Midnight in Paris

*May Contain Spoilers!*

I went into this movie thinking I would like it from the start. It was a reunion of sorts for Rachel McAdams and Owen Wilson from one of my favorite comedies. Their on-screen chemistry was fantastic in Wedding Crashers, so I thought that it would really make this movie. What I came to find was something more extraordinary than just the chemistry of two actors.

This was my first Woody Allen movie. I always tended to stray away from them. I do not have a reason other than that I found him to be a tad annoying in all of his interviews…not to mention, I was a bit turned off by the whole situation with Mia Farrow (I know I was not alive during that time, but it still bothered me when I found out about it). I can safely say that I will definitely be giving his other movies a shot now. This movie was absolute magic. It follows a hopeless romantic (Wilson) who is engaged to the utterly deplorable Inez. I say deplorable because you literally wanna ring her neck by the end of the movie. Gil gets lost every night at midnight and goes back to the 20’s in Paris. Along the way he meets such famous literary characters as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, T. S. Eliot, and Gertrude Stein. Every time a new character would pop up, I would think that it could not get any better…then a new one would come around. Gil ends up falling for a “painter groupie” named Adriana, who is played by the ever fantastic Marion Cotillard) and must come to grips with himself and his situation in the present day.

I must say that this was a truly magical film for me. I think that everybody studied most of these famous literary characters in college. But to actually have such a strong imagination to go back and party with these people is a great concept. I found that the movie flowed beautifully and Owen Wilson really did a great job showing his passion for all of these characters. It is a film that I feel I will revisit time and time again.
Four out of four stars.

Contagion

*Warning: this review containers spoilers*
Having just finished this movie, I find myself baffled as to how it did not get more recognition. While it might have had a basic premise that has been done nearly a hundred time before in both movies and literature, I felt that this time around, the message really struck a chord. I have literally become frightened of the idea that something like this could actually happen. All from the simple shake of a hand.
Some people told me that they did not enjoy the movie because it was so slow. If one has ever watched a Steven Soderbergh movie, they will see that he has had a wide array of genres that he has worked with. I personally thought he handled this subject very well. He split the story up into different parts of the world so that you could see how different cultures handle an epidemic. I began thinking that the Marion Cotillard scenes were completely out of place, but ended up fitting into the movie as whole by the finale. Matt Damon felt lost to me the entire time. He played the husband of a cheating Gwyneth Paltrow (who, by the way, was at her worst…and was only in about 15 minutes of the movie) and spends most of the movie trying to figure out how to save his daughter. I felt that he was a bit underused as a character. Laurence Fishburne was very good in his role as the spokesperson for the CDC…but I just don’t have anything to say about him.
Who I do feel was used to their fullest extent was Jude Law, whose character was very reminiscent of his character from Road to Perdition. He played the sort of person that everybody loathes to a certain extent. The kind of person who thinks he is always right. The kind of person who fills the minds of millions of people on the internet just because he likes the attention. He plays a man who blogs for himself, and basically fakes having the virus so that he can say that a home remedy worked instead of the government vaccines that are being mass produced. His performance pretty much stole the show for me, but I just wished that he would have been used in a greater capacity in a fight against the government instead of just playing a simple whistle-blower who thinks he can get away with anything he wants.
In closing, I feel like Soderbergh directed a movie that was rich in story and technique. He was able to incorporate not just the virus into the story, but how society becomes this clusterfuck of chaos whenever there is a mass problem that arises. I can safely say that he has frightened me into never thinking about biting my finger nails again!
three out of four stars.

A New Season Begins!

Tomorrow marks the opening of the 2011/2012 Barclay’s Premier League. I don’t know about you, but I sure am excited about it. There are going to be some great matches right from the start! What I felt was going to be the marquee matchup of the week was when Everton traveled to Tottenham. Unfortunately, that game has been postponed until a later date due to the horrible riots that are occurring in London. So I guess talk of that game will have to be put on hold.

On the morrow, we have five early matches and one late one. The five early match-ups are as follows:

• Wolverhampton away to Blackburn
• Aston Villa away to Fulham
• Sunderland away to Liverpool
• Bolton away to Queens Park Rangers
• Norwich away to Wigan

Each team has everything to prove on their opening day matches. Blackburn have been in the news lately due to new owners, and I feel that it will have a huge adverse affect on their play on the pitch. I have it Wolves 2 Blackburn 0.

Moving on to Aston Villa and Fulham, this will be the interesting one. You have Aston Villa, a team who has lost a good goalie in Brad Friedel, a good center defender in Stewart Downing, and an impeccable winger in Ashley Young. They have only really replaced their goalkeeper by bringing in Shay Given, who hopes to reboot his career as his age starts to cause him to slow down. Fulham is led by the great American Clint Dempsey, but did not do much in the transfer market. I don’t see them being that strong this year. While I feel that way, I still can’t ignore the misgivings of Aston Villa. I have this one at a 1-1 draw.

Liverpool had a strange resurgence in the last quarter of the year due to Kenny Daglish and a few choice signings. While they have bolstered their offensive threat, they sure do have a rapidly aging defense to contend with this year. That being said, I do not see where Sunderland will even be able to put up a fight. I have this one at Liverpool 2 Sunderland 0.

Queens Park Rangers are a new promoted side, so I really won’t be surprised if they pull off a win against Bolton who will be without Sturridge (who is back at Chelsea after finishing his loan spell) and Holden (who is still recovering from a knee injury sustained towards the end of last season). I am taking the safe bet by saying Bolton 1 QPR 0, but like I said, I would not be surprised to see an upset here.

This final early match is the hardest to figure out. There is Norwich, who, like QPR, are newly promoted. They will clearly have something to prove here. I see nothing strong in Wigan. There were little to no signings for Wigan this offseason, David Jones (Wolves) being the only one I know of. Also, they sold Charles N’Zogbia to Aston Villa; so, their only real strike force is in Rodallga (who is the most on and off player I have ever seen). I have this game ending in a 1-1 draw.

The late game tomorrow is Arsenal travelling to Newcastle. I thought this would be the marquee match-up, but now I am not so sure. Arsenal are severely depleted at the moment, having lost van Persie, Wilshere, and Walcott all to injuries. Also, Nasri and Fabregas will be left off the roster due to their respective transfer sagas. Newcastle always has a strange tenacity in their play that I enjoy watching. With their recent acquisition of Gabriel Obertan from Manchester United, they look to replace the loss of Enrique. I don’t see where that is really an even trade, but we will go with it. I have Newcastle winning this one 2-1.

The two Sunday games are:

• Chelsea at Stoke
• Manchester United at West Bromwich Albion.

Chelsea are under new management in Villas-Boas. Many are saying he is the next Jose Mourinho. I can’t really say I am going to agree with that. They have done little to nothing in the transfer window. They have great youngsters in McEachran and Sturridge, but they stand behind a rapidly aging first squad. Stoke City have been a mid table team since they came back into the premier league. With all of my bad mouthing of Chelsea, I still feel they will pull the win out easily. I have this one at 3-1 Chelsea.

I will start this one out by saying that Manchester United are my team. They are also the reigning champions. While there are the departures of van der Sar, Neville, and Scholes (who will all be missed), they have been replaced by the signings of Phil Jones from Blackburn, David De Gea from Athletico Madrid, and Ashley Young from Aston Villa. These signings will definitely help bolster a club who already has talent spewing from its pores. Here’s to hoping Rooney starts off strong. I have this going 4-0 for Manchester.

There is one last game that I will be talking about. It is being played on Monday. Manchester City hopes to begin its season with a huge bang by playing one of the easiest opponents out there, Swansea City. While it pains me to say this, I have it 3-0 for Man City. All of the Manchurians will be happy.

Well that about does it for my first matchday preview of the season. Happy premier league watching to all!

So this is how it begins…

Let me start this off by saying that I have been wanting to get back into blogging for the longest time. I never felt like I had anything to say on here that would interest anybody. Then one day, I woke up and realized: this is not about what anybody else says or thinks. This is about me and what I want to do. So, I will be blogging about life mostly. This is not just some easy thing to begin. I have to tread carefully on my ideas or else they will just seem completely befuddled on here.

My life has always been fairly simple and straightforward. At least, that is how I view it. I am a simple man who enjoys simple things. That being said, there will not be much cynicism or hatred on this blog; unless, of course, it is pertaining to a rival footy team that I despise.

It has always been tough to figure out what I am going to write about in my first true blog. This post is not considered to be the first post because I am merely introducing myself and my blog. No more, no less. This time around, with the impending premier league opening weekend, it makes my decision very easy. I will write about my beloved futbol. See ya tonight folks!