Is there another color that has figured so prominently in a movie title? Possibly, but I can’t remember the last time three good movies with the same color in the name came out at the same time.
Blue Jasmine is the 44th (by my count) feature film directed by Woody Allen. It stars Cate Blanchett as Jasmine, a New York socialite who lost her fortune when husband Hal (Alec Baldwin) engaged in some Bernie Madoff-type financial dealings. Broke and alone (yet still carrying an Hermès Bag that cost more than the costume budget for the entire film), she moves to San Francisco to lean on her middle class sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins), to be appalled by Ginger’s boyfriend (Bobby Cannavale) and ex-husband (Andrew Dice Clay) and her new life in general. This is one of Woody Allen’s darkest films, and Cate Blanchett owns it, portraying a complex character – proud but delusional – with precision. She’s a lock for a Best Actress Oscar nomination, if not the award itself.
Blue is the Warmest Color (La vie d’Adèle) is the controversial three-hour French film that has been wowing audiences worldwide. Adèle Exarchopoulos is Adèle, a high school student who yearns for love from another woman, and finally meets her in Emma (Léa Seydoux). They embark on a passionate affair, and their graphic lovemaking is a prominent feature of the film (which has earned in an NC-17 rating in the U.S.). If you think it’s nothing more than a skin flick, you’d be wrong – its depiction of young love is as intimate and heartbreaking as it is erotic. Both actresses and director Abdellatif Kechiche were jointly awarded the Palme d’Or at Cannes (the first time it’s ever happened); however, the making of the film was so difficult the three have not been shy about airing their grievances in public.
Blue Caprice tells the story of John Allen Muhammad (Isaiah Washington) and Lee Boyd Malvo (Tequan Richmond); Muhammad is more infamously known as the Beltway Sniper, who killed at least 10 people in Washington D.C. metropolitan area over nearly three weeks in October 2002. This chilling film is more than a retelling of the events; it also examines the causes and nature of evil, from the point of view of the killers themselves. It’s an impressive debut for director Alexandre Moors. Listen to Isaiah Washington’s NPR interview for more insight into the making of the film and in playing a murderer who is still human.
Want more? Check out these other blue movies:
The Blue Angel (1930), to see Marlene Dietrich sing “Falling in Love Again”
Blue Crush (2002), to see Kate Bosworth as a teen surfer
Blue Gardenia (1953), to see Anne Baxter and Raymond Burr in a Fritz Lang film noir
Blue Hawaii (1961), to see Angela Lansbury play Elvis Presley’s mother
Blue Skies (1946), to see Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby dance to Irving Berlin songs
Blue Valentine (2010), to watch Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams self-destruct
Blue Velvet (1986), to see….there are no words to describe what you’ll see
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