That's a great story, Franc. I had no idea you once worked in public
broadcasting like Kirby; I consider "Crimes" one of Woody's 4 masterpieces; my
fav scene is when Woody's character starts giggling at the screening of the
film he's made about Alan Alda's character - and he inserts scenes of Mussolini
- which makes Alda blow his top. It's a dark film but it does have its laughs.
I also don't know why I smirk when I shouldn't, but there's also that bleak
irony when one of the "great thinkers" is an old guy who goes on and on about
the beauty and richness of life - but who later commits suicide, thus
contradicting and ruining the "great thinkers talking head" project. -d.
-----Original Message-----
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:59:21 -0400
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: OT - Evan Zweifel and David Kusumoto in Public
To: [email protected]
Let's lighten the mood a bit by slightly changing the subject. I blow hot and
cold on Woody's films but there's one character so beautifully drawn in Crimes
and Misdemeanors that it moved me to belly laughs because this character was
someone right out of my life. It's no secret that Woody Allen is not a fan of
public television. He's had an on-going feud with Channel 13 in NYC for years.
Well, I worked for public television as Head of the Business Affairs and Legal
Department for years and I worked alongside a Production Head who kept trying
to pitch his "great" idea for a series to anyone who'd listen: he wanted to
film the great thinkers and their lectures. Just one camera with one person
each week delivering his "great thinker" lecture straight-on for an
hour....that was the whole idea. I went to see Crimes and Misdemeanors in the
theater and sure enough there's a character in that film who wants to make a
public television film about the lectures of a great thinker. I never laughed
so much in my life and I have no idea if Woody based this character on the
Production Head I worked with but I always suspected he might of. FRANC
-----Original Message-----
From: MoPo List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jay
Nemeth-Johannes
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 11:58 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [MOPO] OT - Evan Zweifel and David Kusumoto in Public
Please stop, both of you.
Since this is a Woody Allen flame thread, I am reminded of the scene in Annie
Hall, where the two guys are arguing over the meaning of
Marshall McLuhan's work and Woody breaks the fourth wall by bringing Marshall
himself into the frame to tell both of them that they have absolutely no clue.
Please consider.
Jay
-----Original Message-----
Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:52:02 +0000
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: John Carter: excellent
To: [email protected]
I'm pretty sure you are familiar with the "Reply" button and the difference
between it an the "Reply All" button.
I
still pay to see his films in the theater and especially enjoyed "Vicky
Christina Barcelona", "Whatever Works", "Match Point", "Curse of the
Jade Scorpion", "Deconstructing Harry", "Bullets Over Broadway" and
"Mighty Aphrodite".
I am sorry that you have been let down. Perhaps if you wrote him a polite
letter he would refund your tickets.
-----Original Message-----
Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2012 21:29:49 -0700
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: John Carter: excellent
To: [email protected]
@Evan -
What?
I'm the biggest Woody Allen fan in the world! I'm CONSTANTLY defending
him among work colleagues. However, I consider "Annie Hall,"
"Manhattan," "Hannah and Her Sisters" and "Crimes and Misdemeanors" to
be his quartet of "comedy-drama masterpieces" that he'll never top even
if he lives to be 100, which is likely, given the genes for longevity he
inherited from his parents. Going to a Woody Allen movie used to be a
major event; we never missed paying to see a Woody picture from 1971's
"Bananas" to 1997's "Deconstructing Harry." I got my wife, who hated to
even see him on the screen, to fall in love with him. (Her favorite
film is "Hannah and Her Sisters.") We still liked him in lesser
pictures like "Mighty Aphrodite" and the "Curse of the Jade Scorpion."
The "stake in the heart" was sitting through three pictures that made us
feel ripped off at the box office: 1) "Hollywood Ending" (despite a
great promo poster featuring 52 images of the endings of great film
classics), 2) "Anything Else" and, 3) "Whatever Works."
OTHER
than "Midnight in Paris," when is the last time anyone you know has PAID
to see one of his films in a THEATER? You're damn right I'm bragging.
If there is a Woody Allen picture that I've missed, I'd like to know.
I've seen all of them and I don't consider "Midnight in Paris," for
which he won his 4th Oscar, worthy at all. But my opinion does not
matter; the Academy chose. I had a stone face watching that picture.
(I'll never forgive the Academy picking "Platoon" as the Best Picture in
1986 over "Hannah," despite "Hannah" having 9 nominations and picking
up awards for best screenplay and best supporting actor and actress
(Michael Caine and Dianne Wiest.) Honestly, the BEST Woody Allen
picture I've seen during the past 20 years (other than "Small Time
Crooks" and "Match Point," which I like a lot) - wasn't even directed by
him. It's a 2011 picture called, "Woody Allen: A Documentary." This
three-hour opus flies by in a flash, features Woody being interviewed
about EVERYTHING, warts and all, and includes clips from all of his
movies including "Midnight in Paris." It's a sophisticated, big budget
documentary that aired on PBS late last year in two parts - and is now
available on DVD. This is a film that's worth BUYING, it's that damn
good. Hell, we even saw Woody in person during one of his rare visits
to Los Angeles - when we scored tickets to watch him play a one-hour
jazz concert at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City during his "Jade
Scorpion" publicity tour. Please visit the two links below; even though
the quality of his output, in my view, has been erratic since about
1990, I still think Woody Allen is a living legend.
http://www.amazon.com/Woody-Allen-A-Documentary/dp/B0064NTZKI/
-----Original Message-----
Date:
Sun, 11 Mar 2012 19:33:11 -0500
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: John Carter: excellent
To: [email protected]
It's funny, because I was just going to ask if it was "be kind to Woody
Allen" day, because I personally think his last really fine movie was in
1980!
But I imagine that we can agree that his streak of ten straight incredible
movies from 1969 to 1980 was something no one could live up to:
1980 Stardust Memories
1979 Manhattan
1978 Interiors
1977 Annie Hall
1975 Love and Death
1973 Sleeper
1972 Every Thing You
Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask
1971 Bananas
1969 Take the Money and
Run
On Sun, Mar 11, 2012 at 7:12 PM, Evan Zweifel <[email protected]> wrote:
Is
it pick on Woody Allen day? Mostly mediocre output since 1989?
Really? He's been nominated for 11 Oscars since 1990. Granted 8 of
them were writing -- suggesting that he's doing something right.
Evan----- Original Message -----
From: David Kusumoto <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sun, 11 Mar 2012 22:04:21 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: Re: [MOPO] John Carter: excellent
That's
an excellent point, Dave. I hadn't thought of that. Meanwhile, the NY
Times delivered its verdict today. Despite better returns expected
from the overseas market, "John Carter" is going to be one of the
biggest financial disasters in film history. The AP also grimly noted
that most of "Carter's" fans are men OVER 25, which is terrible news
from a business standpoint for a film the NY Times now says cost $350
million to make AND to market. How can you make a profit from that?
You need younger patrons who are more avid movie goers than older
people, who tend to stay home.
This afternoon's article further
infers that while Disney is today adopting a "point no fingers" stance,
director Andrew Stanton was given a blank check based on his past
performance with "Finding Nemo" and "WALL-E." Disney apparently so
feared angering a box office golden boy like Stanton - that the result
was a Mike Cimino-like "Heaven's Gate" fiasco (which occurred after UA
gave Cimino a blank check after his prior success with the "The Deer
Hunter" in 1978-79).
While Hollywood has always cared about overseas
box office, production chiefs still craft their films foremost with U.S.
audiences in mind. This is a country, after all, of 300 million. This
explains the American-centric drive of U.S.-financed pictures that
puzzle sophisticated audiences in the U.K., for example, e.g., the
casting of William Holden in "Bridge Over the River Kwai," the singular
U.S. perspective of the D-Day landing in "Saving Private Ryan," the
casting of Steve McQueen and James Garner in "The Great Escape," etc.
Even today, a U.S. film that does poorly here but makes up its
investment overseas is considered a blemish to its prestige in the
industry, e.g., Costner's "Waterworld," last year's "Cowboys and Aliens"
and 1963's "Cleopatra" - the latter which nearly destroyed Fox.
(Incredibly, the #1 overseas market for U.S. films is not in Europe -
but in Asia, specifically Japan.) In the end, for all the clamor for
better made pictures, the Hollywood model is still geared towards making
money by targeting young people, resulting in an overall poorer quality
product unless you purposely chase mature audiences (as in temperament,
and not necessarily age) - such as independent films which can still
make money because of low production budgets. It's why Woody Allen is
still making films despite a mostly mediocre output since 1989. One
thing for sure - despite the quality of "John Carter," Disney's and
director Stanton's original plans to make two sequels of this film in
the years ahead are
dead.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/business/media/ishtar-lands-on-mars.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
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