The Guardian has an online series called How to Draw... that depicts step-by-step instructions on how to draw various characters. These Oliver Jeffers illustrations caught my eye, because penguins are just naturally cute--- and his chubby birds are exceptionally cute!
Unlike most film buffs, I actually have surface space on my shelves, as I don't hoard vintage movie memorabilia, autographed DVDs or licensed character knick-knacks. But perhaps I'll make an exception with this homage to a such a mind-bogglingly awesome movie. I am looking for a desk chair.... Hmmm.
Midnight in Paris was charming, entertaining, and worth seeing. Every street shot is unsurprisingly gorgeous and if you romanticize Paris the way I do, you'll get swept up in momentary Francophilia and briefly consider an apartment swap on AirBandB.com. But to me, it didn't reach the caliber of The Purple Rose of Cairo, one of Woody Allen's earlier films with somewhat similar escapist and fantastical elements (...and one of my all time favorite movies!). Set in the Depression Era, the tonality of The Purple Rose of Cairo is tinged with more melancholy and the characters are more desperate, and to me the story is more complex and emotionally engaging. Whereas in Midnight in Paris, the feeling is more light-hearted. The characters live in a world of the "worried well", so watching Owen Wilson fret over his literary ambitions and chosen Hollywood vocation seems trivial, yet funny and compelling. Some of the casting and one-liners are completely inspired (i.e. Adrian Brody, as Dali and the guy who played Hemmingway), but I wasn't totally immersed in the world or consequences bourgeois characters faced while experiencing "la vie en rose". Still....check it out, it's gotta be better than all the sequels that are hitting the screens...
