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

References Clerks. (1994)

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Soundtracks

"Jing Jing"
Performed by Shoukichi Kina
Traditional composition with lyrics by Shoukichi Kina
Arranged by Chito Kawachi
Published by Nichion Inc. (JASRAC)
Shoukichi Kina appears courtesy of Luaka Bop/Warner Brothers Records Inc.

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.