Comments on: Ick.

By: Nance

Nance — Mon, 20 Oct 2003 18:51:15 +0000

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.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Mon, 20 Oct 2003 17:03:35 +0000

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.

By: alex

alex — Mon, 20 Oct 2003 16:41:50 +0000

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.

By: danno

danno — Mon, 20 Oct 2003 15:06:06 +0000

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!!

By: deb

deb — Mon, 20 Oct 2003 14:48:50 +0000

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.

By: ashley

ashley — Mon, 20 Oct 2003 03:46:11 +0000

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.