Pleasantville in Reverse!

Today's movie recommendation is a movie called The Purple Rose of Cairo which was directed by Woody Allen and released in 1985. Picture below.

The movie takes place in New Jersey during the Great Depression. The main character, Cecelia, is in an unhappy marriage and copes with her bad times by repeatedly going to the movies where she watches movie stars live glamorous lives up on the big screen. A new movie called The Purple Rose of Cairo is Cecelia's new favorite movie and she sees it so many times that one of the characters decides to walk right off of the screen and meet her. The fictional character, an explorer named Tom Baxter, immediately falls head over heels in love with Cecelia and decides to run off with her and never return to the big screen. In the meanwhile, people are in an uproar due to this strange occurrence and the producer of the film as well as Gil Sheperd, the actor who plays/created Tom Baxter, are sent to New Jersey to try to get Tom to go back where he belongs. In the search for Tom Gil meets Cecelia and becomes so entranced with her admiration of him that soon Cecelia has to decide which man to run away with.

This movie carries wit and charm from the first scene to the very last. The characters have an extremely innocent and charming feel and the story is a new and interesting one. This is definitely not a movie to pass up.

Fun facts:
- Woody Allen has stated several times that this movie is his most favorite out of all of the ones he has made.
- It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
- The carnival scenes were shot at Bertrand Island Amusement Park in New Jersey which had just shut down before filming.
- Michael Keaton was originally cast as Gil/Tom but Woody decided it wasn't right and brought in Jeff Daniels instead.
- Woody Allen was informed that if he modified the ending of the movie that it would've been a huge hit, but he refused stating that the ending is the reason he made the movie.
- Viggo Mortensen played a small role in this film which he was very proud of. Unfortunately for him they ended up cutting out all of the parts with him in it.
- The Purple Rose of Cairo opened in North America on March 1, 1985 in 3 theaters, where it grossed an exceptional $114,095 ($38,031 per screen) in its opening weekend.

This movie is rated PG. All ages should be fine watching this film.

Link to the trailer

Who Says Animation is Just For Kids?

Today's long overdue movie recommendation is an animated movie for adults called Mary and Max, which was released in 2009 and stars the voice talents of Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Eric Bana. Picture below.

The movie is about a young girl in Australia named Mary who suffers from neglect from her parents and decides to send a random person in New York City a letter in hopes of making a friend. Her letter is sent to a middle aged Jewish man named Max who is suffering from Asperger's Syndrome and thus also is dealing with isolation and confusion about the world. These two sad characters soon become friends and continue to write each other over the next 22 years even as their lives progress with positive and negative changes. Their friendship motivates both characters to work through the difficulties in their lives.

The animation in this movie is beautiful. It looks very similar to some of Tim Burton's animation films. But what's more amazing than the animation is each of the character's stories. Both Mary and Max deal with real life problems that the average human being can relate to, but there is still a warm charm present throughout the film.

Fun facts:
- The director of the film, Adam Elliot, says that the character of Max was actually inspired by a pen pal of his in New York that he'd been writing to for over twenty years.
- This movie was the first Australian movie of 2009 to gross over a million dollars.
- It was awarded the Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature at the 2009 Ottawa International Animation Festival.
- It was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 82nd Academy Awards, but ended up not being nominated.
- Harvie Krumpet (who is the main character of another claymation movie created by Adam Elliot)is in the background when Max is exiting the typewriter store.
- The tombstone over Ruby's grave says, "R.I.P. Adam Elliot", who is the writer/director of the film.
- The postage stamps in the film used by Mary shows an image of Dame Edna Everage who is a character played by comedian Barry Humphries (the narrator of the film).

This movie has not been rated but because of the adult themes and content I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone under the age of 15.

Link to the trailer