Midnight in Paris

Leave it to Woody Allen to get me back to blogging!

In Midnight in Paris director Woody Allen tells the story of Gil (Owen Wilson), who is in Paris with his fiancee, Inez, and her family when he gets picked up in the middle of the night by a car that takes him back in time to the 1920s. As an average Hollywood screenwriter and aspiring novelist, 1920s Paris is Gil's "golden age." He spends his nights party hopping with the Fitzgeralds, Picaso, Hemmingway, and other artistic icons, and his days trying to get out of sightseeing outings.

The opening scene is the tourist version of Allen's tribute to New York in the opening of Manhattan. It's bright and cheery, but idealistic. It's very apparent in comparison to Manhattan that Allen is a tourist in Paris, but so are his characters, so it works. The first part of the movie is almost painful as Gil interacts with the real people in his life. His fiancee has very little patience for Gil's Romantic vision of the city, and her interest quickly turns to couple friends of hers who they bump into. Paul is painfully pedantic, and his wife seems endlessly amused by all of his "If I'm not mistaken" musings on every aspect of Parisian life. I love the way she struggles over French words, always questioning how much of an accent is appropriate. If all of life for these characters is a show, everything for Gil is a dream. When the night portion of the film takes over, everything glistens and sparks. We're wrapped up in the delusion of Gil's "golden age" even though it seemed so idealistic at first.

Midnight in Paris is fun and exciting. It feels as if Woody Allen is taking his own version of Gertrude Stein's advice to Gil by taking a more lighthearted view of the world, but ultimately, the film is still fraught with the tension of contradiction. Gil's ultimate epiphany may seem grand, but how much can be gained from trading one ideal for any other? Not to spoil anything, but of course, Gil learns to appreciate the value in his own world over a fantasy. But at the end of the film, I was left questioning whether it's really a story about creating one fantasy after another to just keep life progressing. One of the best qualities of this movie is that you can watch it, eat your popcorn, and walk away pleasantly entertained, or you can spend days pondering the influence of art and life over each other and the role of idealism in happiness. Not many movies can play both roles, but I think this one does it very well.

I think this movie shows that we all have a little part of us that thinks we could be so happy in another time. Who wouldn't love to be party hopping with Cole Porter and having drinks with Dali? It's why we watch period movies and get so swept up in the glamour of it all. For all the twinkling lights, it's nice to escape for a few moments, and then to be reminded that we have our own magic here and now, whether or not it's fleeting too.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The two youngest Pevensie children, Edmond and Lucy--who you may know from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe or Prince Caspian--find themselves stuck living with their insuffrable cousin, Eustace, during WWII. One afternoon they are magically thrown through a painting back into the world of Narnia, which they ruled as king and queen for a lifetime before being thrown back into wartime England. They are fished out of the sea into a boat to find that their friend and current king, Caspian, is leading a voyage to find his father's 7 friends who were sent to the East before... well, there's a lot of back-story. They are looking for 7 lords. They have a series of adventures in the uncharted lands they encounter, but they discover an evil green mist that they must stop. To do this they must, for some reason, track down the four missing swords sent with the 7 lords and lay them together on Aslan's table on a mysterious island marked by a blue star. They each have to face their deepest insecurities, andEustace has to learn not to be such a dreadful pest.

This film is an adaptation of C. S. Lewis's book from the popular Narnia series. Unfortunately, the films in this series--this is the third installment--seem to be getting worse as they go along. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is the most popular of the books, but, in my opinion, it may be the most accessible, but it is far from being the best. If the films continue like this then I don't think they will do much to promote the discovery of the later-written Narnia books. Dawn Treader, perhaps more than the other books, has a very literary plot that plays out more like a collection of short stories with developing themes than a unified narrative. I think that this film goes wrong in trying to give the work this conventional plot, which not only cheapens the richness of the stories, but also discredits the intelligence of its audience. Lewis wrote the book for children, who can, apparently, accept and enjoy a winding story more than Hollywood gives them credit for. Originally Caspian is driven by a sense of adventure to discover what happens to his father's friends. Finding the 7 lords and racing toward the unknown Eastern edge of the world is enough momentum for the plot. The movie, however, shuffles the encounters, adds the mysterious green mist and the swords, and looses the sweet innocence of each island's lesson as a step along a larger journey.

I found the encounters and driving influences of this film to be flimsy and flat. The growth of the characters feels disingenuous with the exception of Lucy, who embodies all the grace and pluck one could ask of her.

It's Kind of a Funny Story

It's Kind of a Funny Story is about a boy who checks himself into a mental ward because he's feeling suicidal. He probably isn't the kind of person who would actually go through with it--he's just a depressed teenager with a lot of pressure from his parents. He's upset to find out that the hospital not only commits him for an entire school week, but that, due to renovations, the teenagers are temporarily being held on the adult psychiatric ward. After encountering a few of his fellow patients he realizes that he might not be as messed up as he thought, but there's not much he can do about it by that point except to flirt with the pretty teenage girl on the ward and hope his school doesn't find out where he is.

Mostly, this movie tells a simple, predictable story. The boy, Craig, feels overly-stressed out by his father. Upon witnessing some of their interactions it becomes easy to see why. He likes his best friend's girlfriend, who, of course, finds Craig much more attractive once his "mental problems" become common knowledge and he's temporarily the rock star of the high school--a school for high-performing students who probably all have fathers like Craig's.

All I can really say is, it's kind of a funny story. The movie takes on serious subject matter with an air of irony and humor without poking fun. The jokes are reserved, so you never laugh, but it's still vaguely comical. The funny things are sort of serious, and the serious things are kind of funny, so you just kind of sit there and watch it unfold without knowing what to do about it. The memorable part of this movie is an unexpected musical number. The defining characteristic of a musical is the ability to use a song to convey an enormous amount of story or emotional weight in a short amount of time by evoking the audience's suspension of disbelief. You know, in a musical characters meet, exchange introductions, sing a song, and all of a sudden it seems completely conceivable that they're in love--no questions asked. Here, the song comes out of nowhere, but is used much to the same end. Craig sings about his problem and the audience sees him acknowledge his problem, let out his feelings about it, move on with his life, and bond with the other patients, all with the help of music and some really out-there costuming.

Honestly, the movie could have been 15-20 minutes of set up, the song, and a monologue to wrap things up, and I probably would have liked it more, but the rest of the movie does have some colorful characters and interesting moments. Just like it's title, it's unapologetically mediocre, but tips toward the positive.

The Fighter

The Fighter is a compelling sport story. Micky (Wahlberg) is a struggling boxer working with his controlling mother who, like Micky,seems totally enthralled by Micky's older half-brother Dicky (Bale). Dicky was, himself, a mediocre boxer with a controversial moment of glory in the ring, but he has now become a crack addict working toward a "comeback" even though he can barely manage to train his adoring brother. The family is supremely broken. The mother, Alice (Leo) spends her days surrounded by the loud and smokey haze of her daughters. Her current husband, George, seems to be the only thing solid to hold the family together, but just getting by exhausts about all of his ability to affect the group. When Micky meets a tough barmaid (Adams), he finally has a window to the outside of his family and she pushes him to pursue a professional training opportunity, thus driving a wedge into the already dysfunctional family.

Watching the movie, I was very wrapped up in the story of it all. Dicky's character is really interesting through his complete lack of focus or connection to reality. The leading man himself, however, is little more than a prop--just the product of a family that wanted to love him but just didn't have the space. His girlfriend and father help Micky push back against the destructive forces of his mother and brother, but even so, Micky's resistance is just a product of him allowing himself to be pushed around by another influence. He lacks conviction and will, which are, surprisingly, the characteristics present to a fault in his mother, and developed as a strength in Dicky. Both these characters show an incredible range in the picture. It gives the picture a genuine touch of character--characters who can seem to be one way, and yet possess very contrary traits at a deeper level though neither seems contrived. They seem shaped by circumstance and routine into versions of themselves that they once weren't, but only rarely do their lost-qualities emerge from suffocation.

The film has this really gritty look. It's one of those movies that gets called a "film" because it's polished for how rough it seems. I don't say that to diminish the legitimacy of The Fighter, just to point out that the choice is a bit self-conscious. It does, however, fit the subject matter. Glossy cinematography would have been much more out of place, but this attention to aesthetics still caught my eye as over-worked, even if it did suit the setting.

I did love watching this film. I has that magical formula: make you depressed to turn around and leave you feeling uplifted. This isn't a sad child of single mother rising to Olympic hockey champion with help from a reluctant coach. The fall is greater and the rise is smaller, but it's just as big a turn-around. A messed up family tries to do the best they can to make it while one member tries to do something bigger than the small town. Micky doesn't turn out to be the best fighter who then earns enough money to buy each of his family members a home in a big city where they can still sit down for dinner on Sunday nights. He just possesses the tenacity and training to take enough punches to tire out an opponent while saving enough strength to land a big blow when it counts. He has luck and strategy, but his and his family's small victories are closer to home. I don't think I'm more likely to battle a crack addiction or take up boxing than I am to lead my hockey team to an Olympic victory, but the plot focuses more on relationships than athletic accomplishments, and that makes it accessible and enjoyable.

Black Swan (2010)

I had to return to David Bordwells description of the art film: "With the open and arbitrary ending, the art film reasserts that ambiguity is the dominant principle of intelligibility, that we are to watch less for the tale than the telling, that life lacks the neatness of art and this art knows it." Black Swan is an art film and very little else. Even the subject matter is art itself, in the form of Ballet.

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As a new season opens, star dancer Beth (Winona Ryder) is pushed into retirement by her ballet director (and assumed lover) Thomas (Vincent Cassell). He introduces a series of reimagined classics--a hint at his opinion of himself--starting wtih Swan Lake. The ballet requires a performer who can embody the virginal white swan who must fall in love with the prince to be released from her swan form, and the black swan twin who seduces the prince instead. Nina (Portman) is praised as the most dedicated dancer in the company, but she is also sexually stunted--still at home with her overbearing, failed-ballerina of a mother. She gets the part for her ability to portray the white swan, but she must also learn to explore a darker side to naturally dance the black swan, which would be much more naturally danced by Lily (Kunis). Nina strives for perfection, explores her darker side, and fears Lily's encroaching talent. Insanity ensues...

Director Aronofsky pins the point of view of this film to Nina's mind. Reality, dream, and insanity all battle for Nina's focus, and all are shows with equal beauty and depth. We, as the audience, are not asked to search for the twist ending or the clue that will unlock the difference between reality and imagination, but rather we are trapped in a deteriorating mind. There is no delineation between truth and fiction--it's just about the experience. Aronofsky shot the film with an enormous amount of grace and fluidity, but the subject matter itself is extremely dark. Make no mistakes, this film is a terrifying journey into a complete disconnection with reality. It is very sexually explicit without being excessively graphic. In other aspects, the film can get very graphic, however. The mutilation and violence portrayed forced me to look away several times.

As a dancer, I am familiar with this world. I know "that girl" who is dedicated to the art and the impulse to reach perfection. This is (hopefully) an artful exaggeration of what that could lead to psychologically, but it feels very organic in its development. Ballet is a suitable backdrop because of the already extreme measures taken for beauty. Shoes are ripped, burned, and sewn as toes are broken and bodies are pushed to atheletic limits under a lack of nourishment. A psychotic break seems to be a quite natural progression.

The acting performances in connection to the beautiful direction make the experience of this film quite striking despite the lack of grounding or discrete storyline. It would also make a really fascinating study of structuralism. This is not a film to be watched for the tale, but for the telling.

The Social Network 2010

I was really excited about this movie when I heard about it, then became very skeptical when it came out and received the amount of praise that it did. Usually when a movie catches on that much it is because it appeals to the masses--thus dumbed down. I didn't want a technical movie to be dumbed down. Then I saw it. I was pleasantly surprised that instead of dumbing the subject matter down, they really just jazzed it up. It is quick, sharp, and exciting, which can hold the attention of the audience though the witty and technical dialogue.

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The film is an adaptation of the book Accidental Billionaries that chronicles the story of Mark Zuckerberg, the college student who stumbled on riches and fame by creating facebook. Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is exactly what you would expect of a 20-something year old who would invent a website that would change the social experience of going to college. He is extremely intelligent but is completely lost in social situations. He is arrogant, rude, and dry. He invents the website in a week and it gradually becomes the social phenomenon we know today.

The story is framed by depositions of two cases surrounding Facebook. In one case Zuckerberg is being sued by two fellow Harvard students who claim he stole their idea, and in the other Zuckerbergs former best friend and Facebook CFO is taking action against being cut out of the company. Through it all Zuckerberg is unlikeable, but not on screen. Eisenberg manages find that elusive balance of acting a character who we would hate to meet but love to watch. He is almost completely devoid of a moral compass, which leads directly to all the legal and social challenges that he faces, but his intense smarts continue to propel him forward as an entrepreneur. The audience is eager to see what he can accomplish as much as it cringes to hear what will come out of his mouth next.

Director David Fincher (Fight Club) balances the intellectual storyline with very relatable stories. A story that happens mostly in a deposition or sitting in front of a computer screen is driven by human experience that we do not often see combined into one movie--ambition, the desire to fit in, revenge, jealousy, naivety, and the effects of fame--all swirling around college students, mind you. The writing does something clever, though. We see a very clear starting point for the entire adventure that makes the story digestible in one bite. It's about a girl. This creation story of the ever-evolving Facebook enterprise is given a nice little bow so that it can be transformed into a compelling film script and abstracted into the fictional world enough to exist as a legend of its own instead of a sexy but inaccurate portrayal of reality.

The King's Speech (2010)

Ah, Awards season. It is so exciting to have an awards season movie that features stunning, enchanting performances that aren't overdone or a dramatic depature from the actor's usual sytle in a clear attempt to grab Oscar attention. Ok, so Helena Bonham Carter's character is a pretty dramatic departure from her acting norm, but she's so bizarre that I don't count her in that category.

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Colin Firth plays Bertie, the younger son of King George V. Afflicted with a stammer, he is unfortunate to see the rise of radio broadcasting. In anticipation of the many public speeches he would be required to present as an English royal, he enlists the services of many doctors who use a number of techniques to try to cure him. After giving up, his wife Elizabeth (Carter) gives it one more push. She finds Lionel Logue (Geoffory Rush), who uses highly unorthodox methods of speech therapy. Bertie's pride and Logue's eccentricism creates wonderful tension, and of course the relationship continues to develop as it becomes apparent that Bertie will actually ascend to the throne, and do so on the verge of WWII--a time when the people need to confidence of a powerfully speaking leader.

For an English monarchy film, this historical period is fairly recent. The royals still look royal, but there is recognizable humanity and social relevance in them as well. Supurbly acted, this film manages to take the prospect of public speaking and turn it into a moving internal conflict as well as a powerful stately accomplishment. In addition to the color and style of a period piece, this film benifits from the sincerity of the relationships. The wife, in particular, stands out. She encourages and pushes her husband, but she is also a submissive wife. She has a fairly small part in the film, but shines in her moments. She does not impose her political thoughts on her husband or interfere with his work, but she always seems to be a source of support. Firth speaks with a stammer that does not seem affected, and Rush gives a highly English performance of an honest but strange man.

I found this film interesting, and amusing. It looks pretty traditional, but the story is something that feels very new and unique. It might be too plain to be honored by the Academy, but I really enjoyed it.




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