Double Feature Duel:
Midnight in Paris vs. You Again
Bout #29: An Oscar-nominated Woody Allen
film vs. a get the actors together and then we’ll figure out a plot... thing.
Midnight in Paris: Owen Wilson and Rachel
McAdams are back together again in the long-awaited sequel to Wedding Crashers.
This was a really fun movie. They talked too much – especially in the
beginning, which is typical of Woody Allen movies, but once Owen Wilson found
himself transported back in time, the real story began and the conversations
seemed a lot less contrived. Which is weird, because he was talked to dead
people from another time period. The film definitely sported a few annoying
writer’s contrivances and inconsistencies, including Gertrude Stein’s
pronunciation of the word “lititure.” And they happened to run into another
couple visiting Paris at the same time? I don’t even run into people I know at
the Wheaton Mall and I have over 1500 facebook friends. I realize that
complaining about this traveling coincidence when people are transported back
in time to parties with T.S. Eliot and Hemingway seems picky, but without
getting too into too much detail, I’m right. (Ed note: that was actually no
detail at all) In addition to the fun at the heart of it, the movie had a
working purpose. While Owen Wilson loved his past, the people of that time
wished to go back further, and so this would continue until the universe was a
singularity (this was cut from the movie for time). But the message goes
deeper, and not where you’d expect, when Woody turns the tables on
romanticizing the past. 8.5 bugs (out of 10)
You Again: This was your standard “get
the right actors on board and then figure it out” movie. The script could have
been written on the back of a napkin that said “Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis,
Sigourney Weaver, Betty White.” It was fun in parts, however unoriginal and
predictable. It tried to be the hilarious all-girl comedy that Bridesmaids was
with big names instead of big talent. And they checked all the boxes. They had
the “we’re wearing the same dress” scene and of course the “we’re both somehow
throwing each other into the pool together” scene, which was the only use of
slow motion in the entire movie by the way. And the director couldn’t even
bother to ask the officials from the high school basketball game to tuck their
shirts in. Really? That’s the level of attention to detail you have for your
product? At least pretend to have some pride in this film. Or was it just a
paycheck? 3.5 bugs (out of 10)
Title: Midnight in Paris is descriptive
and romantic all at the same time, but You Again can be said with so many
different intonations, it’s worth the point for versatility. (Point, You Again 0-1)
Funnier: Both were actually funny, but
Woody’s was more introspectively funny. Still, Midnight lost a crapton of
points when they had the “same dress” gag and the hot chicks throwing slime on
each other. (Point, Midnight 1-1)
Better Turn: I almost immediately
assumed getting transported back in time in a 1920s car was going to win this,
but then I remembered the scene where we found out that Kristen Bell’s nemesis
actually remembered her was quite awesome. Yeah, sure. Why not? (Point, You Again 1-2)
Better Ending: Saving ink. (Point, Midnight 2-2)
Better Message: Midnight teaches you to
appreciate the time period you are in. We all romanticize the past. You Again
teaches you that if you’re a bitch, don’t get caught. And if you catch someone
being a bitch, don’t tell people about it. The movie tried a little too hard to
make both of them wrong. (Point, Midnight 3-2)
Better Acting: They didn’t necessarily
ask Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Kristen Bell and Betty White to act, in
their defense. They were just asked to show up. (Point, Midnight 4-2)
More Creative: Ink. (Point, Midnight 5-2)
Poster: The night sky in Paris turns
into A Starry Night by Van Gogh. Very nicely done. (Point, Midnight in
Paris 6-2)
Watch again: You Again wasn’t horrible,
but I’d like a second run at Midnight someday. (Point, Midnight 7-2)
Overall: Down early, a 6-point run to
end it was just for show toward the end. Winner: Midnight in Paris (7-2)
