"Fishing with John" (1991) 
John Lurie goes fishing with Hollywood types with Luried effects
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The first time I saw this was in a video class during college and I remember really enjoying it. Imagine my dismay then, when my in-laws reported that it was boring. In fact, due to this selection along with a few others I have been temporarily suspended from putting movies into the famiy queue. But this is either here nor there. The important thing to note is that these videos are slow paced, much like fishing. However, they are also sprinkled with nuggets of gold. The narrator has some great lines, there is some good scenery and John often has two or three funny interactions with his guest.
The Jamaica/Tom Waits episode is widely held up as the best. This one does have some good lines, a crazy tug boat and some funny songs made up by Waits on the fly. But I think they are all enjoyable. The Jim Jarmusch episode has my favorite narration and also conjures nostalgia for Dana Plays. I also ended up likeing the Ice fishing with Willem Dafoe, even though it got a little wierd. Dafoe came across really well, who knew he was such a sweet heart. I probably liked the Dennis Hopper episodes the least even though they have the best scenery. Maybe I just don’t like Hopper very much.
While I don’t think these are for everyone, I do think they are enjoyable if you don’t mind a slow pace. In fact, in a reflective conversation with my father-in-law, I was able to get him to agree that there were some pretty good moments. Yet I am still suspended from putting more movies in the queue.
philistines! i say they‘re suspended!
the defoe and waits’ ones were my favorites. it was funny how angry waits got, then they find that shack where they can drink and gamble and everything’s all better. the hopper one i liked just cause of what a wide-eyed goober hopper was the whole time. did you see the matt dillon one? dillon is in a bad mood the whole time so i liked it the least.
Comment by Unfrozen Cavedan — November 3, 2006 @ 12:12 am
Yeah, Tom Waits was on an emotional rollercoaster. I also liked watching him cuss john out when they were walking. I did see the Matt Dillon episode and I liked it. Though I don’t know if I liked Matt Dillon. Mostly, I enjoyed the fishi dance that they did. I also liked the shots of them on the plane.
Comment by nate — November 3, 2006 @ 9:52 pm