Recent Reviews for Romance and Cigarettes
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MCT:June 24, 2008Que bom que os musicais estão voltando com tudo!Adorei este filme, divertidíssimo, com um elenco fantástico! Há tempos não dava tanta risada com um filme.
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MCT:June 17, 2008
This is such a weird movie but honestly, it's so weird so the only thing you do is laugh, it's so humouristic.
Just to end this review I'm gonna say that those who fancies watching a weird movie where half of it is drama and half is a weird take of a musical it's certainly recommended, probably one of the most weirdest movies I've ever watched, but then again it's probably the movie that's actually made me laugh the most so I don't think you should waste all of your laughters on this movie alone...watch it with a few friends. -
MCT:June 12, 2008This is one of the worst movies I have seen. John T should have stuck to acting. The screne talent was essentially wasted. There should have been a better script.
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MCT:June 11, 2008"Romance and Cigarettes" es un experimento fallido. Es un intento de juntar melodrama, surrealismo, y numeros musicales de forma artisitica y honesta; sin embargo la cinta es demasiado bizarra y peculiar para que funcione. Aun asi, la recomiendo porque intenta romper las reglas del genero y mostrar una vision unica y personal del director John Turturro. Esta es una cinta experimental que no sera del agrado de la mayoria de cinefilos, pero para aquellos que les guste algo mas conceptual y diferente, merece la pena que le den una oportunidad.
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MCT:May 7, 2008Good music, well-choreographed dancing, quirky sense of humor, a little dark. A bunch of good actors are giving a solid performance. They appear to have enjoyed themselves. It could have been a walking disaster... actually, I was kind of expecting it to be. I like being wrong in these instances.
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MCT:May 4, 2008
I wasn't expecting a musical or really the film to be anything like it was but it was interesting to say the least...
Kate Winslet was HOT--on FIRE, no pun intended *lol* -
MCT:May 2, 2008
This film is an abortion. John Turturro and the Coen Brothers thought it would be delightful to parody musicals, despite the genre dwindling half-a-century ago. The result is a narrative that resembles a car crash, comedy that is both smug and unfunny, and acting that makes the average Youtube blogger more believable. Avoid like the plague, unless you're a film student trying to be a mainstream hating individual.
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MCT:April 22, 2008This movie, with an all-star cast, was a practice in mediocrity. The filmmakers attempted to rise above this with flashy elements: lots of cursing from Susan Sarandon, sudden bursts of song from "that guy from Sopranos," Kate Winslet looking hotter than ever before...but the flash wasn't enough to cover up the lack of substance.
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MCT:April 15, 2008An interesting movie! Very, very funny. Susan Sarandon and Kate Winslet are phenomenal. Love them. Mary-Louise Parker is definitely an interesting character in this one. Great story plot of a f**ked up family structure, but hey no one's perfect by any means. This portrayal was a hoot and quite amusing. Absolutely fantastic work by John Turturro. By the way, his cousin Aida was definitely awesome. She was a great character as well. Christopher Walken was definitely remarkable.
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MCT:March 29, 2008
Written and directed by John Turturro and produced by the Coen Brothers. That being said I expected something different and far and away from the mainsteam - wanted that. So as far as expectation goes that's all I expected. Was I ever surprised to find out that this is a musical! Not a few songs in the movie but a straight up very little talking - lots more singing musical. I was put back by that at first. I was in a little bit of shock and trying to wrap my mind around James Gandolfini jumping and leaping around in the street singing "A Man Without Love". Once I settled in and committed myself to this quirkly movie though I really really started to enjoy it. Mega cast that all delivers and then some are James Ganolfini, Kate Winslet who is HILARIOUS, Christopher Walken (also HILARIOUS), Susan Sarandon, Mandy Moore, Eddie Izzard, Steve Buscemi, etc, etc. All of them singing and dancing along to songs from the 60s-80s. I say singing along to as MOST (not all but most) of the songs are sang WITH the original recordings. There is barely a story here though. It was as though Turturro chose a group of songs first - then wrote enough story between them that they would make sense. We used to do that in our backyard when we were growing up. Make up a play and make it a musical by singing along to our favorite top 40 songs (and making each other fall down with laughter) We had fun doing that. I get the feeling Turturro must have done that too as a child and he brought together his friends and this is what they did; and you know what? I did have a good time and though this will never win any awards (not exactly award winning singing & dancing - but I'm not thinking it was EVER meant to be) it made me laugh harder than I've laughed in a very long time. I sat there laughing and singing along with them. Won't be for everyone, but for those of us it's for when it's over you'll want to watch it all over again.
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MCT:March 28, 2008
it was realy nice & catchy
i know its odd & its kinda musical !
starfulled,romantic & real ! thats the point -
MCT:March 27, 2008John Turturro's project, that suffered distribution issues (opened 2 years after it was made) and i can see why... It relies on a poor script, the direction is fine, but doesn't save the movie... Features some good songs and one of the best ensemble casts i've seen in my life, all of them did a very good job: James Gandolfini (finally, a performance different from Tony Soprano), Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet (great, and super sexy), Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro, Bobby Cannavale and Steve Buscemi... It was definitely a waste of talent, since the movie didn't measure up to the actors... It gets serious towards the end, but doesn't make up for the ridiculousness of the rest...
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MCT:March 23, 2008
Definitely a strange movie. The music in it was great. As a whole though, the movie really dragged in certain parts. The only scenes that were enjoyable were the ones that involved Mandy Moore and Christopher Walken. It was a very tough movie to follow.
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MCT:March 20, 2008
A fantastic film undeserving of its very little attention. It's funny, unconventional, quirky and as a result is one of the best musicals I've ever seen. The film journeys the repercussions of a husband/father who has been caught cheating, providing the audience with plenty of black comedy. Kate Winslet is wonderful as usual, playing against type that of a foul-mouthed seductress. It's definitely the most fully transformed performance I've seen from her or any actor in quite awhile. And Susan Sarandon is just hilarious as the angry cheated-on wife ("I trim your nose hairs you fuck!!"). I highly recommend this film.
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MCT:March 6, 2008had a few good lines, but nothing beyond that... needed better camera angles during the musical parts
i love christopher walken!! -
MCT:March 5, 2008This movie was very awkward to watch. I usually felt like I had no idea what was going on. This 'musical' is disappointing if you watch it for that musical aspect. The only reason I was tricked into watching this was because of the all star cast. By the time I was half way through I wanted to stop but I had to find out how it all ended. (I also had to justify wasting almost two hours of my life.)
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MCT:March 2, 2008
I really wanted to like this movie. I am a huge fan of James Gandolfini (plus he's just a gorgeous man in my opinion) and Kate Winslet and Susan Sarandon are two great actresses. I am a fan of John Turturro as an actor, but it is painfully obvious that I am not a fan of his writing and directing. This film comes across like a string of half-baked ideas that never leads to any kind of narrative structure, which would be fine if it weren't trying so hard to come across as a film wanting narrative structure. One of the two stars I'm giving this film goes to James Gandolfini for his performance; the other to the couple scenes that I lightly chuckled at (which not surprisingly I don't even remember now). If you like Mr. Gandolfini as much as I do, sit through it once. If not, you're better off steering clear. A true disappointment.
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MCT:February 29, 2008
Pretty much the abused prostitute of a musical. Pretty filthy and ridiculous, and the 'crazy musical numbers' were just something to get through. The only good part was when Christopher Walken stabs a girl and fights cops with a knife while singing and dancing.
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MCT:February 29, 2008
Look up surreal in the dictionary. You won't find a picture of "Romance & Cigarettes", but you will find the definition of surreal, which will help you understand this interesting piece of work.
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MCT:February 22, 2008
To loosely quote Susan Sarandon, James Gandolfini came out of himself in this movie. It's true. This may be the first time I've thought that Gandolfini had anything to give to the screen. Generally an average player at best, he rises to a new level of performance. I would never go out of my way to see him in anything, but this performance is special.
To loosely quote John Turturro, Christopher Walken is always interesting. This, for the most part, is a true statement for me. But something truly "interesting" has happened to Walken over the years. While most actors seem to try to position themselves for leading roles, if they have the look and the talent, Walken has moved in the opposite direction. Since, let's say, the success of The Deer Hunter, it's been pretty much a long slide into solid character acting roles for him. He once had great potential, from my perspective, to be a leading man, and while he definitely manages to play one "interesting" character after another, he has fallen quite deep into some kind of one-dimensional abyss. Perhaps it is the "Oscar curse" of early success in Deer Hunter, perhaps it has something to do with the whole Natalie Wood tragedy. Whatever the reason(s), he really just always is only an "interesting" caricature of what he once was or could have been. Is there resurrection in his future? Who knows.
The only real joy here is Kate Winslet. Had I not seen her guest shot on Extras, I would have been more surprised by what she gives us here, but it is still pure joy to hear the words that tumble so effortlessly out of her mouth. As Gandolfini says, "You're a crude woman" -- probably the best line in the film. Although her character really exists in the realm of tragedy, the words she speaks and the moves she makes provide some of the funniest moments in an otherwise very average "musical love story."
Please don't misunderstand me, flixster friends: I love John Turturro. He is gifted, and I am fan enough to think he can do way better work.
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MCT:February 22, 2008
I really wanted to like this cuz I love James Gandolfini....but I had to shut it off. It was just too weird.
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MCT:February 22, 2008
I never though I would say this...but for me, this is the worst movie I have ever seen...I can't even describe it...first, it's not funny...ok wait...I laughed at two parts...the "beaver diet" remark and the car named candida...and thats why it got 1/2 star...otherwise it was awful on all ends, even the "sex"...I didn't want to see a bad musical with dancing pregnant ladies on the blvd and policemen who break out in song at any moment...these are top actors...what were they thinking?
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MCT:February 22, 2008
what a piece of crap my friend rents movie without even checking what they are about!! and if they are any good!1
christopher walken was the only original and refreshing character there still it sucked!! big time..
From the Cohen brothers and John Turturro comes this twist on the not-so-ordinary tale of adultery and salvation. Nick (James Gandolfini) engages in a torrid extramarital affair with a younger woman, ...( read more )Tula (Kate Winslet), while his wife, Kitty (Susan Sarandon), grows ever more enraged by his behavior. As her world crumbles around her, Kitty grapples with her husband's infidelity, but will Nick ever realize the magnitude of what he's done? -
MCT:February 20, 2008
I didn't think it was that good but it was decent. A nice cast also in this film. From the Cohen brothers and John Turturro comes this twist on the not-so-ordinary tale of adultery and salvation. Nick (James Gandolfini) engages in a torrid extramarital affair with a younger woman, Tula (Kate Winslet), while his wife, Kitty (Susan Sarandon), grows ever more enraged by his behavior. As her world crumbles around her, Kitty grapples with her husband's infidelity, but will Nick ever realize the magnitude of what he's done?
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MCT:February 19, 2008
I enjoyed this less and less as it went on, and even fast forwarded the last 5-10 minutes so it would be over. But what it does have going for it: originality and a game Kate Winslet. I just thought there'd be more music.... And I'm so tired of Christopher Walken and his unamusing, no-longer-against-type comedy roles.
