Sunday, July 15, 2012

JaSexxy Movie Review: Midnight In Paris

I normally only review books and movies based on books on my blog, but I think I'm gonna expand to all movie reviews.  Having said that, here's my review of Woody Allen's Midnight In Paris...


    I really liked this movie.  Classic Woody Allen flick; witty, funny, self-flagellating, unique & creative, dialogue & character driven, artistically filmed (some really beautiful shots of Paris day/night/rain), intelligent and relevant, neurotic, and, how you say, je ne sais quoi.  His movies have a mix of closure & open-endedness.  The plot wraps up, but he story continues.  I love that because it lets the viewer have the satisfaction of knowing how the main storyline comes to end, but also that it isn't over, a new story begins.  This is life.  When something ends, something begins.  Our life stories don't resolve in a 1/2hr, hour, 2hrs, like in TV shows and movies.  Parts of our stories end, but new stories began as those end.  So to does Allen's movies.  Some movies, stories, require a finale, a closure that satisfies the viewer, but some have to stay open giving the viewers a satisfaction that the characters' (lives), that the viewers have become acquainted with, will carry on.  Allen's films are of the latter sort.  I also like that Allen has broadened his filming locations.  he only recently, (within the last 7yrs), started filming outside NY, (I think out of the 47 movies he's directed, only 4-5 have been outside NY).  His first film shot entirely out of New York, Match Point filmed in Britain, gave him a success he hadn't seen in awhile, and it also put Scarlett Johansson on the fast track to stardom, (Kate Winslet was supposed to play her role, but backed out).  At any rate, Allen has found new life in his films by shooting in diff locales.  He has a wonderful way of being irreverent with wit & intelligence mixed with neurosis & relevance.  One of the things I really loved with Midnight In Paris was all the iconic figures, both American & European, featured in the movie's 1920's crossover scenes.  As an artist and avid reader it was very cool seeing Hemingway, Picasso, Gertrude Stein, Fitzgerald, Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, Dali, Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, Gaugin, Matisse, T.S. Eliot, and several other that I am forgetting, come to "life".  I'm not sure if those familiar with Woody Allen or those that don't like WA, would like this film, but I do rec it.  I enjoyed it very much and would watch it again.  Highest Sexxy rating: XXX
Stay Entertained! Happy Viewing!

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