New
York, I Love You (2009/Vivendi Blu-ray + DVD)
Picture:
B-/C+ Sound: B-/C+ Extras: C Film: C+
It is one
thing that we hardly get any anthology films anymore, but to try and do a
series of vignettes and hope they hold together on the premise that they take
place in a single city is stretching it, even when it is New York City. New
York, I Love You (2009) wants to be like a similar, recent French film, but
the ten stories with ten different directors plus an 11th as
wrap-around transitions may sport some good actors and mostly good directors,
but never adds up to a thing and could have ultimately been shot anywhere. It even becomes pretentious.
The
directors are Fatih Akin, Yvan Attal, Allen Hughes (From Hell, Book Of Eli),
Shunji Iwai, Wen Jiang, Joshua Marston, Mira Nair, Shekhar Kapur, Natalie
Portman (the actress staring in her own segment), Brett Ratner (with the
predictably poorest segment of all) and Randall Balsmeyer on those holding
pieces. Nothing is distinctive here, but
the cast it sports is impressive enough and they are the only reason to ever
bother with this piece.
Those
actors include Portman, Orlando Bloom, Hayden Christensen, Ethan Hawke, John
Hurt, Robin Wright Penn, James Caan, Chris Cooper, Andy Garcia, Eli Wallach, Cloris
Leachman, Julie Christie, Burt Young, Bradley Cooper, Rachel Bilson, Shia
LeBeouf, Maggie Q, Drea de Matteo, Anton Yelchin (once again surviving another
Ratner project) and Blake Lively. Too
bad they do not have more to do or that this did not add up to anything, but
besides not being that original, it is once again the bad side of the influence
Crash has had on the dramatic films getting greenlit since. Light years away from Robert Altman, we get
yet another adrift project that does not work, no matter the talent
involved. This will probably not be the
end of such disappointments either.
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image is shot on the Panavision Genesis HD
camera that has become secondary since the RED 4K camera arrived. That supposedly applies to all the segments,
but this is uneven and noisy throughout no matter what the segment. A few look better than others (notably
Hughes’ piece), but the overall look is unmemorable and the anamorphically
enhanced DVD is even poorer. The DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 mix is expectedly dialogue-based, with music
taking the surrounds up for the most part if at all. The Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD is once
again weaker. The combination can be as
flat as the final product. Extras in both
formats include 5 director interviews and a trailer.
- Nicholas Sheffo
