Woody and Lynn
When I saw today’s For Better or For Worse strip, I was reminded of the old Woody Allen movie, Everyone Says I Love You. In this movie towards the end, there is a choreographed dance sequence with Goldie Hawn, I believe, where she does dance moves in combination with wire work, so her leaps in the air are, shall we say, spectacular. I used to watch the old Siskel and Ebert movie review show religiously, and I remember that one of them thought the wire-work choreography was stunningly beautiful and the work of a film genius to think of and include it in the movie. The other reviewer thought it was awful, came out of nowhere, and was a fairly ridiculous notion. Of course, neither of them actually revealed what it was in the film, being good critics who didn’t want to ruin the movie for me. So, when I saw the movie, all I knew was that something was going to happen.
Much in the way that happened when I viewed the ballet poses in today’s For Better or For Worse strip, my opinion fell more in the negative. When the dancing started I thought to myself, “What the heck is this?” and I was unable to enjoy the choreography, because I was so flummoxed by the idea it had been added to the movie. The movie on the whole struck me as one of those latter day Woody Allen efforts, where the great writer and director was heading on the downward spiral into movies like Scoop, which came out recently and was quite poorly done. I looked Everyone Says I Love You up on the Internet Movie Database, I see that the movie was nominated for a number of awards during its time, so I might not have the same opinion on a later viewing.
Woody Allen used to be one of my favourite film directors and I would see everything he did. Not so any more. I find there are many parallels between his art and Lynn Johnston’s. Their initial works were crude, but funny. Later on, their work took a more serious side and became more heavily autobiographical and hit a certain creative peak, where they were doing their best work, and they were deservedly acclaimed for it. Lynn got her Reuben. Woody got his Oscars. More recently, most of their work misfires and gets acclaim whenever it is not so bad, and makes you wonder how someone so talented could have lost so much of their ability to tell a coherent and credible story.
Since Lynn Johnston is nearing the very end of her career, I almost view this progression as a part of an artist’s life. I’ll read about the end of the long, long courtship between Elizabeth and Anthony so I will know how it ends, but no longer so I will get any satisfaction at the way the story was told. If I look at it in the right spirit I can try to be in a positive mood about seeing the two characters finally together after all these years apart. But more likely, I will just howl in laughter, as I did when I first saw those awkward ballet poses. For Better or For Worse has made me laugh again, just like the good old days.
Just you let you know, on Saturday to Saturday, I will be in Myrtle Beach, S.C. on a vacation to a family reunion of sorts. There will be limited internet access during that time. I might pop in every once in a while, but it will be limited. If my April's Real Blog characters are not responding the way they should, feel free to make them do what is needed.
Much in the way that happened when I viewed the ballet poses in today’s For Better or For Worse strip, my opinion fell more in the negative. When the dancing started I thought to myself, “What the heck is this?” and I was unable to enjoy the choreography, because I was so flummoxed by the idea it had been added to the movie. The movie on the whole struck me as one of those latter day Woody Allen efforts, where the great writer and director was heading on the downward spiral into movies like Scoop, which came out recently and was quite poorly done. I looked Everyone Says I Love You up on the Internet Movie Database, I see that the movie was nominated for a number of awards during its time, so I might not have the same opinion on a later viewing.
Woody Allen used to be one of my favourite film directors and I would see everything he did. Not so any more. I find there are many parallels between his art and Lynn Johnston’s. Their initial works were crude, but funny. Later on, their work took a more serious side and became more heavily autobiographical and hit a certain creative peak, where they were doing their best work, and they were deservedly acclaimed for it. Lynn got her Reuben. Woody got his Oscars. More recently, most of their work misfires and gets acclaim whenever it is not so bad, and makes you wonder how someone so talented could have lost so much of their ability to tell a coherent and credible story.
Since Lynn Johnston is nearing the very end of her career, I almost view this progression as a part of an artist’s life. I’ll read about the end of the long, long courtship between Elizabeth and Anthony so I will know how it ends, but no longer so I will get any satisfaction at the way the story was told. If I look at it in the right spirit I can try to be in a positive mood about seeing the two characters finally together after all these years apart. But more likely, I will just howl in laughter, as I did when I first saw those awkward ballet poses. For Better or For Worse has made me laugh again, just like the good old days.
Just you let you know, on Saturday to Saturday, I will be in Myrtle Beach, S.C. on a vacation to a family reunion of sorts. There will be limited internet access during that time. I might pop in every once in a while, but it will be limited. If my April's Real Blog characters are not responding the way they should, feel free to make them do what is needed.
posted by howard at 12:24 AM
4 Comments:
I've had the same responses to Woody Allen movies. I used to love his films, and as soon as a new Woody Allen was out, I knew I wanted to see it. But his later works have been so disappointing. :(
Good analogy!
My initial reaction was, “What the #$%^ is this? It’s so quirky and corny…” The point is that Liz and Anthony are having fun together - something that’s been missing in their relationship. And like a Woody Allen movie, the panorama is perfect.
Interesting comparison of Woody and Lynn’s work. I am no Woody Allen fan because he’s just too neurotic for my taste and his scandalous relationship with Soon-Yi didn’t help either. (The biggest surprise is that their relationship seems to be solid.) The fact that he produced a musical-ish movie indicates to me that he is still enormously creative.
One of my friends just bought a house in Mertle Beach. First heard of this place in the movie “October Sky”. Have a great time.
Liz is drunk. How will Anthony feel tomorrow when Liz doesn't remember anything from the wedding other than she drank too much?
bill the cat,
Liz could be drunk, but after all that lifting and dipping, I think Anthony would find out sooner rather than later if she's intoxicated.
It's been since Jan, 2006 that Lynn has done a "Liz is hungover" storyline for humour. The stories this year with Liz going into the fetal position in her bed with her stuffed animal, or weeping profusely at Mike's book success, or entering the house screaming about her own lack of success with Paul and Anthony would indicate she is trying to cope with her problems using different methods than alcohol consumption.
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