12. Only Lovers Left Alive
Grade: B-My Take: I am a huge fan of the Jarmusch. From films such as Dead Man, to Mystery Train, to my favorite Jarmusch joint, Down by Law, the independent film director has been a masterful cinematic craftsman that has managed to mix sly humor and geographical animism in fascinating and beautiful ways. The intelligentsia version of Wes Anderson, Jarmusch established twee comedy as an actual genre while imbuing his comedies with an incredible sense of time and place. Unfortunately, with Only Lovers Left Alive, we learn Jarmusch's style and vampire lore don't mix so well. While from a technical point of view the film is as flawless as all of Jarmusch's previous efforts, narratively the film loses steam fairly quickly. I'm not one to usually complain about coyness and archness in my movie humor, but Jarmush beats the whole "look-at-how-old-these-vampires-are-and-how-much-history-they-have-seen" joke into the ground until its buried 100 feet deep and well decomposed, to the point where even the maggots tire of feasting on its corpse.
Oscar Prospetcs: Shamefully, Jarmusch has never received even the slightest bit of acknowledgement from the Academy, and I can tell you that Only Lovers Left Alive will not be the film to change this fact. I'm sure Jarmusch has long been resigned to the fact that he will never be an Oscar nominee (if he ever even gave a damn about it to begin with), and as much as a travesty as this fact is, I could not really support this film being the movie that finally gets him over the finish line. However, particularly given the lackluster field in the Best Supporting Actress category, the Academy would be wise to consider Mia Wasikowska's wonderful performance as an impish "young" vampire who brings some energy to the otherwise mopey cast of blood-lusters, but alas, this is just wishful thinking.