"To Rome with Love" gets my four stars

     Woody Allen has always been one of my favorite writer/directors.  His latest film To Rome with Love has received mixed reviews, but call me weird, I just love it.  It is quirky, unpredictable and sooo Woody Allen.  It is also set in one of the world's most beautiful cities and shows it off to great advantage.  

    The review in the July 2, 2012, New Yorker  (my favorite magazine in the whole world) says "the new movie is light and fast, with some of the sharpest dialogue and acting that he's ( Woody Allen) put on the screen in years. . ."

    Bob Mondello in an NPR review describes the movie as "just froth--a romantic sampler with some decent jokes and gorgeous Roman backdrops.  It goes down easily, but I have to say it's interesting less for what it is than for how it is."

   One of the newspapers in my hometown gave it a rotten tomatoes review and only 1.5 stars out of a possible 4.  I think these discrepancies are somewhat typical of Woody Allen's appeal.  People seem to love him or hate him.  To Rome with Love does not have a conventional plot structure and it is part in English and part in Italian with English subtitles.  Both of these factors are enough to cause some people to dislike the film.  For example, I overheard two women talking about the film in the theater lobby.  One had seen it and one had not.  The woman who had seen it said only, "It has subtitles."  That was enough to dismiss it for her listener.

     We movie viewers follow the characters, some young, some older, through Rome.  Except for the couples who are involved with each other, the characters do not know each other and do not interact.  We are watching vignettes of what happens to some people in the Eternal City.  Almost all the couples find new love by betraying their spouse or boy/girlfriend. Somehow this all works out as in the style of 18th Century farce.  Monica (Ellen Page)  finds love with her best friend's boyfriend.  Penelope Cruz is a prostitute who plays the bride of a movie star so his wife won't discover his infidelity.  Roberto Benigni ( Life is Beautiful star) becomes a celebrity for no apparent reason and is always seen with a beautiful model hanging on his arm.  His plain and dutiful wife tries to figure it all out. 

   Woody Allen and his wife ( Judy Davis) are in Rome to meet the parents of their daughter's fiance.  Allen hears the father (Fabio Armiliato) singing in the shower and wants to promote him for opera on the stage.  The only problem is the father can sing only in the shower.  Allen manages to always have him on stage in the shower.  

    Alec Baldwin is an architect who lived in Rome in his youth.  He becomes the mentor for a young architect who lives in his old neighborhood.  The cast is terrific.  The scenes are somewhat madcap and move quickly.  There's a sort of carpe diem, seize the day, theme that emerges as the movie plays.  Characters take advantage of opportunities that come their way, mostly of an amorous sort.  

     If you like the slightly off-beat movie, you will find this one as entertaining as I did.  

    

    

   

"Hugo," a perfect movie

                                         Train wreck at Montparnasse Station, Paris 1895.
                                         The wreck is shown in Hugo as a nightmare of the boy.
                                          (This photo is the public domain. )

     Fearful that Hugo would leave the movie theaters before we could see it in 3D, we finally watched it this weekend.  We were not disappointed. It is a wonderful movie, the kind that makes you feel good as you leave the theater.  It is nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award.  I hope it wins.  
    Hugo is an orphan boy who lives in the innards of the main clock at Montparnasse Station in Paris. He maintains the clock after the death of his uncle who previously had the job.  No one knows he is the clock keeper.  He is a most talented boy who likes "to fix" things as his father did.  Interestingly, George Me'lie's, a magician who became an early film pioneer, is a toy vendor in the station.  Through a long procession of events and circumstances Hugo and Me'lie's meet and eventually are friends.  
    You may have seen photos of  Me'lie's  film showing the man in the moon being hit by a rocket ship.  He was truly an innovator and imaginative pioneer in a time when movies were as new and exciting as computers and the internet were to us a few years ago.  
    Hugo's nemesis is the police inspector who patrols the train station.  He is played by Sacha
Baron Cohen, who is delightfully mean and awful.  Ben Kingsley plays Me'lie's.  The setting is the 1930's, but goes back and forth into the late 1800's when Me'lie's was at his film making peak.  The train station setting is realistic but with a golden light that creates an other worldly feeling.  We come to know some of the people who work there.  Their stories are told with a few deft visuals and bits of conversation.  
   Hugo believes everyone in the world has a purpose and must find that purpose.  He finally decides his is to "fix things."  In the movie, his greatest accomplishment is how he "fixes" George Me'lie's legacy.  Me'lie's  felt useless, forgotten and old until Hugo came into his life.        While the action of the movie is from the point of view of Hugo and the orphaned goddaughter of Me'lie's, it is not a children's movie  Even though it is based on Brian Selznick's children's novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  
   The 3D aspect of the film is done very well.  It is not 3D of tricks as some action 3D movies are.  It is a wonderful enhancement that creates reality.  
    The movie is delightful. Directed by Martin Scorsese and produced by Johnny Depp, how could it go wrong.  I loved it.  You might too.

"Midnight in Paris," a lovely fantasy

       This weekend I saw Woody Allen's latest, "Midnight in Paris," which he wrote and directed.  This is one of the few Allen films  I've seen that does not feature him as a character, but Owen Wilson, the protagonist, is very Woody Allen-like.  He has the same bumbling, confused, talkative persona.
      Wilson as Gil and his fiancee Inez (Rachel McAdams) have gone with her parents to visit in Paris.  Inez's father, a conservative Republican, has taken a job there, but does not really like Paris and like his wife and daughter prefers all things to be American.  Gil, on the other hand, falls in love with Paris and wants to move there after he and Inez marry.  Inez wants to live in California and have Gil continue his job as a script writer.
     This becomes the basis of many conflicts between the couple.  Gil has written a novel and Inez does not take this seriously.  One night to get away from the stifling family and Inez's friends, Gil takes a walk though the dark streets of Paris.  At midnight, when bells are tolling the hour, a yellow 1920's cab comes by and the couple inside insist that he join them.  The couple is Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald dressed up for a party.  It takes a while for Gil to realize he has been transported to the 1920's, but once he realizes it, he joins the partying with enthusiasm.  He is introduced to Hemingway, Gertrude Stein (who agrees to critique his novel), T.S. Eliot, Dali, Matisse and most of the other artists and writers who were part of the ex-patriots scene in Paris in the 20's.
    Gil goes out late several more nights and when the bells toll midnight, the taxi always comes by with more artists and writers.  He is, of course, happy and delighted, but his relationship with Inez really starts to drift.  After much inner conflict and confusion about what is happening to him, he does eventually find happiness.
     The movie is a delight for anyone who loves Paris, the 1920's, and fantasy.  The opening scenes are street after street of all the lovely places in Paris.  If you've never been there, after viewing this movie you certainly may want to go if you have a spark of Romance.  Yes, that's with a capital "R" as in fantasy and make-believe. Gil accepts but never understands how he goes back in time.   In true Romantic style, he has "willing suspension of disbelief"and enjoys the ride.   The film was a treat for me, more so than any other Woody Allen film I've seen.  Being an English major may play a part in that.
      My own fantasy is to live in Paris part of every year and in New York City the other part.  They are my two very favorite cities.  Will a yellow, 1920's cab come to Jacksonville and find me?

Auntie Mame, quintessential dilettante

      

      Today, I came across the 1958 movie "Auntie Mame" on Netflix.  I watched it again, of course.  It should be part of everyone's education.  Auntie Mame, played by Rosalind Russell,  is a free spirit and quintessential dilettante.  When her brother dies, she takes in her young nephew Patrick and delights in teaching him about the world. Conflict arises when Mr. Babcock, the executor of Mame's brother's will, removes Patrick to a boarding school to get him away from what he sees as Mame's terrible influence.  She did have him in a progressive school where the students often stripped nude, but Mame's heart is good.  She genuinely loves Patrick and wants him to live life fully.
     "Living life fully" means being open to experience, accepting people as they are, for what they are, rejecting prejudice, traveling the world, and embracing change.  Mame changes her New York apartment decor as often as she changes her hair color.  Her overriding attitude is one of love.  She brings people into her home who have no place to go:  Vera, her actor friend, sleeps off hangovers at her apartment.  Miss Gooch, her secretary, lives with her after she becomes pregnant.  Everyone loves Mame.  After she loses her money in the 1929 market crash, two of her servants stay on without salary.
     The movie events and Mame stretch our credulity occasionally, but overall we're delighted.  As a dilettante, you will be drawn to Mame's philosophy:  "Live.  Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death."  She believes "knowledge is power."  This echoes my own belief that we must go through life as curious people.  Without curiosity, we stagnate, and you know what happens then. We stand still and become quite stinky like an algae covered pond.
     The story has taken many forms and been greatly enjoyed by readers and audiences. Auntie Mame, an irreverent escapade written by Patrick Dennis in 1955 is based on Dennis's real life aunt Marion Tanner.  Her life and philosophy were similar to Mame's.  The book was on the New York Times best seller list for a very long time.  Because of the book's popularity, the story moved to Broadway with Rosalind Russell as Mame.  In 1958, Warner Brothers turned it into a film, the one I just watched, also starring Rosalind Russell.  Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur opened in a Broadway musical version, Mame, in 1966.  A movie was made of that musical in 1974 with Lucille Ball and Beatrice Authur.
     Next time you're flipping through Netflix or some other movie venue, try Auntie Mame.  You will learn something about life.

      

"Carmen" in 3D

        This Sunday morning when I opened the newspaper, I half expected  headlines proclaiming how fabulous the 3D movie version of the opera "Carmen" was on Saturday afternoon at the AMC IMax
theater.   Nothing was written, of course, but there should have been.  The Royal Opera of Covent Garden, London could not have been better.  Opera by nature is the ultimate romantic, dramatic experience: the rises and swells of the orchestra, the waves of melody and harmony of the chorus, and the passion of the characters.  Opera is life in the fast lane.  Love happens instantly.  Death comes suddenly, though often it is expected.  Passions over flow.  It is life lived large.  
      I had never seen anything other than "Avatar" in 3D until the performance of "Carmen."  Opera is one of my new interests.  I was totally won over this fall when in New York I saw the Metropolitan Opera's "La Boheme."  Watching "Carmen" in 3D was like being in a front row seat at the opera, but instead of looking up, we looked straight out and saw even the whites of their eyes.  Our eyes, of course, were covered with the glasses necessary to experience the 3D.  They are not a hinderance and could provide good cover for those who wish to close their eyes during the show such as some husbands and others perhaps persuaded to attend.
      The Met:  Live in 3D has been showing operas at select theaters for about five years.  You can see the Met schedule and performance trailers on your computer.  You can buy and print out tickets to the theater online as well. To find a theater near you that shows the operas go to Fathom Events.  This site has trailers and info about many of the upcoming events.
       "Carmen" the opera I saw will be shown on Saturdays and some Wednesdays throughout March.
Since it is sung by the Royal Opera it is not described on the Met site.  You can find it online at
Carmen in 3D.
       Sad to say, in the show we saw on Saturday, my husband and I and two women were the only audience.  We all became good friends in our delight at the performance.

Movies: A dilettante's delight: Jacksonville, FL, silent movie capital

The upcoming Academy Awards remind me that movies are a true dilettante's delight. Where else is there such variety as in the movies.  I've been a fan since elementary school when my family went to the drive-in theater several times every week.  Then television came along.  As an adult, I discovered that Jacksonville, FL my home residence was once a popular and exciting movie filming locale.  Conservative Jacksonville, FL a movie capital? Jacksonville producing more films than Los Angeles? Not possible, you say, but this was the case during the silent film era.          By 1916, movie making was Jacksonville's most important business. Between 1901 and 1921, more than 300 feature films were shot in and around the area. The very first Technicolor feature film,"The Gulf Between," was made in Jacksonville.       The Kalem Studio, looking for a place to film away from the wintry blasts of New York, was the first to arrive about 1908, and by 1914 had built the world's largest outdoor stage and a glass-roofed studio with a $20,000 lighting system. The studio's, "A Florida Feud," made in 1909 in Jacksonville was the first film shot in Florida. Kalem's films were very popular at the box office. After these successes, many other studios arrived in Jacksonville, among those named are the Edison Company, King Bee Film Company, Vim Comedy Company, Lubin Studios.                                                                                                                                                     The actress/script writer/ producer/critic, Gene Gauntier, who worked for Kalem Studios, has left wonderful descriptions of early filmmaking in Jacksonville in her autobiography, "Blazing the Trail: The Autobiography of Gene Gauntier" as they appeared in serialized versions in 1928-1929, Woman's Home Companion.          Jacksonville and Florida history buffs as well as film buffs will greatly enjoy her accounts.      The cast and crew of Kalem were housed in the Roseland, a big hotel on the St. John's River in Fairfield about fifteen minutes by trolley from Jacksonville. Rooms were also rented at the same time to the casts of variety acts playing at the Ostrich Farm, a block away on Talleyrand Avenue.       Most of the filming was done directly across the St. John's River from Fairfield at Strawberry Creek. The crew reached it by row boat. She describes the Jacksonville area as a "moving-picture paradise": "There were wonderful stretches of sand at Pablo and Manhattan Beach, facing the open sea, uninhabited and desolate, with their scrubby palmettos, which served as setting for many desert island scenes. There were fishing villages, primitive as even a picture company could wish, quaint old-time Florida houses with their 'galleries' of white Colonial columns, orange and grapefruit groves, pear and peach orchards which gave forth lovely scents when in full bloom; formal gardens and Spanish patios; the gorgeous Ponce de Leon hotel and gardens, and the picturesque old fort in St. Augustine."       She describes life at the Roseland and in Jacksonville as exciting and lively. What happened to the movie industry in Jacksonville? Many factors caused its demise. The local citizens did not approve of the free lifestyle of the movie people and the fact that they filmed on Sunday. Some of the movie companies were fly-by-night leaving stacks of unpaid bills when they hastily departed. Politics changed and those supporting the studios were not re-elected. Then World War I slowed the production of raw film to a trickle, and the influenza epidemic of 1918 closed theaters. When the dust cleared, the movie industry had moved to Hollywood.       The movie industry, however, has not entirely forgotten Jacksonville. Jacksonville has recently provided the background for many feature films and television shows. All those wonderful locales described by Gauntier are still excellent for filming. The City of Jacksonville Film and Television Office gives all the current information about making films in Jacksonville and Jacksonville film history.      The Museum of Florida History in Tallahassee has movies in Florida memorabilia: props, posters, lobby cards, advertising.