Blue in the Face (1995)

i don't remember the movie at at all but i have taped this Madonna scene: In 1995, it's already a couple of years that Madie just do silly things and this guest starring is like this: sexpot, too much make- up, bad manners, sure she couldn't be no more an inspiration for me and in addition, she delivers the message to unpleasant, grumpy Keiteil: it's not funny, not dramatic, it's just nothing... so really, this scene would have been cut from the movie, it would stay the same... Enough of those in between movies!

Brooklyn, New York has changed over the last 18 years since this film first premiered. The location near Prospect Park is now one of the most desirable locales to live and reside in the borough and even in New York City. Brooklyn's transformation from a working class borough has changed in some parts. Brooklyn has become hip for the trend setters. It also gentrified in areas especially near the Prospect Park, Brooklyn's Central Park. Still, the film reminds me of another time when Brooklyn wasn't so hip or trendy but real. The people of Brooklyn and New York City like Harvey Keitel, Lou Reed, and others recall their likes and dislikes as well. They spend their time smoking at the Brooklyn Cigar Shop where Augie played by Keitel is the manager but not the owner. The cast includes top notch performers like Lily Tomlin, Lou Reed, Roseanne, Mira Sorvino, etc. A lot of the film's script seems improvised but it makes the film more authentic to documenting the life in a day.

Equivalent to a cinematic rendition of an,albeit localised(heh) version of James Joyce's 'Dubliners' insofar as it evokes what to me (a non-Brookliner, in fact a Dubliner) what it might feel like to be 'part of a community'....beautiful at every turn, this masterpiece evokes,simply,the everyday interaction of 'characters'(The evocation helped somewhat by the presence of celebrities; i.e.- individuals that carry a 'Gravitas' and pre-known persona (we imagine) that yet inhabits the space of this wonderfully intimate piece of cinema.It is nice to see players allowed to be themselves, wonderfully devoid of all the usual personal and public affectations,and constraints that inevitably surround them in the context of a mainstream $X million dollar production...and produce something that immerses the viewer in the realm of 'an area'....a locale.....(in this case Brooklyn N.Y.C.)...and allows foreigners,such as myself to indulge myself in 'something' that is both 'known and familiar' and actually unknown.Kietel,Reed,Jarmusch,Malik Yoba,Gorham excel themselves in this epic vignette of real-town life in a place within a place.This could be down-town 'anywhere'.I salute all concerned with realising this refreshing piece of brilliance. -Love David Loughran

This is a great little set piece to celebrate the diversity and chaos that is, among many other things, my home. Brooklyn is the main character of this story and despite the film's limited scope (set mostly around a tobacco store near Windsor Terrace), it manages to really get at that feeling that makes Brooklyn the only place I wanna live. All the people here, whether they're bored by Brooklyn or fascinated by it, are connected by the genuinely weird way we manage to live together, despite our very prominent differences.