The World of Wes Anderson
It’s official:
Animated Film:
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up
I have seen 1, 2 and 5 – excellent competition. Good luck, Wes!
Also:
Best Score
Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Up
via Vulture
From Richard Brody’s blog at the New Yorker:
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.
Richard Brody chimes in again for Anderson in his Best of 2009 film list on his Front Row blog. “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is #1 on his list:
1. “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (Wes Anderson): Pure animal wildness plus an exquisitely controlled expressive frenzy; one of the most visually generous movies ever made, comparable in detail to Jacques Tati’s “Playtime.” You have to see it twice to see it once.
via Vulture
Richard Brody profiled Wes a few weeks ago for the New Yorker. On Brody’s excellent film blog for the New Yorker, Front Row, he added some additional commentary (and praise) for “The Darjeeling Limited”:
I’ve seen it many, many times since that press screening two years ago. It has not only held up but gotten richer; each viewing yields fresh wonders.
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.
What do you think: is our man twee, or too twee?
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.
Chiara Clemente’s new film about New York artists “Our City Dreams” opens soon. Chiara is the partner of frequent 
Anderson collaborator Waris Ahluwalia. Page Six has a small profile on her:
The couple met in 2003 in Rome when Chiara was living there and Waris came to town to shoot Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. “Friends gave him numbers to call while [he was] there. I had never met him but I was so excited to talk to him on the phone,” Chiara says. “It was such a familiar voice. It was a New York voice.” One year later, the pair left Italy and moved back to New York. “She was at the tail end of her stay there, realizing she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life eating and drinking aperitifs and walking around piazzas,” Waris says. “She had something bigger planned.”
Time Out Chicago interviews “Bottle Rocket” Criterion DVD artist Ian Dingman:
TOC: So did you make a truckload of money?
Ian Dingman: [Laughs] I deduced that I made about 50 cents on the hour over the eight months. There were a couple of times where I worked 36 hours straight. But it was one of those jobs I would’ve done for free.
