With the school year winding down, A. O. Scott takes a look at one of cinema’s more offbeat students, Max Fischer, in the director Wes Anderson’s 1998 film “Rushmore.”
“What makes “Rushmore” so profound and so poignant is that it tells two stories in counterpoint,” Mr. Scott says. “It’s about an adolescent coming to terms with his limitations and an artist coming into possession of his powers.” Mr. Anderson has created a signature style with his films and has gained a cult following. Are you a fan of Mr. Anderson’s films? And if so, which one do you like the best?
Watch the video.
Yusuf/Cat Stevens on Colbert
Yusuf (a.k.a. Cat Stevens) was a guest on The Colbert Report a few weeks back. Two of his songs are featured on the Rushmore soundtrack, and he is one of our favorites. He has a great new album called roadsinger.
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Yusuf | ||||
|
|
||||
–
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Yusuf – Roadsinger | ||||
|
|
||||
–
Film: The making of ‘Rushmore’
The really great “making of” documentary for Rushmore by Eric Chase Anderson, thanks to elkemonkey’s YouTube channel.
In defense of The Brothers Bloom / In praise of Bill Murray
From Cinematical:
Long awaited in the wake of his 2005 debut Brick, Rian Johnson’s The Brothers Bloom is a magic trick of a film; the second it’s over, you want to see it again so you can try to catch how you were tricked, but you also want to see it again so you can return to the joy and wonder of being wrapped up in the nimble, deck-shuffling hands of a born showman. Watching it at first, some of The Brothers Bloom‘s creative and thematic elements seem like they’re on loan from Paul Thomas Anderson (opening narration by Ricky Jay, pop-whiz-bang camera work, the troubled-but-tender relationship between the two brothers) while others feel as if they’ve been cribbed from Wes Anderson (deadpan confessions, whimsical set design, a parallel-universe setting where people still travel to Europe by steamship). The truth is, as much as The Brothers Bloom may feel like it’s cribbing from other films at first, this is Rian Johnson’s movie, and even if my more dreary and discerning critical faculties told me the final act goes on, perhaps, a beat too long, my inner moviegoer was sitting bolt upright, smiling, bright-eyed and carried away.
NME has a great tribute to Bill Murray:
Wes Bill – ‘Rushmore’ (1998)
In Wes Anderson, Bill found a director whose phonecall he actually wanted to return. As well as this, the best ‘high school film not about high school’ he went on to accept invitations to ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’, ‘The Life Aquatic’ and even popped up (all too briefly) in ‘The Darjeeling Limited’. So that’ll be every film (bar his debut) that Wes has ever made. What a lucky bugger. See also – Those films I just listed above and this year’s ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’.
Twitter, the Yankee Racers, and the Wes Anderson Film Festival
The Rushmore Academy now has over 100 followers on Twitter. Follow us!
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.
Enter the Rushmore Academy Webicon contest (updated)
Make Wes Anderson-inspired art at Paste Magazine’s Webicon.me! Then, Tweet (@rushmoreacademy) or e-mail (edwardappleby @ yankeeracers.org) us your image. We will post your entries here at the Rushmore Academy, and the best one will win of copy of Derek Hill’s fantastic Charlie Kaufman and Hollywood’s Merry Band of Pranksters, Fabulists and Dreamers: An Excursion Into the American New Wave (available for purchase on Amazon.com).
Contest is on-going. We will add new prizes if we extend it beyond April 1, 2009.
Check out the entries so far after the break! Please digg our contest!
Continue reading “Enter the Rushmore Academy Webicon contest (updated)”
You should watch Wes Anderson’s oeuvre before you die!
According to Yahoo’s recent list “100 Movies to See Before You Die,” Wes Anderson’s films are not mandatory pre-mortem viewing. We disagree, of course. Criterion proudly boasts 16 titles on the list (there really ought to be more). Satyajit Ray’s World of Apu, one of the films that inspired The Darjeeling Limited, made the list even though it is out of print in the United States.
From this image (also below) and the list’s postscript, we are left to assume that Rushmore was strongly considered for the list. Why Groundhog Day made it and Rushmore didn’t, we shall never know. Other than Wes Anderson’s films, what other great movies are missing from the list?
Yes, the Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente (BAFICI) got it right! They’re showing Rushmore in this year’s festival!
Wes Moment No. 001
“You Are Forgiven.” From Rushmore.
Brought to you by the 2009 Wes Anderson Film Festival.
Suggest the next Wes Moment! E-mail edwardappleby @ yankeeracers.org or tweet @rushmoreacademy!
Tenenbaum FAIL, or SUCCESS
A new site, titled “Tenenbaum FAIL,” recently popped up on the blogging site Tumbler. Slash Film reports:
Imagine if FAIL Blog was a hipster blood bath sponsored by the Criterion Collection. The nascent but incredibly popular tumblr, Tenenbaum FAIL, posts abhorred photos of people dressed up like the famously stylized, overly fetishized characters from Wes Anderson’s filmography.
Many of the photos were ripped off borrowed from our Halloween costume contests. Unlike the folks at FAIL, we think the costumes are fantastic! A few of our favorites after the break…
Mailbag
(Just a reminder: Owen Wilson will be presenting tonight’s Top Ten List on the Late Show with David Letterman.)
- From Sean, a Rushmore-inspired music video from Company of Thieves:
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!):