WCBE 90.5 FM (NPR): "The Manchurian Candidate," "Metallica," "Gypsy 83"

WCBE #176-FINAL
“It’s Movie Time” with John DeSando, Clay Lowe, and special guest Johnny DiLoretto
“The Manchurian Candidate,” “Metallica,” “Gypsy 83”
Taped: 3:30 pm, July 28, 2004
Air Time: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, July 30, 2004
Streaming live on the web at http://www.wcbe.org.

Johnny DiLoretto
"The Manchurian Candidate" gives Michael Moore a run for his money . . .

John DeSando
"Metallica's" therapist makes sweet music. . .

Clay Lowe
"Gypsy 83” is at Studio 35 on her way back from New York to Sandusky . . .

HIT MUSIC THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle Antczak:
It's Movie Time in Mid-Ohio with John DeSando and Clay Lowe with today’s special guest, ABC/Fox Newscenter's Johnny DiLoretto . . .

MUSIC UP AND OUT

DeSando
I'm John DeSando.

Johnny DiLoretto
I'm Johnny DiLoretto.

Clay
And I'm Clay Lowe.

John DeSando ("The Manchurian Candidate")
If allegory is a story with multiple levels of meaning, then Jonathan Demme's "The Manchurian Candidate" (Remade from the 1962 version) is a classic example. First level is the story itself of soldiers around the time of Desert Storm brainwashed to perform deeds that ultimately aim at the president of the U.S.

Other levels include the hypnotic rhetoric of war making a nation of slaves to the mantra of their own parties' political agendas and corporate corruption symbolized by Manchurian Global, a stand-in for today's politically tied Halliburton.

"Manchurian Candidate" is great filmmaking even without connecting the allegorical dots. Liev Schreiber as the programmed congressman and VP candidate competes with Meryl Streep as his incest-leaning senator mom, just under the scenery-chewing threshold as a Hillary-Clinton power broker.

In the end, this version needs no comparison with its ancestor to be one of the best American films of the year and the best thriller and political non-documentary.

Johnny DiLoretto ("The Manchurian Candidate")
I'm a fan of the original Manchurian Candidate, John, Clay, so I regarded this remake with some skepticism. especially since the last time Jonathan Demme remade something it was “Charade” and starred Mark Walhberg in the Cary Grant role.

But Demme, working from the original Manchurian's conspiracy template, remains faithful while working in some new twists. Not necessarily better but sufficiently different. Schreiber makes a great, naive yet menacing Laurence Harvey replacement. and Denzel wisely opts not to echo but entirely reinvent Sinatra's Marco role. He makes his Marco nervous and unreliable, whereas Sinatra's was morose and bitter. Demme adds nifty directorial touches, too, like a bit of skull dust to suggest the delicate penetrability of a brainwasher's drill. And the sharp iris-up that severely brightens the screen everytime the Schreiber character gets his trance-command from his evil commanders. The original Manchurian was urgent, tapped into some raw fears about the cold war. The new Manchurian doesn't nearly carry the same paranoid kick, but it's a fun, cannily directed retread.

John DeSando ("Metallica")
The debate over whether or not Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" should be called a "documentary" won't be heard hovering around "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster" because it is a documentary, a seemingly accurate rendering of the rock group's long struggle to create its latest album, "St. Anger."

Although sex and drugs unfortunately play no role in the film and the groupie adulation is almost non present, making even the most out-of touch viewer skeptical, the battle of front man James Hetfield with alcohol and the group with dysfunction has the feel of authenticity.

By engaging "performance-enhancement coach" Phil Towle for $40,000 a month, Metallica puts its money where its mouth is-a serious effort to preserve the magic of a group that sold 90 million albums.

I still prefer classical and folk music, but I have to admit to a new interest in a musical genre I can share with my musician grandson Cody.

Clay Lowe ("Gypsy 83")
Well John and Johnny, if 70s music (with a little Bach in the background), was ever your thing, then you’ll find Todd Stephen’s road trip movie, “Gypsy 83,” is a four lane highway that will take you right into the heart of the Big Apple. And if you were from Sandusky, Ohio, you could understand even better why the two kids in this movie want to get out of town.

Named after Fleetwood Mac’s greatest hit, “Gypsy,” Sara Rue plays a young Photo Hut employee who comes to work everyday all decked out in black leggin’s and lace. But not to worry about her, because she’s adored by Clive, a young Goth lad who’s secretly gay, and drives by everyday because he’s in need of a mother.

So, whadda ya know, off they go, in Gypsy’s Trans Am, heading for New York in search of love and adventure. That the film’s moment of truth comes when they take on separate lovers at a highway rest stop along the way only further highlights their desperation.

“Gypsy 83” is a sweet-sad film in the tradition of “Welcome to the Doll House” and “Donny Darko” that will touch you deeply if you let it.

But take off your black duds, dudes, because it's grading time.

John
Hooray!

HIT DRUMS

John
"The Manchurian Candidate" earns an "A" for AMERICAN paranoia at its cinematic best . . .

Johnny
"The Manchurian Candidate" gets a solid "B" . . .

Clay
"The Manchurian Candidate" gets an “A” because America is not safer than it was before 9/11 . . .

John ("Metallica")
"Metallica" is an "A" because metal and music and group therapy make ANGST ART. . . .

Clay
"Gypsy 83" gets a “B” because lost souls need all the loving they can get . . .

John
Clay and Johnny, After seeing "Manchurian Candidate," I'm calling Cheney and Edwards to warn them about each other.

Then again, who will protect them from Jon Stewart and Bill Maher? Nobody's safe anymore! I'm outta here.

Johnny DiLoretto
John, I would have been disappointed if you had not overstated your enthusiasm. Good point, John.

Guys, thanks for the hospitality.

Clay

I'm outta here too, see you at the movies, folks.

HIT MUSIC

Richelle:
The Award Winning "It's Movie Time" with John DeSando and Clay Lowe is produced by Richelle Antczak in conjunction with 90.5 FM, WCBE in Columbus 106.7 FM in Newark, WYSO, etc. Special thanks to Johnny DiLoretto. Reviews on the web, etc., etc.

MUSIC UP AND OUT

Copyright 2004 by John DeSando & Clay Lowe

WCBE 90.5 FM (NPR): "It's Movie Time" - "The Bourne Supremacy," "Her Majesty," "I, Robot," "Catwoman

WCBE #175-FINAL
“It’s Movie Time”
"The Bourne Supremacy," “Her Majesty,”
“I, Robot,” “Catwoman”
Taped: 3:30 pm, July 21, 2004
Air Time: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, July 23, 2004
Streaming live on the web at www.wcbe.org.

John
"The Bourne Supremacy" bears the thriller formula in all its forms . . .

Clay
"Her Majesty" is an elegant tale set in wondrous New Zealand . . .

John
Will Smith is NOT the robot in "I, Robot" . . .

Clay
"Catwoman" is a scratching match between Halle Berry and Sharon Stone . . .

HIT MUSIC THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle:
“It's Movie Time” in Mid-Ohio with John DeSando and Clay Lowe . . .

MUSIC UP AND OUT

DeSando
I'm John DeSando

Clay
And I'm Clay Lowe.

John ("The Bourne Supremacy")
Clay, “The Bourne Supremacy” is not a memorable thriller, and Jason Bourne not even a remote sub for James Bond. But it is an enjoyable chase through Berlin and Moscow and other world cities. The car race through Moscow is exceptional, ending with chilling similarity to the location of Princess Diana's death.

Matt Damon was never born to be Bourne or any cinematic CIA assassin we’ve ever seen, but his ordinary good looks and intelligent intensity make him worth watching as he outwits hordes of other agents and the usual battalions of bumbling police. As in “Bourne Identity,” he still is working on his memory, trying to settle a score with foreign operatives who have framed him.

Brian Cox is always worth watching, and Franka Potente, of “Run Lola Run," in a brief role brings back memories of how a winning cinematic race is really run.

“Memento” this film is not; fun it is.

Clay ("De-Lovely"/”Her Majesty")
John, encouraged by your gay and witty review of Irwin Winkler's delightful "De-Lovely," which was also much fun, I return the favor by recommending to you another whiff of nostalgia from those days of our youth.

Lovingly written and directed by Mark Gordon, “Her Majesty” is also a charming period piece that successfully evokes the spirit of time and place. Lushly set in the nineteen fifties in a small town on the verdant plains of New Zealand, “Her Majesty” tells the simple story of a young 13-year-old girl (Sally Andrews) whose pop star idol is not Elvis the King, but Elizabeth the Queen. Oh, if only she dreams, the Queen would grace their small town with a visit. Such is the stuff that innocent dreams were made of in those early nineteen fifties.

Add to the mix a bratty brother, who’s jealous of his father’s affection for his sister. An old native woman, whose shack has become an eyesore on the neighborhood. And a women’s garden club that would have been the envy of the Stepford wives, and you end up with the makings of a tender, wise and truly human movie.

John ("I, Robot")
“Truly human” is the tricky premise of "I, Robot,” based on Isaac Asimov’s story, which packs every robot cliché into a year 2035 morality tale.

More robotic than “I, Robot’s” robots is Will Smith’s Del Spooner, guess what, a wise-talking, rebellious cop (Has he played that role before?) who is the only one to intuit the danger of the robotic rumblings.

“Sunny” is the new generation robot, not as overtly ambitious as his forebears and more human because of his resignation to decommissioning while exploring human emotions. The rogue robots talk about dominating humans for their own good, just as neocons offer preemption and occupation rather than debate.

The film adds nothing new to the genre but athletic robots and robotic leads, yet it at least continues the intriguing topic of what it means to be human. The caveat is, as Albert Schweitzer said, that “the advance to fully developed inhumanity is only a question of time.”

Clay ("Catwoman")
John, “Catwoman” is more feline than human because Halle Berry doesn’t learn what it means to be fully human until she dies and comes back as a cat. A good kitty, bad kitty kind of a movie, not since Kim Novak bewitched us in “Bell, Book, and Candle” has a movie star so successfully hissed, snarled and archingly purred her way into our hearts.

A classic morality tale, Berry’s character, Patience Phillips, is an insecure commercial artist who works for a huge cosmetics firm headed by a boorish and brutal CEO (French actor Lambert Wilson) whose office staff, including Patience, trembles with fear whenever he enters the room.

Like Spider-man’s passive Peter Parker, Halle Berry’s Patience Phillips, is also desperately in need of a drastic personality change. And, of course, true to comic book form: “Shazam!”, she gets it. So, watch out Mr. nasty CEO, you’re in for a clawing. And watch out for your recently jilted wife (Sharon Stone) because she’s out for blood too. Meeoowww.

But turn down your hip-hop disco party music, John, because it's grading time.

John
Hooray!

HIT DRUMS

John
"The Bourne Supremacy" earns a "B" because BOFFO car chases are in short supply . . .

Clay
"Her Majesty" is a “B” because it brings back the bucolic days of our youth . . .

John
"I, Robot" earns a "C" for its CLOYING COP . . .

Clay
"Catwoman" gets a “C” because the cat fights would have been better without the computer graphics . . .

John
Clay, assassins, robots, catbirds--I’m outta here to find true humans, like our fellow critics.

I'm outta here.

Clay
John, I don’t mean to be catty, but even you know that true critics don’t have human hearts. Hisssss. Hisssss.

I'm outta here too.

See you at the movies, folks.

HIT MUSIC

Richelle:
The Award Winning "It's Movie Time" with John DeSando and Clay Lowe is produced by Richelle Antczak in conjunction with 90.5 FM, WCBE in Columbus
106.7 FM in Newark, WYSO, etc. Reviews on the web, etc., etc.

MUSIC UP AND OUT

Copyright 2004 by John DeSando and Clay Lowe

WCBE 90.5 FM (NPR): "It's Movie Time" - "Before Sunset," "De-Lovely," "King Arthur"

“It’s Movie Time” with John DeSando & Clay Lowe
“Before Sunset,” “De-Lovely,” “King Arthur"
Taped: 3:30 pm, July 14, 2004
Air Time: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, July 16, 2004
Streaming live on the web at www.wcbe.org.

Clay
“Before Sunset” is a lover’s summer delight. . .

John
“De-Lovely” is the loveliest biopic in years . . .

Clay
“King Arthur” is a Dark Ages Arthurian adventure . . .

HIT MUSIC THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle:
It's Movie Time in Mid-Ohio with John DeSando and Clay Lowe . . .

MUSIC UP AND OUT

DeSando
I'm John DeSando

Clay
And I’m Clay Lowe.

John (“Before Sunset”)
Clay, remember these lines from "Coy Mistress"?

"But at my back I always hear/ Time's winged chariot hurrying near."

Clay
I remember several of your coy mistresses.

John
In "Before Sunset" Jesse (Ethan Hawke) meets Celine (Julie Delpy) in Paris 9 years after a one-night stand. His book tour is over; he has only one hour before he goes to the airport, an hour before the sunset of their relationship. As director Richard Linklater ( the first was called "Before Sunrise") tracks them through Paris streets renewing their passion, we are constantly aware Jesse must return to the airport. Marvel's "winged chariot" is ever present in "Before Sunset."

The drama is in the talk, whether it be about reincarnation, cable TV, or sex. The effortlessly natural conversation comes from the truth of the situation: These two loved each other for a brief moment and are capable of loving again. Because the film is in real time, the urgency is real and surprisingly dramatic.

This is Euro style American filmaking. I hope we can see how it all plays out in another 9 years when they reach their '40's.

Clay (“Before Sunset”)
John, seeing as you define a Euro-style film as a slow moving movie in which nothing happens, I’m not sure whether you loved “Before Sunset” or hated it.

John
I didn't say nothing happened, but I sure did love it.

Clay
Whatever. I loved it too, and if I’m able to avoid time’s “winged-arrows,” I hope to be able to enjoy hearing what those youngsters will be talking about when they’re in their ‘40’s. Ah, sweet Paris. The eternally romantic city of love where lovers seem to prefer talking about it as much as they do doing it.

In “Before Sunset” American filmmaker, Linklater, pays tribute to the French masters of the New Wave: Truffaut, Godard, Chabrol, but most of all, Erich Rohmer.

Jesse and Celine float through the avenues and boulevards of Paris, alive with the excitement of just being in each other’s presence. Like the lovers in Erich Rohmer’s “Rendezvous in Paris,” they talk continuously about their hopes and dreams, as well acknowledge together, the ineluctable fates that foreshadow the commingling of their passions.

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are lovely together, although I grieve for his loss of Uma.

John (“De-Lovely”)
Clay, I am pleased to report the biopic remains whole, ascending to a new level with Irwin Winkler's "De-Lovely," the life in song about Cole Porter and his wife, Linda.

I say "In song" because barely a moment is not accompanied by Porter's music so recognizable I can cite "Night and Day," "In the Still of the Night," "Anything Goes," "Let's Misbehave," and "True Love" without research help or the least provocation. Talented Kevin Kline plays Porter with 1920's tuxedoed charm embracing the true love of his life, Linda (Ashley Judd), and the many men who helped him fulfill his need to love everything.

Judd's portrayal accentuates her porcelain beauty, wry smile, and serene wisdom in the service of an unconditional love that cost her in embarrassment, extorted money, and time away from him.

Here is a story as much about real love as music.

Clay (“King Arthur”)
John, you want music, I’ll give you music. Thunderous drums, bellowing horns, the sounds of rumbling armies advancing and retreating. Antoine Fuqua’s “King Arthur” will stir up the blood of all those freedom loving young Americans who are willing to risk their lives for the love of country.

Like the rookie cop (Ethan Hawke, ironically) in Fuqua’s “Training Day,” the young Lancelot learns the lessons of the trade from the once and future king himself, King Arthur (Clive Owen), with a considerable amount of help from the lovely, half-naked, Guenevere who’s played by the spunky Keira Knightly

There are no white knights, no flowing plumes, no tournaments of jousting in Fuqua’s “King Arthur.” Nope, just hordes and hordes of furry Germanic mercenaries who fearlessly keep attacking the Britons who intend to take away their country as well as their freedom.

[The Angles, Saxons, Celts, Romans, whose land was it anyway?]

Supposedly set on the sheer rock cliffs of Cornwall and lower Wales, this cinematic version of King Arthur features freedom as a slogan, and the glories of war as a means of achievement.

But put away your sword, my noble partner, it’s grading time.

John
Hooray!

HIT DRUMS

John
"Before Sunset" earns an "A" because its ALL about AMOUR . . .

Clay
“Before Sunset” gets an “A” becomes it makes falling in love ALMOST ALLURING . . .

John (“De-Lovely)
“De-Lovely” earns an "A" because it paints "ALTERNATIVE" Amour" with "glAMOUR"

Clay
“King Arthur” gets a “B” because when it comes to BATTLES on ice, Eisenstein did it BETTER . . .

John
Clay, I'm in the mood. After "Jesse and Celine," “Cole and Linda,” and "Lancelot and Guenivere," how do you think "John and Zina" sounds?

Clay
Like the sounds of two arrows seeking their mark.

I’m outta here before they hit their target; see you at the movies, folks.

HIT MUSIC, ESTABLISH, THEN UNDER FOR

Richelle:
The Award Winning "It's Movie Time" with John DeSando and Clay Lowe is produced by Richelle Antczak in conjunction with 90.5 FM, WCBE in Columbus 106.7 FM in Newark, WYSO, etc. Reviews on the web, etc., etc.

MUSIC UP AND OUT

Copyright 2004 by John DeSando and Clay Lowe

COLUMBUS STATE UNIVERSITY-Over60Learning- "CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF THE SHORT FILM"

Columbus State University
http://over60learning.com/
Summer 2004
“Critical Appreciation of the Short Film"
Instructor: Clayton Lowe, Ph.D.

Location:
Wesley Glen Retirement Home
Ravine Room
5155 N. High Street

Reference text:
David Thomson, "The New Biographical Dictionary of Film,"
Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2002

Wednesday, July 14, 2004 (10am - Noon)

(I.) LANDMARKS OF EARLY FILM (DVD)
Realist: Lumiére Films 1895-1897
Cut 10: Exiting the Factory
Cut 11: Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat
Cut 12: Baby’s Lunch
Cut 14: The Sprinkler Sprinkle

Formative: Georges Melies (1902-14 min.)
Cut 25: “A Trip to the Moon”

Drama: Edwin S. Porter (1903-12 min.)
Cut 32: “The Great Train Robbery”

(II.) THE LOST FILMS OF LAUREL AND HARDY VOL. 1 (DVD)
Cut 1: “Big Business” (1929-21 min.)

(III.) THE FILMS OF HUMPHREY JENNINGS (DVD)
Cut 1: “London Can Take It” (1940-9 min.)
Cut 3: “Listen to Britain” (1942-18 min.)


Wednesday, July 21, 2004 (10 am - Noon)

(IV.) LOONEY TUNES GOLDEN COLLECTON (DVD)
Disc One
Cut 11: “Rabbit of Seville” (Chuck Jones, 1950-7 min.)
Disc Two
Cut 1: “Duck Amuck” (Chuck Jones, 1953-7 min.)

(V.) TWO SHORT FILMS BY FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT (DVD)
Cut 1: “Les Mistons” (François Truffaut, 1957-23 min.)

(VI.) THE TWILGHT ZONE VOL. 2 (DVD)
Cut 3: “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” (1963-30 min.)

(VII.) SHORT DREAMS (DVD)
Cut 1: “La Jetée” (Chris Marker, 1962-28 min.)

Wednesday, July 28, 2004 (10 am - Noon)

(VIII.) JOHN CLEESE: ROMANCE WITH A DOUBLE BASS (DVD)
Cut 1: “Romance with a Double Bass” (Robert Young, 1974-40 min.)
Based on Anton Chekov short story

(IX.) NEW YORK STORIES (DVD)
Cut 1: “Life Stories” (Martin Scorsese, 1989)

(X.) “THIRTY TWO SHORT FILMS ABOUT GLENN GOULD” (DVD)
Selected Cuts (François Girard, 1993-98 min. total running time)

(XI.) “CATCH THAT KID” (DVD)
Side One
Cut 3: “Gone Nutty”
Academy Award Nomination 2004: Best Short Film, Animation
(Director: Carlos Saldanha; Co-producer: John Donkin; 2002-5 min.)

WCBE 90.5 FM: "It's Movie Time" - "The Clearing," "Coffee & Cigarettes"

“It’s Movie Time” with John DeSando & Clay Lowe
“The Clearing,” “Coffee & Cigarettes"
Taped: 3:30 pm, July 7, 2004
Air Time: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, July 9, 2004
Streaming live on the web at www.wcbe.org.

Clay
“The Clearing” is a kidnapping misfire . . .

John
"Coffee & Cigarettes" should be banned in all public places. . . . . .

HIT MUSIC THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle:
It's Movie Time in Mid-Ohio with John DeSando and Clay Lowe . . .

MUSIC UP AND OUT

DeSando
I'm John DeSando

John (“The Clearing”)
Robert Redford is a brave actor: He allows multiple close-ups of his weathered and saggy 60 something face to play a kidnapped husband and father in “The Clearing.” ( At the same age, you look like Clay Akin next to him!)

"Clearing" is a garden-variety kidnap movie whose distinctions are its splendid photography by Denis Lenoir and actorly moments between Redford and his captor, played by Willem Dafoe.

As the “action” moves to the conclusion, a sentiment about the riches of love saves the film from imitating most made-for-TV movies: “If you love me, I have everything, ” Redford exclaims in the denouement. The couple’s observable worldly wealth is the litmus for their inner wealth, and the latter is the winner. Until the “clearing” of their life down to its essentials, they can't know what “everything” is.

In the end, “The Clearing” is not worth the ransom of a box office ticket if you’re interested in a creative kidnapping film.

Clay (“The Clearing”)
John, THE creative kidnapping film, was, of course, Neil Jordan’s “Crying Game.” Unfortunately in “The Clearing,” first time director Pieter Brugge fails to dramatically cash in on this genre despite his brilliant casting of Willem Dafoe, as captor and Robert Redford, as the captured. Why? Because great acting is never able to rise above mediocre direction and an inadequate script.

Dafoe’s “Arnold” is prissy, full of insecurities, and resentful that Redford’s wealthy Wayne Hayes has had it all. But instead of playing on these contrasts, Brugge has Redford’s character adopt a dismissive attitude toward him, leaving nowhere for their relationship to go.

The same can be said for the emotionally bereft relationship between Redford’s character and his wife (Helen Mirren). If no one in the movie cares about each other, and they don’t, why should we?

John (“Coffee & Cigarettes”)
Maybe because we’re film critics! Well, here’s a case of where I don’t care:

There may have been thoughtful, mirthful moments in civilization when coffee and cigarettes promoted excellent conversation; in Jim Jarmusch’s film of the same name there are 11 vignettes only a couple qualifying as literate or humorous. The series began in 1986 with Roberto Benigni and Steven Wright in a sketch called "Coffee & Cigarettes" (Here it’s "Strange to Meet You"), a silly affair about a man who goes to the dentist for a man he just met. It figures Benigni’s segment would be vapid. Yet most others are no better.

Except for Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan playing themselves in a vanity game of one-upmanship. The climactic cell phone call has a nice touch of irony.

Two characters played by Cate Blanchett, one a successful film actress and the other a trailer-trash cousin, meet at a posh LA hotel-- the acting is finely tuned to the theme of the distancing celebrity brings.

Note how much plot I just gave--obviously I found little else of interest.

Clay (“Coffee & Cigarettes”)
John, for a non-smoker who claims few vices, save those of the flesh, it’s understandable why “Coffee & Cigarettes” is not your cup of tea. Why would it be?

But shame on you for not noting that the brilliance of “Coffee & Cigarettes” lies in its mundane simplicity. Eleven different scenes. Eleven different casts of famous actors or musicians. Eleven different opportunities to watch these actors being captured on black & white film by Jim Jarmusch who allows them to reveal themselves to each other as well as to us.

So, doctor, remember what we learned from Chekov: whether in bar rooms, cafes, restaurants, or lobbies of hotels, most of what we do and say may seem witless and meaningless at the time, but when we finally add it all up, it’s the stuff out of which our lives have been made.

But enough talk, stub out your ciggie, and slurp down your final cup of coffee because it’s grading time.

John
Hooray!

HIT DRUMS

John
"The Clearing" earns a "B" for its botched but beautifully photographed story . . .

Clay
“The Clearing” deserves a “C” because it can’t hold a candle to “The Crying Game” . . .

John
"Coffee & Cigarettes" earns a "C" because even coffee and cigarettes can't make it interesting . . .

Clay
“Coffee & Cigarettes” gets a “B” because Jarmusch is the MASTER of BANALITY . . .

John
Clay, is it because you don’t drink coffee or smoke that you look better than Redford and still connect with women younger than yourself?

I'm outta here.

Clay
I do drink coffee, I used to smoke, and there are very few women out there who are NOT younger than I . . .

But thanks anyway, I’m outta here too.

See you at the movies, folks.

HIT MUSIC, ESTABLISH, THEN UNDER FOR

Richelle:
The Award Winning "It's Movie Time" with John DeSando and Clay Lowe is produced by Richelle Antczak in conjunction with 90.5 FM, WCBE in Columbus 106.7 FM in Newark, WYSO, etc. Reviews on the web, etc., etc.

MUSIC UP AND OUT

Copyright 2004 by John DeSando & Clay Lowe