We were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Beastie Boy Adam Yauch. In addition to his massive musical legacy, he was also a daring director and founded Oscilloscope Laboratories, which in our estimation is bar none the best independent film distributor in the world. Yauch was also a passionate movie lover, and he was asked by Criterion to put together a list of his top ten favorite Criterion titles. His list is eclectic and knowledgeable, and it includes two Wes Anderson titles. You can see the list and read his funny, creative reasons (starting with #10 and going up) here.
From Peter Tonguette's new series on grief and mourning in film:
When I decided to have a look at Wes Anderson’s films for the first time since my father’s death, I wasn’t sure what to expect. In my mind’s eye, I pictured nothing but the joyous derring-do of Anderson’s protagonists, like Max Fisher leaving a case of bees in Herman Blume’s hotel room or Raleigh St. Clair listening to a private investigator’s report on his wife Margot Tenenbaum’s extramarital activities. As far as I was concerned, these movies represented the same thing Bringing Up Baby did: a happier time, now lost.
British boy wonder Edgar Wright recently participated in Criterion’s on-going sales push/feature wherein they ask folks to list their Top Ten Criterion titles. One of his titles is Rushmore. Here’s why:
This film and the Criterion label are synonymous for me. Its beautiful cover art and immaculate menus seem to fit perfectly with its lead character; it’s almost as if Max Fischer himself were unsatisfied with the original vanilla DVD release from Disney and produced a handcrafted one instead. The actual film is a brilliant gem by Wes Anderson, and one that still shines brightly today. Just in the past year, we’ve seen a number of films that walk in the shadow of this one. Of course, it wouldn’t have inspired so many movies, music videos, commercials, and TV shows if it wasn’t such a distinctive effort.
This is an undeniable cult classic, one that every Max Fischer on the planet has on their shelf.
I love that backstory he created for the new release. I wonder how he’d explain the upcoming Blu-Ray.
Edgar Wright is the awesome director of the awesome films Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Hot Fuzz, and Shaun of the Dead, as well as the awesome television series Spaced. Read his full Top Ten over at Criterion. Check out Wes’ top ten here, and Bill Hader’s Bottle Rocket loving list here.
Criterion announced their November releases this afternoon, and none other than Criterion stand-by Rushmore is coming to Blu-Ray!
The disc will feature everything from the original, stellar, DVD edition, plus a brand new Wes supervised transfer of his “Director’s Cut.” We’re excited to see it, and hopefully this means we’ll be getting similar upgrades for The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic.
Click on the cover above to pre-order from Criterion, the disc will be released November 22nd.
Rushmore aficionado Josh Evensen has written and performed an 4-song album about Margaret Yang, Where is My Spaceship Margaret.You can download it for free.
Our old amigo/as the Bourgeois Heroes have a new-ish single out Olé/Hola (b/w When You’re Dancing). It is available on vinyl and CDR or as a digital download.
A new Tumblr blog theorizes that Max Fischer, a student at Grover Cleveland High School, wrote the Wes Anderson dramedy The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The investigator/blogger writes:
The Life Aquatic is half-play, half-movie – the sets are elaborately designed and sometimes low budget, but retain much of Max’s earlier fascination for spectacle and adult themes.
I’m not sure how we missed this, but YouTube user keesvdijkhuizen has been creating film compilations every month as part of a yearlong series, tackling contemporary auteurs like Sofia Coppola and David Fincher. The most recent of these compilations is for, naturally, the films of Wes Anderson.
