Details after the break…

Two new classics are out on DVD today from The Criterion Collection. First, the 1981 film My Dinner with Andre directed by Anderson favorite Louis Malle. The disc includes a discussion with the film’s writers/stars Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory and Life Aquatic and Fantastic Mr. Fox co-writer Noah Baumbach.  The film was previously only available on an out-of-print DVD that was running for nearly $100. You can order the much, much better looking and more reasonably priced new DVD from Amazon here.

Second, is French New Wave pioneer Alain Resnais’ iconic 1961 film Last Year at Marienbad. The film is available in both standard DVD and Blu-Ray editions, the latter of which looks stunning. Get them from Amazon here (Standard) or here (Blu-Ray). 

If you happen to see either of these films (or anything else) let us know what you thought at the Yankee Racers Forum. You can also tell us what movies you’re looking forward to, or read about the camera being used to make Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Next week, Criterion offers up another film from one of Anderson’s favorite directors, Roman Polanki’s 1965 film Repulsion. Available in both standard DVD, and Blu-Ray editions.

Darjeeling was a lot lower budget, and I feel like Fox didn’t expect huge numbers from it.

It appears with Mr Fox, that they’re going to carefully place the release date. I think this bodes well, and I think Wes’s meticulous attention to detail will translate well to clay (or whatever they use — models). I really hope Mr Fox can be upper echelon stop motion — approaching Nightmare Before Christmas status.

Certainly, Wes has accumulated more fans with each film, so all those people will be interested. What do you think Mr Fox needs to be? Light? Detailed? Epic? Rated G?

Join the discussion.

Because of a recent onslaught of spamming, automatic activation of new accounts on the Yankee Racers forum has been temporarily suspended. In order to activate your account, send an e-mail to edwardappleby @ yankeeracers.org (no spaces).  We encourage you to drop by the forum.

If you are in the Dayton (Ohio) area, be sure to stop by the Dayton Dirt Collective for a screening of Rushmore on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. (details).

BONUS DISC: a Wes-inspired design project.

Please e-mail edwardappleby @ yankeeracers.org from the registered e-mail address to expedite this process.

Wesley Wales Anderson answered as follows:

Wes’ Picks:
(Wes Anderson directed Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, etc. He is one of the most specific directors I have ever worked with. When I played Margot in The Royal Tenenbaums, he knew exactly how he wanted my hair, clothes and eye makeup. He is so inspiring to work with because you feel like you are the one crazy, important color he needs to create the whole picture. Also, he is a great dresser.)

Terror’s Advocate
Barbet Schroeder’s great documentary, Terror’s Advocate, also relates to another one I would highly recommend, which is Marcel Ophüls’ documentary Hôtel Terminus (except I think you can only get it on VHS). There is kind of a miniature version of Terror’s Advocate in the middle of it.

Neon Genesis Evangelion
This is a Japanese cartoon that is very difficult to describe and might not sound that great if I tried anyway. It is 24 episodes, and we watched them all in less than a week because you start to want to believe it’s real. This could spawn something like Scientology.

From the Life of Marionettes
I’d never heard of this until last month. It’s an Ingmar Bergman movie he made in Germany where I think he was a tax exile.

Life Lessons
The Martin Scorsese part of New York Stories. It’s about a painter.

More or less anything that says The Criterion Collection across the top it. The most recent one I had never seen before and loved was Costa-Gavras’ Missing.

The folks over at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade have made a parody of Wes’ filmmaking (The Royal Tenenbaums, specifically). I can’t decide if I think it is funny or not.

First, great news: our Facebook group has reached 1,000 members! Show your school spirit and join!

You can now follow us on Twitter @rushmoreacademy.com.

We are organizing a Wes Anderson Film Festival. A few years back, a group of Yankee Racers met online and watched the films of Wes Anderson together. We are doing it again and need your feedback!

More news:

• The gallery is back up and working. Send your images and scans to edwardappleby @ yankeeracers.org!
• The film scripts, press kits, and credits are now available in the library.
• In addition to the normal radio station powered by last.fm, we have added a second channel of music from our Academy Books Music Room (sponsored by Amazon).

And, don’t forget that the Wes Webicon contest is still on!  I will post some new entries later today.

We want to try it again. We would put up a chat room, meet at a designated time, and press play simultaneously. What do you think? What film should we watch together first?