Woody Allen brought us to Spain with Vicky Cristina Barcelona, then to France with the magical Midnight in Paris, and now he concludes his euro trilogy in Italy with To Rome With Love, a trifle of a movie filled with fantasy, farce and magic realism best enjoyed by fans of the Woodster and/or the Eternal City.
It may not have the focus of those previous two titles, but when you’ve directed nearly 50 films, aren’t you allowed to make a candy bar from time to time?
The movie is a series of short stories weaved into a picture postcard travelogue of Rome and it sees Allen returning as a character in one of his films for the first time since Scoop (2006). In a neat twist, he plays a conservative Republican–albeit, not a Tea Partier, though the thought of him playing one would be most intriguing. He plays Jerry, an opera director, and Judy Davis makes a welcome return to a Woody film (her fifth) as his wife Phyllis.
They’re in Rome to meet their daughter’s (Alison Pill) fiance Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti), with Jerry seeming incapable (on purpose?) of pronouncing the young man’s name. The initial meeting is rocky as Jerry and Michelangelo’s politics are diametrically opposed as the young man favors workers and union rights, which of course must mean, according to Jerry, that the guy is a communist. But then Jerry hears the young man’s father singing in the shower and his fascination with the man (played by real life tenor Fabio Armiliato) begins. He insists on recording him and then putting him onstage in an opera, which the father takes as a sort of shock since he’s a lifelong undertaker. That story is charming and at times quite funny.
In another story thread, we meet Jack (Jesse Eisenberg), a would-be architect living in Rome with his girlfriend, Sally (Greta Gerwig). She is all too pleased to invite her friend Monica (Ellen Page) to come live with them for a time since she believes her boyfriend would never have eyes for another woman. Gerwig is a wonder to behold in the film, a natural fit for a Woody pic, all nerves and self-doubting and at times passive-aggressive. It is never even implied, but you wonder what her real intentions are with having Monica stay with them. Is it some kind of test? Jack finds her kind of homely at first, but then the two quickly take to one another.
Alec Baldwin appears in this storyline as a sort of omniscient presence, forever cautioning Jack about getting recklessly involved in an affair that could ruin his solid relationship with Sally. Who is the Baldwin character? What does he represent? Is it really his story and is Eisenberg simply Baldwin at a younger age? There’s really no way of telling, you just go with it or you don’t, and I liked Baldwin’s presence whenever he turned up. Perhaps he is the personification of Jack’s conscience? The story of this threesome could have made an entire picture as I desperately wanted to see more of all three of them, with or without Baldwin as the fourth wheel.
The third story focuses on Antonio and Milly (Alessandro Tiberian and Alessandra Mastronardi), newlyweds in Rome so that his family can meet his new bride. On the morning they are to meet his family, Milly gets lost in the city and encounters her favorite movie star (Antonio Albanese) while Antonio gets paid an accidental visit at their hotel room by an escort played with relish by Penelope Cruz. With Milly apparently lost and his family finding the hooker and Antonio in a compromising position, he tries to pass her off to them as his real bride. It’s a charming story, light as a feather.
Roberto Benigni stars in the fourth episode as a common man who wakes up one day and finds that he is hounded by the paparazzi. Like the Kardashians, he finds himself famous for being famous. The joke wears thin and there’s no payoff to any of it, though I did enjoy Benigni best when he’s trying to shave and a reporter appears behind him, asking mundane questions of him.
Perhaps had Woody Allen focused on one story, To Rome With Love would be more of a bone-sticking meal than the confection it ends up being. It is not major Woody, but simply minor Woody, with some nice performances, some humor that is amusing, and of course, that wonderful cinematography on location in Rome that you can just drink in. If you’re a fan of Woody Allen, you’ll find this one to be a comforting time-waster.
*** (out of 4)
We are mere hours away from the big show and all the parties are ramping up including the specialty cocktails, the Oscar pools and the Red Carpet commenting. To say that we love the Oscars here at Xavierpop, would be a gross understatement. It is a lovely reminder of what’s fun with movies even though a lot of the time the Academy gets its seriously wrong with their choices…but that is have the fun isn’t it.
It wouldn’t be the Oscars if we didn’t have our say and over the last week I have given my predictions on who is going to take away the Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress statue at the upcoming 84th Academy Awards taking place at the Kodak Theatre hosted by Billy Crystal.
Now onto the big prizes.
I am going to include Best Director and Best Film in one because it seems that the Academy is very much wearing its heart on its sleeve as it has done so many times in the past. This year their laser focus seems to be on the Artist. I am not sure if I really dig the full on lovefest going on here as The Artist is not better than The Descendants, Tree of Life, the Help, Moneyball and my personal favourite Midnight in Paris. But here are we are, on the eve of the ceremonies and everyone seems to be on the same page by crowning The Artist the darling of the 2012 and when there is this much momentum, it’s very tough to go against the grain.
Now the reason that I have paired the Director Award an the Picture Award is because when you have this much momentum with one movie, as goes one award so does the other.
So officially, my choices for the Best Director and Best Film Oscar are :
The Best Director Nominees:
“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius “The Descendants” Alexander Payne “Hugo” Martin Scorsese “Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen “The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick
Who should win? : Alexander Payne – I personally believe that The Descendants was the best movie this year powered by a great performance by Clooney and excellent direction from Payne. Hence my choice of him is emphatic and hopeful.
Who will win? : Michel Hazanavicius – The fact is that he put together a fantastic film, maybe not as fantastic as everyone thinks it is, however it is great. The reason is because of the director. He didn’t just make an homage to silent film, he made an authentic silent film. This takes a ton of attention to detail, a full commitment to going all the way and he must be applauded for that. Because his movie has so much hype and momentum behind it, the best Director going to Michel Hazanavicius is not a huge surprise and well-earned.
The Dark Horse : Woody Allen – His Midnight In Paris is easily his best movie in decades, maybe even ever. As mentioned, the Academy is extremely nostalgic and this is right in line with that. They have always loved Woody and an Oscar here would further cement that love.
And now the Best Film nominees:
“The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer “The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer “The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers “Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers “Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers “Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers “The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined “War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
As mentioned, there is a lot of hype and momentum for The Artist and it is probably going to take it. My personal choice is The Descendants because I feel it was a better film. However the Academy does what it does.
So, my official choices are:
Who should win? : The Descendants Who will win? : The Artist
The Dark Horse : Midnight In Paris – To me, this movie embodied everything a movie should strive to be. A great cast, a fantastic script powered by one of the most whimsical stories in film for years. And the directing – so fantastic. Sadly, the chances are very minuscule that it will in, so all I can say is make sure you check it out.
Nominations for the 84th Academy Awards
Best Picture
“The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer “The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer “The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers “Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers “Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers “Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers “The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined “War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
Directing
“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius “The Descendants” Alexander Payne “Hugo” Martin Scorsese “Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen “The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick
Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in “A Better Life” George Clooney in “The Descendants” Jean Dujardin in “The Artist” Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”
Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn” Jonah Hill in “Moneyball” Nick Nolte in “Warrior” Christopher Plummer in “Beginners” Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs” Viola Davis in “The Help” Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady” Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”
Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist” Jessica Chastain in “The Help” Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids” Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs” Octavia Spencer in “The Help”
Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli “Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal “Kung Fu Panda 2″ Jennifer Yuh Nelson “Puss in Boots” Chris Miller “Rango” Gore Verbinski
Foreign Language Film
“Bullhead” Belgium “Footnote” Israel “In Darkness” Poland “Monsieur Lazhar” Canada “A Separation” Iran
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash “Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan “The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon “Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan
Writing (Original Screenplay)
“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius “Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig “Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor “Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen “A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhad
Art Direction
“The Artist” Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan “Hugo” Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo “Midnight in Paris” Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil “War Horse” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
Cinematography
“The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth “Hugo” Robert Richardson “The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki “War Horse” Janusz Kaminsk
Costume Design
“Anonymous” Lisy Christl “The Artist” Mark Bridges “Hugo” Sandy Powell “Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor “W.E.” Arianne Phillips
Documentary (Feature)
“Hell and Back Again” Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs “Pina” Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel “Undefeated” TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas
Documentary (Short Subject)
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin “God Is the Bigger Elvis” Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson “Incident in New Baghdad”James Spione “Saving Face” Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen
Film Editing
“The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius “The Descendants” Kevin Tent “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall “Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker “Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen
Makeup
“Albert Nobbs” Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng “The Iron Lady” Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland
Music (Original Score)
“The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams “The Artist” Ludovic Bource “Hugo” Howard Shore “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias “War Horse” John Williams
Music (Original Song)
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie “Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett
Short Film (Animated)
“Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg “La Luna” Enrico Casarosa “A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe “Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
Short Film (Live Action)
“Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane “Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren “The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George “Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey “Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar Witzø
Sound Editing
“Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce “Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl “War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
Sound Mixing
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson “Hugo” Tom Fleischman and John Midgley “Moneyball” Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin “War Horse” Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson
Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson “Hugo” Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning “Real Steel” Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier
Bit by bit we have been hearing about some of the films that are going to be screened at the upcoming 64th Annual Cannes International Film Festival. There are some big name directors showing up with their films including Woody Allen, Lars Von Trier, Pedro Almodovar, Terence Malik and Takashi Miike.
They just released the full list and those attending are going to be in for a great slate of films.
Still though, nothing beats the TIFF Festival. 
Here is the list of films:
Opening Film
Midnight In Paris (dir. Woody Allen)
Out of Competition
The Beaver (dir. Foster) La Conquete (dir. Xavier Durringer) The Artist (dir. Hazanavicius) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (dir. Rob Marshall)
In Competition
The Skin I Live In (dir. Pedro Almodovar) L’Apollonide – Souvenirs de la maison close (dir. Bertrand Bonello) Hearat Shulayim (Footnote) (dir. Joseph Cedar) Pater (dir. Alain Cavalier) Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) (dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan) Le gamin au vélo (dir. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne) Le Havre (dir. Aki Kaurismäki) Hanezu no Tsuki (dir. Naomi Kawase) Sleeping Beauty (dir. Julia Leigh) Polisse (dir. Maïwenn) The Tree of Life (dir. Terrence Malick) La source des femmes (dir. Radu Mihaileanu) Ishimei (Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai) (dir. Takashi Miike) Habemus Papam (dir. Nanni Moretti) We Need to Talk about Kevin (dir. Lynne Ramsay) Melancholia (dir. Lars Von Trier) Drive (dir. Nicolas Winding Refn)
Un Certain Regard
Restless (dir. Gus Van Sant) Martha Marcy May Marlene (dir. Sean Durkin) The Hunter (dir. Bakur Bakuradze) Halt auf freier Strecke (dir. Andreas Dresen) Hors Satan (dir. Bruno Dumont) Les neiges du Kilimandjaro (dir. Robert Guédiguian) Skoonheid (dir. Oliver Hermanus) The Day He Arrives (dir. Hong Sangsoo) Hong Sangsoo (dir. Cristián Jiménez) Tatsumi (dir. Eric Khoo) Arirang (dir. Kim Ki-duk) Et maintenant on va où? (dir. Nadine Labaki) Loverboy (dir. Catalin Mitulescu) Yellow Sea (dir. Na Hong-jin) Miss Bala (dir. Gerardo Naranjo) Trabalhar cansa (Travailler Fatigue) (dir. Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra) L’exercice de l’Etat (dir. Pierre Schoeller) Toomelah (dir. Ivan Sen) Oslo, August 31st (dir. Joachim Trier)
Special Screenings
Labrador (dir. Frederikke Aspöck) Wu Xia (dir. Chan Peter Ho-Sun) Days of Grace (dir. Everardo Gout) Le Maitre Des Forges De L’Enfre (dir. Rithy Panh) Michael Petrucciani (dir. Michael Radford) Tous Au Larzac (dir. Christian Rouaud)
I know someone who is going this year. Next year I will be going.
source - Film School Rejects.
Oh look….a press release:
This is a novelty for the Festival de Cannes: from 2011, the organizers will award an annual Honorary Palme d’Or, which will be presented during the Opening Ceremony.
This recognition is attributed to an important filmmaker, whose work is authoritative but never got a Palme d’Or. In the recent past, Woody Allen, in 2002, or Clint Eastwood in 2009, were awarded this distinction by President Gilles Jacob, on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Festival de Cannes. Now, the act becomes tradition, will be annual and will take place at the opening of the event.
In 2011, the Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci will have this honour.
The filmmaker (poet Attilio Bertolucci‘s son) directed these intimate, Italian cinema masterpieces as monumental frescoes: from Prima della Revoluzione (1964), Novecento (1976), The Conformist (1970) to The Last Emperor (1987), his political and social involvement, driven by a profound lyricism and an elegant and accurate direction, gives his films a unique place in the history of world cinema.
“The quality of his work, which appears today in all its uniqueness and the extent of which we receive every day intact, the strength of his commitment to cinema and the ties that bind make this for Cannes the first legitimate recipient.” say President Gilles Jacob and Thierry Frémaux General Delegate.
The Honorary Palme d’Or will be attributed to him Wednesday, May 11, at the Opening Ceremony of the 64th edition of the Festival, in the presence of the jury chaired by Robert De Niro, who was one of the actors in Novecento (1900).
source - Deadline.com.
There is nothing like 1970′s Woody Allen movies, he made some pretty fantastic films back then. He has been hit and miss since then, however every once in awhile he seems to capture the essence of what made the world fall in love with his films.
His latest Midnight in Paris just released a trailer and a poster. The trailer is very cute and if the movie can capture and carry through some of its charm, then we will be in for a very lovely film.
With that said about the trailer, I love this poster. Whomever the designer is deserved his paycheque here because it absolutley captures Paris and the mood of this film brilliantly.
Here’s the official plot synopsis of the film:
A romantic comedy about a family traveling to the French capital for business. The party includes a young engaged couple forced to confront the illusion that a life different from their own is better
I am looking forward to seeing this as these two pieces of marketing have definitely caught my attention.
source - /Film.
