My take on the new Woody Allen movie Midnight in Paris is up on The Film Experience:
“I understand the impulse to make ourselves hoarse praising the man. After all, we’re talking about Woody Allen, auteur extraordinaire, Oscar-winner, redefiner of comedy, granddaddy to a thousand less-talented copy-cat narcissists. He’s so prolific he probably doesn’t even remember making one of my favorites of his films, the wistful and imaginative Purple Rose of Cairo. (Such small, delightful movies are often called “gems,” which confuses me as gems come in all sizes; in fact, a woman I know recently received one that may weigh more than she does. But that’s neither here nor there.)
Friends, a mediocrity is a mediocrity, whether it comes from Shakespeare or Dan Brown. Why do we insist on grading Woody Allen on a curve?”
Thank you for disliking this movie. I always feel like such a bad Jew for being underwhelmed by Woody Allen’s films. Well, to be fair, my atheism also makes me feel like a bad Jew, but that’s between me and my disapproving Jewish mother.
Nice meeting you last night. Thanks for coming out!
Absolutely! It’s nice to have company, especially since, well, did you read the comments I got from that site on my piece? People were not happy. Oops. Anyway, it was great to meet you. Come back to NY and we can go see something better than an overpraised, underbaked Woody Allen comedy.