Love in 18 different ways

"Paris, Je T'aime" is the kind of film you'd find decades ago: a big omnibus occasion for a bunch of talented filmmakers to band together, shoot some shorts and compile them into one long, cohesive picture. A team of more than 20 directors creates 18 postcards declaring love from the City of Lights, and most of them are worth keeping. \nIt's all about love and everything that comes with it -- the joy and the pain, the good and the bad, from birth all the way to death. "Paris, Je T'aime" celebrates love between couples, family, strangers, even monsters (see Elijah Wood falling for a vampire).\nSave for the disappointing segments offered up by directors Gus Van Sant and Olivier Assayas -- whose films come off as dull and uninspired -- the rest of the segments are wondrous. From the Coen Bros. comes a sad sack tale of a man (Steve Buscemi) who accidentally spies on lovers in the metro and manages to get both a kiss and a black eye in the process. Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón shows us a conversation done in one shot/one take between two people who we think must be lovers but are quite the opposite. And who knew horror maestro Wes Craven had a bit of romantic comedy in him? Love-struck mimes, surreal Chinese hairdressers and the ghost of Oscar Wilde -- these are just a sampling of the onscreen delights. \nPerhaps the best part of the collection (or the worst part, depending how you view it) is how quickly viewers can fall in love with the characters. Almost every short could be expanded to full-length because each ends so quickly you just want to know what happens next to these very real, very fascinating characters. \nForget all the fake romantic comedies found on the big screen nowadays. Here are short films that say more about love in a matter of minutes than most movies do in two hours. "Paris, Je T'aime" is the real feel-good movie of the summer.