Rewrite Woody Allen's "why is life worth living?" speech from "Manhattan"

Well, all right, why is life worth living? That's a very good question. Well, there are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. Uh, like what? Okay. Um, for me... oh, I would say... what, my parents, to name one thing... and Joe Strummer, and... my friends Joe and Jon, and... Husker Du's recording of 'Eight Miles High'... Jamaican rocksteady, naturally... 'Night of the Shooting Stars'... , the Minutemen... those steep hills in Duluth... beers at Mickey's Bar in Madison, Wisconsin... Shellie's smile..."

ahem.

Perhaps you see where I am going with this.

"Well, all right, why is life worth living? That's a very good question. Well, there are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. Uh, like what? Okay. Um, for me... oh, I would say... what, The Velvet Undergound, to name one thing... and Sonic Boom, and... Psycho Candy, and... The Crystal's recording of Da Doo Ron Ron... Bobby Gillespie's trousers, naturally... 'Life In The Victorian Country House' by Mark Girouard... Julian Sands, Hilton Betelgeuse... the horn arrangements on Lazer Guided Melodies... Pizza Romana at La Porchetta... Julian Casablancas' ass..."

Har har har! Life is worth living after all!

"...and between them both, they licked the coffin clean."

(This is the kind of intelligent artistic debate we need!)

(I'm not in love just now...)

(note: I'm not in love but I'm using the guy I'm sleeping with anyway)

"Well, all right, why is life worth living? That's a very good question. Well, there are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. Uh, like what? Okay. Um, for me... oh, I would say... what, foreign movies, to name one thing... and my father, and... Quadrophenia, and... The Ronettes' 'Be My Baby'... italian girls, naturally... 'The Essential Calvin and Hobbes' by Bill Watterson... Robert Duvall in 'Apocalypse Now', The 'Mats... the end sequence of 'Cinema Paradiso'... the 1.50 egg creams at that candy store on A... and... now it gets depressing..."

gonna watch this tonight.
i'm in THAT sort of mood.

does it not have it's own thread??

"Well, all right, why is life worth living? That's a very good question. Well, there are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. Uh, like what? Okay. Um, for me... oh, I would say... what, Walt Whitman, to name one thing... and Lenny Bruce, and... Illmatic, and... The Clash's recording of "Jail Guitar Doors"... lolcats, naturally... 'The Sun Also Rises' by Hemingway... Phillip Seymour Hoffman, John Coltrane... the way Miles hits the first high note on "Sketches of Spain"... the Stuffed Poblano at Kerbey Lane... Niki's hips..."

ILE's secret Most Emo Thred.

oh, shit, I was actually planning on watching this later today, as well. Weird.

Well it's Sunday night isn't it? I like to think half the world's about to watch it.

hah

hoos otm, largely.

"Well, all right, why is life worth living? That's a very good question. Well, there are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. Uh, like what? Okay. Um, for me... oh, I would say... what, Kraftwerk, to name one thing... and Cary Grant, and... "Super Coming" by the Boredoms, and... Steely Dan... Bergman movies..."

8 1/2. Can I add that? And Orson Welles. And Jacques Tati.

"Well, all right, why is life worth living? That's a very good question. Well, there are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. Uh, like what? Okay. Um, for me... oh, I would say... what, John Barth, to name one thing... and Jesus, and..."The Crane Wife", and... the Pet Shop Boys' recording of "Where the Streets Have No Name"... whaling, naturally... "The Brothers Karamazov" by Dostoevsky...Clive Owen, M.I.A... the deep sounds rising up about eleven minutes into Rimsky Korsakov's "Russian Easter Overture"... the lamb tikka masala at Spiceroot..."

That grin on Orson Welles face in The Third Man.

i hate this thread

jimmy mod otm

"That one guy" hating things.

i can only handle this movie when i'm miserable

and then it's pretty much my fave ever!

BUNCH OF CULTURAL REFERENCES... ANNOYING NEW YORK REFERENCE... 17-YEAR-OLD CHICK I'M SCHEMING

ew, dude.

i don't think it's a good speech. but i do enjoy listing things i like.

in the context of the movie, maybe the point is that he doesn't know what he likes, much less wants, he just talks everything to death. So the listing is a bit ironic, innit?

"Well, all right, why is life worth living? That's a very good question. Well, there are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. Uh, like what? Okay. Um, for me... oh, I would say... what, James Joyce, to name one thing... and William Morris, and..."Love Will Tear Us Apart", and... Ella Fitzgerads recording of "Mack the Knive"... Woody Allen movies up to Crimes and Misdemeanors, naturally... "The Rings of Saturn" by W G Sebald...Peter Lorre, Caribou...the last minute or so of The Blacksmith by Planxty...my homemade coconut macaroons..."

The Only Thing Worth Living For ... http://youtube.com/watch?v=qWyBxrZLwtE

cats arent people, tuomas

Basically, I love art and when I feel low and people can't reach me - and obviously as quit it says if you're at the point where you need to count or name things that make life worth living -- not a good sign! - but when I am at that point then I do find that art (by which I mean music and film and architecture) does offer me a way back to feeling human again. Having recently watched my father pass away I have to say I found the ability of some art to do this for me extremely helpful.

He hated Woody Allen films incidentally. But loved trad jazz. So you see they could have found something in common through art!

you guys upthread are being ridiculous, the speech clearly lists a bunch of social/personal things along with art and whatnot

but hey obv life would be better if art and movies and music didn't exist and we all just sat around a big table enjoying each other's company

tuomas is totally otm; u guys are all weird for trying to separate out "art" from "people" or whatever

"whaling, naturally"

LOL

BUNCH OF CULTURAL REFERENCES... ANNOYING NEW YORK REFERENCE... 17-YEAR-OLD CHICK I'M SCHEMING

― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Sunday, September 23, 2007 4:35 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I do still need to read Sentimental Education

I hate this thread.

Aimless IS otm, and that's the whole point of the scene. His listing his favorite artwork is just a parlor game, no more reasons to live that Mary's "Academy of the Overrated." It's exactly the same noise. So that's why when he gets to the point in his list where there's an actual person, he has an "OMG!" moment and goes running down the street.

Only he's STILL wrong, because his impulse is to go try to suck some more life out of someone who has everything ahead of her, instead of taking stock, admitting his soul-crushing vapidness, and swallowing a whole bottle of seconal.

Kids, I'm so glad you understand the pathos at the heart of Manhattan, but please stop reading it into everyone else partaking of my Madlib, thanks.

I suppose I did just say it's a parlor game, didn't I?

"partaking of my madlib"

lolcats, naturally.

"Well, all right, why is life worth living? That's a very good question. Well, there are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. Uh, like what? Okay. Um, for me... oh, I would say... what, Sifl & Ollie, to name one thing... and Bruce Haack, and... "Space Ritual", and... The Velvet Undergrounds's recording of "Sunday Morning"... Taco Bell, naturally... 'The Secret Doctrine' by H.P.Blavatsky... Charlize Theron, James Brown... the record-store scene in "A Clockwork Orange"...the sesame chicken at Chinese Buddha... that weird bump on my head..."

http://images.lowriderarte.com/drawings/0701_lrap_06_z+drawings+notorious_big.jpg
I want ya'll to play this at funerals in the hood.
Til all this black on black crime stop.
Some say the blind lead the blind.
But in the ghetto you never know,
When it's gon be yo time.
http://images.lowriderarte.com/drawings/0701_lrap_06_z+drawings+notorious_big.jpg
[Sons of Funk, Mo B. Dick, O'dell]
Sittin at the ghetto thinkin bout
All my homies passed away (uuunnnggghhh!)
Candy painted cadillacs and triple gold
That's how me and my boys rolled
How could it be?
Somebody took my boy from me
My best friend's gone
And I'm so all alone
I really miss my homies
Even though they gone away
I know you in a better place
And I hope to see ya soon someday
http://images.lowriderarte.com/drawings/0701_lrap_06_z+drawings+notorious_big.jpg
[Master P]
I used to hang with my boy even slang with my boy
Used to bang with my boy, goddam I miss my boy
We started out youngstas in the park throwin birds
In your hearse, damn it's sad to see my nigga in the dirt
The game got me workin, got me perkin, never jerkin
Still blowin dolja fo ya cause I know you up there workin
Ya little baby's cool and ya baby's mama straight
But today's a sad day to see the t-shirt with ya face
From the cradle to the grave, from the streets we used to fall
In the park you liked to ball, put yo name upon the wall
In the projects you's a legend on the street you was a star
But it's sad to see my homeboy ridin in that black car
A lotta soldiers done died, a lotta mothers done cried
You done took yo piece of the pie but you was too young to retire
Why soldiers ride for yo name leave it vain
Some Gs never change, damn they killed you for some change
Smile for my homie Kevin Miller my boy Randall
The ghetto persons that lost they loved ones to these ghetto scandals
http://images.lowriderarte.com/drawings/0701_lrap_06_z+drawings+notorious_big.jpg
Take a minute to smile for the dead (uuunnnggghhh!)
Smile for the dead (RIP 2Pac, Makaveli)
All my homies who done made it to the crossroads
(Biggie Smalls)
http://images.lowriderarte.com/drawings/0701_lrap_06_z+drawings+notorious_big.jpg
[Sons, Mo B. O'dell]
How could it be?
Somebody took my boy from me
(It's like I can't believe you gone)
My best friend's gone
(Sometimes I feel like I can't go on)
And I'm so all alone
(Everytime I see something you done left
I really miss my homies
(It just remind me, more and more of you, dawg)
Even though they gone away
(I just keep reminiscin)
I know you in a better place
(Cause I know you alright)
And I hope to see ya soon someday
(And I keep smilin, knowin I'm a see you in the crossroads]
http://images.lowriderarte.com/drawings/0701_lrap_06_z+drawings+notorious_big.jpg
[Pimp C]
We used to grip on the grain and flip them candy toys
But I'd give up all that bullshit if I could get back my boy
Off in the club smokin weed til 3, hollerin at the hoes
Spendin $4000 on me on gators and clothes
When I turned to rap, he had to chase the game
Nigga told me, "C, leave that dope, cause rappin is yo thang"
I ain't gone even lie, some nights I ride and cry
Wonderin why the real niggas always the ones to die
So I just smoke my weed and try to clear my mind
I wish that I had the power to turn back the hands of time
I wonder if there's a heaven up there for real Gs
For all the niggas in the game that be sellin keys
I keep my memories, try to keep my head stromg
But baby it's hard to be strong, when yo main homie gone
http://images.lowriderarte.com/drawings/0701_lrap_06_z+drawings+notorious_big.jpg
[Sons, Mo B. O'dell]
Even though you gone away
(Even though you gone, you ain't never gon be forgotten)
I know you in a better place
(Cause as long as I'm here
You gon live through me and other TRU playas)
I really miss my homies
Even though they gone away
I know you in a better place
And I hope to see ya soon someday
http://images.lowriderarte.com/drawings/0701_lrap_06_z+drawings+notorious_big.jpg
[Silkk]
I'm just sittin here dazed thinkin bout all the times we had
Thinkin the past, some was good and some was bad
Remember Dante?
It was a group of us, just a group of five
Now three dead, one in jail, it seem right now I'm the only one alive
To all my soldiers before me, may ya'll rest in peace
When He took three, took my soul, just the bodies
He at the crossroads guide us out to the rest of me
Wishin I could rewind time like demos
Me and you gettin girls, writin down numbers like memos
Makin million dollar bets, makin all our money stretch like limos
Even though I smile, it's sad, but they say gangstas can't cry
But if I close my eyes and visualize me together
Then I suddenly wanna smile
To see you laid down when it's yo time, when your time was up
You never seen your child, but he's here to remind us
Even though you was wrong, I never could belive that that was true
You was with me forever, you could check my rest in peace tattoos
See me and C and P forever gon be ridin and thuggin
Rest in peace to all the ones that didn't make it
And rest in peace to my brother
We gon miss you
http://images.lowriderarte.com/drawings/0701_lrap_06_z+drawings+notorious_big.jpg
(I love these fools)
I know you in a better place
(Every time I get on my knees)
And I hope to see ya soon someday
(I pray for you, I'm glad you in a better place
I hope I see ya soon, ain't no more killin
Ain't no more fights, and ain't no more tears)

Is this our only Manhattan thread? I just saw this film for the first time and want to read what you guys think, because I think I loved it.

its discussed on some of the other Woody Allen threads (of which there are too many, tbf) - this is widely regarded as one of the peaks of his career, after Annie Hall.

I still think its an amazing movie, but my perspective on it has shifted over the years, I kinda see it differently now then I did as a teenager/college kid

(by which I mean on initial viewings I thought the characters were all really engaging/charming/cool but watching it in later years I'm struck by how assholish and narcissistic everyone is, with the exception of Muriel Hemingway)

dialogue is still hilarious tho, great script, tons of jokes

Aye, I was laughing very heavily. Thanks btw. This was indeed my first ever Woody Allen movie; that virginity was lost tonight.

I thought it was very funny, wonderfully natural seeming (be that well-observed writing and/or great acting), beautiful to look at, clever and with great music. Yeah, I liked it a lot.

Doing this thread's rewrite is a lot harder than I expected though. I'm struggling immensely to fill in the blanks for my own self.

I did a genuine serious one, in the end:

"Well, all right, why is life worth living? That's a very good question. Well, there are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. Uh, like what? Okay. Um, for me... oh, I would say... what, Jack Kerouac, to name one thing... and Richey Edwards, and... the opening build of 'New Paths To Helicon, Pt. 1', and... Nirvana's recording of 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night?'... Japanese psychedelic music, naturally... 'American Psycho' by Bret Easton Ellis... Bill Murray, Keiji Haino... those incredible abstract colours by Rothko... the burgers at Ad Lib... Angela's hair..."

This is a great thread. I'll try to answer thoughtfully when this Michael Jackson thing is over.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, February 7, 2003 2:19 AM (6 years ago) Bookmark

the world awaits

"...liberal Democrats waking up and starting a progressive pahty..."

this speech is no "we need the eggs"

"and in such small pohtions!"

This is a great thread. I'll try to answer thoughtfully when this Michael Jackson thing is over.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 7 February 2003 02:19 (6 years ago) Bookmark

nanalyzing the scene

http://www.issuu.com/interiorsjournal/docs/interiors1212

I've always been mystified by "the crabs from Sam Wo's"...or whatever he says

such a Becker-Fagen line

I've always been mystified by "the crabs from Sam Wo's"...or whatever he says

― Iago Galdston, Tuesday, December 18, 2012 11:37 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

why?

years ago I wrote this short story about my Mother called "The Castrating Zionist"

I've always been mystified by "the crabs from Sam Wo's"...or whatever he says

― Iago Galdston, Tuesday, December 18, 2012 11:37 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

why?

the mussels are better

Richard Brody:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2011/11/the-crabs-at-sam-wos.html

but is Sam Wo's still open?

I never understood, did I have the name of the restaurant right? What is Sam Wo's anyway, a NYC restaurant? That's all, disregard

yes, it was. Long gone, apparently, tho one w/ same name in SF closed last year.