Blue in the Face (1995)

the audience applauded

Charming and brutal

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

A companion piece to Smoke rather than a sequel, and as such it works well enough, but the fact that it's made mostly of outtakes and improvisations is easily detectable, and it feels far too disjointed, while still trying rather feebly for a coherent storyline, especially in the epilogue. However, the acting is good enough that many scenes shine through, some of the cameos feel forced but most of them are spot-on (brilliant appearances from Madonna, Roseanne and Jim Jarmusch especially) and it's enjoyable for fans of the original Smoke as well as Jarmusch fans, although all too often it feels like a Jarmusch carbon copy that doesn't have Jim's unique spark and vision.

I saw this film twice. As a cinema lover, I perfectly know what Paul Auster and, most of all, the actors, wanted to show in this movie. It's just a global view of Brooklyn: what's good or funny or bad up there. The story is alright. But that's not what disappointed me when I saw it. What really bugged me was the way some characters were depicted. The female characters,for example, ( Violeta !!) are really dire. They are a summation of all "female" defaults: yelling, crying, spoiled, selfish, and so on. What a pity...Though there are some funny scenes, I must admit (especially the shots featuring Lou Reed). There are also pretty great shots showing John Lurie (one of the best actors ever) playing with his jazz band.

This semi-sequel to "Smoke" continues the adventures of Auggie Wren (Harvey Keitel) and his friends. I thought that the most interesting part was Jim Jarmusch as the man smoking his last cigar. But overall, "Blue in the Face" looks at life in general. Maybe it's not quite as great as the original, but still definitely worth seeing. And I remember when I saw it in the theater that it featured Jerry Garcia's last music video. Really good.All in all, this is another example of how great indie cinema is. Also starring Michael J. Fox, Roseanne, Lily Tomlin, Jared Harris, Giancarlo Esposito, John Lurie and Madonna.

Wang's followup to Smoke is a series of improvised scenes put together to represent the diveristy of Brooklyn's culture. Meanwhile Auggie is struggling with Vinnie's decision to sell the cigar store.The "plot" to this film doesn't really matter. This was shot in the time that was left over when Smoke wrapped earlier than scheduled. In many ways this is a much better film. It's a huge amount of fun to watch and it all ends in a street party - it all makes you want to live in Brooklyn and meet all these weird and wonderful people that live there. It's sketchy nature can mean that it feels a little piecey but most of it is funny or interesting and you may not notice it's lack of structure. The actual story is actually quite good - Vinnie's decision to shut the store is handled as a threat to the friendships that exist around the story and also the importance of such places in holding the community together. It makes a good point and, mixed with the humour, isn't hard to swallow at all.The cast are good - many of Smoke's faces are still there and are complimented by famous faces. Stars such as Fon, Roseanne, Madonna, Lou Reed, Jim Jarmusch, Lily Tomlin, Ru Paul etc all make cameos - Madonna isn't great but MJ Fox is really funny. The remainder of the cast are made up of real quality actors such as Victor Argo, Harvey Keitel and Giancarlo Esposito to name a few.Overall this is a light reward for watching the slighly heavier Smoke. Both films are good in their own way but this is the most fun to watch.