Recently I saw a couple Woody Allen movies, To Rome with Love, and Midnight in Paris. I liked them both but found it interesting that David Denby in the New Yorker thought “To Rome with Love” was the far better movie whereas Roger Ebert thought “Midnight in Paris” was clearly the better.
After reading Ebert’s review of Midnight in Paris, I think I agree with him, although I didn’t like the beginning of the movie so much. That’s because I felt the leading character, Gil, was embarrassingly awkward in his attitude toward the “pseudo-intellectual”, Salvador. The fascinating part of the movie came later with Gil meeting the well-known literary people from the past.
To Rome with Love was pretty fascinating too with the fast paced action in Rome and that amazing bunch of characters. So, I’ll have to say I liked both movies about the same.
Tags: david denby, midnight in paris, roger ebert, to rome with love, woody allen movies
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I want to see them both, anyway!
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Good, Kate. They’re both good.
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I love MIDNIGHT IN PARIS and watch it over and over. It’s on my list of good movies to watch. I’ve been out of the country and hadn’t even heard of TO ROME WITH LOVE, but I will keep my eyes open for it.
My favorite Woody Allen film had always been the first one of his I ever saw, PLAY IT AGAIN SAM, but I think MIDNIGHT just may have edged that one out by a mile for me. I think it’s amazing at his age that he is at the top of his form.
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Luis Bruñuel was one of the characters from the past who Gil meets in Midnight in Paris, and this inspired me to watch The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie again. I had watched it many years ago but had forgotten most of it. Fascinating dream sequences and surreal parody. Then I took out (from Netflix) That Obscure Object of Desire which was the last film Bruñuel directed and that was amazing too. The last one, so far, I’ve watched is the scandalous Viridiana in which there’s a Last Supper parody! Far out stuff indeed but what a creative film director! There’s a photo in the Bruñuel Wiki showing him between Salvador Dali and the great Spanish poet, Federico Garcia Lorca. He has his arm around Lorca.
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