Monday, April 19, 2004
Well I got a complaint about not posting my thoughts on Young Adam, Ewan McGregor's latest flick, rated NC-17, so here is a shout-out to my homeboy Rick. I have to admit that I really only went to see it because of the rating and the fact that Ewan's in it and I happen to know he has no problems getting nekkid on camera *blush* but you know, whatever. At least I'm honest about it. There was not a whole lot of plot to speak of, but that wasn't really the point of the film. It was a quietly atmospheric character study focused on a shiftless young Glasgow barge-worker. The cinematography was beautiful, and Ewan's acting was great, although it consisted mostly of looking inscrutable and having sordid sexual encounters. Tilda Swinton, though, was incredible as the bargeman's wife, toughened by her hard life but still wanting to be wanted. Anyway I enjoyed it, but I'd only recommend it if you'd want to see it for the same reasons I did, namely because OMFG Ewan McGregor is so hot. (ahem)
And then there's tonight's little adventure, wherein I went to see the first screening of Coffee and Cigarettes, the latest work by Jim Jarmusch (Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, Dead Man, Down by Law, etc.). He's been doing these little vignettes, which are each about five minutes long and take place over, yes, coffee and cigarettes, since Saturday Night Live funded the first one in 1986. There are 11 of them now ("enough songs for an album," said Jim), and they've been collected in this movie. It's odd pairings of various semi-famous people, basically. The conversations were scripted, but there's a lot of improvisation also. It's an absolutely brilliant thing, much like Jarmusch's earlier film, Out of the Blue. One of my favorite scenes was with Cate Blanchett and her "cousin," who I found out was also actually Cate. The acting in that scene is just, wow. You'd think they split Cate in two and had her talk to herself, the performances are so nuanced and responsive. The original SNL-funded one, with Steven Wright and Roberto Benigni, is also great. "I like to drink a lot of coffee before I go to bed," says Wright. "It makes me dream faster." And then there was a Q-and-A, which I have to say was a lot cooler than the one with Kevin Smith. Jim Jarmusch fans are just cooler than Kevin Smith fans, I guess. Maybe it's because he's not as well known. Anyway Jim's hilarious, and he just seems like the neatest person ever. I need to go see more of his movies now.
Ooh, and at the end, Jim was like "I'm going to embarrass some people in the audience now: Wim Wenders, (some guy I'd never heard of), and Eddie Izzard are here tonight," and everybody started peering around excitedly. Now, I don't know what Wim Wenders or that other guy look like, but as I was walking out I totally passed like 5 feet from Eddie Izzard. Woo! I'm the coolest kid on my block.
Current Music: nada
Current Mood: la, la, la
And then there's tonight's little adventure, wherein I went to see the first screening of Coffee and Cigarettes, the latest work by Jim Jarmusch (Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, Dead Man, Down by Law, etc.). He's been doing these little vignettes, which are each about five minutes long and take place over, yes, coffee and cigarettes, since Saturday Night Live funded the first one in 1986. There are 11 of them now ("enough songs for an album," said Jim), and they've been collected in this movie. It's odd pairings of various semi-famous people, basically. The conversations were scripted, but there's a lot of improvisation also. It's an absolutely brilliant thing, much like Jarmusch's earlier film, Out of the Blue. One of my favorite scenes was with Cate Blanchett and her "cousin," who I found out was also actually Cate. The acting in that scene is just, wow. You'd think they split Cate in two and had her talk to herself, the performances are so nuanced and responsive. The original SNL-funded one, with Steven Wright and Roberto Benigni, is also great. "I like to drink a lot of coffee before I go to bed," says Wright. "It makes me dream faster." And then there was a Q-and-A, which I have to say was a lot cooler than the one with Kevin Smith. Jim Jarmusch fans are just cooler than Kevin Smith fans, I guess. Maybe it's because he's not as well known. Anyway Jim's hilarious, and he just seems like the neatest person ever. I need to go see more of his movies now.
Ooh, and at the end, Jim was like "I'm going to embarrass some people in the audience now: Wim Wenders, (some guy I'd never heard of), and Eddie Izzard are here tonight," and everybody started peering around excitedly. Now, I don't know what Wim Wenders or that other guy look like, but as I was walking out I totally passed like 5 feet from Eddie Izzard. Woo! I'm the coolest kid on my block.
Current Music: nada
Current Mood: la, la, la
