New York, I love you. But you're bringing me down.
I just watched the second installment in the Cities of Love series, "New York, I Love You," and I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed. If you've seen the first entry, "Paris, je t'aime" then you're familiar with the premise: a number of city-centric shorts directed by established or up-and-coming directors featuring a bevy of acting talent - all weaving similar themes of love: finding it, keeping it, what to do with it. The unfortunate part is that it seems like all of the vignettes in NYILY were trite, overly simplified ruminations on love, with the silly thread of a video artist (who comes in contact with most of the characters) as the central focus, tying it all together. In my humble opinion, I would've bagged the stupid videographer arc - it's a little obvious and it's been done before. Shouldn't the city be the main focus anyway? Oddly enough, my two favorite shorts weren't even included in the feature, and can only be found as DVD extras: These Vagabond Shoes (directed by Scarlett Johansson !!) and Apocrypha (directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev). Both were thought-provoking, open-ended views of two very different kinds of relationships. It's a shame they weren't included in the overall film.
Anyway, what the heck does this have to do with doughnuts? And the Doughnut Plant in NYC? Well, I guess not a whole lot. But if I were an able director tapped for NYILY, my short would have consisted of a group of friends visiting Doughnut Plant for the first time and falling completely and utterly in love. Yeah, with their doughnuts.
