We're not gonna die. We can't die, Bendis. You know why? Because we are so very pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die.

Mal ,'Serenity'


Buffista Movies 4: Straight to Video  

A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.


DavidS - Sep 08, 2005 9:20:52 am PDT #7201 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

OK, I need a crash course in Jarmusch. What am I looking for with his movies? Why do I never seem to get what his point is, although I generally feel like I like the movie?

He described his first movie Stranger Than Paradise as The Honeymooners as directed by Ozu. I think both of those fit pretty well in describing his vibe. I think he likes to take the mundane and slow it down until moments are isolated and have a lot of breathing room around them. Sometimes that makes them feel strange, or comic or haunting.

Some of the best laughs in Stranger are just from the blackout cutaways. You really get seduced into his particular, languorous rhythms. I don't think he's aggressively quirky, but he likes actors who have a very strong screen presence so they can hold the screen during all that space he allows around them. He's got a great comic sense that's very dry, or just likes to back up a bit and let a performer go around the bend (like Benigni in Night On Earth with his fantastic comic rant). He's also very masterful at composing iconic imagery which really stays with you, and scenes which are very distinctive and haunting. Plus, he's got fantastic taste in music.


Frankenbuddha - Sep 08, 2005 9:23:40 am PDT #7202 of 10002
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"

(and, of course, the Screamin' Jay Hawkins sections, 'cause god-DAMN they are fantastic)

Oh yeah is that true. Also, we should not forget that although he wasn't the director or conceiver, I think FISHING WITH JOHN would never have happened without him.

What were your issues with DOWN BY LAW? I can see it being Benigni, but I actually like him in that movie. Watching Waits and Lurie do a slow burn at dealing with this weird little man cracks me up.


DavidS - Sep 08, 2005 9:29:53 am PDT #7203 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

I love Down by Law! Benigni is great in it, particularly that sweet slow dance he does with Nicoletta Braschi at the end. And Tom Waits getting his shit thrown out the window in New Orleans. And completely eliding over the actual escape. "I scream-uh, you scream-uh, we all scream-uh...." (Why didn't The Fall sample this for one of their songs?)


Calli - Sep 08, 2005 9:30:09 am PDT #7204 of 10002
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs

I like Dead Man a lot. But then I saw it at the height of my Johnny Depp obsession, so I may not be entirely objective about it.


Calli - Sep 08, 2005 9:30:16 am PDT #7205 of 10002
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs

bon bon - Sep 08, 2005 9:31:52 am PDT #7206 of 10002
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.

And he was hilarious shark fishing with John Lurie!

ETA:

And completely eliding over the actual escape.

Exactly. A movie about a jailbreak that shows everything but the jailbreak.


Hayden - Sep 08, 2005 9:33:55 am PDT #7207 of 10002
aka "The artist formerly known as Corwood Industries."

What were your issues with DOWN BY LAW? I can see it being Benigni, but I actually like him in that movie. Watching Waits and Lurie do a slow burn at dealing with this weird little man cracks me up.

My only issue was with the Nicoletta Braschi section. I think it was supposed to be like the German Farmgirl section of Le Grande Illusion but it seemed utterly without charm to me (I didn't even like the slow dance - I know, I'm heartless). And yeah, Waits and Lurie were fantastic dealing with Benigni.

I think FISHING WITH JOHN would never have happened without him

YEAH. (Edit - "The fishermen wake up early in the morning, covered in sores and boners.")

Hey, I forgot to answer your comments about The Last Wave, Frank. I'll scroll back.


Frankenbuddha - Sep 08, 2005 9:36:20 am PDT #7208 of 10002
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"

And Tom Waits getting his shit thrown out the window in New Orleans.

Heh, by a SUPREMELY pissed off Ellen Barkin. And he doesn't react until she gets to the shoes. He deserved to go to jail for not trying to stop her when she started on the vinyl - man's a DJ for cripessake.


Hayden - Sep 08, 2005 9:36:54 am PDT #7209 of 10002
aka "The artist formerly known as Corwood Industries."

always thought the last scene was ambiguous enough that it fit the rest of the movie

Well, I thought that he should have cut the water shots. The look on Chamberlain's face (and seriously, did he ever act in anything else he was in?) would have been fine on its own.


Frankenbuddha - Sep 08, 2005 9:39:14 am PDT #7210 of 10002
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"

YEAH. (Edit - "The fishermen wake up early in the morning, covered in sores and boners.")

Heh. My favorite narrator bit: The Andaman Sea...The Andaman Sea...Oogly Boogly...The Andaman Sea