MIDNIGHT IN PARIS 4.0****
“Midnight in Paris" is a delightfully charming movie and is the best or certainly one of the best Woody Allen films in the last 10 years. It is a beautiful display of what movie magic can truly create, a sense of wonder long gone from most contemporary films. This is a movie that entertains, teaches, and spins a story that appeals to all the senses much like Paris bewitches us with every light, every street, and every beat of its music.
There's something about the midnight hour, something special, mystical, and magical. In the case of this marvelous movie, its impact is fully realized, as we see our nostalgic lead actor come to realize that he has the opportunity to face all that he truly admires, treasures, and dreams about.
A writer (Owen Wilson) and his fiancé (Rachel McAdams) travel in present day to Paris where his walk through the streets after midnight will eventually change his life. After deciding to walk alone at midnight, the writer eventually gets picked up and time travels back to Paris in the 1920s and comes face to face with such famous personalities as Ernest Hemingway, Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Luis Bunuel among others. After these fantasy meetings the Wilson begins to rethink his position in life and what he wants for his future. “Midnight in Paris” is one of the most magical, charming and fun movies Woody Allen has ever made. You can't help but think that Allen must have had a field day writing the screenplay and I think the results show on the screen because there's a certain charm and joy that blends into every scene and I honestly don't remember a single moment when I didn't have a big smile on my face.
Wilson perfectly nails the “Woody Allen” type character because you can believe in the naive nature of the guy although he's also relaxed enough that you can get into the story and follow it. The screenplay exudes with joy over the meetings of these famous people but Wilson really sells it with that astonished look he gets on his face when he meets these people face to face. McAdams is as charming as ever. As great as they and a very strong supporting cast are, it's Mario Cotillard who steals the film as Adriana, a mistress to Picasso and other artists and the one who really strikes it up with Wilson's character. Cotillard’s beauty and natural charm just leap off the screen into your heart and mind.\
This is one of the best movies of the year so far. So don’t miss it. C'est magnifiscent !!
Clark
Monday, June 27, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS 3.0***
This is a traditional romantic drama of the old school with “Twilight” idol Robert Pattinson in the lead role. This is the type of film that is rarely made anymore, with a story that is so timeless that it could have been filmed any time in the last 50 years. It captures the mood of the 1930s and you really get a sense of what it must have been like to live during that time in history , during the hard depression years of the thirties
This is the story of Jacob Jankowski (Pattinson), a young man who loses everything when his parents die in a car accident. He leaves veterinary studies at Cornell University and like so many unemployed men in the 30s, hits the road. He jumps on a train and ends up as stowaway on one of the cars for the circus Benzini Brothers Circus. Circus Owner August confronts him and decides that young man with a veterinary education could be useful in a circus where the animals are dying of hunger and diseases. August is seemingly charming but is, in fact, a capricious sadist who is not afraid to harm, even kill, people or animals who disappoint him. Water for Elephants paints an authentic picture of circus life of the thirties, a merciless nomadic existence that operates in its own closed universe. Particularly fascinating are descriptions of the practice called red-lighting where employees were fired by being thrown off the circus train at full speed, with little chance for survival.
And the performances are good.. Christoph Waltz is captivating as a complex character, August, and Reese Witherspoon walks a fine line between the role of, Marlena, the dutiful wife of August and a lovely circus performer who works with and rides the big animals including the elephant, Rosie. But it is Robert Pattinson who delivers a range of emotion not seen from him before. He is understated and plays a gentleman and a scholar but also shows passion and intensity. The real star of the show is the majestic elephant herself (Rosie) who is the object of August’s wrath and the recipient of the love and care of Jacob and Marlena.
“Water for Elephants” may not be the best show on earth, but it’s still quite a show. It doesn't pretend to be anything other than an old-fashioned melodrama spun for as much emotion and romance as possible.
PG-13 is rating and nothing jumps out except some limited cruelty to animals
Clark
This is a traditional romantic drama of the old school with “Twilight” idol Robert Pattinson in the lead role. This is the type of film that is rarely made anymore, with a story that is so timeless that it could have been filmed any time in the last 50 years. It captures the mood of the 1930s and you really get a sense of what it must have been like to live during that time in history , during the hard depression years of the thirties
This is the story of Jacob Jankowski (Pattinson), a young man who loses everything when his parents die in a car accident. He leaves veterinary studies at Cornell University and like so many unemployed men in the 30s, hits the road. He jumps on a train and ends up as stowaway on one of the cars for the circus Benzini Brothers Circus. Circus Owner August confronts him and decides that young man with a veterinary education could be useful in a circus where the animals are dying of hunger and diseases. August is seemingly charming but is, in fact, a capricious sadist who is not afraid to harm, even kill, people or animals who disappoint him. Water for Elephants paints an authentic picture of circus life of the thirties, a merciless nomadic existence that operates in its own closed universe. Particularly fascinating are descriptions of the practice called red-lighting where employees were fired by being thrown off the circus train at full speed, with little chance for survival.
And the performances are good.. Christoph Waltz is captivating as a complex character, August, and Reese Witherspoon walks a fine line between the role of, Marlena, the dutiful wife of August and a lovely circus performer who works with and rides the big animals including the elephant, Rosie. But it is Robert Pattinson who delivers a range of emotion not seen from him before. He is understated and plays a gentleman and a scholar but also shows passion and intensity. The real star of the show is the majestic elephant herself (Rosie) who is the object of August’s wrath and the recipient of the love and care of Jacob and Marlena.
“Water for Elephants” may not be the best show on earth, but it’s still quite a show. It doesn't pretend to be anything other than an old-fashioned melodrama spun for as much emotion and romance as possible.
PG-13 is rating and nothing jumps out except some limited cruelty to animals
Clark
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