COFFEE AND CIGARETTES (DVD)

Director: Jim Jarmusch (Stranger than Paradise, Mystery Train, more)
Starring: ensemble cast in vignettes

Ah, Jim Jarmusch. So true to his art. So doggedly condescending to mainstream audiences. So dedicated to offbeat independent filmmaking. So full of crap. Coffee and Cigarettes is a short series of vignettes, little conversations over coffee ... and cigarettes. Many are pointedly useless absurdities masquerading as art, such as the Jack and Meg White discussing Nikola Tesla. One is simply great, with Steve Coogan discovering he is the distant cousin of Alfred Molina, but that greatness is entirely due to the fantastic presence of the two actors. Mostly this film was an expensive and unfulfilling ego project. Although that sounds bad, it's not really meant to be. Many times ego projects are originally derived from noble goals. This movie fails, but at least it tried to do something, even if that something was nothing more than "something different".

Standouts: An attempt at a new kind of movie. Vignettes of My Dinner with Andre.
Blowouts: A failed attempt at a new kind of movie.

Grade: C+