Romance & Cigarettes

No hidden meaning behind the title of this post - just the name of a movie that nearly no one in the states has seen or even heard of.

You know that feeling when you are anticipating something but keep getting denied it? When you want something even more because you can't get it? Thats how this movie has been for me. Romance and Cigarettes was supposed to be in theaters last August, but due to some trouble after the merger between Sony Pictures and United Artists, this movie had some trouble with distribution. Delay after delay eventually made it seem like it would never be released. Keep in mind the movie had been long since finished.

Then I discovered the distribution overseas was totally fine. It was released in theaters in the UK sometime in March if memory serves me right. I figured eventually things would follow suit here - no dice. On July 17th, it was released on DVD in the UK. Thats when I made my move.

I preordered Romance & Cigarettes on DVD from Amazon UK for about $25 and had it shipped here once it was available. One week later, it was here.

Now, before I talk about the movie, let me go over the cast:

James Gandolfini
Susan Sarandon
Kate Winslet
Steve Buscemi
Christopher Walken
Mandy Moore
Mary-Louise Parker

....and there are more recognizable people in this as well. Produced by the Coen Brothers and directed by John Tuturro. Regardless of plot, this movie has lots of big, current names in it and I'm surprised no one has a made a bigger fuss of this. Here's a link to the trailer in quicktime.

And I just found this today - here's the kicker:
"One of the most deliciously fresh American films of recent years. Kate Winslet is marvellous"**** Film Of The Week TIME OUT

Keep in mind even to this day you can't easily watch this in the US. "One of the most deliciously fresh American films of recent years". And yes Kate Winslet is marvellous in this.

Now, it isn't immediately obvious, but this is a musical of sorts. I want to warn anone that might seen this that it is very raunchy and disjointed, but does have a firm plot - and does break out into song at really unusual moments.

Here's a summary of the plot from imdb without really giving too much away:
-----
Romance and Cigarettes is a down-and-dirty musical love story set in the world of the working class. Nick (James Gandolfini) is an ironworker who builds and repairs bridges. He's married to Kitty (Susan Sarandon), a dressmaker, a strong and gentle woman with whom he has three daughters. He is carrying on a torrid affair with a redheaded woman named Tula (Kate Winslet). Nick is basically a good, hardworking man driven forward by will and blinded by his urges. Like Oedipus at Colonus, he is sent into exile and searches to find his way back through the damage he has done. In an imaginative, humorous, and touching way, Romance and Cigarettes explores the cost and value of a relationship through life and death. When the characters can no longer express themselves with language, they break into song, lip-synching the tunes lodged in their subconscious. It is their way to escape the harsh reality of their world - to dream, to remember, and to connect to another human being.
-----

Thats about right - think Raizing Arizona meets Moulin Rouge! meets some really dirty movie. I wasn't into the musical portion of things as much as I was with for instance Moulin Rouge!, but it still worked. I know a lot of people aren't going to like this movie (my wife started watching it and conveniently found a way to leave the room)

James Gandolfini - I think really a great performance from him and have never heard him sing before. I last saw him in a Coen Brother's film - The Man Who Wasn't Really There and thought he did a great job in both - with very different roles.
Kate Winslet - it is no secret that I think she is fantastic in nearly everything I've ever seen her in - and this is the dirtiest role I've ever seen her in. I'm imagining this is a lot of acting on her part. :) There is no nudity - unlikely many other movies she's been in but still a big departure from most other things I've seen her in.
Steve Buscemi & Christopher Walken - their parts weren't very big in the movie - but honestly I think theyshould have a part in every movie.

I'm not going to reveal more about the plot but I'm just going to close in saying that
1. Yes - it is definitely worth watching
2. Be prepared for something very, very weird.
3. If bad, overtly sexual language (I don't just mean profanity) makes you uncomfortable this movie isn't for you.

The DVD - other that previews - has no extra features. None, unless English subtitles are an added feature.

***If you get the clever idea that you want to buy this from Amazon UK - feel free but just make sure you have a region free dvd player (or one that reads Region 2) or find another way to remove the region coding.

And while I am writing about movies, I'm putting my final plug in for "An Unfinished Life". This movie is great, on DVD now, and needs to be seen if you haven't seen it. I don't care if you try to tell me you are boycotting all Jennifer Lopez movies since Gigi, make an exception for this one. She just happens to be in this movie.

Digital Picture Frame

I've tried in the past to make my own digital picture frame. With many of the ones out there not terribly expensive, but actually having monthly fees per month (which is insane). Prices have really fallen on units like these, so what I did wasn't a tremendous cost savings, but it does allow you to customize it to your liking and mine can actually do a lot more if I feel like doing some upgrades.

Before we moved to North Carolina, I had built a larger one out of an old internet appliance called an I-Opener. It was a 10" passive matrix display, and loud. On the plus side, I had it running Windows Server 2003 and it had a wireless usb connection to the network. Not bad for a computer running a 200Mhz processor. By alas, it was too loud for my wife to accept in the living room and it just didn't look right.

I'm not going to go through a serious step by step process with pictures because what took me about a month last year, only took my an evening and I got it going.

The digital picture frame you see above is make up of only 4 parts.

1. An 8" LCD TV. I chose the Buslink 8" LCD TV because I could get it for $90 after coupon on buy.com. An 8" screen will fit exactly into a 5x7 frame. This is definitely the highest priced item.
2. Sandisk SDV1-A . Truth be told, I went as cheap as I could on this. This is simply a digital card reader for display on the tv. It doesn't matter what I model you get as long as it support RCA video out and it will do a slideshow. If you want to get really fancy, some of the card readers for televisions support things like music and video. I went with the one that was $18 after coupon on buy.com. I think I must have bought one of the last ones they had but you can get it elsewhere.
3. A memory card. You don't need a very big memory card, and the ridiculously small ones that comes with new digital cameras work fine unless you need a really large variety of pictures. Lucky for me I've got a couple compact flash cards just collecting dust and I pulled out my 256mb and popped it in.
4. Any 5x7 frame that is to your liking. I chose a black one at target that about $20.

Total cost: ~$128
I also picked up some hooks that I screwed into the back of the frame to mount the tv onto it. The best part of the tv is it already has a stand built into it to keep the picture from up! I plugged everything together and discovered I had no way of turning the tv on. So I drilled a small hole for the remote control sensor on the tv and had it up and going. The Sandisk card reader has a remote of its own so thats how I know how 2 remotes for this thing.

Like I said, I had it going in one evening. My only regret was not getting the proper tools so the wood around the hole for the remote sensor is a little bit raised on the front and I had to take a sharpee to it to make it black again, but I'm okay with it. For some reason, that imperfection is a lot more obvious in a photo than real life so I'm not posting it with the flash on. :)

Since the tv supports rca in, I could conceivably hook up anything to it in a pinch. I could put a dvd player up to it and bring it into the bedroom since we don't have a tv in there. If I wanted to get real fancy, I'd mount the card reader to the back, but at this point since all of it is black it really doesn't look too bad.

Definitely a lot quieter (virtually silent) and better looking than the i-opener turned out last year.

On no, the humanity......

Updated 6/21/06

Ok Folks, I'm doing it and you can't stop me. Top 20 movie list in no particular order. It's my list so I'm making the rules. Movie series, no matter how long count as 1. This is probably more interesting to me that to anyone else reading this - but I've tried to pick out movies that I've that are really "Tony" movies as my wife would say. If you haven't seen anyone of these, I of course recommend them since they are my favorites and I'll defend my choices.

If you don't see something really high on the list and you think I'm nuts for forgetting it, I probably just forgot and I'll add it in later. That is unless it didn't make the cut. Miss anything, let me know.

Top 20 List
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Gattaca
Indiana Jones Trilogy
Star Wars (from best to worst - Episode V, IV, III, II,VI,I)
Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Extended)
The 5th Element
Raising Arizona
Moulin Rouge!
A Life Less Ordinary
Hudson Hawk (thanks Zigzag!)
Total Recall
Adaptation (updated 6/21/06 - Thanks Dan!)
Highlander
The Shawshank Redemption
Rob Roy
Lost In Translation
Garden State
L.A. Story
12 Monkeys
Star Trek (II,VI,VIII,IV,VII,III,IX,X,I,V) - Ordered from Best to Greek Tragedy

Honorable Mentions
The Matrix (first one only)
Edward Scissorhands
Strange Days
Die Hard I and III
Big Fish
Harry Potter Series
Goldeneye
Frequency
Real Genius
Office Space
Super Troopers
The Green Mile
Before Sunrise (and Before Sunset)
Terminator 2
The Bourne Identity
Playing by Heart
Love Actually
Finding Neverland
A Guy Thing
Dark City
Pulp Fiction
Titus
High Fidelity
Field of Dreams
Back to the Future Trilogy (how could I forget this?)

Edit: Forgot Hudson Hawk and BTTF.

Try making a list yourself. It is harder than you think!

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!