The Dead Don't Die (Jim Jarmusch, 2019)

[mfunk9786]

I was going to put this in the Jim Jarmusch thread in the Filmmakers forum, but to my surprise there isn't one.

An old Bill Murray interview published in March but this seems to have slipped most people by:

"Jim Jarmusch has written a zombie script that’s so hilarious and it has a cast of great actors: Rosie Perez, Daniel Craig. It’s titled The Dead Don’t Die, and it shoots over the summer. But, no, I will not play a zombie."

In honor of the above post, DarkImbecile has put the muscle in to make a Jarmusch thread happen. Thanks to you both!

[hearthesilence]

More news, apparently shooting now with Selena Gomez and Chloe Sevigny also in the cast.

[hearthesilence]

More news about The Dead Don't Die. Tom Waits, RZA and Iggy Pop are now reported as part of the cast, and Focus Features will release it on June 14.

[bearcuborg]

Carol Kane, nice. But jeez, that cast...with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Irishman, and now this, this is quite the year for all star ensembles.

[yoloswegmaster]

Cannes premiere?

[diamonds]

Trailer.

[bearcuborg]

If it weren’t for Jim’s name, I probably wouldn’t go...but man, the love for Selena Gomez in the comment section...I’ve heard the name before, but she wasn’t really on my radar till today.

[hearthesilence]

Kind of funny to see comments elsewhere calling these ads and trailer "fake" because it's April Fool's.

[dda1996a]

I seriously have no idea what to expect. It looks bad on the one hand, on the other no trailer made me laugh like this in a while. Did OLLA seem like this at first?

[Oedipax]

Something in the trailer seems really off to me (visually it just seems very plain/ugly), but I trust Jarmusch will do something interesting with that cast! As for Selena Gomez, bearcuborg, seek out Spring Breakers immediately.

[domino harvey]

Wizards of Waverly Place or GTFO

[Lost Highway]

The trailer makes it look like every zombie comedy I’ve ever seen.

[swo17]

Except this one has Bill Murray in it

[Lost Highway]

Except this one has Bill Murray in it

Who already has starred in a zombie comedy, successful enough to now get a sequel.

[swo17]

But this one sets itself apart by having Bill Murray interact with the zombies

[hearthesilence]

And Tilda Swinton as a Scottish sword-wielding mortuary makeup artist.

[Lost Highway]

And Tilda Swinton as a Scottish sword-wielding mortuary makeup artist.

She is in every film anyway. It’s not even enough for her to play just one character anymore, I fear a future where all films star nobody but Tilda Swinton.

So before everybody starts mentioning an actor from the film: apart from the all-star cast it looks like every zombie comedy I’ve seen and I’ve seen most of them.

[hearthesilence]

She is in every film anyway. It’s not even enough for her to play just one character anymore, I fear a future where all films star nobody but Tilda Swinton.

This sounds like a petty and ridiculous complaint about her appearance here.

[Lost Highway]

This sounds like a petty and ridiculous complaint about her appearance here.

It was a joke.

My complaint was people mentioning an actor from the film, in response to what I said.

I’m not so sure a high profile cast will make what looks like a bunch of stale gags from a gazillion similar films that much better. But then I’m not a huge Jarmush fan and his films don’t tend to be high up on my must-see list.

[hearthesilence]

It was a joke.

I get it was a joke, but it was framed like a critical remark as well. Anyway, with that display of humor, yeah, I can see why Jarmusch wouldn't be your thing.

[swo17]

My mentioning Bill Murray was also a joke (agreeing with your point)? He was obviously the big draw in Zombieland, the only zombie comedy I've seen other than Shaun of the Dead

[Lost Highway]

It was a joke.

I get it was a joke, but it was framed like a critical remark as well. Anyway, with that display of humor, yeah, I can see why Jarmusch wouldn't be your thing.

The library is open.

[dda1996a]

But you know I've loved every Jarmusch film, and those that I'm just fine with are also interesting in their ways, so I hope this pulls an Only Lovers and recreates a dying genre

[Lost Highway]

But you know I've loved every Jarmusch film, and those that I'm just fine with are also interesting in their ways, so I hope this pulls an Only Lovers and recreates a dying genre

I wasn’t a fan of Only Lovers Left Alive and I found A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night a more charming Jarmush-style vampire movie than the real thing. If Jarmush recreated/saved a dying genre then he didn’t do a much of job because there haven’t been any notable vampire movies since, apart from the great What We Do In the Shadows, which was a satire.

The zombie sub-genre still keeps coming up with interesting takes. Train to Busan, The Girl with all the Gifts, It Stains the Sand Red, The Night Eats the World, Ravenous, Anna and the Apocalypse, Cargo, One Cut of the Dead and I am a Hero all are recent films which show that zombies don’t need saving by Jarmush.

I liked Jarmush when he started out, but eventually he lost me and the films of his I have caught up with in the last couple of decades didn’t do much for me.

[Finch]

Trailer

I laughed at the bit with Tilda Swinton in the mortuary and I also dug the image of her wielding a samurai sword but the rest of the trailer doesn't make me hopeful.