The Futura of Filmmaking
As of 9:18 AM MST, Monday, December 15, 2003, Wes Anderson is my favorite director. I've long suspected this to be the case, but having just rolled through Rushmore again this weekend for the umpteenth time, I decided to make it official by stating it publicly. He only has two mainstream films under his belt (I got his lesser-known '96 movie Bottle Rocket in the Netflix queue), but that has thus far been enough to solidify his style as being one of superior artistic merit and rigor.
Let us now enumerate the ways in which Wes Anderson rules:
1. Use of overhead shots of pages of books. I will never get tired of this technique, that, while not terribly original, does serve to add a measure of incongruous quaintness that I find immensely cool.
2. His use of the Futura typeface (see below) for onscreen text is another artistic flourish that should &emdash;nay, will&emdash; serve to define and characterize his style into perpetuity*. Futura is a classy, sans-serif font that is retro without devolving into that kind of shite that graphic designers use to remind you of 50s diners.
The Futura typeface
3. The dialogue tends towards the absurd and mildly ironic, but so much so that it seems like you're sitting with a bunch of Kierkegaard-reading dipshits in a coffee shop. There's a subtlety and a glibness to it that is a turnoff to a lot of people, but I really appreciate it. It's kind of like 'The Simpsons' in that you are rewarded for paying close attention.
4. He has been sage enough to employ the musical direction talents of twisted genius and ex-Devo honcho Mark Mothersbaugh. Both Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums have what sounds like (jazz percussion legend) Gene Krupa banging on his tom-toms as a transition to a more action-filled scene. No other instruments, just drums. I love that shit.
5. Casting Bill Murray: this seems to be a no-brainer for Wes Anderson. Much like Christopher Guest (Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind, Best In Show) uses essentially the same cast in various permutations (Eugene Levy, Harry Shearer, Catherine O'Hara, etc), Wes makes brilliant use of Bill Murray (which I would imagine is fairly easy), Seymour Cassel, and Luke & Owen Wilson, among others. Sure, this trend is only two films deep, but a quick glance at Wes Anderson's page on IMDB shows that there is no sign of abatement: his forthcoming film The Life Aquatic stars Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Dipak Pallana (the Indian guy in both Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums), and even Bud "Harold" Cort!
Now, I'm kind of a Johnny-cum (sic)-lately film buff, but I gotta say I dig this trend of directors and actors traveling in a pack. It seems like a new thing to me, but again, I'm pretty late to the game. 'Cause it seems like in the early days of film (and I think I read this somewhere), actors were the property of the studios. For instance, Jimmy Stewart might have been employed by Columbia Pictures, therefore he was contractually obligated to star only in Columbia movies. Then somehow that system broke down and actors were essentially free agents. But now you got directors like Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson, the Coens and the Farrellys, and even Q. Tarantino to some extent, who tend to find a few actors who fit their aesthetic and use them repeatedly. Maybe my man Matt Haze who works in the industry can shed some light on this, eh?
* A. Smetanka wrote in with this informative tidbit: "Wes Anderson's choice of font and capital letters is not original with him: it's an homage to the French New Wave directors he admires."
I'm nowhere near being able to make that connection, so I sure do appreciate the info.
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I get a kick out of these stickers that they put on the loaves of bread at my local grocer. Somebody should get on the ball and start marketing these to stoners. Or maybe get it printed up on a foam trucker's hat:
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In other, more exciting news: The Yale/Glenda connubial axis has just learned that a baby is on the way. We have inked a deal with a human of as-yet-unspecified gender to use us as its parents. Next August is the due date. As a typically petty male, my big fear at the present is the fact that I've spent so much energy talking shit about what other people name their babies, and now I have to pay the piper. Will we cave in and go with Madison or Dakota? I've been lobbying hard for Henry for a boy, but Glenda keeps using her veto power on grounds that she suspects it to be a Henry Rollins homage on my part (it's not), and she can't stand that fucker.
In true over-analytical doofus fashion, what I'll probably end up doing is creating a spreadsheet where, over the course of the remaining 8 months, we'll each type in names that we like. As the birth approaches (don't know yet whether we'll find out the gender beforehand), each of us will revisit the list of names and assign a weighted value of 1 to 5 to each name based on how much we like it. The five or so names with the highest values will move on to a final round in which each of us is given veto power over two of the other person's choices. If by chance there are any names which both of us have entered, those will be weighted accordingly.
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Ruins: Hyderomastgroningem
Oh, man. So much good stuff this week.
We have inked a deal with a human of as-yet-unspecified gender to use us as its parents.
Congrats on the on-the-way papoose, my man. The wife has a young nephew named Henry Holden McDougal. I think that kid has a Pulitzer Prize in his future as H.H. McDougal. My suspicion is that the boy's father had another Hank in mind: Williams Sr., Jr., and/or III. As for my own so far hypothetical and unconceived son, I am right here right now laying claim to the name of that Wurlitzer Prize winner: Waylon. A naked homage to Mr. Jennings, and I'm getting the wife warmed up to it.
Wes Anderson is my favorite director.
I too am a big fan. Bottle Rocket is better than the box office treated it, Election was hilarious and the Royal Tenenbaums is plain old BRILLIANT. My favorite example of the sort of understated exaggerations Wes uses is putting the YMCA on 380th ST. or something like that. Not many people will notice, but that would be in Yonkers NY, not just uptown. His movies also made me a big fan of Owen Wilson, who really should not be missed in Shanghai Noon or Zoolander. Netflix those, people, and make sure you watch all the outtakes. I laughed and laughed and laughed.
You're right about the whole freelance thing nowadays as opposed to the old Hollywood studio system, which had some similarities with the way record labels operate, with seven-picture deals and whatnot. I've heard that Bill Murray doesn't even have an agent these days, and is therefore very difficult to get a hold of if you want him to be in your movie. He's done well enough that he just kicks it up in Santa Barbara and lets people try to hunt him down. He seems to have a decent enough relationship with ol' Wes, though. Apparently, Miss Coppola went through Anderson to get her script for Lost in Translation to Murray. So Bill isn't letting anyone get 15% of anything anymore, bless his heart.
The following is a list of the "Now Generation" of directors I was asked to gather credits for at work a few weeks ago. Have a ball.
Alfonso Cuaron
- Hollywood Haze December 15, 2003 12:22Bill Condon
Charles O. Russell
Darren Aronofsky
Ed Burns
Gregg Araki
Julie Taymor
Kimberly Peirce
Lisa Cholodenko
Miguel Arteta
Neil LaBute
Paul Thomas Anderson
Pedro Almodovar
Rob Marshall
Robert Rodriguez
Sophia Coppola
Spike Jonze
Todd Field
Wes Anderson
Why is Gregg Araki on that list? Isn't he known mainly for making a nearly unwatchable film starring "90210" chicks?
Congrats on the reproductive prowess, Yale! This shit must be contagious because it seems like everyone I know is currently an expectant parent.
- Gwyynie P. December 15, 2003 13:17Election was hilarious
I thought this was an interesting slip because Election and Rushmore came out around the same time and I think of them together. I love Bottle Rocket so I approached Rushmore with high expectations. At the time, I was disappointed and liked Election much more. But then I saw Royal Tenenbaums and loved it so I decided to rent Rushmore again. I liked it much more the second time and I wonder whether Election holds up.
Congrats on the baby! I know your feelings on pretentious baby names, but a friend and I have been on a campaign to have someone name their daughter "Emerson." I think that girl would grow up to be a genius. Neither the friend nor I plan on having children so unless someone takes me up on it, I guess I'll name my next dog Emerson.
- Karlita December 16, 2003 11:05I thought this was an interesting slip
Holy moly, you're right. I've had both of those movies joined in my head for quite a while, even though I saw them years apart. Because they both have a high school as the setting for a weird story?
- mhaze December 16, 2003 11:34Yale,
Mucho congrats on your coming brat(s? She could be having twins maybe?).
I'm trying to start a new movement of almost-but-not-really-at-all hippy names for children. In the spirit of true irreverence, not that faux "let's name him Sky" horseshit. Consider:
Bing
Axl
Q-Bert
Chrome
Vader
overnout,
- joshorse December 16, 2003 13:10JH
The wife has a young nephew named Henry Holden McDougal. I think that kid has a Pulitzer Prize in his future as H.H. McDougal
Actually, I got the inspiration for the name Henry from when you brought it up a few months back. Helluva name. It works well for both a kid with literary ambitions or one with more proletarian aspirations.
Waylon. A naked homage to Mr. Jennings, and I'm getting the wife warmed up to it.
I happened to catch something on TV that made reference to the fact that Waylon Jennings has a son, a Waylon Jr. Isn't it weird that Waylon Jennings has single-handedly made the name Waylon seem badass? I think it wouldn't seem half as cool if it weren't for him. 'Member when Waylon Jennings was slated to play at some festival in Missoula, and pulled up to the show, found out his guarantee wasn't as expected, got back in the bus and left town just like that? Again, if that was anyone else, I'd be calling bullshit, but for Waylon, it seems real cool.
And then there's Mr. Smithers on the Simpsons, but I think his is spelled 'Whalen'.
Bing
I like the shit out of that name. Bing Spigot Kaul
- Efficacy E. Memorializing December 16, 2003 13:55Waylon Jennings has a son, a Waylon Jr.
I think Waylon has a son named Shooter or something. By at least one report, he has a band that is fairly rocking and plays occasionally at the vaunted Viper Room.
- mhaze December 16, 2003 14:54I know a Bing, good juju there.
- tom's son December 18, 2003 09:02Also, consider the classic Victor.
Simple, only two syllables and mucho macho tambien. Good luck and good day.
Anyone seen Bad Santa yet? I was just re-watching Ghost World last night and learned that director T. Zwigoff also did Crumb, which I'll profess to having liked. I also just noticed that Ghost World is rife with R. Crumb drawerings.
- Versatility P. Underlie December 18, 2003 15:02Yeah, I saw Bad Santa -- had great expectations, given that I too liked Ghost World and Crumb. I'd read things like "Bad Santa is the only holiday film out there that has the spirit, the joy, of the holidays." And it was supposed to be dark and funny. The Coen brothers are associated with it, too, right, in some way? So I had high hopes. Yeah....Bad Santa was awful. There were 3 parts that I thought were funny -- hilarious, really. The rest was just bad, uncomfortably bad. I would have walked out (and the only other film I've ever walked out of is "Waking Life"), but I was with 2 friends. It could have been great if it hadn't gone for cheap laughs -- like, look! the "little person" can't reach things that are high! Or, hey! Isn't it funny that the main character has sex with women who shops in the "women's sizes" section of a store!?! Fat women are just funny, right?. Sex with fat women is flat-out hilarious, right? Yeah.
- postster December 18, 2003 15:37Oh, also, doesn't a director's using the same actors go back to the idea of the film director as "auteur"? That is, the director sees herself or himself as an author, and the use of the same actors across films establishes a kind of coherence/cannon of films by the same director.
- postster December 18, 2003 15:48I haven't been online much, but I just wanted to say congrats on the baby. We're having one in about a month. Pretty scary shit, but great.
- Laura Sheehan December 20, 2003 19:19I love Rushmore. Love it. Here's an inane tidbit for the hell of it: I dated a girl who went to St. John's High School in Houston, TX. This was Wes Anderson's school and the location for the movie. St John's is a private school (mascot: Rebels). Lamar, a public high school, is right across the street (location for the post-expulsion portion of the movie). According to my ex, a dubious source of information-at best, the two schools have to be let out at different times to prevent serious "ass-whoopings" at the Rebel's expense. By the way, Dignon from "Bottle Rockets" might be one of the greatest characters of all time.
- Hugh damn right December 20, 2003 22:42Hey Stets- I figured out why I was so confused. We were unpacking and I ran across my yearbooks. I had you mixed up with Jeff Weber, who was in my class.
- Karlita December 22, 2003 11:42