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Coffee And Cigarettes
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Jim Jarmusch
USA | 2003 | 96mins | 35mm | Colour
A film that has been 17 years in the making; it began
as a short skit for Saturday Night Live and evolved
into a comic series of 11 vignettes that revolve around
conversations between different characters as they
smoke cigarettes or sip coffee. They build on one
another to create a cumulative effect as the characters
discuss things as diverse as caffeine popsicles, Abbott
and Costello, Elvis conspiracy theories, the inventions
of Nikola Tesla, Paris in the twenties and the use
of nicotine as an insecticide all the while just sitting
around. As Jarmusch delves into the normal pace of
our world from an extraordinary angle, he shows just
how absorbing the obsessions, joys and addictions
of life can be. Located on sets that range from high-style
cafés to grungy graffiti-smeared grottoes,
the shorts are connected by the use of black-and-white
stock shot by a series of stellar cinematographers.
The eclectic ensemble cast ranges right across all
spectrums from comedians like Bill Murray and Stephen
Wright; to acting stars Cate Blanchett, Steve Buscemi
and Roberto Benigni; to musicians such as Iggy Pop,
Tom Waits and Jack White.
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D.E.B.S.
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Angela Robinson
USA | 2004 | 91mins | 35mm | Colour
A lesbian love story in teen-movie clothing; a bubbly,
sexy, fun-filled send-up of secret-agent espionage
movies, action thrillers, wild parties, and teen angst.
Hidden within the S.A.T. is a secret test that studies
not a girl's reading or mathematical skills, but her
potential to perform duties within the realm of espionage,
like deception, physical combat and if needed, murder.
Those who score high enough on this secret scale are
recruited to join a secret academy where they will
be trained to become spies in a paramilitary group.
To the outside world, the D.E.B.S. look like picture-perfect,
plaid-skirted, well-schooled young women. But really
they are America's first line of defence. Their arch
enemy? Lucy in the Sky, a sexy, diamond-bejewelled
bank robber so evil that no crime fighter has faced
her and lived to tell the tale - until the D.E.B.S.
are ordered to take her down. Amy, the poster girl
D.E.B., is captured by Lucy. The D.E.B.S. mount a
rescue mission, unaware that Amy is having an illicit
affair with Lucy and has staged her own kidnapping
so they can be together.
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Easy
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Jane Weinstock
USA | 2003 | 99mins | 35mm | Colour
Jamie is a single gal living in Los Angeles who makes
a living by giving creative names to consumer products.
Sexually and intellectually curious, after a series
of broken relationships and a tumultuous childhood,
she decides to be celibate for a bit to try to clear
her head and straighten out her life.
Then one day she meets two men: one, her mentor and
poet John, the other a comedy talk-show host, Mick.
To Jamie, both men seem to be in love with her, and
in order to find her true significant other, she decides
to give them an ultimatum.
Weinstock constructs a romantic, but not romanticised,
world, where sex is earthy and real, hair is unkempt,
social norms are gloriously turned on their heads,
and smart single girls have to work extra hard to
get what they want. Easy is a moving and delightful
foray into that most mysterious of all realms: contemporary
relationships.
Smart and funny, the twists are unexpected and, for
once, aromantic triangle is presented realistically
with the choice a woman must face being anything but
easy.
- Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter.
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