Midnight in Paris: Inspiring

Sometimes I really don't feel like I'm in the mood for a particular film, even if I haven't seen the picture before.  Often because the director makes hard to watch films or because it looks like a genre that isn't my usual cup of tea.  Since I decided to write about film only when I wanted to write and not because I wanted a highly read blog covering new releases this has happened even more.

I avoided Midnight in Paris on its release because Woody Allen's particular brand of comedy hasn't always tickled my funny bone.  To be honest I have a conflicted opinion of the man himself.  He always seems fantastic on film but guarded under interview (not surprising when you consider his choice of wife/daughter).  But whatever my reasons for not watching the film until now, it is now watched, and very much enjoyed.

Allen has a clear love of the arts, of music and of literature, he is a creative man after all.  But as much as his passion for these things shines through, so does his nostalgia for the French New Wave in cinema, the time of the true auteur.  His shots are reminiscent of Truffant and Godard, his use of shot composition, colour and light reminded me of 'Pierrot le Fou' as did the opening credits (to be clear though, the two films are nothing alike).  If you love classic film then you will love this.  However if modern cinema is your particular bag don't let this put you off, because there are close similarities to current greats like Wes Anderson, taking classic film making and bringing it to the discerning masses.  Also it having Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody both present make immediate comparison inevitable.

Midnight in Paris is funny, touching, romantic by one meaning of the word and beautiful.  Overridingly though, for me at least, it was inspiring.  I think that whatever your creative outlet, you will find something in this film to push you on.  I am not a writer yet during this film I was running through opening lines for my first novel (don't hold your breath).  I am a painter, not a very good one, but a painter nonetheless and as soon as I have finished this review I will run upstairs to my studio (spare room) and paint and paint and paint.  I will paint while tapping my foot to Cole Porter and Gershwin, and drinking tea (that last bit has nothing to do with the film).  Watch this film then go create.

Back with a Vengeance!...

Maybe 'Back with a Polite Smile..' would be a more accurate title.

I started this blog a year ago.  Five months later I stopped.  It was my intention to just unload my thoughts about films that I'd seen, nothing more, nothing less.  The blog it's self wasn't that important to me, I was writing about the films that I saw to make me think more deeply about them and so hopefully get more out of the viewing experience.

In fact the viewing experience was not enhanced, quite the opposite.  I could walk out of the cinema thinking about how exciting a film was and by the time I was turning the key in the ignition I'd have picked it apart and be focusing solely on holes in the plot or a wooden supporting cast.  Case point: http://6outof10.blogspot.com/2011/04/limitless-limited.html I loved Limitless as I was leaving the theater but within minutes I'd considered it's inadequacies so much that when people asked me what I thought I slated it, heavily.  I stand by my review on this website, but I apologise to those few people who decided not to see it because of my few minute rant outside HMV back in May.

The point that I am trying to make is that reviewing films made me like them less, so I stopped.  But I'm going to try again, I'll approach it differently and I'll go with my gut feeling.  I won't necessarily review any film that I see either, if I have something to say then I'll say it, if not, I won't (no filler, woop!).