Midnight in Paris, 2011

Midnight in Paris, 2011
Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Cathy Bates



Stage: Home Theatre


Midnight in short: Gil and Inez travel to Paris as a tag-along vacation on her parents' business trip. Gil is a successful Hollywood writer but is struggling on his first novel. He falls in love with the city and thinks they should move there after they get married, but Inez does not share his romantic notions of the city or the idea that the 1920s was the golden age. When Inez goes off dancing with her friends, Gil takes a walk at midnight and discovers what could be the ultimate source of inspiration for writing. Gil's daily walks at midnight in Paris could take him closer to the heart of the city but further from the woman he's about to marry.


Preps: Oh, the new stuff from Woody Allen. A must see. I don't care what it is, but I am a huge fan of Allen's movies and could swallow them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Am definitely curious who the protagonist will be and what his main pain will be.



Reality: MMMMMMMMMM, a balsam to my romantic soul. The real question is are we satisfied in the present or are we living somewhere else (with our minds), letting it argue with our present being and just watching the present run away. Are we trying to escape into another body, soul, time period? And how does it conflict with who we are today. Where to stay, in your Avatar or in your present, this is the question this piece is struggling with.

Is Clive Owen the best protagonist you could imagine? Being used to romantic comedies, the genre fits perfectly. However, I am dissappointed in Allen's choice for the main cast. In some aspects, however, it perfectly fits to the purpose. Does he imperson Allen as Woody decides not to break the ice again with playing in his own movie? Probably yes. Is he really like Allen? Well, the character is like Allen, lost, then found, lost again, then dragged away by an idea. So the job, given to Owen, is actualy driven perfectly. Even though I despise his lack of mannly behaviour, I am deeply intrigued by the story. What a great idea, to travel into the world of people you embrace in your deepest desires. And what an upgrade, to find out that once you are in that world, the protagonists or the Einsteins of that time, think that they aren't living in the proper era.

Is this the question we all keep asking ourselves - how would it be to live in something else, someone else's trousers, a different setting, different points of certainty.. and for how long would it last? The main characters in 1920 also want to escape to some other period, just for the sake of being able to live like the people they admire. And after some time, they would get fed up of that time too and give it away for another jump. In some dillusion, it would be great of having the power to jump any time given, to the period that drives you the most at that moment. The inspiration then, must be to live your life the way it could move and switch through different drives we all seek within something else. It's not the neigbour, whose grass is always greener. I think we should find it within our own backyard. And that would be the leading point of the piece.

Brilliant in many aspects. Light and entertaining. And yet, extremely deep. Applause.


My personal rate: 9,0 (truly good plot and way to think about the present).


Midnight in Paris on IMDB

Vicky Christina Barcelona, 2008

Vicky Christina Barcelona, 2008
Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johannson, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall




Stage: Home theatre, another viewing (seen before on the movie festival LIFFE)


Vicky Christina Barcelona in short: Sexually adventurous Cristina and her friend Vicky, who is bright but cautious, holiday in Barcelona where they meet the celebrated and wholly seductive painter, Juan Antonio. Vicky is not about to dive into a sexual adventure being committed to her forthcoming marriage. But Cristina is immediately captivated by Juan Antonio's free spirit and his romantic allure is enhanced when she hears the delicious details of his divorce from fellow artist, the tempestuous Maria Elena.

Preps: I am a huge fan of Allen's work, therefore I need to see this regardless of what it might do to me :)

Reality: One of the typical Allen's perspective is to go into a woman's soul, making ironic scenery and drive sarcasm out of the soul of the spectator. Which is truly why I love his movies. And somehow, I find it amusing that he can put Johannson into so many different roles, as I see her as his sexual muse.

This piece is set in the beautiful scenery in Barcelona. The place we absolutely agree on, everyone should go for the summer. So in this sense, a dream becomes reality and you get to see all the dirty details of one's summer in this city. The beginning seems quite undemanding to the viewer and the storyline is pretty simple. When Bardem gets his visio in the scope of the camera, this is the place where everything gets complicated and Allen gets his piece of the pie. The love triangle, where Johansson plays a giant role of a traditional woman, that strives to check out something completely out of her scope, at the end realizing it's not what she wants (oh, what a surprise there ;) - no fairies last a long time, right? ). It's amazing to see all the quarreling between an old couple, combining it with a newcoming love into a formation of a sort of triangle, after that receiving every bit of positive side of this for a while, then turning into a flashlight or a sparkle and fading away. In a sense, a lection on how things fade away even though they seem quite sparkled at the beginning and how we should cherish life when it's happening, not mourning when it's finished. That goes for special moments as well.

Nevertheless, Barcelona in this sense is a metaphore for an escape. I see it in some aspect as the famous phrase "what happens in Vegas.." in this sense, of course, what happens in Spain.. I could easily claim the movie to be anti commercial for Spain (or american women), however, I see a deeper point into making your soul cope with metaphores and giving them a chance to breathe in the real life. Marrying a guy, running right afterwards in a strange country you don't know, falling in love with someone else and forgetting about it when you return to real life? Or, on the other hand, falling in love into the same guy as your friend, coping with life with his ex in the same house, making love to both and then at the end of the day, living with yourself, if you were brought up with traditional values and despise the fact that you are this way? A pile of challenges, Allen in his own way, exposes to the viewer. The movie will lie down on your soul gently and will comfort you with the way things turn out. Nevertheless, I believe the ending to be too average for Allen and I don't like it. I just don't see life as rosy as it turns out for the two ladies. And if it does stay in Spain, it for sure also stays in the mind and soul.


My personal rate: 7,0 (a fine, loveable piece I enjoy watching all over again.)


Barcelona on IMDB

You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger

You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, 2010
Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin


Stage: Home theatre


Tall Dark Stranger in short: Follows a pair of married couples, Alfie (Hopkins) and Helena (Jones), and their daughter Sally (Watts) and husband Roy (Brolin), as their passions, ambitions, and anxieties lead them into trouble and out of their minds. After Alfie leaves Helena to pursue his lost youth and a free-spirited call girl named Charmaine (Punch), Helena abandons rationality and surrenders her life to the loopy advice of a charlatan fortune teller. Unhappy in her marriage, Sally develops a crush on her handsome art gallery owner boss, Greg (Banderas), while Roy, a novelist nervously awaiting the response to his latest manuscript, becomes moonstruck over Dia (Pinto), a mystery woman who catches his gaze through a nearby window.


Preps: Hmmmm, amazing cast. And Woody Allen. Enough reasons for me to see it. Allen for sure. But don't know anything about it and I feel I don't need to :)



Reality: The title makes an ironic statement that is pursued throughout the movie. Showing the reality as it is, not ironed and stashed into some fancy cover paper or pictured as it is supposed to be.. no, this movie really shows the way things can ironically change. Narrator here plays an excellent role, as always in one of Allen's masterpieces. Was surprised, though, not seeing him side by side with the breathtaking cast. Watts and Brolin have the lead character role, that is played with and over and over torn apart - in every aspect of the relationship you can imagine. Passing through past and present in a way to show the viewer the roses from the start and the vinegar at the end of the relationship.. like maturing the flowers, the nourishment and obtaining all relationships in the movie seems a desperate deed. They all flee to the inevitable end. Consisted because of greed (the relationship between the father and the prostitute), doomed to fail. Abandoning your dreams.. leading to desperation and afterall, the end.
The mother, staying at the friend that nurtures her wildest imagination with future visions, taking money for telling her things she wanted to hear - well, that's pure life - so many people do it and so many more are addicted to this. You can get pretty emotional, watching the piece, as it will drive into your brain cells and stream through your veins. I wonder all the time about the things that happen. Stealing your "supposeably" dead friend's work just to make a breakthrough (and yes, irony again), when you find out he's not dead at all and that at some point you will be exposed to public humiliation because you stole the work (or wanted a better life you thought you deserved) - this story in perticular, goes deeply in the egocentrism of a man. Trying your whole life to make a breakthrough and to make it with someone else's work, because yours isn't good enough - this just makes up for the tragedy really happening here. And trying to get another chance with a man that seeks other human beings for the sake of not being left alone.. well, the tragic moments deepen with each moment of this movie.

A splendid artwork of Woody Allen, indeed. Showing real situations, real things that can happen to each individual. Very humorous and very tragical in the same moment. And a brilliant cast. Not a moment lost watching this movie. A strong recommendation.


My personal rating: 9,0 (again, a superb piece from Allen. Pure reality and irony. In its best and its vividness - not the way we like it, because it strikes you too real. But just because it's really real.



The stranger on IMDB
You will meet a tall dark stranger official sites