Fishing With John (1991)

A conversation about Jim Jaramush led to John Lurie and Michael mentioned Fishing With John. How did I miss this? Five episodes take us on private fishing trips to various locations with John and his guests.

Producer Jim Jarmusch is John's first guest on the boat as they venture out into the waters off Montauk, Long Island. Longtime collaborators on film projects, I feel a certain kinship to both artists who were working on early experiments during the 1980s downtown NYC art scene that I shared. John's band, The Lounge Lizards, performed at The Mudd Club. Jim's first commercial film, Stranger Than Paradise, featured John and other downtown artists.

The fishing expeditions of this series create a different kind of stage for free flowing conversation and some fish are caught. Later episodes feature Matt Dillon, Tom Waits, Willem Defoe, Dennis Hopper...all very entertaining.