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Stranger Than Paradise



With this breakout film, Jim Jarmusch established himself as one of the most exciting voices in the burgeoning independent-film scene, a road-movie poet with an affinity for Americana at its most offbeat. Jarmusch follows rootless Hungarian émigré Willie (John Lurie), his pal Eddie (Richard Edson), and his visiting sixteen-year-old cousin Eva (Eszter Balint) as they drift from New York's Lower East Side to the snowy expanses of Lake Erie and the drab beaches of Florida, always managing to make the least of wherever they end up. Structured as a series of master-shot vignettes etched in black and white by cinematographer Tom DiCillo, Stranger Than Paradise is a nonchalant masterpiece of deadpan comedy and perfectly calibrated minimalism.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• High-definition digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Jim Jarmusch, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Permanent Vacation (1980, 75 minutes), Jarmusch's first full-length feature, presented in a high-definition digital restoration supervised by the director
• Kino '84: Jim Jarmusch, a 1984 German television program featuring interviews with cast and crew from Stranger Than Paradise and Permanent Vacation
• Some Days in January, 1984, a behind-the-scenes Super 8 film by Tom Jarmusch
• U.S. and Japanese trailers
• PLUS: A booklet featuring Jarmusch's 1984 "Some Notes on Stranger Than Paradise," critics Geoff Andrew and J. Hoberman on Stranger Than Paradise, and author and critic Luc Sante on Permanent Vacation

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Night on Earth



Five cities. Five taxicabs. A multitude of strangers in the night. Jim Jarmusch assembled an extraordinary international cast of actors (including Gena Rowlands, Winona Ryder, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Beatrice Dalle, and Roberto Benigni) for this quintet of transitory tales of urban displacement and existential angst, all staged as encounters between cabbies and their fares. Spanning time zones, continents, and languages, Night on Earth winds its course through scenes of uproarious comedy, nocturnal poetry, and somber fatalism, set to a moody soundtrack by Tom Waits. Jarmusch's lovingly askew view of humanity from the passenger seat makes for one of his most charming and beloved films, a freewheeling showcase for the cosmopolitan range of his imagination.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• High-definition digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Jim Jarmusch, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Selected-scene commentary from 2007 featuring director of photography Frederick Elmes and location sound mixer Drew Kunin
• Q&A with Jarmusch from 2007, in which he responds to questions sent in by fans
• Belgian television interview with Jarmusch from 1992
• PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by authors and critics Thom Andersen, Paul Auster, Bernard Eisenschitz, Goffredo Fofi, and Peter von Bagh, and the lyrics to Tom Waits's original songs from the film

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souvenir wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2007 11:20 pmFrom the Criterion site:

"Ask Jim Jarmusch"
When we released Jim Jarmusch's Down by Law a few years back, the "Ask Jim" feature was so popular that we've decided to do it again. We are currently working on a special edition DVD of Jarmusch's Night on Earth, and we're wondering what questions about the film you would like to have answered on the DVD. We can't guarantee Jarmusch will answer all (or any) of your questions, but if you have some, please send them to: [email protected].

We will be accepting your questions through February 19. Please do not send any personal requests; they will not be answered. Please do send thoughtful and creative questions, as many as you like. Remember to include your full name, city, state, and country of residence. Thanks for participating and look out for the Night on Earth on DVD this fall!

right on. So lets hear it, what are you guys going to ask?

"Why not Dead Man instead of Night on Earth?"

Great question! Somehow, I don't think that's what they're looking for.

denti alligator wrote:"Why not Dead Man instead of Night on Earth?"

Well, considering the transfer on Miramax's Dead Man disc is pretty top notch, all we'd be looking for from a Criterion release is extras. So if we flood the "ask Jim Jarmusch" email address with nothing but Dead Man questions, we'll basically be getting Night on Earth with an extras disc for Dead Man.
(me, I'm just excited about Night on Earth)

denti alligator wrote:"Why not Dead Man instead of Night on Earth?"

because they couldn't get the rights to it.

Night On Earth is a superior film, as well. Dead Man is my least favorite Jarmusch. Since this is coming from Criterion, I guess I can skip ordering the JimJarmusch box set from Korea and finally ditch my crappy R2UK copy.

Yay, though I have no clue what to ask, and I really want to ask something...


Helmut the Cabdriver is my favorite segment, with Giancarlo Espostio. The one with the blind french girl freaked me out, though she was very hot.

That's very exciting news, the only Jarmusch film I have yet to see.

You all called me mad... but it happened. Wait no you didn't, no one called me mad. Anyways, I'm extremely excited about this release.

Now where is that She's Got to Have It?

I am very much excited for this news as Jarmusch is one of my favorite directors. I feel bankrupt at the moment as far as giving a question that will be good enough for me to ask and important to receive a possible answer from Jarmusch about. Either way it is great to see this get a release here finally.

Very excited, wonder if we'll ever see Permanent Vacation?

I wonder what happened to Stranger Than Paradise? I was really hoping Criterion was going to release this one this year.

Sony is releasing this.

I thought once the home video licenses for Jarmusch's early films (ie. Permanent Vacation, Stranger Than Paradise, Mystery Train) were up, the rights immediately reverted back to him.

Anyway, I hope we see them from Criterion rather than another bare bones release.

Didn't Criterion allude to releasing a bunch of movies from Jarmusch in 2007? There's still hope.

SncDthMnky wrote:right on. So lets hear it, what are you guys going to ask?

Jim, can you ask Pete Becker when we'll get some more Ozu?

Mr Pixies wrote:Helmut the Cabdriver is my favorite segment, with Giancarlo Espostio. The one with the blind french girl freaked me out, though she was very hot.

Beatrice Dalle. Very hot. Check her out--all of her and multiple times--in 32 degrees matins (aka Betty Blue).

skuhn8 wrote:

Mr Pixies wrote:The one with the blind french girl freaked me out, though she was very hot.

Beatrice Dalle. Very hot. Check her out--all of her and multiple times--in 32 degrees matins (aka Betty Blue).

Strong agreement. Not a very good movie, though.

porquenegar wrote:Strong agreement. Not a very good movie, though.

True. I usually just watch the first three minutes over and over again.

A google search allows for the goods alone, at no cost.

This is great news. I think I wrote Criterion around the time of Down by Law, asking about Night on Earth, and was told it's not in the plans. All I can say, is YES!

porquenegar wrote:

skuhn8 wrote:

Mr Pixies wrote:The one with the blind french girl freaked me out, though she was very hot.

Beatrice Dalle. Very hot. Check her out--all of her and multiple times--in 32 degrees matins (aka Betty Blue).

Strong agreement. Not a very good movie, though.

Oh! I've seen Betty Blue, I think she's hotter in Night On Earth....but I liked Betty Blue more. It is a very good movie.

fliggil wrote:Very excited, wonder if we'll ever see Permanent Vacation?

It would make sense to put it on somewhere as an extra akin to It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books but it definitely isn't a strong enough film to stand on its own (and I say this as someone who likes Jarmusch most of the time).

This is great news! Night on Earth was one of the first Jarmusch films I ever saw (right after Down By Law) and it made me want to check out everything else he had done.

The Roberto Benigni segment always made me laugh so much and he always seemed to work best for me in short, controlled bursts. Altho, Rosie Perez's motormouth and Winona Ryder's gum-chewing does get on my nerves but perhaps that was the point?

Ah, Helmut Lampshade finally makes it into the Criterion Collection.