{"id":991,"date":"2008-08-24T19:14:11","date_gmt":"2008-08-24T23:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=991"},"modified":"2022-10-14T11:09:34","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T15:09:34","slug":"my-blueberry-nights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/my-blueberry-nights\/","title":{"rendered":"Wong Kar-wai&#8217;s American road movie My Blueberry Nights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Wong Kar-wai&#8217;s first English-language film <em>My Blueberry Nights<\/em> is mostly set in bars and diners across America. His characters all indulge in the four great American pastimes: eating, drinking, gambling, and driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/my-blueberry-nights-weisz-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Rachel Weisz in My Blueberry Nights\" class=\"wp-image-6369\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/my-blueberry-nights-weisz-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/my-blueberry-nights-weisz-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/my-blueberry-nights-weisz-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/my-blueberry-nights-weisz-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/my-blueberry-nights-weisz.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Nobody films beautiful women, or should I say, nobody films women beautifully, like Wong Kar-wai. In <em>Blueberry Nights<\/em>, he has no less than four famous female faces to worship with his camera:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Norah Jones &#8211; Perhaps not the most natural of actors, but her speaking voice is as emotionally expressive as it is in her famously languid, evocative music.<\/li><li>Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) &#8211; Like Jones, Marshall is a musician and not an experienced actor, but her cameo is bittersweet and effective.<\/li><li>Rachel Weisz &#8211; <em>The New York Times<\/em> one described Weisz as &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2006\/02\/26\/style\/tmagazine\/t_w_1053_1055_rachel_.html\">the thinking man&#8217;s sex symbol<\/a>,&#8221; but here she portrays a seemingly dim character with a cruel streak.<\/li><li>Natalie Portman &#8211; Like Weisz, Portman plays against type as a troubled young gambling addict with an Electra complex.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-large size-full wp-image-990\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/my-blueberry-nights-jones-portman-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Natalie Portman and Norah Jones in My Blueberry Nights\" class=\"wp-image-6368\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/my-blueberry-nights-jones-portman-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/my-blueberry-nights-jones-portman-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/my-blueberry-nights-jones-portman-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/my-blueberry-nights-jones-portman-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/my-blueberry-nights-jones-portman.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Natalie Portman offers Norah Jones an offer she can&#8217;t refuse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s impossible to miss the central metaphor: every morning, diner proprietor Jeremy (Jude Law) ritually bakes a blueberry pie. Never eaten, it is thrown out whole every night. It may be undesired for the time being, but every day there is a fresh chance for it to find someone who hungers for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wong Kar-wai&#8217;s first English-language film My Blueberry Nights is mostly set in bars and diners across America. His characters all indulge in the four great American pastimes: eating, drinking, gambling, and driving. Nobody films beautiful women, or should I say, nobody films women beautifully, like Wong Kar-wai. In Blueberry Nights, he has no less than [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,2],"tags":[171,46,170,169,172,173,168],"class_list":["post-991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3-stars","category-movies","tag-chan-marshall","tag-drama","tag-jude-law","tag-natalie-portman","tag-norah-jones","tag-rachel-weisz","tag-wong-kar-wai"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/my-blueberry-nights-feature.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-fZ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":743,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/se-jie-lust-caution\/","url_meta":{"origin":991,"position":0},"title":"Ang Lee&#8217;s very un-titillating erotic thriller Se, jie (Lust, Caution)","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"April 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"As a public service, this blog would like to issue a warning to anyone that under the impression that Se, jie (Lust, Caution) is an NC-17 erotic thriller. Judging from the marketing campaign alone, one might understandably imagine that the latest film from the director of Sense & Sensibility and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;3 Stars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lust, Caution","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/lust-caution-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/lust-caution-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/lust-caution-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/lust-caution-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/lust-caution-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2081,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/mummys-boy-the-mummy-3-tomb-of-the-dragon-emperor\/","url_meta":{"origin":991,"position":1},"title":"Mummy&#8217;s Boy: The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"January 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Perhaps it was the mood I happened to be in the day I saw it in 1999, but I will freely admit I loved The Mummy, the first film in the latter day incarnation of the 1930s MGM horror franchise. In concert with Simon West and Jan De Bont's pair\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2 Stars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/mummy-3-tomb-of-the-dragon-emperor.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/mummy-3-tomb-of-the-dragon-emperor.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/mummy-3-tomb-of-the-dragon-emperor.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/mummy-3-tomb-of-the-dragon-emperor.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/mummy-3-tomb-of-the-dragon-emperor.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":971,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/talladega-nights\/","url_meta":{"origin":991,"position":2},"title":"Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby fails to amuse","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"August 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"What was I thinking when I rented this turd? Oh yeah, that Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby might be a funny, entertaining diversion. One can't always watch grim tales of abortion in Communist Romania or the death of a small town's entire generation of children. I had long\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;0 Stars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"0 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/0-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Talladega Nights","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/talladega-nights-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/talladega-nights-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/talladega-nights-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/talladega-nights-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/talladega-nights-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3505,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/romero-crazies\/","url_meta":{"origin":991,"position":3},"title":"People Are Vectors: George A. Romero&#8217;s The Crazies","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"February 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"George A. Romero practically invented the lucrative zombie subgenre with Night of the Living Dead in 1968, simultaneously trapping himself within it for most of his subsequent career. Romero's zombies served him well enough for six films and counting, at least two of which transcended the genre and are still\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;1 Star&quot;","block_context":{"text":"1 Star","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/1-star\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/crazies.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/crazies.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/crazies.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/crazies.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/crazies.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":846,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/walk-hard\/","url_meta":{"origin":991,"position":4},"title":"Jake Kasdan spoofs the musical biopic in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"May 16, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This blogger finds most so-called biopics wanting. The two- to three-hour feature film format is more akin to an essay or short story than a book, and as such is ill-equipped to sum up the entire life of a human being in more than a string of highlights. Yet studios\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2 Stars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/walk-hard-dewey-cox-45.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/walk-hard-dewey-cox-45.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/walk-hard-dewey-cox-45.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/walk-hard-dewey-cox-45.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/walk-hard-dewey-cox-45.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1891,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/casino-royale\/","url_meta":{"origin":991,"position":5},"title":"Sass and Kick Ass: James Bond: Casino Royale","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"October 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Paradoxically for one of the freshest James Bond films ever made, Martin Campbell's Casino Royale (2006) is actually the third adaptation of the character's debut in Ian Fleming's 1953 novel. After a largely forgotten 1954 TV movie in which \"Jimmy\" Bond was awkwardly Americanized, the same premise was parodied in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;3 Stars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/casino-royale.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/casino-royale.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/casino-royale.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/casino-royale.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/casino-royale.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=991"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6370,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991\/revisions\/6370"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}