An American music documentary directed by Jim Jarmusch, starring Iggy Pop.
The story of Iggy Pop and The Stooges.
If I see one more rock n roll documentary... They all claim that "this band was the greatest and most influential". It's like watching the same movie over and over with different casts, like Night of the Living Dead (1968, 1990, 2006, 2012, 2015). There is not much I can say here that I have not already said about the countless other rock n roll documentaries I've watched. I rate this poor because I'm just so tired of it.
A French German Japanese American crime film directed by Jim Jarmusch, starring Forest Whitaker, Henry Silva and Isaach de Bankole.
Mobsters decide to kill one of their assassins who follows samurai traditions and communicates with them only through notes on pigeons.
Out of the Jarmusch I've seen so far, this is not his best work. It seemed too new, too Hollywood and too violent. I'm not really one for guns anyway and this guy practiced with a sword that never got used. Also, if he's such an honorable samurai, why does he go around stealing cars like it doesn't matter? The video had lots more fast editing and close shots than I would have liked and the mobster's daughter spoke 1 line of audible dialogue and like 5 lines inaudible. Overall, not really what I like to watch. I would advise Jarmusch fans to skip it and I rate it tolerable.
An American crime film directed by Jim Jarmusch, starring Tom Waits and Roberto Benigni.
2 low level criminals are setup by their fellow hoods to be captured and are imprisoned. Another man accidentally kills a pursuer after leaving a card game gone wrong. The 3 of them escape from prison together.
This was absolutely the slowest jailbreak movie ever made. Most of the time, it was just the 3 main characters and no one else. They held my interest without anything else. The premise was pretty standard, but lead to a more complex plot. What I liked about the plot was showing multiple characters before prison. The video was all in black and white, but looked good. There was a scene that was said to be night in dialogue, but the video did not support this. I'm rating it good. This is a must have for Jarmusch fans.
An American western directed by Jim Jarmusch, starring Johnny Depp, Lance Henriksen, Crispin Glover, Iggy Pop, Billy Bob Thornton, Jared Harris, Gabriel Byrne, John Hurt, Alfred Molina and Robert Mitchum.
An urban man goes to a rural town where he was promised a job, only to be denied. He spends the night with a woman whose husband comes home in the morning. A gunfight ensues and they are all shot. The urban man then steals a horse and wanders around the wilderness with a Native American called Nobody. The husband's father has meanwhile sent bounty hunters and ordered wanted posters to be posted.
This was my second time watching this and the ending left me wondering about when the main character dies. The video was all in black and white and the only thing that puzzled me slightly was the main character's POV without glasses was still in sharp focus. The plot was a little sparse, but even the minor characters were memorable. I don't write here to drag this out into forced over-analysis. I rate it adequate. You should really watch other Jim Jarmusch films.
A French American drama directed by Jim Jarmusch, starring Bill Murray, Jeffrey Wright, Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Tilda Swinton, Julie Deply, Mark Webber, Chloe Sevigny and Christian McDonald.
A man receives a letter with no return address which says that his son is looking for him. His neighbor decides that the mystery must be solved and sends the man on a quest to visit the women he had relationships with.
This follows what I think of as Jarmusch's style by being a series of vignettes. I'm just saying this because of Night on Earth (1991) and Coffee and Cigarettes (2003). I have seen more of his work than that (Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) Mystery Train (1989)) and will be watching more. His style doesn't jump out and grab you, it invites you in. This seemed a little more tragic than his other works, but the pacing was dead on. The video looked good, but the audio was a little low. I really liked the daughter at the first house, but won't spoil it. I'm rating this good for being by a good director, having an all-star cast, presented as vignettes and the slow pacing. You should watch it.
1940
An American adventure directed by Hal Roach, starring Victor Mature, Carole Landis and Lon Chaney Jr.
1966
A British adventure directed by Don Chaffey, starring Raquel Welch and Robert Brown.
An exiled caveman from one tribe meets a woman from another tribe and they bring the tribes together.
These were as similar as they were different. The newer one looked better in every way. 1940 had clean shaven cavemen and 1966 had all bearded. The special effects looked better and more convincing in 1966, but anyone who knows about the techniques used will appreciate the cleverness of 1940 much more. I was really impressed by the level of compositing and shot framing to make the monsters large. The plots are mostly similar and scene by scene, but there are some major differences like the ending. I don't want to over-analyze here, but I'm sure someone has done so elsewhere. I think they are equal, but would never watch them back-to-back again. I rate them adequate. If you're into primitive special effects, check it out.
An American docufiction directed by Lionel Rogosin.
Several poor men in New York City are addicted to alcohol. A new guy shows up, gets smashed and then leaves.
This is true fucking grit. When your cast gets arrested and returns with shaves and haircuts because you're filming the actual thing, that's raw. Even rawer yet was the sterno drinking scene. Apparently, yellow listerine was not a thing back then. I can't speak very highly of plot or characters, but the camera-work was amazing for having to be hidden most of the time. Other shots were done at night with no dedicated lighting. I would put this almost on par with Annoying (2015) which was just slightly grittier. I rate this awesome for having the balls to really show life in the gutter.
