200 Cigarettes (1999)1999
200 Cigarettes is a 1999 American comedy film directed by Risa Bramon Garcia and written by Shana Larsen. The film follows multiple characters in New York City on New Year's Eve 1981. The film features an ensemble cast consisting of brothers Ben and Casey Affleck, Dave Chappelle, Guillermo DÃaz, Angela Featherstone, Janeane Garofalo, Gaby Hoffmann, Kate Hudson, Courtney Love, Jay Mohr, Nicole Ari Parker, Martha Plimpton, Christina Ricci and Paul Rudd, with a cameo by Elvis Costello, as well as paintings by Sally Davies.
200 Cigarettes (1999)1999
All those cigarettes, and nobody knows how to smoke. Everybody in "200 Cigarettes'' smokes nearly all the time, but none of them show any style or flair with their cigarettes. And the cinematographer doesn't know how to light smoke to make it look great.
I suppose there will be someone who counts the cigarettes in "200 Cigarettes,'' to see if there are actually 200. That will at least be something to do during the movie, which is a lame and labored conceit about an assortment of would-be colorful characters on their way to a New Year's Eve party in 1981. Onto the pyre of this dreadful film are thrown the talents of such as Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, Janeane Garofalo, Courtney Love, Gaby Hoffmann, Kate Hudson, Martha Plimpton, Paul Rudd, Guillermo Diaz, Brian McCardie, Jay Mohr, Christina Ricci, Angela Featherstone and others equally unlucky.
Seeing a film like this helps you to realize that actors are empty vessels waiting to be filled with characters and dialogue. As people, they are no doubt much smarter and funnier than the cretins in this film. I am reminded of Gene Siskel's bottom-line test for a film: "Is this movie more entertaining than a documentary of the same people having lunch?'' Here they are contained by small ideas and arch dialogue, and lack the juice of life. Maybe another 200 cigarettes would have helped; coughing would be better than some of this dialogue.
A stellar 1999 cast of soon-to-be stars (Ben Affleck, Kate Hudson, Christina Ricci, and more) are hopelessly trapped in this shrill, shallow film with a script that's neither funny nor intelligent. Nearly every scene is noisy, crowded, and overwrought. Some of the time very good actors struggle to give depth to one-note characters that have none; on other occasions, the actors let fly with over-the-top performances that sail in from sketch comedy venues or summer camp productions.
Cigarettes were cool in 1981. Because of new awareness and research, they're not so cool anymore. Do you agree or disagree with the statement that "cigarettes are a shield against meaningful relationships"?
This is an original, rolled, one-sheet movie poster from 1999 for 200 Cigarettes starring Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, Dave Chappelle, Guillermo Diaz, Angela Featherstone, Janeane Garofalo, Gaby Hoffmann, Kate Hudson, Courtney Love, Jay Mohr, Martha Plimpton, Christina Ricci, and Paul Rudd. Risa Bramon Garcia directed the comedy-drama.
made false promises that they would undertake or sponsorresearch to determine whether smoking causes disease;
sponsored research that was designed not to answer the questionof whether smoking caused disease, promoted biased research thatwould assist in defending lawsuits brought by injured smokers,and suppressed research that suggested that smoking causesdisease;
denied that nicotine was addictive, despite the fact that theyknew nicotine was addictive;
failed to warn consumers about the effects of smoking,including that cigarettes are addictive;
refrained from developing, testing, and marketing potentiallyless hazardous products; and,
denied that they marketed and/or targeted products to children,although they actively sought to capture the youth market.
"Based on internal documents that have been revealed in the lastfew years, we allege that the cigarette companies knew exactly whatthey were doing at all times -- that their false and misleadingstatements would keep people smoking," said David W. Ogden, ActingAssistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. "As we allege inour complaint, even when the truth began coming out, the cigarettecompanies responded with more fraud and deception."
The factual and legal basis for the lawsuit filed today wasdeveloped by the Justice Department's Tobacco Litigation Team,currently consisting of 16 career Justice Department attorneys. TheLitigation Team has been working since early 1999 to develop a planto recover federal health care costs. The Attorney Generaldetermined in December 1998 that the U.S. had viable grounds topursue recovery from the cigarette companies for health care costscaused by smoking.
200 Cigarettes is a 1999 comedy-drama film about a collection of twentysomethings try to cope with relationships, loneliness, desire and their individual neuroses. The film also features paintings by Sally Davies.
March 15, 1999Gangster's RapBy PETER RAINERHot on the heels of "The Sopranos" comes "Analyze This," in which De Niro loses the safety net and swan-dives into parody as a mobster taking the talking cure. 041b061a72