the sensationalism of teen angst movies, probably due to the discovery of great non-actor kids who were allowed to adjust what they said. It feels like a documentary, but even docs have a tinge of exaggeration. Not here, sometimes kids just plain come of age.

Slide 7: From Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade to Sling Blade

The unforgettable character of inmate Karl Childers had a history before most crowds discovered him in Billy Bob Thornton’s award-winning feature Sling Blade (1996). One of many characters Thornton portrayed in one-man shows, Karl and his story first appeared in the 25-minute short Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade (1993). An effective drama, more than half is setup for the introduction to Karl, as reporter Molly Ringwald works out the kinkshim back again. With aspirations in writing and music, Jim Jarmusch found his way out of Akron, through New York to Paris and back again, and eventually enrolled at NYU’s film school. Despite what he didn’t like about school, he did learn some techniques and met luminaries Nicholas Ray and Amos Poe, and early collaborator Tom DiCillo. Spending his tuition check on his first feature, Permanent Vacation (1980), the school said don’t come back and Jarmusch didn’t. He made a 30-minute film called The New World in 1982, using leftover film stock donated from Wim Wenders (who had made a doc on Nick Ray while Jarmusch was Ray’s assistant). Being the first section of the feature Stranger than Paradise, the short establishes the gruff but lovable hipster John