Wes Anderson
-
Notable Festivals: Berlin (Silver Bear), SXSW (Closing Night) It’s dangerous to be a dog in a Wes Anderson film. Whether it’s being caught between a brick wall and the receiving end of a speeding convertible as in THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (2001) or speared through with a boy scout’s arrow as in MOONRISE KINGDOM (2012), man’s…
-
Throughout his high-flying feature career, director Wes Anderson has supplemented his major works with regular forays into advertising. His specialty is premium luxury and lifestyle brands with an international flavor, a niche that’s somewhat reflective of his own tastes as an artist. In 2014, while he was still basking in the glow of THE GRAND…
-
Just like he had made the short sketch COUSIN BEN TROOP SCREENING (2012) as a promotional companion piece to his feature MOONRISE KINGDOM, director Wes Anderson followed the release of his 2014 film THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL with a short tie-in distributed via the Internet. Titled HOW TO MAKE COURTESAN AU CHOCOLAT, the short is a relatively simple recipe video that…
-
Notable Festivals: Berlinale (Silver Bear) Academy Award Wins: Best Production Design, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, Best Costume Design Many filmmakers often go back to basics in the wake of disappointment or failure– it’s a way to reconnect with our roots and recommit to the convictions that led us to pursue a career in film…
-
Most well-known feature directors who dabble in commercial work create spots for a wide, seemingly-random variety of brands and products. Either a given brand wants that director specifically, or the director just happened to turn in the best bid. Others, like director Wes Anderson, tend to specialize within a particular niche. Anderson’s niche seems to…
-
In addition to the release of his feature MOONRISE KINGDOM and its short companion piece COUSIN BEN TROOP SCREENING, director Wes Anderson’s already-busy 2012 was made even busier with a trio of new commercial works. Anderson’s unique artistic style had been employed in service to various lifestyle and luxury brands before, and now he was expanding into the…
-
The year 2012 marked director Wes Anderson’s grand return to live-action filmmaking in the form of MOONRISE KINGDOM. As part of the film’s promotion, Anderson enlisted the services of his frequent collaborator Jason Schwartzman for a Funny or Die sketch called COUSIN BEN TROOP SCREENING. A short piece similar in style and function to his MAX FISCHER PLAYERS…
-
Notable Festivals: Cannes (Opening Night) Inducted Into the Criterion Collection: 2015 After the reinvigorating creative (if not financial) success of 2009’s FANTASTIC MR. FOX, director Wes Anderson embarked on a new live action script with Roman Coppola, who during the writing of 2007’S THE DARJEELING LIMITED had helped Anderson tamp down the escalating scope of his earlier narratives…
-
Director Wes Anderson’s signature visual style has proven to be a hot commodity in the world of advertising. As such, he’s built up a solid side-career directing commercials and advertisements for lifestyle brands like American Express, Ikea, and Dasani– all of which have eagerly embraced his idiosyncratic aesthetic. In 2010, premium suds brewer Stella Artois…
-
Notable Festivals: London (Opening Night) Inducted into the Criterion Collection: 2014 Over ten years and five features into his career, there was a growing sense that director Wes Anderson’s preening, overly-meticulous aesthetic was growing stale. Since the career high of 2001’s THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, his subsequent work was greeted with diminishing returns. An aesthetic re-invention was…
-
There’s a curious phenomenon within the international world of commercials whereby hyper-famous American celebrities appear in spots that only air in foreign markets. Sofia Coppola’s 2003 film LOST IN TRANSLATION shed a little light on this phenomenon, basing a major plot point on Bill Murray travelling to Tokyo to pose for a series of whiskey advertisements. The…
-
Notable Festivals: Venice (Little Golden Lion), New York, Toronto Inducted into the Criterion Collection- 2010 The cultural hallmarks of India and its people have always been woven into the fabric of director Wes Anderson’s aesthetic. Chief among Anderson’s earliest influences were the films of iconic Indian director Satyajit Ray, and actors like Kumar Pallana and…