MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS arrives via Hong Kong

I'm hardly a cinematic profit, but when it comes to the stupidity of US distribution companies, in this case MGM, I feel like I have my finger on the pulse. A new film by Wong Kar Wai is a no-brainer, especially when it's an English language film: do a little marketing and release the film. Now I'm not sure if MGM is over-strategizing with My Blueberry Nights or if they are just sitting on their arse until the film is dead in the water. Either way, it doesn't matter at this point.

Although no one took me up on the bet, I made a wager at the end of October that we would see a DVD of My Blueberry Nights from another country before it saw the light of day in the US. Sure enough, the Hong Kong DVD release of the film is due out on February 14, almost a full two months ahead of the official US release date of April 4. Most fans will have this DVD before the seductive trailer even has a chance to work its marketing magic on unsuspecting viewers. And even though WKW junkies would like to die in front of the lushness of one of his films on the big screen, early reports make it sound like it may not be worth it.

The irony is, of course, if My Blueberry Nights had been released last year, the WKW fans would have been there, the Norah Jones fans would have been there, and, if they exist, the Jude Law fans would have been there. At this point they will be lucky to get the Norah Jones fans in the theater in April.