Midnight in Paris

I saw Midnight in Paris on the 7th, enjoyed it, and having been very busy, didn't think much more about it -- I was astounded to see that it's been a big box-office success. Nostalgia for the past and trying to get a right sense of how and where we stand in relation to any of a number of golden ages doesn't strike me as "big box office" but I guess I'm wrong.

I suppose the difficulties of our present make nostalgia very psychologically powerful.

I was delighted when Owen Wilson said "the past isn't dead; it isn't even past - that's something that Faulkner said" as that's one of my favorite quotes. I think my favorite performance was actually Michael Sheen's, although I think Owen Wilson hit just the right note: oblivious, but not perfectly so.

This consideration for nostalgia made Sy Syfransky's Notebook entry from November, 2010 relevant:

"Frank Zappa: 'It isn't necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice. There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia.'"