There’s a moment in Radio Days when a young Allen and his parents have a chance encounter with a “Whiz Kid,” one of those freakish adolescents who spend every moment of their day memorizing trivia. Allen’s parents are in awe of the kid’s diction and “intelligence” while to Allen and ourselves he comes off as a stuffy automaton.

That single scene exemplifies the theme of Midnight in Paris: (and I take this line from Tyler Cowen’s excellent summation) “if we somehow managed to meet the cultural titans of previous eras, how many of them would come across as blowhard hacks, if only because their own subsequent work has made their personae obsolete?”

The Allen surrogate is Gil Pender (Owen Wilson), an American Hollywood hack in Paris with his shrewish fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her disapproving parents John (Kurt Fuller) and Wendy (Mimi Kennedy). Gil, currently engaged in his novel, longs for the Paris of the 1920s and, after a walk one night, meets a cab that whisks him back in time to a party with F. Scott (Tom Hiddleston) and Zelda (Alison Pill) Fitzgerald.

It is remarkable to think just how long and varied of a career Woody Allen has had.  His decades long body of work has already earned him the status of a legendary filmmaker, yet that has hardly slowed him down from constantly pushing himself to be a better writer and director.  And recently, we are seeing a freshness in his work that only reaffirms his true talent as a filmmaker.

To be honest, it use to be that Woody Allen was kind of hit-or-miss.  Of course, he has his classic films like Annie Hall and Manhattan, but more recently, for every Match Point or Vicky Christina Barcelona we would find films like Whatever Works which, despite starring Larry David, seemed to fall flat and felt more like an off-Broadway play than a feature film.

Luckily, Allen seems to be on a roll recently.  Midnight in Paris is one of his films that is able to achieve that rare combination of brilliant dialogue and strong performances that we have come to know and love.

It is here that I would normally give a quick plot recap of the film to give context to the review, but I really do think this film is most enjoyable if you go in knowing nothing more than what was given in the trailer.  I know some people don’t like going into films completely blind, but I do suggest that you skip the next paragraph if you want the full experience.

“You get what you get, now don’t throw a fit”-Ancient kindergarten teacher proverb.

I am constantly amused when people attend a Farrelly Brothers film and are SHOCKED to find out that it is filled with bathroom humor and precious little in the way of plot. What do you expect people?  When you go to a Farrelly Brothers film, you know exactly what you are going to get.

Peter and Bobby Farrelly carved out a new niche for comedy in 1998 when they released Something About Mary. The film’s raunchy humor was dubbed “gross-out humor”, and though they have replicated the formula many times, they have never really duplicated the level of success they had with that first film.

It’s doubtful that this will be the film to do that, though it is a nice departure from their usual fare. Don’t worry, you’ll still find male protagonists suffering from man-child syndrome, plenty of tits, dirty jokes, poop humor, and the like. Not that I’m complaining. I’d be disappointed if those things were missing.

It is hard to believe James Brooks, the man who brought us the modern day classics Terms of Endearment and Broadcast News, thought this meandering mess of a movie would appeal to the masses. Even more puzzling is the staggering price tag of $120 Million, which Sony managed to whittle down to a mere $100 Million.  That’s not big money for an action drama, but it is big money indeed for a romantic comedy.

Reese Witherspoon plays professional softball player Lisa, who is perky and popular, but has just lost her job due to her advanced age of thirty. She is dating Matty (Owen Wilson), a dimwitted professional baseball player who never shies away from the perks of the profession.

Paul Rudd plays George, the guy next door whose world is imploding around him due to a federal investigation into his dealings at his father’s (Jack Nicholson) business. Lisa finds herself caught between the rich, successful Matty, and George, who has downsized to a crappy apartment and seems destined for the big house.

The performances are certainly pleasant.  Witherspoon has grown into a beautiful young woman, and she is just adorable throughout the whole movie. Rudd plays within his comfort zone, being the guy who is slightly out of his element, but is so charming and sincere that the ladies eventually come around to him.

A few weeks ago, we brought you the very first teaser trailer for Disney and Pixar’s upcoming sequel, Cars 2. Now, things are getting a bit more exciting with a brand new, full-length trailer.

We know that we’ve lost Paul Newman, George Carlin, and Joe Ranft since the last film, who all voiced main characters. With that, the team at Pixar and Disney has helped by introducing some great new characters, including a James Bond-esque spy car voiced by Michael Caine.

Cars 2 is set to hit theaters in IMAX 3D, Digital 3D, and standard 2D on June 24th of 2011. In the meantime, check out the new trailer after the jump.