Jaws is Steven Spielberg's most well-known film.  I think.  It's certainly his first well-known film, and while I don't know the whole story, I do know that the production was riddled with challenges and rewrites and that many in the cast and crew anticipated this would be a bomb at the box office. According to boxofficemojo.com, Jaws … Continue reading Jaws (1975)

Directed by Steven Spielberg The Sugarland Express is a bit of a wild ride, pun intended.  It follows young couple Lou Jean (Goldie Hawn) and Clovis Poplin (William Atherton) as they kidnap a police officer when their plan to see their estranged child goes off the rails. Maybe estranged isn't the right word, but Lou … Continue reading The Sugarland Express (1974)

Directed by Steven Spielberg Something Evil follows a young family led by husband and wife, Paul and Marjorie.  When we meet them they are vacationing in the countryside, right next to a farmhouse for some reason.  Marjorie paints the house while their son Stevie plays nearby, and everything is picture perfect.  The farmhouse is for … Continue reading Something Evil (1972)

In a recent episode of WTF with Marc Maron, he interviewed Michael Shannon who briefly discussed playing Elvis Presley in the film Elvis & Nixon (2016).  He mentioned how Elvis is this larger than life figure, but when he discovered that Elvis' favorite book was Siddhartha, he saw a different side of the man.  Between his research and … Continue reading The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

In Moonrise Kingdom, Sam Shakusky and Suzy Bishop rebel against adults who are trying their best.  They assemble their own fantasy in which they will run away from home and live together.  Sam is an orphaned boy scout, and Suzy is the oldest child of two unhappily married parents, played by Billy Murray and Frances McDormand. … Continue reading Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Fantastic Mr. Fox is Wes Anderson's first animated film, and it still feels like an Anderson film.  So many of the characters he writes hide under something, whether it's heavy eyeliner, sunglasses and a headband or something more sophisticated but ultimately just as ineffective, like a carefully curated public image (Max Fischer). Mr. Fox is … Continue reading Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Three brothers reunite a year after their father's death in The Darjeeling Limited.  Francis (Owen Wilson) has organized the get together, and Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) are reluctantly along for the ride. Each brother is hurting, and they're all holding onto something.  This is visualized by the large amounts of luggage they carry … Continue reading The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is a story of exploration and science, yet really it's a story of revenge and Steve Zissou's need to grow up.  In that sense it's like every Wes Anderson movie (so far).  He neatly presents the world of a guy who has his way of life set in stone … Continue reading The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

The Royal Tenenbaums is a very neat and orderly film about damaged people.  It's similar to Rushmore in that way, but it's also much more... comical?  It's certainly something.  It's Wes Anderson, that's what it is. The film is broken up into chapters, and in each chapter title card, we see the first few sentences of the "novel," … Continue reading The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Rushmore is about people growing up.  One of those people, Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) is a student at Rushmore academy, but the other two are adults.  There's Herman Blume (Bill Murray) and a first grade teacher, Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). Each character is suffering, whether they know it or not.  In fact, they all cope … Continue reading Rushmore (1998)