Blue in the Face (1995)

Brooklyn Cigar Store is a neighborhood hangout in Brooklyn with Auggie Wren/H.Keitel as center. Some people are interviewed about Brooklyn, spiced up with statistics on Brooklyn.

Directors:

Paul Auster, Wayne Wang

Writers:

Paul Auster (situations), Wayne Wang (situations)

Stars:

Harvey Keitel, Lou Reed, Michael J. Fox

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 (1995) 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 (1995) return here to expound on their philosophy of smoking, relationships, baseball, New York City, and Belgian Waffles. Most of all, this is a movie about living life, off-the-cuff.

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Plot Keywords:

bare breasts | topless female nudity | husband wife relationship | cigar smoking | cigarette smoking | 

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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 [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Brooklyn Boogie

Filming Locations:

209 Prospect Park West and 16th Street, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$104,365, 15 October 1995

Gross USA:

$1,268,636

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,268,636

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax, InterAL

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mel Gorham based her portrayal of Violet on her Cuban mother.

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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: Yes, I am smoking cigarettes and some of my friends have died of them, but I am not downing a quart of Scotch in fifteen minutes. Looked at that way, cigarettes are actually a health tool!

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Crazy Credits

Situations Created in collaboration with THE ACTORS

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Connections

Featured in De zomer draait door: Episode #2.18 (2009)

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Soundtracks

Taka Taka-Ta
Performed by Irakere
Written by Al Verlane (as Al Verlaine)
Published by Egrem
Irakere appears courtesy of Egrem

User Reviews

Messy, but fun

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.