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Woody Allen sues Amazon

Started by Monsieur Verdoux, February 07, 2019, 06:57:37 PM

Previous topic - Next topic
Quote from: Shit Good Nose on February 08, 2019, 12:47:23 PM
That said, I still adore his early funny ones and always will, regardless of what revelations do or don't come out about him.

I'd have to say same here, discovering those early Allen films was a formative experience equivalent to discovering the first five Marx Brothers films. Whatever happens to Woody (and however deserving he may be of it), I can't bring myself not to love those films

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: Monsieur Verdoux on February 08, 2019, 01:04:59 PM
I'd have to say same here, discovering those early Allen films was a formative experience equivalent to discovering the first five Marx Brothers films. Whatever happens to Woody (and however deserving he may be of it), I can't bring myself not to love those films

It's something I struggled with for some years, but after several (unrelated but on-topic) discussions on here about it last year I finally came to the conclusion that I was able to disassociate someone's art from their transgressions (can't remember exactly which CaBber it was, but they contextualised it for me by going into detail about one of the great art masters of all time - possibly Michaelangelo? [I forget which one now] - who basically raped loads of young boys).  So I don't hide my Woody or Polanski films or Led Zeppelin albums.

mojo filters

I thought Whatever Works was criminally underrated, especially Larry David's lead.

To be fair it was apparently a pretty old script, with Larry's character originally written for Zero Mostel - which should date it a bit.

As for Ronan Farrow not speaking out - it's very unfair to expect him to attempt to apply his own Pulitzer prize-winning journalistic talents towards his own family.

As far as I'm concerned Allen deserves the benefit of the doubt. All reports are that his current marriage is very happy and healthy. Who am I to question something apparently thoroughly legal and above board?

Woody Allen seems to get more hysterical bad press from the usual suspects, than even respected film makers such as Roman Polanski - even though the latter technically is a fugitive from a fucked-up US justice process, predicated on a politically influenced and expedient prosecution and punishment, absurdly out of line with the normal legal standards of the day.

bgmnts

I never saw Woody Allen films as a teen or young adult so thankfully I don't have to coincide my love of comedy and distate of diddlers.

lipsink

Quote from: mojo filters on February 08, 2019, 01:18:33 PM
I thought Whatever Works was criminally underrated, especially Larry David's lead.

I found that a little disturbing what with the age difference between the two leads and the childlike nature of Evan Rachel Wood's character. Plus, you'd think Larry David would be perfect to take over as a Woody Allen lead but he just came across as a charmless grouch. He somehow didn't have the usual glint in his eye that he has in CYE (or Woody has in his films) that let's him get away with being such a curmudgeon. I'm probably alone in this view cos I remember it getting a pretty decent reception.

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: lipsink on February 08, 2019, 01:33:23 PM
I found that a little disturbing what with the age difference between the two leads and the childlike nature of Evan Rachel Wood's character. Plus, you'd think Larry David would be perfect to take over as a Woody Allen lead but he just came across as a charmless grouch. I'm probably alone in this view cos I remember it getting a pretty decent reception.

I'm in total agreement with you, but two important caveats - I haven't seen it since it came out, and I can't stand Larry David.

EOLAN

Re; Manhattan, I do remember Parkinson fawning it all over in a big interview where Allen was just coughing throughout it; and said he wanted to do another film for free so that Manhattan would never be seen.

There is an element of creepiness about Allen portraying something that is apparently is an urge of his and giving himself the role and how it reflects on him. But I do know of a number of women are around that age did have relationships with much older men. I don't think the general theme, should be something that is totally out of realm for fictional storytelling.

biggytitbo

Quote from: up_the_hampipe on February 08, 2019, 11:38:34 AM
He seems to get more condemnation for marrying his step-daughter, which is definitely true. Even if it's proven he never molested his daughter, he's still a creep to a lot of people.


I don't think she was ever his step-daughter, or any relation to Allen.


As for this lawsuit, I think Amazon are on incredibly dodgy ground unless they have some clause in the original contract about bad publicity or something. Allen's never being charged with anything and probably never will be - they're just stuck with someone who the media has turned on, which is tough titty for them really.

#38
Yeah, that's my read of it too. Whatever your opinion of Allen, he does seem like he has a solid case here. No new information has come out, all allegations were known by the respective parties and the public up to and including the time the deal was made. It's understandable that they don't want to work with him anymore in the current climate, but it looks like Amazon are in a legal bind here, if they don't want to release the film, they have to at least pay Allen and his production company the agreed upon amount as per the terms of the deal they made.

One way Amazon seem to have protected themselves is that they're allowed to renegotiate the deal if the film bombs or doesn't gross a certain percentage of its budget. But they can't just dump it into 5 cinemas and bury it, because they're contractually obliged to give it wide release in the top film markets, and in that eventuality it would be more than likely that Allen's faithful audience would be able to turn out and make it break even. So they've got a film that would be an extremely visible and potentially damaging PR nightmare of a release cycle, or they can sit on it and get sued.

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: EOLAN on February 08, 2019, 02:26:38 PM
Re; Manhattan, I do remember Parkinson fawning it all over in a big interview where Allen was just coughing throughout it; and said he wanted to do another film for free so that Manhattan would never be seen.

Yeah, but that was only because he wasn't happy with the film (to this day he doesn't really like it) - didn't have anything to do with the dodgy story elements.


Quote
I don't think the general theme, should be something that is totally out of realm for fictional storytelling.

No, but neither should it be treated as absolutely acceptable and/or with no one having issues with it at all.  Old men fucking schoolgirls was last okay in America in the 19th century.  In Manhattan it's treated as if it's a 21 year old going out with an 18 year old.  Which it isn't.

Whether or not he's guilty of kid sex is debatable... however the feeling one gets from this clip is pretty cut and dry...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPqvqPIGFts

I'm surprised more people haven't retroactively commentated on it to be honest.

Ant Farm Keyboard

The facts against (or for) him are indeed imbibed in a lot of subjectivity, but there's stuff I can share here.

- At the time he was working on Manhattan, he had an affair with an actual 16 or 17-year-old girl, Stacey Nelkin (who was the female lead in Halloween 3). There may be one other, Christina Engelhardt, who came out lately to describe their on-off affair that took place during eight years, involving three-ways with Allen and Mia Farrow). Both explain that the relationship was consensual, and that Mariel Hemingway's character was a composite of them, and possibly others.

- Sun-Yi Previn wasn't legally Woody Allen's adopted daughter. Her father was André Previn. That said, she had grown up around him (Farrow and Allen lived in different places), and she regarded him as a father figure. And the claim that they only started having sex when she was 18 sounds very shabby.

- Usually, people who have an obsession towards teen (ephebophiles) are not attracted towards much younger kids (pedophiles). There's a definite pattern in Allen's life about girls who are legal-ish (at least in the State of New York), but there's nothing else in his life or career that's similar to what Dylan Farrow recalls.

- One of Mia Farrow's brothers is sentenced to 25 years of prison for molesting two young boys during eight years. Mia has never commented on this situation.

- Woody Allen supported Roman Polanski.

- Mia Farrow supported Roman Polanski.

- Woody Allen may be the target of false accusations, but every time he puts together an official statement or speaks in an interview about the issue does it in such a smug way that I can't help but wanting to punch him in the face.

- The "creepy Jew molesting a pure and innocent child" is a very strong image with some people, as it's indeed the modern version of the blood libel myth. There's one major gossip site that was making its bread and butter by publishing generic stuff about Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Bryan Singer (who was raised Jewish) or John Travolta. After both Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey fell, this particular site  started to accuse directly Steven Spielberg or David Geffen of being monsters who are at the head of big trafficking rings, have molested hundreds of children over the years, and even had people killed to protect their reputation (while doing nothing against the site, naturally...). Stanley Kubrick (who was friends with Spielberg) raped dozens of teenagers during the casting of Lolita and 8-year-olds on the set of 2001 (as if Kubrick didn't have extreme OCD...). Vic Morrow was killed during production of The Twilight Zone, as he was threatening to reveal a huge child-trafficking ring set up by the producers, and involving Vietnamese boys. Back to the Future was an excuse for putting together fake castings that allowed the producers to rape many kids...
Child molestation is already a favorite accusation for the alt-right, but when you add the Jewish element to the mix (and Spielberg, Geffen and Allen are as Jewish as you can get), it reaches the boiling point for a very motivated crowd who'd like the Jewish-run liberal Hollywood and "MSM" to burn.

https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/07/james-gunn-dan-harmon-mike-cernovich-the-far-rights-pedophilia-smear-campaign-is-working.html

So, the site also started to write very "detailed" reports on Woody Allen, even stating that he had forced Selena Gomez to shoot a very revealing pictorial to get a part,  which he now uses to blackmail her into not speaking against him.

I'm not saying at all that the accusations against Woody Allen should be dismissed because they are supported by anti-Semites (I, for instance, think that Polanski should have been jailed), but that the racial component contributes to the particular attention they get.

biggytitbo

Quote from: Ant Farm Keyboard on February 08, 2019, 04:58:54 PM
- Sun-Yi Previn wasn't legally Woody Allen's adopted daughter. Her father was André Previn. That said, she had grown up around him (Farrow and Allen lived in different places), and she regarded him as a father figure. And the claim that they only started having sex when she was 18 sounds very shabby.


I'm sure Soon-Yi herself said she'd hardly had any contact with Allen (indeed he had little contact with any of Mias kids) until Mia started to encourage her to spend time with him. And she certainly never regarded him as a father figure, her father figure is Andre Previn, he was always 'Mia's boyfriend' to her. Their affair was discovered in 1992, and she says it begin in 1991, so she was already in her early 20s by then.

Small Man Big Horse

He's supposedly got financial backing for his next film which is due to shoot in July, but no cast has been announced yet. http://blog.thefilmstage.com/post/182948465286/woody-allen-will-begin-shooting-his-next-film-this

Bad Ambassador

Weird fact I just discovered. Allen's dad was born seven days from the end of 19th Century and died eight days into the 21st.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on February 21, 2019, 04:30:40 PM
He's supposedly got financial backing for his next film which is due to shoot in July, but no cast has been announced yet. http://blog.thefilmstage.com/post/182948465286/woody-allen-will-begin-shooting-his-next-film-this

I can't imagine any A-list actors, the sort of people Allen usually works with, touching this with a bargepole. They'll be #cancelled by association.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on February 21, 2019, 10:13:39 PM
I can't imagine any A-list actors, the sort of people Allen usually works with, touching this with a bargepole. They'll be #cancelled by association.

Maybe he'll use #cancelled people like Louis CK, Kevin Spacey and Jeffrey Tambor, just so he can sue the production company when they refuse to release it.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

I wouldn't put it past Allen to make an entirely misjudged film about the #MeToo movement, albeit from the perspective of a 'wronged' elderly celebrity. Imagine that.

Ferris

I've never forgiven him for the theft of ~1.5hrs of my life as a result of watching Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

(Though I do agree Amazon are on shaky grounds here)

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

VCB is actually a fairly half-decent later Allen film. Imagine what the worst of them are like!

Ferris

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on February 22, 2019, 04:16:39 AM
VCB is actually a fairly half-decent later Allen film. Imagine what the worst of them are like!

That's how I was suckered into seeing it - "it's a real return to form!"

Didn't make that mistake again!

A metoo flavoured light romantic comedy could be spiffy. He should film it like Chubby Rain.


mojo filters

Quote from: Monsieur Verdoux on May 06, 2019, 02:35:57 PM
Looks like 'A Rainy Day In New York' might premiere in Italy

https://www.thestatesman.com/entertainment/woody-allens-rainy-day-new-york-likely-release-italy-1502752395.html

As a long time fan, I hope Woody gets whatever success he deserves with this enterprise.

As a long time fan, I'm also well equipped to be thoroughly disappointed by yet another lessor, later work.

As a long time fan, I know enough not to give a fuck about dumb soft media hysteria around whatever Woody Allen chooses to do within the confines of the law and common sense ethics.

The most egregious issue at hand in respect of this topic is the sheer power that unanswerable media behemoths like Amazon are able to wield. Jeff Besos et al should restrict their viewing preferences to the command afforded by their own remote control.

These people refuse to take on the actual responsibilities that honest and struggling publishers are dealing with every day, at a significant cost to our media plurality.

Those who refuse to have their freedom of expression restricted by nonsense and gossip, should celebrate and acknowledge whatever critical and/or commercial success Woody Allen manages to achieve.

That said, unlike 20 odd years ago - I'll not be encouraging my friends to go watch the latest Woody Allen movie. Sadly his own creative shortcomings have become increasingly apparent over those years, and I fear his better works are all behind him.

Who the hell am I to start criticising and parsing any and all aspects of what the best and most consistent reporting exposes as nothing more than a slightly unconventional, yet thoroughly happy marriage?

The latter kind of BS is pure S4C!

Hey, Punk!

mojo likes to smell his own farts

Ant Farm Keyboard

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on February 22, 2019, 03:26:00 AM
I wouldn't put it past Allen to make an entirely misjudged film about the #MeToo movement, albeit from the perspective of a 'wronged' elderly celebrity. Imagine that.

There's already such a film.

In France, director Jean-Claude Brisseau started out by doing social poetic drama (Sound and Fury, in 1988, was quite the achievement) but quickly ventured into racy and lurid stories.

It emerged at some point that the casting process for his projects required months of sexual exploration by the wannabe actresses, basically performing sexual acts while he watched, or had a wank. He ended up being sued by four women (some of them weren't even cast in any of his films), got a suspended one year sentence, and had to become a registered sex offender.

Four years later, in 2006, he shot Exterminating Angels, an erotic drama based on his own book, where he depicted the lead character, a director, as a maverick who wants to capture something real and strong regarding desire during preliminary work on the film, revealing in the process to his actresses something they didn't know about themselves, until obsession got the better hand on them and they press charges on him.

Brisseau got a lot of support during the lawsuit from the film press world, publications like Les Cahiers du cinéma. I remember that one of the main film critics for Libération defended Brisseau's attitude and compared him to Alfred Hitchcock, who hadn't got laid since he and his wife had their only child, then had a regrettable, but forgivable, episode in front of Tippi Hedren during the production of Marnie. While the fucktard mostly brought Marxist themes to standard Cinemax skin films shot with some good cinematography.

Through a weird coincidence, I've found myself twice in the Paris metro close to Jean-Claude Brisseau. He's tall and huge. He could pass for a former rugby player. But he's also extremely ugly. It's easy to understand why this guy would beg for something that could give him a semi and why he was able to persuade young women to do that.

PlanktonSideburns

Why don't the authorities sanction a four hour long documentary about how innocent/guilty of all those crimes Allen is, at least we would all get some sort of closure either way then

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on February 22, 2019, 03:26:00 AM
I wouldn't put it past Allen to make an entirely misjudged film about the #MeToo movement, albeit from the perspective of a 'wronged' elderly celebrity. Imagine that.

Roman Polanski released Venus in Fur in 2013, which featured a toe-curling moment where the main character (a director) ranted against the media's current obsession with "child abuse", during a sexual role play.

St_Eddie

Quote from: thecuriousorange on May 08, 2019, 05:16:45 PM
Roman Polanski released Venus in Fur in 2013, which featured a toe-curling moment where the main character (a director) ranted against the media's current obsession with "child abuse", during a sexual role play.

"What is the media's current obsession with child abuse all about?"

*continues to fuck a child in front of paparazzi*