The Playlist

Wes Anderson's 5 Best Commercials

By Jessica Kiang
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May 1, 2013 12:13 PM
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6 Comments

Features

There are, apparently, people in the world who don't like the movies of Wes Anderson, who turns 44 today. Of course that's fine and everyone's entitled their opinions blah blah blah, but we're unapologetic apologists for the quirky formalism of the director, even if we end up inevitably having to use one of our most despised words -- "quirky" -- to describe it. But there are other words we use, like "charming" and "stylised," which are constantly countered by detractors with things like "precious" and "twee." And yes, his style is so mannered that it walks that line, but to our mind generally the surprise of Anderson's films is, despite the fetishizable costuming and set design and despite the controlled palettes and contorted dialogue, just how deeply felt they can be -- this never more in evidence than with last year's winning and winsome "Moonrise Kingdom."

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Podcast: The Playlist Talks Terrence Malick's 'To The Wonder' & The Potential Dangers Of Auteur Worship

By Erik McClanahan
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April 16, 2013 2:41 PM
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19 Comments

To The Wonder, Ben Affleck Rachel McAdams

Features

...and the podcast is back. On this latest episode, host (yours truly) and contributor Erik McClanahan is joined by editor-in-chief Rodrigo Perez, managing editor Kevin Jagernauth and contributor Cory Everett for an in depth conversation about Terrence Malick and his latest film"To the Wonder," and the idea of auteur worship in cinephile/critical circles (also known as vulgar auteurism).

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Lea Seydoux Books Role In Wes Anderson's 'The Grand Budapest Hotel,' Saoirse Ronan Reveals Details About Her Part

By Kevin Jagernauth
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April 2, 2013 10:22 AM
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1 Comment

News

So remember last week when Fox Searchlight picked up Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and dropped the official synopsis, along with a staggering list of cast members? It seems they left one out: Lea Seydoux.

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Watch: Episode 3 Of Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola's 'Prada Candy L'Eau' Starring Lea Seydoux

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 29, 2013 9:36 AM
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1 Comment

News

Ah, to be young, beautiful, French and caught between two persistent and handsome men. That's the basic premise of Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola's obviously whimsical series of shorts for Prada, and the third and final installment has now arrived bringing the story to a close.

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Plot Details Revealed For Wes Anderson's 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' As Fox Searchlight Pick Up The Film

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 27, 2013 6:39 PM
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15 Comments

News

It looks like Wes Anderson is going back to a familiar home. After teaming with Focus Features for last year's "Moonrise Kingdom," the filmmaker's "The Grand Budapest Hotel" has been snatched up by Fox Searchlight who released "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and "The Darjeeling Limited." But that's the boring stuff, the good news? We now have a plot.

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Watch: Episode 1 & 2 Of Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola's 'Prada Candy L'Eau' Starring Lea Seydoux

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 26, 2013 1:52 PM
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3 Comments

News

Sometimes name-brand directors are hired for ads and you wonder why the money was spent at all (Guy Ritchie's recent spot for H&M comes to mind), but then there are the occasions where the synergy makes sense. And certainly, Prada knew exactly what they were doing when they snapped up Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola for their most recent campaign. And following a teaser last week, we now get a much bigger bite of the short they've put together.

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Watch: Teaser For Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola's Prada Short Film Starring Lea Seydoux

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 19, 2013 9:19 AM
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0 Comments

News

The first question that comes to mind is: how on Earth did they find time to do this? With Wes Anderson spending most of last year stumping for "Moonrise Kingdom," and now in production on "The Grand Budapest Hotel," while his frequent collaborator and pal Roman Coppola (who co-wrote 'Moonrise') also ushered his film, "A Glimpse Inside The Mind Of Charles Swan III" into theaters, it seems they have found a brief window within in which to work together again. The duo paired up to make a short film for Miuccia Prada, and the first teaser promises something expectedly quirky and beautifully designed.

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Saoirse Ronan's Irish Accent Will Be Heard For 'Grand Budapest Hotel,' Talks Ryan Gosling's "Stylized" 'How To Catch A Monster' & More

By Charlie Schmidlin
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March 18, 2013 10:59 AM
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6 Comments

Interviews

This month's tentpole adaptation, “The Host,” stands to bring Saoirse Ronan to a new level of exposure, but for fans of the actress looking beyond Stephenie Meyer's creation, there's plenty of promising projects soon to come: she's nabbed lead roles in both Wes Anderson's latest, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and Ryan Gosling's directorial debut, “How To Catch A Monster.” Recently, we got the opportunity to chat with her about each of them, as well as her upcoming role in director Kevin Macdonald's latest effort "How I Live Now."

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Explore More 'Moonrise Kingdom': New Illustrated Script & Concept Art Released

By Tess Hofmann
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January 18, 2013 9:17 AM
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0 Comments

News

For fans of the characteristically dollhouse-meticulous set design in Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom” come two extras: an illustrated script and an interview with the film’s production designer, Adam Stockhausen, on The New York Times’ The Carpetbagger blog. While the film was snubbed by the Academy in the visual categories, only snagging one nomination for Best Original Screenplay, critics agreed that Anderson again served up a tasty visual treat – so it’s no surprise to see this interest in the film’s ocular appeal.

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Wes Anderson Says Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, Mathieu Amalric & F. Murray Abraham Have Joined 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'

By Edward Davis
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December 26, 2012 11:48 AM
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6 Comments

News

Wes Anderson's next picture, "The Grand Budapest Hotel," was supposed to star Johnny Depp, but that plan fell through. Nevertheless, it has an outstanding cast featuring Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law, Saoirse Ronan, Jeff Goldblum and regular W.A. collaborators Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman. Other names rumored early on were past collaborators Edward Norton who starred in "Moonrise Kingdom," Adrien Brody who was one of the brothers in "The Darjeeling Limited" and Willem Dafoe who played the second-in-command in "The Life Aquatic" (the latter two also did voice work in "Fantastic Mr. Fox").

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