Free Republic

I was chagrined, but not entirely surprised, when I read Woody Allen’s recent ruminations on ultimate things. To state it bluntly, Woody could not be any bleaker in regard to the issue of meaning in the universe. We live, he said, in a godless and purposeless world. The earth came into existence through mere chance and one day it, along with every work of art and cultural accomplishment, will be incinerated. The universe as a whole will expand and cool until there is nothing left but the void. Every hundred years or so, he continued, a coterie of human beings...

As celebrity scandals go, it’s probably second only to the O.J. trial: Woody Allen leaving Mia Farrow, his girlfriend and muse of 14 years, for her adopted teenage daughter Soon-Yi. That was way back in 1992, and what was unthinkable then has long since come to pass: Woody Allen has been forgiven by the public at large. His most recent film, “Midnight in Paris,” has made over $56 million at the US box office to date — his highest-grossing film ever. Along with Elaine May and Ethan Coen, he contributed a one-act play to Broadway’s “Relatively Speaking,” which opened this...

In this week’s edition of the New York Observer (hat tip to the Huffington Post), famed actor, writer, and movie director, Woody Allen, cast aspersions on President Bush, while gushing over former President Clinton. At the end of a piece by Suzy Hansen covering a range of topics from his past movies, his current one, and his life at the age of 70, the article concluded with Hansen asking Allen’s opinion of a number of people. When asked about George W. Bush, Allen responded: “Arguably the worst administration in the history of the United States...