Bastille - directed by Isabel Coixet, starring Sergio Castellitto, Miranda Richardson and Leonor Watling. Middle ground here, as this short tells the tale of an adulterous husband who changes his stripes.
Place des Victoires - directed by Nobuhiro Suwa, starring Juliette Binoche, Hippolyte Girardot and Willem Dafoe. One of the two saddest in the film. Dafoe's appearance is a bit disconcerting, but still welcome. Those with kids will be hit hard by this one.
Tour Eiffel - directed by Sylvain Chomet, starring Paul Putner and Yolande Moreau. Mime alert! Don't be too scared, though — this one's pretty funny, and the little kid is cute as hell.
Parc Monceau - directed by Alfonso Cuarón, starring Nick Nolte and Ludivine Sagnier. I was really disappointed by this one as I'm a big Cuarón fan. It's not terrible, but I would have thought his would have been amongst the best. Nick Nolte is borderline impossible to understand, in French or English; he's fully turned into Gary Busey at this point.
Quartier des Enfants Rouges - directed by Olivier Assayas, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Lionel Dray. Maggie speaks French well (at least it sounds that way to my far-from-fluent ears). This one has promise, but kind of dies at the end. Not great overall.
Place des fêtes - directed by Oliver Schmitz, starring Aïssa Maïga and Seydou Boro. Absolutely heartbreaking. It almost got a little misty in the theater here (but not quite). One of my favorites, despite how sad it is.
Pigalle - directed by Richard LaGravenese, starring Bob Hoskins and Fanny Ardant. Bob Hoskins always makes things interesting - you never know what type of character he's going to play, as he can just as easily go from comic to terrifying killer. Here, he's a frustrated would-be Viagra consumer trying to seduce his special ladyfriend.
Quartier de la Madeleine - directed by Vincenzo Natali, starring Elijah Wood and Olga Kurylenko. The second-worst of the bunch, as Elijah Wood falls for a Parisian vampire. This one is all style and no story, and the style is a bit off-kilter at times (pay attention to the way she moves). Some cool elements, but overall a loser.
Père-Lachaise - directed by Wes Craven, starring Emily Mortimer, Rufus Sewell, and Alexander Payne. When you see Craven's name pop up, you might think of a certain genre, but the old dog has some tricks up his sleeve. Two recognizable Brits in a cemetary make this one of the better entries, and Sewell shows he has a sense of humor after all.







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