Woody Allen

Gern Blansten

Are any of you watching the HBO documentary Allen v Farrow?

Pretty interesting.  

Not sure what to believe yet.  I just finished episode 1.

hedonist

I haven’t watched it but these allegations have been going on for how many years now?

I did read an excerpt of what happened at the time, through her child’s own eyes and words...and just don’t know. Can’t know.  

What I do know is that I haven’t had a hankering for an Allen film in quite a long time. Especially those goddamn musicals. 

dankind

I feel like I've read enough over the years.

Is there anything worth relitigating? Or is HBO just capitalizing on the #metoo movement for a younger generation?

hedonist

dankind said:

I feel like I've read enough over the years.

Is there anything worth relitigating? Or is HBO just capitalizing on the #metoo movement for a younger generation?

HBO only has our best interests at heart!

rgambs

Never understood the appeal of Woody Allen.  I don't think his films are all that good, let alone brilliant.
The accusations are just icing on a cake I really don't want to eat.

Gern Blansten

I had been reading about it so I thought I'd check it out.  It's really good so far.  I'll have to wait until I've seen it all to render a real opinion.

It is amazing to me that I have only seen a few of his films.  He has a shitload.

What's up Tiger Lilly? and Take the Money and Run are absolutely hilarious.

Also...Everything you wanted to know about sex but were afraid to ask

dankind

Gern Blansten said:

I had been reading about it so I thought I'd check it out.  It's really good so far.  I'll have to wait until I've seen it all to render a real opinion.

It is amazing to me that I have only seen a few of his films.  He has a shitload.

What's up Tiger Lilly? and Take the Money and Run are absolutely hilarious.

Also...Everything you wanted to know about sex but were afraid to ask

"What if he's masturbating? I'm liable to wind up on the ceiling!"

Gern Blansten

dankind said:

Gern Blansten said:

I had been reading about it so I thought I'd check it out.  It's really good so far.  I'll have to wait until I've seen it all to render a real opinion.

It is amazing to me that I have only seen a few of his films.  He has a shitload.

What's up Tiger Lilly? and Take the Money and Run are absolutely hilarious.

Also...Everything you wanted to know about sex but were afraid to ask

"What if he's masturbating? I'm liable to wind up on the ceiling!"

Have you ever seen What's Up Tiger Lilly?

It's basically a Japanese kung fu/spy movie with substitute overdubs about a top secret egg salad recipe

hedonist

Tiger Lily was hilarious, for sure.

I also dug Manhattan Murder Mystery but am okay with not seeing it again.

Hell, I fuck-you’d Polanski when I saw The Tenant is on Hulu. 

The Juggler

My wife and I watched it. I was 12 or 13 when the scandal broke so I didn't pay much attention to it. After watching this, though, yeah he's a fucking pedophile. Had he not been famous, he'd be in jail. Fuck Woody Allen. 

eddiec

Somebody sent me this link. While it's only a blog, it does bring up several points the documentary fails to mention. Such as this:

Woody was cleared in 1993 by two investigation teams. After a 14-month-old investigation, the New York State child welfare investigators dropped their inquiry saying they considered the accusation against him unfounded stating: “No credible evidence was found that the child named in this report has been abused or maltreated”. The doctor who headed the Connecticut investigation in 1993, Dr. John M. Leventhal, saw strong inconsistencies in Dylan Farrow’s statement and concluded that Dylan either invented the story or that this fantasy was planted in Dylan’s mind by her mother: “We had two hypotheses: one, that these were statements that were made by an emotionally disturbed child and then became fixed in her mind. And the other hypothesis was that she was coached or influenced by her mother. We did not come to a firm conclusion. We think that it was probably a combination.” The Yale-New Haven Hospital’s Child Sexual Abuse Clinic Evaluation of Dylan Farrow concluded that Dylan was not sexually abused: “It is our expert opinion that Dylan was not sexually abused by Mr. Allen”. Also, another fact that the HBO-Dick-Ziering-Farrow production “forgets” to mention is that Woody voluntary took and passed a lie detector proof in 1992, while Mia Farrow declined to have one.

Link: https://antoniatejeda.wordpress.com/2021/03/05/the-hbo-dick-ziering-farrow-production-propaganda-slander-omission-shame-lies-melodrama-and-racism/?fbclid=IwAR08HJ8zuSn4Lqg3OpH3mvAZp5K3WzZ7TIiH39HmL0EXvqnlNMukDcqdExo


Midnight in Paris is one of his better recent movies.

The Juggler

eddiec said:

Somebody sent me this link. While it's only a blog, it does bring up several points the documentary fails to mention. Such as this:

Woody was cleared in 1993 by two investigation teams. After a 14-month-old investigation, the New York State child welfare investigators dropped their inquiry saying they considered the accusation against him unfounded stating: “No credible evidence was found that the child named in this report has been abused or maltreated”. The doctor who headed the Connecticut investigation in 1993, Dr. John M. Leventhal, saw strong inconsistencies in Dylan Farrow’s statement and concluded that Dylan either invented the story or that this fantasy was planted in Dylan’s mind by her mother: “We had two hypotheses: one, that these were statements that were made by an emotionally disturbed child and then became fixed in her mind. And the other hypothesis was that she was coached or influenced by her mother. We did not come to a firm conclusion. We think that it was probably a combination.” The Yale-New Haven Hospital’s Child Sexual Abuse Clinic Evaluation of Dylan Farrow concluded that Dylan was not sexually abused: “It is our expert opinion that Dylan was not sexually abused by Mr. Allen”. Also, another fact that the HBO-Dick-Ziering-Farrow production “forgets” to mention is that Woody voluntary took and passed a lie detector proof in 1992, while Mia Farrow declined to have one.

Link: https://antoniatejeda.wordpress.com/2021/03/05/the-hbo-dick-ziering-farrow-production-propaganda-slander-omission-shame-lies-melodrama-and-racism/?fbclid=IwAR08HJ8zuSn4Lqg3OpH3mvAZp5K3WzZ7TIiH39HmL0EXvqnlNMukDcqdExo


Midnight in Paris is one of his better recent movies.

Did you watch the documentary? The third episode is basically entirely about these things you've brought up. It directly addresses this stuff extensively and has numerous experts on talking about why those investigations were bogus. Also, the lie detector he took was not credible, according to the prosecutor. 

https://www.indiewire.com/2021/03/allen-v-farrow-directors-woody-allen-polygraph-test-1234621422/

edit---lol....they absolutely mentioned the lie detector test in the third episode. Does Woody Allen run this blog or something? 

hedonist

The problem is, when those pesky kids speak out, often are (were) dismissed based on the child’s imagination — errr, fantasy.

I’m with Juggler on this one. Fuck Woody Allen. 

Gern Blansten

We just started episode 3....I do think it's odd that he was "dating" Soon Yi at the time the molestation of Dylan supposedly took place.  

Allen was kind of a recluse though.  He handled himself pretty well for someone being accused of pedophilia.  

I'm not saying he didn't do it.  I'll see if the rest changes my mind.

The Juggler

Gern Blansten said:

We just started episode 3....I do think it's odd that he was "dating" Soon Yi at the time the molestation of Dylan supposedly took place.  

Allen was kind of a recluse though.  He handled himself pretty well for someone being accused of pedophilia.  

I'm not saying he didn't do it.  I'll see if the rest changes my mind.

Well he was, at that time especially, one of the biggest stars in the world, despite being a recluse. He had every asset available to him to fight that story in the press. And his team went at it with everything they had, while Mia stayed out of the limelight intentionally. That definitely played a role in forming public opinion. 

Would not surprise me if they paid off the very people investigating Dylan's story as well. I'd actually be surprised if they were not compensated in one way or the other. Episode 3 is really the meat and potatoes of this series. 

Also, some of the stuff Allen said in response to the documentary speaks to his untruthfulness. Especially him saying the thing about the train set in the attic was completely brand new and never came up back in the 90's. Court documents show Dylan mentioned it multiple times. 3 decades later and he's still lying.

Dylan's story, to me, seems to have been remarkably consistent for pretty much her entire life. 

Gern Blansten

The Juggler said:

Gern Blansten said:

We just started episode 3....I do think it's odd that he was "dating" Soon Yi at the time the molestation of Dylan supposedly took place.  

Allen was kind of a recluse though.  He handled himself pretty well for someone being accused of pedophilia.  

I'm not saying he didn't do it.  I'll see if the rest changes my mind.

Well he was, at that time especially, one of the biggest stars in the world, despite being a recluse. He had every asset available to him to fight that story in the press. And his team went at it with everything they had, while Mia stayed out of the limelight intentionally. That definitely played a role in forming public opinion. 

Would not surprise me if they paid off the very people investigating Dylan's story as well. I'd actually be surprised if they were not compensated in one way or the other. Episode 3 is really the meat and potatoes of this series. 

Also, some of the stuff Allen said in response to the documentary speaks to his untruthfulness. Especially him saying the thing about the train set in the attic was completely brand new and never came up back in the 90's. Court documents show Dylan mentioned it multiple times. 3 decades later and he's still lying.

Dylan's story, to me, seems to have been remarkably consistent for pretty much her entire life. 

But Moses came out recently and said the train set story didn't match Dylan's version.  Moses has consistently defended Woody.

The Juggler

Gern Blansten said:

The Juggler said:

Gern Blansten said:

We just started episode 3....I do think it's odd that he was "dating" Soon Yi at the time the molestation of Dylan supposedly took place.  

Allen was kind of a recluse though.  He handled himself pretty well for someone being accused of pedophilia.  

I'm not saying he didn't do it.  I'll see if the rest changes my mind.

Well he was, at that time especially, one of the biggest stars in the world, despite being a recluse. He had every asset available to him to fight that story in the press. And his team went at it with everything they had, while Mia stayed out of the limelight intentionally. That definitely played a role in forming public opinion. 

Would not surprise me if they paid off the very people investigating Dylan's story as well. I'd actually be surprised if they were not compensated in one way or the other. Episode 3 is really the meat and potatoes of this series. 

Also, some of the stuff Allen said in response to the documentary speaks to his untruthfulness. Especially him saying the thing about the train set in the attic was completely brand new and never came up back in the 90's. Court documents show Dylan mentioned it multiple times. 3 decades later and he's still lying.

Dylan's story, to me, seems to have been remarkably consistent for pretty much her entire life. 

But Moses came out recently and said the train set story didn't match Dylan's version.  Moses has consistently defended Woody.

Yeah, see this is another inconsistency that, I think, also hurts Allen. What Moses came out and said was that there was no train set in the attic. But there was. It is in the court documents. Dylan told this to the police. The police made mention of it when they came to the house initially. I actually would not be surprised if Moses was paid off too, actually. lol. He is literally the only one in that entire family who defends Allen (other than his sister who is now married to Allen-yuck) and his story, unlike Dylan's, has changed over the years.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/allen-v-farrow-filmmakers-on-moses-farrow-and-the-finales-train-set-reveal

It is revealed in Episode 4 that a subsequent Connecticut State Police investigation found Allen to be inconsistent about whether he’d been up to the attic with Dylan over several interviews, while three childcare specialists from separate agencies deemed Dylan’s testimony to be “consistent” and “honest,” and believed “the victim was telling the truth.” According to the case files, the investigators concluded that “an arrest warrant be issued for the accused” on the charges of first and fourth degree sexual assault of a minor. However, Connecticut State Attorney Frank Maco, who oversaw the investigation, put a halt to it out of concern for “the further traumatization of [Dylan]; later in Allen v. Farrow, we see a present-day Maco meet Dylan and express deep regret over his decision.

Another apparent inconsistency from Allen concerns a train set in the attic. Dylan has said she remembers staring at a toy train set going around a track while Allen assaulted her at their Connecticut country home on Aug. 4, 1992, while Allen and his defenders have continually tried to poke holes in Dylan’s story by arguing that there was no train set in the attic. (Allen’s adopted son Moses has backed this claim, writing “there was no electric train set in that attic… the idea that the space could possibly have accommodated a functioning electric train set, circling around the attic, is ridiculous.”)

As Allen v. Farrow reveals in its finale, Connecticut State Police visited the home immediately after learning of the allegation and composed a detailed diagram of the attic space. This diagram is included in the case files and shown in the docuseries, and it contains a sketch of a circular train track going around the attic space.

“They’ve said there was no train set in the attic and have repeated it ad nauseam,” says Amy Herdy, an investigative journalist and the chief researcher for Allen v. Farrow. “There’s been lots of allegations about the attic and the crawl space. This wasn’t such a tight space that no one could fit in there, because in the Connecticut State Police records it’s reflected that the detective followed Dylan into the crawl space, where Dylan showed them exactly where she says the abuse had happened. And they recorded a diagram of the scene, and what elements were present in the scene, and one of the things they noticed was a toy train track that was assembled there.”

Gern Blansten

Interesting....

tempo_n_groove

At the end of the day, Woody Allen married his then wifes adopted daughter.  Something isn't right about that.  Never understood why Hollywood still embraced him.

I have never watched a Woody Allen film since I first heard about him doing so as I thought it was just not right and I was a teenager.

dankind

Rosemary's Baby is widely considered a masterpiece. Roman Polanski raped a child. We know without a shadow of a doubt that both of those statements are true.

Annie Hall is widely considered a masterpiece. Woody Allen raped a child. We don't know without a shadow of a doubt if that second statement is true.

Everyone who had their mind made up in the 1990s is not going to have it changed by an HBO documentary. I guess it perhaps serves the purpose of making sure that future generations boycott his films.

Gern Blansten

That the NY child welfare office found no evidence is concerning.  

The Juggler

Gern Blansten said:

That the NY child welfare office found no evidence is concerning.  

Well....just as with the other group there were a lot of issues with this oneas well. I would reserve judgment until finishing all four episodes. As someone who didn't have much of an opinion on Woody Allen when this stuff happened, it was a bit of an eye opener. I find Dylan to be really credible. 

Gern Blansten

The Juggler said:

Gern Blansten said:

That the NY child welfare office found no evidence is concerning.  

Well....just as with the other group there were a lot of issues with this oneas well. I would reserve judgment until finishing all four episodes. As someone who didn't have much of an opinion on Woody Allen when this stuff happened, it was a bit of an eye opener. I find Dylan to be really credible. 

I'll probably wrap it up tonight.

Gern Blansten

Dylan is credible for sure.  She was damaged.

It's crazy because I remember when this stuff was breaking.  When Woody sued for custody it sent an immediate message that the accusations were bogus.  A brilliant strategy legally but, given all of the evidence, pretty telling about Woody's guilt.

The Juggler

Gern Blansten said:

Dylan is credible for sure.  She was damaged.

It's crazy because I remember when this stuff was breaking.  When Woody sued for custody it sent an immediate message that the accusations were bogus.  A brilliant strategy legally but, given all of the evidence, pretty telling about Woody's guilt.

Agreed. 

Ledbetterman10

You guys ever see the SNL sketch from like 1992 when the allegations were all coming out? They absolutely killed him with a sketch called The Woody Allen Fan Club where a bunch of Woody fans struggle with their love for him, and the allegations.

https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/woody-allen-fan-club/2868147

The Juggler

Ledbetterman10 said:

You guys ever see the SNL sketch from like 1992 when the allegations were all coming out? They absolutely killed him with a sketch called The Woody Allen Fan Club where a bunch of Woody fans struggle with their love for him, and the allegations.

https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/woody-allen-fan-club/2868147

Fantastic. I wonder if that was a before Update sketch or an after Update sketch...

Jearlpam0925

Oh he definitely diddled some kids.

Annie Hall is a treasure of a movie. He was neurotic Jewish writing before Seinfeld. But doesn't matter. Big creep.

PJ_Soul

I just finished watching the doc. Woody Allen is a fucking creep, omg. Sick sick sick. And the way he keeps trying to defend himself and trash Mia Farrow and his victim is repulsive. I don't know how some of those actors can still stand behind him. Like Diane Keaton... Has she come to her senses yet???

I have thought he was a sicko ever since he got together with the older daughter of Mia, but I really was never aware of the stuff with Dylan at the time - the media and Hollywood were indeed protecting him at the time IMO.

Ledbetterman10

The Juggler said:

Ledbetterman10 said:

You guys ever see the SNL sketch from like 1992 when the allegations were all coming out? They absolutely killed him with a sketch called The Woody Allen Fan Club where a bunch of Woody fans struggle with their love for him, and the allegations.

https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/woody-allen-fan-club/2868147

Fantastic. I wonder if that was a before Update sketch or an after Update sketch...

Before Weekend Update. It was actually the first sketch after the monologue and fake commercial.