dagblog - Comments for "Woody Allen's Progressive Legacy Is Worth Saving"

Although I'm for the

Aaron Carine — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 14:41:28 +0000

In reply to Woody Allen's Progressive Legacy Is Worth Saving

I'm somewhat troubled by Michael's third paragraph. He seems to be saying that the question of whether Allen did it is less important than Allen's artistic contributions and progressive politics, or no more important.

I don't see Michael

anonymous pp — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 14:37:02 +0000

In reply to Although I'm for the

I don't see Michael addressing the allegations at all. Why bother? There's no proof, only long worn out speculation.

Well done, yourself, Peracles

Oxy Mora — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 21:40:17 +0000

In reply to I appreciate Maiello's

Well done, yourself, Peracles. Easy Readin'.

".....one that will make his shrink happy"---great line, and quite possibly true given the incestuous relationships between movie types and shrinks.

Your comments got me to thinking how fun these movies were, and, happily, how far out of the box they are compared to the junk that's out there.

Nice piece, Michael! And hey

Doctor Cleveland — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 18:34:35 +0000

In reply to Woody Allen's Progressive Legacy Is Worth Saving

Nice piece, Michael! And hey ... You'll only have to stay in hiding until Ronan Farrow's career keeps him too busy and successful to look for you.

That may be a while. Try the jerk chicken!

I smell a rat. I know

Ramona — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 16:22:40 +0000

In reply to Due to online harassment from

I smell a rat. I know Michael Maiello and you, sir, are no Michael Maiello.

I can't comment on Woody Allen, other than to say he made some mighty fine movies. I've used up my two-thousand-word limit.

I appreciate Maiello's

PeraclesPlease — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 14:54:28 +0000

In reply to Woody Allen's Progressive Legacy Is Worth Saving

I appreciate Maiello's appreciation for non-black-and-white, messy human relationships, as well as Allen's liberalism that seems to pull the best of Jewish and New York and 50's/60's roots without hardly anyone in his movies getting whacked. Even the great Sergio Leone couldn't resist making a fabulous sentimental movie about New York Jews blasting the hell out of each other and rival gangs - but could he have debated Diane Keaton for 2 hours without cerebral hemorrhaging? Could anyone but Woody?

So Maiello's other great point seeps through - rather than genitals on 2 legs, Woody gives screen time to actresses exploring character, to showing a bit of human condition from several angles. There's no point in fast-forwarding through Woody's films looking for the sex scene(s), as it's not there - and not missed. It's a definition of "adult entertainment" that's lost on most movie makers. But it's also breathtaking to go to a movie that's filled with literary and philosophical references more than Tarantino ripping off Straw Dogs or Bruce playing The Duke. Or to thank that my teen years were more influenced by Love And Death and Bananas than Porky's or Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - the ugly situation that resulted from the death of directors' movies in 1980, or all except a handful like Allen and Altman.

As for judging the great scandal, well this one's easy - Polanski pleaded guilty in acknowledging most of his victim's version*, while Cosby has 30 women agreeing on a very similar story over decades. Woody Allen has a broken home with he said-she said, including a kid that refuses to talk to his mother and another that refuses to talk to her dad. Who's to judge but the Gods (not the biblical Talmudic ones - the fickle hypocritical Mount Olympus/Greek chorus always bickering among themselves). Even in Woody Allen's real life, he finds a neurotic balance - not the one you wanted, but the one that gets the most ironic laugh, one that will make his shrink happy. Woody could have been Robin Williams, but sadly he wasn't funny enough to be that suicidal, so he kept on trying for a few more decades. Oh wait, I think I messed that up somehow. As Gilda Radner and Kurt Cobain would say, "Never mind".

*Just finished thumbing through "5 Easy Decades" on Nicholson, and it's a good glimpse into Polanski, Nicholson, Beatty and all the other Hollywood exempts from the law in their own bubble - popped by the DA's office increasing interest in their more-and-more open drugs and sexual romps. Nicholson weathers it and his bout with growing old, rather well for the public eye, but less admirable with the closeup on him. Disarming the situation with flippant humor, never serious, he comes across as more of a conflicted Orson Welles character than "Happy Jack" or "Here's Johnny". Possibly it was fortunate for Polanski to flee to Europe, where he missed out on the self-congratulatory phase and instead got to deal with repentance and a more fitting East European theme of a walking eternal prison, The Bound Man. Maybe Woody could make a funny movie about that.

Update update: Not that

Michael Wolraich — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 23:18:41 +0000

In reply to Update: Michael wants me to

Update update: Not that Michael and family are in Jamaica. I just wrote "Jamaica" as in some-generic-place where people go when they're absolutely not trying to hide from "I am Mia Farrow."

Update: Michael wants me to

Michael Wolraich — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 23:15:49 +0000

In reply to Due to online harassment from

Update: Michael wants me to report that he has NOT disguised himself and his family in dreadlocks and copious suntan oil and that if anyone should happen to see a white couple with small child wearing fake-looking dreads and a full-body oil slick, they should know that it's probably just some regular joes who wouldn't watch a Woody Allen movie even if it were the only thing on TV in Jamaica.

Due to online harassment from

Michael Wolraich — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 23:09:18 +0000

In reply to Woody Allen's Progressive Legacy Is Worth Saving

Due to online harassment from a dangerous if somewhat obscure terrorist group known as "I Am Mia Farrow," Michael has been forced to take refuge at a secure location in the Caribbean. He has reportedly disguised himself and his family in dreadlocks and copious suntan oil. But I have shared your comments with him, and he authorized me to release the following statement:

Thank you to my many fans and I admirers. Honestly, I could not have done it without assistance, support, and extensive ghost-writing by the greatest blogger of our generation, a giant among bloviators, the one and only Michael "Genghis" Wolraich.

Great piece! I remember

trkingmomoe — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 20:18:59 +0000

In reply to Woody Allen's Progressive Legacy Is Worth Saving

Great piece! I remember Woody Allen being on Firing Line. I always thought Mia Farrow had a few screws loose and some of her kids were influenced by her. Who knows?