Woody Allen: A Documentary

Everything you've wanted to know about Woody but were afraid to ask

I don't know if this merits it's own thread, but on American Masters on PBS tonight, there's going to be two part documentary about Woody Allen. First part tonight and second part monday.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2163103615

He should have retired long ago.

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It reminds me of a toilet paper on the trees
- Paula

Why should he? Midnight In Paris is pretty decent.

Yep

Not only that, but it made more money than any other Woody film in history. I tend to like most of Woody's movies, and that includes the majority released in the 2000s. Woody Allen has had at least one film which he has written and directed released each year since 1977! That's incredible. He's a true independent filmmaker and has had complete control of every film which he's directed.

I watched the first half of the documentary and it was excellent. I can now understand why he isn't performing in front of the camera anymore because he's slowed down a bit in his movements and his speech, but he's still very sharp and has a great memory. He'll turn 76 on December 1. I'll post some more after I watch Part 2 tomorrow.

P.S. I think it's safe to say that will's last name isn't Rogers.

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

And my first name isn't Roy and I didn't suff my horse.

The vast majority of Woody Allen movies suck.

I'm under the impression that you never met a man you liked...

What are the five most recent Woody Allen films which you've seen?

I haven't seen the newest and and I guess it made some money, but in real dollar terms is not as profitable as Annie Hall. But does that make up for the total box office bombs most of his later films have been? The last ones I saw were horrible and even many of the earlier ones are self indulgent and pretentious. Making one a year isn't so impressive when you consider they look like he shot them in one take with screenplays he cranked out in a couple of weeks. If he finally made a good one, fine, but in the last decade he hasn't had too much to say he hasn't said better before and he is disconnected from the modern world.

Some tidbits, from last night's episode. When pressed into a career path in high school he tried writing, and began writing jokes for newspapers and magazines. By 16, he was making more than his parents.

One of his early opportunities was screenplay commission. However he was completely freaked out by the studio's constant meddling in "What's new Pussycat" and in the way they completely butchered his script. He demanded and got total control and final cut from his very first film.

He's conscious of his own brand of humor, and he knows a lot of people won't get him.

As for profitably. That's the secret of his success and longevity. He may not make blockbusters for the mall crowd, but all his films turn a profit.

Oh well, we might as well close the thread. On Part 2 of the Woody documentary, he says the same thing as will: "The vast majority of Woody Allen movies suck." It's not an exact quote but close enough...

By the way, he only takes two hours to write his scripts and he tries to shoot the entire film in less than one take while sitting in front of his home TV watching NY Knicks games. <--

Woody Allen is like the complete opposite of Bergman. It amazes me how he is such a fan of the serious, no bullsh*t kind of director.

I've read a few of his Bergman-related essays, they're great.

He's also extremely lauding in Kubrick's documentary speaking of serious directors.