Actor Tom Waits (1949)

Seven Psychopaths (2012) is a film, directed and co-produced by Martin McDonagh. Marty, an alcoholic writer in Los Angeles, is struggling with his new screenplay of the same name. Although he has the title, he lacks the characters to fill it. His best friend Billy, a struggling actor, makes money by kidnapping dogs for rewards. Hans, Billy’s partner-in-crime, is devoted to his religious beliefs and caring for his wife Myra who has cancer. While Billy wants to collaborate with Marty on the screenplay, he feels too embarrassed to ask directly. In hopes of persuading Marty, Billy shows him a newspaper article about ...

The American post-apocalyptic neo-Western action film, The Book of Eli (2010), directed by the Hughes Brothers and written by Gary Whitta, follows Eli as he travels on foot through the wasteland of the former United States thirty years after a nuclear holocaust. Despite his rugged appearance and sunglasses, Eli possesses remarkable survival and fighting skills. When he stumbles upon a town ruled by warlord Carnegie, who is searching for a certain book to control the people, Eli makes a deal with a store owner to recharge his portable music player. While at the town bar, ...

The fantasy film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), was directed and co-written by Terry Gilliam along with Charles McKeown. Heath Ledger’s performance in most of the movie was later replaced by Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell as different versions of his character in the dream world. This was Ledger’s final acting role and a dedication to him and ...

Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) is a compilation of short films and a feature-length anthology by renowned director Jim Jarmusch. Throughout the various segments, black and white tiles are consistently used as a visual element. This artistic choice reflects the underlying theme of opposing personalities, as each vignette portrays two individuals who have conflicting views but still maintain a cordial atmosphere while seated at a table together. Strange to Meet You. In the 1986 short film Coffee and Cigarettes, Roberto ...

Short Cuts (1993) is a comedy-drama directed by Robert Altman. The film follows the lives of several characters brought together by a neighborhood-wide medfly spray operation. Dr. Ralph Wyman and his wife, Marian, meet an unemployed salesman, Stuart Kane, and his wife Claire, who works as a party clown, at a concert featuring Zoe Trainer on cello. Spontaneously, they agree to have dinner together on Sunday. Meanwhile, Marian’s sister Sherri is married to Gene, a cheating cop who is having an affair with Betty Weathers. Coincidentally, Betty is in the process of divorcing one of the helicopter pilots involved in ...

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), an American vampire horror film, was produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and written by James V. Hart. It is based on Stoker’s classic 1897 novel of the same name. The story follows Vlad Dracula, who returns from a victorious battle against the Ottoman Empire in 1462 to find his beloved wife, Elisabeta, dead. He is told by a priest that her soul is condemned for committing suicide. Outraged, Vlad renounces Christianity and vows to avenge Elisabeta with the powers of ...

At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991) is an epic adventure drama directed by Héctor Babenco, based on Peter Matthiessen’s 1965 novel. Two explorers, Lewis Moon and Wolf, are stranded in Mãe de Deus (Portuguese for ‘Mother of God’), a remote outpost deep within the Brazilian Amazon River basin, when their plane runs out of fuel. The local police commander has his own agenda: he wants to relocate the nearby Niaruna tribe to avoid conflict with gold miners moving into the area and to appease the provincial government. To achieve this, he makes a deal ...