Although I own a copy of Criterion’s Blu-ray edition of Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man (1995), I still have not seen it. However, since I love Jarmusch’s cinema of effortless cool and originality, I’m so glad to have it. From the many screenshots and imagery, it looks like a striking acid western, one of full quirky characters and ingenious story.
Buy Dead ManThe synopsis has Johnny Depp as an accountant who is mistaken for the English writer William Blake and on the run after a murdering a man during a lover’s quarrel, who encounters a strange North American man named Nobody (Gary Farmer) who guides him into the spiritual world.
Understandably, Jarmusch is of an acquired taste, but he creates a type of cinema that seems from another time, which is a good thing because it gives you a variety of stories and innovative techniques. Dead Man, with a stacked cast along with Depp and Farmer including Robert Mitchum, Crispin Glover, Billy Bob Thronton, Lance Henriksen, Gabriel Bryne, John Hurt, Mili Avital, Iggy Pop, and Jared Harris, among others, seems to not be any exception. It also looks to have the kind of deadpan humor that Jarmusch is famous for as well. It sounds like a western like no other.
Since Jarmusch has an amazing relationship with Criterion, their edition of Dead Man sounds like another winner. This week they will release the film for the first time on 4K UHD and contain the same packed supplements as the Blu-ray, which include Q&A in which Jarmusch responds to questions sent in by fans; footage of Neil Young composing and performing the film’s score; interview with Farmer; readings of William Blake poems by members of the cast, including Avital, Alfred Molina, and Iggy Pop, accompanied by Jarmusch’s location-scouting photos; selected-scene audio commentary by production designer Bob Ziembicki and sound mixer Drew Kunin; deleted scenes; trailer; and color photos from the film’s production. There are also essays by film critic Amy Taubin and music journalist Ben Ratliff.
If you are into the brilliantly unorthodox world of Jarmusch or looking to upgrade your Blu-ray (assuming you have watched it or are interested in the film), then you will definitely benefit from this new 4K UHD release.
Other releases:
Bullet in the Head 4K (Shout Factory): John Woo’s exhilarating 1990 action thriller starring Hong Kong superstars Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Jacky Cheung, and Waise Lee as three lifelong best friends who attempt to escape their lives of poverty and crime, but their troubles get so much worse.
Plainclothes (Magnolia Pictures): A very sexy drama starring Tom Blyth as a promising undercover agent assigned to lure and arrest gay men ignores orders when he falls hard for his new target (Russell Tovey).
Shelby Oaks (Decal Releasing): YouTuber Chris Stuckmann’s divisive but intriguing horror outing about a woman’s obsessive search for her vanished sister that leads to the realization that the imaginary demon from their past may not be that imaginary.
The Door in the Floor (Kino): Film legends Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger star as an affluent couple who lives are ruined after the unexpected deaths of both their sons. After they hire an assistant (who has an eerily resemblance to one of their sons), their lives are even more transformed to the point of no return.
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (Magnolia Pictures): A documentary about the late but charismatic singer (who died unexpectedly in 1997) that reveals his genius through exclusive footage, voice messages, and accounts from those who knew him the most. Read Darcy Staniforth’s review.
Diciannove (Oscilloscope Pictures): A coming-of-age drama about a curious student on a journey of self-discovery, learning that the path, no matter how unfamiliar or daunting, is no less exciting.
Roots: The Complete Original Series (Warner): A standard release of the revolutionary and Emmy-winning TV miniseries (based on the best-selling Alex Haley novel) about Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton in his incredible debut), a young man taken from Africa and enslaved in America in 1767.
