Posterized: Jim Jarmusch

by Nathaniel R

The Ohio-born indie auteur Jim Jarmusch first made waves in the cinematic landscape with his black and white sophomore feature Stranger Than Paradise in the mid 80s . It was a big critical success and arthouse sleeper hit. He was suddenly the "cool" new director. His career since then has been, like most critical darling careers, full of small waves of audience popularity versus indifference, sometimes not in relation to the critical fates of whichever film arrived. For example, Paterson (2016), his most recent picture prior to the brand new zombie comedy The Dead Don't Die (opening today) was a huge critical succcess in its year, but grossed just $2 million at the US box office.

Through it all critics have mostly been loyal and actors with more eclectic taste have become his regulars: Tilda Swinton, Tom Waits, and Bill Murray have all made 4 pictures with him.

How many of his pictures have you seen? The posters are after the jump...

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Podcast: "Silence" and "20th Century Women"

Nick and Nathaniel and special guest Chris Feil (who you read hear at TFE at least twice a week) talk new flicks in our post Golden Globe/DGA nominations world.

Index (43 minutes)
00:01 Globe & DGA intro...
04:00 Martin Scorsese's Silence 
18:31 Extremely wandering conversation alert: Silence, 20th Century Women, Paterson, Rogue One, new movie trailers...
27:00 The brilliant 20th Century Women
39:50 Aquarius, Demon, Pervert Park

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? Are you planning to watch Aquarius on Netflix?

Silence & 20th Century Women

The Furniture: A Last-Minute FYC for the Home Décor of "Paterson" and "Jackie"

"The Furniture" is our weekly series on Production Design. Here's Daniel Walber...

Oscar balloting has begun! As Nathaniel explained last week, AMPAS branches have received their nomination ballots. They’re due on the 13th. The Academy’s production designers occasionally make offbeat choices, though they don’t do it as often as the costume designers or the makeup artists. So here’s a final nudge on behalf of the best work of the year.

I’ve already written about three of the five movies I’d nominate, were I in charge. The crazed fandom of the apartment in Florence Foster Jenkins is a work of precision and inspiration. So is the heavily curtained metaphor that is the mansion in The Childhood of a Leader. The hotel in The Lobster, meanwhile, is as perfectly sterile as the above settings are feverish. All three would be a thrilling surprise on nomination morning.

My other two have become less present in the awards conversation than I’d guessed...

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The Oscar Week: Denzel, Adam, and Issey

 In this weekly feature from Murtada we follow Oscar contender appearances and interviews.

This week was quiet for Oscar buzz. Most of the stars are in hibernation, since the big push comes next week when Oscar balloting opens. Still best actor hopefuls Adam Driver and Denzel Washington and one possible Supporting Actor dark horse were out promoting their late releases.

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Most Coveted Things from 2016 Films

Year in Review. Every afternoon, a new wrap-up. Today Murtada with a wish list...

What did you covet the most on the big or small screen this year? Was it a costume, a prop, or even a place or living thing? Here is my personal list in case you haven't yet completed your Christmas shopping.

Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard’s white linen costumes in Allied
Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard play a Canadian and a French spy respectively, who meet in Casablanca. They take an excursion to the desert outside the city right before completing their very dangerous assignment. They practise shooting with firearms, they bond, they fall in lust. All the while wearing gorgeous white linen on khakis. It must be the gorgeous desert. Or maybe the longing. Or could be just how breezy and stylish these linen costumes are.

Lunchboxes, records, and living things after the jump...

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