The current cinema

Svetlana Khodchenkova and Tao Okamato in The Wolverine, because you've likely already seen plenty of shots of Hugh Jackman with his shirt off. 

Also reviewed by me: Blue Jasmine. Both for MSN Movies. 

Comments

[Oliver_C]

You managed to find a still from the movie that wasn't orange-and-tealified!

[mw]

I'm curious about the "Streetcar" angle. Seems every critic mentions it but I can't find any reference to Allen or anyone associated with him acknowledging it. All I read is that he got the idea from the Madoff saga. And that Blanchette recently acted in the play, but she says it's a different performance.

So where did that trope come from? Is there some inside info available to critics? Is it possibly a case of critics participating in a phantasmagoric circle jerk? Or is it just so blatantly obvious that no one can miss it? That seems like the obvious explanation, but then you write "this movie is not a story of anarchic sexuality and its destructive power" and if that's true, how can it be a knock off of Streetcar?

I'm trying to talk myself out of plunking down the exorbitant ticket price and seeing for myself, but it just sounds so intriguing.

[Kurzleg]

I just hope that your dining with Tilda Swinton included much less nervous sweating than the Nicholas Cage's did.

[mw]

Well, I shelled out the $9 to see Jasmine. Had never been to BAM Harvey, but if you're going to pay ludicrous prices to see films that may or may not be any good, that's certainly the place for it. The screen is fantastic and there are plenty of good seats. Wish they'd ban popcorn though. Really stinks up the place. As it's primarily a theatre theater, it could be justified.

The movie itself left me a bit cold. It was technically very competent. I can't think of a film that has ever handled flashback sequences that well. It's generally well-written and well-acted. The Jasmine character, however, has no redeeming features, learns nothing, and changes not at all. The only way I can get beyond appreciating such a well-made movie and actually liking it is to think that Ginger is the main character. She actually has an interesting character arc. She starts out in one place, moves in the direction of something else, suffers a setback, and learns something from the experience. If the real point of Jasmine is that she is just the catalyst for Ginger's arc, it would be a much better story. But for that to be the case, it would need to be edited with a slight change of emphasis.

After seeing the film, I still find all of the A Streetcar Named Desire talk in the reviews annoying and wonder where they came from. For what it's worth, I went with my daughter, who studies film and has seen a stage production of Streetcar and hadn't read any reviews, and she didn't notice any similarity. Sure, on the level of fallen rich sister moves in with working class sister, the similarity is there. But beyond that, there's pretty much nothing. It's almost like saying any film about a detective is based on Crime and Punishment. And I've looked a bit more and have yet to find any evidence that Allen gave any thought to it when he wrote the script. But, yea, I can see the circumstantial evidence, between the basic set up and the casting of Blanchette. It's just I find it interesting how every single review talks about and wonder how that came to be. It reminds me of a story about Edward Limonov's release of his novel "It's Me, Eddie." He or his publicist dropped the line that he was the Johnny Rotten of Russian literature and then every single review compared him to Johnny Rotten. Did something like that happen with Jasmine. Or did every single critic think the exact same thought? Or once the first few prominent critics mentioned it, did all the critics have to mention it? No offense intended, Glenn. I obviously like your work a lot. Just curious about what was going on with this particular film.