Midnight in Paris

Let me preface this by saying that I know I am very late to this party. People have been telling me I needed to see it since it first premiered, but I finally saw Midnight in Paris last night, and it was absolutely perfect. It was my final trip to the very underutilized "Dollar Theatre" on Bethel road. (Why didn't I take more advantage of this theatre? It will probably be one of my life's biggest regrets now that movie tickets will cost me 15 dollars, and popcorn won't even be an option...) Anyway, this movie felt like it was made for me. For one thing, the protagonist spends his life romanticizing another time period and fantasizing about the many ways life was better then. That sounds only vaguely familiar to me... And lots of other people out there too, I imagine! And Midnight in Paris certainly gets to the heart of why we prefer the fantasy of another era to sometimes less-than-glamorous reality of living today.

Regardless, there is nothing unsatisfying about the journey we take in this movie...back to 1920's Paris! And we're in excellent company with bohemians, masterful artists and writers, many of whom we've studied in high school and college, and certainly revisited since we realized maybe there was a pretty good reason we were required to study them in the first place... I won't spoil any of the cameos for you, since meeting and discovering them on your own is half the fun. All I will say is, this is actually my new favorite movie of all time.

By the way, I should mention that after the movie, Cate's mom Annie (a very dear friend of mine) gave me a fantastic idea! I should reward myself for this brave new step in my life by treating myself to a long weekend in Paris this Summer. I've never been, despite my love of the fashion, films, music, and food...and especially the language, which I don't speak, but have always planned on studying. I felt absolutely inspired by this suggestion, and am already mentally saving my pennies! It makes me smile to think about turning this recent streak of independence into a habit.