Blame it on Weather

I know it's silly to blame anything on weather, but I decided not to go to Jarocin for the Animal Collective concert because it's cold today and it may rain. Also, just the thought of coming back to Poznań in an overcrowded train at 3 at night only solidifies my weather-based reluctance, even more so when I think of teaching a class at 1.30 tomorrow.

I watched "Coffee and Cigarettes" by Jim Jarmusch last night. A friend of mine couldn't stand it and went to bed after one or two episodes. I understand him. Jarmusch is the kind of director you have to get used to first, with his gritty realism, awkward dialogues and action which is running in place or, at best, moving on at its own leisurely pace.

I remember first seeing "Night on Earth" years ago as a teenager in a TV programme "Kocham kino" on Polish television, where two film experts, Grażyna Torbicka and Tadeusz Sobolewski, presented what they regarded as the classics of the international cinematography. Just the memory of two episodes, one with the spectacular Roberto Benigni, who also stars in "Coffee and Cigarettes", as a taxi driver confiding his sexual adventures to a priest, and the Helsinki episode, which shaped my idea of what Finland was like, with its heavy drinking and the northern melancholy, makes me light at heart.

What will I remember "Coffee and Cigarettes" for? Definitely for the episode with Steve Coogan, a British celebrity comedian famous for his (unamusing for me) character Alan Partridge, seeing his fortunes reverse in a talk over tea with another actor, Alfred Molina, a great role by the way, who discovers, to Coogan's disinterest, that they are related. Other than that, I enjoyed watching Iggy Pop make polite, if clumsy, conversation with Tom Waits in a cheap diner, with Iggy visibly in the defensive as Tom takes control of the exchange and is plainly more self-confident and outspoken. And finally, two grumpy, old farts of Italian descent arguing about how bad smoking and drinking coffee are were a good laugh, too.

Not a bad flick at all.