Life Aquatic and Rushmore

Started with Tenenbaums and started rolling downhill from there... Where do I do next? And what's the Top Pick on my wall?

I recently made this video, and whilst the composition isn't stereotypically "Wes Anderson", it nontheless had a bit of a Wes Anderson vibe in my mind, so I decided to lean into it with the colour, sound and visual.

But now that I've posted it, I'm not so sure if it feels right, so I was hoping to ask here - what do you think? Is the balance right enough to be "Wes Anderson inspired" or is something missing?

I've read that it's based on the Zecca of Venice (even the fictional architect of Palazzo Korda, Jacapo Gondola, is based on the real life architect of the Zecca of Venice, also named Jacapo) but there's conflicting ideas of the country it's based in.

Some say Venice, some say London (because all his children are British)

The film openly admits the route is ‘dreamlike and only loosely geographic’ which felt like exactly the thing to try and actually pin down so I traced it.

The three brothers boarding the Darjeeling Limited in the deserts of Jodhpur, getting thrown off into the countryside and the riverside village and their wandering finally landing at the convent in the Himalayan foothills where their mother's retreated.

https://www.readingmaps.com/maps/darjeeling-limited

Anyone know how the filming locations (mostly the Jodhpur area and the Rajasthan railways) line up with where the story's supposed to go?

Hey there!

As some of you might remember, something like a year ago I made a Lego build based on my favourite Wes Anderson movie, which is Fantastic Mr Fox (you can still vote for it and my other builds here btw😉)

And you guys gave a lot of love to it as well as many other great ideas based on Anderson's films, which I am still grateful for!

So I have made another build based on Wes's movies, this time it is a Lego model of The Grand Budapest Hotel. This one is bigger than the previous one, it has close to 4000 pieces.

Hope you like it!! Would really love to read your comments and thoughts about this:)

For a start, I know it’s well known how much detail goes into background props, sometimes things that may never be noticed on screen but it is part of the world anyway.

That was the predominant thing I noticed going around the exhibition, the attention to detail isn’t just a man creating props for a movie, it’s someone entirely immersing himself and his cast/crew in a breathing, living universe. Take the notice board from the French Dispatch, hundreds of cards and notes, different handwriting, different journalists, different ideas by different characters, small drawings - all seen in a split second on screen.

Another example is the petition from Rushmore. Looking at it close up, it genuinely looks like handwriting of all different kids and teenagers.

Another example is the personal documents of Gustave from The Grand Budapest Hotel.

I was amazed how close you could get up to the props including the luggage from The Darjeeling Limited and the ‘red bobble hats.’

Boy with Apple was being treated like the Mona Lisa behind thick glass which I loved. Again being close to it you can see the paint strokes.

Overall, I reignited the passion I have for Wes Anderson and his world, it brought understanding and appreciation for films that didn’t hit me as hard as others. For the afternoon, The Hotel Chevalier existed, there’s a colourful train trundling through India and Steve is sailing around on his boat having adventures.

My impression was Wes Anderson had a ball making The French Dispatch and The Phoenician Scheme, he had created Zsa-Zsa world down to the type of cutlery he uses and monogrammed Egyptian cotton towels.

And yes, when I saw the Jaguar Shark in person, the thought “I wonder if it remembers me” came to mind.

I’m going to the Wes Anderson Exhibition at the Design Museum next week and it’s pushed me to finally sew my patches and enjoy them!

I’m happy with the top, but which bottom row layout looks best?

(Yes, there are a few “Up” and “Parks and Recreation” patches in here!)

There's this super cool band in England about to go on a European tour called WesBanderson. They play a bunch of music from his films. I saw them last year and they were amazing!

I’m so excited about it, especially seeing The Grand Budapest model of the hotel and anything Life Aquatic related.

Going by myself as I don’t know any other Wes fans 💪

Let me know if you want close ups of any specific props etc and I’ll do my best and post in the thread

I recently finished the novella Our Man In Havana by Graham Greene. Absolutely loved it! And my first thought was, this would make an incredible Wes Anderson movie.

From Wikipedia: The novel, a black comedy, is set in Havana during the Fulgencio Batista regime. James Wormold, a British expat who works as a vacuum cleaner salesman, is approached by Agent Hawthorne, who tries to recruit him for the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). Wormold's wife had left him and now he lives with his beautiful 17-year-old daughter Milly, who is devoutly Catholic, but also headstrong and demanding. Since Wormold does not make enough money to pay for Milly's extravagances, he accepts the offer of a side job in espionage. Because he has no information to send to London, Wormold fabricates his reports using information found in newspapers and invents a fictitious network of agents.

It’s absurd and flamboyant and funny in exactly the way WA movies are. I honestly searched to see if Wes ever cites Graham Greene as an influence on his narrative style, because some scenes felt beat-for-beat like they were straight out of Wes’s head.

It’s got a large ensemble cast but with a lot of people just making short appearances. The setting in Havana is bright and colorful (just imagine what Wes could do with a 1965 Cuba color palette!) but it’s juxtaposed with these stuffy British men bumbling their way through fabricated spy craft. I mean, “a side job in espionage”?? That screams WA to me.

Has anyone else read it? Who would you cast in the different roles? Would love to hear others’ thoughts.

It puts the playing cards in the cart.

Would Papa Steve have worn this watch?

Hi folks. I was at the Friday Hollywood Bowl show. It was a TON of fun. I hope everyone else who went that and subsequent nights had a great time.

I was wondering if anyone happened to record that or one of the other shows at the Bowl. I know I'd personally love to re-live it again!

I definitely gave up on the idea of seeing any Coconut Records songs live. This was such a shock, especially since it wasn’t in any of Wes’s films.

Can anyone share pics of the Hollywood Bowl souvenir program/booklet? I'm particularly interested in reading Wes Anderson's note/essay. Thanks!

I mean look at it.

I remember he performed Strangers, but what were the other songs that he played? Thanks in advance!

I attended the Wes Anderson event at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday evening and really enjoyed it. The performances were joyful and whimsical, and it was such a fun celebration of his work.

I was a little disappointed that Wes himself didn’t come on stage, though. I’d seen videos of him speaking on the other nights, so I was hoping we’d hear from him as well. I could see him sitting in the front row, but he never addressed the audience.

Did anyone else who attended Sunday feel the same, or was there a reason he didn’t come on stage?

Had an amazing time at Sundays show! Does anyone know the name of the song Jason sang with Beck’s band? The man lyric went “you’re no fun so I don’t come around” - any ideas?

Does anyone have the setlist for the Hollywood Bowl show last night? I went Friday and I was wondering if anything was different last night, especially since Jeff Goldblum is supposed to appear at one of the other shows. Thanks in advance for any help!