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Whatever Works: Woody Allen On Woody Allen


By

Jen Chung

Published Jun 26, 2010

Modified Jun 26, 2010


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By

Jen Chung

Published Jun 26, 2010

Modified Jun 26, 2010


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Woody Allen spoke to the Times of London this week and said, "Nobody wants to see a guy who’s 74 hitting on a woman of any age. But I don’t want to make geriatric movies about old people because they bore me too." But it's okay to have 60-something Larry David marrying the nubile Evan Rachel Wood in Whatever Works?

He also said of his own films, "There are a few better than others, half a dozen, but it’s a surprising paucity of worthwhile celluloid," and named his favorites as Purple Rose of Cairo, Match Point, Bullets Over Broadway, Zelig, Husbands and Wives, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The Vulture says his picks are "Proof again that artists have no business judging their own material"; a British critic offers up his top and worst 10 lists of Allen's films and slams Match Point, Cassandra's Dream and Scoop because "his lack of knowledge of the nuances of British society was all too apparent."

And in an interview with the Telegraph, Allen admits to living in a bubble on the Upper East Side (he does everything within blocks of his home), says he rarely eats meat ("I’ll have a steak twice a year. But the guilt afterward is not worth the pleasure of the meal") and is downbeat on the critical reception of his films: "I feel it’s a lose-lose proposition. If a film gets bad reviews, nobody comes. If a film gets good reviews, maybe people come, and maybe nobody comes. But it’s never, if it gets good reviews, then they really come. For me, it’s lose, and, you know… maybe."

Tagged

film

movies

upper east side

whatever works

woody allen


Jen Chung

Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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