MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (2011)

[Update 08/24/2021: Need to redo this review completely. Fix the screenshots also.]

I think I smiled the entire movie.

I don't want to tell you too much since the most exciting part of the film is having the wonderfully delicious story unfold, so I'll just say that Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) is a successful but unhappy Hollywood screenwriter. He's on a vacation in Paris with his self-centered fiancee Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her constantly belittling parents. He believes that if they move to Paris the beauty and cultural history of the city will inspire him to write the great novel that he feels is inside him. Rachel doesn't want to hear any of this and thinks that he's being stupid. As bad luck would have it they run into some friends of Inez's and this one dude, Paul, is a complete pseudo-intellectual asshole. He believes that he's an expert on fucking everything! He even gets in an argument with a tour guide at a museum! Gil senses that Inez sees Paul as vastly intellectually superior to Gil, like when Gil tries to interrupt Paul Inez shushes him and says "Gil, just pay attention. You might learn something.". Anyway, after yet another torturous evening of listening to Paul drone on and on about how brilliant he is, a very frustrated Gil goes for a walk. He's so deep in thought he ends up getting lost...and then at the stroke of midnight something magical happens.

I loved this movie and it was such a delight to see Woody back in his old form. I enjoyed it so much that I watched it twice!  As of right now MIDNIGHT IN PARIS is the best movie that I've seen from 2011. Highly recommended.

TALES FROM EARTHSEA (2006)

Beautiful animation, but man that story was a mess! From what I can tell, the film is based on a popular fantasy series by author Ursula K. Le Guin. I am not a fantasy reader, but according to Wikipedia this film is "a combination of plots and characters from the first four books"!!!!!! Four books compressed into a 115 minute movie?! Are you fucking kidding me? No wonder it felt all weird.

As best as I can tell: long ago in the land of Earthsea, magic and dragons were more prevalent, but now those things are extremely rare. Bad omens have been seen all over the land and it's obvious that the Balance is out of wack. The king is murdered by his young son and the boy runs away. Out in the middle of the desert the boy is saved from a pack of wolves by a the only good wizard still around. The two team up and travel around. Eventually after a few minor events (including saving a young girl from slave traders) they end up at the farm of a female friend who just happens to be the caretaker of the girl the boy saved from the slave traders. Anyway, so there's this evil sorceress who hates the wizard and is looking for the secret to eternal life and in doing so she causes the Balance to be out of wack. She kidnaps everybody and some how the boy's shadow is running around on his own or something and there's a magic sword and out of nowhere a dragon appears. I was so goddamn confused that I turned to my cat for help but all he said was I should try scratching behind his ear for answers.

It's sad that the story ended up being such a jumbled up disaster because the animation was really nice. TFE could have easily been a classic, but I think the filmmakers bit off more than they could swallow. I hate to say it, but skip it.

Once again according to Wikipedia: for years Studio Ghibli had been asking Ursula K. Le Guin for the permission to make a film about her series, but she always said no. But then after seeing SPIRITED AWAY by Hayao Miyazaki she agreed. Problem was that Miyazaki was already busy making HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE so his son, Goro, was put in charge of TFE despite the fact he had never directed a movie before. In the end Le Guin told Goro "It is not my book. It is your movie."

Oh yea, that awesome looking dragon on the poster. It's only in the movie for like two minutes.

A SINGLE MAN (2009)

Colin Firth plays a man, George Falconer, who is deep in depression (and maybe even shock) in the months following the sudden death of his companion Jim. The film opens as George awakens out of a dream about Jim. Ahh shit. Another miserable day but today is not going to be like all of the other black days since Jim's death. No, today is going to be the very last day ever that George has to fake his way through this torture. His plan is to spend the day getting all of his final arrangements in order and then in the evening blow his fucking brains out along with all the misery and loneliness that infests it...but sometimes life has plans that differ from yours.

I haven't read the book so I'm sure some of the more subtle nuances of the story have been lost in the translation from paper to screen, even so I still enjoyed A SINGLE MAN and found it touching and thought provoking. First time director Tom Ford does a good job. I think the delicate story is better suited for somebody with more experience (Ang Lee maybe?), but Tom does a adequate job and even though I disliked the way the movie was shot there are a few moments that really shine. The liquor store parking lot scene is one I have in mind. The ever so slight expressions on Colin's face during that scene are a pleasure to behold.

A SINGLE MAN by no means a masterpiece, but it's a very nice, thoughtful film and Colin's performance alone is worth the price of admission.