The Actor, Tom Waits

I post this, a compilation of scenes from Short Cuts featuring Tom Waits and Lily Tomlin, for a reason.

First, the clip:



Then, the reason. I have seen two movies in theaters the past week or so.

Wandered down to Chattanooga a Sunday or so ago to catch The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. A neat movie that I was a little wary of. I'm generally all about Terry Gilliam movies. Generally, they're visually stimulating like few other directors' work. And they usually leave a whisper of themselves in your brain, leaving you thinking about the flick long after you've seen it. Parnassus had a couple things working against it. Tideland and Brothers Grimm were both off, for me. Both seemed like too much style, too little substance. And, given the circumstances underwhich the flick was completed, having to re-write and re-film certain scenes after the death of Heath Ledger, I felt like the potential for a mess was pretty high.

I was pleasantly surprised, though. I thought the movie turned out well, and I'd put it into the same category as Baron Munchausen or Time Bandits in terms of fun flicks.

Tom Waits plays an integral role in the flick...antagonist/playmate of the titular Dr. Parnassus, and it's a role that Waits revels (wallows?) in. You can see he's having tremendous fun playing Mr. Nick. I give the movie a thumbs up, as I say...it's not on par with 12 Monkeys, Fear and Loathing or Brazil, but it's a trip, and definitely worth seeing, especially for Tom Waits snatching pretty much every scene he's in.

Then, today, wandered out to see Book of Eli. Another fun flick. And considering my mood's been something akin to Post-Apocalyptic lately, this hits the spot. Lots of normal stuff you'd find in a flick about a world that's moved on, with a couple nice shout outs to Mad Max & A Boy and His Dog.

Plus? Tom Waits shows up as the operator of a trading post of sorts.

He doesn't do a whole lot in the flick...and I honestly should probably have written this little part of the mini-review first...

But I never claimed to be all that bright.