The Air I Breathe

Rating: R

Movie Release Date: December 13, 2007 (Greece) / January 25, 2008 (USA)

DVD Release Date: May 20, 2008

Plot 411: A vignette of four interwoven lives based on the principles of happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love.

Review: This movie is a drama that tells the story of four people by interlocking their fates. The first part is about a stockbroker (Forest Whitaker) who doesn't take any risks. When he finally bets on the horses, he loses a ton of money and the bookie (Andy Garcia) has only given him two weeks before he collects. Playing the collection agent is Brendan Fraser, whose character can see the future through visions. However, because of his gift he feels numb to the world. He is neither able to change the future nor avoid it. When his gift fails him for the first time, he meets a singer (Sarah Michelle Gellar) whom the bookie now owns. Deciding for the first time to attempt to make a difference, he tries to help her escape from the bookie. Another character (Kevin Bacon) is a doctor who throws caution to the wind in order to save the woman he loves (Julie Delpy). I enjoyed this movie because it questioned our ideas of happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love. it poked holes in the stereotypes of each emotion and allowed us to see them from a different perspective. Is happiness merely being rich? Or is it being free to feel alive? Is pleasure all about the physical aspects of a relationship? Or maybe it's being surprised by what you thought was mundane. Is sorrow death? Or is it the knowledge that what you've finally found is gone? Does love mean that you live happily ever after? Or does it mean that you're happy to stand on the sidelines to watch others be happy? Also in this movie are Emile Hirsch and Kelly Hu.

Watch It: For the different truths that are revealed and ponder how they may relate to your own life.

Skip It: Because its multiple layers may not be what you're looking for in what appears to be a crime drama.

2 Days In Paris

Rating: R

Movie Release Date: May 17, 2007 (Germany) / August 10, 2007 (USA)

DVD Release Date: February 2, 2008

Plot 411: After a romantic vacation, a quick stop in Paris to visit family should be easy, right?

Review: In this quirky, indie rom com, Marion (Julie Delpy) and Jack's (Adam Goldberg) relationship face many obstacles when they make a stop to visit her parents. As they walk through the streets of Paris, they meet many of Marion's former lovers. Jack, who is quite neurotic in everyday life, gets extremely paranoid about the stability of their relationship. After two years together, he finds that he doesn't really know the person he loves. The film cleverly portrays a love story that is more genuine and relatable than most. It's use of scenes with heavy dialogue will probably bore some viewers, but in those overly talkative scenes I found so much humor and truth. Delpy and Goldberg work well together and have a great chemistry with one another. The vibe I get from this film is similar to Delpy's Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, films that play like a peek into people's lives. The wittiness and irreverent way in which it looks at relationships cuts away at the rose-tinted romances of other movies.

Watch It: For its honest look at two people's insecurities and imperfections.

Skip It: If your idea of a romance is heart-wrenching like The Notebook.

Before Sunset

Rating: R

Movie Release Date: July 2, 2004

DVD Release Date: November 9, 2004

Plot 411: Jesse and Celine from Before Sunrise are reunited nine years after that fateful night.

Review: You cannot watch one movie without the other. They go hand in hand. This is why I had to watch this movie after watching Before Sunrise. I just had to know what happened next for these characters. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reprise their roles as Jesse and Celine. The two meet again in a bookstore where Jesse is doing a book signing and interview. He's become a bestseller and this is the last day of his European book tour. The book's plot? Of course, that one fateful night nine years ago. I love how the characters instantly reconnect despite all the time and life that has separated them for so many years. You can see how they've both grown and aged, yet they are essentially the same two twentysomethings from years ago. This movie really reveals the fallout of that one night they spent together and how it effected them emotionally. It's gut-wrenchingly realistic but poetic in a slightly tragic way. Again, this movie lets the audience wonder what will happen next.

Watch It: Because these movies are like bookends and you cannot watch one without the other. It'd be a sin.

Skip It: If you haven't already seen the first movie. DO NOT watch them out of order. It's so much more meaningful as a two-part series.

Before Sunrise

Rating: R

Movie Release Date: January 27, 1995

DVD Release Date: November 30, 1999

Plot 411: Two strangers meet on a train, get off in Vienna and spend the night walking and talking together.

Review: God, this is one of the most romantic movies in the world to me and has, with its companion Before Sunset, jumped onto my favorite movie list. Jessie (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) meet on a train in Europe. He's going to Vienna to catch a flight home to America. She's on her way home to Paris. On an impulse, he convinces her to get off the train and spend the night walking around Vienna with him. They have this one unforgettable night together that changes their lives. The movie is seriously heavy on the dialogue, but that's what is so wonderful about it. It's about two people connecting as they discuss love, life and dreams. It's about how one fateful moment can impact your life forever. It feels like an intellectual romance, because there is so much meaning behind the words they speak to each other. The time Jesse and Celine spend together is almost as if they're living in a dream world. Time is standing still, yet it still ticks closer and closer to the moment when they must part from each other. This is a sweet, heart-wrenching movie that leaves the audience to draw its own conclusions.

Watch It: If you don't put much stock in fate and true love. While this might not change your mind entirely, it might just give you hope.

Skip It: If you still hope to see complexity in camera techniques and special effects. All of that "wow" factor is in the dialogue. Some of it also just naturally exudes from the landscape of the city.