Comments on: A Month of Media: December Movies and DVDs

By: Janice

Janice — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 14:20:52 +0000

I find most of Woody Allen’s movies overly pedantic, and Annie Hall was one of those, but Midnight in Paris was one of the few I’ve loved. It does revolve around nostalgia, but not in the way you might expect, (especially in a Woody Allen movie, which tends towards self-deprecation). It’s also probably one of the few of his movies to have a truly sweet, uplifting ending.

By: Ralf Haring

Ralf Haring — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 01:09:58 +0000

Re: It’s a Wonderful Life, here is John Hodgman’s reedited version. http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-december-14-2011/money-talks—the-maopets—wealth-on-film

By: Johanna

Johanna — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 21:59:44 +0000

Sad, isn’t it, that it’s a plus when you tell me that an Allen movie doesn’t have Allen in it? I’ll put Midnight in Paris back on the watch list, thanks.

By: ~chris

~chris — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 21:53:59 +0000

It’s a Wonderful Life was spoiled for me since I saw it after seeing the 1997 TV-movie It Happened One Christmas (which gets bonus points for starring Marlo Thomas in James Stewart’s role). But at least my first viewing of It’s a Wonderful Life was in a proper movie theater. It does tug my heartstrings. The part about the alternate universe that makes me laugh (since it is so dated) is the then-thought-of-as-sad fate of Mary Hatch.

You can see Potter get what he deserves in this 1986 SNL clip, hosted by William Shatner:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/4267

By: Ralf Haring

Ralf Haring — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 21:39:23 +0000

It’s been a while since I saw Scoop, but I didn’t think highly of it when I saw it. I vaguely remember it being a pretty zany movie whereas Match Point was a completely no-nonsense dramatic story. Allen himself isn’t in it, nor is there a Woody Allen analogue character. It’s difficult to imagine him making a movie like that, and the stark contrast is partially why it stands out for me.

Nostalgia does play into Midnight in Paris. The Owen Wilson character is enraptured by the idea of Paris in the 20s as he struggles with his writing. While it is amusing for the audience to play spot-the-famous-people when Allen depicts the 20s sequences (Hemingway and the Fitzgeralds are quite enjoyable) it isn’t solely a nostalgia-fest.

Apropos of nothing, it just struck me that there are an unusual amount of comic movie connections to both of them (also speaking to that particular deluge).
Tom Hiddleston – Thor, Avengers
Alison Pill – Scott Pilgrim
Marion Cotillard – Dark Knight Rises
Scarlett Johansson – Iron Man, Avengers
Matthew Goode – Watchmen
Brian Cox – X-Men, Red

By: Johanna

Johanna — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 19:10:57 +0000

I didn’t see Match Point because I saw Scoop, and they sounded too similar to me. I’ve thought I should try the Paris film, but it seemed like the message was solely “things were better then”, and I was hoping for more to the plot than just nostalgia. Am I wrong about that?

By: Ralf Haring

Ralf Haring — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:25:05 +0000

I haven’t watched most of Allen’s work (there’s so many!) but I thought two of his more recent films stood out from his usual mold. Match Point is dissimilar to anything else I’ve seen from him, not comedic but instead a taut drama/thriller. Midnight in Paris hews closer to the mold, but Owen Wilson is different enough from his usual stand-ins. Combined with the lush period Parisian setting it was pretty memorable.