"The filmmaker Jim Jarmusch is old school."
April 7, 2014 4:47 AM Subscribe
You know, I like Jarmusch's work and am happy to see him continue to be creative in the way he wants to do it. But that first paragraph really irks me. You don't have time, Jim? You have no children, you make a movie once every five years or so, and yet, oh you can't find the time to read a book or answer a couple of emails? What a crock.
posted by fungible at 6:13 AM on April 7, 2014
posted by fungible at 6:13 AM on April 7, 2014
I saw this a month or so ago (it came out earlier here) and thought it was fucking excellent.
I like Jarmusch but thought his last movie was poop. This one though, this one I thought was particularly good.
posted by From Bklyn at 6:19 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
I like Jarmusch but thought his last movie was poop. This one though, this one I thought was particularly good.
posted by From Bklyn at 6:19 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
Dead Man, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and The Limits of Control were my entry into the minimalist world that is Jim Jarmusch. In particular, I'd recommend starting with Ghost Dog as Forest Whitaker provides a spell-binding performance as a longer assassin. The soundtrack is also amazing as hell.
posted by Fizz at 6:28 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 6:28 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
This one though, this one I thought was particularly good.
I'll just leave this here.
posted by Elizabeth the Thirteenth at 6:32 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'll just leave this here.
posted by Elizabeth the Thirteenth at 6:32 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
I saw Stranger than Paradise many years after it came out. It made me want to be a filmmaker. That didn't quite work out, but my crush on Richard Edson has yet to abate.
posted by pxe2000 at 6:33 AM on April 7, 2014
posted by pxe2000 at 6:33 AM on April 7, 2014
What a crock.
You have no idea how much work it is to be a founding member of the Sons of Lee Marvin.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 6:44 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
You have no idea how much work it is to be a founding member of the Sons of Lee Marvin.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 6:44 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
I was lucky enough to see Only Lovers Left Alive on Valentines day this year, and it had a deep effect on me.
Hiddleston and Swinton are perfectly believable as lovers across the ages and the score is sublime.
It's the first Jamursch film I've seen and it makes me eager to try and get hold of his back catalogue and just marinate in his stylistic choices.
Broken Flowers is currently on Netflix so I shall try that.
A lot of negative reviews I have read of Only Lovers complain about the pace, and I think that is missing the point. The narrative is paced the way it is because the tale of the two lovers demands it.
As someone who has been a long time fan of all renditions and adaptations of the concept of vampires it was nice to see something different, in a adult film that doesn't spoon feed answers.
The film ends with some questions firmly unanswered - which is great because it feels like a 'slice of life' not the standard film fare of beginning-middle-definitive end.
I recommend anyone who enjoys film paced at slower that the usual frenetically edited Hollywood fare, should definitely give it a try.
posted by Faintdreams at 6:45 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
Hiddleston and Swinton are perfectly believable as lovers across the ages and the score is sublime.
It's the first Jamursch film I've seen and it makes me eager to try and get hold of his back catalogue and just marinate in his stylistic choices.
Broken Flowers is currently on Netflix so I shall try that.
A lot of negative reviews I have read of Only Lovers complain about the pace, and I think that is missing the point. The narrative is paced the way it is because the tale of the two lovers demands it.
As someone who has been a long time fan of all renditions and adaptations of the concept of vampires it was nice to see something different, in a adult film that doesn't spoon feed answers.
The film ends with some questions firmly unanswered - which is great because it feels like a 'slice of life' not the standard film fare of beginning-middle-definitive end.
I recommend anyone who enjoys film paced at slower that the usual frenetically edited Hollywood fare, should definitely give it a try.
posted by Faintdreams at 6:45 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
You don't have time, Jim? You have no children, you make a movie once every five years or so, and yet, oh you can't find the time to read a book or answer a couple of emails? What a crock.
You think he shits scripts out after his morning coffee or something?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:53 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
You think he shits scripts out after his morning coffee or something?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:53 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
The more reflective pace of Jarmusch films is one of the things I like about them.
I wonder if there's like an alert service where I can put films on watchlists and get notifications when they briefly flicker into the local market.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 7:01 AM on April 7, 2014
I wonder if there's like an alert service where I can put films on watchlists and get notifications when they briefly flicker into the local market.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 7:01 AM on April 7, 2014
Down By Law - - must-watch, life-list, absolute essential - - that is all.
posted by fairmettle at 7:27 AM on April 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by fairmettle at 7:27 AM on April 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
It's the first Jamursch film I've seen...
You should also try to catch Stranger then Paradise ("It's screaming Jay Hawkins and he's a wild man so bug off") which was his first and is pretty great.
posted by From Bklyn at 8:14 AM on April 7, 2014 [3 favorites]
You should also try to catch Stranger then Paradise ("It's screaming Jay Hawkins and he's a wild man so bug off") which was his first and is pretty great.
posted by From Bklyn at 8:14 AM on April 7, 2014 [3 favorites]
You have no children,
Wait, what? What exactly does not having kids have to do with his supposed accountability to his fans? People without children are not hollow shells of humans sitting around with no responsibilities waiting for something else to bring meaning into their colorless lives, you know; ffs.
posted by aught at 8:29 AM on April 7, 2014 [5 favorites]
Wait, what? What exactly does not having kids have to do with his supposed accountability to his fans? People without children are not hollow shells of humans sitting around with no responsibilities waiting for something else to bring meaning into their colorless lives, you know; ffs.
posted by aught at 8:29 AM on April 7, 2014 [5 favorites]
Okay, rant over, back to Jarmusch, one of my favorite directors. I have mixed feelings about this new one, given how immensely tired I've become of all things vampiric, but several of Jarmusch's films were absolutely essential pieces of my young adulthood.
The more reflective pace of Jarmusch films is one of the things I like about them.
I agree. It's really instructive to watch some well-reviewed recent movies, and then some classics from pre-1985 or so, or better, pre-1960!, and then some Jarmusch, and think about how drastically pacing has changed in contemporary films. It's not surprising some of my younger relatives find "old movies" unwatchable, given how they've been acclimated to breakneck pacing.
posted by aught at 8:34 AM on April 7, 2014
The more reflective pace of Jarmusch films is one of the things I like about them.
I agree. It's really instructive to watch some well-reviewed recent movies, and then some classics from pre-1985 or so, or better, pre-1960!, and then some Jarmusch, and think about how drastically pacing has changed in contemporary films. It's not surprising some of my younger relatives find "old movies" unwatchable, given how they've been acclimated to breakneck pacing.
posted by aught at 8:34 AM on April 7, 2014
Broken Flowers is currently on Netflix so I shall try that.
So are Ghost Dog and Dead Man, and the Neil Young concert documentary. (Also the more recent Limits of Control, which many folks didn't care for.) It's too bad his older work -- particularly Stranger Than Paradise, Mystery Train, and Night on Earth, aren't as well. They are interesting, original, great films.
posted by aught at 8:42 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
So are Ghost Dog and Dead Man, and the Neil Young concert documentary. (Also the more recent Limits of Control, which many folks didn't care for.) It's too bad his older work -- particularly Stranger Than Paradise, Mystery Train, and Night on Earth, aren't as well. They are interesting, original, great films.
posted by aught at 8:42 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
I just watched Ghost Dog again. I had forgotten how funny it is, especially in its representation of the mob in decline. The mob is ridiculously funny in this film.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 9:02 AM on April 7, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 9:02 AM on April 7, 2014 [4 favorites]
Nthing Dead Man as a particularly worthy piece to check out. I burned through two copies on VHS, one on laser disk, one on DVD, and it now has permanent residence on my Netflix queue. The Neil Young soundtrack also gets heavy rotation on the iPod.
It's interesting that his pacing gets criticized, as it's one of the things I love about his movies. I find it allows me time to really savor the tone and mood. There's an element that is felt, without being expressly stated visually or in the dialog. It's something I've rarely experienced in mainstream movies, but seems to appear more in foreign work. And I have to say, I rather like it, a lot.
posted by calamari kid at 10:24 AM on April 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
It's interesting that his pacing gets criticized, as it's one of the things I love about his movies. I find it allows me time to really savor the tone and mood. There's an element that is felt, without being expressly stated visually or in the dialog. It's something I've rarely experienced in mainstream movies, but seems to appear more in foreign work. And I have to say, I rather like it, a lot.
posted by calamari kid at 10:24 AM on April 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
I don't find the pacing of Dead Man to be that far off of some of the Eastwood directed westerns, or following it, the Coen True Grit. It's a deeply weird movie, simultaneously mythic in framing and brutal in deconstructing Western mythology as filthy, absurd, and senseless.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 11:27 AM on April 7, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 11:27 AM on April 7, 2014 [3 favorites]
I find Grand Budapest Hotel has a similar quality. Practically every scene contrasts perfectly framed shots of perfectly symmetrical rooms with the absurd vulgarity of various characters.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 1:09 PM on April 7, 2014
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 1:09 PM on April 7, 2014
CBrachyrhynchos: "I don't find the pacing of Dead Man to be that far off of some of the Eastwood directed westerns..."
I hadn't thought of that before, but I agree. I wonder how much of that is influenced by his work with Sergio Leone.
posted by calamari kid at 2:39 PM on April 7, 2014
I hadn't thought of that before, but I agree. I wonder how much of that is influenced by his work with Sergio Leone.
posted by calamari kid at 2:39 PM on April 7, 2014
"It's Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and he's a wild man, so bug off." is a perpetual catch-phrase in my house applicable to nearly any situation.
posted by desuetude at 10:04 PM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by desuetude at 10:04 PM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
Tilda Swinton Is Not Quite of This World
posted by homunculus at 12:41 AM on April 8, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by homunculus at 12:41 AM on April 8, 2014 [1 favorite]
I watched Night on Earth recently for the first time, with no foreknowledge of it. I enjoyed it. Then I did that thing I do after I see an unfamiliar movie for the first time, and looked up related meta-material, including the trailer. Then I watched it, and kept looking for different versions, because I was certain that it must have been one of those comical recut-a-trailer-as-a-different-genre things. But no, the official trailer really does present it as a wacky early 90s comedy. I have chosen to assume it was a deliberately ironic choice.
posted by rhiannonstone at 3:13 PM on April 8, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by rhiannonstone at 3:13 PM on April 8, 2014 [1 favorite]
You Can't Say No to Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton as Vampire Lovers
posted by homunculus at 2:11 PM on April 11, 2014
posted by homunculus at 2:11 PM on April 11, 2014
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I kissed a vampire before it was cool.
(I think you links may be stuffed, but I expect I will see this movie with its blood popsicles later this week).
posted by Mezentian at 5:01 AM on April 7, 2014