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Show { An entertainment supplement to The Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News *| WoodyAllen continues making movies Despite acclaim, his films are generally neglected by public By Rene Rodriguez Knight Ridder Newspapers NEW YORK — Woody Allen the mosticonic filmmakerofhis: generation, the American directof: mostlikely to be recognized walk~ ing down thestreet. : . He is also one of the most acclaimed, a 22-time Oscar nominee* and four-time winner. 4 films and TV shows in a 40-year career, But she is almost as famous ay ie i vate tor’s badge ofhonor,a credit many want on their resume, no matter how smallthe part. Yet year after year, Allen’s movies are greeted with indifference by the movie-going public. It’s not that audiencesreject his films, or that they suffer from bad word-ofmouth. It’s just that outside his New York home turf, nobody bothers to show up other than the hard-corefaithful — and eventheir ranks are dwindling. : Sitting in a Manhattan hotelsuite, coughing mildly from the remnants ofa late-spring cold, Allen rubs his browandshrugs.‘“‘I’ve never been very popular,” he says with a mixture of resignation and befud- life as vecate = not a habit she wants to ‘Askedas she artived at Heathrow airport if there was a chance of another we she replied: ““No way. Hey listen, I’m not dumb.’” dlement. “I’ve done well with ¢ritics — they’ve indulged me — but not with audiences. The public has this tendency to say ‘Oh, who wants to go see another Woody Ls “Allen.movie?’ They think it’s go- ing to be some kind of neurotic comedy, and there’s no way to disabuse them ofthat. I could never understandit.”” Still, he continues to crank them out. Small Time Crooks, Allen’s 31st film, opened recently. A genial little bauble about a blue-collar married couple (played by Allen and Tracey Ullman) whodecide to rob a bank in hopes ofretiring to Miami in style, the movie is being distributed by Dreamworks Pictures. The companyrecently signed Allen to a three-picture deal (like actors, studios want to be associated with Allen — if not for monetary gain, then for the cachet). rl Filmmaker Woody Allen has been promoting his new film, Small Time Crooks, by visiting prominentfilm schools to show the movie and answer questions about how he does what he does. The comedy also stars Tracy Ulimanas his wife. See WOODY,Page 4 Marketers use ’70snostalgia to grab thirtysomethings We Case Mee It happens when you least expectit: That surge of recognition or that warm wave ofnostalgia that embraces you with the familiarity of a favorite aunt. Maybe it’s a popular piece of music from the past, or a cartoon character that spurred your childhood imagination. Either way, consciously or unconsciously, you are internally programmed to These are amongthe favorite tools of advertising. And thirtysomethings, that lost. generation wedged between the boomers their youth, at the top of the advertising food chain. Whether it’s William Shatner (Star Trek's Captain Kirk) fronting a hipster pop band in the Priceline.com ads or Burger King Whoppers sizzlin’ to the sounds of "70s AM radio staples like “*Magic”” and “*You Sexy Thing,” adertisers and retailers are going after the le Generation’’ with a vengeance. “For mygeneration, I think it’s akin to when Mercedes used Janis Joplin singing ‘Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz,’*” says Peggy Moylan,45. *‘To see that song used to promote the highestpriced car in America was stunning. It kinda knocked you back.”’ Moylan is the director of InsightOut, a consumer insight division of the Detroit advertising firm J. Walter Thompson. She Says that there is a very basic premise behind the current onslaught of *70s nostalgia in the media. “*The movies, TV shows and musicthat you liked when you were forming your values and adolescence, that’s what you take forward into adulthood,’’ Moylan said. ‘‘Those things are imprinted on your memory.It’s easier to get someone to respond when you use something that’s already familiar. It doesn’t require any additional processing.’’ The signs are everywhere, from cable networks like Nick at Night and TV Land, whicu pepper their programming with everything from C.H.IP.s to The Jeffersons, to companies like Rhino Records, which has just released entire video boxed sets of Krofft kids’ shows like Sigmund and the Sea Monsters and H.R. Pufnstuf. Children ofthe ’70s have grown up and they're ready to spend. IMC ML GACAOad LTR E ee y| “The Rhino thing is good timing,” says Marty Krofft, who created numerous Saturdaying gems with his brother Sid in the ’70s.‘‘It’s important to the kids who grew up with it — they're buying the tapes for their kids, and the (young) kids are discovering it for the first time — which is good. There are a lot of shows from that time that aren't memorable. But I’ve gotta tell you, you can’t kill these things with a baseball Gina Pendergrass of Royal Oak, Mich., remembers the colorful Krofft characters very vividly, but says that many of her ° young co-workers ‘don’t have a clue’’ who H.R. Pufnstufis, See \ YSTALGIA, Page 2 |
