• Following Us

  • Categories

  • Check out the Archives









  • Awards & Nominations

Dude, Where’s My Midnight in Paris Blu Ray?

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Darren

I own a blu ray player. I still like to buy my blu ray and DVDs, even if I accept that Netflix might render that a thing of the past. However, I can’t help but feel that some of the distributors are shooting themselves in the foot in how they are handling the medium. I mean, Criterion have suddenly decided to region-lock their blu ray releases, making the highest-quality home media releases less accessible than the DVD editions of the same films. Last week, I went to pick up a copy of Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris from HMV, making my weekly trip and, while the DVD was present, there was no blu ray to be found.

A long, dark midnight of the format...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

My Best of 2011: Midnight in Paris & “Diet” Woody Allen…

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Darren

It’s that time of the year. To celebrate 2011, and the countdown to 2012, I’m going to count down my own twelve favourite films of the year, one a day until New Year’s Eve. I’m also going to talk a bit about how or why I chose them, and perhaps what makes this list “my” best of 2011, rather than any list claiming to be objective.

Midnight in Paris is number four. Check out my original review here.

I’ve been mulling this over since I had the chance to see the film back in August. I think that Midnight in Paris might (just might) be my own favourite Woody Allen film, without any of the usual qualifiers attached. It is my favourite Woody Allen film of the decade, and my favourite one set in Europe, but I’m growing increasingly comfortable just stating that as an absolute. I, personally, prefer it to Manhattan or Annie Hall. I can’t explain it. As I noted in my piece covering True Grit as my eighth favourite film of year, perhaps it’s just that my internal “quality Woody Allen film detector” is broken. After all, I liked – rather than loved – Vicky Christina Barcelona, so what do I know of Woody Allen?

Continue reading →

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Best Indecision Ever! Movie Reviewers & Fear of Absolutes…

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Darren

I had the pleasure of catching Midnight in Paris at the weekend, and I liked it. I really liked it. I confessed in my review that I thought it was Woody Allen’s best film of the past decade, and – as I left the cinema – I found myself wondering if perhaps it was the best of Allen’s films that I’ve seen. I’ll freely concede that I have yet to work my way through the director’s extensive filmography, but I have been a lot of his more famous and celebrated films like Annie Hall or Manhattan. Still, I feel reluctant to say that, which is admittedly quite strange. I am a movie reviewer (or, if you’ll allow me a hint of pretension, a “critic”) why am I so scared of superlatives?

Simply the best?

Continue reading →

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Midnight in Paris

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Darren

A special thanks to the IFI for sneaking us into an advance screening. If you’re interested, they’re hosting a season of actors-turned-directors through October, with Woody Allen’s Purple Rose of Cairo among those screening.

“You inhabit two worlds. So far, I see nothing strange.”

“Of course, you’re a Surrealist.”

– Man Ray takes Gil’s time-traveling confession quite well

Woody Allen has, to a greater or lesser extent, been heavily influenced by Europe in the past few years. Ignoring Whatever Works, he’s clearly been inspired by the great European cities. Vicky Christina Barcelona is perhaps the most obvious, if only because it was perhaps the most critically and commercially successful, but London has also produced works as diverse as Match Point and You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger. Still, if you’re going to work with the major European cities, it seems pointless to avoid Paris, the city of lights and lovers, home to generations of artists for decades upon decades, it has earned a reputation as one of the most powerful and inspiring locations on the face of the planet. Allen does his subject proud, producing what is certainly his best film since his trip to Barcelona, and one I’d rank considerably higher in my own estimation. It seems that even the cynical Woody Allen can become something of a romantic in Paris.

The importance of being Ernest...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments »