Woody Allen and Philosophy

Woody Allen and Philosophy PDF Author: Mark T. Conard
Publisher: Open Court
ISBN: 0812697464
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
Fifteen philosophers representuing different schools of thought answer the question what is Woody Allen trying to say in his films? And why should anyone care? Focusing on different works and varied aspects of Allen's multifaceted output, these essays explore the philosophical undertones of Anne Hall, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Manhattan, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy and reminds us that just because the universe is meaningless and life is pointless is no reason to commit suicide.

Woody Allen and Philosophy

Woody Allen and Philosophy PDF Author: Mark T. Conard
Publisher: Open Court
ISBN: 0812697464
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 250

Get Book

Book Description
Fifteen philosophers representuing different schools of thought answer the question what is Woody Allen trying to say in his films? And why should anyone care? Focusing on different works and varied aspects of Allen's multifaceted output, these essays explore the philosophical undertones of Anne Hall, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Manhattan, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy and reminds us that just because the universe is meaningless and life is pointless is no reason to commit suicide.

Woody Allenäó»s Angst

Woody Allenäó»s Angst PDF Author: Sander H. Lee
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476605963
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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Book Description
While Woody Allen is generally considered to be a master of the comic genre he created, his serious films are very important in understanding his role as one of this generation’s more influential filmmakers. In this work such Allen films as Annie Hall (1977), Broadway Danny Rose (1984), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) and Mighty Aphrodite (1995) are analyzed for the common philosophical themes they share. Gender issues, Allen’s love-hate relationship with God, narcissism and moral relativism, and the use of the so-called existential dilemma are among the topics discussed. The extensive research is augmented with a rare interview with Allen.

Woody Allen

Woody Allen PDF Author: Vittorio Hösle
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Comic, The
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Book Description
In this extended essay, Vittorio H sle develops a theory of the comical and applies it to interpret both the recurrent personae played by Woody Allen the actor and the philosophical issues addressed by Woody Allen the director in his films. Taking Henri Bergson's analysis of laughter as a starting point, H sle integrates aspects of other theories of laughter to construct his own more finely-articulated and expanded model. With this theory in hand, H sle discusses the incongruity in the characters played by Woody Allen and describes how these personae are realized in his work. H sle focuses on the philosophical issues in Allen's major films by exploring the identity problem in Play It Again, Sam and Zelig, the shortcomings of the positivist concept of reality in A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, the relation between reality and art in The Purple Rose of Cairo, the objective validity of morality in Crimes and Misdemeanors, the power of evil in Shadows and Fog, and the relation between art and morality in Bullets over Broadway. He cites Allen's virtuosic reinterpretation of older forms of expression and his integration of the fantastic into the comic universe--elements like the giant breasts, anxious sperm, extraterrestrials, ghosts, and magicians that populate his movies--as formal moves akin to those of Aristophanes. Both an overview of Allen's work and a philosophical analysis of laughter, H sle's study demonstrates why Allen's films have more to offer us--morally, philosophically, and artistically--than just a few laughs. "In Woody Allen, Vittorio H sle goes a long way toward explaining everything you wanted to know about Allen but were afraid to ask. Just why exactly is he funny, and why does his humor have a strong appeal for academics? In his comprehensive analysis of Allen's work, H sle outlines a workable theory of humor, illustrates his conclusions by referring to the films and prose, and points out several philosophic motifs underlying Allen's deceptively complex comedies. H sle's work elevates the enjoyment of Allen's films from guilty pleasure to satisfying intellectual engagement with an intriguing contemporary thinker and artist." --Richard A. Blake, S.J., Boston College "Vittorio H sle presents a compelling overview of Allen's work in which he discusses different theories of laughter and argues for the priority of the incongruity theory as the only one able to answer the normative question, what distinguises good from bad laughter? On this theoretical basis he goes on to delve into both the humor and the philosophical profundity of Allen's films." --Sander Lee, Keene State College

Dread & Superficiality

Dread & Superficiality PDF Author: Stuart Hample
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
ISBN: 9780810957428
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Collects three hundred "Inside Woody Allen" newspaper comic strips by Stuart Hample from between 1976 and 1984, shot off the original art and based on the life and jokes of Woody Allen.

Woody Allen

Woody Allen PDF Author: Robert E. Kapsis
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 1496804422
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
This revised and updated edition gathers interviews and profiles covering the entire forty-five year span of Woody Allen's career as a filmmaker, including detailed discussions of his most popular as well as his most critically acclaimed works. The present collection is a complete update of the volume that first appeared in 2006. In the years since, Allen has continued making movies, including Midnight in Paris and the Oscar-winning Blue Jasmine. While many interviews from the original edition have been retained in the present volume, nine new entries extend the coverage of Allen's directorial career through 2015. In addition, there is a new, in-depth interview from the period covered in the first edition. Most of the interviews included in the original volume first appeared in such widely known publications and venues as the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time, the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and Playboy. A number of smaller and lesser-known venues are also represented, especially in the new volume. Several interviews from non-American sources add an international perspective on Allen's work. Materials for the new volume include pieces focusing primarily on Allen's films as well as broader profiles and interviews that also concentrate on his literary talent. Perhaps Stephen Mamber best describes Allen's distinctiveness, especially early in his career: "Woody Allen is not the best new American comedy director or the best comedy writer or the best comedy actor, he's simply the finest combination of all three."

The Unruly Life of Woody Allen

The Unruly Life of Woody Allen PDF Author: Marion Meade
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1497631548
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
“A psychologically nuanced, tough-minded portrait” of the New York filmmaker and his relationships with Mia Farrow and Soon-Yi Previn (Publishers Weekly). Writer, director, actor, humorist. Woody Allen stands as one of our era’s most celebrated artists. Starting in the 1950s, Allen began crafting a larger‐than‐life neurotic persona that has since entertained and enlightened millions. In his films, widely thought to be autobiographical explorations of his own comic fears and fixations, Allen carefully controlled the public’s view of him as a lovable scamp. But that all came crashing down the day Mia Farrow found a Polaroid on her mantle. What followed was a flurry of sensational headlines and legal battles. His relationship with Soon‐Yi Previn, thirty-four years his junior and the step‐daughter of his longtime girlfriend, caused shockwaves in the public’s perception of the director, yet few biographers and journalists have explored what happened and why. In this, the first deep investigation of Allen’s life and the events surrounding his split with Farrow, biographer Marion Meade tracks down dozens of friends, actors, neighbors, and film historians. They open up with insights and details rare in the world of wealth and celebrity. What results is a fascinating portrait of a flawed genius, as adept at constructing his own image as he is at crafting films. Rereleased and updated, this is an unauthorized biography that neither Woody Allen’s fans nor his detractors will be able to put down. The revised and updated edition was reviewed in the Wall Street Journal in 2013 by Carl Rollyson, in a roundup of the five best Hollywood biographies.

Eighteen Woody Allen Films Analyzed

Eighteen Woody Allen Films Analyzed PDF Author: Sander H. Lee
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786481102
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
This new textbook is an abridgment of the author's earlier Woody Allen's Angst: Philosophical Commentaries on His Serious Films (McFarland, 1997; "invaluable"--Choice.) Five main topics are explored: the desire of many of his characters to ground their lives in traditional ethical values despite their realization that such values may no longer be certain; the opposition between pessimism and optimism throughout his films; gender issues relating to romantic love, sexual desire and the ongoing changes in our cultural expectations of both men and women; the idea that contemporary American society is rapidly descending into barbarism precisely because of societal failure to maintain a sense of individual moral responsibility; and a critique of psychoanalysis as a method for understanding human behavior. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Doing Philosophy at the Movies

Doing Philosophy at the Movies PDF Author: Richard A. Gilmore
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791483533
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
Doing Philosophy at the Movies finds the roots of profound philosophical ideas in the relatively ordinary context of popular, mostly Hollywood, movies. Richard A. Gilmore suggests that narratives of popular films like Hitchcock's Vertigo, John Ford's The Searchers, Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors, the Coen Brothers' Fargo, and Danny Boyle's Trainspotting mirror certain epiphanies in the works of great philosophers. Via Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, and Zðizûek, Gilmore addresses such themes as the nature of philosophy, the possibility of redemption through love, catharsis, the sublime, and the human problem of death. Gilmore argues that seeing these movies through the lens of certain philosophical ideas can show how deeply relevant both philosophy and the movies can be.

The Ultimate Woody Allen Film Companion

The Ultimate Woody Allen Film Companion PDF Author: Jason Bailey
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group USA
ISBN: 1627885455
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
A complete look at the extensive, ageless, unparalleled filmography of Woody Allen. Writer, actor, director, comedian, author, and musician, Woody Allen is one of the most culturally and cinematically influential filmmakers of all time. His films - he has over 45 writing and directing credits to his name - range from slapstick to tragedy, farce to fantasy. As one of history's most prolific moviemakers, his style and comic sensibility have been imitated, but never replicated, by countless other filmmakers over the years. In The Ultimate Woody Allen Film Companion, film writer Jason Bailey profiles every one of Allen's films: from his debut feature, What's Up, Tiger Lily, through slapstick classics such as Take the Money and Run and Sleeper; Academy Award-winning films such as Annie Hall and Hannah and Her Sisters; and recent gems such as Midnight in Paris and Blue Jasmine. Bailey also includes essays on the fascinating themes that color Allen's works, from death and Freud to music and New York City. Getting up close and personal with the actors and actresses that have brought the iconic films to life, this book's behind-the-scenes stories span the entire career of a man whose catalog has grown into a timeless cornerstone of American pop culture. Complete with full cast lists, production details, and full-color images and artwork, The Ultimate Woody Allen Film Companion is the ultimate, indispensable reference to one of cinema's most beloved and important figures.

Woody on Rye

Woody on Rye PDF Author: Vincent Brook
Publisher: Brandeis University Press
ISBN: 1611684803
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Although Woody AllenÕs films have received extensive attention from scholars and critics, no book has focused exclusively on Jewishness in his work, particularly that of the late 1990s and beyond. In this anthology, a distinguished group of contributorsÑwhose work is richly contextualized in the fields of literature, philosophy, film, theater, and comedyÑexamine the schlemiel, Allen and women, the Jewish take on the Òmorality of murder,Ó AllenÕs take on Hebrew scripture and Greek tragedy, his stage work, his cinematic treatment of food and dining, and what happens to ÒJew YorkÓ when Woody takes his films out of New York City. Considered together, these essays delineate the intellectual, artistic, and moral development of one of cinemaÕs most durable and controversial directors.