Los Angeles, U.S.A. - The 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival will screen a diverse slate of nearly 200 feature films, short films, and music videos, representing more than 30 countries, along with signature programs such as the Filmmaker Retreat, Poolside Chats, Coffee Talks, music events and more. Woody Allen’s To Rome with Love will be Opening the Night as Lorene Scafaria’s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Ava DuVernay’s Middle of Nowhere and Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild were selected for the Galas section.

Returning to downtown Los Angeles and headquartered at L.A. LIVE for a third year, the Festival will run from June 14 to June 24 2012. Now in its eighteenth year, the Festival is widely recognized as a world-class event, showcasing the best in new American and international cinema, and is produced by Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that also produces the Spirit Awards.

“There is nothing more satisfying than shining a spotlight on so many unique films from both seasoned and emerging filmmakers. Come experience the wonder of Beasts of the Southern Wild, Let Call Me Kuchu Break your Heart and Call you to Action, or simply be entertained by Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey in Magic Mike,” said Festival Director Stephanie Allain.

“These are just a few of the diverse stories that bring us into new worlds or put a fresh twist on familiar ones. ‘Exclusively for Everyone’ isn’t just a tag line. It’s an invitation to experience both the specific and the universal, and hopefully come away entertained and enlightened. Enjoy!”

“We’ve got a marvelous mix this year that reflects the incredible diversity of world cinema and of Los Angeles itself. I’m excited to have such giants as Woody Allen, Steven Soderbergh and Andre Techine alongside some amazing first-time filmmakers whose names you’ll be hearing a lot in the future. We want to offer festival-goers stories and visions they haven’t seen before and a chance to meet the most creative minds working in movies.

It’s going to be a fun and mind-expanding ten days,” said Festival Artistic Director David Ansen. The Festival will end its festivities with the World Premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures’ Magic Mike, directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Reid Carolin. Set in the world of male strippers, the dramatic comedy follows Mike (Tatum) as he takes a young dancer called The Kid (Pettyfer) under his wing and schools him in the fine arts of partying, picking up women, and making easy money. Warner Bros. Pictures will release the film nationwide on June 29, 2012.

Dreamworks Pictures’ People Like Us will have its World Premiere amongst the Summer Showcase screenings. The film is directed by Alex Kurtzman, written by Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and Jody Lambert. In a story inspired by true events, Sam (Pine), a twenty-something, fast-talking salesman, is tasked with fulfilling his estranged father’s last wishes – delivering an inheritance to a sister he never knew he had. Dreamworks Pictures will release the film on June 29, 2012.

As part of the Los Angeles Film Festival’s free outdoor programming, there will be a Dirty Dancing Dance-A-Long at California Plaza on June 22 at 7pm to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the film. Produced in cooperation with Dance Camera West and Grand Performances, there will be free salsa lessons by Contra-Tiempo, a screening of the film with special guests and a shadow cast consisting of performers from local dance companies to dance on stage below the screening during key scenes.

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The seeds of a memorable film most often comes from the craftsmanship of a well-written screenplay. For the Oscars 2012, the winners in the categories Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Screenplay were equally expected as they were surprising.

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash were awarded for their delicate adapted drama ‘The Descendants’, capturing the inner turmoil of a fractured family and personal chaos of an estranged father and betrayed husband. Backstage, the Oscar press corps caught up with them.

Credit: Greg Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Q. I was wondering, from their first draft, what did you keep, what did you like, because I’m under the impression that you just rewrote everything and shot with your version of the script. And I’m just wondering what you kept from what Jim and Nat did.

A. (Alexander Payne) They paved a path for me because they had been through the book quite a few times, they had done a number of drafts. I think the main things you know, I’ve got to say in all honesty it was helpful for me to read their drafts both for what I kept and what I didn’t keep. I was able to sort of they gave me the luxury to be able to pick and choose what I personally responded to. What I didn’t keep, for example, was more screen time with the younger daughter rather than with the older daughter. For example, I was much more interested in the relationship with the older daughter. Two items in particular which I did keep, neither of them, sadly, made it in the final film, the girl singing “that shit is bananas.” Anyway, in one scene, you have to read the script, it’s not interesting to talk about.

And at the very end something also maintained, carried over from the novel, which was kind of a joke at the end of the what became in the film we hope a poignant spreading of the ashes, there was a joke which punctuated that. We shot that, that didn’t make it into the final film. But the [unintelligible], it’s just a matter of taste what one picks and chooses from a novel.

Credit: Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Q. I recently saw you were at the Spirit Awards. And you talked a lot about taking original work and making it your own, so I was just curious about what you took from the book and how you put your own original spin on it.

A. (Jim Rash) Well, I think, you know, after our first draft, actually I’m meeting with Alexander and our producer, Jim Burke, and getting some notes, that was sort of a thing that Alexander said to us to put the book aside for a second and get ourselves into understanding this character better. So I think it was more to sort of be able to put that away for a second and expand on it and let the scenes and the emotions there carry us through it, you know, and brighten that story.

Credit: Michael Yada / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Q. Mr. Payne, like the novelist William Kennedy’s ties to Albany, you have very profound and deep ties to Nebraska. And now that this Hawaiian story is over, what is the next part of your Nebraska identity, Nebraska roots, cultural ties and moves, and where does Nebraska fit into your future, sir?

A. (Alexander Payne) It’s been ten years thanks for the question. It’s been ten years since I’ve shot there and I haven’t shot there since ’01 since ‘About Schmidt’ and I’m anxious to go back. If I can cast it right, the next screenplay I’m involved in directing is a father son road trip from Billings, Montana to Lincoln that gets waylaid in a small town in central Nebraska. I’m from Omaha, so in a way my trying to interpret small town Nebraska is as exotic an endeavor as going to Hawaii. But I’m anxious to do so. I’m having trouble casting it, quite frankly, but I hope it works out.

Credit: Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Q. Why?

A. (Alexander Payne) Because the characters I didn’t write the script, by the way, I rewrote it, but I didn’t originate it. They’re very specific. I’m having trouble finding specifically people to fill those roles.

For Best Original Screenplay, Woody Allen’s ‘Midnight in Paris’ ran off with the glory. The quirky romantic comedy about the protagonist Gil, who is swept away in the magic of the Parisian night as he is caught up in a professional, and personal crisis, is cited as one of Allen’s best films in recent years.

The 76-year-old was not present to claim his awards, having consistently avoided the Academy Awards and his recognition within it throughout his career. The Academy accepted the statue on his behalf.

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‘The Descendants‘, George Clooney’s latest movie, tells the story of Matt King (George Clooney), who is living in Hawaii with his wife and two daughters. His wife suffers a massive head injuries during a boating accident and falls into a deep coma. Matt has always been busy with his job and his travelling so he decides to stay with his daughters and tries to protect them from their common tragedy. Meanwhile, Matt discovers the real truth about his wife; that she has been having an affair with a real estate guru. Alongside his daughters, Matt must learn how to deal with his wife’s infidelity, his life, and the meaning of family. The movie is a blend of comedy and serious emotion that will make any heart bleed if it has ever gone through an unexpected personal trauma.

The Descendants has been nominated for some of the main Oscar awards this year; looking at Best Picture, Best Director (Alexander Payne), Best Actor (Clooney), Best Adapted Screenplay (Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash), and Best Editing (Kevin Tent).

The rest of the field for Best Picture is mirrored by different facets of cinema: “Hugo”; “The Artist”; “Midnight in Paris”; “The Help”; “Moneyball”; all have their stronger and weaker points. But the question is: Are the cinematic triumph of The Descendants strong enough to secure any of the five awards it has been nominated for?

George Clooney’s fans and critics believe that his performance is in a league of its own: “Clooney’s performance as Matt may be the best of his career,” says Phil Wallace of Picktainment.com. This seems to be true because he was capable of conveying to the audience the pain, the suffering and the strength of a husband and father who is thrown into the truth about his life. Clooney has never taken on a character like this before. Even thought Matt is vulnerable, a powerless father and a widower, Clooney shows that even a character like this is within his reach as an actor.

This year’s nominations are dominated by Michel Hazanavicius’s ‘The Artist‘, with 10 nominations, and Martin Scorsese’s ‘Hugo‘ with 11 nominations, giving The Descendants tough competition for the win. Although The Descendants may not sweep the winning table, no one can deny Clooney’s hard work and Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rush efforts with their screenplay, which may land them  the award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

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Midnight in Paris is the second occasion when Rachel McAdams and Owen Wilson co-starred as a couple, after ‘Wedding Crashers’ in 2005. “I was so excited to work with Owen again because we had so much fun when we worked together a few years ago,” says McAdams.

“As this was a much more antagonistic relationship than the one we had in the other film, I was curious about how that would play out. So our characters aren’t getting along this time around— but we did again.” Says Wilson: “I loved working with Rachel again. She came in during the second half of filming, and I think she brought this burst of energy and got everybody renewed, got us charged up for the final push.”

While in Paris, Gil encounters Adriana (Marion Cotillard), an exquisitely beautiful aspiring fashion designer who has been the lover and muse to a series of famous artists. “Adriana doesn’t know where she belongs. She is searching for her place,” says Cotillard. “She admires artists because their world is wide and their imagination takes them to some marvelous places.

She needs to dream.” Says Allen: “There are always special women that artists painted a number of times, women that lived with the artists and provided an enormous amount of support for them. Adriana is not only lovely, she’s also very intelligent, someone who can provide a very strong artistic force for them to bounce things off, to support them when they’re down, to encourage them when they need it, and to tell them when they’re wrong. In many cases this can provide a rich partnership with the artist.”

The role of Adriana fits Cotillard, an Academy Award winner for ‘La Vie en Rose’, like a lace glove; one look at her leaves little doubt about Adriana’s ability to become an object of desire for so many formidable men. “Marion has got a built-in charisma,” say Allen. “She makes the most ordinary kind of moments and dialogue sound interesting because she herself is such an interesting movie actress.

And she’s got a very lovely and interesting face to look at; I never get tired of looking at it. I also noticed that she’s able to call up any kind of emotion she wants quickly and easily.” When Adriana hears the first sentences of Gil’s novel-in-progress, she is almost instantly drawn to him. “She has always felt she didn’t belong to the era she lives in and she feels Gil is the same kind of person,” says Cotillard. “She recognizes herself in him.”

Despite his almost-married status, Gil is amazed at his good luck in having attracted the attention of such a beautiful woman, and flattered that someone who has been the muse for so many virtuosic artists would admire his writing. But as Gil’s interest in Adriana deepens, his doubts about his relationship with Inez increases.

“While Gils’s very smitten with Inez,” says Wilson, “he also sees that there’s a disconnect about where they want to live their lives, what he would like to do, and even if she’s the right person for him.” In a way, Gil and Inez are both caught up in illusions: he dreams of being somewhere else, and she expects a status quo that might not exist.

“I don’t think they’re seeing each other anymore,” says McAdams. “They’re both just going through the motions, and carrying on—nobody wants to rock the boat. But I don’t think they could be any further apart than they are at the moment.”

While Gil is otherwise engaged, Inez spends time with Paul (Michael Sheen), a handsome intellectual visiting Paris with his wife Carol (Nina Arianda), while he lectures at the Sorbonne. While Inez sees Paul, who she has had a crush on since college, to be as charming as he is cerebral, Gil finds Paul to be an insufferable know-it-all, and can’t stand to be around him. As Gil is increasingly absent, both with his novel and with Adriana, Paul makes a move and starts flirting with Inez.

While Gil sees Paul as an annoying stuffed-shirt, he does possess a substantial body of knowledge, which presented a balancing act for Sheen. “Michael had to do the pseudo-intellectual, the genuine intellectual, the pedant, and he came in and nailed it from the start,” says Allen.

Perhaps the height of Paul’s pompous actions is when he argues with the tour guide at the Rodin Museum, played by none other than France’s First Lady, Carla Bruni. Allen offered Bruni the role almost as a lark when he and his wife and sister were invited for breakfast with Bruni and her husband Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic.

While chatting with Bruni, Allen found her so charming and beautiful, and knowing that she is a celebrated singer/songwriter and performer, he decided at the spur of the moment to offer her the part. “I told her, ‘I won’t take much of your time, you won’t have to rehearse—just come in for a couple of days and shoot,’” says Allen. “And she said, ‘Yes, it would be fun. I’d like to be able to tell my grandchildren I was in a movie, just for the experience.’”

Allen adds: “She did all the scenes very well, and I think if I cast her in a larger part, she would have been just as good, but I don’t think it would have been practical for her to take seven weeks off to shoot a movie.” Owen Wilson was impressed by how down-to-earth First Lady Bruni-Sarkozy was. “She was so gracious and nice to me and to all the crew,” he says. “She’s a great ambassador for the country.”

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As is typical for a Woody Allen film, a group of superlative actors fill out the supporting cast, ranging from stars like Adrien Brody and Kathy Bates to talented newcomers like Corey Stoll, Nina Arianda, Tom Hiddleston, Alison Pill, and Léa Seydoux.

The film’s locations include some of Paris’s most cherished sites, including: the Shakespeare & Co. bookstore, the grounds and Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, Monet’s Gardens at Giverny, Musée de l’Orangerie (Monet’s Water Lilies paintings), Musée Rodin, Musée des Arts Forains, Marché Paul Bert (flea market), Rue Montagne St. Genevieve (where Gil goes at midnight), Notre Dame Garden Square – Jean XXXIII (where the museum guide translates for Gil), Place Dauphin, Maxim’s, Quai de la Tournelle (book stalls), Pont Alexandre III, as well as the restaurants Le Grand Véfour, Les Lyonnais, and Lapérouse.

“It was such a treat to spend time in these places which are usually swarming with tourists and be completely alone, with a really small camera crew, and a few actors wandering around as though it belonged to us,” says McAdams. “It was really magical.”

Woody Allen has often stated that he prefers to give his actors as much freedom as possible on the set. Speaking of Midnight in Paris, perhaps with a degree of overstatement, he says: “I didn’t have to give any direction to anybody.” While Owen Wilson says he’d heard reports from other actors that Allen was “pretty quiet,” he didn’t have that experience himself: “I felt he very much had a point of view about the way the scenes should go,” he says, “which isn’t to say that he was fussy or too exacting with the words in the script—you could change things and make it more how you might say it.”

Wilson discovered that Allen likes to shoot three-minute scenes in a single take, rather than the typical way of breaking up scenes into numerous shots. “It gives you that feeling of adrenaline like when you’re playing a sport,” says Wilson, “you know that you have to get it right and you won’t have all these different chances.

It makes you concentrate a little bit more.” Says McAdams: “It was very relaxed, and I love that he knows what he wants—that really gives me a sense of confidence and direction. And yet he’s so open and collaborative at the same time, which I think is the ideal combination for an actor.”

Cotillard simply considered herself “lucky” to be invited into Allen’s world. “Woody Allen is a brilliant man in the way he observes life, people, things,” she says. “You feel a lot of wit, tenderness, and humor.”

While there are always dark themes underneath all of Woody Allen’s comedies, the tone of Midnight in Paris is more upbeat. “I guess there will always be dark themes in my movies, because they’re underlying in my life, or anything I’ve ever thought about” says Allen, “but in this particular film, they’re not really addressed, they’re just minor themes. The tone and emphasis of Midnight in Paris is more romantic and light.”

The story of Midnight in Paris is about unusual journey that Gil takes. He makes a lot of mistakes and missteps along the way, and his behavior isn’t always admirable, but in the bigger picture he’s making progress. “Gil is a character who is digging himself out rather than digging himself in,” says McAdams. “He’s upsetting the balance, he’s pulling himself up by his bootstraps, and he’s making changes.”

Through his relationship with Adriana, Gil rethinks his idea that he’d be better off somewhere else, and recognizes that being somewhere else carries with it its own issues and problems. “I think he has to find a way to be happy just where he is,” says Wilson.

Allen adds: “If he’s going to take himself seriously, not just as an artist, but as a human being, he’s better off facing reality and recognizing that the contentment and happiness and spiritual peace that is required to get through life is something that’s inside you.  So the movie is hopeful in that Gil comes to that conclusion that it’s better not to delude yourself—even though it’s more pleasant and less painful, it’s still better not to.”

“I think this film couldn’t be more hopeful,” says Wilson. “It couldn’t be more hopeful with the sense of endless possibility that exists in a place like Paris. It’s a celebration of that.”

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Even for people who have never been to Paris, the name of the city is more than a metaphor for magic—it’s almost a synonym. Certainly there’s no better place on earth that Woody Allen could have chosen for his new romantic comedy than Paris.

It is a city with a unique mythology and heritage, celebrated for the extraordinary beauty of its streets, boulevards and gardens, as well as the splendor found inside so many of the greatest museums in the world. The resonance of its history, from major political and cultural events to the aura of its legendary restaurants and cafés, is felt everywhere.

The past endures and shines brightly in Paris, which makes it well suited for a story of a man reinvigorating his feelings and finding inspiration to reflect on his life.

‘Midnight in Paris’ is Woody Allen’s valentine to the City of Lights, which he considers equal to New York as the great city of the world. “Of course I’m partial to New York because I was born there and grew up there,” he says, “but if I didn’t live in New York, Paris is the place I would live.”

The film is the second time Allen has filmed there, after a small bit of ‘Everyone Says I Love You’. “I get great enjoyment out of presenting Paris to the cinema audience the way I see it,” he says. “Just as with New York, where I present it one way, and other directors present it other ways, somebody else could come and shoot Paris in a completely different way. I want to present it my way, projecting my own feelings about it.”

Allen fell in love with Paris during the shooting of ‘What’s New Pussycat’, his debut film as an actor and writer. Much like Gil, the protagonist of Midnight in Paris, he’s rueful about not staying there after the filming, as others on the film did. “It was an adventure that was too bold for me at the time,” he says. “In retrospect I could have stayed, or at the very minimum taken an apartment and divided my time—but I didn’t, and I regret that.”

Gil (played by Owen Wilson) is a Hollywood screenwriter who had aspirations to be a serious writer when he was a younger man. He idolized American novelists like Hemingway and Fitzgerald, and wanted to be a novelist in their tradition.

But somewhere along the way, Gil left that path, discovered he had a talent for writing screenplays, and fell into a well-paid routine of work that didn’t satisfy him and affluence that he wasn’t entirely comfortable with. “He found himself to be a victim of that old Hollywood joke,” says Allen. “I laid down at the pool… and when I got up it was ten years later.”

As the story begins, Gil and his fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) are tagging along on a trip to Paris with her father, John (Kurt Fuller), and mother, Helen (Mimi Kennedy). John, a conservative businessman who has come to Paris to finalize a high-level deal, makes no attempt to disguise his disapproval of Gil, who he sees as an unreliable lightweight unworthy of his daughter. Gil’s absorption with the novel he’s writing, rather than the more lucrative profession waiting for him at home, makes him seem even more frivolous in John’s eyes.

Being in Paris triggers Gil’s memories of his one-time literary ambitions. “Gil lived in Paris when he was in his twenties and he has this romantic attachment to it,” says Wilson. “It represents the time when his professional life was just beginning, when he thought about what he was going to do with his life. That was when he came to the fork in the road. So of course being there again makes him think about that time and the road he didn’t take.”

Allen originally conceived of Gil as an east coast intellectual, but he rethought it when he and casting director Juliet Taylor began talking about Owen Wilson for the role. “I thought Owen would be charming and funny but my fear was that he was not so eastern at all in his persona,” says Allen.

Realizing that not only could Gil come from California, it would actually make the character richer, so he rewrote the part and submitted it to Wilson, who readily agreed to do it. “Owen is a natural actor,” says Allen. “He doesn’t sound like he’s acting, he sounds like a human being speaking in a situation, and that’s very appealing to me.

He’s got a wonderful funny bone, a wonderful comic instinct that’s quite unlike my own, but wonderful of its kind. He’s a blonde Texan kind of Everyman’s hero, the kind of hero of the regiment in the old war pictures, with a great flair for being amusing. It’s a rare combination and I thought he’d be great.”

Rachel McAdams joins the cast as Gil’s fiancée, Inez. “Inez is used to having her way,” says McAdams. “She’s very sure of what she wants. She’s in love with Gil or she thinks she is and is maybe not too inquisitive about the state of their relationship or the health of their relationship.

She thinks Gil’s a good guy, a good catch and he’s stable, provided that he keeps writing screenplays and they can have a comfortable life in the States. She’s supportive of his dabbling with a novel, provided that it’s a slight preoccupation, but I don’t think she’s encouraging it as a life-long dream, something he should spend too much of his time on.”

Says Allen: “Inez just wants Gil to make enough money so they can go to parties and raise children. There’s nothing wrong with her aspirations; they’re just not Gil’s.” Allen has high praise for McAdams’s work on the film. “Rachel just gets it,” he says. “She’s funny when she has to be funny; she’s serious when she has to be serious. She’s unfailingly real, she doesn’t do anything too big or too under-acted, and she’s totally alive on the screen.”

Says Wilson: “What I saw even more from Rachel’s performance was how Inez is kind of funny in the way she uses her sexuality to manipulate Gil. Rachel has a very good sense of humor and knew exactly how to play those scenes.”

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Some actors play it cool; some simply are. Seth Green has the ability to make awkward awesome and geek great. But his talent in acting is being challenged by talent in writing and in directing, each earning him awards and nominations. This year alone, he has nine projects to his credit, so far. Among them are two films, a major video-game, and two very successful TV series, ‘Family Guy’ and ‘Robot Chicken.’

Green got an early start in acting. At eight years old, he appeared in three productions including, ‘The Hotel New Hampshire’ (1984), with Rob Lowe and Jodie Foster. Three years later, he starred in Woody Allen’s ‘Radio Days.’ He has appeared in many TV shows and films, including such hits as the ‘Austin Powers’ trilogy, as Scott Evil; TV’s ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ as Oz; in ‘The Italian Job’ as Lyle.

Lately, it is Green’s voice acting that has been keeping him busy. He has played ‘Joker’ in the successful ‘Mass Effect’ video-game trilogy, and has appeared in a large number of animated TV-shows and films. Most animation fans will be most familiar with his voice-work in ‘Family Guy,’ as Chris Griffin, and as the talent behind 30 to 60 voices per week in ‘Robot Chicken.’

This television series can be regarded as the culmination of his careers, it presents each of his major talents, and includes others. Green created the stop-motion animation with his friend, Matthew Senreich. The parody has hosted a staggering number of celebrities, older and younger, and has given new life to the toy industry.

It is here, too, that Green has been recognized for his writing and directing. He won the Annie Award in 2008 and 2009 for directing and writing, respectively. These accompany his 1989 Young Artist Award for ‘Best Young Actor Guest Starring in a Syndicated Comedy, Drama or Special.’ In ‘Robot Chicken,’ which he co-created, he voice-acts, writes, directs, and produces. It is suspected he has help.

Seth Green is widely considered as cool. Some, such as Ryan Gosling, are perceived as cool in the style of suits and sunglasses; Green is cool (arguably anti-cool) because he appears to have fun, he attends comic conventions, and he makes a TV series revolving around toys. He and another friend, Hugh Sterbakov, created the popular ‘Freshman’ comic in 2005, which sold out in its début week.

But, despite all the toys, comics and animation, he is far from puerile, and he is far from evil (though he can mix the two traits very cleverly in his series). Moreover, his interviews present him as a gracious and humble young man. ‘Robot Chicken’ continues to air, and, next year, he will appear in the film ‘Sexy Evil Genius,’ although, perhaps surprisingly for some, not as the titular character.

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‘Attitude’ is a loaded concept. Often, it is sold as something young people need, but older people abhor it. Juliette Lewis is among the few who have been able to use this attitude (a rebellious one here) to advantage. She has garnered much critical acclaim as an actress, and has developed a successful career as a singer in a rock band. After a number of years touring, she is back to acting, this year starring in two films: ‘Foreverland’ and ‘Hick.’

‘Precocious’ is another term that fits Ms. Lewis. At fourteen, she became an emancipated minor, and began acting in television. She appeared in the Dan Akroyd/Kim Basinger comedy, ‘My Stepmother is an Alien’ (1988), and continued gaining respect in film. It was in ‘Cape Fear’ (1991) that received wider and higher recognition: she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Many of her roles have been sympathetic characters, such as that of a vulnerable woman with mental disability in ‘The Other Sister’ (1999). Other roles are more antipathetic. Ms. Lewis has played a few intimidating or ‘hard-edged’ characters in such films as ‘Kalifornia’ (1993), ‘Natural Born Killers’ (1994), and a rocker (singing two PJ Harvey songs) in ‘Strange Days’ (1995). She is not a physically-imposing woman, but she carries such presence that her characters can seduce and scare with a subtle switch.

Her stage presence as a singer is also captivating. There is no timidity, and there is no doubt she is comfortable before a live audience. Her music is strong and energetic; her voice is expressive and can hush with a whisper or belt out the howls. She writes music of wild abandon and rebellion.

Ms. Lewis sang with her band, Juliette and the Licks, between 2004 and 2009; she has since gone solo, with a different backing band. Her latest album, ‘Terra Incognita,’ was released 2009. She has sung songs for other bands, such as The Prodigy, and has had her singing featured in films.

Last year, she appeared in four films and on a television show. Next year, there will be two more films, and she will star in the TV series, ‘The Firm,’ written by John Grisham. She has an impressive list of directors as well: Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Oliver Stone, Kathryn Bigelow and Quentin Tarantino represent some of the many different directions of her films.

She is funny, frightening, controlled and crazy; she is always compelling. Juliette Lewis dominates acting, and she owns the music-stage, but she leaves the impression that she has always been herself. It is an intriguing blend of attitude, accomplishment and artistry many envy. And there is plenty more to come.

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After a decade of complicated neuroticism, Woody Allen returns this year with Midnight in Paris, a refreshingly delightful romantic comedy. Albeit incomparable to his comedy classics Annie Hall and Sleeper, Allen succeeds in combining a witty script, professional cinematography, and quality acting against the stunning backdrop that is Paris.

Gil (Owen Wilson) is a struggling novelist with a fiancee (Rachel McAdams) who seems more interested in her pretentious friend Paul (Michael Sheen) than in him. To make things worse, his parents-in-law (to be) hate him, and we all know that never bodes well. All of this is compounded by the fact that he feels out of place, and I don’t mean physical location. Gil, as he walks through the beautiful jardins of Paris, yearns for the 1920′s and the bohemian artists and writers who lived and loved at that time.
Suddenly, by way of an old-time motorcar, Gil is transported back in time to his beloved era, and meets the famed greats like F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston), Cole Porter (Yves Heck), Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll) and Pablo Picasso (Marcial Di Fonzo Bo). One takes enjoyment watching Gil party with literary heroes, where, thanks to Owen Wilson’s splendid acting, you can see the excitement dancing in his eyes.

Johanne Debas and Darius Khondji make movie magic with their cinematography, sweeping the audience up in the quiet cobblestone streets   of the culture capital. Throw in a warm lighting and flapper couture, and one could swoon for the City of Romance right then and there.

All in all, the charming simplicity at the heart of Midnight in Paris leaves the audience with butterflies and a few simple questions in their conscience. What would you do if you could time travel into a world so different then your own? if you could meet your hero? Gil has a chance for self-exporation through artistic creation, inspiration, and criticism, thus realizing his life is made better through art, thanks in part to his larger-than-life heroes.

That sweet reminiscence and Woody Allen’s characteristic wittiness brings together an all-in-all great star-studded film, a perfect date night movie.

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