Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Since the birth of movies, New York has long been cinema's dream city - its teeming populace of one-of-a-kind characters, its stone-and-glass skyscrapers rocketing towards the heavens, its subterranean cultures and its rooftop love affairs all making for the perfect backdrop to all manner of action, comedy, drama and poetry. The city has been immortalized on screen in hundreds of different ways in thousands of movies. But now comes a fresh, diverse and unabashedly romantic window into the city, this time seen entirely through the eyes of love - love in all its varieties, from first love, tough love and momentary love, to love remembered, love denied, love yearned for, and love that lasts forever - from a collaboration of young, impassioned filmmakers from around the world.

This film is an interweaving of various tales set throughout the Big Apple. Each storyline intersects in different ways and each has its own charm. The film is littered with great performances from its all star cast and each has its own charming way of showing the rich landscape of the city’s populace. The film reminded me a lot of Paris Je T’Aime, which had similar themes and intersecting storylines. Overall this one was a treat to watch with each story as interesting as the next.

Like the storylines, the look of the film changes a bit from story to story. I found a few to be a bit inconsistent in overall visual quality with some blown out highlights and occasional artifacts, but overall the image has a nice sense of detail and dimension. Contrast and colors all pop and fine object detail is there when it needs to be. The soundtrack balances the stories beautifully with some inspired musical selections and plenty of great ambiance and spatial qualities.

Extras include two bonus segments that weren’t included in the final cut including one from starlet Scarlett Johansson that is a bit interesting. You get interviews with the film’s various directors and the trailer.

This was a fun, romantic, funny and touching look at different lives in the big city. The presentation can be a bit inconsistent at times, but it never robs the character of the film. Recommended.