20th, 2003 at 10:48 am
maybe maureen addressed this — i didn’t read the link — but i find it interesting that he’s insisting on being paid “a lot of money” to tell his tale. this is the same guy who insists that actors — no matter how well-paid — work for scale when they work for HIM. it’s a different matter when he’s on the receiving end of the paycheck, apparently.
whenever his name comes up these days, i’m reminded of a remark from mia farrow’s book. she was trying to explain to him what was wrong with his relationship with soon-yi, and told him, “you don’t fuck the kids!” any man who needs this EXPLAINED to him deserves whatever he gets.
October 20th, 2003 at 11:06 am
True, Woody has had a few good ones, but has never ‘rocked my world’, but then again, I’m not a young Korean girl either!!
October 20th, 2003 at 12:41 pm
I haven’t let my qualms with the man destroy my enjoyment of his work—too much, anyway. Can’t say I’ve been to one of his flicks in the past coupla years though. I suppose it’s because I’ve heard them all roundly trashed by people whose opinions I generally respect.
Then again, some of Woody’s biggest critical flops gave me some of the biggest belly laughs ever, I seem to recall. “Alice,” from about a dozen years ago, was one such movie. Perhaps on some level my discomfort with his personal behavior has, in fact, kept me away from his recent efforts.
I remember in college feeling a similar dilemma with Evelyn Waugh, whose writing delights me like the work of few authors, yet whose personal idiosyncrasies and world view left me stone cold. At that time I got shaken from the all-too-common habit of needing to believe that artists—writers, musicians, actors, painters, whatever—must necessarily hold a corner on wisdom or virtue. It’s quite possible for one to be gifted—even to be a genius—and still be a complete fool, or even a despicable schmuck.
I probably wouldn’t shell out my hard-earned dough for that book, even when it’s on the bargain table at Border’s for $2.99 hardback a month or two after its debut. It’ll be much more fun seeing how authors like Dowd dissect it and tell the stories behind the stories.
October 20th, 2003 at 1:03 pm
Woody Allen and Frank Sinatra are two people I have personally loathed, while still enjoying their work. Sometimes it’s a struggle to divorce the person from the work itself, and sometimes I wonder whether I’m being a little self-serving.
On the aspect of Matureen Dowd hitting one out of the park: same feeling.
October 20th, 2003 at 2:51 pm
I certainly agree that you should judge artists by their art and not their personal lives (otherwise no one could listen to Miles Davis), but Woody really seems to be on a real disconnect lately. His movies are awful; he’s lost his touch in so many ways you can hardly believe he ever had it. And he’s really obsessed with this idea that he’s a National Treasure, which I assume, should this book ever be published, will go away, too, if if hasn’t already.