Before Sunrise / Before Sunset / Before Midnight

This series of movies combines two of my favorite film "gimmicks," for lack of a better word.

One is having a series where new editions of the movie don't come out for a long period. A good example of this is the 7UP series, which started in the 1950s.  It profiled a group of English kids at age 7.  Then seven years later, 14UP came out, which showed the group at age 14.  Then 21Up, 28UP...  I first saw the series when they hit 35UP.  I think they are now on 56UP, which is a little frightening.

The second gimmick is filming in real time, or in a confined time period.  Examples of this include the very first episode of Dragnet, which unfolds in real time and is exactly a half hour.  It's notable also because the plot involves a guy trying to blow up LA City Hall and it was actually filmed there.  (The bomb is set to go off in one half hour.)

Note City Hall in the opening credits.  By episode 2, it was no longer playing itself, but was supposed to be LAPD headquarters.

Another great "real time" movie was Rope.  Rope goes one step further - it is just one continuous shot.  (Sort of...)

On a lighter note, Seinfeld had a great episode, The Chinese Restaurant, which consists of one scene in real time.  (The plot is simply the four main characters waiting for a table.)

And on a heavier note, there is 12 Angry Men.

And of course Gene Siskel's favorite movie, My Dinner with Andre, which is simply two guys talking over a meal.

So back to Before Sunset.  This movie escaped my notice in 1995 when it first came out.

The sequel, Before Sunrise, came out in 2004, and it was then that I saw both back to back.

I won't spoil the movies by revealing the plot, but what makes it even cooler is that the amount of time that has passed between the end of Sunrise and the beginning of Sunset is equal to the time that's passed in real life, as in 1995 to 2004.

Now comes the third one, following again 9 years later.

Of course I write all this having not seen Before Midnight.  It just came out this week.  I try to avoid reviews as they always spoil the plot, but I did see a headline from Slate calling the movie "perfect."  So I guess expectations are high....