Brief Moments Of True Romance Night Part ll

Tonight's marathon is pretty much a followup to the brief moments of true romance that happened two weeks ago. To do a quick recap of that marathon, that one focused on romances that happened briefly but were intense and powerful. Each love story got smaller as that marathon went with Labor Day taking the entire holiday weekend, Before Sunrise happening in a day, The Family Man being someone's glimpse into what his life could've been like if he had made better choices, and Fury being a brief half hour period where a young allied soldier falls for a German girl under circumstances that pertained to war. Tonights follow the same approach except this time the couples get older as the story goes but the romances remain brief. This time we boast an all star case of Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Robert Deniro, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hank Azaria, Anne Bancroft, George Clooney, Anna Kendrick, Vera Farmiga, Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. We have on our menu for this evening:

 Before Sunset 2004, Great Expectations 1998, Up In The Air 2009, and Bridges of Madison County 1995

We begin the evening with the film Before Sunset. Before Sunset is the sequel to the 1995 romantic drama Before Sunrise which takes place 9 years after after the events of that film. The original movie had the two lead characters Jesse played by Ethan Hawke, and Celine by Julie Deply first meeting on a train and spending an evening together when an emotional connection begins to develop. Because one of the two was already tied down in a relationship, they had no choice but to part ways and live on with their lives while questioning the emotional attachment they both felt. Fast forward 9 years later to the year 2004, the two young lovers meet each other again on Jesse's book tour. Before Sunset is one of the rare sequels that not only lives up to the first movie but expands on the themes it started. It received an oscar nomination for best screenplay. The second film in the marathon also stars Ethan Hawke but is directed by Alfonso Cuaron, helmer of A Little Princess, Yu Tu Mama Tambien, Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, Children Of Men, and Gravity. Co starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert Deniro, Anne Bancroft, and Hank Azaria, Based on the novelization by Charles Dickens, the story finds Ethan Hawke as Hapless Finn as a painter in New York, who pursues his unrequited and haughty childhood love. Much like Before Sunset, both films deal with old flames reuniting later in life and feeling the temptation of succombing to each others feelings. The third film in the lineup deals with an older man played by George Clooney in the film Up In The Air. Nominated for a total of six academy awards, Up In The Air centers around a man whose job is traveling around the country to fire people from their jobs. The character Ryan Bingham enjoys his life living out of a suitcase, but finds his lifestyle threatened and challenged when he meets a new hire and a potential love interest played by Vera Farmiga. The fourth and final movie in the marathon has the lead romance characters at their oldest in Clint Eastwood's Bridges Of Madison County. Starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep, the story centers around photographer Robert Kincaid, who wanders into the life of housewife Francesca Johnson for a total of four days in the 1960s. Why was this film chosen as the final movie of the evening? Because it plays on all the other films and the themes established so far with both lineups of movies about love that can happen anywhere at any given time, regardless of the circumstance.

So what are these movies ultimately trying to say? Before Sunset says that happyness is the doing and desire is the fuel of life. Great Expectations says that ambition must be tampered by humility. Up in the Air says that you cannot live without nothing and nobody and that everyone needs friends and a family. Bridges of Madison County says that sometimes the best thing to do for your love is to stay away from each other. Family obligations sometimes take importance over what an individual family member wants.

Our couples for this evening: