Midnight in Paris

Last night, I saw Woody Allen's fantastic "Midnight in Paris." I would recommend that everyone try and watch it.  I will admit that Woody Allen is far from being one of my favorite filmmakers. While he does have some endearing classics such as "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan," his more recent fare is mixed at best. I did like "Matchpoint" (2005) and "Vicky Christina Barcelona" (2008), but I wasn't particularly fascinated by either. Three years after his last successful film (Vicky Christina Barcelona), he has made "Midnight in Paris" which is arguably his best film of this century. The Woody Allen wit and humor is on full display (with his usual investigations on the nature of art which are finally properly integrated into a film without coming off as pretentious), but Allen brings back something that he hasn't taken advantage of in years: his ability as a visual poet. The film opens with a montage exhibiting Paris by morning, day, and night and the imagery already sets the mood of nostalgia on which the film centers. The performances are all solid, but the major scene stealer for me was Corey Stoll as the ever dangerous and hilarious Ernest Hemingway.

But Allen doesn't only go for laughs with this film. He taps into the every audience members desire to be transported to a different time and world and to liberate and free one self from the seeming monotony of modern life. It is only through this transportation, Allen's film purports, that one is able to truly appreciate and rediscover one's present time.