Guest Post by Lesya- Woody Allen: A Documentary

        One of my favourite cinephiles, Lesya Hearst, recently saw this film and wanted to write about it. Seeing how I treat Mr. Allen as my film god and am dying to watch it, I quickly offered the services of my blog. So here it goes. I hope you enjoy it.

           Woody Allen. Every film admirer knows this name, if not loves the artist who bears it. Mr. Allen makes you laugh in Annie Hall and shed a tear in Manhattan or he may engage you in both activities in both movies. He transports you to the most magical of places in Midnight in Paris and somehow manages to make the City of Lights even more charming and mysterious. He adds enchantment even to an old movie theater, pushing make-believe to new highs in The Purple Rose of Cairo. Mr. Allen understands life, death, love, art, and people. And he places this understanding in his peculiar vision in his unique films.

            Woody Allen: A Documentary was made for TV in two installments and its running time nears three and a half hours, which is, let’s admit, a lot. This film was produced as a shorter version for cinema release, but I was extremely fortunate to attend a screening of that lengthy Director’s Cut at the American Independence Film Festival in Kyiv. Being a relatively tiny thing, this event still managed to draw the audience into the theater and even featured some amazing guests of filmmaker kin, including the director of the about-to-be-discussed documentary, Robert B. Weide.

        Presenting his film, Mr. Weide asked us three questions: how many of us were passionate Woody Allen fans, who had seen all of his movies, how many knew only a few of Woody’s pictures, and how many were there just to avoid the bad weather outside. Funnily, I couldn't classify myself. I’m a huge admirer of Woody’s work, but I can’t say that I saw half of his oeuvres, not to mention the majority of them. Anyway, hopefully, the situation is about to be improved, since Woody Allen: A Documentary made me even more interested in the auteur’s filmography. Nothing bizarre about that: if a movie (a doco or a fictionalized biopic) centered on a personality is well-made, you will probably want to know even more about this or that persona.

       Here go a few general things that you should know about the movie. It isn't afraid to dwell on Woody Allen’s life, but most importantly, his creative life, starting with childhood beginnings to his young years as a stand-upper to his slow transition to films as a writer, actor, and director. The milestone motion pictures are discussed in detail and whole-heartedly by a range of professionals who have worked with the master and were inspired by his incredible vision. The audience is lucky to find out more about Woody’s writing habits and his funny stories straight from his lips, too. The documentary never bores, being that long. I can tell from my experience that it was one of the best film viewings in my life: I had a very trying day and my nerves were shattered, but the movie made me relax and I was laughing at many moments alongside other viewers. As Woody Allen: A Documentary went on and on, I thought that it can’t be too long, it’s amazing!

        Can you spoil anything in a documentary? I don’t think that it’s such a problem as in usual narrative films, yet I don’t want to share some details, leaving them for you to find out, when you have the chance to see this movie. However, there is one thing that I think I can talk about, regarding that it was a huge revelation for me. Woody said that he never had a writer’s block. Fancy that! Shocking. I’m not joking. I do consider it a significant eye-opener. If you are a writer or a blogger and you face problems with the muse, think of Woody. Of course, you might say that no one’s like Woody Allen (and that is true), but the point is: if someone can write incessantly, you can too!

        Needless to say, Woody Allen: A Documentary boasts many as great facts as this one. I promise you, if you are an aspiring filmmaker or a movie buff, you’ll find the Director’s Cut a fun ride into the great filmmaker’s life and career. The documentary is funny, smooth, informative, and inspiring. Whoever you are, I bet you would take something from the film that will live in your heart and memory for a while.

My 50 Movie Wishes

Inspired by Sati's and Tyler's Movie Wishes lists, I decided to make one of my own. I think mine is a bit more general and not so much about specific movies. There are quite a few about actors and some even personal. Anyways, I hope you enjoy them :D

1) I wish that Johnny Depp would star in a small independent film and give a powerhouse performance and once again show the world the depth of his talent.

2) I wish the Indian film industry was run by Aamir Khan, the Akhtars and Vishal Bharadwaj.

3) I wish there was a film made just about Mrs. Robinson.

4) I wish Harry Potter would have never ended.

5) I wish Gone with the Wind would have ended.

6) I wish I lived in the land of Pixar.

7) I wish Woody Allen makes films forever.

8) I wish Katherine Heigl would have never starred in films and thus not ruined the name of romcoms.

9) I wish all romcoms could be like The Apartment.

10) I wish Ralph Fiennes would get his Oscar already.

11)  I wish all films were as beautiful as Pan's Labyrinth.

12) I wish that Quentin Tarantino continues to make brilliant films and not retire at 60.

13) I wish I could watch films without over-analysing them with my mathematical brain and thus enjoy films by David Lynch and the like.

14) I wish someone adapts Lolita truthfully and ruthlessly and not make it all about guilt and self-loathing.

15) I wish critics would appreciate comedians like Jim Carrey and Bill Murray more.

16) I wish there was a film just about Mickey from Snatch.

17) I wish I fully understood The Virgin Suicides.

18) I wish all films were as quotable as Mean Girls.

19) I wish Fassy becomes the next James Bond, 60s style.

20) I wish Winona Ryder makes a comeback.

21)  I wish Edgar Wright finishes his Blood and Ice cream trilogy soon, and then continue to make more and even awesomer trilogies with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, aka Best Onscreen Couple EVER.

22) I wish David Fincher had won the Oscar for directing The Social Network.

23) I wish all films were as enjoyable as Star Trek (2009).

24) I wish James Dean would have made more films.

25) I wish Kieran Culkin, Emile Hirsch and Paul Dano came in more films.

26) I wish all child actors could act as well as Natalie Portman in Leon or Jamie Bell in Billy Elliot.

27) I wish there was a film about Maggie Smith being the best Maggie Smith she can be.

28) I wish Julianne Moore would have her Oscar already.

29) I wish all films were released everywhere and at the right time.

30) I wish Paul Thomas Anderson would make a comedic film again.

31) I wish more films would properly sexualise their male leads instead of their female leads, like Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire.

32) I wish the AMPAS weren't so close-minded when it comes to films about kids and teenagers.

33) I wish people would truly appreciate Ewan McGregor.

34) I wish all performances could be as brave as Charlize Theron's in Young Adult.

35) I wish 3D was only used for films that require it, and not dance movies or concert movies or period movies.

36) I wish Adrien Brody would get roles according to his caliber.

37) I wish more films could make me as crazy about the musical score and soundtrack as Kill Bill Vol. 1 does.

38)  I wish all films could end the way Before Sunset does- leaving us asking for more and at the same time for nothing else because that would ruin the magic of it.

39) I wish people wouldn't judge Marie Antoinette for all its shallowness, but instead with all its shallowness.

40) I wish Emma Stone would portray Lauren Bacall in a biopic.

41)  I wish all supporting actors were as amazing as Donald O' Connor and Jean Hagen is Singin' in the Rain.

42) I wish they never played the bloody banjo music in the actual sex scene in Bonnie and Clyde, an otherwise very sultry film.

43) I wish they wouldn't make another Batman movie for at least the next 20 years.

44) I wish people looked up to 12 Angry Men at least the same way they do to To Kill a Mockingbird.

45) I wish Jack Dawson hadn't died.

46) I wish David Fincher makes a film inspired by his Madonna "Vogue" video.

47) I wish Frodo was less of a pain in the ass- LOTR would've been even more perfect then.

48) I wish Tilda Swinton keeps giving her awe-inducing performances forever.

49) I wish Edward Norton would get his Oscar already.

50) I wish some day I could write and direct films, and hopefully good ones at that :)

Thoughts

I am sorry I am late again. Okay thoughts.

1) So I introduced my younger brother to Ghostbusters this week. And he loves it! I feel proud. Also, he has declared that Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is the greatest villain of all time. Good stuff.

2) Woody Allen will be starring in John Turturro's new film, Fading Gigolo. This film will also star Sharon Stone and Modern Family's Sofia Vergara. I'm pretty psyched. I find the whole idea of neurotic and nervous Allen conversing with loud and occasionally incoherent Vergara incredibly hilarious. Also I love Turturro, though I haven't seen any of the films he has directed.  

3) Pictures and posters- Johnny Depp's next two films have pictures out. First there is Tim Burton's Dark Shadows. It looks cool (Miss Pfeiffer is the SHIT), but I'm scared to expect a lot. In all fairness I have never not liked a Burton film except Planet of the Apes (I'm terrified of that one). But I was watching Edward Scissorhands last week, and both Burton and Depp together had so much potential then, and they seem to be just wasting it. Especially Depp. Gah!! His other film is The Lone Ranger, which also has Armie Hammer. It's so obvious Johnny Depp would be wearing a crow on his head. He needs to do something toned down and brilliant. He is one of the greats. It's about time he shows that again. Then poster-wise, we have the absolutely lovely Moonrise Kingdom. I had this Matt Smith black and white photo as my desktop wallpaper for about six months since it has the weeping angel and the Ood head and the bow tie and Matt's incredible bone structure etc. and I couldn't find anything to replace it with. But the poster has done it. It is so beautiful and childlike and romantic. I am completely in love with it.


4) I saw American Horror Story this week. It started out terribly. I hate it when things jump around in films and tv shows. I need a flow in things, or I get annoyed very quickly. Thankfully the show picked up its pace and started focusing on things. I really liked Jessica Lange in it, and Zachary Quinto was a pleasant surprise. Taissa Farmiga is really pretty and perfect for a Sofia Coppola film (her next role). Finally I'm in love with a ghost (Tate <3). This always happens. I'm looking forward to the next season in which everything will start anew. I like it when that happens because I generally cannot watch TV shows as they tend to drag on forever.


5) Trailers- Men In Black 3 which is starting to look decent-ish, though I can't really imagine Andy Warhol being an alien-fighting secret agent. Ice Age: Continental Drift has a trailer. Now logically speaking, how is it possible for the same group of animals to survive the Ice Age, the end of Ice Age, whatever the hell happened in the 3rd one (was it dinosaurs?) and now breaking up of the continents? Did it even happen this fast? I'm sorry but this is all I can think of. I don't hate these films and enjoy then adequately (I always cry at the end of the first one), but enough. Brave's Japanese Trailer is awesomeness itself. I almost want to watch it in Japanese now, but I love Scottish accents. Finally people will get off this film's back and stop comparing it to How to Train a Dragon. Pixar FTW.


6) Speaking of Pixar, an artist named Kyle Lambert has made a series of paintings entirely on his IPad, mashing up Toy Story and Stanley Kubrick's horror classic The Shining. It's pretty rad and well, makes one look at the cartoon film in a whole new light.


7) Finally, the Scorsese drinking game has gotten pretty famous. Let's hope we can start a new trend.

YASSS.

I like how I get excited by all this, even though I come from a family of teetotalers.

Okay byee.

Woody Allen at the 2002 Oscars

I stumbled upon this during my random Youtube searches. Isn't he just amazing? It's been a decade since then, and this maybe the big year for him at the Oscars again. I wish he comes.

HELLO OSCAR NOMS!

       Oscar nominations will be announced in less than 2 days. Yaay! I still haven't seen 3 films that I think can score big here- Shame, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and My Week with Marilyn. Still, the following are my wish-lists/predictions for the Big 5 and the Supporting categories.


Best Film- Trickiest category because no one knows how many there will be.


Mine:  1) The Artist
2) Midnight in Paris
3) Hugo
4) Drive
5) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
6) The Tree of Life
7) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
8) A Separation


Theirs: Them heartless voters will kick poor Harry out, and have The Descendants in its place. Then probably Moneyball in place of Drive, The Help in place of The Tree of Life and maybe Bridesmaids in place of Dragon Tattoo. A Separation won't be nominated here.


Winner: It has become a The Artist vs The Descendants race, but the best part of this award season is still how relatively flexible it is. Between those two, The Artist has my vote. Otherwise I think A Separation is the most flawless film I've seen all year, and Drive is insanely cool.




Best Director- Oh happy happy year. Something old and something new, and everything is just amazing.


Mine: 1)Martin Scorsese, Hugo
2) Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive
3) Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
4) Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
5) Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life


Theirs: Either Refn or Malick will be replaced by Alexander Payne for The Descendants. David Fincher is being showered with love for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, so who knows what that will bring. Steven Spielberg is being considered for War Horse, though personally I would prefer if he were nominated for Tintin.


Winner: Scorsese or Refn, in my eyes. But my gut says Hazanavicius.




Best Actress- This was difficult, and also I haven't seen 3 of the performances that will probably make the cut.


Mine: 1) Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
2) Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia
3) Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
4) Viola Davis, The Help
5) Charlize Theron, Young Adult


Theirs: Olsen isn't getting any love, most unfortunately. We can all count Meryl Streep in, for her role in The Iron Lady. Theron will also be substituted by Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn. Glenn Close will replace poor Kiki for that awful Albert Nobbs and Tilda, the Goddess, may find herself kicked out in favour of Rooney Mara, for Dragon Tattoo.


Winner- Among the ones I have seen, I think Tilda Swinton was just incredible. But it may become a Meryl vs Viola thing this year, and I can't help but be pro-Meryl, because she IS Meryl "Fuckin" Streep!




Best Actor- Ooh. What a year. Beauties, all of them.


Mine: 1) Ryan Gosling, Drive
2) Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
3) Jean Dujardin, The Artist
4) Ewan McGregor, Beginners
5) George Clooney, The Descendants


Special wish: Daniel Radcliffe- because they had a FYC for him and this was his best performance as Harry Potter ever, and because he IS Harry Potter.


Theirs: They will never nominate McGregor because they are all bastards and do not appreciate that man. Gosling won't get nominated either and if that does happen, it will be for his performance in The Ides of March, who we all know was someone the Driver could kill in a lift at any point of time. Brad Pitt will be nominated for Moneyball. Michael Fassbender might be nominated for Shame though it still might be too racy a role for them. Michael Shannon for Take Shelter (haven't seen that one either). Also maybe Leo for J.Edgar because they love him so.


Winner- Oldman is just so very very good. It's about time Academy recognises this. But it maybe a Ocean's/two-time Sexiest Men Alive face-off with Brad and George fighting for the top prize. Or everyone could have been completely charmed by Dujardin and give him the award.




Best Supporting Actress- This was the category I was least passionate about for some reason.


Mine: 1) Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
2) Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
3) Octavia Spencer, The Help
4) Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
5) Jessica Chastain, The Help/The Tree of Life


Theirs: I have a feeling this might be it. Chastain was apparently the best in Take Shelter so I don't know, but this WAS her year. Carey Mulligan may be nominated for Shame or Janet McTeer for Albert Nobbs.


Winner: I was really impressed with Woodley and McCarthy (yaay Gilmore Girls!). But Spencer is in the lead, and she was good enough.




Best Supporting Actor- I am proud of this one.


Mine: 1) Alan Rickman, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2 as Professor Severus Snape (I HAD to do that)
2) Albert Brooks, Drive
3) Christopher Plummer, Beginners
4) Hunter McCracken/Brad Pitt, The Tree of Life
5) Ezra Miller, We Need to Talk About Kevin


Theirs- Those bitches will never reward Rickman either. But I shall love him, always. Pitt will get nominated in the Actor category, but he was just better in this role. Jonah Hill was very good in Moneyball. Kenneth Branagh will be nominated for My Week with Marilyn. There is also chances for Viggo Mortensen for A Dangerous Method and all the people from The Ides of March. Whatever- my list rules all.


Winner- Plummer is the front-runner, though I still think Brooks was better. They're it really.




Best Original Screenplay- This is a good year for this category.


Mine: 1) Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
2) Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
3) Asghar Farhadi, A Separation
4) Mike Mills, Beginners
5) Diablo Cody, Young Adult


Theirs: I don't think Farhadi will get nominated. There are films like Bridesmaids, 50-50, Take Shelter, Shame and maybe even The Iron Lady (it's the power of the Streep) who can take the place.


Winner- Woody. I shall hear no more of this.




Best Adapted Screenplay- Honest question: how does someone decide this without having read the source material?


Mine: 1) Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
2) John Logan, Hugo
3) Moira Buffini, Jane Eyre
4) Yasmina Reza and Roman Polanski, Carnage
5) Steven Zaillian, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo


Theirs: The Help and The Descendants is a lock. Maybe even Moneyball. From my list, I think only Hugo and maybe Dragon Tattoo will make it through.


Winner: TTSS really impressed me, but they love The Descendants.




My winners are sort of preliminary, but I don't think my final decisions will be all that different.
And now we wait...

Film Makers who make Me want to be a Character in their Films

       This can be considered as film makers who I wish could direct my life, but the truth is that my life is wayy too boring and lackluster for them. Instead, I want to be one of the brilliant characters in their films, because then I would be awesomely quirky or drop-dead gorgeous or super smart or deliciously badass.


Honourable mentions: Steven Spielberg except I really only want to be Indiana Jones, Peter Jackson but not anyone from Heavenly Creatures or The Lovely Bones (the only PJ films that I have seen are the aforementioned and LoTR films), P.T Anderson but not really (no Daniel Plainview for me), Richard Curtis so that I can get charming, funny, handsome, brunette, blue-eyed British men or Hugh Grant.


The list (not in any particular order because I cannot choose)-

Sofia Coppola
Have you seen the women in her films? I would be oh so beautiful and lovely and mysteriouzzz then. (See how I ruined that? I need help Sofia, please).

Wes Anderson

I wanted to marry the recently released Moonrise Kingdom trailer. Quirky, fun, flawed, brilliant- basically characters as colourful as his films.

Quentin Tarantino
Do I really need to explain this? I would be a total BAMF, that's why!

Edgar Wright

All the films he has produced/directed/written have one thing in common- insanely epic characters! They are uber violent AND they tickle your funny bone- YES!!

Woody Allen
Uh duh. It's my list. I crave to be a nervous bumbling knowledgeable depressed narcissistic brilliant person. Some one get me a psychoanalyst please!

Billy Wilder
Whether it be comedy or noir, the Wilder characters are always incredible and unforgettable.

Tim Burton
Yes so his popularity and genius is apparently deteriorating now. But Burton was the king of morbid romantics. His characters runneth over with eccentricity. 

John Hughes
Because I am still a teenager and yes I do wish that he had directed my life.

Now someone please go find me a magic lamp.

"If my films make one more person miserable, I'll feel I have done my job." ~ MY FAVOURITE WOODY ALLEN FILMS

              I think every person who watches films, and certainly every cinephile, has those selected directors whose films impress and inspire them beyond all others. We just get what is being shown to us. We follow their quirks and specialties and thrive at our knowledge of them. Now specifically for me, a few directors do spring to mind whose works I follow and revere faithfully and almost blindly, but my ultimate film maker is the bespectacled, jazz-loving, psuedo-intellectual-hating, nervous, fast-talking, ever-so-humbly narcissistic, and inconceivably charming comedic genius- Mr. Allen Stewart Konigsberg, better known as Woody Allen. I love this guy, really do, and whichever day I manage to finish his gargantuan filmography, I will throw a humongous party in which everyone will be dressed as characters from his films, so we'll have the Woody doppelgängers and the beautiful, interesting, slightly troubled women. Ouie?

              But until then, I will make a list of my top 10 Woody Allen films, from the 20 that I have seen properly. This is my entry for the LAMBS in the Director's Chair for this month. Sit back, put on some Cole Porter, kill a lobster, and enjoy.

10. 

Woody shows the life of the self-professed best guitarist in the world, Emmet Ray. Ray is played by Sean Penn, and he is rude and slightly violent, but oh so good. The best part of the movie, however, is the splendid performance by Samantha Morton who plays Ray's mute lover.

9. 

Woody's parody of Frederico Fellini's 8½ is nothing short of wonder. He plays Sandy Bates, a funny man who has fans just dying over him and his jokes, and all he wants is to be taken seriously, because let's face it, life is not only fun and games and gimmicks. Shot in glorious black and white like the film it parodies, the most stunning part of the film ends up being the divine female leads in the form of Charlotte Rampling, Marie-Christine Barrault and Jessica Harper.

8.

Only Woody can manage to make a Greek tragedy-esque film funny, while also making it oh so sad. Stellar performances from Allen himself and Mira Sorvino who won an Oscar for her hilarious portrayal of prostitute/porn-star/Woody's character's baby mama Linda Ash.

7.

Up until recently, I had always called this the sexiest film that I have ever seen. While it doesn't hold the proper title anymore, it is still one of the sultriest films of all time. This is because of the gorgeous actors in it, the music, the setting, and just the dialogue. Love Penelope Cruz in this, and her Oscar was so well-deserved.

6.

This film depicts the lives of three sisters and their relationships with each other and the different men they get involved with. Again Woody shows his mettle of choosing beautiful real women in his films and make them give great performances. Diane Weist won her first Oscar for this, as did Michael Caine. This film has one of the best monologues that I have ever seen in which Woody's character Mickey talks about how he got over his fear of death. Inspiring stuff.

5.

Easily the most famous of Woody's films, and the one that bagged him the Oscar, and also for his leading lady and my favourite Woody muse, Diane Keaton. The nervous romance of Alvy Singer and Annie Hall will live on as time goes by.

4.

I saw this today, and described the experience to a friend of mine as having "movie-gasms" throughout the film. It almost ousted my number 3 film, but yeah I controlled my feelings. Still, it is bloody brilliant. Diane Weist got her second Oscar for this. It's a crime-comedy, and after watching this all I want is for Woody to direct an episode of Boardwalk Empire. Okay, I won't speak anymore! (That was a reference to the film, in case you didn't get it :P)

3.

I didn't even remember that this didn't have a title card like the others. But, what an opening! That opening alone guaranteed a spot in this list, but it is such a funny, sweet, wonderful, dazzling film. A must-watch for anyone who loves Woody, or loves New York the way he does.

2.

Ugh, nostalgia and me go wayyy back *snort*. This was so lovely and magical. To be able to visit your favourite age, meet your idols, all while being in the most beautiful city in the world- ain't that the dream? And Woody shows it resplendently.

1.

It's number 3 in my favourite 100 films list. This film truly awakened the film-fanatic in me. I don't relate to most people as well as I relate to Mia Farrow's character Cecilia in this film. It's the most enchanting, fantastic film, and it just goes to show how wonderful the magic of cinema really is.

My final word on Woody...um well, I'll just quote him I guess-

"Love is too weak a word for what I feel - I luuurve you, you know, I loave you, I luff you, two F's, yes I have to invent, of course I - I do, don't you think I do?"

Nostalgia two times

          Sometime last week, I had an exceptionally brilliant day when I managed to finally watch J.J. Abrams's Super 8 and Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. Both were very different, and splendid films, except they both had the theme of nostalgia running through them, in different ways ofcourse.

Super 8: The story is set in 1979. It is about a bunch of teenage kids who, while making a film about zombies for a competition, witness a disastrous train accident. Soon after all sorts of weird things start happening around the town, like electronics and dogs and people go missing. With the US Airforce taking over, and an unexpected recording in their super 8 camera, the kids are pulled into a mystery of galactic proportions. And in all of this, romance blooms.


          So this is the vaguest and most non-spilling synopsis I could come with. I know that isn't particularly my style, but seeing how much Abrams generally does for the secrecy of his films, and how much I love them, I feel like he deserves it. Except those who have read any reviews (I read only about a couple for the above-stated reason) have seen the parallels drawn to E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. So you know because of this, the belief that this is Abrams's practical love-letter to Steven Spielberg, and the fact that Spielberg himself is the producer, all points at the fact that this film might (or might not) have something to do with other-worldly things.


          But I was going to talk about the nostalgia aspect. Now anywhere that Super 8 has been mentioned, this word has been used. Quite simply it refers to the feel of the film, or rather it the way it makes the viewer feel while watching it. But that made me kind of sad. Super 8 is supposed to make one nostalgic about those lazy hazy days of summer when kids played in green lawns and first crushes were formed; kids ran around together and got into trouble for the stupidest things and the world was just sunnier and cleaner. And it just killed me that I could never feel that way, because I had never experienced such things in my life. As I have said countless times before, there are films that I just want to live in and Super 8 has definitely joined the list. It's just so lovely in its youth, and the child actors- the adorable Joel Courtney, the breath-taking Elle Fanning, the bossy Riley Smith and the destructive Ryan Lee are all great in their parts. Especially Courtney- he was just so honest and sincere in his role, that my heart went out for him. He gave the film the emotional arc it needed. It was because of him, and his relationship with the other child actors that made this summer blockbuster a blockbuster with lots of heart and warmth. Yes, this film exactly like those Spielberg classics, because even if it's about people from different worlds (or not), it shows that things like family and friendship and courage and curiosity are all universal and common, and never more so than in the innocence of childhood.


         All in all I thought it was a solid film. I didn't like the ending as much as the rest of it, but I do believe it's more of the theatre's fault rather than the film's. For some reason, Arcade Fire's The Suburbs kept popping into my head while, and after watching the film. All the visual effects, and the feel of a 70s town were spot on according to me. As I said before, what really drove this film for me were the kids, especially Courtney. A fantastic effort by Abrams...I hope he's proud of his tribute, I sure would be.


Rating- 9.5/10

Midnight in Paris: Gil is visiting Paris with his fiancée Inez and her parents. He is a Hollywood scriptwriter who is now trying his hand at a novel he has forever dreamt about writing. He is also in love with the City of Love, especially in the 1920s, but his love for the past is ridiculed by Inez, her parents, and her friends- the 'pedantic' Paul and his wife Carol. One night when he's out taking a walk, slightly inebriated, he comes upon some stairs somewhere in Paris, and as the clock strikes twelve, an antique car stops in front of him and people in it, dressed in 1920s attire, ask him to get on. And he does, and is transported to the time and land of his dreams- the 1920s. Here he meets a whole bunch of artists and writers and eccentrics, and is totally mesmerised by the glamour and romance of it. But this land only exists during the nights, and he is transported back to the 21st century in the morning, with Inez and everyone. This creates a few peculiar problems for Gil, and he must decide where, and when, his heart truly lies.


           This film...oh my god...BRILLIANCE! Okay focus. I have not connected to a Woody film like this since The Purple Rose of Cairo. 


          Nostalgia in this film is a feeling that the Gil longs for...for belonging to a place and time where important things that mattered happened, and the world was a better place with art and music running through it. It is an idea, or an an idea of a feeling. In the beginning Michael Sheen's absolutely repulsive character Paul (psuedo-intellectual- eugh!) says this about Gil's played by Owen Wilson, love for things and people and life of the past, or 'Golden Age thinking'- "The erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one you’re actually living in. It’s a flaw in the romantic imagination for people that find it difficult to cope with the present." I am telling you that if I was in Gil's place there, I would have either punched Paul on the face real hard, or ran away from there crying, or probably both. Because that right there is exactly how I am. This is my nostalgia- for a time where I have not really existed in. Like me wanting to live in the Super 8 world. I want to live in the Midnight in Paris world also...even more than that of Super 8, because the way Woody lays out the honey-hued Paris in the 20s...is quite something else. And I haven't even started talking about the people Gil meets yet!


         He meets everyone really- the Fitzgeralds, Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Cole Porter, Salvador Dali, Man Ray, T.S. Elliot etcetera etcetera. Woody Allen films have a way of making me feel really uncultured and stupid, and never moreso than in this film. But that's just a minor issue because these characters are really Woody's idea of them, and they are all extremely entertaining. My mouth was open through half of the film, because just the idea of meeting these masters of art and literature is just so mindnumblingly fantastic, that I could barely believe it. Note the barely, because I have this fascination with what general people call unreal, and that's very much real for me. Just like in Purple Rose. Among the people, I especially loved the Fitzgeralds; Zelda is splendid, Hemingway and obviously Dali. Dali! Dali! Rhinocerous! Yes I am not explaining that- watch it, if not for anything then to figure out my really pointless riddle.


        Ofcourse the most important person that Gil meets is someone who is actually not real at all- an artist muse named Adriana, played by the divine Marion Cotillard. In her he finds someone quite like himself- sopmeone who is unhappy with her present era and dreams of another one, and they have quite a lovely relationship. She becomes instrumental to his character development throughout the film, because it is through her decisions that Gil makes his important life decisions.


          I said in my 15 Questions Meme that my favourite movie setting is Paris, and Midnight in Paris has defintely become one of my most beloved films set there. The charm of the city, that is as present today as it was at any point in history, is shown so beautifully in the film. The beginning was quite a bit like Manhattan and I loved it; maybe not as much, but still. The music is excellent, especially all the Cole Porter. Another thing was the costumes- oh so Jazz Age! The actors were pretty fantastic too. I must say I had reservations about Wilson being the lead in a Woody Allen film, but he has totally proved me wrong. Yes he did do the Woody doppelganger thing, but it was so convincing. His expressions, for things like amazement at meeting someone ancient, being irritated of Paul, or scared of Inez, were spot on and funny- both in a HaHa way, and a sweet smiley way. Cotillard too was incredible, but that's a given. Still she was so romantic and beautiful and sad...no wonder Picasso would paint her. Amongst the supporting cast I loved, lurved, loaved, luffed Adrien Brody the most.


         Woody Woody Woody...no one understands me like you do. I've noticed that those films of his with a bit of magic involved end up being my favourites. Despite the ending, I am absolutely overwhelmed by the concept of travelling to your favourite time period in Paris. Mine is the 60s, but I would love to go there at any point of time really. The screenplay and the film are both simply enchanting. There is the perfect amount of comedy, romance and wonder in it, and lots and lots of Paris's unmatched beauty. This is the first film this year that I am going to start my Oscar campaign for, and yes it indeed has become my favourite thus far.


Rating- 10/10
     

Who Loves the Sun?

Who loves the rain

Who cares that it makes flowers

Who cares that it makes showers

Since you broke my heart
-Who Loves the Sun, The Velvet Underground





      It rained today, and yes I am a sap who cares about rain. That is because I live in a bloody desert, where it never rains. Some of my favourite rain scenes...

“I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying.” ~ Woody Allen

     Curse the person who invented exams, and curse exams for what they do to us. I forgot that yesterday, that is 1st December, 2010 was Allen Stewart Konigsberg AKA Woody Allen's birthday. And not just any birthday, his 75th!

     Now I owe a lot to this wonderful, wonderful man. It was when I saw his film, The Purple Rose of Cairo did I realise how much I really love films, and how they will be my life. I also identify most with his work. He is the king of dramedies and bitter-sweet endings. The perfect mixture of humour and self-loathing is brilliant. And he has made more than 50 films. He is a cinematic legend! His affairs are well-loved and his muses are just transplendent.

      Let's hope he makes his wonderful movies till forever...Happy Belated Birthday Woody!!!!

I rest my case!

Woody Allen

"I've never been an intellectual but I have this look."

THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO

       Cecilia went to the Cinema ever so often, with the popcorn in her hands and a glow in her eyes as she saw perfection played out onscreen. Oh how beautiful it was to see glamour and beauty and heroes and Jazz and happy endings.

Real life was quite the opposite. In the real world, she was an unhappy, nervous waitress with an unemployed, abusive husband during the Great Depression who lived in New Jersey. The Movies for Cecilia provided the only escape from her sad excuse of a life. She would keep trying to leave her pathetic, unappreciative, alcoholic, gambling, beating bum that was her husband, Monk, but he was always right when he said she’d come back.

However, one day, this new movie called The Purple Rose of Cairo came to town. She went the first night alone and again the second night with her fellow-waitress sister. She felt more than lost in the movie with the dashing Gil Sheperd playing Tom Baxter- of the Chicago Baxters, explorer, and adventurer. The third day unfortunately, when she was all sad about not being able to leave her husband again and extra nervous in the restaurant, she dropped her third plate and got fired. As real world became way too horrible and well, real for her she went to her usual Utopia- the Cinema to watch The Purple Rose of Cairo again, and again, and again. Except the fifth time something very unusual happened.

Tom Baxter looked at her and spoke to her right through the screen. She and the rest of the audience were shocked! As were the other characters in the movie. And then the most amazing thing happened when he walked right through the screen...into the real world for our Cecilia.

Tom and Cecilia ran to a closed-down amusement park where Tom declared his love for her. Cecilia couldn’t believe how perfect he was! They went dancing later that night after Cecilia made an excuse to Monk to get out. He gave her the most perfect kiss in the world.

But the real world and the reel world shouldn’t meet. While Cecilia and Tom were frisking in the pros of such a rendezvous, the other characters, the cinema owner, the producer and Gil Sheperd were facing a lot of problem. They all came to New Jersey, that is the real people, to find a solution. It is then that Cecilia meets Gil the next morning.

She was totally spellbound. He was her favourite actor and she couldn’t believe her luck. Gil is very flattered by her and begs her to take him to Tom. Cecilia reluctantly agrees and then when both men meet, they start fighting as Tom declares that he wants to be a free man in the real world and live with his love Cecilia and Gil tells him that he is fictional and cannot do so because, “You can’t learn to be real, it’s like learning to be a midget. It’s not a thing you can learn.” But Tom still doesn’t want to leave. So he and Cecilia go walking around the town. Tom learns about child-birth and God and how God was like the writers Irvine Sachs and R.H. Levine. At the Church Monk confronts them and Tom and he get into a fight in which Tom loses only because the ‘real’ Monk plays unfair. Cecilia stands up to Monk and saves Tom, who doesn’t have a scratch or a single hair out of place, as those are the advantages of being imaginary.

When Cecilia gets back home, she sees Gil over there. They talk even more and she woos him completely, unintentionally of course. They go by a music store where he buys her a ukulele and sings to her music. Then they recite out lines from his musical after which he kisses her but she leaves him because according to her, “I met a wonderful new man. He’s fictional but you can’t have everything.”

When she returns to Tom, he takes her back to the Cinema where they both enter the screen and go to the Copacabana and introduce the concept of ‘free world’. Then they hit New York as they go to all the clubs and all the shows and dance the night away, completely in black and white and love. But then Gil comes to the Cinema and asks Cecilia to come with him to Hollywood. Tom tries to stop her and tell her how he is honest, dependable, courageous, and romantic and a great kisser but Gil wins the argument by saying that he is real. Cecilia chooses the real guy over the fictional one as she explains to Tom how “in his world, things have a way of always working out.” Tom feels crushed, goes back into the screen, and watches on as Cecilia leaves with Gil.

She rushes home and packs up her bag to leave as Monk tries to stop her but then screams out that she’ll be back as she leaves. And as she reaches the Cinema where Gil had promised to meet her, she finds out he left with everyone else as soon as Tom went back into the screen. She walks into the Cinema to watch the next movie, Top Hat with Fred Astaire and Gigi Rogers singing “Dancing Cheek to Cheek” as she forgets her blues and the real world and how she too danced cheek to cheek with Tom, and gets mesmerised by the Movies all-over again.

The Purple Rose of Cairo is made by the brilliant Woody Allen, who is rapidly becoming my favourite filmmaker. The gorgeous Mia Farrow plays the woeful and lovely Cecilia and Jeff Daniels plays the perfect Tom (though fictional) and the heartbreaking actor Gil.

This movie was so very special. It reminded me of all those films during the course of which we want to live and die. Marie Antoinette for example- the complete beauty and atmosphere and setting and music and clothes and food was so mesmerising that one cannot hope enough for life to be like that. Even Twilight, when I saw it first and knew nothing of it and what it will turn into, was so unrealistic and desirable with the unnatural blueness, and the romance and everything. Obviously now I find it revolting but it was almost magical in the beginning. Also Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist- the incredibly pretty Kat Dennings and oh so cute Michael Cera and the entire brilliance of the one night was what makes one want to live for.

However, the sad and real ending of The Purple Rose of Cairo was more heart wrenching than most of the films I have ever seen. I loathed and loved it at the same time as it shows the unrealistic feel of the real world and the perfect life-like appeal of the reel world. When it was over all I could think of was this sort-of speech of Andy Warhol’s after he had been shot and truly understood what he meant.

“Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there. I always suspected that I was watching television instead of real life. People sometimes say that the way things happen in movies is unreal, but actually it’s the way things happen in life that’s unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong and real, whereas when things really do happen to you, it’s like watching television-you don’t feel anything. Right when I was being shot and ever since, I knew I was watching television. The channels switch but it’s all television.”

- Andy Warhol