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New York, I Love You

Movie Grade: B

DVD Features Grade: B+

Overall Grade: B

There seems to be a new trend in filmmaking where big name talent seem to all decide on a single worth while project and pool their resources to get it made and create something with a cast list longer than most credit sequences. This year we have the forth coming Valentine’s Day which uses this formula towards a very Hollywood looking Romantic Comedy much the same as last year’s He’s Just Not That Into You did. Before both of those very commercial films came out there was New York, I Love You. Like the others this project attracted quality talent both in front of and behind the camera but was also shot with a very independent feel and a New York style to it making it far more of an art house picture.

If you caught this while it was in theaters chances are you frequent the Angelika in New York or the Sunset 5 in L.A.; in any event it’s now coming out on DVD and Bluray so everyone will have the opportunity to experience some indie style short films the way we do here in the big city.

Comprised of several different short films, none of which have any connections to the others, New York, I Love You is a grab bag assortment of different New York encounters and stories. Each vignette has its own distinct style and mood though the overall feel of the film, one of diversity and life experience is omnipresent.

The stories that really stood out to me will no doubt be different than the ones that jump out at you and I think that is part of the point of it. I will say that there is something for everyone in this movie. Regardless of your background or upbringing if you’ve lived in New York at any point in your life you will at some point see yourself.

This also turns into a fun game of ‘name that celebrity’ as more and more familiar faces appear; some that you recognize immediately and others that you know you know, you’re just not sure from where.

Locations are also incredibly important to these stories as each one was shot in two days time somewhere here in New York. This movie contains some of the most beautiful and innovative shots that I’ve ever seen. In the segment with Bradley Cooper and Drea de Matteo there is a shot of them kissing in the back of a cab where the camera is mounted on the trunk of the car itself providing an angle I’ve never seen before in film. There’s also a shot on 47th Street in the Diamond district (which if you’ve ever been to does not look pretty at all) that somehow looks absolutely gorgeous. And

all of the stories have at least a few sweeping shots of the city that, even though we’ve seen these landmarks many times before, look brand new.

Short films are where most, if not all, big time directors begin. When a director has nothing to fall back on, he or she is forced to bring their artistic visions to life without the aid of money and green screens and things of that nature. They rely on their own creativity and ingenuity to create some of the most breathtaking images ever captured on film. It’s wonderful to see some of these people making a return to their beginnings in New York, I Love You.

The special features on the disc are really quite wonderful. We begin with the theatrical trailer for the film, which I recommend watching after you’ve seen the film just to keep some of the mystery in some of the segments in tact. Then we have two “bonus” segments that were cut from the film, not because they weren’t very well made but because they didn’t fit the overall flow of the rest of the movie. One segment was written and directed by Mrs. Ryan Reynolds (Scarlett Johansson) and starred Kevin Bacon and the other was written and directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev and starred Goran Visnjic and Carla Gugino. Again, both play very well as short films but would have been very jarring when mixed with the others.

The best part of the special features are 5 relatively brief interviews with several of the directors of the short films including, Brett Ratner, Mira Nair, Yvan Attal, Josh Marston and Shunji Iwai. Shunji Iwai is a Japanese director who doesn’t speak English very well so his segment is animated with subtitles telling his story and really stands out as a great representation of how diverse both this film and the subject of the film are. Only in New York can you pull together people of such wildly different backgrounds and have them all hold in common an incredible amount of life experience because they all live here in this, the largest melting pot in the world.

If you’re a fan of formulaic predictable films then this is absolutely not the film for you. Avoid this like the plague because you won’t get it and you will come away frustrated and probably a bit angry. If, however, you’re a fan of short films or of filmmaking in general then you must see this wonderful collection of stories all centering around our love for this amazing city because let’s face it there is truth in the title, New York, I Love You.

Movie Grade: B

DVD Features Grade: B+

Overall Grade: B