Tom Waits Movies
Gravel-voiced, versatile singer/songwriter Tom Waits has composed and played music in a variety of films, ranging from Francis Ford Coppola's One From the Heart (1982) to Jean-Luc Godard's First Name: Carmen (1983). On or off camera, Waits has been a colorful, quirky character noted for his surreal humor. Many of his songs reflect his interest in movies with either direct references or sly musical suggestions. During the late '70s, he became more directly involved in film, composing songs and even playing piano onscreen in Paradise Alley (1978). In the early '80s, Waits teamed up with Coppola, first with the Greek choir-like narration for One From the Heart and then as an actor in several of his films. At first, Waits had a one-line role as Buck Merrill in The Outsiders (1983). Coppola next gave Waits a bigger part as Benny in Rumble Fish (1983), and then dressed the rangy singer in a tuxedo and cast him as the MC in The Cotton Club (1984).Although he has often been offered the roles of nutcases and psychos in commercial films, Waits has preferred to work in independent productions such as Down by Law (1986). He entered mainstream film with 1987's offbeat drama Ironweed, and played himself in the concert film Big Time (1988), in which he performed his stage musical Frank's Wild Years and played the roles of a bored box-office manager, usher, and lighting grip. Waits also appeared in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). He continued to make acting a regular element of his career throughout the 90s and 2000s with supporting roles in films like 12 Monkeys (1995) and Mystery Men (1999), and playing himself in a vignette featuring fellow musician Iggy Pop in Jim Jarmuche's Coffee and Cigarettes (2003). Waits then went on to appear in the movie Domino (2005), which he also provided music for, and Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
An intense film about time travel, this sci-fi entry was directed by Terry Gilliam, a member of the comedy troupe Monty Python. The film stars Bruce Willis as James Cole, a prisoner of the state in the year 2035 who can earn parole if he agrees to travel back in time and thwart a devastating plague. The virus has wiped out most of the Earth's population and the remainder live underground because the air is poisonous. Returning to the year 1990, six years before the start of the plague, Cole is soon imprisoned in a psychiatric facility because his warnings sound like mad ravings. There he meets a scientist named Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe) and Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), the mad son of an eminent virologist (Christopher Plummer). Cole is returned by the authorities to the year 2035, and finally ends up at his intended destination in 1996. He kidnaps Dr. Railly in order to enlist her help in his quest. Cole discovers graffiti by an apparent animal rights group called the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, but as he delves into the mystery, he hears voices, loses his bearings, and doubts his own sanity. He must figure out if Goines, who seems to be a raving lunatic, holds the key to the puzzle. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, (more)
Robert Altman's over-frenetic satire on American marriage rituals and hypocrisy concerns the upper-crust marriage between Dino Corelli (Desi Arnaz Jr.) and Muffin Brenner (Amy Stryker). As the film begins, a senile bishop forgets the lines to the wedding ceremony and Nettie Sloan (the groom's grandmother) drops dead in an upstairs bedroom. Nettie's death is not disclosed to the two families who converge at the wedding reception. As the two sets of in-laws slam into each other, the bride and groom disappear in the ensuing whirlwind of chaos as both extended families vie for sexual favors and try to keep hidden never-discussed family secrets. Regina Corelli (Nina Van Pallandt) is revealed to be a drug addict, while Luigi, is endeavoring unsuccessfully to keep his Mafia connections under wraps. Meanwhile, the bride's family, although more down to earth, are revealed to be no better. Tulip Brenner (Carol Burnett) begins to flirt with one of the wedding guests, Mackenzie Goddard (Pat McCormick), while Snooks Brenner (Paul Dooley) acts like a lout and drinks heavily. And flying around the edges of the action like Tinkerbell is Buffy Brenner, the Brenners' youngest daughter, who is pregnant by the groom. As other characters bang into each other -- sexual degenerates, hard-nosed radicals, raw-boned emotional wrecks -- the wedding reception heads for its inevitable nuclear explosion. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Burnett, Paul Dooley, (more)
Filmmaker Katharina Otto-Bernstein offers a detailed look into the world of avant-garde theater icon Robert Wilson, whose visionary works and collaborations with such varied artists as Philip Glass, Allen Ginsberg, and Tom Waits have established him as one of the world's most respected theater artists. From his early childhood in Waco, TX, to his influential work with the Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds to his internationally acclaimed "Einstein on the Beach" collaboration with Glass, his ill-fated CIVIL WarS performance, and the Black Rider collaboration with Waits that would later vindicate the failure of CIVIL WarS, Otto-Bernstein takes a linear look at Wilson's life and career while also offering informative interviews with the artist's many collaborators and, of course, extensive conversations with the man himself. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wilson, Suzanne Wilson, (more)
- 1996
- Add Art City, Vol. 1: Making It in Manhattan to QueueAdd Art City, Vol. 1: Making It in Manhattan to top of Queue
The makers of Art City, Vol. 1: Making It in Manhattan have interviewed a number of artists and art experts in order to illuminate what makes for a successful career in one of the most influential cities for artists in the entire world. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Art City, Vol. 2: Simplicity documents the studios and work habits of numerous modern artists including Robert Williams, Joan Snyder, and Richard Tuttle. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Tuttle, Agnes Martin, (more)
- 1991
In a remote branch of the Brazilian Amazon, Americans Lewis (Tom Berenger) and Wolf (Tom Waits) are stranded when their plane runs out of gas. They are kept company by an evangelist missionary (John Lithgow) and his wife (Darryl Hannah). The preacher and his followers want to preach to the primitive Niaruna Indians, while others are interested in the Niaruna for more diabolical reasons-specifically, business concerns that would like to claim the Indians' land for development. The local police chief cuts a deal with the mercenaries Lewis and Wolf: if they will agree to bomb the Niarunas out of existence, they will be paid enough money to leave the country. Instead, Lewis, part Native American himself,aligns himself with the Niarunas. From this moment on, he and the tribe are doomed. A long-standing pet project of producer Saul Zaentz, At Play in the Fields of the Lord was adapted from the best-selling novel by Peter Matthiesen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Berenger, Aidan Quinn, (more)
- 1989
Johnny Fortune (Damon Lowry) may be no good to anyone, but he's not particularly mean about it. After all, he left his girlfriend behind because the men from the casino were after him for stealing money, not her. He flees to England and becomes part of a small-time Punch and Judy act. His job is to advertise the show by parading around in a bear suit. This is okay by him, as the costume is a pretty effective hiding place. Eventually the casino's hired thugs track him down, and things heat up a bunch. It's lucky for him that the puppet show is run by a couple of really resourceful people (Tom Waits and Julia Britton who have become his friends. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Waits, Charlotte Coleman, (more)
Actor Arliss Howard made his debut as a director with this emotional drama adapted from a handful of short stories by Larry Brown. Barlow (Arliss Howard) is a deeply troubled Vietnam veteran who has been chasing a career as a writer, with little success; when he isn't struggling with his typewriter, he's usually drinking, and his wild mood swings and alcoholic fits of rage have driven away his wife Marilyn (Debra Winger), who has taken their son Alan (Zach Moody) and daughter Alisha (Olivia Kersey) with her. Barlow would like to see his children, but Marilyn refuses to allow it until he catches up on his alimony and child support payments; one of Barlow's few loyal friends, Monroe (Paul LeMat), a buddy from his Army days, is able to get him work as a house painter. With steady paychecks, Barlow is finally able to clear his debts to Marilyn, but she refuses to acknowledge that he's made much progress in turning his life around, and he doesn't get much more emotional support from his ailing mother (Angie Dickinson) or his friend Velma (Rosanna Arquette). Big Bad Love marked the second screen pairing for husband-and-wife Arliss Howard and Debra Winger; it was also Winger's first screen appearance in six years. Acclaimed songwriter Tom Waits composed the film's original score. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arliss Howard, Debra Winger, (more)
- 1988
- PG
You've seen gravelly-voice actor/singer Tom Waits in meaty dramatic roles in such films as The Fisher King (1989), At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). And you've heard his compositions on the soundtracks of films like Divine Madness (1980), Wolfen (1981) and Let's Get Lost (1988). The 1988 documentary Big Time combines the vocal and visual Tom Waits, endeavoring to juxtapose glimpses of Waits in concert with staged dramatic scenes, allegedly inspired by his songs. Waits himself assumes several wacky characterizations during the fictional sequences. The "real" scenes in Big Time were filmed during a Waits concert at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Waits, Michael Blair, (more)
Based on Bram Stoker's classic 1897 novel, this film from Francis Ford Coppola and screenwriter James Victor Hart offers a full-blooded portrait of the immortal Transylvanian vampire. The major departure from Stoker is one of motivation as Count Dracula (Gary Oldman) is motivated more by romance than by bloodlust. He punctures the necks as a means of avenging the death of his wife in the 15th century, and when he comes to London, it is specifically to meet heroine Mina Harker (Winona Ryder), the living image of his late wife (Ryder plays a dual role, as do several of her costars). Anthony Hopkins is obsessed vampire hunter Van Helsing, while Keanu Reeves takes on the role of Jonathan Harker, and Tom Waits plays bug-eating Renfield. Bram Stoker's Dracula was the winner of three Academy Awards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, (more)
- 1987
- R
After promising a rock star he would find a particular guitar-maker to procure his valuable products, a musician takes a road trip in search of the legend. On his way, he meets various people who have--at one time or another-- been involved with the elusive guru. After he finally meets the man, he realizes that there is much more to one's art than financial reward. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin J. O'Connor, Harris Yulin, (more)
Jim Jarmusch's black-and-white feature Coffee and Cigarettes contains three vignettes originally released as short films along with separate yet somewhat related sketches. As the title suggests, most of the vignettes involve famous people smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee. The first, "Coffee and Cigarettes," is a six-minute short from 1986 starring Stephen Wright and Roberto Benigni. The 1989 installment, "Memphis Version," stars Steve Buscemi, Joie Lee, and Cinqué Lee. The award-winning 1993 segment, "Somewhere in California," stars musicians Iggy Pop and Tom Waits. The remaining sketches include Cate Blanchett performing a duel role, a conversation with Bill Murray and members of the Wu-Tang Clan, and Alfred Molina and British television actor Steve Coogan as themselves. In its full-length version form, Coffee and Cigarettes was shown at the 2003 Venice Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roberto Benigni, Steven Wright, (more)
- 1989
- R
The leader of a group of misfits (Keith Carradine), his girlfriend (Sally Kirkland) and a hit man (Tom Waits!) hatch a bizarre plan to smuggle stolen jewels across the Mexican/American border by means of implanting them in a racehorse surgically. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keith Carradine, Sally Kirkland, (more)
- 1986
This musical collection of IRS Records is library of video clips, interviews and footage from America's and Britain's innovative video and music artists. ~ All Movie Guide
Tim Robbins' second directorial effort (after the political satire Bob Roberts) was this drama based on a true story, which explores the issue of capital punishment. Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) is a nun and teacher living in rural Louisiana. One day, she receives a letter from Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn), who is scheduled to be executed soon for the rape and murder of two teenagers. After meeting Matthew, Sister Helen agrees to serve as spiritual counselor and see what she can do to stay the execution. However, Matthew's claims of innocence seem shaky at best, and it's clear he's a reprehensible, amoral racist. When it becomes obvious that Matthew's sentence will be carried out, Sister Helen offers what comfort she can to Matthew, but also tries to guide him to an open admission of the extent of his crimes and an acceptance of divine forgiveness, telling him "I want the last face you see to be the face of love." Susan Sarandon won an Oscar for her performance as Sister Prejean, and Sean Penn was similarly nominated for Best Actor as Matthew. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, (more)
The (mostly) true story of a Hollywood princess turned bounty hunter is told in this witty action-drama from director Tony Scott. Domino Harvey (Keira Knightley) was the daughter of famed actor Laurence Harvey (played by Jesse Pate) who passed on when Domino was only eight years old. Domino's mother, former fashion model Paulene Stone (played by Jacqueline Bisset and renamed (%Sophie Wynn) in the film), strove to give her daughter a comfortable life, but Domino was naturally rebellious, and after a contentious stint in boarding school, a brief career as a runway model, and a fling with the fashion business, Domino was looking for something more exciting. She found it when he met Ed Mosbey (Mickey Rourke), an ex-con who had gone on to a successful career as a "bail recovery agent" -- in short, a bounty hunter. Ed also taught others how to join his profession, and Domino took his course and joined his team, along with Choco (Edgar Ramirez), a headstrong bail agent who took an immediate fancy to Domino. Domino, Ed, and Choco became a successful team -- successful enough that television producer Mark Heiss (Christopher Walken) asked them to become the subject of a television reality series. However, it was after the cameras were turned on Domino that her life got truly crazy. Bail bondsman Claremont Williams III (Delroy Lindo) had hired Domino and her friends for a risky case, and soon Domino, Ed, and Choco were chasing missing men and money while landing in hot water with both the FBI and the Mafia. Domino was loosely based on Domino Harvey's real life story; sadly her personal life was as reckless as her career, and Domino died as a result of drug abuse on June 27, 2005, after this film was completed. The film also features Lucy Liu, Mena Suvari, Macy Gray, and Dabney Coleman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keira Knightley, Mickey Rourke, (more)
Jim Jarmusch follows his groundbreaking Stranger Than Paradise with another rambling, character-driven film with a twisted sense of humor. Set in a seedy New Orleans summer, Down By Law details the meeting of three unlikely convicts and their just as unlikely escape. Zack (Tom Waits) is an out-of-work DJ who is accused of murder when a body is found in the trunk of a stolen car he was hired to drive across town. Jack (John Lurie) is a pimp set up for a fall by a competitor. These two sullen souls are locked in a cell with Roberto (Roberto Benigni), a cheerful Italian immigrant who happens to have killed a man. The chemistry between the members of this loosely bound "team" is fascinating: Zack and Jack are forever laughing at Roberto, yet they rely on his energy and good will to escape their dire situation. The three mismatched miscreants eventually bust out of jail and head into the Louisiana bayous. Tired and hungry, they separate to search for food: Waits goes one way, Lurie another, and the frightened Benigni decides to risk stepping into a ramshackle diner. Somehow or other, he winds up in the arms of gorgeous Italian girl Nicoletta Braschi -- and is even able to provide new clothes and escape routes for his astonished comrades! ~ John Voorhees, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Waits, John Lurie, (more)
East of Sunset stars Emily Stiles and Jimmy Wayne Farley as a couple that is going through difficult times and find that their love for each other helps ease the pain. She has recently lost her father, and he is a struggling artist with a drug addiction. When he finally begins to get some fame, thanks in part to work inspired by the woman, his appetite for drugs blossoms. The film utilizes many songs by Tom Waits performed by a variety of artists. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emily Stiles, Jimmy Wayne Farley, (more)
- 1983
First Name: Carmen tells the parallel stories of a quartet rehearsing Beethoven and a group of young people robbing a bank, supposedly to get the funds to make a film. Director Jean-Luc Godard attempts to make a film that resembles a string quartet, each of whose parts serves an abstract whole. The film is a meditation on the difficulties of youth in the 1980s, the relations between cinema and capital, and how to film the human body. Godard fills the film with carefully composed shots of bodies playing music, making love, and acting violently. His attention to bodies in First Name: Carmen makes the film's images very close to sculptures, particularly those of Rodin. The film's engagement with painting and sculpture continues Godard's ongoing investigation of the relationships between cinema and other arts ~ Louis Schwartz, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maruschka Detmers, Jacques Bonnaffé, (more)
- 1992
Musician and independent film personality John Lurie hardly seems like the sort of guy who would host a TV show about fishing. But then again, Fishing With John was hardly a typical nature program; Lurie and guests such as Tom Waits, Dennis Hopper, and Matt Dillon take to the water in search of adventure but usually end up with something else altogether. Discover how to catch fish using cheese and a pistol with Jim Jarmusch, let Tom Waits teach you new ways to store your catch, and build an ice fishing shanty with Willem Dafoe in these surreal, dryly witty outdoor escapades. Fishing With John aired in the U.S. on the Independent Film Channel. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2005
- Add From the Big Apple to the Big Easy: The Concert for New Orleans to QueueAdd From the Big Apple to the Big Easy: The Concert for New Orleans to top of Queue
The biggest names in modern music all come together on one stage for this landmark concert organized to raise funds for the relief and rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Katrina and featuring special appearances by a number of New Orleans legends. Featured performers include Aaron Neville, Simon & Garfunkel, Jimmy Buffet, John Fogerty, Elvis Costello, Dave Matthews, Irma Thomas, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Lenny Kravitz. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2008
Animator Bill Plympton offers a moral fable with his own surreal touch in this dark comedy. Tough guy Angel wakes up one morning to discover his body has begun to match his name -- a pair of wings has sprouted from his back. Angel doesn't care to have wings and is annoyed by the ridicule they inspire among his drinking buddies, so he cuts them off, only to find they quickly grow back. Even worse, Angel learns the wings have their own moral compass, and while he's a bitter and self-centered man, the wings are forcing him to be benevolent in a way that hardly suits him. Hoping a professional can help, Angel has a surgeon amputate the wings, but when Bart, the bartender at Angel's favorite watering hole, makes trouble for a woman who is a regular at the tavern, the wings return again and the barkeep realizes he can use Angel's talents to his advantage, leading to a war of wills between two corrupt men and one mysterious force for good. Angels And Idiots tells its story without dialogue but does include songs from such artists as Tom Waits, Moby, Pink Martini and Nicole Renaud. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Based on the William Kennedy novel of the same name Ironweed is set in the waning years of the Depression. Jack Nicholson plays Francis Phelan, a washed-up ballplayer (a onetime infielder for the Washington Senators) who deserted his family back in the 1910s when he accidentally killed his infant son by dropping him. Since that time, Phelan has been a shabby barfly, living from drink to drink; he spends his days palling around with Rudy (Tom Waits), with whom he works a motley series of jobs in exchange for a place to lay his head and an occasional jug of wine. Wandering into his hometown of Albany, New York, Phelan blearily seeks out his girlfriend and erstwhile drinking companion of nine years, Helen Archer (Meryl Streep), who has begun prostituting herself for drink and lodging. The two derelicts touch base in a mission managed by minister James Gammon, and later in Fred Gwynne's squalid gin mill. Over the next few days, Phelan takes a few minor jobs to support his habit, while his mind wavers between past and present. Eventually, a chance for a reconciliation with his wife (Carroll Baker) emerges. Directed by Hector Babenco following his enormous success with Kiss of the Spider Woman , Ironweed netted Oscar nominations for Nicholson and Streep. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, (more)
