Coffee and Cigarettes

Jarmusch’s films all depend to some extent on the appeal of watching ineffably cool people doing very little, but none more than this patchwork quilt of caffeine-fueled conversations, hangout sessions, and chance encounters. Iggy Pop and Tom Waits make hilariously stilted small talk in a roadside diner. Alfred Molina reveals to an aloof, weirded-out Steve Coogan that the two of them are cousins. The Wu-Tang Clan’s GZA and RZA, nonchalantly drinking from a gilded teapot in yet another diner, find themselves being waited on by Bill Murray, taken aback by some of his odder habits (lighting his cigarettes with a blowtorch). One episode, starring the White Stripes, is aptly titled “Jack Shows Meg His Tesla Coil.” Other segments (there are 11 in total) feature Cate Blanchett, Steve Buscemi, Alex Descas, Roberto Benigni, and Isaach De Bankolé. Together, they constitute one of Jarmusch’s funniest and most delightful movies, at once a celebration and deconstruction of its performers’ various public personas.

Screening with:

The Garage Tapes
Jim Jarmusch | 12m
Three short films featuring Tom Waits.