Wes Anderson & His Influences

Great five part article about Wes Anderson's work and the diverse set of artists who have informed and inspired his own creations. Check it out below.

The Substance of Style-Wes Anderson: "Detractors say Anderson’s dense production design (courtesy of regular collaborator David Wasco) overwhelms his stories and characters. This complaint presumes that in real life our grooming and style choices aren’t a kind of uniform—visual shorthand for who we are or who we want others to think we are. This is a key strength of both Anderson and Salinger’s work. Both artists have a knack for what might be called “material synecdoche”—showcasing objects, locations, or articles of clothing that define whole personalities, relationships, or conflicts."

A Simple Game

A game has been making its round around the Internet recently to the delight of film geeks everywhere. It's rather simple--list your favorite films, one (and only one) for each letter of the alphabet. If you need to twist the rules a bit (e.g. going back and forth between English and original language titles, do what you need to do).

Taking a mental break from a complex few days, here goes with my list... there are a few letters (B, C, etc) for which I really struggled and had to call out the titles that just barely missed out..

Annie Hall (Allen, 1977)
Before Sunrise/Before Sunset (Linklater, 1995 & 2004)
honorary mention: Being There (Ashby, 1979), Brazil (Gilliam, 1985)
Casablanca (Curtiz, 1942)
honorary mentions: Cidade de Deus ("City of God", Meirrelles 03), Chinatown (Polanski 1974)
Doctor Zhivago (David Lean, 1965)
Easy Rider (Hopper, 1969)
Fa Yeung Nin Wa ("In the Mood for Love", Wong Kar Wai, 2001)
The Great Escape (Sturges, 1963)
High Fidelity (Frears 2000)
Igby Goes Down (Steers, 2002)
Jules et Jim ("Jules and Jim", Truffaut, 1961)
Kill Bill (Tarantino, 2004)
Lawrence of Arabia (Lean, 1962)
honorary mention: El Laberinto Del Fauno ("Pan's Labyrinth", del Toro, 2006)
Manhattan (Allen, 1979)
Nuovo Cinema Paradiso ("Cinema Paradiso", Tornatore, 1988)
Ostre sledované vlaky ("Closely Watched Trains", Menzel, 1966)
Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994)
Quentin Tarantino presents Chungking Express (Wong Kar Wai, 1994) [I know, it's a stretch...]
Rushmore (anderson, 1998)
Spanish Apartment (L'Auberge Espagnole)
honorary mention: A Shot in the Dark (Edwards, 1964)
Trainspotting (Boyle, 1996)
Un Chien Andalao ("An Andalusian Dog", Buñuel/Dali, 1929)
The Vertical Ray of the Sun (Tran Anh Hung, 2005)
Waking Life (Linklater, 2001)
Xiao cheng zhi chun ("Spring in a Small Town", Fei, 1948) [my one cheat: I haven't seen it yet…but I couldn't bring myself to write X-Men or XXX]
Young Frankenstein (Brooks, 1974)
Zelig (Allen, 1983)

What do you think? Throw your lists in the comments!

Talkin' 'bout the Young Style

Young Loves: The Current Cinema: The New Yorker: "What happens in this world when you have more promise than you can fulfill is made evident, with tragicomic results, by the figure of Juan Antonio’s former wife, Maria Elena (Penélope Cruz), who is highly intelligent and talented but so tempestuous that she creates havoc wherever she goes."



I can't wait until 15 August--Woody's done it again!

The Life of Linguists

Sunday morning lifeblogging: adventures in European subtitling | afoe | A Fistful of Euros | European Opinion


Great post from one of the AFOE authors documenting his day job as a subtitler. Some interesting careers out there, to be sure... read all the way to the end, it gets rather amusing!

The Life Cycle of Filmmakers

The Life Cycle of Filmmakers - Economics Blog - Zubin Jelveh - Odd Numbers - Portfolio.com


Fascinating...

WKW

Wow....I got ahold of this film before it screened in the US? Quite excellent, just like the rest of WKW's canon. I mean... just roll that title around in your mouth. Visual & aural poetry!

As Tears Go By - Movie - Review - The New York Times

The Mixing Bowl

I think I may have discovered the most spectacular corner of the blogging/user-generated content world today when I stumbled upon the blog "The Playlist." Rodrigo Perez fills a gaping void in my web wanderings by plugging directly in to the ever-fruitful content area that is indie-auteur film soundtracks. For example, in line with the current Wes hype:

:: The Playlist ::: "The press loves Anderson even as much as they might not love 'Darjeeling,' (reviews are starting to tip into the favorable scale, but they're generally tentatively positive), so there's literally dozens and dozens of pieces out there on Wes and the film and it's hard to keep track of all of them, but here's what we've collated so far and deemed noteworthy.Wes' next film - his stop-motion animated take on Roald Dahl's 'The Fantastic Mr. Fox' - will feature the confirmed voices of Bill Murray, George Clooney and Jason Schwartzman (Cate Blanchett and Angelica Houston are still rumors at this point]. [MTV Movies Blog]While talking to Wes, the MTV Movies blog also confirmed what Luke Wilson had recently said - 'Bottle Rocket' will finally get the long-awaited Criterion treatment. We've just begun work with the Criterion Collection to do 'Bottle Rocket' on a new DVD that's going to have all kinds of stuff,' Anderson said. 'There's a lot of 'Bottle Rocket' that was on the cutting room floor, so we have a lot to work with on that one.[MTV Movies Blog]"

Normally I would cringe at a new Roald Dahl film, since the author's marvelous, magical, gristly banter is so difficult to lift off the printed page and capture the same sense of wonder and disgust on screen. But Anderson is one of two or three directors (the other's being Linklater and Del Toro) who I think can get this right. And a Criterion Bottle Rocket! Excellent!

Cinema

I'm really looking forward to the film "Eastern Promises." Rather than try to write about it (especially without seeing it), I'll just link to a wonderful essay on DCist:

DCist: Out of Frame

Looks like a great film examining the increasing complex dark side of London's status as a haven for the global plutocracy.

Cinema I

Just two links worthy of a read. The world got a little bit darker with the loss of these two film luminaries recently (or is it brighter, since both Bergman and Antonioni made their mark with more somber fare?).

Michael Antonioni

Slate: Hold that Shot-Bergman & Antonioni

I've certainly been deeply impacted by the disciples of these two men, but I have yet to find the opportunity to truly embrace either man's own impressive canon of work.

Magical Realism, Vietnamese Style

I stumbled upon Vertical Ray of the Sun at the library last week, and I can now happily say I've seen my first Tran Anh Hung film. The man is a poetic genius. I haven't seen such a lyrical film since at least Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love. Is there something about the post-colonial, Southeast Asian way of life? Wong is Cantonese; Tran, Vietnamese. Tran's exposure to the world has come largely through Studio Canal+ and the French film system. He's also the director behind "Scent of Green Papaya," an award wining film that's on my shortlist.

But what about this film? Pure magic. From the richly hued colors of a Vietnam summer to the glimmer of genuine happiness and joie de vivre glinting in the actors' eyes to the slow and doleful Lou Reed and Arab Strap-heavy soundtrack, the film was a visual symphony and an aural feast. A Parisian IMDB commenter probably captures it best, when he states: "This movie was one long, slow, blissful dream. I can hardly explain how much I have been moved by this movie. It exists beyond what is projected on screen, appeals to some of one's innermost sensations, feelings almost forgotten, like the simple pleasure of waking up in the morning, opening one's window, and breathing, deeply. Since I live in Paris, I was lucky enough to meet Yen (the interpret of Lien) and Hung (the director) and talk to them personally. And I understood where the movie's deeply heartfelt nature came from : simply, it was the expression of the greatest sincerity and sensitivity of all. Hung and Yen are both just like this movie, just like the Scent of Green Papaya too : fascinated with simplicity, and constantly looking for beauty in its simplest form, in the most obvious gestures of everyday life. Waking up had always been a routine for me. After seeing this movie, it has become a pleasure renewed every morning. Never before had I understood the worth of movements executed slowly, fluently, harmoniously, almost like a ceremony. A la Verticale de l'Eté is not an obvious movie, where everything is suddenly thrown at the spectator who needs do nothing but open his mouth and swallow whatever is shoved down his throat. This demanding film asks a total commitment, asks you to completely forget everything else than the movie. But if you let yourself sink into the movie, if you make that initial effort, this film will reward you with much more than mere images and temporary distraction. I truly believe that this movie will forever stay in the hearts of those who have seen it. I have seen it four times so far, and can't get fed up with it. There is one problem about this movie though : it makes it particularly hard to get back into the "real" world... That is probably why I keep going, again and again, to see this movie. I think I like to believe that life can be a dream sometimes."

Kings X

Love Means Always Having to Say You're Sorry

While this particular review for Breaking and Entering is not particularly flattering, Scott does seem to hint at the melancholy of London in the winter with his somber review. I, on the other hand, am terribly excited to see this film and was thrilled to see a poster show up at my local Landmark Theater. The most compelling character in this film is not Jude Law or Robin Wright Penn (despite the excellent abilities of both), but the city of London itself. The film is set near Kings Cross, gateway to north and east London and rail journeys north to the Midlands and Scotland. Kings Cross, near where I lived for a time, is a unique and tumultuous neighborhood caught between the bustle of new construction and drab poverty and drudgery. The tube and rail station is being completely overhauled in preparation for the 2012 Olympics, as most of the venues will be situated nearby. As a result, the neighborhood is undergoing more "revitalization" and "gentrification" than many American urban hotspots. But at what social cost?

To Sleep...

Insomnia Is Good for You (1957)

Where can I find this film? 26 minutes... I doubt Netflix keeps this on file. Some of Sellers' short films have positively brilliant titles, but I worry they may be more or less lost to time.