Blue in the Face (1995)

Wayne Wang's follow-up movie to Smoke presents a series of improvisational situations strung together to form a pastiche of Brooklyn's diverse ethnicity, offbeat humor, and essential ... See full summary »

Directors:

Paul Auster, Wayne Wang,

Writers:

Paul Auster (situations), Wayne Wang (situations),

Stars:

Lou Reed, Michael J. Fox, Roseanne Barr

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lou Reed	...	Man with Strange Glasses
Michael J. Fox	...	Pete Maloney
Roseanne Barr	...	Dot (as Roseanne)
Mel Gorham	...	Violet
Jim Jarmusch	...	Bob
Lily Tomlin	...	Waffle Eater
Jared Harris	...	Jimmy Rose
Giancarlo Esposito	...	Tommy Finelli
Malik Yoba	...	Watch Man
José Zúñiga	...	Jerry (as Jose Zuniga)
Victor Argo	...	Vinnie
Stephen Gevedon	...	Dennis
The John Lurie National Orchestra	...	Street Band
Madonna	...	Singing Telegram
Sharif Rashed	...	Purse Snatcher

Storyline

Wayne Wang's follow-up movie to Smoke presents a series of improvisational situations strung together to form a pastiche of Brooklyn's diverse ethnicity, offbeat humor, and essential humanity. Many of the same characters inhabiting Auggie Wren's Brooklyn Cigar Store in Smoke return here to expound on their philosophy of smoking, relationships, baseball, New York, and Belgian Waffles. Most of all, this is a movie about living life, off-the-cuff.

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Plot Keywords:

cigar shop | ad lib | sequel | brooklyn new york city | color in title | 

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Taglines:

Welcome to the planet Brooklyn.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and a scene of nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Miramax [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Brooklyn Boogie

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$1,275,999 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax Films, InterAL

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed in just five days, using the same set and much of the same cast as Smoke. The premise of the film came to directors Wayne Wang and Paul Auster while watching an improvisation session between Harvey Keitel et. al. to help them get into character for filming Smoke. They decided that the improvisations were so funny that they would spend a few days after shooting Smoke just filming film is almost entirely improvised. Auster and Wang claim to have "borrowed" the idea of shooting another movie on the back of an existing one from Roger Corman who often used to shoot movies very quickly on leftover sets from other productions.

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Goofs

Dot bolts the store door to talk with Auggie, then leaves without unlocking it.

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Quotes

Man with Strange Glasses: I don't know anyone in New York who doesn't say 'I'm leaving'. I've been thinking of leaving New York for... uh... thirty-five years now.

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Crazy Credits

Situations Created in collaboration with THE ACTORS

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Connections

Featured in De wereld draait door: Episode #8.48 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Egg Cream"
Performed by Lou Reed
Written by Lou Reed
used by permission of Lou Reed Music (administered by EMI Blackwood Inc.) (BMI)
Lou Reed appears courtesy of Warner Brothers Records Inc.

User Reviews

Disjointed but really funny look at the community of Brooklyn

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.