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, Rovi
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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carol Burnett, Mia Farrow, (more)
Film auteur Sylvester Stallone wrote, directed, and stars in this re-working of Rocky to fit an old-fashioned Hollywood formula, depicting three brothers from New York's Hell's Kitchen of the 1940s who want to claw their way out of poverty. Lee Canalito is the muscle-brained iceman Victor, and Armand Assante is the embittered, crippled war veteran Lenny. But the smooth-talking con man brother Cosmo (Sylvester Stallone), sees beef-cake Victor's fists as their ticket out of the slums. Cosmo, ever the manipulator, convinces the dull-witted Victor to participate in a series of bone-crunching wrestling matches as Kid Salami. Cosmo and Lenny exploit Victor's brute strength to grab the fast money on the wrestling circuit. But their climb to success is halted when the local gangster Stitch (Kevin Conway) puts up his malicious and dangerous wrestler Frankie the Thumper (Terry Funk) to fight against Kid Salami in a 22-round meat-pounder. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Kevin Conway, (more)
- 1980
The Skid Row derelicts that occupy most of the screen time in this uneven drama about the effects of alcohol addiction do nothing to gain an audience's sympathy. Sam (Donald Moffat) has kicked his habit and picked himself up out of the gutter only to find that no avenues are open to take him away from the gutter. Then he learns that his friend C.G. (Ralph Waite, also the director) is in trouble. As one sequence of aimless, drunken behavior follows another and the audience is regaled by C.G.'s commentaries delivered in an alcoholic stupor, it is hard to understand why Sam is teetering on the brink of sloshing around in this world again. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ralph Waite, Donald Moffat, (more)
Wolfen, a frightening horror movie based upon a novel by Whitley Strieber, concerns Detective Dewey Wilson (Albert Finney), who gets assigned to investigate the strange murder of a millionaire and his wife in a downtown park. Wilson and his friend, city coroner Whittington (Gregory Hines), aided by criminal psychologist Rebecca Neff (Diane Venora) connect the killing to those of several others, primarily winos, drug addicts and derelicts, all of whom seem to have been mutilated by wild animals. Their search leads them to a group of Native Americans led by Edward James Olmos who tell them of a legend of a superior species that once roamed the area, but now are living and hunting in the slums of New York. The film is engrossing, frightening and intelligent, with sensational special effects. Director Michael Wadleigh uses these effects to great advantage, frequently showing the movements of the characters through the eyes of the "Wolfen." This film is also the screen debut of Hines. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Albert Finney, Diane Venora, (more)
After completing Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola initially planned for his next picture to be an intimate romantic musical shot on a low budget in Las Vegas. Three years later, One from the Heart had mushroomed into a big-budget spectacular, shot on strikingly stylized sets at his newly opened Zoetrope Studio and costing a then-massive $27 million. The story concerns Hank (Frederick Forrest) and Franny (Terri Garr), a working-class couple living on the outskirts of Las Vegas; after five years together, their relationship has fallen into a rut, and they both set off in search of new partners. Hank meets up with Leila (Nastassia Kinski), a beautiful high-wire artist, and Franny has a fling with Ray (Raul Julia), a dashing actor-waiter. But Hank and Franny still love each other, and their search for romance brings them back into each other's arms. Singer/songwriter Tom Waits received an Oscar nomination for his widely acclaimed song score, performed with country crooner Crystal Gayle. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, (more)
Director Ron Mann has put together readings by 24 different poets (after filming a total of 60 writers reciting their works), and then has poet and author Charles Bukowski verbalize "everyman's" criticisms of poetry: it is boring, irrelevant, self-indulgent, and does not make much sense. Then he counterpoints these statements with dynamic, entertaining, and inspiring works by poets such as Allen Ginsberg, Leroi Jones, Anne Waldeman, Helen Adams and 20 others. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jim Carroll, Charles Bukowski, (more)
Teen rivalry in a small Southern town sets the stage for this dramatic interpretation of the novel by S.E. Hinton. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, The Outsiders tells the story of the ongoing conflict between the Greasers and the Socs in rural Oklahoma. C. Thomas Howell stars as Ponyboy, the youngest of three orphaned boys who pal around with the local hoods known as the Greasers. When Ponyboy and his friend (Ralph Macchio) get into a deadly confrontation one night, the two go on the run from the cops, and they grow up quickly and soon realize the insignificance of their petty posturing. Matt Dillon stars as the tough-as-nails leader of their group and Patrick Swayze appears as Ponyboy's oldest brother. A host of other 1980s Brat Pack celebs fill out the cast. Dillon later appeared in another Coppola adaption of a Hinton book, Rumble Fish. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi
- Starring:
- C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, (more)
One of two S.E. Hinton novels Francis Ford Coppola directed in 1983, Rumble Fish is a stylized black-and-white film about the death of gang culture in a rough-and-tumble town full of stunted youths. The central character is the strutting Rusty James (Matt Dillon), a foul-mouthed lunkhead clad in sweaty tank tops, who passes his time at the billiards hall waiting for "something" to happen in his life. That something might be the return of his brother, known only as the Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke), from exile in California. Charismatic and intelligent, the Motorcycle Boy once led numerous wide-eyed followers into battle, into the "rumbles" once commonplace in town. Rusty James wants to take over that role, but lacks the smarts necessary for leadership, nearly getting himself killed in an opening fight. The Motorcycle Boy stops the fight with equal parts efficiency and cool, and Rusty James seems delighted by his brother's return. But it quickly becomes clear that a local cop (William Smith) is still gunning for the Motorcycle Boy, waiting for him to slip up, even though the mysterious youth has developed a weary philosophy of life and a skeptical view of his former power. As the Motorcycle Boy seems more and more distant, lost in deaf and color-blind fugues, Rusty James gets into greater trouble, running afoul of his girlfriend (Diane Lane) and friends (Nicolas Cage, Christopher Penn, Vincent Spano), and seeming on the path to destruction. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, (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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Maruschka Detmers, Jacques Bonnaffé, (more)
Combining electric song and dance performances with drama (both on and off screen), Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club (1984) looks back to the 1920s-1930s peak of the legendary Harlem nightclub where only blacks performed and only whites could sit in the audience. Mixing historical figures with characters loosely based on actual people, Coppola and co-writers William Kennedy and The Godfather's Mario Puzo create a panorama of love, crime, and entertainment centered on the Club. Among them are cornet player Dixie Dwyer (Richard Gere, playing his own solos), who escapes psycho gangster "benefactor" Dutch Schultz (James Remar) for a George Raft-type Hollywood career as a gangster film star; Schultz's nubile mistress Vera Cicero (Diane Lane), who loves Dixie against her mercenary instincts; Cotton Club Mob owner Owney Madden (Bob Hoskins) and close associate Frenchy Demarge (Fred Gwynne); Vincent (Nicolas Cage), Dixie's no-good Mad Dog Coll-esque brother; Club tap star Sandman Williams (Gregory Hines), who woos ambitious light-skinned Club singer Lila Rose Oliver (Lonette McKee); and cameos by Charles "Honi" Coles and Cab Calloway impersonator Larry Marshall. Complementing the period story, Coppola evokes the style of '30s gangster movies and musicals through an array of old-fashioned devices like montages of headlines, songs and shoot-outs. Conceived by producer Robert Evans as his crowning achievement and directorial debut, Evans had to hand over the troubled production to Coppola, but the budget spiraled out of control as the script was repeatedly re-written throughout the chaotic shoot. By the time it was released, The Cotton Club's epic production story of power struggles, financial bloat, and even a murder overshadowed the "reunion" of The Godfather's creative team. Neither a Heaven's Gate-sized failure nor a wallet-saving hit like Coppola's Apocalypse Now, The Cotton Club got some favorable critical notices (although it drew fire for subordinating the African American stories). It did not, however, find a large enough audience to justify its expense and controversy, becoming another mark against 1970s "auteur" cinema in increasingly blockbuster-driven 1980s Hollywood. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, (more)
- 1985
This unflinching look at teens living on the streets of Seattle was one of the first documentaries to deal with the ever-growing plight of homelessness among young people. It began as a Life magazine article by photojournalist Mary Ellen Mark and writer Cheryl McCall; Mark and her husband, director Martin Bell, went back to Seattle to film the daily lives of the throwaways and runaways. The film is shot cinéma vérité style, with no narration to guide the viewer. Bell and Mark found a large group of subjects willing to talk about their lives of panhandling, prostitution, petty crime, and drugs. They're proud of their abilities to survive, but there's a strong undercurrent of wistfulness about their observations. There are glimpses into the family lives that drove these kids to the streets: an alcoholic mother, another woman who's mystified that her daughter won't come home now that the girl's stepfather has promised not to force sex on her, and a convict bullying his son during a jailhouse visit. The latter relationship clearly inspired Mark and Bell's next project, the feature American Heart, which also took place in Seattle. Mark published a book of her photographs under the title Streetwise in 1988. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi
- 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. ~ Rovi
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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Waits, John Lurie, (more)
- 1987
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One of the most distinctive vocalists in the history of rock and roll, Roy Orbison was in the midst of a well-deserved comeback in 1987 when he performed this special concert for television, beautifully filmed in black and white and featuring some famous friends helping him out. Orbison is joined onstage by Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, k.d. lang, Jackson Browne, Tom Waits, and T.Bone Burnett as he sings "Oh, Pretty Woman," "Only the Lonely," "It's Over," "Blue Bayou," "Crying," "In Dreams," "Running Scared," and ten other classics. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kevin J. O'Connor, Harris Yulin, (more)
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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, (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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Waits, Michael Blair, (more)
- 1988
Several comedy situations are strung together for this offbeat satire. An unassuming businesswoman is discovered to be the mastermind behind a terrorist organization, and a disgruntled waitress has looks that can kill, literally and not figuratively speaking. In another tacky passage, played as a reoccurring gag, an official is infected with the AIDS virus after suffering a bite from the businesswoman. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Herbert Achternbush, Gabi Geist, (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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Keith Carradine, Sally Kirkland, (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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Waits, Charlotte Coleman, (more)
Written and directed by the ever-unpredictable Jim Jarmusch, Mystery Train is comprised of three short anecdotes involving foreign tourists in Tennessee. Each story is set in a fleabag Memphis hotel which has been redressed as a "tribute" to Elvis Presley. Story one involves two Japanese tourists whose devotion to '50s American rock music blinds them to everything around them. Story two finds eternal victim Luisa (Nicoletta Braschi) sharing a room with stone-broke Dee Dee (Elizabeth Bracco) and having her problems solved by a spectral vision of the King. And story three offers the further misadventures of Dee Dee, her no-good boyfriend, and her dysfunctional family. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Masatoshi Nagase, Youki Kudoh, (more)
- 1990
- PG
Based on the novel by John Fante, this film follows the trials of the Bandini family as they try to struggle through hard times in 1920s Colorado. Out of work and in need of money, Svevo Bandini (Joe Mantegna) tries to scrounge up the money his family needs to make it through the winter, while putting up with his nasty mother-in-law (Renata Vanni), his anxious wife (Ornella Muti), and his two young boys. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joe Mantegna, Ornella Muti, (more)
The Two Jakes is the much-delayed and rather convoluted sequel to the 1975 classic Chinatown. Released in 1990 after an abortive stab at shooting that began in the mid-'80s, the film was the subject of a creative feud between its principals, star Jack Nicholson, producer Robert Evans, and screenwriter Robert Towne. Private eye Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is a middle-aged war hero, paunchy, snobbish about his golf game, and about to marry a lovely and much younger woman. Then a fleeting reference to a woman he once loved that he heard on a wire recording plunges him into a past he has tried to escape. It comes while he was spying on a philandering wife (Meg Tilly) and her paramour in her motel room for her husband, Jake Berman (Harvey Keitel). Then Berman shocks Gittes when he shoots his wife's lover. Gittes is doubly stunned when he learns that Berman was partners with the dead man in a subdivision that may contain huge oil deposits. So now Gittes wonders, was it justifiable homicide or murder? The answer lies in the wife (Madeleine Stowe) of the dead man, her shady oil baron friend (Richard Farnsworth), and in the past he has tried to avoid. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel, (more)
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