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: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES

            One of the biggest mistakes most people, writers and audiences alike, have made with the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy was understanding who the protagonist was. I am still unsure if the second and third installments even had a protagonist; it certainly wasn’t Will Turner, the actually protagonist of the first film. The source of this confusion lies in Johnny Depp’s performance of Captain Jack Sparrow, a character so quirky bizarre and likable, that it simply outshines everyone else. But while Jack has been the poster child for the franchise, he was never the protagonist. On Stranger Tides outdoes this problem by removing the excessive amount of side characters, side pirates, pirate ships, pirate lords, pirate crew, and pirate monkeys, and centering the story on the latest of Jack’s shenanigans. All in all a more fitting title for this movie would have been: The Next Installment of The Captain Jack Sparrow Adventures; it highlights the story’s pulpy silliness much more than On Stranger Tides and since the movie doesn’t really take place in the Caribbean there is little point in keeping it on the title.

Review: VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA

Vicky Christina Barcelona is a movie that could only be set in Barcelona. And although it does not capture the physicality of the city, by giving us deep focus placement shots of Paseo de La Gracia, La Sagrada Familia or Parque Guell, it does capture the psyche behind the city. Do not let this misguide you the famous places are there, but Woody Allen weaves them into his story in such a way that they all happen naturally rather than being forced as must-see locations. It is not uncommon for Woody Allen to set his films in European cities, and here he demonstrates knowledge and insight about the culture that has allowed him to survive in the market. Mind that two of the main characters, Vicky and Christina, are actually Americans visiting Barcelona and we see most of the events through their eyes. It is not the true Barcelona but the fantasy Barcelona in which we fantasize about having an adventure in.