At the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Jul 8—31
At times it’s easy to believe that Johnny Depp exists simply to defy our expectations. Combining a taste for the offbeat with a stunning fearlessness, Depp has made a career out of unpredictability. This series focuses on the wide array of characters that he’s played over the years; from slasher victim to Elvis crooner, amphetamine-fueled journalist to wide-eyed movie director, they’re all part of what we love about Johnny Depp.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) 91min
Fri, Jul 8 at 6:50, 9:15pm
Directed by Wes Craven
With Heather Langenkamp, Amanda Wyss, Johnny Depp
The first, and still best, Freddy Krueger movie, where fresh-faced teens get killed off by a malevolent, supernatural force in their dreams. Also a witty riff on horror films (watch for Evil Dead playing on TV), it’s great fun to watch Depp in his movie debut as Glen (you know, the one who...well, you won't feel safe in your bed after watching it).
Edward Scissorhands (1990) 105min
Sat, Jul 9 at 2, 6:50, 9:15pm*
*Free In Deppth series kick-off party hosted by The Onion at 8pm with complimentary cocktails. The Onion reminds you to please drink responsibly.
Directed by Tim Burton
With Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Vincent Price
Rescued by Burton from 21 Jump Street (which Depp refers to as “the world of mass-product, bang-’em out TV death”), this is the role that made Depp a movie star: a genial monster built in a benevolent Frankenstein laboratory. Burton mixes candy-colored suburban satire with a celebration of humanity and childhood. The scenes between Edward and creator Vincent Price (in his last movie role) are among the best in Burton’s canon.
Cry-Baby (1990) 85min
Sun, Jul 10 at 2, 6:50, 9:15pm
Directed by John Waters
With Johnny Depp, Amy Locane, Ricki Lake
Unfortunately overlooked in the wake of Edward Scissorhands, Cry-Baby stars Depp as Cry-Baby Walker, an Elvis/Gene Vincent rocker in 1950s Baltimore. Waters cranks up his Hairspray fantasy a notch and delivers prison musical numbers, Iggy Pop playing a character called Uncle Belvedere Rickettes, and a fascinating exploration of race and sexuality in rock music.
Donnie Brasco (1997) 127min
Fri, Jul 15 at 2, 4:30, 7, 9:30pm
Directed by Mike Newell
With Johnny Depp, Al Pacino
As an aging two-bit hood (Pacino) accepts his small lot in a Mafia family, he finds new life in showing a newcomer (Depp) the ropes and taking the audience on a guided tour of the workings of the mob. What he doesn’t know is that the kid is an undercover agent working for the Feds. In one of Depp’s first dramatic roles in a studio film, he plays against Pacino with a beautiful sense of restraint.
Ed Wood (1994) 127min
Sat, Jul 16 at 2, 4:30, 7, 9:30pm
Directed by Tim Burton
With Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Patricia Arquette, Bill Murray
A funny yet deeply moving exploration of the desire to create art, even in the face of your own limitations. With the film shot in glorious black and white best seen on a big screen, Depp deftly mixes broad satire and pathos in his portrayal of Ed Wood, a Z-list film director trying to make Citizen Kane out of cardboard and Swedish wrestlers.
Arizona Dream (1993) 143min
Sun, Jul 17 at 3, 6, 9pm
Directed by Emir Kusturica
With Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis, Faye Dunaway, Lili Taylor
Sarajevo-born Kusturica explores the myth of America as seen through the eyes of an outsider, mixing a classic Eastern European sense of avant-garde with the epic landscape of the Southwest. Depp plays a fish-and-game warden who travels to Arizona to be best man at his uncle Jerry Lewis’ wedding, only to find himself drawn into a bizarre dreamscape that mixes psychological insight with slapstick.
The Ninth Gate (1999) 133min
Fri, Jul 22 at 3, 6, 9pm
Directed by Roman Polanski
With Johnny Depp, Lena Olin, Frank Langella
Depp stars as a rare book dealer contracted to find a manuscript believed capable of summoning the devil. But this film is more than just Rosemary’s Baby redux, as Polanski’s ironic sense of humor creeps in, teasing the audience with sly glimpses of the supernatural, just as Depp keeps his performance just slightly off-kilter. Great, campy fun.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) 118min
Sat, Jul 23 at 2, 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
Directed by Terry Gilliam
With Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro
“We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.” Depp speaks these opening lines in an amphetamine mumble, introducing the viewer to one of his best performances to date. A violent acid trip of a movie, and one of the most underrated films of the 90s.
Sleepy Hollow (1999) 105min
Sun, Jul 24 at 2, 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
Directed by Tim Burton
With Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson.
Depp plays a constable sent to investigate a series of beheadings in Sleepy Hollow. Burton’s re-imagining of Washington Irving’s story creates a wonderful American gothic atmosphere; a dull grey fog with a splash of blood. But what makes the film is Depp’s foppish performance as a man of science, shrieking and fainting his way through the investigation.
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) 118min
Fri, Jul 29 at 2, 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
Directed by Lasse Hallström
With Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio
Depp plays the title character in Hallström’s sentimental tale of an eccentric family in small-town Iowa. DiCaprio’s got the showier role of the mentally retarded brother, but Depp brings a quiet dignity and defeatist body language to his role as a lost figure stuck in a dead-end town.
Dead Man (1995) 121min
Sat, Jul 30 at 2, 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
Sun, Jul 31 at 2, 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
Directed by Jim Jarmusch
With Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer
An epic anti-Western set in the Pacific Northwest in the 1800s. Depp is wonderful as the embodiment of “civilized” society: an accountant who runs into trouble, partnered with Gary Farmer as “Nobody,” the Native American outcast who befriends him on a surrealistic journey. Other highlights include incredible cameos by Crispin Glover, Robert Mitchum, Iggy Pop, and others, and Neil Young’s indelible electric guitar score.
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