Wes Anderson

I feel that weird pull of obsession. I watched Asteroid City 

Turns out Bill Murray got Covid and couldn't be in the film, so he added a scene where he's a character cut from the movie. (New Yorker)

And then The Grand Budapest Hotel. I remember Fantastic Mr. Fox and more recently Isle of Dogs. I vaguely remember Rushmore, which came out in 1998. I haven't seen Bottle Rocket, his first movie, but I will soon. I haven't seen The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. I am watching The French Dispatch right now.

I feel as thought I'm a narrator in a Wes Anderson movie. I feel like I'm a character in a Wes Anderson movie. I shouldn't continue to watch his movies, I should let this wear off. Apparently I’m not unique.

Now I'm watching The Darjeeling Limited (2007). Follow me on Letterboxd, to read more.

I want to read the Books:

Wes Anderson: Why His Movies Matter by Mark Browning (2011)

Kunze, Peter C., ed. (2014). The films of Wes Anderson: Critical essays on an Indiewood icon.

MacDowell, James (2010). "Notes on Quirky" (2010). I want to watch the other quirky films on the list that I haven't seen already. I've seen quite a lot of them. I want to see Ghost World by Terry Zwigoff. What are the Charlie Kaufman movies I haven't seen? Human Nature (2001), and Anomalisa (2015). The Squid and the Whale is mentioned many times, I haven't seen that. I don't think.

I follow Matt Zoller Seitz on Twitter.

I want to see Family Guy Season 16 "Three Directors".

Simpsons Season 32 Episode 11 "The Dad-Feelings Limited"

Reddit r/wesanderson: the most popular post.

Born 1969 in Houston Texas. Father worked in real estate and mother in public relations. Went to St. John's School for high school, and UT-Austin for college. He majored in philosophy. Owen Wilson was his roommate. 

11 Films:
1996 Bottle Rocket
1998 Rushmore
2001 The Royal Tenenbaums
2004 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
2007 The Darjeeling Limited
2009 Fantastic Mr. Fox
2012 Moonrise Kingdom
2014 The Grand Budapest Hotel
2018 Isle of Dogs
2021 The French Dispatch
2023 Asteroid City

Anderson’s top 10 list below.

1. La Grande Illusion (1937)
2. Quai des Orfèvres (1947)
3. The Earrings Of Madame de… (1953)
4. Vivre Sa Vie (1962)
5. The Man Who Loved Women (1977)
6. Loulou (1980)
7. Vagabond (1985)
8. Olivier, Olivier (1992)
9. It All Starts Today (1999)

10. Kings And Queen (2004)

Reddit mentions: Instruments of the Orchestra as a favorite.

I was trying to think of the French director he reminded me of, and it's Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Of course Cohen brothers are similar in ways. I keep reading about The Squid And The Whale.

9/27/2023. I watched the 39 minute short film called The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar on Netflix. I liked it. New York Times wrote about it too.

The second one was great too, look forward to more. Here's a screen rant article about it.

I watched Life Aquatic and I loved the line, "You know I haven't been at my best this decade." The hero of the story admitting he's a bit of a fraud reminded me of Harmontown when he says in the documentary that he's not the hero. Pretty cool when people admit things, see how their impact is on others.

On 3/10/2024 Wes Anderson won his first Oscar for the short The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.