> How about reviews by those of us who like his "earlier, funny"
> movies?
The "earlier, funnier movies" quip is of course from "Stardust Memories," which proves that people have been saying the same shit about Woody Allen for 25 years now. I have always liked him and have never found him excessively introspective at all, especially because he is self-deprecating. I also enjoy that he looks back with affection on his working-class Jewish childhood, and often critiques upper- and upper-middle class self-centredness from that perspective (and he does not exempt himself from that critique).
It's interesting that we're discussing Woody Allen on the heels of that earlier Wagner conversation, because in the past I've had discussions with people where I've made parallels between the two. I've often felt bound to defend Woody Allen for the same reason I feel bound to defend Wagner: the admittedly repulsive aspects of the private life set alongside the body of work; the narcissism, the shameless autobiography, and the self-referential bits; the widespread perception (often misinformed) that the work is not that deep at all, dilletantish, and somehow "boring."
By no means am I suggesting that the two are of equivalent caliber as artists (and I do not mean to suggest that all criticisms of either -- or at least Allen -- are misinformed). Also, Wagner is almost always in earnest while Allen is not, which is sometimes where I think Allen most falls short. Wagner actually knew a thing or two about philosophy and took it seriously, and Allen -- while not ignorant on the subject -- is more of a dilletante (which was the unfair accusation that Adorno hurled at Wagner). On politics, Allen's distrust of fanaticism is good on balance, particularly since it has put him on the outs with the people who have run this country for most of the last 25 years, and also with the hardline Zionists who I think he has lampooned pretty effectively (and hilariously) in some films. At the end of the day, of course, he is politically a facile liberal, but there are worse things to be.
- - - - - - - - - - John Lacny http://www.johnlacny.com
Tell no lies, claim no easy victories