Midnight in Paris (2011)
Film #19: Midnight in Paris (2011)
Midnight in Paris is, impressively enough, Woody Allen’s 41st film. A three-and-a-half minute opening montage of Paris leads the viewer to believe that this film will be a heartfelt dedication to the City of Love, similar to how Allen’s 1979 classic Manhatten was a love letter to New York. Although the film does make a point that Paris is a magical place, and although protagonist Gil (played by Owen Wilson as Woody Allen’s proxy) is, indeed, infatuated with the city, Midnight‘s sentimental story has more commentary on the concept of nostalgia than anything else, along with Allen’s ever-present self-awareness of art and the artist.
2012 Oscar Plans and Drinking Game
EDIT: For a quick infographic with the Official JAJ 2012 Oscars Drinking Game, go here.
I’ve never posted anything besides a review on this blog, but I’m more than just an amateur film critic, dear reader – I’m a human being, too. I have dreams and desires. And plans. Plans for the Academy Awards this Sunday!
Although I’m not an indiscriminate fan of the film industry – I’ve got problems with the MPAA and the current trend for films to be painfully unoriginal, to name a few – I do make it a habit to watch the Oscars every year. It’s kind of my Super Bowl, not being into sports and all.
I usually have a few people over and we play an Oscars drinking game. Every year since I started doing this (2008), I’ve managed to catch at least all of the Best Picture nominees prior to the awards show (the exception being last year when I missed three of them – The Kids Are All Right, True Grit, and Winter’s Bone).
This year, all of those traditions were in jeopardy. I no longer live at my own place, I’ve yet to see four of the Best Picture noms, and, much to my surprise, Google couldn’t provide me with a single Oscars drinking game for the show this year.
But James A. Janisse, Analytic Critic, is no quitter. No siree.
I made accommodations as far as my living arrangements go so that I can still have some peeps over, I’m devoting the next four days to catching up on Oscar fare, and I’ve decided that I’m experienced enough in this whole “Oscar Drinking Game” situation that I can make my own.
So come here on Sunday and join me as I live-blog the Oscars. The live-blogging will get progressively more awesome as I continuously succumb to the first-ever Official JAJ Oscars Drinking Game (2012). I’m posting my unGodly creation below so that you can join me in this inebriating affair. See you on Sunday!
The Official JAJ Oscars Drinking Game (2012)
- Take 1 drink any time…
- …someone mentions Uggy the dog.
- …someone makes a (liberal) political statement.
- …someone mentions Whitney Houston.
- …someone says “Wow” during their acceptance speech (1 drink per “wow”)
- …the camera cuts to Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie
- Take 2 drinks any time…
- …someone thanks God in their acceptance speech.
- …someone says “Scorsese”.
- …someone says something that gets censored.
- …a muppet appears onscreen.
- …Billy Crystal makes reference to his hosting experiences in the past.
- Take 3 drinks any time…
- …someone’s acceptance speech gets interrupted by the orchestra playing them off.
- …someone makes a (conservative) political statement.
- …someone makes a reference to The Tree of Life being weird, experimental, pretentious, etc.
- …there’s a mention of Michael Fassbender getting screwed over in these awards.
- …there’s a reference to Twilight.
And the part of the game that will really test your resilience:
For every award being given, before the winner is announced, say:
1.) Which nominee you want to win
and
2.) Which nominee you expect to win
- If the winner is the nominee you want to win, congratulations! Take 1 drink!
- If the winner is the nominee you expect to win, you’re so smart! Take 2 drinks!
- If the winner is a nominee you neither wanted or expected to win, learn from your mistakes! Take 3 drinks!
- If the winner is the nominee that you both wanted and expected to win, nice job! GIVE 3 drinks out to someone else! (suggestion by Reddit user ajcfood)
Good luck on Sunday to all the Oscar nominees, and good luck to all of our livers!
–James A. Janisse
Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
Everyone Says I Love You is Woody Allen’s entry to the musical genre. It knows it is; the narration recognizes it early on. That’s just one part of this movie’s reflexivity on the musicals genre, and as a film that’s part homage and part satire, it works exceedingly well.
The film follows a few members of a family as they have their own run-ins with love. The ensemble cast is headed by many recognizable faces, including Edward Norton, Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, Goldia Hawn, Alan Alda, a young Natalie Portman, and of course, Woody Allen himself. The film follows these characters with different degrees of commitment, and to be honest, I found Allen’s character’s storyline the least engaging. But really, all of the plotlines and character arches are at least interesting, and the jumping around interspersed with collective moments where they all intersect really makes the film move with an upbeat energy.
In some ways it’s surprising that the film can stay so kinetic. Allen uses very long takes during his group dialogues amongst the ensemble cast, refusing to cut sometimes for entire durations of scenes. This style excels here; the cast is able to stay in character for a whole conversation, and the arguing and conflicts among the characters stay unbroken by editing, retaining their tension and humor throughout an entire shot.
These long fluid ensemble shots are part of the reason the film harkens back to earlier MGM musicals of the 40s and 50s. At the same time, it also makes the film seem theatrical, in both its execution and the sometimes purposefully hammy performances and silly mishaps. Like a good play, every character is developed and performed well, and all of them have their own very active roles in the central theme of love.
The songs satisfy as well, being able to both advance plots or characters as well as being catchy and fun to listen to. Allen wanted a musical with ordinary actors singing their own parts, so the songs don’t sound like they’re straight off of Broadway, but it’s just another aspect of appeal for this film. By the way, according to Wikipedia, Goldie Hawn was asked to sing worse than she really does to sound more ordinary, and Drew Barrymore’s the only actor who had to have their voice dubbed – she said it was too bad even for the ordinary voice feel Allen was going for.
Anyway, from Norton’s opening number singing around a park (I got feelings of Enchanted and (500) Days of Summer from it) to the always enjoyable Patrick Crenshaw singing from beyond the grave, the film stays alive with signature neurotic Woody Allen humor, a few plotlines to follow, excellent ensemble work, and interesting music. Everyone Says I Love You is an excellent movie for anyone who enjoys musicals, Woody Allen films, or really, just good, funny movies.
Final rating: 9/10
–James A. Janisse
