Midnight in Paris

In this charming romantic comedy, legendary director Woody Allen focuses his lens on an engaged young couple whose experiences traveling together in Paris make them begin to question the kind of life they want to live.

Matt
Rating: 8 out of 10

There are few scribes like Woody Allen. And while you can point to his typical formula in this film — his constant scratching at the subject of love and finding happiness — there is a wealth of imagination and creativity. He certainly hasn’t lost his touch.

Allen wrangles an immensely talented cast with a script that weaves time travel, humor, romance, and beautiful cinematography of Paris. It’s absolutely sublime.  Owen Wilson plays a typical Allen character, a writer in a relationship he’s not really satisfied with in search of a deeper existence. Rachel McAdams plays his fiancee, a tart who doesn’t really like Wilson’s artsy, eyes-open-wide view of the world. At midnight, Wilson takes a stroll and is somehow transported back to the ’30s. While he’s there, he meets the legends of the time in writing and music, along with Adriana, a flapper girl played by the enchanting Marion Cotillard.

What follows is a series of Wilson popping back and forth between decades, trying to figure out his relationship, pursue Adriana, all while working on a novel and dealing with his crazy, annoying future in-laws. And in the background, that constant yearning for a greater, more meaningful life. This is a wonderful script by Allen, who won the Academy Award for his efforts. “Midnight in Paris” stands tall in Allen’s collection of incredible films.

Breathless



After shooting a cop, young thief Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) meets and shacks up with Patricia (Jean Seberg), an American who sells the International Herald Tribune on the streets of Paris. Hiding out in her hotel room, Michel tries to talk Patricia into going with him to Italy. But she doesn’t know that would include a foray into criminal life. Director Jean-Luc Godard shot to cinematic stardom with this benchmark film of the French new wave.\

Brian
Rating: 10 out of 10

Jean Luc Godard was one of the founders of the French New Wave movement. He and several other French directors strove to move away from standard filmmaking conventions and break the rules. If it weren’t for directors like Godard, we would have no Tarnatino, no Bertolucci, and no Von Trier. Godard, like Tarantino and others, used his love of movies and incorporated them into his own work. Several techniques were used within Breathless that were considered taboo but are commonplace in today’s cinema. For example, jump cuts. Before Breathless, a jump cut was considered an error in the editing process but Godard uses it to great effect to weave his tale. He also broke away from the standard storytelling process and made it more about mood, style, and dialogue. While films that fell within the crime genre before it were about the gunfight or the explosion, Breathless is about the interaction and dialogue of the characters. The events surrounding them are just a backdrop to see what they’ll say next. It broke every moviemaking and writing technique before it and it did it so well that its influence is still being shared among directors today.

 I’ll be the first to admit that Breathless is not everyone’s cup of tea. Some may find its lack of story a weakness or the beautiful handheld cinematography old hat. But, if you watch it with an open mind and a realization of what came before it, I think you’ll get wrapped up in just how revolutionary a piece of work it truly is.

High Tension

Students Marie (Cécile de France) and Alex (Maïwenn Le Besco) have no idea of the horrors that await them when they head off to a remote country home to study for their upcoming exams and a psychopathic stranger attacks, tying up Alex and taking her away. It’s up to Marie to save her friend — but first, she must figure out what’s really going on. Philippe Nahon co-stars in this twisty-turny tale of terror.

Matt
Rating: 7 out of 10

This is a movie for horror fans. I’m a pretty big horror fan, but this was too violent for me at times and it has an ending, which I won’t give away, that is a bit disappointing.But that doesn’t mean this isn’t a fun, leave-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat horror movie that was shot with a great eye for suspense and terror. There are huge sequences of this film that are riveting that involve characters who compel you to care for them while they are tracked down by one of the most fiendish and evil bad guys that have come across the horror scene in a long time.

The gore factor comes in thanks to Giannetto De Rossi, who among horror fans is a class makeup artist. He’s got ties to more than 50 movies, most of which are horror flicks. I mention this because horror fans love the stuff. I’m not a fan of gore. I mean, it has its place, of course. But is gore scary? I find suspense far more scary. I was most scared when the killer is slowly going from room to room in the opening of the film, hunting down family members. The killing was just more gross, not really scary. Give me “Halloween” over “Bad Taste” any day. But I guess this is an argument among horror fans.

High Suspense is a solid horror flick. It’s not for everyone, but I enjoyed it. If you’re squeamish, I’d skip this one.

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Students Marie (Cécile de France) and Alex (Maïwenn Le Besco) have no idea of the horrors that await them when they head off to a remote country home to study for their upcoming exams and a psychopathic stranger attacks, tying up Alex and taking her away. It’s up to Marie to save her friend — but first, she must figure out what’s really going on. Philippe Nahon co-stars in this twisty-turny tale of terror.

A Town Called Panic

Tag along for the small-town adventures of plastic toys Cowboy, Indian and Horse when they buy 50 million bricks, setting into motion a crazy chain of events at their rambling rural home. Now trekking across distant lands, they end up in another world pludged under water in this film based on the Belgian television series of the same name.

Matt
Rating: 8 out of 10

I’m sure you’re like me in at least one way — you’re not watching a lot of Belgian television.

But you don’t have to speak French or be a film addict to appreciate this film, which has charm and character much larger than the toy figurines that inhabit this film’s world.

We see the world through the eyes of Horse, Indian and Cowboy, three best friends who live in a house in a quirky village. It’s Horse’s birthday, and by mistake, Indian and Cowboy order 50 million bricks instead of the 50 they needed to build a barbecue they were going to give him as a present. In order to hide the bricks, they stack the them in a giant pile on top of the house, ultimately destroying it and sending the threesome on a creative adventure through the ocean and other worlds all while surrounded by funny characters and bizarre situations.

The stop-motion animation is by no means as smooth and slick as “Wallace and Grommet.” Think more along the lines of 1950s “The Gumby Show.” But what it lacks in sleek looks it makes up for in bright, humorous writing. I suggest this for fans of animation. Others might be put off by the odd, sometimes shrill, French voiceover work and what some would consider shoddy animation.

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