New York, I Love You Blu-ray Review

New York, I Love You is the work of several directors putting together a set of short films in order to show the sexy side of the city. It’s the second film in the series following Paris, je t’aime and which will see a stop in Rio de Janeiro, Jerusalem, Shanghai, and Mumbai.

New York, I Love You is a film comprised of several short films. Follows the life of several different characters through a day in their life in the different boroughs of New York City. The shorts are presented to the viewer together, while some maybe more confusing than others, the overall theme of the film is each person is looking for love. Each story is unique and at times carries some deep meaning.

New York, I Love You is the second installment following the successful film Paris, je t’aime. In part New York, I Love You follows what the previous film did; it takes a look at the lives of different people in opposite sides of the city, who don’t particularly know each other, but their lives come across each other at some point. In a magical city like New York anything can happen and let’s not act as if it is a place only for Wall Street, fancy stores, Broadway Theater, or museums there is much more to this city that perhaps makes the New York life one of a kind.

New York I, I Love You features an excellent cast of well-known actors and believe it or not they do a great job with what they have to work with. Yes, for those that are about to compare this film to Paris, je t’aime, it’s a tad below it. The freshness of Paris is hard to be found in New York. Some of the stories are well told and acted, but there are a couple of shorts that just don’t seem to belong there. The majority of the film flows fine and it comes together quite nicely at the end. Each director attempts to capture that magical moment when love strikes a couple and they do a decent job at it. I suppose another problem I find with the film is that it doesn’t really show a story in the different boroughs of New York. Sure, it does a great job at showing stories from the East and West sides of town, but never really explores the rest, what happened to the Bronx? Or Queens?

I can’t say I didn’t enjoy segments of the film, but there is something missing in there that prevents the film from appealing to everyone. It feels that the film is trying to let us know that New York is a romantic place where anything can happen. Unfortunately, I think it comes short. I suppose some will appreciate and enjoy this film more than I, there’s no doubt New York, I Love You is entertaining and at time touching, but I can easily say that something is missing from making this a much better film.

New York, I Love You arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encode framed at 1.85:1. Now I got to say the job done by the studio on the transfer is good. The colors are vibrant; it shines during the day scenes and captures the lights during the night scenes. The black colors are deep and at time inky. The skin tones are lifelike and looking very natural. Fine details are nicely reproduced throughout. Close up shots reveal the facial textures. There are some soft scenes where the image doesn’t look polished or consistent to how the rest of the film looks. There is one short that during the film that has the brightness a bit too high for my taste. There’s also a fine layer of grain. This is a good-looking Blu-ray.

New York, I Love You arrives on Blu-ray with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless track. The film doesn’t rely on big booms or bangs, the film relies mostly on dialogue. The dialogue is perfectly reproduced; it’s clean, clear, and crisp. The score sets the tone for each short; it’s engaging and sucks you into the film. The rears are not used as much, but when needed they perfectly output all ambiance sounds from the trains moving to the heavy New York street traffic. The film features a good audio transfer.

New York, I Love You is not packed with a lot of extra which is really disappointing. There is some interviews with the directors which are somewhat interesting, but not very insightful. So let’s get to the details of each extra.

Bonus Segments – This segments is comprised of two short films. The first short film is “These Vagabond Shoes” which to my surprise is written and directed by Scarlett Johansson. The second short film is “Apocrypha” and is written and directed by Andrey Zvyangintsev.

Director Interviews – Features Brett Ratner, Yvan Attal, Josh Marston, Mira Nair, and Shunji Iwal in a set of individual interviews going over their the short films they created. It’s not as insightful as I would have expected. Each interview is very straightforward; a simple explanation of what each went through to get their film done.

Original Theatrical Trailer

New York, I Love You is an interesting film combining the work of several different directors to make a full-length film. Some of the shorts a bit difficult to understand, but the rest is fun, touching and entertaining. This release also features a good video and audio transfer, but I do believe its lacking in the supplements. Overall it’s a good release that I was pleasantly surprise by and while I don’t think it’s for everyone I do have to recommend at least a rental. Enjoy!