Paris, je t'aime

Rating: R

Movie Release Date: June 21, 2006 (France) / May 4, 2007 (USA)

DVD Release Date: November 13, 2007

Plot 411: The city of love serves as the backdrop of 18 short films about love.

Review: This film was a vignette about love, in all of its forms. Each story covered a different type of love, featured different groups in society and was the vision of different directors. The shorts provided a brief glimpse into people's lives, and the last movie about an American tourist's first visit to Paris wraps up the entire film quite nicely (albeit in very bad American-accented French). I liked how so many different versions of love could be incorporated into this project: young love, old love, new love, mother-son, father-daughter, lost love, found love, etc. Some of my favorite shorts are about a mime family, a couple who resorts to prostitutes to liven up their marriage and a mother who sings a Spanish lullaby to a child that is not her own. In a way, it's similar to Love Actually, but the audience isn't given as much time with all the characters. Just when you start liking them, their story is over and we're moving on to the next short. Some of the topics are humorous while others are simply heartbreaking. However, all of the shorts depict real situations that we all may face in life, and this is what makes the film perfect. Some of the actors in these films are Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Nick Nolte, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Elijah Wood, Emily Mortimer, Rufus Sewell, Natalie Portman, Gena Rowlands and Gerard Depardieu.

Watch It: If you're a fan of indie movies because each short film felt like an artistic endeavor.

Skip It: If you like to have a definite resolution at the end of your movies. Many of these will leave you hanging or make you want to see more.

Last Holiday

Rating: PG-13

Movie Release Date: January 13, 2006

DVD Release Date: May 2, 2006

Plot 411: A conservative woman finally learns how to enjoy life when she is told she only has weeks to live.

Review: Queen Latifah stars as Georgia, a clerk at a department store who dreams about becoming a chef. After a freak accident, she is examined and told she has brain tumors. She decides to spend her remaining days enjoying life and quits her job. She withdraws all the money from her bank and jets off to an exotic locale where she reinvents herself as a wealthy woman. Her carefree, kind nature touches everyone at the hotel, including Chef Didier (Gerard Depardieu). This film was an interesting twist on the regular rom-com as it was more about self-discovery and self-acceptance than about the love thing. Georgia's love interest, by the way, is her co-worker Sean, played by LL Cool J. The film was uplifting and inspiring despite the heavy-handed message that we should all cherish our lives and live them to the fullest. Still, Latifah has a wonderful pressence on screen that is almost infectious. She has good comedic timing and isn't afraid to look dumb. LL Cool J is pretty stiff during his scenes but that could be due to all those muscles. Also in this film are Timothy Hutton and Alicia Witt.

Watch It: For a good dose of shop-therapy.

Skip It: Because really it's just another rom-com.