'Midnight in Paris' disappointment

So, just recently my cinema tastes finally arrived upon the classic Woody Allen films of the 70s- namely 'Annie Hall' and 'Manhattan'. Two films I genuinely loved and instantly bought. That doesn't happen all the time, and I love when it does happen. I was actually rejuvinated by film again. I really wanted to see 'Midnight in Paris' when it came out this summer but I failed to do so. But I had eagerly waited to OnDemand it the day it came out. Maybe I would have liked it better if I'd seen it this summer...

The last 10 minutes of 'Manhattan'...better than ANY 10 minutes of 'Paris'...

There are a lot of signature Woody moments, and Owen Wilson's Gil could be a descendant of Woody Allen's Alvy from 'Annie Hall' but the problem with the film lies with his romantic partner. Diane Keaton was so real and naturally beautiful, and more fleshed out. Here we have two love interests, one real and one (supposedly) imaginary. Rachel McAdams is just miscast, somehow, and overshadowed by Marion Cotillard's imaginary Adriana. Maybe a second viewing help, but I felt McAdams and Wilson lacked the chemistry necessary for me to care about their relationship dilemmas.

Effortless conversation scene from 'Annie Hall' over a plate of "here comes the 80s"

People saying this is Allen's best film since his heyday are forgetting 'Match Point'- certainly not the light-hearted 'Paris' fare. It's a very strong film, with great performances (maybe Scarlett Johnasson's best). As for 'Midnight in Paris' I must say I was highly disappointed with my OnDemand service which gave me the film in full screen, no HD, nothing. Some of the luster of the film was surely lost viewing it like this. I still don't think the characters pop as well as his best. I'm going to repost my blog on Allen I wrote earlier this summer on my tumblr blog just to compare expectations to reality and more talk about Allen's classic films.