Back in 2007, Wong Kar-Wai could have done anything for his first American film. What he chose to do was cast easy-jazz chanteuse Norah Jones in a road movie where she would play alongside David Straithairn, Rachel Weisz, Jude Law and Natalie Portman, and tell her not to take acting lessons because she’s such a natural. Which, you must agree, is a choice! On this week’s Pop Screen, Sarah and Graham discuss the resulting film, which the passing of time has not made any less befuddling. It has all of Kar-Wai’s usual strengths (gorgeous cinematography, swooning romanticism, a lovingly-picked score) and a few new flaws (a script full of clonking metaphorical dialogue, an unintentionally creepy ending).
We also find the time to talk about the film-stealing cameo by Chan “Cat Power” Marshall, Portman’s 2000s career, Jude Law’s chequered legacy as both an actor and a spoonerism, and the Mike Flowers Pops for some reason. Kar-Wai’s famously unconventional working methods are dissected at length, as is Amazon’s hilariously off-base decision to try and get him to make a television series. Every year! On schedule! Hard to imagine where that went wrong, eh, listeners?
Unlike Wong Kar-Wai, we reliably produce an hour or so of improvised rambling every single week, and if you want even more there are bonus episodes of this very show available on our Patreon. Backers also get full access to our other movie podcast Directors Uncut, as well as Graham’s twice-weekly reviews of classic Doctor Who, and some odds and ends we can’t fit anywhere else. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for more news.
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Norah Jones + My Blueberry Nights Archive
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