Coffee and Cigarettes
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Movie Reviews of Coffee and Cigarettes
Movie Review: pretty great
Summary: 4 Stars
I think this movie is great. Yeah, it's dry and it "isn't about anything", but I think it's hilarious and cool and awesome. I generaly like movies like this with no real "story", It's understandable that some people who bore easily wouldn't like this, but well I think its good.Movie Review: Original... BUT...
Summary: 4 Stars
DON"T WATCH IF YOU"RE TRYING to QUIT SMOKING. This is one film where the pleasure of smoking is made only too real.
Some of the vignettes are better than others, with a favorite being Tom and Iggy.
Movie Review: A near miss from Jim Jarmusch
Summary: 3 Stars
Over the last few years, Jim Jarmusch filmed a diverse group of actors and musicians meeting together over coffee and cigarettes--from America, Ivory Coast, England, and Australia, both known and somewhat obscure. The result is this film, a series of these pieces with varying degrees of success. Present here are comedian/filmmaker Steven Wright (not many people know he won an Oscar for best short film a few years back), actor/director Roberto Benigni, actor Bill Murray, actor/musician Tom Waits, musicians GZA and RZA from Wu Tang Clan, actor Isaach de Bankole, actor Taylor Mead, actress Cate Blanchett, musician Iggy Pop, actor Steve Buscemi, and actor Alfred Molina, among others. The above play themselves talking in groups of two or three, scripted and directed by Jarmusch with, one suspects, a great deal of latitude given to those being filmed as far as actual dialogue. Each piece has a title, displayed in standard title-card style preceding the piece. The hands-down most hilarious of the group is the meeting of Alfred Molina and fellow Brit Steve Coogan; this, like several other pieces here, is a wry comment on the price of celebrity fame. Here Molina is the modest one, trying to convince Coogan they are related to each other--cousins--which Coogan has a hard time dealing with, especially given the fact that a fan approaches Coogan asking for his autograph (he's a well known Brit TV personality) and has no knowledge of or interest in Molina.
Cate Blanchett does a great turn playing both herself and her fictitious cousin Shelly, obviously resentful of Cate's success. Bill Murray has a riotous meeting with Wu Tang Clan musicians GZA and RZA in which the latter convince Mr. Murray of the best alternative medicine cure for nicotine fits. And the last segment, with Taylor Mead and Bill Rice, is a masterfully poignant take on nostalgia and the value of memory, evoking "the most beautiful and saddest song in the world", written by Mahler.
Other segments, alas, are not as strong as the above. That with Steve Buacemi as an Elvis-obsessed waiter serving siblings Joie Lee and Cinque Lee (the latter is a filmmaker/actor; both are related to Spike Lee) does not have the punch it should; nor does what could have been a far stronger piece with Iggy Pop and Tom Waits, or an equally frustrating piece with siblings Meg and Jack White and a Tesla coil. Though these and a couple other individual pieces do not make the film a strong coherent work, each of them has at least moments of inspired or even revelatory interaction--brief dramatic epiphanies that come and go like shooting stars.
Jarmusch is unique among filmmakers and it's good we have him in our midst. My sense is that you take from him the best he can do, which is, as noted, truly inspired, and from that fashion a kind of compilation of pure Jarmusch. In the case of Coffee and Cigarettes, that would include the Molina-Coogan piece, and the Mead-Rice piece, and certainly bits from four or five of the other pieces.
An interesting film that any Jarmusch fan will definitely want to see and those who are tolerant of films that, like My Dinner with Andre, are nothing but conversation, will also probably want to see, and those who don't mind high spots and lulls in the same film will as well go to.
Movie Review: Three Stars For Three Talents, Especially Cate Blanchett
Summary: 3 Stars
Over the period of 18 years, Jim Jarmusch shot 11 short films, all black and white (his trademark), with a small number of actors for each segment. He then collected them in this package 'Coffee and Cigarettes' which you are seeing right now.
Because of the nature of the film(s), 'Coffee and Cigarettes' is literally a mixed bag. Some of them might interest you, but I'm afraid not many of them would manage to be interesting enough unless you are a die-hard fan of Jarmusch, which I am not. But, anyway, you see these people here:
[LIST OF SHORTS] Robert Benini & Steven Wright in 'Strange to Meet You'; Joie Lee (Spike's brother) & Cinque Lee (Spike' sister) in 'Twins'; Iggy Pop & Tom Waits in 'Somewhere in California'; Joe Rigarno & Vinny Vella & Vinny Vella Jr. in 'Those Things Kill Ya'; Renee French & E.J.Rodriguez in 'Renee'; Alex Descas & Isaach de Bankole in 'No Problem'; Cate Blanchett in 'Cousins'; Meg White & Jack White in 'Jack Shows Meg His Tesla Coil'; Alfred Molina & Steve Coogan in 'Cousins?'; GZA & RZA & Bill Murray in 'Delirium; 'Bill Rice & Taylor Mead in 'Champagne'.
Because of the space, I don't write about the contents, except that each film is very talky, in which people talk over the table, drinking coffee or smoking. But you may know Jarmusch's films are so-called "acquired taste," and this film is no exception. The characters exchange the casual dialogues that might or might not betray their hidden feelings toward each other, and at its best, they are amusing to listen to.
So what is the best? The prize goes to Cate Blanchett who plays herself and her fictional cousin, and you are allowed to see the latter's thinly-disguised envy toward the success of the other. The dual roles (you see the two Cates in one frame) are skillfully handled by Cate Blanchett, whom I started to admire more than ever after seeing her turn.
Another good segment is about Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan, both playing themselves. Coogan meets Molina, rather reluctantly at first. When he realizes that Molina's admiration for him, Coogan begins to talk to him condecendingly until one incident which suddenly changes their relations. Good acting, and nice touch of irony.
But I am afraid not many parts are as good as these two, and Bill Murray, ususally very engaging with his tired face, is really disappointing. Another bad thing is Jarmusch's approach, which becomes redundant as the film goes on. Some of the segments are plain dull, some half-baked, or even look like coming from a film school student.
So my three stars are based on Cate Blanchett, Steve Coogan, and underrated Alfred Molina. Thrre stars for three talents.
Movie Review: Something to watch until Jarmusch's next feature film...
Summary: 3 Stars
Coffee and Cigarettes is a collection of short films that filmmaker Jim Jarmusch has been making on and off for almost 20 years. Shot in between his feature films, these vignettes are a celebration of, well, coffee and cigarettes. Each story features characters drinking countless cups of coffee while smoking as they pontificate about anything and everything.
"Strange to Meet You" features a fantastic clash of comedic styles with the hyperactive Roberto Benigni (who has probably had too much coffee) and the laid-back, deadpanned Steven Wright. Both are given ample opportunity to showcase their particular styles with Wright doing a hilarious riff on coffee.
Another keeper is "Cousins?" with Alfred Molina trying to convince Steve Coogan that they are related. Molina gushes about Coogan's performance in 24 Hour Party People over tea while Coogan remains polite but uninterested in what Molina has to say until he gets an unexpected phone call from Spike Lee. The fun of this segment is watching these two veteran British actors interact with one another, their different styles of acting bouncing off each other. It makes one hope that Jarmusch will cast them together in a feature film someday.
Not all the segments work. Some, like "Renee" drag on for much too long and with no real point. However, this is quite often par for the course with films like this and like Jarmusch's other multi-storied efforts, Mystery Train and Night on Earth, there are segments that are clearly better than others.
There is a theatrical trailer.
"Tabletops" is a montage of overhead shots of table tops from the movie accompanied by instrumental music by the late-great Joe Strummer.
"Bill Murray Outtake" features a funny alternate ending to Murray's segment.
Finally, there is an "Interview with Taylor Mead," one of the actors in the film who talks about how Jarmusch works and the structure of the movie. It is the kind of cheeky, playful interview that you would expect from the filmmaker.
Coffee and Cigarettes continues Jarmusch's fascination with outsiders. The whole film seems to exist in the margins: short films with ideas that couldn't be put in any of his feature length films and so they exist in this collection. As a result, the movie feels a bit like a patchwork affair, as if Jarmusch was tying up some loose ends before he moved onto his next feature film. That being said, Coffee and Cigarettes is an often entertaining effort that Jarmusch fans should enjoy and will tide them over until his next movie is released.