Page 6 of 6 FirstFirst ... 456
Results 126 to 147 of 147

Thread: Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris (2011)

  1. #126
    По́мните Катю... Izzy Black's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    1,677
    Quote Quoting Qrazy (view post)
    I don't want to see it personally cause that movie was total balls.
    Eh, well, they are dissimilar in just about every other possible way.

  2. #127
    The Pan Qrazy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    17,502
    Quote Quoting Israfel the Black (view post)
    Eh, well, they are dissimilar in just about every other possible way.
    Reasonable, I haven't seen Midnight in Paris. I can just never pass up an opportunity to slag off Match Point. :P
    The Princess and the Pilot - B-
    Playtime (rewatch) - A
    The Hobbit - C-
    The Comedy - D+
    Kings of the Road - C+
    The Odd Couple - B
    Red Rock West - C-
    The Hunger Games - D-
    Prometheus - C
    Tangled - C+

  3. #128
    По́мните Катю... Izzy Black's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    1,677
    Quote Quoting Qrazy (view post)
    Reasonable, I haven't seen Midnight in Paris. I can just never pass up an opportunity to slag off Match Point. :P
    Yeah, I sensed the clear intention to take a swipe. I'm sure I've sparred you on it in the past, figured I let that pass.

  4. #129
    По́мните Катю... Izzy Black's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    1,677
    Quote Quoting Boner M (view post)
    Eh, I don't think there's any self-awareness to the use of the Sheen character as a device to highlight the real wisdom of Gil/Allen-by-proxy.
    Take the early scene where Paul takes everyone on a tour. They all mock Gil for his story about the nostalgia shop. They take turns at psychoanalyzing his denial of the present and his "Golden Age" thinking, the coping mechanism that results in the fallacy or erroneous thinking that the past is always better than the present. Gil's entire novel is deconstructed, lampooned, and dismissed right in front of him, long before he even had the chance to write it. He simply walks casually along with his head down in defeat and takes the brutal mockery. It's actually one of the more humorous bits in the film.

    You might think about this scene that Gil represents Woody Allen and Paul is the quintessential "pseudo-intellectual" that Allen proceeds to prove wrong throughout the course of the next hour and half. But of course, that's to ignore the bittersweet insights of the conclusion and the function of comedy in Woody Allen's films. If Gil is a proxy for Allen, then the self-deprecation in this scene has to be at least considered at face value. Allen's cerebral humor works because his self-deprecation reflects a kind of Socratic uncertainty. In other words, it's not that Allen thinks Paul is simply wrong and that Gil is right, that Paul's intellectualized rant flatly fails to capture the real intellectual complexity and nuance of Gil's novel and philosophy on life. It might be right to think of Paul as a pseudo-intellectual because he speaks from what he's (half) read from books and not from what he has experienced, but that doesn't mean his analysis of Gil is incorrect. That's the value of the irony in this scene. Allen's brand of humor is a thoroughly self-aware one.

  5. #130
    - - - - -
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    11,530
    Painful to watch. No characters. Historical idiocy & inaccuracy. Sophomoric insights.

    After VC Barcelona, Whatever Works & this, I'm convinced some half wit NYU undergrad is writing Allen's scripts.

  6. #131
    Guttenbergian Pop Trash's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    The Yay Area
    Posts
    5,243
    Quote Quoting Irish (view post)
    Painful to watch. No characters. Historical idiocy & inaccuracy. Sophomoric insights.
    Isn't this sort of the point though? These historical characters are meant to be projections of Gil's mind (or are they?).
    Ratings on a 1-10 scale for your pleasure:

    Top Gun: Maverick - 8
    Top Gun - 7
    McCabe & Mrs. Miller - 8
    Crimes of the Future - 8
    Videodrome - 9
    Valley Girl - 8
    Summer of '42 - 7
    In the Line of Fire - 8
    Passenger 57 - 7
    Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6



  7. #132
    - - - - -
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    11,530
    Quote Quoting Pop Trash (view post)
    Isn't this sort of the point though? These historical characters are meant to be projections of Gil's mind (or are they?).
    Yes & no.

    If Gil really is a huge fan of the era, the he'd know that Hemingway wasn't a combatant in WWI and didn't go to Africa until 1933, well after the period presented.

    On a personal level, it just bugged me that they took thee wonderfully interesting figures and reduced them to the stupidest level of characterchure. The back cover of the Cliff Note's for The Sun Also Rises has more depth than this movie.

    I understand what Allen was doing, but I'm mystified it took him 2 hours to do it. Just as im mystified it took a grown man a week+ to realize there was no penicillin in 1925.

    There's maybe 30 minutes of story & "insight" here. The rest is just a travelogue for Paris.

  8. #133
    dissolved into molecules lovejuice's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    3,267
    Watched it twice already. Probably my favorite film of 2011. During the second viewing, though, I can't help but notice how transparent and mechanical the script is.

    The movie, as a whole, is rather silly, but a kind of silliness only Allen can pull off effortlessly. In fact its effortlessness is part of its charm. The movie is like a sketch by a master who knows he could make, or did make, a much greater movie.

    I imagine a young and ambitious film-maker trying to work on this same concept. He'd probably strain every creative muscle to achieve this fine balance between smugness and playfulness, and audiences would surely notice that.
    "Over analysis is like the oil of the Match-Cut machine." KK2.0

  9. #134
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Denver
    Posts
    30,597
    This was highly entertaining at times, when it goes back to the 20's, the 1890's... But when it is in the present. Blegh.

    Kind of ironic I guess...

    Allen films Paris with the eye of a tourist, and it's lovely. Can't complain there. This might be his best looking movie in a while.

    Some have complained about the caricatures of the idols. To that, I think it's justified, and from the onlooker of someone that goes back in time, they'd be looking for those things in my opinion. Similar to how someone visits Paris for the first time.

    Barbarian - ***
    Bones and All - ***
    Tar - **


    twitter

  10. #135
    Quote Quoting Ezee E (view post)
    Some have complained about the caricatures of the idols. To that, I think it's justified, and from the onlooker of someone that goes back in time, they'd be looking for those things in my opinion. Similar to how someone visits Paris for the first time.
    I dunno about you, but personally, as soon as I got off the train, I immediately went whoring in Pigalle.
    Just because...
    The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg, 2022) mild
    Petite maman (CĂ©line Sciamma, 2021) mild
    The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh, 2022) mild

    The last book I read was...
    The Complete Short Stories by Mark Twain


    The (New) World

  11. #136
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Denver
    Posts
    30,597
    Quote Quoting baby doll (view post)
    I dunno about you, but personally, as soon as I got off the train, I immediately went whoring in Pigalle.
    Never been. Is that what they recommend in Frommer's?

    Barbarian - ***
    Bones and All - ***
    Tar - **


    twitter

  12. #137
    Super Moderator dreamdead's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    5,843
    Every character only has one note, and like others have mentioned, its sense of literary history is similarly basic (since Djana Barnes is thought of as a lesbian, of course she likes to lead in dancing) but it still has an effortless air. And Hemingway's one note is true and fine note. It is a pure note. And as such, it is a pure and glorious note. I could watch 2 hours of his character and still crack up.

    Every scene with McAdams grates, but that's her character. Owen Wilson has the right breeziness to pull off the WA surrogate type. Enjoyable but slight nonetheless.
    The Boat People - 9
    The Power of the Dog - 7.5
    The King of Pigs - 7

  13. #138
    Guttenbergian Pop Trash's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    The Yay Area
    Posts
    5,243
    Quote Quoting dreamdead (view post)
    Enjoyable but slight nonetheless.
    This seems to be a lot of 2011's heavy hitters. Paris, The Artist, Hugo, even Drive.
    Ratings on a 1-10 scale for your pleasure:

    Top Gun: Maverick - 8
    Top Gun - 7
    McCabe & Mrs. Miller - 8
    Crimes of the Future - 8
    Videodrome - 9
    Valley Girl - 8
    Summer of '42 - 7
    In the Line of Fire - 8
    Passenger 57 - 7
    Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6



  14. #139
    Quote Quoting Pop Trash (view post)
    This seems to be a lot of 2011's heavy hitters. Paris, The Artist, Hugo, even Drive.
    The nostalgia quartet?

  15. #140
    ZOT! Adam's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    california
    Posts
    1,336
    Ugh, this was unbearable. Has there been a less sympathetic put-upon protagonist in Woody's canon than Owen Wilson in this movie? The thing is, Allen IS self aware, but still refuses to quit making the same movie. Midnight in Paris is the ultimate, ironic embodiment of that. I think I'm done with you, Woody. At least we'll always have Broadway Danny Rose

  16. #141
    The Pan Qrazy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    17,502
    I thought this was fine, slight but fine. The only thing that really failed hard for me was the central relationship between the protag and his fiance. That dynamic was terribly executed as was the end of their relationship. Also, my god, by and large in this film women are just pretty faces to Allen. The curator? The audiophile? Bleh.

    It's definitely infinitely better than Match Point though which is the last contemporary Allen I've seen.
    The Princess and the Pilot - B-
    Playtime (rewatch) - A
    The Hobbit - C-
    The Comedy - D+
    Kings of the Road - C+
    The Odd Couple - B
    Red Rock West - C-
    The Hunger Games - D-
    Prometheus - C
    Tangled - C+

  17. #142
    Here till the end MadMan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    A land of corn and technology
    Posts
    20,076
    Quote Quoting Pop Trash (view post)
    This seems to be a lot of 2011's heavy hitters. Paris, The Artist, Hugo, even Drive.
    I loved all of those movies.
    BLOG

    And everybody wants to be special here
    They call your name out loud and clear
    Here comes a regular
    Call out your name
    Here comes a regular
    Am I the only one here today?



  18. #143
    Quote Quoting Pop Trash (view post)
    This seems to be a lot of 2011's heavy hitters. Paris, The Artist, Hugo, even Drive.
    Apart from Drive, I don't recall there being much heavy hitting in any of those movies.
    Just because...
    The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg, 2022) mild
    Petite maman (CĂ©line Sciamma, 2021) mild
    The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh, 2022) mild

    The last book I read was...
    The Complete Short Stories by Mark Twain


    The (New) World

  19. #144
    По́мните Катю... Izzy Black's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    1,677
    Quote Quoting Irish (view post)
    I understand what Allen was doing, but I'm mystified it took him 2 hours to do it. Just as im mystified it took a grown man a week+ to realize there was no penicillin in 1925.

    There's maybe 30 minutes of story & "insight" here. The rest is just a travelogue for Paris.
    I'm curious - what exactly do you think this film is about? I've seen a lot of people in this thread alternating between similar sorts of dismissals that describe the film as either 'obvious,' silly, simplistic, or short on insight, but yet many of those I've encountered have had slightly different interpretations on what this film is about considered in relation to its theme of nostalgia.

    I've actually said myself that the conclusions made by Owen's character at the end of the film come off a bit trite, and I take it that this informs what most people think the film is about, but I don't think taking these thoughts wholesale as the film's own conclusions is really doing the film justice. I think the text is a bit more open than that and in a way that's more fitting with Allen's other work. And if we're really saying this is a quintessentially formulaic Allen film, then any presumption of a straightforward conclusion ought to be markedly measured by strong considerations of thematic irony and existential uncertainty. These qualities are the hallmark of any good reading of one of his more typical films.

  20. #145
    Quote Quoting Israfel the Black (view post)
    Take the early scene where Paul takes everyone on a tour. They all mock Gil for his story about the nostalgia shop. They take turns at psychoanalyzing his denial of the present and his "Golden Age" thinking, the coping mechanism that results in the fallacy or erroneous thinking that the past is always better than the present. Gil's entire novel is deconstructed, lampooned, and dismissed right in front of him, long before he even had the chance to write it. He simply walks casually along with his head down in defeat and takes the brutal mockery. It's actually one of the more humorous bits in the film.

    You might think about this scene that Gil represents Woody Allen and Paul is the quintessential "pseudo-intellectual" that Allen proceeds to prove wrong throughout the course of the next hour and half. But of course, that's to ignore the bittersweet insights of the conclusion and the function of comedy in Woody Allen's films. If Gil is a proxy for Allen, then the self-deprecation in this scene has to be at least considered at face value. Allen's cerebral humor works because his self-deprecation reflects a kind of Socratic uncertainty. In other words, it's not that Allen thinks Paul is simply wrong and that Gil is right, that Paul's intellectualized rant flatly fails to capture the real intellectual complexity and nuance of Gil's novel and philosophy on life. It might be right to think of Paul as a pseudo-intellectual because he speaks from what he's (half) read from books and not from what he has experienced, but that doesn't mean his analysis of Gil is incorrect. That's the value of the irony in this scene. Allen's brand of humor is a thoroughly self-aware one.
    I was definitely thinking that this was going to be second rate Allen self-parody watching that opening scene. I was very pleasantly surprised when it shifted in tone and moved into the historical section. I ended up liking the film a lot.

  21. #146
    По́мните Катю... Izzy Black's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    1,677
    Quote Quoting MarcusBrody (view post)
    I was definitely thinking that this was going to be second rate Allen self-parody watching that opening scene. I was very pleasantly surprised when it shifted in tone and moved into the historical section. I ended up liking the film a lot.
    I think it's a great scene and gives the ending the more resonance.

  22. #147
    Moderator Dead & Messed Up's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    New Canaan, where to the shepherd come the sheep.
    Posts
    10,620
    This was fun! The historical scenes trafficked in caricature, but they also sparked with life from the actors - Pill and Stoll and Cotillard were treats (especially Stoll, good God). By the time Gil's big moment came along, we've known for a while what the "lesson" is, so it doesn't hit as impactfully as it might have. Maybe because the film works best as a sort of highlight reel of formative American artists. Sort of a college junior's heavy rewrite of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. The modern scenes were more "eh." I was expecting another layer to reveal itself regarding why Gil would've ever bothered joining into this shallow circle of human beings (he's shallow too, but he comes from a place of genuine enthusiasm and warmth, as opposed to the dry detail-recitation of his wife and especially Peter), and that never happened. There's maybe something Allen could've teased out more with Gil not just yearning for a "golden age" of American art but also yearning for the earlier years of what's now a tired jog into an unhappy marriage.

    It's funny to read these older comments on the ending, because I liked how the film ended, with him happy to be in Paris now, creating a new moment now with the woman. Anyway, he's not going back to the 1920s stoop. I'd call that progress.

Page 6 of 6 FirstFirst ... 456

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
An forum