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The Substance of Style, Part III

The next installment of Matt Zoller Seitz’s video essay at the Museum of the Moving Image has been posted. This one focuses on director Hal Ashby (Harold and Maude, Being There). Seitz concludes:

There’s nothing inherently wrong with Anderson’s selective adoration. But when you look at the totality of what Ashby accomplished—the social and political dimensions that all his films explored, the blunt honesty of their expression—Anderson’s work can’t help but come up short, just as the work of Anderson’s imitators is overshadowed by the genuine article.

Our pal Gerry Caravan responds:

Tell Matt Seitz he just made my list of things to do today. In all seriousness, I guess I can see Seitz’s point, but you can only conclude “Anderson’s work can’t help but come up short” when you demand of Anderson’s work the things it is quite pointedly refusing to do.

Part II.
Part I, “Introduction.”

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The films of Satyajit Ray at the Film Society of Lincoln Center


“To have not seen the films of Ray is to have lived in the world without ever having seen the moon and the sun.” – Akira Kurosawa

During the second half of April, the Film Society of Lincoln Center (New York) will present the films of Satyajit Ray in First Light: Satyajit Ray from the Apu Trilogy to the Calcutta Trilogy (tickets). The series focuses on the first half of Ray’s career, including The Apu Trilogy, and will conclude with a conference at Columbia University.

Ray’s work inspired Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited. Tragically, The Apu Trilogy is out of print in the United States.

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The Substance of Style, Part II

Another video essay from Matt Zoller Seitz at the Museum of the Moving Image. This time, Martin Scorsese, Richard Lester, and Mike Nichols.

Here is Part I, “Introduction.”

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Yankee Racers: Most Anticipated Films of 2009

Join the discussion.

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Noah Baumbach back at work

Noah Baumbach, who co-wrote The Life Aquatic and Fantastic Mr. Fox, is back at work on his next film according to JoBlo.com:

Prodigious director Noah Baumbach has quietly started shooting an untitled film in Los Angeles
starring Ben Stiller as Roger Greenberg, a man at a crossroads who ends up housesitting at his brother’s home in Los Angeles. It’s there that he strikes up an unlikely friendship with his brother’s assistant Florence (played by reta Gerwig), an aspiring singer. Rhys Ifans, Mark Duplass, Brie Larson, and Juno Temple also star.

Baumbach wrote the script based on a story he conceived with Jennifer Jason Leigh, who co-stars and is co-producing with Baumbach and Scott Rudin. After Baumbach’s first film THE SQUID AND THE WHALE was nominated for an Oscar, the man was widely regarded as one of Hollywood’s hottest young directors. But after his next film MARGOT AT THE WEDDING suffered from a lukewarm reception, the boy wonder was left reeling. Early buzz on this next film is decent, so lets hope Mr. Baumbach gets back on track and lives up to the hype, LeBron James-style.

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Press notes and credits for Fantastic Mr. Fox

from Hollywood.blog (Netherlands):

These are said to be the press notes and credits for Fantastic Mr. Fox. I cannot absolutely confirm their authenticity at this point but have no reason to believe that they are are a fabrication.

—

Based on the beloved story by Roald Dahl, the film tells the tale of the noble, charming and fantastic Mr. Fox, who uses his wits and cunning to outfox three dimwitted farmers who tire of sharing their chickens with the crafty creature.

“Boggis and Bunce and Bean.  One short, one fat, one lean.  These horrible crooks, so different in looks, were nonetheless equally mean.”

Wes Anderson (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited) directs the stop-motion animation of Roald Dahl’s much loved children’s book. Fantastic Mr. Fox is voiced by George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray and Michael Gambon, and scheduled for release in the fall of 2009.

Continue reading “Press notes and credits for Fantastic Mr. Fox”

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Typewriter Tip, Tip, Tip

A fun little post from At the Edge:

Image: Famous “Typewriter Sequence” from Merchant Ivory’s film Bombay Talkie (1970) featuring “Queen of the Nautch Girls”  Helen and great Shashi Kapoor. The film is not the best from Merchant Ivory duo, but the sequence is definitely iconic.

Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited (2007) made the song somewhat of an international hit (editor’s note: did it?).  Here is the song clip with Ismail Merchant, in a very Indian way, explaining the metaphor of “Fate Machine.”

.

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What is (are) your favorite frame(s)?

A very cool discussion at The Auteurs.

A few of my favorites:


Jules and Jim

Amelie

Pierrot Le Fou

Ok, so I have a thing for French films. What are your favorite Wes frames?

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A note about advertisements

The Rushmore Academy makes no money. It is a labor of love, and we have always avoided commercializing the site. Up until now, we have only advertised through the Amazon affiliates program, which helps pay for the site.

We are trying something new. Through Project Wonderful, an innovative new ad service, we are offering the 300 x 250 advertising space you see on the right. For now, it is charged at a daily rate starting at $1.00 (subject to competitive outbidding). We don’t expect to get rich from this scheme. But, by advertising with us, you can support the site and reach an audience of thousands of cinéastes. And, we support you and avoid “Work at Home and Make $43,000/day” ads from Google AdSense!

So, please consider advertising with us. To do so, simply click on the Project Wonderful link beneath the current ad. All you need is a Paypal account. Bravo, Max!

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Wes Anderson alumni in new film

Wes Anderson Players Brian Cox (Dr. Guggenheim in Rushmore) and Seu Jorge (Pelé dos Santos in The Life Aquatic) star in a new Irish-British prison drama, The Escapist. Distributed by IFC Films and Think Films, it opens (limited) on Friday, April 3.

Can’t do it, Max.