Blue in the Face (1995): Offshoot of Smoke, Co-Directed by Wayne Wang and Novelist Paul Auster

A freewheeling offshoot of Smoke, Blue in the Face, co-directed by filmmaker Wayne Wang and novelist Paul Auster (who scripted Wang’s “Smoke”), is a series of improvised, scenes about Brooklyn that includes some witty Lou Reed recollections, Roseanne in her fishwife routine, an embarrassing striptease by actress Mel Gorham, and so on.

Though uneven, nostalgic and self-congratulatory, the movie exhibits some charm.