Recently Before Midnight came out to great acclaim.  It is the third in a trilogy of movies starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. They start out with Before Sunrise in 1995, then Before Sunset in 2004 and just recently Before Midnight in 2013.

They are very simple, but lovely movies.  It starts out with an American man played by Hawke and a french woman played by Delpy meeting on a train from Budapest to Vienna.  He is finishing up 2 weeks travel after being dumped by his girlfriend in Madrid and has an early morning flight out of Vienna.  They begin talking on the train and on a whim  decide to spend the next 14 hours together.  They visit a ferris wheel, a graveyard, a church, restaurants, parks, etc but mostly they just talk.  Talk about what they want out of life.  What they hate about the world, their parents, and the fears of the future.

It is dialogue that feels real and natural.  The chemistry is perfect.  I can’t help but think of teh scores of lame romantic comedies that involve convoluted premises to get the character together such as bets, articles, challenges, or unrealistic work situations.  You don’t need any of that when you have good characters who live and fall in love!  This my friends is how you do a romantic movie!

Keeping in the European mood I made a cheese plate.  It was really fun.  I got most of the food at Pirate O’s a local gourmet food shop. These types of platters are great because they give the appearance of a lot of work when truly it was just opening containers and putting them on a plate.  No work at all.

Starting at the top we had a swiss cheese, blue cheese, salami with herbs de provence, irish cheddar and apricot stilton (our favorite).  The dips are a bruscheta topping and a salmon spread (both excellent).  Oh and we had gluten free crackers to keep all stomachs happy.

Doesn’t that sound like the most delightful evening?  Come with us when we watch Before Sunset and then go to the movies to see Before Midnight.