To Rome with Love – the latest from Woody Allen

I’ve seen Rome, and I’ve seen Paris, and brother, let me tell you, To Rome With Love is no Midnight in Paris. Well, in all honesty, that’s not a new thought, it is merely an opinion already written by many who discuss films. I grafted that thought on to an even older statement that originated in the dark world of politics. That comment has been run through various word processors  by lots of people, usually emerging with the same intent, but usually about a multitude of different subjects.

In my view, TRWL was simply a case of Woody Allen raiding his own cinematic cabinet, and recycling his own old recipes. After a rather silly opening in which a Roman vigili (that’s Italian for traffic policeman) interrupts his direction of the flow of traffic to tell us that he sees all of Rome’s people in his work and they all have stories. It’s not a whole lot of words with deep meaning but it was the truth. The film is a bunch of collected stories of people in Rome. Notice I said collected and not connected.

We meet Woody Allen, he’s a retired director of operas,  and Judy Davis who play a married couple (Jerry & Phyllis) flying to Italy to meet their daughter Hayley (Alison Pill) who is taking the summer off and living it up in Roma. We join them on the plane where Woody/Jerry is a nervous wreck after some momentary turbulence. As usual, Allen is manic – the gestures, the incredibly worried look on his face – we’ve all seen this before, as has his wife. As sane and as calm and level-headed as she is, Allen’s Jerry is her opposite.

Phyllis (Judy Davis) and Jerry (Woody Allen)

Hayley, their daughter stops a young man on the street. He’s named Michelangelo, and Hayley is hoping for directions to The Trevi Fountain. The directions are a bit complex. Woody likes to use this as a way having people either meet or get lost, so it is repeated multiple times throughout the film. Turns out the Hayley and this guy hit it off and become a couple.

Michelangelo ( Flavio Parenti) and Hayley (Alison Pill)

Meanwhile in another part of town – I’m not sure, but I think the except for the usual tourist high spots – most of the film was shot in the Trastavere neighborhood, a man who routinely wakes at 7:00 AM everyday (we see this event, followed by breakfasts, at least 3-4 times) is a clerk in an office. This may be Rome, but Allen makes sure we get that men in offices, that hangout at the water cooler, are the same everywhere. They banter around, trading quips and put downs, while they can’t take their eyes off a leggy and busty secretary who raises their temperatures.

Rock of Ages

Once upon a time, thanks to Ian Dury and two members of the Blockheads, we had a music single called Sex, Drugs & Rock N’ Roll. The song was written and produced in 1977. At the time of its release, this song didn’t do much business. But the critics liked it. From there, with an assist from Axel Rose of Guns N’ Roses in the 1980′s, it became a staple of punk rock, and beyond that it became symbolic of an era, as well as an alternate lifestyle.

In 2012, the terms Sex, Drugs, & Rock N’ Roll might still be in the public consciousness, but more likely to be heard these days is Sweat, Ear-Splitting Music, & Puke. That’s a quote from Dennis Dupree, the fictional owner of a fictional rock club, The Bourbon Room, located on the famed Sunset Strip, in Hollywood circa 1987. This club, its employees and its patrons are in a film called Rock of Ages which opened in theaters across the country yesterday, June 15th, 2012.

Adapted from the musical of the same name (book by Chris D’Arienzo) and still playing on Broadway and theatrical venues elsewhere, Rock of Ages is what you might call a Jukebox Movie Musical. The difference between a Musical and a Jukebox Musical is that a musical has its own original music, while the jukebox version has music originally created by others and not specifically for the production.

Showcasing some of the best-loved and most popular rock music from the 80′s, the film, Rock of Ages has at its center a group of slender stories stitched together. We have the story of a struggling rock venue, The Bourbon Room, a club modeled after the Whiskey-A-Go-Go on Sunset Strip. Club Owner Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin has the role) is looking at serious problems including problems with the IRS over back taxes. He’s also facing the wrath of the conservative wife of LA’s Mayor, one Patricia Whitmore, a Tipper Gore type, portrayed by Catherine Zeta-Jones. She and her cohorts believe that The Bourbon Room, and other clubs of the same stripe, and the Strip itself, are far too decadent to be tolerated. She’s out to shut them down.

I can sing but I need a job – I can wait tables…

There is a newcomer in town, literally moments and steps off the bus from Tulsa, Oklahoma. She’s Sherrie Christian and is played by Julianne Hough. In her first few minutes in town, she’s mugged by a snatch and grab artist which resulted in the loss of her only suitcase. This event was witnessed by one Drew Boley, who happens to work in the bar at The Bourbon Room, and he gets her a job as waittress at the club. All in the film’s first five minutes. Welcome to LA, honey.

Not coincidentally both Sherrie and Drew (played by Diego Boneta) are aspiring singers. Also as you might expect, they’re going to fall in love.

it’s Complicated

I’m just back from the local cineplex where I was a part of a packed house for the 11:00 AM showing of it’s Complicated. When you are in Florida, and the temps are in the 40′s, that sort of precludes the beach or the pool from one’s agenda, so the movies are a good bet.

With the kids back in school, and the holidays diminishing into the past with each tick of the clock, plus the aforementioned temp drops, the movie audience was a neat mix of the geriatric set, the baby boomers, and those who have to look back towards their 40th birthday rather than looking ahead.

It’s Complicated stars the ‘above the title’ A-listers, Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin as the threesome who were recruited by Director/Writer Nancy Meyers for this laugh-out-loud rom-com.

It really isn’t a complicated movie. Streep as Jane Adler, was married to Alec Baldwin’s Jake Adler for 20 years, and they’ve now been divorced for 10 years. They had three children who are now all adults.

Buckaroo

Recently I watched the movie, The Hunt for Red October (1990). This is a real man’s movie filled with submarine warfare, geo-politics and its offspring – political brinks-manship, as well as great heaping gobs of pure testosterone. There’s no sex or romance in this tale, in fact there may not even be any speaking roles for women in the movie.

As the movie begins, we learn that the Captain of The Red October, which is the USSR’s newest and most technologically advanced nuclear powered submarine, has disobeyed his orders, and is heading for the United States. The question is – is he defecting or is he a madman who will bring about Armegeddon by firing nuclear war heads at major US coastal cities?