How about changing your habit of “rarely” writing what you yourself admit was one of your “petty critiques” to never writing them?

Going to have to side with Nick on this one then.

Whatever, dude. And you TOTALLY nailed me on the spelling of “titillating.” OUCH!

Love,
Ryan

Boudinot doesn’t even use his little comment to support a cohesive argument; his expectations have little to do with the criticism that follow. In fact, he contradicts his own desires. As a youth, he enjoyed the world that Allen’s films promised for his later self. As an adult, he’s bitter at this same world for requiring more financial security than he’s attained.

I’m sorry, but Allen hasn’t gotten any more removed from reality (in “VCB” anyway; “Whatever Works” is a complete failure and self-parody, and I’m baffled as to how Allen could have written such contradictory, poorly plotted garbage full of flat and stupid characters so close to creating “Manhattan” and “Annie Hall,” and hell, I should probably pitch the editors of the Rumpus on a full essay about this). Boudinot has simply lost his ability to hope for the financially comfortable artistic life of Allen’s movies. If he actually recognizes and addresses his own relationship with Allen’s work, he’ll possibly have a good critical response to write. Instead he offers reflections attainable by any common filmgoer, which, given his dull style and lack of direction, leaves us empty.

Whew. Sorry, I’m sure Boudinot has written many excellent things, and I rarely write petty critiques longer than the original work, but sometimes it’s a satisfying exercise, albeit at Boudinot’s expense.

In defense of the column–this entry in particular–my reading yielded a bit of a different perspective. I think, when going into a movie, sometimes our individual frames of reference have a tendency to intercede. Mr. Boudinot’s first thoughts may have been about the untethered wealth of Allen’s characters (and, going further, I think many people–myself included–have a tendency to think about this during movie viewings, especially in the midst of a recession.) So maybe Nick is a bit too quick to judge this as something Boudinot deliberately does to share with readers his financial status.

You, Nick Douglas, begin one paragraph of your comment with “Oh, you expect a lot of Woody Allen?” and state your point sarcastically that many people enjoy Woody Allen’s films, and that claiming so in a film review isn’t particularly illuminating, or original. But that doesn’t mean it’s not merited, and it doesn’t mean the way Mr. Boudinot has set it down isn’t noteworthy.

With that sort of device and standard for your criticism, I’m afraid there may not be a lot of writing you enjoy.

The opening lines are by Holden Caulfield — not Salinger, Caulfield if he were real and a writer and had bumped into the unfortunate Rumpus. Yes yes, you too judged others based on their appreciation of Woody Allen. Let’s explore that for two paragraphs without any detail that makes your story rise above millions of identical odes to Allen.

Now tell us how much more privileged the characters are than you. Oh dear, this isn’t a movie about the struggle of the working class? How could you have known? How could you have possibly predicted the subject of “Vicky Christina Barcelona” without any warning but the trailer, the reviews, the word of mouth, the description on Netflix, and the title? (By the way, how often does a Woody Allen lead worry about paying the bills?)

Oh, you expect a lot of Woody Allen? That’s refreshing, because most people see him as an opportunity to switch off their brains for some mind-numbing action adventure. But you are the first person to put him on a pedestal!

It’s “titillating.” Two l’s.

You haven’t seen “Whatever Works” yet? Now this whole piece makes sense. I thought your slowness to see “VCB” must be a fluke for such a die-hard Allen fan. But you haven’t seen his next film either, nor have you done the ten seconds of research to look up Larry David’s show. Oh I know, you’re just being clever about not remembering the name of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” right? It’s just a very odd way to be clever, especially right before a line as stupid as your completely inaccurate comment about Allen’s career (“Allen just isn’t interested in directing proxies of himself right now”) based on your ignorance of “Whatever Works.”

Mr. Boudinot, I found a way you could save twenty bucks a month on bills. Drop your Netflix account and never write about a movie again.