Film Review: "Midnight in Paris" (***1/2)

Please take a look at the film ratings I've given out recently, and you'll see they've been scaled back, because exceptional work deserves to be seen as just that. I thought I might be kind enough to give Super 8 a complete three stars, but still chipped off 1/2. I thought 1/2 more might be deserving of Kung Fu Panda 2, but it was ultimately not too special. Midnight in Paris was just the right film to knock me back into reality, as it was the first film this year that truly defied my expectations going in. We set such specific standards going into films, and without seeing them it is entirely too easy to make calls on certain features.

It starts out with a series of images documenting modern day Paris from morning to nighttime, and the immediate impact is as something hollow. People walking idly by, shelling out cash in stores, rushing through rain under cover of umbrella, and ultimately not taking advantage of the beauty of the place around them. Wasted potential is a good way of putting it. Then the credits roll, and we hear Gil Pender, played earnestly by Owen Wilson, raving about the beauty of Paris, and how much he wishes he could live there. His fiance Inez, played by Rachel McAdams, is not as convinced.

Gil is a former Hollywood screenwriter trying to punch out his first novel, and he has a decidedly more idealist view of the world than Inez and her parents. Inez comes from the viewpoint of survival rather than passion, much like most of us. She's fascinated with Paul Bates, portrayed by Michael Sheen, a cynical and pedantic pseudo-intellectual who tries his utmost to best anyone else, even to the point of factual disconnect. After a day of sightseeing and wine tasting, Gil walks home drunk on his own and ends up being picked up by an old style car that takes him to the Paris of his dreams.

Fragility, Bravery, and Sexiness: Best Female Performances of 2010

If yesterday's list of the best male performances felt a bit underwhelming, it's because this wasn't so much a year for men. This was a fantastic year for women, so much so that it it's become difficult to place final decisions on those two Oscar races. I've had several favorites throughout the past few months, and I think I've finally got my choices nailed down for both categories. Many are saying that this was a year of newly discovered actresses, which I believe to be a bit of an overstatement. Maybe it's because I had already discovered Chloe Moretz in last year's (500) Days of Summer, not to belittle her efforts this year. I'm hesitant to say she's the next Dakota Fanning, because I hate Dakota Fanning. Nevertheless, her disturbing dark and controversial performances in Kick-Ass and Let Me In have certainly made a name for her.

One of the greater acting showcases this year was The Fighter, which obviously contained the jaw-dropping performance from Christian Bale, but there were also the smaller gems from the film. Amy Adams is probably the most underrated of the group, because she gives a very tough, sexy, and somewhat skanky performance as Mickey's girlfriend Charlene. She gives something a logical compass for the film when Mickey's delusional family comes to misdirect him. Probably the most overrated performance is from Melissa Leo, who I admit gave a fantastic performance as the cancer faced mother of Mickey's family, and the person who really controls all the moves of her blessed white-trash children. However, she's not really given too much of a chance to shine, and her character's purpose is a bit too similar to Bale's character, and it edges on lunacy at times. She's an amazing actress, but this just isn't her time.

This is probably the most daring praise I'll give an actress this year, I was extremely impressed with Tina Fey's voice work on the film Megamind. She joins the ranks of other actors who emotionally transcended the animated genre, most notably Ellen Degeneres in 2003's Finding Nemo. Tina Fey's vocal expression brings a lot of the charm and sexiness to the character of Roxanne Ritchi. Rounding out the actresses who didn't quite make the cut for me is Rooney Mara who had merely two or three scenes in this year's greatest success story, The Social Network, but one of them happens to be the best standalone scene in the film. Her work as Erica Albright, the soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend of Jesse Eisenberg's Mark Zuckerberg, is surprisingly passionate and gives a feminist edge to the predominantly male driven film. The top ten actresses of the year after the jump!