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<\/p>\nSome films don\u2019t get released for wide consumption for a lot of reasons, but one you don\u2019t hear too often is that a film is so out of left field that a particular audience isn\u2019t being lined up for it. That\u2019s what one could call Romance & Cigarettes<\/i>, John Turturro\u2019s writing\/directorial opus. Featuring one of the year\u2019s best casts, the film is markedly daffy and amusing on all sorts of levels. Part musical, part comedy and about 100 ways of goofy, Turturro\u2019s third effort as director is about as zany as some of the characters he\u2019s played.<\/p>\n
Romance & Cigarettes<\/i> follows Nick Murder (James Gandolfini), a blue collar worker with a penchant for poetry and cheating on his wife Kitty (Susan Sarandon) with Tula (Kate Winslet). After his amorous adventures are discovered, he\u2019s confronted by his wife, daughter and his daughter\u2019s punk rock band. So he does what any working stiff do after fighting with the women of his life: engage in an extended dance number singing Engle Humperdinck\u2019s \u201cA Man Without Love\u201d with the neighborhood. Interspersed with songs, the film is a telling about a couple trying to redefine their relationship interspersed with large volumes of profanity, singing, dancing and a healthy dose of Steve Buscemi.<\/p>\n
If the film sounds off the wall, that\u2019s because it is. Anytime you get classically trained Kate Winslet as a sexpot and that\u2019s not the most unique casting decision you know you\u2019re in for something truly awful or truly magnificent. Credit Turturro for being able to keep a reign on his material; writing and directing gives him a crucial point to which to base everything on. He isn\u2019t a main player in the film, either, which is a good sign to begin with. It would be easier to focus on himself if he was the film\u2019s star and make it a vanity vehicle, but Turturro does the smart thing and lets a magnificently talented cast shine. The cast is just loaded with Christopher Walken, Eddie Izzard, Mandy Moore and a host of others who\u2019re genuinely having fun on the screen. It\u2019s refreshing to see a group of actors reveling in the absurdities of a film; you don\u2019t get to see it all too often.<\/p>\n
Romance & Cigarettes<\/i> was never given a true release into theatres, and languished in post production for several years while details of a distribution deal could be worked out. While it may have not had the sort of release it should\u2019ve, it\u2019s destined to become a cult classic.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Making a Homemade Musical<\/b> is a behind the scenes look at the film\u2019s production. Featuring telephone commentary piped in from Sarandon and Winslet, the piece is a quick look at the film during production. Nothing of note is said.<\/p>\n
Deleted Scenes<\/b> come with introductions by Turturro as to why he cut them from the film. Most of them have reasons why and Turturro is surprising in his honesty as to why he cut them, mainly for story-telling purposes.<\/p>\n
Previews<\/b> for Slipstream<\/i>, Revolver<\/i>, The Good Night<\/i>, Southland Tales<\/i>, The Nines<\/i>, Goya\u2019s Ghosts<\/i>, Season 1 of Damages<\/i>, Across the Universe<\/i> and Saawariya<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Olive Films presents Romance & Cigarettes <\/i>. Written and Directed by John Turturro. Starring James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet. Run Time: 105 minutes Rated R. Released on DVD: 11.24.2015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some films don\u2019t get released for wide consumption for a lot of reasons, but one you don\u2019t hear too often is that a film is so out of left field that a particular audience isn\u2019t being lined up for it. That\u2019s what one could call Romance & Cigarettes, John Turturro\u2019s writing\/directorial opus. Featuring one of … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":220,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10931,10935,2082,23],"tags":[9741,15297,2597,123019,18941],"zone":[121874],"series":[],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/insidepulse.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/insidepulse.com\/feed\/podcast\/inside-pulse","embedCode":"Blu-Ray Review – Romance & Cigarettes<\/I><\/a><\/blockquote>