62 replies to this topic

[Peter T Chattaway]

Photos of Woody Allen's newest film -- starring Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard and possibly Adrien Brody, Kathy Bates and Michael Sheen -- have popped up here and here ... and apparently it's a period piece, set in the flapper era!

[Peter T Chattaway]

[Tyler]

I'm not much excited about the movie, but the poster's cool.

[old wave]

It's funny that it never occurred to me that Owen Wilson would be the perfect protagonist in a Woody Allen movie, but it seems obvious upon watching the trailer.

[Peter T Chattaway]

From Scott Foundas's interview with Woody:

Now, at age 75, with a career as a comic, writer and filmmaker that spans a half-century, Allen himself has become an iconic part of American cultural lore -- something that gives him more than a bit of pause. "I was thinking with great horror the other day that, since I'm a known person, a hundred years from now someone will make a movie about New York in my time, and I will be, let's say, not an important character in it, but a peripheral character," he says. "Someone will go into Elaine's, and there I'll be, played by some schlemiel, because I'm conceived of as a schlemiel, and he'll have glasses on, and he'll be a gloom-ridden recluse who shivers at the thought of going out into the country -- some execrable exaggeration of what people think I am. And that will be my hell. If I'm ever in a work of fiction as part of the atmosphere, they'll be doing to me the same unjust things as when I show Ernest Hemingway sitting at a bar talking the way he talks."

This gets me thinking, Woody Allen has already been portrayed as a character in someone else's quasi-nostalgic film that I know of, namely Mr. Saturday Night (1992), in which there is a brief scene of Billy Crystal's character firing his comedy writers, one of whom he addresses as "Woody". And apparently the actor who played Woody in that scene has played him on a couple other occasions since then, too.

[Christian]

Gadzooks!

I've seen the preview a couple of times this week. The film looks mildly amusing, and the Cannes buzz has been positive. But what's with the outpouring of support for this film? Owen Wilson isn't a huge draw, is he?

Not that I mind. I'm just surprised.

Edited by Christian, 29 May 2011 - 07:11 PM.

[Darrel Manson]

I never knew Allen had this much optimism in him. Maybe it a brain tumor (you need to see the movie to get this.) In some ways this is a remake of The Purple Rose of Cairo with literary and art allusions.

In the film Gertrude Stein tells Gil: You have a clear and lively voice; don't be such a defeatist. I'm sure Allen must have been told this a few times.

[Overstreet]

My friend Moira Macdonald is gushing over this one in The Seattle Times:

Quote

Nostalgia — that sudden, ardent pang of longing for something that isn't around anymore — can sneak up on us all of a sudden, when we hear a static-filled recording of old jazz music or remember the taste of a meal from a restaurant long gone. Woody Allen's movies have always celebrated nostalgia, but his charming new comedy, "Midnight in Paris," actually creates it: It makes us happily remember the movies we thought Allen wasn't able to make anymore, even while the filmmaker reaches into the past to add one more great one to the list.

...

Why doesn't Allen make movies like this more often? Why doesn't anybody make movies like this anymore? "Midnight in Paris" — whether you're an English major thrilled by a Djuna Barnes reference, an old-time Allen fan happy to see a return to form, or just someone who's been waiting for a truly charming (and literate) and truly romantic comedy — is pure pleasure.

Edited by Overstreet, 02 June 2011 - 10:03 PM.

[Darrel Manson]

The first few minutes of shots of various places in Paris must be Allen's version of Paris, je t'aime. Actually very nice.

[BethR]

Quote

...whether you're an English major thrilled by a Djuna Barnes reference...

Moira Macdonald must hang out with more rarified English majors than I ever have, and I can't imagine anyone being "thrilled" about Djuna Barnes, but be that as it may, the movie does sound decent. Since I've never been to Paris, it will, in fact, have to create nostagia in me. But that's what art should do (as some A&F sigline used to imply).

Edited by BethR, 04 June 2011 - 05:26 PM.

[John Drew]

Loved it. Wished it could have been longer (the finale seems a bit rushed). Would definitely watch this multiple times... I think I'd have to go back to Crimes and Misdemeanors as the last Allen film I'd say that about.

[Peter T Chattaway]

Why Is Midnight in Paris Such a Huge Hit?
Woody Allen's 42nd film Midnight in Paris moves into wide release today, and it's poised to be the director's biggest box-office hit in decades. After opening like a monster in six theaters a few weeks ago, Paris has steadily built into an even bigger word-of-mouth sensation, and it should surpass the $23 million grosses of Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Match Point soon (and Allen's 1986 benchmark Hannah and Her Sisters, which took in $40 million, could find its record under siege, too). . . .
Vulture, New York, June 10

[Christian]

 Christian, on 21 May 2011 - 07:35 PM, said:

Gadzooks!

I've seen the preview a couple of times this week. The film looks mildly amusing, and the Cannes buzz has been positive. But what's with the outpouring of support for this film? Owen Wilson isn't a huge draw, is he?

Not that I mind. I'm just surprised.

 Peter T Chattaway, on 14 June 2011 - 03:49 AM, said:

Why Is Midnight in Paris Such a Huge Hit?
Woody Allen's 42nd film Midnight in Paris moves into wide release today, and it's poised to be the director's biggest box-office hit in decades. After opening like a monster in six theaters a few weeks ago, Paris has steadily built into an even bigger word-of-mouth sensation, and it should surpass the $23 million grosses of Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Match Point soon (and Allen's 1986 benchmark Hannah and Her Sisters, which took in $40 million, could find its record under siege, too). . . .
Vulture, New York, June 10

I'm taking that job at Vulture.

Seriously, the movie writers don't have any idea about this? Looks like the blogger posted that question and left it to readers to supply the answer.

[Ryan H.]

Loved this film. It's the kind of film that would be demolished by hype and too-high expectations--it's a simple, unassuming, well-built film with lots of charm, nothing more--but is perfect viewing for a warm summer evening.

Edited by Ryan H., 18 June 2011 - 08:23 PM.

[Anders]

 Ryan H., on 18 June 2011 - 08:23 PM, said:

Loved this film. It's the kind of film that would be demolished by hype and too-high expectations--it's a simple, unassuming, well-built film with lots of charm, nothing more--but is perfect viewing for a warm summer evening.

I don't know if I quite loved it, but I liked it a great deal. I agree that it's a simple film that does what it sets out to do well, but nothing more. I can get behind appreciating that.

[Ryan H.]

 Anders, on 18 June 2011 - 08:25 PM, said:

 Ryan H., on 18 June 2011 - 08:23 PM, said:

Loved this film. It's the kind of film that would be demolished by hype and too-high expectations--it's a simple, unassuming, well-built film with lots of charm, nothing more--but is perfect viewing for a warm summer evening.

I don't know if I quite loved it, but I liked it a great deal. I agree that it's a simple film that does what it sets out to do well, but nothing more. I can get behind appreciating that.

I'm a pretty nostalgic guy, particularly for eras in which I've never lived, so the film has that connection with me. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS is not a great film, not really, but for summer fare, it's just what the doctor ordered.

[Peter T Chattaway]

Midnight in Paris has now grossed over $24 million, so it's official: This is Woody's top-grossing film in North America since Hannah and Her Sisters (1986, $40.1 million), and the only other films ahead of it are Manhattan (1979, $39.9 million) and Annie Hall (1977, $38.3 million).

But Entertainment Weekly notes that, when you adjust for inflation (always a dubious proposition, but anyhoo), there are ten films of his that have grossed over $30 million in today's dollars:

• Annie Hall (1977), $134.8 million
  
• Manhattan (1979), $125.1
  
• Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), $84.9
  
• Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, But Were Afraid to Ask (1972), $83.3
  
• Sleeper (1973), $81.5
  
• Love & Death (1975), $77.2
  
• Bananas (1971), $56.4*
  
• Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), $36.1
  
• Interiors (1978), $35.0
  
• Stardust Memories (1980), $30.4

Interestingly, it seems that this list has been undisturbed since the '80s; i.e. NONE of Woody's films from the '90s, '00s or '10s have cracked it, at least not until now. But it seems like a safe bet that Midnight in Paris will knock Stardust Memories down a peg, at least.

[NBooth]

 Darrel Manson, on 29 May 2011 - 05:41 PM, said:

I never knew Allen had this much optimism in him. Maybe it a brain tumor (you need to see the movie to get this.) In some ways this is a remake of The Purple Rose of Cairo with literary and art allusions.

In the film Gertrude Stein tells Gil: You have a clear and lively voice; don't be such a defeatist. I'm sure Allen must have been told this a few times.

That struck me, too. I've not seen enough of Allen's most recent work (or, really, his work in general) to be dogmatic on this, but my impression is that he's gotten quite a bit more misanthropic over the years (Match Point, which I have seen, would seem to bear this out--and even it's lighter sister Scoop is hardly sunny). If that's true, Midnight in Paris is a sudden shift--positively glowing toward the end, with a humane sparkle even when it's dealing with Hemingway's views on death. Sure, the moral (if one wants to call it that) can be seen coming a mile away, but it resolves quietly and sincerely. I liked it quite a bit.

Edited by NBooth, 25 June 2011 - 07:10 PM.

[Peter T Chattaway]

Richard Brody @ the New Yorker comments on how Woody Allen's depiction of modernist Parisian artistes leaves out the one artform that, unlike the others, would have obliterated its predecessors: architecture.

[Lauren Wilford]

My review-- yeah, I fell for this one.