Review: TO ROME WITH LOVE

I believe it was Socrates who said, the unexamined life is not worth living; at 76 and with over forty films attributed to his name, Woody Allen has now examined his life and then examined himself examining his life. After Midnight in Paris -his most successful film in terms of revenue- Woody Allen takes a step back and returns to his more traditional depiction of neurotic characters observing, describing, philosophizing about, and suffering because of love, life, universal inconsequence, and - for the first time - Rome. 

To Rome With Love, is a collection of four vignettes all set in Rome. Each vignette could have been separate stand alone film. And some of them would have likely been more enjoyable that way. We are introduced to the four vignettes by a traffic cop; who from his pedestal in the middle of the road observes everything. Or so he claims. 

Traditionalist may criticize Allen for abandoning New York and “selling” to tourism boards that want to show off the most beautiful cities in the world - London (Match Point, Cassandra’s Dream), Barcelona (Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona) and Midnight in Paris (Paris)- but, personally, I like how my pseudo-intellectual self can relax and enjoy a Roman holiday alongside my giddy low-brow tourist self, while enjoying these romantic Euro locales, and conversing with characters as neurotic as... my neurotic self. 

Review: THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Like every David Fincher film I've seen, The Social Network thrives at a pace so well-suited for the movie, you feel as though the film itself is one of the characters. It's one of those movies where you can't help but marvel that every aspect of its making was just done right. It's one of those experiences where you often forget you're in a movie, staring helpless at the screen, hanging on every word. It's a fantastically well-made film.

Review: ZOMBIELAND

I used to think that the people behind popular reality television were the most brilliant people in the world. Here was a group of people who bent marketing over, and spanked it. They provided content that fed off of exactly what they knew the viewer wanted.

Before Zombieland was released, I thought no one would top them in that regard.

Zombieland

AHHHHHHH.



Also, Bill Murray.

Review: ADVENTURELAND

What is an adventure? It's hard to define, but one thing is for sure; it cannot be planned.

Now Superbad is among my all-time favorite comedies, and Adventureland is just as great, if not better... and it couldn't be more different than Superbad if it tried.