Why did Woody Allen get involved with this movie? - Scenes from a Mall (1991) Discussion

[–] sales-393 16 years ago

I've never heard him talk about it. And I can see why. It's a great little film but if you had a chance to interview Woody Allen or get him to talk on something you wouldn't say "Woody, I wanna start with Scenes From A Mall....." Who cares.

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[–] wobblythoughts 16 years ago

I do, I'm curious.

You liked it then? I'm quite surprised... For me it was very tedious, reminded me of another Allen movie I didn't enjoy: Small Time Crooks.

I thought that maybe he accepted the part because he woke up one day all covered in stale music, finding in his sheets his clarinet with it's mouth piece hacked off.

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[–] sales-393 16 years ago

I'd rate Small Time Crooks the worst Woody Allen film I have ever seen.

The thought of a teary Woody Allen in the hospital all night waiting for news of his clarinet is startling. I can only assume Dianne Keaton's brother, Randy Hall and Marion Meade would both be under immediate suspicion over the attack.

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[–] iseepinkelefants 16 years ago

I actually didn't like Small Time Crooks when I watched it the first time. But I watched it again a year or two later and it wasn't that bad.

In "Woody Allen on Woody Allen" he doesn't talk much about "Scenes From a Mall". He's asked about the time lengths of his films and he says Paul So and so who I just did a movie with, 'Scenes from a Mall' has a differnt bio rythm than I do. It isn't mentioned anywhere else in the book.

The worst Woody Allen for me was "Everybody Says I Love You". He's seen so many old movies and there are so many choreographers out there, he couldn't find one who could come up with a decent dance number? It reminded me of that Doris Day-esque movie Renee Zellweger was in. But I guess trying to recreate those movies is hard to do because most die hard fans have seen them a million times and can dissect everything.

Now worse movie Woody Allen he's been in that he hasn't directed, "Picking Up the Pieces". It was so bad.

I was born when she kissed me. I died when she left me. I lived a few weeks while she loved me.

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[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] stephenebrey 15 years ago

I'm sure Woody Allen loved the title. Ingmar Bergman is Allen's favorite director and Scenes from a Marriage is one of Bergman's best works.

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[–] Xcalat3 14 years ago

very good question

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

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[–] BogartDeniroScorsese 13 years ago

I was going to ask the same question. The fact that Allen didn’t write it or direct it seems strange to me. Also, the fact that it’s not set in New York City, but rather in L.A. ( a city that I thought Allen didn’t like), and the fact that his character says something in the beginning that seems to be a put down of NYC (I don’t remember exactly, but I think it was something about a relative who likes to brag about how NYC is the cultural capital of the U.S.) all combine to make this the most un-Woody Allen movie I have ever seen him in.

BTW, I think this is the worst Woody Allen movie I’ve ever seen. My personal favorites are “Hannah and Her Sisters”, “Crime and Misdemeanor” and “Play It Again, Sam”.

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[–] ColBatGuano 13 years ago

You can't really call it a Woody Allen movie. He is in Scenes From A Mall but only as an actor. Every single film he has made was written and directed by him. Not a single adaptation. All original stories. All original characters. Perhaps the only American filmmaker from the 70's who never gave up on the promise they made: to be writer/directors of 100% original personal cinema. And he has made an unprecedented 44 films!!!!!!! That's astonishing. Give the guy 10 bad movies and you still have 33 movies left!!!!! Scenes From A Mall is a Paul Mazursky film, written and directed by him. He is an extremely accomplished director but one could say, "This is the worst Paul Mazursky movie I’ve ever seen. " And the worst Woody Allen movie is still so much better than the worst Paul Mazursky movie.

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[–] darlingnicky767 12 years ago

This is not a particularly clever or incisive comment, but I think he made it to physically demonstrate why and how much he hates "the LA life".

It was dreadful...but it was not Woody who repulsed me the most, but rather the increasingly unbearable Bette Midler. I literally HATE her work.

She is one of the genuine flukes of cinema. I can appreciate her brief cabaret work at the baths in the early 70's, but she is pure poison on the big (or small) screen.

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[–] jorgito2001 11 years ago

Just finished it and Woody nearly gave me a headache, I can only take him in small doses..thank goodness this is close to an hour & 20, any longer & I'd be on a ledge.

--
I'm your average ordinary everyday, jorgeegeetooo!

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[–] sfrsez 11 years ago

bc its a gr8 movie

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[–] Sitcom_Sally 11 years ago

Despite my age (mid-40s) today is the first time I've seen this film. I usually don't like typical 80s films nor anything to do with LA. Also, I've seen most of Woody's films. This has his name all over it, except literally, as several of you have pointed out. Was it great? No. Will I choose to watch it again? Not likely. But I can see why when he read the script he probably thought it was a good vehicle for him to try something slightly different. That is, to be in a different venue for him. No matter the rest in the film, Woody was still Woody.

Again consider my age. I've never even seen Top Gun nor Dirty Dancing nor many very popular 80s films. They never appealed to me. Many of the ones I did see I didn't like. I didn't watch Miami Vice, and that white jacket he's wearing reminds me of that unfortunate fashion trend. But deposite being very 80s (it was released in 91, I think, so close enough) it still rings true as a Woody film, which says a lot for him.

Also, I thought Everyone Says I Love You was hilarious in a completely different way than this one tried to be. It was spoofing the old films, you all do realize that, right? It wasn't trying to be a modern day version of one. That's what was so funny about it. "I'm through with love, I'll never love again...." Oh, the drama!

The perfect human being is uninteresting. -Joseph Campbell

{Ignore phone posting errors.}

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[–] saltsan 10 years ago

I read an interview in which WA said he had always admired the director. Maybe the fact that he was offered a really good salary, and Allen's own films (as director) haven't exactly made him as rich as George Lucas, helped. I also remember reading that Allen agreed to do it only after the producers agreed to film all the interiors in Connecticut, so he could go home to his NYC apartment every night after work.

I really don't get why people hate this movie so much. It's not great, but it's not bad either: maybe a 6 out of ten. I'm glad I finally caught up with it.

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[–] Rheli 10 years ago

I think he doesn't like LA and some of the people like lawyers and shrinks who sell books that live there so he relished the opportunity to poke fun at them and their ways.

Even though it's not his film as a director, I notice he played a fairly Woody Allen type, complete with the characteristic stammering.

He also loves Bergman and probably his film Scenes from a Marriage. He probably saw this as an homage: Scenes from an LA Marriage.

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