Talk Movies to Me

On the whim, I stopped watching the trailer and started to watch The Sunlit Night on Hulu. I liked it enough I thought what could go wrong? I was in the mood for something light and a little funny, random. Something indie. What starts off well for a girl who is looking for a spark of life in her paintings travels to Norway to work for a renowned painter. This is an escape from her life in the States where she was dumped, parents divorcing, lifeless paintings, and her sister getting engaged. She needs a spark. As it progressed with beautiful scenery of the great, grassy sloped mountains holding clouds at their peaks, with crashing waves all around Norway was a treat to see. I was ready to get lost in this foreign land and see what lay ahead. Too bad the story wondered off and itself got lost.

The main protagonist was such a BRAT. She’s supposed to be working for this guy she thought highly of but decides to parade around by either not listening or deciding to flirt with some guy who sold her a sandwich back home. Frances, the one we’re following around, has a rough relationship with the Norway painter. He may not be the easiest person to work with due to the deadline the painting project needs to be completed by but this isn’t some vacation. Yet Frances holds little respect for a man who even admits his wrong doing. Get the project done, sooner the better, then jump around in your naked overalls to your heart’s desire. She is entirely misguided and a total disregard for the work she sought out. There was something she mentions to sandwich boy about painting was her focus and everything else was her escape (distraction). By the end, she still seemed like the same person, no change. What she said earlier made no sense to me, I tried to, but also didn’t care enough to sit around to understand.

The Sunlit Night has some interesting characters. The initial interaction with Frances and her family were comical. Zach Galifianakis is joyful to see but wasted. Gillian Anderson a shock to see but wasted. The whole side story with sandwich boy who can twist dough I thought was pointless. The grocery girl was interesting. The painter was interesting. I had interest in the landscape and the people in it. But I got nothing from it. I would have appreciated more of a transcendental story of a woman coming to Norway, learning of the people, herself, the land, HOW TO PAINT, and close with her being a better person who has new found respect, spark for life. Instead we got this brat.

I couldn’t bring myself to care for Frances. She had careless motivation and disregard for those helping her. It was hard to believe she changed in the end. Maybe I would have cared if she did. The whole time I was waiting for some revelation, like it was trying to say more than what it was offering. I didn’t get it. If you did, please tell me, might not care but I got open ears if I missed something.

The Sunlit Night was definitely missing a stroke of life.

Avatar (2009)

Posted on January 26 by Talk Movies to Me

Avatar (2009) – IMDB

When James Cameron’s Avatar first came out I was in high school. I didn’t think much of it initially. Drawing the likes of Atlantis, Pocahontas, and The Last Samurai in terms of story, I wasn’t blown away as my peers were. This was due to gung-ho-testosterone-fueled characters making sarcastic jabs at each other to fill a conversation much alike James Cameron’s classic Aliens along with a simplistic, overdone story of an outsider who finds solace and understanding in a generally viewed inferior side. Yes, the views and spectacle was epic but I was not won over. Needless to say, I enjoyed it for what it was as Avatar chopped it up on screen and hit all the right points. It strung at the feels, intense fight sequences, and technically speaking, was a marvel to look at.

A shade over a decade later, Avatar: Way of Water is released. Time to rewatch the OG before I hit the theater. Got to say, many of the visuals hold up to this day. Very, very few, close up shots with CGI looks a bit wonkey. The impact of the latter half of the movie still hits hard. The story takes time in setting up with its two and half hour run time, investing you in the Pandora world. Everything that is touched, matters. Every action, matters. A decade later it got me thinking, this is something that would happen if we left Earth and found a rare resource elsewhere in our star-studded sky.

It’s common to hear history repeats itself. To me, that’s what Avatar is about. At least what I see. If we came across a colony of people, an alien population, what would our initial greeting be like? Would we hold out our hand for trade? Start planning extermination so we can whip out a new roadmap? Think less of a tribal community instead of learning what they can offer? Or destroy something sacred. Think of the land and sky, how we’re here and not as disconnected from our own natural, organic network. With this in mind, Avatar has a close relation to Broken Arrow. A story about a man who tries to bring peace between the Apaches and the American Government.

We are capable of recycling our history. We are also capable of leaving this planet. I don’t think we are meant to stay, we are here to learn how to take care of ourselves and the nature around us. We have been experiencing the consequences of not doing so. That’s the beautiful thing of cinema, it reflects our life and our future.

I view Avatar differently now. A spectacle that opens the doors to the future. A story that’s easy to grasp but a pill that’s harder to swallow.

Thanks for listening to my rant.

Planet of the Vampires (1965)

Posted on June 25 by Talk Movies to Me

Planet of the Vampires (1965) – IMDB

Planet of the Vampires had one of the best sets. It is old and dated, but the crystalized rock formations and dehydrated looking tentacle trees with colorful hues of glowing fog and ambient lighting creates a thick atmosphere you’d need to shower your eyeballs after. This planet our fellow travelers land on isn’t what it seems, naturally. There are cool effects that experiment with the idea of landing on a foreign planet. One specific shot which is clearly taken underwater but is cool in it’s execution with plumes of smoke and dust rising around the toy ship that’s meant for a bathtub with a sandy floor. There are unnecessary set pieces that seem extra like the floor space on the bridge with enough room provided for a buffet unless you’re utilizing it for laying corpses on top of each other.

Not going to lie, the first hour or so is all mystery. It may drag a bit possibly due to it’s age of release but the story itself unfolds rather slow. Albeit, when remains of a foreign lifeform is discovered it grabbed my attention and I was in awe. It was cool seeing something like this, someone had the mindset to expand the world a little further creating something original and a sense of wonder. I think Planet of the Vampires, despite the wonderfully realized sets, is a small movie, but a big inspiration to any succeeding sci-fi flare. Alien (1979), for example, takes many notes from this flick and The Thing (1982) as well. This movie is respectable for it’s accomplishments despite it’s age. To be honest, I’d enjoy a reimagining of this story. Full of twists that I wasn’t expecting towards the end, amazing set pieces for the planet Aura, and an eye for wonder of what’s out there!

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994)

Posted on June 24 by Talk Movies to Me

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994) – IMDB

Licking. Crossdressing. Silliness. Pizza. Welcome to the weird 90’s offering of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There’s nothing painfully worthy to get in to here so I’ll make this quick. I was curious about seeing this one depending on the two leads. Every actor has one horror movie to star in, mostly at the beginning of their career, The Next Generation has two! Is worth your time and curiosity? Bottom line, no. Letting the movie sink in after a couple days, I’m realizing I wasted my time watching it and the overall experience became degraded. In fact I’m not entirely sure why this was made. It didn’t offer anything new, it was simply a rehash of the classic. What it did do was show how weird and wild southern hillybillies can be in their most crazed dysfunctional family fashion.

Leatherface appears small and like a dog complaining for a toy he can’t reach. To be screamed at with mad man wielding a chainsaw sounds terrifying when they’re grunting for action but something about this 90’s flick doesn’t cut it.

The two leads give the best performances. Unfortunately they shouldn’t be given the hillbilly script and oblivious sense of characters. They gotta start somewhere right? Renee Zellweger is the unfiltered heroine with untapped, shining light of courage to her later career highlight for me Cold Mountain. Her chemistry is cut throat and intense with Matthew McConaughey who is raw, menacing, and his on-screen presence full of demand. His crazed persona threatens the very character he lovingly portrays in any rom-com.

The two leads were the best thing about Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. Outside of that there really isn’t anything to watch. It’s laughable with a side of eye rolling. Not gory or disturbing as you’d come to expect from this genre/franchise. Zellweger and McConaughey did great in their roles for what was given, I wouldn’t say it’s worth your curiosity though.

Pet Sematary (1989)

Posted on May 5 by Talk Movies to Me

Pet Sematary – IMDB

Not what I expected. Hailing from 1989 this classic crawled out of the burial ground to me. Disclaimer: I find Stephen King adaptations’ goofy, cringy, and weird. However, there have been a few exceptions, most notably (to me) The Mist among other revered classics that remain popular. Other mentions include Secret Window, which is predictable but enjoyable. The other being Dreamcatcher, which has excellent moments, but falls too close to the cheesy/oddball category which is something to say since I enjoy such shortfalls and see them as positives in other flicks. Silver Bullet, for example, has some great effects including a werewolf but the enjoyment value for me is subpar and incredibly stringy cheesy. The kid is better off using rocket boosters in the final race in Little Rascals than fighting the big baddy on a bridge. The Shining is not mentioned due to the film being more of Kubrick’s interpretation. Getting off track here, King has a knack for telling the supernatural. Pet Sematary involves his all; the supernatural, the loving family, Maine, creepy person, mystery, and innocent children. To include what I have mentioned above, Pet Sematary caught me off guard. Not thirty minutes after the movie ended I am still thinking about it…more along the lines of how this movie got under my skin and how will it remain with me in the forth coming days. Let’s just say I got up shortly after the credits rolled to use the restroom, and not closing the door all the way, my dog, my lovely dog, opened the door and stares at me. I thought she rose from the grave.

The story is simple and easy to follow. Dread follows, however, with every passing scene. Definitely something in the air lingering and it’s not rotting animal corpses. It’s actually hard for me to explain the feeling of dread. Maybe it’s the neighbor across the street. Comfort of an ominous trail disappearing into the thicket. A Native American burial ground which is never meant to be messed with. But really it’s more than that, perhaps the music setting a terror vibe that etched from the tree line in to the safety of the home. Then finally, into our protagonist’s anxious but venturous mind who only wants to keep what they already have obtained, unfortunately wrongfully stolen. Yes, like always, music was key. Especially in the final act. I hear the same sounds in horror today and is still effective. Notable mention to the final walkthrough of the house sequence. To think of the synopsis of Pet Sematary it does not ring any attention bells with the exception of being a King adaptation and a classic. In regard to my already premature expectation of anything King, including my forgetful thrill of seeing this many years ago yet under irresponsible substance usage, I did enjoy Pet Sematary.

And now, without further ado, my qualms. Everything was found forgiven till the final act. Which got messy. I don’t want to spoil anything per usual but I must make it said. Like King, things got a little…cheeky. I do not find children scary, they are more of a nuisance when utilized as a scare tactic. This is a gimmick and I don’t agree with the popular opinion they are scary. Sinister for example, which one day I hope to formulate words about on this site sometime, tried to make them scary. Punch them. This would happen to be my biggest criticism. Not fair? Jud didn’t think so either.

All in all, this is what I took away from it: Pet Sematary made me cringe but in a gross way. It got me spooked and care for the family. It made me pet my dog and want to look out for my future children. And sometimes dead is better, but also look out for the high road.

Hot Rod (2007)

Posted on March 17, 2022 by Talk Movies to Me

Hot Rod (2007) – IMDB

Hot Rod. The humor is more deadpan than Audrey Plaza’s face. It has more expressions than any Adam Sandler flick. More chaos than being married to Satan. If Napolean Dynamite rode a pedaled motorbike instead of a horse and cranked everything to eleven, you got yourself a ticket to Hot Rod. With a heart for the 80s and a mind as random as a nonsensical totem fox on crack, Hot Rod delivers on multiple ultimate punches.

One day I was in a middle of a conversation with a friend and his girl. She was foreign and had seen Hot Rod and expressed she did not like it, stated it was too American. I wondered if perhaps some people don’t understand the humor. Or maybe they do and don’t care. It’s all cool beans.

On my latest viewing of Hot Rod I got the idea it was an 80s flick trying to break out. But was trapped in it’s own confines by being too similar to any other 80s nostalgia becoming it’s own classic by trying too hard. The result being utterly hilarious. A hormone disordered man trying to win respect of his step father. A simple thought turned to a riotous time of random, off-beat banter and slapstick humor too painfully funny for it’s own good. In a way, it’s a love letter and parody of some flick from the 80s.

I wonder how many takes it took to complete a single scene. Sometimes the idea is so off the wall I don’t have any idea how they kept a straight face. The story is just a ploy for Andy Samberg and crew to go off on their incoherent madness. From mimicking a bell by the pool to pronouncing the “h” in whords that start with “w.” It’s hard to keep up with the absurd jokes and antics through the first watch, they’re too legit to quit.

And by the end, Hot Rod delivers the ultimate blow to the digestive system. Cool Beans.

Annihilation (2018)

Posted on January 23, 2022 by Talk Movies to Me

Annihilation (2018) – IMDB

Annihilation Archives - Home of the Alternative Movie Poster -AMP- — I feel Alex Garland, Director and Writer, reached a peak with this one. Something special emerged from the mind behind *Ex Machina* and *Sunshine*. He is very underrated in how he handles the content of film. *Annihilation* is the perfect example. Taken from the works of Jeff VanderMeer, Garland creates a mystical story with dreamlike quality. Collecting images of obscure focus, air full of rainbow hues against a backdrop of lush greens. The book itself is read like a dream, lost, but a dream that demands the reader to stretch their active membranes into a working cluster of incoherent images. That’s where Garland shines in creating a world that is alien but familiar and yet frightening. Adapting only from the first book of a trilogy, *Annihilation* is a challenge to adapt for viewers and transforming the material into the director’s own, making it the most logical sense and pays off. With an original vision and paying respects to the original material, this is some unique filmmaking.

Long after the credits roll, *Annihilation* sits with you. Simmers inside your gut. It’s discomforting and beautiful. Mesmerizing and terrifying. In all of my movie watching there is nothing like the images depicted onscreen. It is unique and challenging to witness. Nothing like it has been done before. Not everything is explained which leaves the viewer speechless and bewildered. When I first saw it in theater I had zero idea what to make of what I saw. There was horror and surreal imagery of beyond our comprehension. And that is what makes the film so dreadfully beautiful.

Annihilation relates closely to the book of the same title. Both deserve recognition however, the big screen is what I prefer. For the book was even more hard to grasp. Full of imagery and little dialogue, constantly demanding my attention to form this otherworldly landscape. The writing seemed unsure of what it wanted to say at times. Although there seemed to be hints of transcendence, but I digress. Garland did a fantastic job in streamlining the material with a little more sense of focus. As one remained an unanswered nightmare, Garland’s seemed to be a subtle message of cells.

On a grander scale, a comet collides from the outer walls of our mother Earth into a Lighthouse. Thus springing forth a mysterious Shimmer. A glowing dome of rainbow luminescence becomes a fixation of scientists as it grows beyond it’s initial impact. Within this dome, life seems to copy, refract, and combine itself. This creates some beautiful creatures and some horrendous monstrosities. In a way, it’s a cancer. Manipulating it’s environment to mimic life. The comet sets off an ambiguous force that wants to create and make it’s own life. This could be seen as alien. A foreign lifeform taking control of another planet that deems to be the next suiter. Or perhaps mother Earth is a giant cell. The comet is a plummeting cancer or virus. We are merely smaller working cells for Earth. After collision, one cell begins to mimic another, thus bringing a new form of life. In a way, it’s terrifying, and another, beautiful because the foreign object, the Shimmer, replicates Earth life as one species. This tells me we are one with Earth, the same, and this is how the Alien life form perceives us as it tries to make something new.

However, this is open to interpretation. I do not believe the author of the original material meant for something deep. When you have Alex Garland behind the project, I would expect something that would require me to think. At least challenge my views.

With one selfish opinion to add, I could not help but distinguish Garland’s style for science fiction and horror to fit perfectly with a new installment in the Alien franchise. His approach to artificial life like his work on Ex Machina would leave Ridley Scott out of the director’s chair. Garland’s brand of horror is dark enough for the corners of space thanks to Annihilation and Sunshine. He contains an expansive exploration many filmmakers do not have the courage, not to mention the imagery to capture on screen. I’d like to mention another ideal project to lead is a Bioshock adaption from the videogame (or book). Contains similar genres to tackle like sci fi horror and an incredible story to embark on beneath the ocean.

Annihilation can turn away viewers for it’s ambiguous story and not explaining anything. I like the film for this reason. However, where there are changes to the adaptation some I thought worked while others I thought were down right stupid. Notably a scene which involves our protagonists to take patrol at night in a run down base but ends up disastrous and I simply can’t bear.

When I saw Annihilation in theaters I was mesmerized and horrified. It felt bigger than all of us but on such a small scale. The content is hard to digest and stays with you. I will always remember sitting there feeling low key terrified when an unwelcomed guest ventures into a house in ruin with the scientists tied to their chairs. A feeling of utter hopelessness and fear settles in. The lighthouse is an entire work of art of disturbance and fascination. Annihilation is a unique viewing experience that works as a standalone feature without the other stories in the trilogy being adapted.

Shin Godzilla (2016)

Posted on January 22, 2022 by Talk Movies to Me

Shin Godzilla (2016) – IDMB

Immediately from the fading Toho logo the action begins. We are introduced directly to a disturbance in the water, a small ripple of what is to come. Quick to short introductions, quick reactions to an abrupt danger, Shin Godzilla has us humans franticly clamoring about when this disturbance in the water causes some industrial damage. Not knowing what to make of it, political officials struggle throwing solutions around trying to control and remedy the situation before it worsens. That is until a creature manifests with ungodly destruction. It is then our politicians must decide the fate of the monster and of Tokyo, nonetheless, any vulnerable city ripe for ruin. And if they don’t decide quick, another foreign power house will and the results will be catastrophic.

Shin Godzilla let’s off heat early on, opening the majority of the movie for us to watch and listen to important figures make important decisions. How exactly would scientists and government officials react to handle a situation involving innocent lives that demand a response? Each individual represents a respective department but not so much a character, so they reflect a whole department serving as their character trait. Like how the chain of command is used or a Biologist worrying about his image before making an accusation or an interpreter speaking on the behalf of the President.

Godzilla is horrific and monstrous. Retaining his iconic screech, the new look offers new terror as he sluggishly stampedes through Tokyo. It is epic and devastating to see Godzilla leave destruction around his massive presence. There is something more costly to his devastation this time than other previous iterations. His effect on the city below his feet has more weight and severe consequences. This is reinforced by the awareness of costs of damage and images of innocent people scrambling about. The military goes to great lengths to rid the behemoth. But Godzilla is an intimidating, indestructible force. In contrast, it shows how humans can be monsters as well. To nature itself and to each other. From dumping waste in the ocean to dropping bombs on cities’ foreheads. Almost as if Godzilla is the waking life form for nature to retaliate.

To continue, Godzilla is a natural disaster in physical form. Japan suffered a massive earthquake in 2011 that also cause radiation leakage. In the midst of chaos, people needed to evacuate. Shin Godzilla focused on those who were in charge of regulating the population on information and what is required to do for safety without causing additional harm. But you can’t control chaos. Nor nature. It is then officials realize let go of the textbook, the regulations, protocols, and barriers and let the populace decide what is best to do to survive in a natural disaster.

It is unfortunate we will not be getting a sequel to Shin Godzilla. Thanks to a contract signed for Godzilla being part the MonsterVerse in America and not being allowed to work on any new material for that time period. With this movie being a reboot not sure how Toho will continue their Godzilla legacy especially after the mild cliffhanger at the end. Too bad, I would like to have seen it.

Overall, Shin Godzilla can be a bit overwhelming due to the fast paced story which requires you to read subtitles quickly. It’s better not worrying about who is who first time round as it would just aggravate the viewing experience. I think the movie could have been slimmed down a bit from it’s two hour run time. It seemed they were focusing on the government’s procedures in a moment of chaos to an immediate problem and makes Shin Godzilla a bit of satire. As intriguing as it was, I could have used less of it.

Still, Shin Godzilla remains a stand out in the long running kaiju series.

Underworld (2003)

Posted on January 14, 2022 by Talk Movies to Me

Underworld (2003) – IMDB

Underworld, attori, regista e riassunto del film

Story. Sexy. Badass. Prosthetics. CGI. Romance. Vampires. Lycans. And Cheese, oh my! Underworld offers it all. When movies were getting good at this thing called computer generated effects this little ticker decided to show real effects in full moon. With an original concept, Underworld still remains fresh twenty years on. Combination of werewolves and vampires having a bloody feud for a number of centuries makes for some amazing stuff and epic storytelling (within the original trilogy).

To put something like this on screen now in 2022 is out of the question. Horror has become artsy and unsettling in atmosphere with no deliberate payoff. Action and adventure have become reliant on older projects from various entertainment mediums like video games and comic books to bring ideas and something new to screen. 2003 was in a prime time of movies containing daring stories that combined what we knew into something new. Like Hellboy (2004) or Reign of Fire (2002) for example were fun innovative movies that made us look forward to the movie experience. With Underworld in mind, effects were used properly and confidently. Currently, movies use CGI over prosthetics more by today’s output and I am hopeful when we see a full werewolf transformation on screen or another satisfying successful effect to see people’s hard work paid off for longevity of a film than a scraper that satisfies a paycheck from a mouse click and drag. This is simply me griping of a standard that I wish was sustained from werewolf greats like The Howling (1981) or An American Werewolf in London (1981). CGI helps, but prosthetics age better.

On to the movie, Kate as Selene is a fire fox. As cute as she is off screen, she delivers a total badass on screen. The world that is built is fascinating and hard to sink in upon first view but satisfying. I can’t help but think Len Wiseman, Director, would have been perfect for a Resident Evil adaptation. With that said, those involved who wrote and starred in the movie really out did themselves. Makes me wonder if they were aware what they were setting up, because the world building is truly unique. Sure we have Twighlight but I see Underworld being the stronger and more satisfying world with a Romeo and Juliet storyline. I suppose i gravitate to the moodiness and bloody action-horror sequences.

Every casted role is perfect. The mood is perfect. The setting is cool. I would like to have had more gothic/dark metal music to fit the tone in the movie but perhaps that could have listed Underworld as an MTV flick.

Onto some other plot points that could be mild spoilers: Amelia is the vampire who is currently living her life and is held responsible for the current reign of the vampires before her next slumber. As far as I know, these vampires who are required to reign are highly experienced. However, when her train is ambushed upon arrival by Lycans she gets a couple deep scratches without a fight and calls it a day. Her reign is over without a fight and she’s stuck with clothing from the Victorian era. Personally I think there should have been a fight squeezed in here at least to prove her authority and power. It could have even remained in the extended unrated cut, which the cut ultimately added almost nothing except for clips that threw off the flow of the movie and a boob tease. A train fight scene involving a single vampire elder and a group of Lycans hellbent on assassination would have been cool and benefitted the cut.

I’ve noticed movies released in this timeline after The Matrix (1999) often seem to require a subway station event. Some 90’s flicks had this occur like Jacob’s Ladder (1990), however, subway’s became the hot spot for tiles to be shot off walls thanks to Mr. Anderson post 90’s. Such movies like mentioned above, became a staple for the early decade of the 21st century. Underworld opens with a subway firefight and sticks with the close hallways and darkly lit rooms. It’s epicness relies on the storytelling and the context of how the story is carried out through the likes of vampires and werewolves.

To me, Underworld was an important movie. It introduced a world of dark gothic horror and drama. A story that told romance and adventure. It’s effect has a better impact than we would like to admit since it’s initial release. Nothing has been like it ever since but on the contrary it has inspired and opened a world that was unforeseen before. With a combination of two nasty monsters having a legendary feud in a classic bout in special bold effects and a story that binds them. I grew up watching this since release and loved it ever since. Nothing has replaced the cheesey dialogue or the acting delivery. Underworld is influential and a highly overlooked piece of movie making by today’s standards.

Midnight In Paris (2011)

Posted on January 7, 2022 by Talk Movies to Me

Midnight In Paris – IMDB

Owen Wilson is fitting as the lost writer wondering the lit streets of Paris as Gil. There is a feeling of connectedness with and a sense of longing as he walks among the wet bricked roads stumbling upon artists of our memory. In a way, Midnight In Paris is Woody Allen having a conversation with himself and the audience. Allen writes about Gil who finds his passion expressing himself through the arts. Not for Hollywood and their scripts but for himself and the love of the arts of a past time. And that’s what Midnight In Paris is ultimately about, the love of the arts.

I am no way educated in all the historical names portrayed in the movie however with the information given I understood enough of each character/figure that was represented. Whether it was about the Fitzgeralds or the bride-to-be. Gil in short, is a simple man who is simply not fitting in his current era. His era belongs to a simpler time. A golden age of various art forms bursting on the scene in the 1920s. Gil does not feel fit in his engagement with beautiful Inez (Rachel McAdams) or his present time period. He finds solace in his nightly walks, slowly falling in love with a dreamlike memory of what used to be.

It can be difficult to cope with the present so dreaming of the past presents a simpler time. Gil is a dreamer. Midnight In Paris has a magical quality to it but without the wands and is light hearted fun. It has a rather trotting pace of storytelling which perhaps could have benefitted more from a pause or two to help sink in the dream. Like the opening, still shots of beautiful Paris sets the mood and setting. Again, some shots at night of the city glowing among the glossed bricks from recent rains and old buildings filled with stories to pause the moment would help slip into the dreamy city more.

I love how Gil comes to terms with his marriage to truly find himself. Sometimes you must lose yourself to find what you are looking for. And here, he finds interest for another woman, but one who personifies the city, Paris, where he is in love. If she is Paris then Inez is Hollywood, a place he wants nothing more to do with.

All the performances are wonderful. And I love movies about writing generally because the writing itself is well done. I find calm enjoyment in watching Midnight In Paris and I hope you do too.