 | |
List Price: $19.98 | | Label: FIRST LOOK PICTURES
Salesrank: 69111
Released: November 18, 2008 |
| Our Price: $8.95 |
| Used Price: $2.57 |
|
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
Studio: First Look Home Entertain Release Date: 11/18/2008 Run time: 110 minutes Rating: R
Description of Paris Je T'Aime (Steelbook):
Even with the impressive talent involved, Paris, je t'aime could've ended up like a fallen soufflé. Though all 18 films aren't equally successful, they hit the mark more often than not. Romantics anticipating happy love stories set amongst the City of Lights may be disappointed to find that many are quite sad and that some parts of Paris are less inviting than others (each takes place in a different district). Further, the shorts aren't all en Français, since the actors and directors hail from around the world, but their outsider perspectives lend the project depth. The strongest entries are provided by Gurinder Chadha (Quais De Seine), Gus Van Sant (Le Marais), Oliver Schmitz (Place des Fêtes), and Alexander Payne (14ème Arrondissement), but all find interesting ways to explore cultural misunderstandings. In Joel and Ethan Coen's tragic-comic Tuileries, tourist Steve Buscemi angers a couple simply by making eye contact. Like Miranda Richardson in Isabelle Coixet's heartbreaking Bastille, he does all his acting with his expressive face. And while Maggie Gyllenhaal speaks the language adroitly in Olivier Assayas's intriguing Quartier des Enfants Rouges, Nick Nolte (purposefully) mangles it in Alfonso Cuarón's surprisingly weak Parc Monceau. The anthology ends with Payne's audio-postcard, in which Margo Martindale's postal carrier narrates her vacation in awkward, but endearing French. Instead of another person, she falls in love with Paris, simply for allowing her to be herself. It's the perfect finish to a poignant repast, like strawberries dipped in chocolate--sweet, but not cloyingly so. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Paris Je T'Aime (Steelbook) Reviews:
Perfection-----Each Film A Gem! 
2009-10-31 - The reviewers who disliked this film are unhappy, sour people. And really, what can you do about unhappy sour people except move as far away as possible. Each of these movies is a small, perfect, gorgeous gem. I haven't enjoyed myself this much in decades. Bravo to all involved.
Glorious movie ruined by idiotic subtitles 
2009-09-05 - The individual segments vary from ho-hum to exquisite but taken as a whole the film is stunning. It's rather like looking at the same scene from twenty different angles. And the producers fulfilled their promise to order the segments in a way that created something greater than the sum of its parts. Mission definitely accomplished. As a film it deserves better than 4 out of 5.
Now for the problems. The smaller issue is the omission of the material on the second disc of the DVD release. A wonderful series of "making of" mini docs for every segment. But that mistake pales by comparison with . . . . . Some moron signed off on the issue of this Blu-Ray disc with subtitles in English only for the hard of hearing. No choice. That or nothing. Result? Unless your French is pretty good, you're stuck with inane subtitles that indicate things like when there is music playing, or which off-screen character is speaking. Horrible and jarring. What makes it particularly unforgivable is that the same mistake was made on the DVD release and generated a lot of complaints. Apparently nobody cared enough to fix it in the Blu-Ray. If you don't think this could be a problem, try it. You'll wish you hadn't spent the $20 or so to learn the lesson!
lame subtitles
2009-05-18 - DO NOT BUY THIS UNLESS YOU REQUIRE SDH(Subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
Apparently the production crew never bothered to include regular subtitles for those of us that actually can hear but can't understand French. They have managed to turn a wonderful film into an exercise in frustration; well done, Einsteins...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CITQW2/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_title
Hit and miss, but the hits are worth it! 
2009-05-01 - A collection of 18 shorts, all based in Paris and loosely based around the various stages of relationships - starting, flourishing, crumbling. Some hit home more than others, and I think that will be different for everyone. But that's okay - if you don't like one segment, it'll be over in 5 minutes, and you can move on to the next! The obvious correlation is a book of short stories, but it actually reminded me more of walking through a museum with cityscapes on the wall, and your mind imagines what the backstory is on each set of characters and locations. This is like having a mini-glimpse into each painting. One thing I did notice is that love stories are often tragic - there are very few laughs in this movie (although the Coen Brothers segment with Steve Buscemi is freakin' hilarious!). I'm not going to review all the segments, but I will say that my favorite one is also one of the simplest, where a young mother leaves her baby at a nursery, then travels by bus and train across the city, just to act as nanny for someone else's baby. Simple, yet incredibly moving, and says more in three minutes than most movies say in two hours
C'est magnifique!
2009-04-13 - If you love Paris, then you will love this eclectic collection of 5-minute short films, directed by many famous directors, all themed on neighborhoods in Paris. Enjoy!
