I remembered this passage from the F. Scott Fitzgerald story “The Freshest Boy”:
He had contributed to the events by which another boy was saved from the army of the bitter, the selfish, the neurasthenic and the unhappy. It isn’t given to us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world. They will not be cured by our most efficacious drugs or slain with our sharpest swords.
—and it occurred to me that more than everything else—more than all the things in his stories that I have been inspired by and imitated and stolen to the best of my abilities—THIS describes my experience of the works of J. D. Salinger.
Wes fan Anant Prabhakar has created a great tribute video to Anderson called “Let Me Tell You About Wes: Part 1.” We’ll be sure to tell you about Part 2, or whatever it is, if it actually exists.
MSNBC takes a look at the summer indy flicks (including “Away We Go”) and finds the term “twee” to be a common thread in this article. The author blames none other than our man, Wes Anderson for leading the charge here (and Molly Ringwald). He doesn’t necessarily fault Wes for his style:
Twee comes in many forms in current indie cinema: At the top of the heap are stylists like Anderson and Rian Johnson (“The Brothers Bloom,” “Brick”). While these two filmmakers certainly traffic in twee visuals and other aesthetic choices, the look of their movies is so completely not of this world that these artists stand alone in their own tastefully-designed alternate universes.
Gwyneth Paltrow asked her favorite filmmakers to recommend their five favorite films on her blog Goop. This illustrious list includes Wes Anderson, Steven Spielberg and Sofia Coppola.
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.
Varietywrites that Wes will be appearing onstage at the Rome Film Festival next month:
Anderson is coming on behalf of Martin Scorsese‘s The Film Foundation to present a new print of Albert Levin’s 1951 fantasy “Pandora and the Flying Dutchman,” starring Ava Gardner and James Mason, restored by the foundation in tandem with the Rome fest.
Another Wes sighting in Paris, this time noted on fashion design team Eley Kishimoto’s blog:
Whilst taking Alexis to see the window on the last night of fashion week Wes Anderson strolled by with a banjo over his arm walking with what looked like a band that consisted of two members I didn’t recognise and Jarvis Cocker. Alexis knees buckled fumbling at her crash helmet, it was a pleasant suprise as when we started we had dinner with Jean and met Wes and discussed it. He stated lets stay 2m and take it in, very sweet, honked the horn and off we road.
Wes in a band? With JC? Sounds like a dream come true…
Paris fashion week is in full swing and Marc Jacobs, as usual, has been impressing the critics. We of course know that Marc Jacobs (creative director for Louis Vuitton) had a close working relationship with Wes Anderson on The Darjeeling Limited with the creating of the spectacular luggage and suits used by Francis and his brothers. But in the Guardian piece it seems that the film that “most influences” Jacobs his The Royal Tenenbaums:
Louis Vuitton only started making clothes 10 years ago under the aegis of Marc Jacobs, almost 150 years after the label first knocked out the ubiquitous bags. But its fashion division has become a credible player and last year the label achieved record growth. As if to rub in the American-ness, Jacobs has said that the film that influences him most is not Breakfast at Tiffany’s but The Royal Tenenbaums, Wes Anderson’s offbeat film about a dysfunctional family.
Anderson was also in attendance at this show (as was Sofia Coppola and many others).
At the heart of Wes Anderson’s self-conscious aesthetic is a curious sort of paradox: on the one hand, he’s a light dreamy enchanter, marshalling a cavalcade of nonstop whimsy and farce that, somehow, he has combined with the strict rigorous cineastic vision of an Antonioni, manifesting itself in muted performances, gruelingly controlled sets, and staging measured to within an inch of its life. I am reminded of a scene in Kubrick’s The Shining where I got so distracted by the amusing pictures of sexy, funky, afro-headed nudes hanging on Scatman Crothers’ walls that I couldn’t pay any attention to what he was seeing on television; at odds with their corny-sleazy purpose as characterization, the pictures seemed to have been arranged with the symmetry and calculation of a coy museum curator. It is a similar effect — art-gallery precision misapplied to screwball comedy — that Anderson makes deliberate use of as a subtle joke, a neurotic element of his humorous vision. In the decade since his reputation first erupted, his unique manner has infected movie comedies in a big way — just as Tim Burton’s style has become the gold standard for cute spookiness. You see it in movies like Election (1999); a beloved cult favorite like Napoleon Dynamite (2004); as well as in forgettable efforts like Running with Scissors (2006).
Tonight, watching the Jerry Seinfeld interview with Charlie Rose made me think: I ought to revisit Charlie’s interviews with Wes. So, for your viewing pleasure, here are all three (see the end for some great Yankee Racers threads).
MSNBC takes a look at the summer indy flicks (including “Away We Go”) and finds the term “twee” to be a common thread in 
Another Wes sighting in Paris, this time noted on fashion design team 
Paris fashion week is in full swing and Marc Jacobs, as usual, has been impressing the critics. We of course know that Marc Jacobs (creative director for Louis Vuitton) had a close working relationship with Wes Anderson on The Darjeeling Limited with the creating of the spectacular luggage and suits used by Francis and his brothers. But in the 
