criterionforum.org

For anybody in the Tulsa area (looking through the "Oklahoma is OK" thread, I know there WERE many of you, but I don't know if any are still around here), Philbrook Museum is hosting what they call "The Wes Anderson Experience" on June 5th from 6:00-8:00pm.

From the website: "An evening celebrating the films, style, and philosophies of acclaimed filmmaker Wes Anderson. Special Guest: Matt Zoller Seitz
Notable critic and culture writer Matt Zoller Seitz (New York Magazine) has created the first major examination of director Wes Anderson’s films with 'The Wes Anderson Collection.' It’s an intimate look at the work of the director of such beloved movies as 'Rushmore,' 'The Royal Tenenbaums,' and 'Moonrise Kingdom.'
Live music, drinks, books, costume contest, and more! Presented in partnership with Booksmart Tulsa. Free and open to all."

Somehow I don't think this ever got posted here, and it's pretty great.

::kogonada's video essay, Wes Anderson // Centered

Matt Zoller Seitz will be adding a postscript to the The Wes Anderson Collection under the predictable title The Grand Budapest Hotel. A very large one! Release date is February 10 and already available for pre-order.

New limited edition Wes Anderson-inspired art prints

https://vimeo.com/138480573" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

CNN delivers the best Wes Anderson pastiche in the form of a State of the Union primer.

Bobby Jindal and Nico, together at last!

Now available

I must say, I'm really sort of frustrated by the continued boiling down of Anderson pictures into being about "bad dads" - doesn't it only truly apply to two of his films (The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic)? It seems like such a lazy through-line to latch onto. There are just as many positive examples of fathers and father figures in Anderson's work [if not more] as bad ones.

Bad Dads is the name of Spoke Art's annual Wes Anderson art show, from which these pieces were culled. It wouldn't make any sense to call it something else

domino harvey wrote:Bad Dads is the name of Spoke Art's annual Wes Anderson art show, from which these pieces were culled. It wouldn't make any sense to call it something else

Oh, I know that - but the art show is a self-described Wes Anderson tribute - or at least started that way, right? It's been a pet peeve of mine for a while, culminating with that show/now this book, because it just strikes me as lazy.

I mean, surely The Darjeeling Limited is also about a bad dad, albeit on a bit more of a thematic level? Fantastic Mr. Fox also is pretty plainly about a father of questionable merit, though it's a bit more superficial than most of these other examples. I think a better comparison point is the absence/abandonment of father figures as I think that plays into everything to varying degrees since Bottle Rocket (not inclusive, obviously).

I guess, or about a sibling rivalry that stems from competition over a father's attention - I don't think we get an idea specifically whether the father in The Darjeeling Limited is "bad." I am obviously being overly crotchety about a goofy name, just wanted to verbalize something that's needled me for a while, not admonish it too harshly.

https://vimeo.com/128360293" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Did you not get a homoerotic vibe from The Darjeeling Limited when Barbet Schroeder's character, the mechanic, was told the father died, we cut to a close up of his face, and we his pain at the realization someone close has died? If that is the case, it would go a long way in explaining Anjelica Huston's character.

So it's probably not news that there's a Tumblr devoted to Wes Anderson's color palettes, but now someone has written code so these colors can be used in R (a statistical software package). Can't wait to see figures in scientific articles that look like they were designed by Max Fischer.

Just read the last 3+ years of this thread.
And my verdict is:

1. The Royal Tenenbaums
2. Moonrise Kingdom

3. Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Rushmore

5. Bottle Rocket
6. Fantastic Mr. Fox

7. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
8. The Darjeeling Limited

Just wanted swo to have to re-tabulate.

They really pair off nicely for me.
I should rewatch Mr. Fox. I had a rather iffy copy and that might have detracted from the experience.
There were elements I liked, but overall wasn't that engaged.
The first 5 I've watched more than once. The last two were real misses imo.

The last time everyone did that was pre GBH so I can't do a fair ranking anymore.

Mine have changed since last time I posted this list. We grow older, we rewatch things, our tastes change. This feels like it'll stay put for a while, though. Deleted the other one lest it be taken as canon:

01. The Royal Tenenbaums
02. The Darjeeling Limited
03. Rushmore
04. The Grand Budapest Hotel
05. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
06. Moonrise Kingdom
07. Fantastic Mr. Fox
08. Isle of Dogs
09. Bottle Rocket

LAST UPDATED: 5/24/2018

Those are a hell of a lot better when they try to replicate something that exists either in the film or in its orbit - the Grand Budapest Hotel book cover here, the "signed" Jaguar Shark one-sheet, the vintage "1932 Mendl's Advertising Poster"... but almost all of the character artwork is absolutely hideous.

I usually find quite a few prints I like each year, but this round was awful. Also I can't believe they didn't bother to make a print of Alex Garant's Social Services portrait