The debut music video from Company of Thieves, is inspired by Wes Anderson’s Rushmore. The video for the song “Oscar Wilde” was filmed at Sycamore Elementary School in Kokomo, Indiana, over the course of just one day in December 2008. It includes over 60 props which were mostly bought from flea markets and vintage stores. The video was shot on Kodak Vision3 500T 16mm film using an Eclair ACL camera with 12mm and 14mm lenses, with 23 lighting setups. The footage was digitally transferred to uncompressed 10 bit format and edited in Final Cut. If you like the song, it’s available for free download.

• The Escaped Zoo Animals have a song titled “Duplex” on their new album that references Jack Whitman’s affinity for Volatire No. 6. You can check out their music on MySpace or iTunes .
• “What is Wes Anderson’s Quirky” at That Dang Blog
• From Filter: “Bottle Up and Explode! The Origins of Wes Anderson and Bottle Rocket” |  “Jeff Goldblum, Wes Anderson Talk Film” (thanks to Thomas!)
• Emily May has written a fine article over on Senses of Cinema, “The Darjeeling Limited and the New American Traveller”
• Brandon wonders if these “daytime pajamas” were inspired by TDL.
• Film student and Yankee Racer Fahim shares with us his most recent project, which is obviously inspired by one Mr. Wes Anderson (enjoy!):

An old favorite of ours, Dave Kehr, has a great review piece on the new DVD:

Stylistically, “Bottle Rocket” swings between poles of tension and release, order and chaos. In purely visual terms the film is tightly structured, with a systematic use of color (white for Dignan, bright red for Anthony), frontal compositions anchored by the horizon line, and a self-consciously theatrical sense of space: an open foreground for the action, played against a flat, immobile background (just as the motel rises from the flatlands around it). And there is no more linear plot structure than that of the heist film, in which pleasure lies in the orderly fulfillment of a precise program.

Read the full piece.

The long-awaited Bottle Rocket Criterion Collection edition is out this Tuesday! The Blu-Ray edition has been delayed, to be released December 16 according to Amazon.com.

Be sure to buy Bottle Rocket and all of your holiday gifts through our links. It helps support the site!

DVD Beaver has a great feature on the new Criterion DVD set compared to the original DVD. Be sure click through, but here is a preview of the new Criterion Collection edition:

Update: Looks like DVD Beaver has cut off our image stealing, so head over there to see the screencaps.

(more after the break)

Read the rest of this entry…

From Stickers and Donuts.

7. How did you get to do the cover art for Bottle Rocket’s Criterion Collection? Will we see your work just on the cover, or is it on the booklet, too? (Also, do you have a favorite Wes Anderson movie?)
I received a message from Criterion outlining the “Bottle Rocket” project and asking if I was interested. Of course I was interested as well as excited. I had seen the movie a long time ago and have always been a fan of Wes’ movies as well as Eric’s artwork. He unfortunately was unavailable for the project.

The assignment turned out to be a massive undertaking that was slowly crafted over eight months. Wes was involved in every aspect of the project and nothing made it to final art without Wes’ approval. Things to look forward to: on-screen menu pages galore, my awkward hand-drawn version of Futura, and among other things I’m leaving out, a 24-page booklet that might interest even the most casual Wes Anderson fans. Favorite Wes Anderson movie? Rushmore, hands down.

Read the rest over at the delightful blog, Stickers and Donuts.

The Criterion Collection edition of Bottle Rocket – out 25 November — is now available for pre-order from Amazon.com. Order yours here, and help support this site.

We’ve decked out the page in a Bottle Rocket theme to celebrate. Let us know what you think.

And, now, to the original BR trailer:

Oh, glorious day (see below for update).

(link) (talk about it at the Yankee Racers forum)

Release date: November 2008!

Synopsis

Wes Anderson first illustrated his lovingly detailed, slightly surreal cinematic vision in this witty and warm portrait of three young middle-class misfits. Fresh out of a mental hospital, gentle Anthony (Luke Wilson) finds himself once again embroiled in the machinations of his best friend, elaborate schemer Dignan (Owen Wilson). With the aid of getaway driver Bob (Robert Musgrave), they develop a needlessly complex, mildly successful plan to rob a small bookstore—then go “on the lam.” Also featuring Lumi Cavazos as Inez, the South American housekeeper Anthony falls in love with, and James Caan as local thief extraordinaire Mr. Henry, Bottle Rocket is a charming, hilarious, affectionate look at the folly of dreamers. Shot against radiant southwestern backdrops, it’s the film that put Anderson and the Wilson brothers on the map.

Special Features

* – DIRECTOR-APPROVED DOUBLE-DISC SET SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
* – New, restored high-definition digital transfer supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson and director of photography Robert Yeoman
* – Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
* – Commentary by director/co-writer Anderson and co-writer/actor Owen Wilson
* – The Making of “Bottle Rocket”: an original documentary by filmmaker Barry Braverman featuring Anderson, James L. Brooks, James Caan, Temple Nash Jr., Kumar Pallana, Polly Platt, Mark Mothersbaugh, Robert Musgrave, Richard Sakai, David and Sandy Wasco, Andrew and Luke and Owen Wilson, and Robert Yeoman
* – The original thirteen-minute black-and-white Bottle Rocket short film from 1992
* – Eleven deleted scenes
* – Anamorphic screen test, storyboards, location photos, and behind-the-scenes photographs by Laura Wilson
* – Murita Cycles, a 1978 short film by Braverman
* – The Shafrazi Lectures, no. 1: Bottle Rocket
* – PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by executive producer James L. Brooks, an appreciation by Martin Scorsese
* – Original artwork by Ian Dingman (update)

Film Info

1996
91 minutes
Color
1.85:1
Dolby Digital 5.1
Anamorphic
English

About the Transfer

is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Black bars at the top and bottom of the screen are normal for this format. Supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson and director of photography Robert Yeoman, this new high-definition digital transfer was scanned on a Spirit 2K datacine from a 35 mm interpositive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System.

Update: After some debate over at the Yankee Racers forum, we have discovered, from the artist himself, Ian Dingman, that all of artwork is his:

Criterion has updated their Bottle Rocket information pages since there seemed to be confusion to exactly what you’re asking me about…

http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=450

So yes, the artwork for Bottle Rocket was done by me. Eric was unfortunately not involved – I’m a fan of his work as well.

Thanks to Ian for responding! He sells his original, affordable art at his website. We hope to have an interview with him posted soon. New friend of the site, we hope?

Read the rest of this entry…

Bottle Rocket has been confirmed as a forthcoming Blu-Ray release by Criterion. (article)

Thanks to Tom, Micah, and Michael.

Michael adds:

I also double-checked with [Criterion] to make sure it will also see a standard DVD release, and they assured me it would.

How does an asshole like Bob get such a great kitchen?

Costume designer for Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, and The Royal Tenenbaums, Karen Patch is currently featured in an article on W’s website called “Dressing the Part.”

(Mary Zophres, Jacqueline Durran and Karen Patch, from W)

The Fox Theatre in Toronto is currently screening Bottle Rocket (link).

Thanks to Nolan. Why is there tape on your nose?

The AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, MD (suburban Washington, DC) is screening four of Wes Anderson’s films over the next two weeks! The Wes Anderson Retrospective is a really exciting series — an opportunity to see the films of Wes Anderson on the big screen.

Bottle Rocket
Sunday, Dec. 30, 3:00; Monday, Dec. 31, 2:45; Tuesday, Jan. 1, 12:45, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 7:00

Rushmore
Friday, Dec. 28, 7:30; Saturday, Dec. 29, 7:45; Tuesday, Jan. 1, 9:45, Thursday, Jan. 3, 7:00

The Royal Tenenbaums
Friday, Jan. 4, 7:00; Saturday, Jan. 5, 7:00; Thursday, Jan. 10, 7:00

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Sunday, Jan. 6, 12:45; Tuesday, Jan. 8, 9:20; Wednesday, Jan. 9, 9:20

In other news, ION Cinema has chosen Amara Karan (Rita, The Darjeeling Limited) as one of their Top Ten “Foreign Femme Fatales of 2007.” 

2007: She played lovely Rita – the damn cute Indian girl poking her head in and outside of the train in Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited.

2008: It was just released in the U.K and I’ve got no clue if it will make its way here, but she has a role in Barnaby Thompson and Oliver Parker school girls rule/remake called St. Trinian’s.  (link)