The Fille Files (January 22 - 28)

Each week, the Filles bring you some of our favourite films finds of the week—news, reviews, features, interviews, tweets, new releases, etc.—just in case you missed them.

REEL GREAT READS

• From Sketch to Still: The Dreamy, Oscar-Nominated 1920s Sets of Midnight in Paris (Vanity Fair) - Production designer Anne Seibel talks about how she created Paris in the 20s on an indie budget for Woody Allen's Oscar nominated Midnight in Paris set, complete with sketchbook snapshots.
• Why Men Always Tell You to See Movies (NY Times) - Why the male voice over dominates movie trailers.
• Paul Rudd, Amy Pohler and 'Wet Hot' friends reunite for stage show (EW) - Photos from the 10 year reunion of the Wet Hot American Summer cast. And some of their friends. (See also: CNN's Wet Hot American Summer: Where Are They Now? gallery)

Michelle's Top 10 of 2011, Part 2

5) Rise of the Planet of the Apes

I didn't really want to see this movie. When I first saw the trailer, I found no appeal in apes dominating the world, lashing out against cruel humanity, especially considering it was the prequel to a seemingly cheesy movie about more talking, plotting apes. But there seemed something more deeply sinister and compelling to the story. And there was. Through chimp Caesar, it begs to remind us that apes are people too (you know what I mean). Though it wouldn't have been possible without Andy Serkis behind the CGI, making us feel for Caesar, making him one of us. And yes, by the end, you'll be rooting for them as they wreck havok on our very own.


4) X-Men: First Class

Superhero movies are very formulaic. Act one: A superhero is born. Act two: Evil is born. Act three: Superhero fails against evil. Act four: Superhero strengthens and defeats evil. Right? But this one is different. It's the X-Men flick that goes against the entire series, contradicting story lines and re-defining characters. And thankfully so. What makes this superhero movie stand out against all others is threefold: the story, the acting and the just plain awesomeness. The story is complex, it's about how evil is rooted and the story of how friends with a common enemy became enemies themselves. The acting is amazing. It's almost a toss-up between frenemies James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, but Fassbender takes it, convincing you that there is some righteousness behind his evil. And then it's just awesome: Watching the mutants harness their powers, picking out familiar faces during the recruitment, then duking it out with the big guns. It puts the rest of the series to shame.


3) Insidious

Yeah, I know judging from the photo above, this movie doesn't look very scary. But that's because I was too scared to search for a different one. Seriously. I can't say much without spoiling it but after a couple moves into a new house, strange, chilling, supernatural things start happening. I saw this movie in theatres and came home running it over and over in my head, afraid to turn the lights off, afraid to go to bed, afraid of the dark and eerie shadows. It went on for days. And when the fear finally went away, it came out on DVD and I watched it again. And it began again. This is exactly why I watch horror movies, the fun in fear, which I rarely get. But I can guarantee you watching this one again will bring nightmares back.


2) Super 8

This was one of the most anticipated movies of the year for me, so it also came with the greatest fear of disappointment. But surpassed my expectations. The J. J. Abrams-directed, Steven Spielberg-produced sci-fi seemed like a darker E.T. And it kind of was. Though what made this movie for me was the kid-cast. Led by Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning, the crew of kids witnessed an awesomely CGI-ed train wreck as it unravelled into mystery and pulled them along with it. These young actors gave some of the most convincing performances I've seen all year, or even ever. Alongside, they've also got a subplot where they're shooting a zombie movie with Joe's (Courtney) Dad's camera, homemade firecrackers and all that good stuff. And then it's screened it during the credits. And let me tell you, it's just as awesome as the movie itself.

1) Midnight in Paris

This movie is sci-fi and fantasy disguised as drama. It's a fairy tale for grown ups, really. Not to mention, it's the funniest movie I've seen all year. Of course everyone is nostalgic about some period in history, some place in the world, some famous faces of the past. And a movie that explores one person's daydream of that is more than charming. But to a girl who loves Paris and literature, this movie becomes nearly her own daydream. Plus, it's hilarious in the most surprising places. "Have you ever shot a charging lion?" Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll) asks Gil (Owen Wilson). WHAT?! And Salvador Dalí (Adrien Brody) on about rhinoceroses, and Gertrude Stein's (Kathy Bates) writing advice! So good.

Honourable mentions: Scream 4, Moneyball

Emily's Top 10 of 2011, Part 2

5) Midnight in Paris

I haven't officially told the other Filles this (for fear of being disowned for eternity and then some), but I have never been a Woody Allen fan. However, Midnight in Paris made me think it was time to give the old guy -- or at least his non-starring films -- another chance. I was completely entranced throughout his latest, City of Love-set film, which takes Owen Wilson's Gil from present day to his dream era (the 1920s) with the strike of a magical time-turning clock. It sounds goofy, but it's quite the opposite, thriving on the dreamy quality of its backdrop and the pleasantly unexplained appearances by historical figures like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and Salvador Dali. Molly Ringwald once suggested that it was possible to "OD on nostalgia." If that's true, I think I nearly did watching this, and I'd gladly do it again.

4) Scream 4

This long-awaited (at least in this permanent Woodsboro resident's horror comedy-heavy record books) sequel and possible final chapter in Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven's killer, genre-slashing series, cut me real deep. Sure, the actual opening (if you don't plan on seeing the movie, it's one of those movie-within-a-movie sequences that you either get or want to gut) could have been bloodier, but the parts leading up to it (particularly the Anna Paquin/Kristen Bell scene) were actually ingenious, and it almost made the beautifully brutal ending an even bigger surprise. In my review of the film (which brought Neve Campell's Sidney Prescott back to the home of the first film's events, where a new Ghostfaced slasher was on the loose), I said it might just be my new favourite scary movie. I'm going to retract that because, to be honest, it's not really scary. But it most definitely is one of my favourite new movies. And I'm too much of a fangirl to be ashamed to admit it.

3) The Muppets

I didn't get a chance to review this Jason Segel-penned Muppet masterpiece, but had I found the time, I would have given it one of this year's only solid As. To quote the puppet pals' theme song (and borrow from many heartfelt fan reviews), this smile-a-second musical tribute to Kermit, Miss Piggy and co. was truly the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational and Muppetsational movie of the year. For lifelong fans, like the gigantic presence that is Segel (who originally revealed his fandom--and freakly bod--in Forgetting Sarah Marshall), The Muppets was a fitting return to flat-out punny form after the flop that was Muppets in Space. For those who did not grow up with the furry friends, it was the perfect, meta first meeting (the plot was about the Muppets trying to save their Studio and careers from disappearing). I'm not sure that life really is (as the first song of the film states), a "Happy Song." But when I left the theatre, I certainly felt like it.

2) Super 8

As a toddler, I had two favourite movies: Beetlejuice and E.T. (Yes, I had awesome parents.) Although I definitely fancied myself a mini Lydia Deets, my heart truly belonged to Steven Spielberg's out of this world cinematic creation. I loved it so much that I wore out the VHS tape my mom made of it. Twice. Watching Super 8, an '80s, suburban-set sci-fi produced by Spielberg and directed by J.J. Abrams, I felt like I was phoning home yet again. Like E.T., it gave its intergalactic sidestory just as much screentime as it did its tweenage stars (including Oscar nominee-in-training, Elle Fanning), whose characters were just trying to make a monster movie before a mysterious train crash-landed on their town. Apparently big budget, modern sci-fi films with heart aren't as a alien as I thought they were.

1) Drive

2011 was the year of the Gos'. The actor, who was once only known for his brief stint in the Mickey Mouse Club and a semester or two aboard Breaker High, busted out of his carefully carved, critically-acclaimed indie boy shell (see: Lars and the Real Girl, Half Nelson) and tried his hand at some mainstream stuff (Crazy, Stupid, Love and George Clooney's The Ides of March). But the role that really stopped traffic was his fearless take on the nameless stuntman in Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive. From the opening credits (with their wicked Pretty in Pink font) to the extremely grim ending, that film is just like the Gosling every blog has fallen head over feet for -- a beautiful contradiction in terms, purposefully never quite choosing whether it wants to be a straight-up new wave romance or a gritty, Tarantino-without-the-talk mob drama. This off-the-wall, darkly comedic tone made it hard to predict, which is way more than you can say for most action films of recent history. But as you found out fairly quickly, as soon as Gosling's inner gears started cranking and his baby blues opened real wide (either looking at his wannabe lover Carey Mulligan, or his next victim), you were in for one of the wildest joy rides of your life. Or at least your year.

Honorable mentions: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II, Young Adult, Martha Marcy May Marlene

Home Theatre Tuesday (Dec. 20, 2011)

Each week, we bring you a quick run-down of what's out on DVD so you don't miss the hits and you can skip the misses.

Must buy: Midnight in Paris

I can't express how often I wish I was born in another era. For me, it's the sixties in the U.S., with the dreamy allure of Bob Dylan, the Civil Rights movement and the Merry Pranksters. In Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, struggling novelist Gil similarly yearns for another time: in his case, Paris in the 1920s. In this sweet and astute film about the trouble of wanting to be somewhere you're not, Allen channels observations about a restless society into one of his best films to date.

Read the rest of Manori's review.

Also out: Straw Dogs

We didn't get a chance to catch this apparently brutal remake of the 1971 Sam Peckinpah -directed Dustin Hoffman starrer, but we hear it's definitely not for everyone. Following a couple (Kate Bosworth and James Marsden) who are terrorized by a group of local thugs (led by True Blood's Eric Northman - sorry, Alexander Skaarsguard) before taking their own terrifying revenge, it sounds like The Strangers meets Funny Games. Read into that what you will.  Ebert said he liked it better than the original.

Midnight in Paris

Photo: Sony Pictures Classics



BY: Manori Ravindran

Starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams and Marion Cotillard. Directed by Woody Allen. 100 minutes. PG

I can't express how often I wish I was born in another era. For me, it's the sixties in the U.S., with the dreamy allure of Bob Dylan, the Civil Rights movement and the Merry Pranksters. In Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, struggling novelist Gil similarly yearns for another time: in his case, Paris in the 1920s. In this sweet and astute film about the trouble of wanting to be somewhere you're not, Allen channels observations about a restless society into one of his best films to date.

Owen Wilson is Gil, a successful Hollywood screenwriter who's trying his hand at writing novels. Visiting Paris with his fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdam) and her family, it becomes clear that his betrothed doesn't share his interest in the city's mystique. When Inez reunites with old friends, including hilarious one-upper Paul (Michael Sheen), Gil has a lot of time on his hands and takes to wandering the streets at night.

One evening, after getting into a car with beckoning strangers at the stroke of midnight, Gil finds he's been taken back in time to the 1920s. Suddenly, he's rubbing elbows with his literary heroes and falling for Picasso's mistress Adriana (Marion Cotillard). Much to the bewilderment of Inez, who is increasingly distant, Gil continues to wander off each evening, choosing fantasy over the reality of an ill-suited relationship. But as he goes further back in time, he soon realizes that even the most idyllic past can be someone else's dreary present.

For those unfamiliar with Allen's body of work, the director has almost annually churned out a feature film, television short or play since 1959. Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that Midnight in Paris warrants comparison to 1985's The Purple Rose of Cairo, another film where wistful characters are drawn into their fantasies, which provide only fleeting respite from reality.

Midnight works on many levels. Unlike many of his more recent films, there's no bumbling, neurotic male lead. Sure, Gil's intelligent, but he's no intellectual, and the particular casting of the laid-back Wilson makes for a character that's likeable from the very start. A strong supporting cast of McAdams, whose mean streak re-emerges in a turn as the petulant Inez, and Sheen, as her tedious charmer, is terrific. Allen also challenges the audience to a battle of wits, introducing a bevy of literary and artistic icons to keep us guessing. As usual, the director doesn't underestimate his audience, and expects us to keep pace with the many arcane references that constitute the average Woody Allen film.

Ultimately, what's most appealing about Midnight in Paris is that it draws upon the nostalgia most of us feel for the past, whether it's our own or a different time period entirely. Allen allows us to live out our fantasies through Gil, who gets a real shot at his. Best of all, the director balances each dose of make believe and real life without getting ensconced in either. The past and present of Midnight in Paris aren't separate entities; instead, they affect one another drastically.

For Woody Allen fans who've been sleepwalking through the director's last few films, Midnight in Paris is a brilliant reminder of why it is we blindly subscribe to his genius. And for newcomers who just want to see a romantic comedy on a Tuesday night, it may be the start of a beautiful relationship. A