Featured Movies
Partners
Blue in the FaceWhen their Brooklyn-set drama Smoke wrapped a week early, co-creators Wayne Wang and Paul Auster hit upon the idea of using the available time and sets to shoot a second film.
With Auster roughing out a few scenes and a very basic plotline (Victor Argo's shop owner Vinnie is thinking of selling up and heading to Florida) and the pair taking turns behind the camera, they set about making Blue In The Face. Some of the Smoke cast (Harvey Keitel, Giancarlo Esposito, Victor Argo) were still hanging around, with the odd celebrity mate (Jim Jarmusch, Lou Reed) and a few big names who happened to be available at the time (Roseanne Barr, Madonna) also roped in.
Some of the improvised scenes, such as the in-front-of-a-mirror tirades by Auggie's Latin enamorata (Mel Gorham), don't quite come off. Roseanne Barr, however, proves a more welcome presence than you might imagine. And while there is plenty of pleasantness here, there are great movie moments, too. Jarmusch and Keitel's banter about the joys of smoking is a great short film in its own right, while Lou Reed's observations about everything from the pressures of city living to his plan for marketing his own brand of sunglasses ("I'm going to call them Lou's Views") are the ramblings of a madman served up with a side order of genius.
|
