2011. Dir: Woody Allen. Starring: Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Michael Sheen and Corey Stoll. ●●●●○
Long time readers will know I have a masochistic relationship with Woody Allen, the sort of loyal passion to his work that brings me out to see all his releases, no matter how critically reviled. I have seen a number of truly awful films but every now and then he surprises and whilst his latest movie Midnight in Paris doesn't reach the heady heights of his 1970's-80's heyday, nor does it quite top his most recent return to form Vicky Cristina Barcelona however it is a delightful oddity that will be an enjoyable night out for any pseudo-intellectual or nostalgist.
Allen chooses to open with a jazz-scored montage of postcard scenes of modern Paris, it's bustling and beautiful and whilst the devise drags a little it's clear he's aim is to set up the romanticism of the city, a parade of lovers walking in the rain, scuttling boulevards with tiny cafes, a city of culture, architecture and wistful yearning. The extent of Allen's idolatry is to underline how his vision of Paris varies from other cities; this isn't the noisy, mishmash of Manhattan or the grimy morally complex London, instead it's a clear-cut city of Romance, a place where art can transport reality and magic might just come true.
We are then introduced to Luke Wilson's Gil Pender, a California hack visiting Paris with fiancee Inez (Rachel McAdams) and finding inspiration for his novel from the Parisien vibe and Monet's Water Lily's. Slipping away from the stifling company of his future-in-laws and hectoring friends, he is picked up by an out of place 1920's Peugeot at the stroke of midnight and transported to a party filled with snazzily dressed gents and flappers. But appearances, or at least perceptions of appearances, cannot be trusted. This is no costume party with cigarette paper games but a time travel mystery, Pender has slipped back in time and is now hobnobbing with Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, being crooned at by Cole Porter and receiving literary advice from Hemingway and Gertrude Stein.
In the hands of a less self-assured writer the mechanics of the sci-fi premise may be explored and investigated, but the physics of this don't matter to Allen, even surrogate Pender is only mildly flabbergasted, stuttering and confused but not beyond asking Hemingway to read his manuscript. Instead his main concern is the feeling of escape inherent in the concept, Pender is obsessed with the past, his novel is set in a nostalgia shop, he yearns openly to have experienced the roaring 20's. His obsession comes from a need to escape the present, whether it's the vague distrust of modern US politics or the insufferable circumstances of his life, and it's no wonder that he seeks to escape.
In his trips to the past he falls for the luminous Marion Cotillard, shot in the style of romantic Hollywood, lit perfectly with soft focus she bursts from the screen, an untouchable beauty. But secretly she yearns to be equally transported back, wishing to revisit the Belle Epoque, Allen wants us to know that wishing for the past is fine, but there too nostalgia for bygone eras is rife and inescapable.
The film soars in it's time bending passages, whether it's Corey Stoll's machismo laden line-readings as Hemingway, or the farcical discussion between Pender and the Surrealists, with Adrien Brody squeezing every syllable of rhinocerous to great comic effect, or the gorgeous costuming and the plaintive musical cues, however in the modern world the movie misfires. McAdams' shrill performance, backed by her grotesquely rich republican parents and pedantic college alumni Michael Sheen, makes you wonder why the outwardly personable Pender would associate with any of these people let alone consider marrying them. Inez is the kind of horrific stereotype that lurches from blatant mistrust of the working classes to open disloyalty about her partner's work. The resolution of that aspect of the the story seems false and rushed, which perhaps might have worked better if Inez was a more sympathetic character.
I also find Allen's recent tendency to judge his characters and his non-audiences off-putting. It's fine to describe the Tea Party as crypto-fascist zombies, I may even agree with that assessment, but it's no way to win an argument against their policies. Equally Sheen is loathed for his pseudo-intellectual oratory, the low-point being when he tries to correct Carla Bruni's tour guide, but the audience cheer when Pender uses the same trick in giving background to a Picasso, quoting Kathy Bates' Gertrude Stein as if that's the only opinion that matters and smacking down Sheen with a description of it's lineage. If it's not about the rudeness of the act then it must be about the accuracy of the opinion, therefore it's fine to be a prick if you're right and you share the intellectual insight of Stein.
I disagree with Allen, to value one artistic interpretation over another is unbearably snobbish, the appreciation of art is purely subjective and whilst understanding the background and influences may aid in the discussion of form and content the feelings inspired are equally valid whether the audience is aware or not.
That probably sounds like a rant, and possibly that's undeserved. I really liked Woody Allen's latest, and I would recommend it to anyone, it's a lovely little piece that will transport you back to a gentler time, but I doubt it's anything more than that.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Midnight in Paris
Friday, 7 October 2011
The City of Nostalgia (Out this week - 07/10/11)
There are two films that look like they might be worth catching at multiplexes this week. On the one hand you've got a brutal British kitchen sink drama that marks the directorial debut of a cult UK actor and on the other you have a comedic master who's found new inspiration in the city of light. Meanwhile expect a cut-price secret agent to continue his international trend of capturing the box office lead. Film of the week, obviously, goes to Midnight in Paris.
Midnight in Paris
It's being universally heralded as Woody Allen's best film in years and it's US box office take has eclipsed his entire back catalogue (ignoring inflation) and with Owen Wilson's surrogate role slipping back in time to the 1920's what's not to love about Allen's delightful confection.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●●●○
Tyrannosaur
Paddy Considine steps behind the camera for the first time, dissecting the harrowing lives of council estate alcoholics and Christian housewives unable to escape the downward spiral of domestic violence. Compared favourably to Leigh and Loach this debut shows promise of immense talent, as well as showcasing some high calibre performances from Olivia Colman and Peter Mullan.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Battle of Warsaw: 1920
Poland doesn't have a rich history of defensive successes (no offence) so it's a bit of a surprise to hear how rarely their decisive victory over the invading Bolsheviks has made it to the big screen. I can't see this breaking out of the homegrown market though.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Don't be Afraid of the Dark
It's oversold the produced by Guillermo del Toro tag which may have even caused this Katie Holmes/Guy Pearce starring remake to lose a little sheen. Certainly I've heard only vague notions of disappointment, but if you like this sort of thing then you probably like this sort of thing.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy
Somewhat less iconic than his genre breaking drugs novel Trainspotting, this similarly veined drugs are hell but cold turkey can be worse missive at least stars a hobbit in a supporting role.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Perfect Sense
David MacKenzie's second film in three weeks, following the music festival romance You Instead, has a much more bittersweet romance with Ewan MacGregor falling for Eva Green as the human race succumb to a mysterious illness robbing us of our senses. It's probably a metaphor.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Rascals
It's a quite humourous trailer for this Bollywood con-men movie which stars Ajay Devgan and Sanjay Dutt as competing tricksters pulling more and more convoluted jobs on each other.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Johnny English Reborn
It's already taken over $35m in Overseas revenues and stolen the top spot in Russia and South East Asia, so look our for Rowan Atkinson's credit card spin-off to do much the same on home turf.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Vedi
New Tamil picture, I don't know much about it. Now that's honesty for you.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Yaar Annmulle
Three hours plus for this punjabi musical, that's an hour each for the student protagonists (all of whom look far too old) each of whom try to outdo each other in the romantic complication stakes. Only for hardcore fans I suspect
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Tuesday Trailers - Midnight in Paris
As September rolls in October (and believe me the next few months are so packed with great looking releases I'm having to start the trailers early) we get that rare thing - a Woody Allen picture opening in the UK the same year as it opens in the States. I consider that a good sign, backed up by it's superb box office performance and positive critical response which is lucky as his last couple of movies have been virtually unwatchable. I'm hoping this is the long awaited return to form we've been promised.
Midnight in Paris opens on 07 October 2011.
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
20 for 2011: 11 - Midnight in Paris
Holding steady at number 11 is Woody Allen with this years entry of Midnight in Paris.
I'm like a puppy, I keep returning to my master even though he ignores me and gives me rubbish to eat. Every time Woody makes an appalling film I give him the benefit of the doubt and think the next one will be a return to form. So whilst Whatever Works was one of the biggest disappointments of 2010 and with You will meet a Tall dark Stranger getting warm but not effusive reviews I look to his next film as being the next great one.
Like most of Allen's work the premise is both simple and surprisingly complex. In this case we have a romantic comedy set within a group of tourists in Paris, where one engaged couple will have their eyes opened to new ways of experiencing happiness in a relationship. Allen's had a few open relationships in his moves recently so I wonder if that's where it's going.
As always he's managed to net a great cast including Marion Cotillard (pictured above), Michael Sheen, Rachel McAdams, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Kathy Bates, so all in all I think I'm ready to forgive him once again.
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
Woody Allen
Happy Birthday to
Woody Allen
75 today
Writer, Director, Actor, Jazz Clarinetist, there isn't a lot that Woody can't do, and for most of his career everything he touched turned to gold. Unfortunately we have seen a declines over the last 15 years, possibly not helped by his churning of projects (he has directed at least one film per year since 1982). You will meet a Tall Dark Stranger has already has it's US release and is scheduled to come out here in March, the next onw after that will be Midnight in Paris.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Marion Cotillard
Happy Birthday to
Marion Cotillard
35 today
So many great actresses, especially ones whose first language isn't English, disappear after winning an Oscar, or at least make a string of flops. No so for Marion who has followed up her turn as Edith Piaf stealing scenes from Johnny Depp, Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio. Over th coming year we'll get the opportunity of watching her beguiling American tourists in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris and fighting deadly bacteria in Steven Soderbergh Contagion.
Monday, 28 June 2010
Kathy Bates
Happy Birthday to
Kathy Bates
62 today
It's hard to believe now but there was a time when Kathy was being passed over time and time again when her stage performances were being developed for the big screen. Sissy Spacek and Michelle Pfeiffer both got the chance to steal her roles. Luckily she was cast as Annie Wilkes in Misery which led to the first her Oscar nods and began her high profile career. Her last film was Valentine's Day but I won't hold that against her if the France set Woody Allen pic Midnight in Paris turns out to be at all good.
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Film News (22/05/10)
I'm a day late with the usual news post.
Sorry.
I'd love to pretend I had a reasonable excuse, that I've been busy with other things, but that would've been a lie. I did nothing at all useful yesterday. In my defence it is very hot here in Manchester and I just couldn't find any energy, but that's not really good enough so please just accept my apologies and with no further ado let's start looking at what's struck me this week.
The Song of Names
I don't know the 2002 Whitbread prize winning novel that's being adapted to the big screen, but I do know that casting Anthony Hopkins and Dustin Hoffman in the older versions of the leads (the story takes place over 2 time periods, in the early post-war years and forty years later) will generate a lot of buzz as the veteran stars work together for the first time. The Amazon description describes the plot with: Dovidl Rappoport is a violin prodigy and a Polish refugee whose family perished in the Holocaust. He now lives with a wealthy Jewish family in London and befriends their socially awkward son, Martin Simmonds. Martin’s father, a musical impresario, trains Dovidl for the biggest debut on the London stage, and Martin is commandeered to act as caretaker. The two become close friends, forming a sybaritic relationship. Dovidl, however, slowly begins to slink into London’s seamier nightlife and eventually disappears on the day of his much-anticipated debut, wreaking havoc on the family and its business. Forty years later, Martin discovers a trace of the vanished prodigy and eventually ekes out a plan to avenge the betrayal all those years ago.
Sounds a bit oscar baity, but it may just be worth a look anyway. We'll see.
Read on for psychics, two different endings for the world, French love stories, a classic children's adaptation and Marvin Gaye.
Mai, the Psychic Girl
With the steady trend of storylines led by strong adolescent teenagers it's no surprise that the Manga adaptation originally mooted back in the 1980's is once again in contention for a US big screen version. Concerning a 14 year old girl (left) with psychic powers and a secret organisation attempts to use her to gain power it'll no doubt be edge of the seat entertainment.
Melancholia
Lars von Trier's latest doomfest - this time about the end of the world so I guess he has a point - has already picked up an eclectic and talented cast and has now added to that with old hand John Hurt returning to the depressed Dane for the first time since 2005 Manderley, which he narrated.
Midnight in Paris
Also in casting news Adrien Brody has joined Woody Allen's Paris set next project. There's no news on the role, but frankly we know more about this Allen movie than we've known about he last ten at this stage of pre-production so I'm not going to push it.
Paani
Cannes jury member Shekhar Kapur has been using the opportunity to talk up his next film. Set in a waterless future the sci-fi parable will explore the likelihood of wars and civil unrest over a shortage of H2O. I doubt it will have a happy ending. To the right a scene not featured in this movie.
20,000 Leagues under the sea
Bizarrely there are two competing versions of Jules Verne's 1970 submarine story in the works, and given that both versions have surprising directors inked on board (David Fincher and Timu Bekmambetov) I doubt either will be close to the classic Kirk Douglas/James Mason version. Altogether now "It's a whale of a tale and it's all true, I swear by my tattoo."
Untitled Marvin Gaye Biopic
Newly remarried Terrence Howard refuses to get sore about losing the Iron Man 2 gig to Don Cheadle (like hell!) but at least he's able to use the time to select some more personal projects that should get some critical attention. Like playing Marvin Gaye in the long gestating biopic from Cameron Crowe. Marvin's lifestory is immensely cinematic starting as a session drummer and slowly gaining a reputation as a singer, chalking up two failed marriages, a huge musical legacy in just about every style of pop and soul he touched (including his seminal album What's Going On, below) and his sudden murder in the hands of his father. It's therefore a surprise that no film has been made yet, although with three scripts in development in various studios Howard will really have to push this to get it done first. I guess he has the free time to do that.
Saturday, 24 April 2010
Film News (24/04/2010)
This week the news came in a fortuitous drip drip with each day bringing in a different story that caught my eye. There's a fair selection of children's films, comedies and biopics, with inspired on true events being up there too. Nothing that you could reasonably call a new drama mind, which is a shame, but you can't have everything.
Oz: The Great and Powerful
With the news that Bond 23 has been postpones indefinitely by MGM comes the unexpected gap in Sam Mendes schedule. Depending on which rumours you listen to he might end up returning to the theatre, or he might be be directing this origins story for Disney about the beginnings of The Wizard of Oz and his perilous journey from Omaha to Oz. Robert Downey Jr. is in line to play the lead. Apparently this will not interfere with the highly anticipated movie version of Wicked, which is certainly a relief.
The Wizards entrance in the 1939 film.
Read on for catchy pop music, Gothic fairy tales, British explorers, American Cops and Woody Allen surprising everyone. As well as the latest changes in the UK release schedules.
Brooklyn Loves Michael Jackson
Spike Lee's joints haven't been doing so good lately. The Miracle at St. Anna failed to secure a UK release and since then he's been focusing on New Orleans documentaries and hanging out with Kobe Bryant. For those of you who have missed him the good news is that he will be returning to mainstream movies with Brooklyn Loves, a project that will look at both the response to the death of the king of pop and the changes in Brooklyn society over the last 20 years. The cast looks to include regular Samuel L. Jackson as well as Anthony Mackie, Julianne Moore and Rosie Perez.
The Girl with the Red Riding Hood
Pre-production on Catherine Hardwicke's moody teen upgrade of the classic Grimm fairytale is moving on with a tentative cast being announced. Amanda Seyfried (Dear John, Mamma Mia - left) will be taking the lead with Shiloh Fernandez (Cadillac Records) as the hunky Woodcutter she has a thing for. So far so blah, but the intriguing news is that Julie Christie and Gary Oldman are circling major supporting roles and as we all know every film improves when you add quality British thesps.
Mallory
The English explorer and mountaineer George Mallory (right), who famously disappeared whilst attempting to climb Everest in 1924, is due to have his life story transformed into film. It's certainly a tale that should be told, with Mallory's instinctive passion for rock climbing (he's behind the extraordinary "Because it's there" quote) and chronicling the upper middle class family he's left behind will make a nice counterpoint. Julia Roberts and Kevin Townsend are producing.
Midnight in Paris
Woody Allen's next film has a name. Now there's a shocker that deserves thinking about for a while. A long time before he needs to, and a long time before it is his habit too Allen has started to announce some of the details: including the title and the plot which revolves around a family trip to Paris where a young couple yearn for a more interesting life. Sounds like Rebecca Hall's part in Vicky Cristina Barcelona to me.
Rampart
Oren Moverman will be reteaming with his Messenger stars Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster for the big screen adaptation about the successes and failures of the Rampart division of the LAPD and the CRASH project (insignia of which is on the left), including references to it's infamous late 90's scandals. The script is by crime writer James Ellroy so expect some clever plotting and lots of characters.
Release Date News
Brooklyn's Finest - If it's dirty cops you want to see, he says nicely segueing from the last news story, then you could certainly do worse than this Antoine Fuqua movie with Richard Gere, Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke all on the wrong side of the right side of the law. It's time to hand in your badge on 11 June 2010.
Tetro - We were first promised Francis Ford Coppola's Argentina based familial drama last summer, but at least we have a chance to watch it this summer. Reminisce about your distant parents on 25 June 2010.
Tamara Drewe - Fresh from the news of it's Cannes premier comes a UK release for Stehen Frears' modern update of Far from the Maddening Crowd. Choose between the town and country on 10 Spetember 2010.
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps - Moving again is Oliver Stones 25 fives years later sequel with Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf - this time it's forwarda few weeks so you can't read anything too negative in that. Make a fortune on the markets on 01 October 2010.
Another Year - It's our third Cannes premier in a row as we get a release date for Mike Ligh's latest slice of British miserableism. Find your inner hurt on 05 November 2010.
Love and Other Drugs - Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway reteam for this viagra based comedy from director Ed Zwick. Pick yourself up with a pill on 31 December 2010.
Morning Glory - Unfortunate run of titles but the Harrison Ford/Diane Keaton newsanchors getting a dose of humility comedy has moved to early 2011 following from it's shift in US release dates. Read the news with no trousers on 07 January 2011.
I'm going to end with the music video for Michael Jackson's They don't really care about us. Purely because it's the last time that Spike Lee worked with Jacko:
