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I Love You, New York Trailer | Pajiba - Scathing Reviews for Bitchy People

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Celebrity Actor Cramming

30 Stars. 10 Stories. No Audience. / Dustin Rowles

Trailers | August 10, 2009 | Comments (28)

I probably should’ve liked Paris, je t’aime. The few enough people who managed to see the movie — a series of short films about love in Paris clumsily strung together — seemed to like it. It was well reviewed. And it was chock full of great directors — Tom Twyker, the Coen Brothers, Wes Craven, and Alfonso Cuarón, among others — and a cool cast, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Steve Buscemi, Nick Nolte, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Elijah Wood, Emily Mortimer, and Natalie Portman, to name just a few. But it fell flat for me. I couldn’t even muster up a review. The short story format doesn’t work any better for me on screen as it does on paper. Not even the vampire story worked for me.

Nevertheless, the same producer is back with a follow-up, I Love You, New York, with the same conceit: Several short films about love in New York City. The directors aren’t as top notch — Bret Ratner is among them, as is Natalie Portman (as a director and a star), as well as Mira Nair, and Allen Hughes. The cast is all over the place: Shia LaBeouf, Bradley Cooper, Justin Bartha, Orlando Bloom, Hayden Christensen, Robin Wright Penn, Olivia Thirlby, Christina Ricci, Blake Lively, and a few others. Still, it feels like a movie they are selling on the basis of the cast, and since there’s no through line to the anthology, a trailer is difficult to put together. Mostly, it’s an opportunity to say: Ooooh. Ooh. I know that guy. And her! I like him! But beyond the recognition factor, there’s nothing particularly compelling here. Like most literary anthologies, I suspect it’s the worst work of great authors and the best work of bad authors.


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Comments

I think my problem with these films is that it's sort of redundant at this point to make a movie about love in Paris or in NY because almost EVERY movie set in either of those cities is about love or falling in love. I mean, even Taxidriver is about love if you think about it. Also see every freaking movie Woody Allen has ever made, ever. Yes, even Sleeper. (But no, not really.)
What I would like to see is a collection of movies about some more...obscure (for lack of a better word)...cities. Like Love in Bordman, Oh. Or Love in Botswana (which isn't a city, I know, cut me some slack. You know what I'm talking about.

Posted by: JenVegas at August 10, 2009 6:56 PM

I liked Paris je t'aime okay. Not every story worked for me, but I enjoyed most of them. I'm not sure how the concept will work for New York, but it could be a fun watch anyway.

Posted by: kelsy at August 10, 2009 6:59 PM

Orlando Bloom, Hayden Christensen

I saw that and went for fucksakes let them be a gay couple. Nope...shit. Well then fuck this film. I like a lot of the actors/actresses, but I'd don't know if I could go for the short story aspect. I mean do they intertwine? Or is the city the center? I'm asking in the sense of say Amores Perros with the individual stories that then connect. I guess Crash would be that way too huh?

Posted by: Deistbrawler at August 10, 2009 7:03 PM

After 500 Days of Summer, I think it'd be a far more interesting experiment if they did I Love You, New York as a showcase of relationships at various stages.

Then again, that'd be a ripoff. And I still can't muster enough interest in this.

Posted by: Fredo at August 10, 2009 7:03 PM

Is it a requirement that if you are making a weird, non-linear, non-traditional movie that Ethan Hawke be in it (ex. Waking Life, Before Sunset)?

Posted by: MarcusArilius at August 10, 2009 7:03 PM

Meh...this just seems like yet another series of films about how fabulous the two snootiest cities in the world are, and frankly I'm completely sick of it.

And hmmm...I also mostly hate collections of short stories. I can never get into any of them.

Posted by: figgy at August 10, 2009 7:05 PM

Oh, fuck me. Did I just see Chris Cooper? Goddamnit, now I'm gonna see it no matter what.

I don't even want to.

Posted by: TK at August 10, 2009 7:21 PM

That's a little harsh to basically damn all short stories and anthologies. I love the format.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at August 10, 2009 7:23 PM

Paris Je T'aime was pitiful - not even funny bad; just abysmal. And that's despite having Miranda Richardson in it. I'll be giving this a miss.

Posted by: Caspar at August 10, 2009 7:26 PM

I am sooo in the minority here. I loved Paris, Je t'aime. I loved almost every vignette. There were a few that were less awesome. I thought the little bits of different types of love in (not the snootiest) but the most beautiful city in the world were brilliant and kind of like a variety plate of delicious deserts.

Have you been to Paris? It's impossible to escape how romantic and picturesque that place is. I was with my bitchy bigoted grandmother and I still couldn't escape getting lost in the beauty of that city.

I was worried when I found out they were going to make New York, I love you. I was worried it would ruin the continuity of the first. Plus I don't like that city nearly as much (Chicago I love you is something I could really get behind). This one probably won't be as good and won't have the novelty factor that the other did but oh well it still looks interesting and I know I'll still go see it.

Posted by: Avery at August 10, 2009 7:27 PM

So...do the characters love New York?

-confused in Chicago

Posted by: Ray Ray at August 10, 2009 8:27 PM

Isn't it Tom Tykwer? Google says it is.

Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at August 10, 2009 9:01 PM

I have yet to understand what everyone's problem with Paris, Je T'aime was. Personally, I thought it flowed nicely and the tales were so diverse and evenly distributed, so there were enough quirky moments to balance out sad ones. Sure, some were very flawed, even Maggie Gyllenhaal could not save her film, but it left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling.
This one I'm not so excited about, which is a shame because the concept could have been so well handled. Instead, it's just a bunch of white, heterosexuals with the addition of one Asian character talking about love and life and all of that good stuff. New York is a very interesting place and the culture is pretty much ignored. Because only the white, heteros of New York know anything about the ways of the human heart!
Plus, the directors are kind of dull, in my opinion.

Posted by: Kamikaze Feminist at August 10, 2009 9:01 PM

I have mixed feelings on Paris, Je T'aime. Some of the stories worked beautifully (the African couple, Juliette Binoche's plot, Miranda Richardson's, and the interracial couple plot) but some were awful (Maggie Gyllenhaal's, Natalie Portman's, & Elijah Wood's) I think there were just too many stories. They could have cut at least 5 of the vignettes and the movie would have been the better for it.

I'll skip this one. I agree with Avery that I would rather watch Chicago I Love You instead of the New York version. I'm so tired of New York being the only damn focus of city life in this country.

Posted by: Brie at August 10, 2009 9:20 PM

What's so disappointing about this one is that there were a few more directors lined up that eventually dropped out. Like Park Chan-wook, Andrei Zvyagintsev, and Jason Reitman.

PARK CHAN-WOOK. And his short supposedly was going to star Grace Park, aka Boomer/Athena from Battlestar Galactica. Damn it.

Though Natalie Portman's other short Eve, with Lauren Bacall, Olivia Thirlby and Ben Gazzara got pretty good reviews so maybe hers won't be so bad.

But I've heard the Rachel Bilson one is for shit.

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Posted by: william at August 10, 2009 9:57 PM

Not to worry; I'm working on a screenplay for I Love You, Tulsa. The first vignette I've completed is about a married televangelist who falls in love with the daughter of a demolition consultant who is contracted to blow up a 100 year old Art Deco skyscraper to make room for a parking lot for the 15 year old church. Next up is the touching tale of an obese woman who slips in diaper shit in a Wal-Mart parking lot. I challenge you to keep from choking up as a good-natured meth addict helps her (eventually) get up off the pavement. In the final shot, when the pair of electric customer carts appears in frame with a "just married" sign and a race car number on the back of each cart, if you don't shed a tear of joy, you are not a human being.

Posted by: laredo at August 11, 2009 12:38 AM

Posted by: laredo at August 11, 2009 12:38 AM

I look forward to seeing this film in theaters. It sounds like a thrill ride. Or possibly a tour-de-force.

Posted by: Anna von Beaverplatz at August 11, 2009 8:31 AM

a recommendation for those who like the vignette/short story format:

A Good Day to Be Black and Sexy

its....interesting. It will certainly create empathy for certain characters. I was more or less tricked into watching it. And while it was worth it, I'm not gonna try to watch this one.

Posted by: VinKong at August 11, 2009 8:44 AM

No Rosario Dawson? She's usually the go-to "ethnic" when filmmakers realize they can't really pretend, much as as they would like to, that New York is a lily-white fantasy land but they also don't want to bother with hiring any icky minorities.

Posted by: Tracer Bullet at August 11, 2009 8:48 AM

Great band name: The Go-To Ethnics
Great album name: Icky Minorities
First single: Lily-White Fantasy Land

Posted by: Anna von Beaverplatz at August 11, 2009 9:19 AM

I'm waiting for the trilogy:

Paris, je t'aime starred Elija Wood
I Love You, New York starred Orlando Bloom
Oslo, Whatever will star Viggo Mortensen

Posted by: BWeaves at August 11, 2009 9:56 AM

This kind of romantic stuff makes me laugh because the day-in, day-out slog of living in NYC is so far from the reality of these movies. Yeah, I was reflecting on how much I love it here as I sat on the subway, 9 months pregnant, while some homeless dude with an enormous bag of trash and no shoes shuffled past me this morning.

Posted by: samantha t at August 11, 2009 11:40 AM

"No Rosario Dawson? She's usually the go-to "ethnic" when filmmakers realize they can't really pretend, much as as they would like to, that New York is a lily-white fantasy land but they also don't want to bother with hiring any icky minorities."

Maybe they needed a female for the role.

Posted by: samantha t at August 11, 2009 11:42 AM

FYI - the dude who played opposite Portman dropped out of the movie b/c it was decided (either by him or the Hasidic community) that it offended the tenets of the religion. Very interesting.

That being said, I suppose the filmmakers who were telling a story about that community should've realized that there would've been significant limits on his ability to play the part.

Posted by: samantha t at August 11, 2009 11:44 AM

Great band name: The Go-To Ethnics
Great album name: Icky Minorities
First single: Lily-White Fantasy Land

Posted by: Anna von Beaverplatz at August 11, 2009 9:19 AM

I will SO break up with admin for you. I'm not even lying.

Posted by: Lainey at August 11, 2009 12:53 PM

why the fuck would I see a movie about loving the this piss-crusted shithole of a city? especially one starring Natalie Portman, who is just shy of beating Kirsten Dunst for the title of most irritating face? anyone who ever loved new york loved old new york. new new york with its hipsters, yuppies, and bank-lined streets can suck a fat dick.

Posted by: snarla at August 11, 2009 2:41 PM

I'm going to cast my vote with the minority who loved Paris, Je T'aime. True, the stories didn't always gel the way they could have, but it was interesting to see different actors/film styles/scenery at play.

I'm going to give this one a chance, if for nothing other than my sheer love of Natalie Portman

Posted by: bonnie at August 11, 2009 7:11 PM





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