I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) Jarmusch’s first, and by far most successful, stab at twisting the techniques of a well-established genre in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is an interesting and compelling little movie … For many film fans, this placement for Dead Man will appear criminally low, and it’s easy to see their viewpoint. 1991's Night on Earth brings together Winona Ryder, Gena Rowlands, Giancarlo Esposito, Rosie Perez, and Roberto Benigni (one of Jarmusch's most frequent collaborators) to play a series of international cab drivers and their fares, all connecting over the course of their short time together. The film wanders in the best way for a Jarmusch film, showing the couple living in a world where vampires are pop culture fodder rather than feared creatures and finding blood that satisfies their cravings is getting harder as humans pollute their bodies with strange new substances. The Limits of Control is a film which tries to meld populist plot devices (a quieter side of the criminal underworld with pulp coming out of its ears) and characters with more interior and contemplative actions (criminals with hearts-of-gold, looking for connection and meaning in their work), thus making for a messy, muddled, and often clumsily-executed film. I’ve always found it strange than the 1984 Cannes Film Festival awarded this film the Camera D’Or for best debut feature when Permanent Vacation had come out four years prior, but in hindsight, it makes perfect sense as this truly feels like the first movie with the distinctive auteur stamp. It’s only police woman Mindy Morrison (Chlöe Sevigny) who seems to reel in appropriate terror at the growing zombie population as news reports underscore that what’s happening in Centerville is happening all across the globe. Paterson is Jarmusch slowing down to a snail's pace and going as inward as possible while also telling the story of a Paterson, New Jersey bus driver (Adam Driver) who spends spare moments during his shift and evenings writing poetry. The most lighthearted of the anthology films and the easiest to unpack, each vignette offers small character studies and big existential questions - the preferred territories of Jarmusch. All Images Property of their Respective Owners. And with atypical Jarmusch aplomb and deadpan, our guides during the final days are drawn from the filmmaker’s repertoire; Steve Buscemi, Adam Driver, Bill Murray, Iggy Pop, RZA, Tilda Swinton, and Tom Waits amongst them. Only Lovers Left Alive is, to put it mildly, a triumph. Though never a prolific filmmaker––since 1980’s Permanent Vacation, he’s made some 15 films, 2 of which were documentaries (as well as a handful of music videos)––Jarmusch has always taken his time between projects, sometimes several years. Tokyo Story – Yasujiro Ozu, 1953. I agree with TheWrap's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and provide my consent to receive marketing communications from them. It brings together every part of Jarmusch's established self as a director, melding his interests in the esoteric with the existential with the macabre. The best rated item with Jim Jarmusch on Netflix is "Dead Man" and appeared on screen in 1995. Did you see that one? I’m not real analytical. The following list considers Jarmusch’s distinctive, delightful, and still growing body of work, and it comes from not just an aficionado, but a passionate fan (I went to film school in the 90s due to my love of Mystery Train which may well be my favorite film of all time). A deadpan delight that doubles as an obliquely entertaining art house diversion, Night on Earth is a colorful character study with several sharp turn surprises. In it, Jarmusch collects some of the Japanese and European directors that he referenced as memory during his time in Paris. And all his films are about that.” —Tom Waits. Jim Jarmusch’s Anti-MTV Music Videos for Talking Heads, Neil Young, Tom Waits & Big Audio Dynamite It brings together every part of Jarmusch's established self as… One story follows two Japanese teenagers who have a big love for Presley and wander around the city hoping to retrace his steps; another follows an Italian widow who makes an unexpected friend and encounters Presley's ghost, and the final story follows an Englishman hiding out in Memphis' dives bars as he waits out the trouble from a robbery gone bad. In my opinion, at least, the execution falls somewhat flat, and the poetic, ethereal tone attempted by the screenplay is never carried out to its fullest effect. If viewers want to dip their toes into the more still but very deep waters of Jarmusch's psyche, Paterson is the way to do it. Coupled with a great performance from Caleb Landry Jones, who also, appears in our film, among several other actors. As a result, he always felt like an immigrant in the teenage world. Not perfect, but thoroughly enjoyable.