Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Is “The Phoenician Scheme” Wes Anderson's Most Emotional Film?

newyorker.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 130 posts

Re: Is “The Phoenician Scheme” Wes Anderson's Most Emotional Film?

#51

Post by rkomorn »

Barrin92 wrote: post #50
myth_drannon wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Dark Knight Rises also had an atom bomb. Nolan has a thing for nuclear detonations.

also, timers. What absolutely killed Nolan for me was when someone pointed out that he's virtually unable to create tension without a literal timer, be that bombs, watches, countdowns, what have you. Ever single damn movie. There's even a tick-tock sound from Nolan's stopwatch in the soundtrack of Dunkirk.

For some reason, this made me think of the countdown timer in Galaxy Quest that counts down but stops before getting to zero because the ship's design is based on a TV show.

Re: Is “The Phoenician Scheme” Wes Anderson's Most Emotional Film?

#52

Post by rkomorn »

rkomorn wrote: post #51
Barrin92 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

also, timers. What absolutely killed Nolan for me was when someone pointed out that he's virtually unable to create tension without a literal timer, be that bombs, watches, countdowns, what have you. Ever single damn movie. There's even a tick-tock sound from Nolan's stopwatch in the soundtrack of Dunkirk.

For some reason, this made me think of the countdown timer in Galaxy Quest that counts down but stops before getting to zero because the ship's design is based on a TV show.

"Spoiler alert", I guess, if you've not seen Galaxy Quest in the quarter century since it was released.

Re: Is “The Phoenician Scheme” Wes Anderson's Most Emotional Film?

#53

Post by wk_end »

keiferski wrote: post #19

I am looking forward to seeing this, as while I really enjoy the aesthetic of Anderson, I increasingly wish someone would push him out of his comfort zone. His films are the same thing repeated in different circumstances with different characters. Maybe he isn’t interested in doing anything other than what he’s doing, and at some level that’s all the justification he needs. He doesn’t owe anyone anything. But I do th…

For better or for worse, Anderson is very much an auteur [0], like Godard or Woody Allen. Almost certainly in a self-conscious way.

Complaining that Anderson movies feel like Anderson movies seems almost to miss the point: do we look at Picasso's works and complain about the consistent style he developed? The self-imposed constraints of his own style give him a framework to build his art from (it's often said that constraints foster creativity after all) and a particular craft to master.

Conversely, the form might always be an Anderson movie, but the function of each film can be quite different. By sticking with and mastering a particular aesthetic he frees himself to explore things besides aesthetic wildly. What does The Royal Tenenbaums have in common with, say, The Grand Budapest Hotel, besides Futura?

That said, I do feel like Asteroid City in particular was a stretch for him: there's nothing quite like "you can't wake up if you don't fall asleep" anywhere else in his filmography. It felt like along with the more extreme artifice came a more extreme intensity of feeling: to me it's a film that really came from a very anguished and grieving place. I haven't read the article or seen the new film yet, but based on the headline it sounds like this might be the overall direction his work is heading.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auteur

Re: Is “The Phoenician Scheme” Wes Anderson's Most Emotional Film?

#54

Post by AlanYx »

bag_boy wrote: post #42

I like Wes Anderson movies in general, but I was unable to finish Asteroid City at home. It felt emotionally monotone. I probably need to go back and rewatch it. Hope this one is a bit more exciting. Rushmore is my favorite. The yearbook montage is awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMyh6ptegko

I feel that his movies post-mid-career have been trending more and more towards an emotional monotone. That's more of an issue IMHO than the predictable artistic approach that people tend to focus on.

I haven't seen The Phoenician Scheme, but if it changes that then it's a positive sign.

Re: Is “The Phoenician Scheme” Wes Anderson's Most Emotional Film?

#55

Post by Fricken »

keiferski wrote: post #19

I am looking forward to seeing this, as while I really enjoy the aesthetic of Anderson, I increasingly wish someone would push him out of his comfort zone. His films are the same thing repeated in different circumstances with different characters. Maybe he isn’t interested in doing anything other than what he’s doing, and at some level that’s all the justification he needs. He doesn’t owe anyone anything. But I do th…

He has put out 5 films in the last 7 years. Wes Anderson might just be a victim of his own productivity, his work could benefit from some scarcity.

Anderson nonetheless is still quite inventive and experimental in his films, he's always doing new things, and usually those new things are in the details, and of course, those new things tend to play into his trademark style. Asteroid City played like an excuse to play around with clever camera movements. Isle of Dogs did weird things where the image and sound were providing diverging narratives that would come back together.

Anderson's trademark style is annoying to me only when my interest in the characters and story is lacklustre, but for every Anderson film I'm not that into I know at least one person who loves it.

I think it would be unreasonable to expect him to reinvent his filmmaking style dramatically. There are other filmmakers out there making movies for those who've had their fill of quirky Wes Anderson flicks.

Re: Is “The Phoenician Scheme” Wes Anderson's Most Emotional Film?

#56

Post by hhh »

yooo000 wrote: post #48

Why does it feel like any film churned out by Hollywood is just mindless banter in between sex and explosions...haven't seen a movie in theaters since well before covid because it's really not worth it, waste of time.

I think you might just not be interested in the overwhelming amount of movies coming out that have neither sex nor explosions. I have a subscription and go 2-7 times a month to see new movies. Plenty of slop that is both sex and explosions, but a ton of interesting movies that aren't.

Re: Is “The Phoenician Scheme” Wes Anderson's Most Emotional Film?

#57

Post by rafaepta »

I miss Rushmore’s plain approach. Just enough quirk, sharp acting, and visuals that back the plot instead of hogging it. Newer Anderson films look like photo shoots: pretty, but the story drags. Same story dev teams hit when designers chase pixel-perfect screens and users still wait on real features.

Re: Is “The Phoenician Scheme” Wes Anderson's Most Emotional Film?

#58

Post by ubermonkey »

bag_boy wrote: post #42

I like Wes Anderson movies in general, but I was unable to finish Asteroid City at home. It felt emotionally monotone. I probably need to go back and rewatch it. Hope this one is a bit more exciting. Rushmore is my favorite. The yearbook montage is awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMyh6ptegko

Rushmore was my favorite of his films until the release of Moonrise Kingdom.

Fun fact: Rushmore was shot in an era without social media. All my film nerd pals were aware of Anderson after Bottle Rocket, and were tacitly awaiting his next film, but its ultimate arrival was a surprise. Even MORE surprising (at least for us) was that it was shot right here in Houston -- recognizably, obviously Houston. (I'm sure the St John's community was aware... )

Its release also solved a puzzle for my friend E. and I dating from the winter of 97-98. We'd stopped for sushi at a middling but reasonably priced joint between our rental house the bar we were headed to, and after posting up at the corner of the sushi counter and ordering a bit, we noticed the guy at the far end of the bar. He had a sort of admiring entourage with him of 2-3 younger folks.

The guy looked familiar, but we couldn't place him. Finally:

"Wow, that guy looks like Bill Murray."

"Yeah, he really does, doesn't he?"

"I think that might actually BE Bill Murray."

"What the hell is he doing in Houston?"

"No idea. Is there a tournament at the River Oaks club?"

We ate. We left. We forgot about seeing him -- until we saw Rushmore the following fall.

(In the unlikely event someone reading this knows Houston: this was at the Miyako that used to be just north of 59 on the west side of Kirby, so close to River Oaks.)

Re: Is “The Phoenician Scheme” Wes Anderson's Most Emotional Film?

#59

Post by keiferski »

wk_end wrote: post #53
keiferski wrote: post #19

I am looking forward to seeing this, as while I really enjoy the aesthetic of Anderson, I increasingly wish someone would push him out of his comfort zone. His films are the same thing repeated in different circumstances with different characters. Maybe he isn’t interested in doing anything other than what he’s doing, and at some level that’s all the justification he needs. He doesn’t owe anyone anything. But I do th…

For better or for worse, Anderson is very much an auteur [0], like Godard or Woody Allen. Almost certainly in a self-conscious way. Complaining that Anderson movies feel like Anderson movies seems almost to miss the point: do we look at Picasso's works and complain about the consistent style he developed? The self-imposed constraints of his own style give him a framework to build his art from (it's often said that co…

Both Picasso and Godard changed their style dramatically over their careers. I'm not familiar enough with Woody Allen's movies to comment on them.

These are good examples to show how being an auteur doesn't mean you need to stick to the same stereotypical aesthetic. Anderson is still pretty young, so maybe he is shifting in one direction or another. But as far as his work goes as of today, the range of stylistic choices is far, far less than what Picasso or Godard did in their careers.

Re: Is “The Phoenician Scheme” Wes Anderson's Most Emotional Film?

#60

Post by masfuerte »

rkomorn wrote: post #51
Barrin92 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

also, timers. What absolutely killed Nolan for me was when someone pointed out that he's virtually unable to create tension without a literal timer, be that bombs, watches, countdowns, what have you. Ever single damn movie. There's even a tick-tock sound from Nolan's stopwatch in the soundtrack of Dunkirk.

For some reason, this made me think of the countdown timer in Galaxy Quest that counts down but stops before getting to zero because the ship's design is based on a TV show.

You can edit your comments. I didn't reply to your second one so you can delete it if you want.
Post reply on HN