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# Get jacked up on ‘Coffee and Cigarettes’
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/get-jacked-up-on-coffee-and-cigarettes/
- Published: 2004-05-14T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:18:28.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

You either get Jim Jarmusch or you don’t. Those who do will delight in this latest offering from the white-topped indie icon who conceived “Dead Man,” “Night on Earth” and “Down by Law.” A thoughtful collection of 11 deadpan comedic vignettes that Jarmusch wrote and began filming in 1986, “Coffee and Cigarettes” is a black and white gallimaufry of talent and abstraction. “Delirium” features Bill Murray as a caffeinated waiter who discusses the use of nicotine as an insecticide with GZA and RZA of the Wu Tang Clan. In “Jack Shows Meg His Tesla Coil,” rockers Jack and Meg White of The White Stripes give an impromptu light show to a perplexed kitchen worker (Cinque Lee). Cate Blanchett plays herself in the wry “Cousins,” in which she has a tense encounter with a jealous cousin (also played by Blanchett) at a film junket.

Other highlights include “Strange to Meet You” with Steven Wright and Roberto Benigni extolling the virtues of the bad habits emphasized in the title. This short was originally produced for “Saturday Night Live” in ’86 and became the catalyst for this long-term project. Lensed by legendary cinematographer and David Lynch fave, Frederick Elmes, “Coffee and Cigarettes: Somewhere in California,” stars Tom Waits and Iggy Pop and won the Golden Palm at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival as Best Short Film. Also onboard, as various oddballs, are Alfred Molina (“Spiderman II”), Vinny Vella (“Casino”) and percussionist E.J. Rodriguez. (Rated R for language. Running Time: 96 Minutes)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 14, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/051404.pdf?ref=smdp.com)