The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

A welcome Christmas gift from Wes.
If you measured the success of a film director by the number of cool actors who stand in line to work with him, Wes Anderson would surely win by a long shot. And why not? If you pay close attention, you quickly understand why a film like Rushmore or The Royal Tenenbaums is so beloved by character actors and movie critics alike. These films are rich in humane humor, and they feature some of the smartest writing and show off one of the most charmingly quirky sensibilities in major motion pictures today. These are qualities you cannot buy through special effects or soundtracks or even a twenty-million-dollar leading lady. They are the unique sensibility of a true auteur—and Anderson is head and shoulders above pretenders of his generation like Spike Jonze and Sofia Coppola. The color palette alone of Anderson’s newest Bill Murray vehicle is making our mouths water—pastel blues, grays, and pinks frame a wacky story about an oceanographer who is slightly more Clouseau than Cousteau. As for our own Bill Murray worship, this film will be a welcome relief from his temporary setback of Lost in Translation, a grossly overrated exercise in directorial vanity.


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