(ed. note: This post was accidentally published at 1AM, instead of 1PM, so we're re-publishing it at the correct time.)
I've been thinking about the largely negative response to Wong Kar-wai's My Blueberry Nights (6 screens), a film I quite liked. As of today it's at 43% on Rotten Tomatoes, though it opens wider this weekend (including here in the Bay Area) and more reviews are surely coming in. Most critics I've spoken with around here likewise didn't think much of it. What are the reasons for all this disappointment? The main reason has to do with its weight. It's a lightweight movie, a trifle, flimsy, vapid, thin, etc. Wong is considered one of the world's greatest filmmakers, a maker of "weighty" works of art, and so this "lighter" film is beneath him. It's a letdown, a step backward.
Well, I say that's nonsense. Many great filmmakers dallied in lightweight, lesser trifles during their careers, and it didn't make them any less great. Martin Scorsese has made lots of them. After Hours (1985) and The Color of Money (1986) may not pack the punch of Raging Bull, but they are quite enjoyable, and pure Scorsese. (His current Shine a Light, 277 screens, feels like a trifle.) Fritz Lang came to the United States from a position of great power and unlimited resources in Germany and found himself assigned cheap crime pictures. Yet few critics today would complain about the "lightness" of The Big Heat or Scarlet Street. Max Ophuls also made crime films in Hollywood (Caught and The Reckless Moment), and his reputation remains intact. Some consider John Ford the greatest American director of all time, and even though his goofball Donovan's Reef (1963) isn't counted among his classics, I love it just as much. It has moments of great beauty that reflect its maker's personality. My Blueberry Nights may not stand up to In the Mood for Love, but it's unquestionably a Wong Kar-wai film.
"A damn fine film with a good heart and some really excellent performances" finished atop the indie weekend box office charts. The quote is from our own Scott Weinberg's review of Tom McCarthy's The Visitor (Overture), and I agree wholeheartedly. The film earned $22,000 per-screen at four theaters, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. Richard Jenkins stars as a college professor who strikes up a friendship with an immigrant couple he finds living in his NYC apartment. It's even better -- and deeper -- than that description might sound.
An elderly chorus sings a repertoire of modern pop and rock songs in Stephen Walker's documentary Young @ Heart (Fox Searchlight); audiences responded to the tune of $13,075 per screen at four locations. Cinematical'sJames Rocchi wrote: "Even for all its flaws and failures it still succeeds in showing us friends who -- through song and art and community and, yes, love -- are doing their best to face it with everything that they've got."
David Ayer's Street Kings (Fox Searchlight) should be included, I suppose, because it's distributed by an studio specialty division known for its indie releases, though not much about the police drama screams "indie." By the per-screen numbers, it finished third, earning an average of $4,864 at each of 2,467 engagements. "As yet another tale of dirty criminals and even dirtier cops," Scott Weinberg opined, "Street Kings works well enough, albeit strictly in a 'been there, seen that' sort of way."
A Taiwanese filmmaker's tribute to a celebrated French short soared easily to the top of the indie charts this weekend. Flight of the Red Balloon (IFC Films), directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, averaged $17,450 at the two screens where it played in Manhattan, according to estimates compiled by Leonard Klady at Movie City News. Jeffrey M. Anderson wrote: "Like Hou's more recent work, Flight of the Red Balloon moves a little more toward international accessibility and away from his early, uniquely Taiwanese stories." Juliette Binoche stars as a frazzled writer and performer with a troupe of puppeteers who hires a Taiwanese film student as a nanny for her young son.
Surprisingly, My Blueberry Nights (The Weinstein Co.) finished #2 for the weekend, grossing an average of $11,380 per screen at six locations. Wong Kar Wai's first English-language film met with lukewarm reaction at Cannes last year; the director tinkered with the editing, but the end result is still not very satisfying, according to Nick Schager. He wrote that the "lovelorn dilemmas [of the female characters] ... consistently come off as precious and trifling, which is dispiriting considering that Wong and [director of photography Darius] Khondji make everything look and feel so rapturous and enticing that one wants to believe the proceedings are of consequence." Nora Jones, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and Natalie Portman are featured.
"I don't know how to begin, because the story's been told before," croons Nora Jones on the soundtrack during the opening of My Blueberry Nights, and it seems a similar problem afflicts Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar Wai, who makes his English language debut with this gorgeous if slight saga about aimless Elizabeth's (Jones) search for herself via a cross-country journey. It's not so much that Wong doesn't know how to commence this specific tale but, instead, that he doesn't know how to start anew, as his latest proves a minor stateside revisitation (or, perhaps more accurately, a rehash) of his favorite thematic and aesthetic preoccupations.
Despite being shot by Darius Khondji and not the director's longtime collaborator Christopher Doyle, the film offers up a handy compendium of his favorite visual signatures - the smeary slow-motion, the hyper-vibrant, sharp-and-soft color palette, framing and tracking shots that dreamily highlight the distance between individuals - while his narrative continues a career-long obsession with the intricacies of romance and the imperative role of memory (regarding both love and loss). It's as light, fluffy and attractive as the blueberry pies that Manhattan café owner Jeremy (Jude Law) serves Elizabeth late at night, but ultimately, also, far less satisfying.
Poor Wong Kar-Wai! Has the Chinese auteur been reduced to selling t-shirts to make a living? Not exactly. Movie City Newspointed to an item at Material Interest, a news blog at Style.com, which indicates that the director has apparently authorized various merchandise to publicize next week's opening of his latest work, My Blueberry Nights. The goods, available exclusively at the New York and Los Angeles locations of boutique retailer Opening Ceremony, includes t-shirts, which sell for $95, posters, which go for $50, and postcards, selling for the bargain basement price of just $25. Wong has been widely celebrated for following his own muse, which has often alienated him from the Hong Kong film industry where he got his start as a scriptwriter more than 25 years ago. Sad to say, the English-language My Blueberry Nights alienated him from half the critical world when it premiered to widespread disappointment at Cannes last year. (Our own James Rocchi was more positive, noting its shortcomings but concluding that "most of us will be swept away by Wong's visions and his depiction of love, loss and life.") Wong has since tinkered with the film, and a new version opens next Friday, April 4.
Cinematical has just received this lovely exclusive poster (click on above image to enlarge) for the new film My Blueberry Nights, starring Norah Jones (in her feature debut), Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz, Jude Law and David Strathairn. The film, which is just exploding with beautiful colors (see above poster for a small taste), marks famed director Wong Kar Wai's English-language debut -- and it centers on a young woman (Jones) who embarks on a soul-searching trip across America, running into an assortment of offbeat characters along the way. Definitely one of my favorite posters of the year so far -- once you move away from the dazzling color scheme, you're then left with the gorgeous faces of Weisz, Portman and Jones. Mmm, I can stare at this one all day long.
For more on My Blueberry Nights, feel free to check out James' review from last year's Cannes Film Festival, as well as the movie trailer over on Moviefone. My Blueberry Nights hits theaters (in limited release) on April 4.
Now indieWIRE continues the trend with their latest conquest; Wong Kar Wai, who will finally make his English-language debut on mainstream screens this April 4, and will be popping by the Apple Store in SoHo on April 1. The director will show scenes from My Blueberry Nights, and Dennis Lim will moderate a discussion about the film as well.
If you make it out to any of these (and are, of course, lucky enough to be in the vicinity), this would probably be the one to see. How many times does the guy do talks stateside -- one you can see for free?! The talk will be held from 7:00-8:00 p.m., at 103 Prince Street, NYC, and it's first-come, first-serve free seating. If any of you Cinematical readers make it out to the talk, let us know how it went!
Deja vu time once again. Today's gaggle of trailers all, for varying reasons, have a ring of familiarity to them. All together now: Once more with feeling. Wanted I've seen this before, haven't I? Not exactly. This is a brand spanking new trailer for the Angelina Jolie film based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones. A young man with the rare gift of being able fire a bullet along a curved trajectory is asked to join a secret society of good guy assassins ("kill one so a thousand can survive"). Morgan Freeman plays, well, Morgan Freeman with a slightly gruffer edge to his usual fatherly demeanor. Jolie is hot to the point of being incendiary here (nice tats, and no that isn't a typo), but the "I'm cooler than God" shtick gets pretty annoying. The new trailer gives a better feel for the film than the teaser that's been out for awhile, and it looks like it might be a fun ride if you're in the mood for over-the-top action. Here's Elisabeth's take. 100 Feet This one definitely looks familiar. Didn't this used to be called Disturbia, and it looks like Shia Labeouf has had a sex change. Oh wait, that's Famke Janssen. She's playing a woman sentenced to three years of house arrest, nifty ankle bracelet included, for killing her abusive cop husband. Christopher Campbell first posted about this one a little over a year ago. I'm no lawyer, but doesn't it seem odd to place someone on house arrest for that long? Prison starts to look pretty good, though, when the ghost of her dead S.O.B. husband starts looking for some payback. In addition to the echoes of Disturbia, the scene where Janssen screams "What do you want?" to the unseen entity reminded me a lot of George C. Scott in The Changeling, and the house arrest for killing a cop part recalls a decent little indie flick called Cherish. Still, this looks like it might be good for a few scares.
Yeah, back in January, there was a new poster and a limited release date of February 13 for My Blueberry Nights. Obviously, this release was set to give coupley lovers a chance to delight in blueberries whilst expressing their love for one another. I guess it was just too soon, because that day came and went without Wong Kar Wai's English-language debut.
Now, indieWIRE reports that the film once again has a release date -- this time, April 4 -- but that's not all. There's also a new version of the film, and The Weinstein Company is quoted as saying: "This is a new cut of the film, different than the version shown at Cannes." This is, no doubt, in response to the half and half response it got at the festival -- right now, the film as a 56% positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and even the positive reviews find faults with the feature.
Whatever they end up releasing, I just want to see the damned thing already. So, hopefully, this date will be the one that will stick, and hopefully this cut improves the film for all of us. In the meantime, check out James' Cannes review.
Empire has the exclusive first look at the new poster for Wong Kar Wai's My Blueberry Nights. While the first poster release chose to put Rachel Weisz front and center, the latest one-sheet lets you know right from the get-go that this film is an ensemble in every sense of the word. The story centers on a young woman (played by Norah Jones in her acting debut) who wastes away hours in a local cafe run by a romantically philosophical type named Jeremy (played by Jude Law). The story then follows our broken hearted gal as she rambles about the country, coming into contact with an alcoholic cop and his wife (David Strathairn and Rachel Weisz) and a gambling con-artist as played by Natalie Portman.
My Blueberry Nights marks Wong Kar Wai's first attempt at an English language film, and will also be one of the few films he has shot without the services of his usual cinematographer, Christopher Doyle. Instead, the famed director hired Darius Khondji, who has worked with Woody Allen (Anything Else) and David Fincher (Panic Room). The film premiered in Cannes back in May, and while reviews were mixed (mainly directed at Jones' acting abilities), the overall impression was that the film marked some new territory for the director -- you can read James' review here. Wong Kar Wai is a master at conveying love and longing for another person. So, even though there have been some changes in his usual methods, you know you are still in some pretty capable hands. Plus, if you consider the cast and the skill of people involved in the production, it would be a shock if it didn't all somehow work. My Blueberry Nights is set to open for a limited release on February 13th, 2008.
Bit by tiny little bit, we've been filling you in on My Blueberry Nights. As you should all know by now, it's the first English language feature by Wong Kar Wai, the man behind films like 2046 and Happy Together. The main names in the piece -- Norah Jones, Jude Law, David Strathairn, Tim Roth, Natalie Portman and Rachel Weisz. In the last few weeks, Ryan brought us a blonde Portman, Christopher posted about a Weisz poster and I linked to a bunch of stills from the film.
Now, courtesy of AlloCine.com, we've got a trailer to check out. Unfortunately, it doesn't match so well with the descriptions we've heard -- that's it's about a girl named Elizabeth (Jones) who travels across the U.S. questioning love while meeting interesting people. Instead, it's a trailer all of Law (playing someone named Jeremy) and Jones. Jeremy is looking for Elizabeth and seemingly finds her as they have serious discussions about falling out of love. (Without the pop of Before Sunrise, that is.) Where the pictures had a certain spark with the dark tones and crisp colors, this trailer seems, well, cliche with the same vibrant pop of color. Both actors provide voiceovers to the clips, and so far, I am not buying it.
Jeremy says: "I'm not sure whether that night really happened, or if it was just another dream." Well, I'm not sure if this is the same film. It's got the actors and the visual appeal, but wheres the travel and quirky band of characters? So far, the pieces aren't fitting. One poster focuses on Wiesz. A trailer focuses only on Law and Jones. Maybe at some point it will all come together and we will get a clear picture.
Cannes is almost upon us, which means that we don't have too much longer to wait until Wong Kar Wai's first English language feature, My Blueberry Nights gets screened. Recently, Ryan Stewart shared a peek at Natalie Portman, who is sporting a blonde and curly 'do for the film, and continuing to up the ante on her movie role looks. Then Christopher Campbell shared the Rachel Weisz-featuring poster, which made star Norah Jones seem like an afterthought. (I get the whole star pull thing, but sometimes the studios take this too far. Did the Silver CityDVD cover bug anyone as much as me?)
Now Rope of Silicon has some stills up from the movie, and if cinematic style is any indication of greater goodness, a night of blueberries should be well worth it. The scenes are both dark and vibrantly colorful, and it looks like Kar Wai has done a great job of infusing the extreme color often present in Asian cinema with that dark, pensive look we get so often here in North America. There's the picture of Weisz, which was used for the poster, Jude Law all dishevelled in front of Norah Jones, a great shot of the singer/actress eating pie, a bubblegum bedroom shot and finally, another look at Portman, who looks like she aged a few years and went through the Legally Blonde school of style. With its Cannes premiere almost here, hopefully we will finally get a release date for the film, and not just those teasing words -- "Coming Soon."
The new film from Wong Kar Wai is bound to disappoint some of the filmmaker's die-hard fans. Aside from the fact that it is Wong's first film in English and employs a number of Hollywood stars, the factors against My Blueberry Nights include the following: it wasn't shot by Wong's longtime collaborator Christopher Doyle; it doesn't feature at least a cameo from Tony Leung; it stars a young singer in her acting debut; and it has received the touch of death by being distributed by The Weinstein Co. Of course, there are multiple reasons to hope that it isn't a disappointment, let alone a failure, and we've just received a new one: the film's poster would look great on a fan's wall.
Never mind the beautiful design of the poster, which miraculously makes orange a color that I don't hate looking at. The main attraction is the prominence of Rachel Weisz, who is being capitalized on for her recent Oscar win. Six years after being left out of the main poster for Enemy at the Gates, the actress has apparently become a bigger attraction than Jude Law, her costar in that film. Though Law has a higher billing in the cast list at the bottom, he is given a much smaller role in visually representing the film. Meanwhile, Norah Jones, who is actually Blueberry's star, is barely seen in the lower left, where her image is also somewhat blurred. Rounding out the featured cast is Natalie Portman, seen driving a car. Actors Ed Harris, Tim Roth and David Strathairn are also represented, but only by name.
This poster may not be the final one-sheet for the film's release, especially since it features the words 'coming soon' rather than a release date (which is so far still unknown). It also seems to be a Canadian poster, because it includes the logo for Christal Films, which is distributing the film up north. We could very well see a totally different design from the Weinsteins. My Blueberry Nights will premiere in France in two weeks when it opens the Cannes Film Festival.
Just yesterday, Monika posted about the Variety story by Alison James that Wong Kar Wai's English-language debut, My Blueberry Nights (and is it just me, or does Jude Law have the worst hair day ever in that pic from the film?), will likely open the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, along with a short list of other films expected to make the cut for the fest.
Over on Hollywood Elsewhere this morning, Jeff Wells (who also noted, correctly, that the lead in the Variety story is old news, having been rumored over on Cineuropa for a couple weeks) posted a short list of films that he thinks will get in -- and strongly admonished whoever might be paying attention over in France that if they don't make the cut, people will be very disappointed.
Wells' short list of English-language titles he expects to make it in includes Joel and Ethan Coen's No Country for Old Men, Todd Hayne's I'm Not There (aka, that Bob Dylan flick with seven actors playing different aspects of Dylan's persona), Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano in an adaptation of an Upton Sinclair novel), and Michael Winterbottom's A Mighty Heart (the Daniel Pearl flick starring Angelina Jolie).
After the fairly disturbing news that Anna Nicole Smith's final movie, Illegal Aliens, was going to premiere at Cannes, we've now got some more suitable selections to tell you about -- topped with a tasty helping of blueberries. According to Variety, buzz says that Wong Kar Wai'sMy Blueberry Nights will open the festival on May 16. The first English feature for the Chinese director, it's a romance about a woman (Norah Jones) who travels across the U.S. meeting strange people. It's based on a short film about a shopkeeper who falls for someone crazy for blueberry pie, so that's where the fruit comes in. If this happens, it'll be a big leap of faith for the festival since Wong's 2046 arrived a full day after its scheduled screening three years ago.
But there's also some other tasty filmmakers on the plate. The director of The Exorcist and the upcoming creepfest Bug, William Friedkin, will be screening a remastered version of his 1980 film Cruising, which stars Al Pacino. It seems this screening is designed to gear up the DVD re-release of the film. And in something newer and much less seen, there's Gregg Araki's Smiley Face -- the Anna Faris flick that has her unknowingly eating pot brownies and having an interesting day as a result. But that's not all -- there's a ton others rumored to have secured screenings -- Ramin Bahrani's New York film Chop Shop, Barbarian Invasion's Denys Arcand's L'Age des Tenebres, Hector Babenco's El Pasado, the animated adaptation of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, Catherine Breillat's La Vieille maitresse (Asia Argento nabbed the role originally offered to Madonna), another Argento flick by Olivier Assayas called Boarding Gate and one more -- Julian Schnabel's French-language film, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Anyone going to Cannes who needs a personal assistant?
"A damn fine film with a good heart and some really excellent performances" finished atop the indie weekend box office charts. The quote is from our own 
A Taiwanese filmmaker's tribute to a celebrated French short soared easily to the top of the indie charts this weekend. 
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We've mentioned indieWIRE's filmmaker talks sponsored by Apple before. There's 
Yeah, back in January, there was 
Empire has the exclusive first look at 
Bit by tiny little bit, we've been filling you in on 
Cannes is almost upon us, which means that we don't have too much longer to wait until 
Just yesterday, Monika posted about the Variety story by Alison James that Wong Kar Wai's English-language debut, 
After the fairly disturbing news that Anna Nicole Smith's final movie, Illegal Aliens, was 
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