Mr. Toffeeman's recent posts made be think of this old thread:
http://www.filmnoirbuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1980&p=1
Good pics, but very outdated banter now. The discussion has moved on... Thank God!
Best -
Thinking of T.'s input again:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0o6QKpNK9Cc
Manhattan Murder Mystery
Everyone Says I Love You (the Woody Allen musical)
Possible to have a whole Woody thread, but veering completely off of the Ivy theme.
The guy is a genius, but many in the US dismiss him because of his bizarre life style. It is what it is, but doesn't diminish his talent, in my opinion.
We just saw his latest offering, that he wrote and directed, but didn't appear in; "Barcelona".
Not a lot of yuks, but beautiful casting, and screen play. He uses carnal misadventures to illustrate the human comedy.
There is almost a cult Woody following in the US, and quite small. His humor is too subtle for most movie goers, here.
If you want to see his films, you have to see them early on, because the audiences are so small that they aren't around long. As RS points out earlier, the audiences here seem to be white, liberal, audiences to a large extent. Young people don't seem to get it.
In the audience for Barcelona, I think that we were the youngest, non Jewish members of the audience. There were so many aluminum walkers, that I was afraid that a lightning strike would wipe out most of them in the parking lot.
You can't think of Woody without thinking of the Jazz scene. He plays the clarinet, at Michael's Pub in NYC many Tuesdays.He recently appeared at the Carlyle with jazz combo. TVT and I exchanged posts on this elsewhere, and had similar reactions. He plays a good clarinet, and the combo did a fine job.
He was on for about an hour, and didn't say a word. He did join in the vocal with Jada, however.
There was an interview with him in the NYT, about his experiences in filming in Barcelona. He said that crowds were seeking his autograph during the filming, but he didn't have time. Afterwards, he was available to pass out autographed 8X10 pictures of him with Spiro Agnew, but the crowds had left.
A genius, if you have a weird sense of humor.
I've been a fan of Woody the filmmaker since the mid 80s and havent missed a film since
his latest VCB is very good, it's a bit low key, not exactly a comedy but not a heavy drama either. Has moments of both. It made me want to take a trip to Barcelona and eat at a Tapas bar that nite so on hitting me on a deeper level, the film was def a success.
style-wise he seems very into the tweed jacket and def has an ivy influenced style.
Nice addition here from Klook. I managed to pick up, dirt cheap, on Ebay, an original 10x8 publicity shot, in which he's pure Ivy. Later on, according to one of his biographers, he had Ralph Lauren make up stuff for him. Off-screen, I think. There's a nice shirt to be seen at one point in 'Play It Again, Sam'. On the whole, however, I find his later look just a little too crumpled and un-co-ordinated. I think we can give it a twist in the UK - I think Gibson Gardens may be able to pull this look off - but it's possible that our interpretation would be a degree sharper.
There's a degree of moldy old figness about Woody these days: the cream shirts, the corduroy trousers and that green jumper he seems to always be interviewed in for the last fifteen years. Playing the clarinet adds to this marmalade.
He played Brussels with his band a couple of years ago, unfortunately I missed it.
I guess he's reached that stage in his life and career where what he's wearing don't have to draw the viewer to his face. Some say his silhouette is as well known now as that of Marilyn Monroe.
'Manhattan Murder Mystery' is not a good film. But the New York backgrounds are good and Brooks are mentioned four times.
Woody made a remake of the neil Simon classic "The Sunshine Boys" with peter Falk, this was made I believe for TV and is available from Amazon, well worth watching, not very Ivy.
Ho Hum
Ian Strachan (a big fan) got up on stage with Woody when he was playing in NYC.
Woody was fine, but the Allen organisation that surrounds him had a blue fit.
But Ian just turned on that Enfield attitude & got out of it.
- Episodes from the life of an Ivy Untouchable!
J.
Watching 'Manhattan Murder Mystery' last week I thought how tiresome it had all become: the whining, the mannerisms, the attachments to impossibly young and attractive women. The nightclub routines are still excellent, but some of the movies are beginning to look jaded.
http://forums.filmnoirbuff.com/viewtopic.php?id=1980&p=1
For the pics, if the links still work...
'Everyone Says I Love You' is truly ghastly: smug, knowing, just the opposite of 'cool'.
I agree he hasn't made a good film for 20 years. 'Vicky Christina Barcelona' had its moments but his puerile objectification of women is just unbearable, particularly now he's an old man. I can forgive perving in a 30-, even 40-something. After that it's grubby. But I do admire his commitment to both a personal and cinematic aesthetic. He still , to me, has the feel of, he harks back to an old, vanished New York. He touches back to previous eras that fascinate me. RS will be digging Woody heavily I imagine since he joined the tribe.
GG
MY Hero : http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsH/27122.gif
Shalom !
Mm... I saw a recent photograph of him, wearing a blue shirt not unlike the one I'm wearing now. Maybe he's been buying his clothes from Shamrockmonkey.
Last edited by Oo Bop Sh'bam (2011-09-12 15:40:28)
"You're what Grammy Hall would call a real Jew".
"Thank you".
Watching 'Play It Again, Sam' last night. Odious script with too many glib comments about rape. A couple of nice button-downs, though. His look appeared, at times, to be thrown together. But it seems to work.
bump