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Disturbed looks at the next Owen Wilson/Wes Anderson project, THE ROYAL TENNENBAUMS!!!
Hey folks, Harry here with Disturbed's look at the latest project from Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson.... a pair whose RUSHMORE has been compared to some of the greatest comedies of all time (though I prefer BOTTLE ROCKET). This latest project sounds like another step in the right direction to me... but judge for yourself... here's Disturbed...
I am a huge Wes Anderson (and Owen Wilson) fan. RUSHMORE is hands down my
favorite film of 1998, and BOTTLE ROCKET was a completely justified choice
for Scorsese's Best Of 90's list (with which I was quite impressed). When I
perused Elston's recap and saw the mention of the next Anderson/Wilson
script, "The Royal Tannenbaums" having been completed, I began to do
everything within my power, both real and delusional, to acquire a copy.
Eventually it paid off and I received the script in my mailbox. Now, I tell
you of my fandom as a warning, so that this may cause you to take the
following with a grain of salt, but I've tried to remain objective, and of
course as much as I wanted to read the script and love it, there was that
fear that it would disappoint. I'm still not certain which one is the result.
I'll try to keep the spoilers at a minimum.
The title originally rumored for this script was GARGLING DESTINY. I thought
this was a very cool title, but it was abandoned (if it was ever seriously
considered) in favor of THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS. Yes, TENENBAUMS, not
Tannenbaums. I think that I like this title better. I'm a big fan of double
meaning. Now, reviewing a script is more difficult than you may think. Even
if you can talk at length about the merits of a film, as I'm sure many of you
can (and likely do often), it's not as easy as that with a script.
Recognizing a good script, and reviewing one are two very different things.
Why? Well, the best analogy for a script is as a blueprint of a house. You
may be able to look at blueprints and say "This house is going to be
wonderful," but it's a far cry from actually walking around inside and
commenting. In addition, a good blueprint can also be ruined by bad
contractors, and unskilled craftsmen. There's always that worry. Of course, I
happen to know that this blueprint is in good hands. Perhaps better than I
can even yet tell.
The scripts to BOTTLE ROCKET and RUSHMORE are remarkably subtle, as is the
direction (particularly in RUSHMORE). They are both fantastically funny
films, in which the characters don't get the joke. They aren't in on it.
There isn't some hammy comic actor punching the punchlines. Therein lies
their brilliance, their honesty, and the source of their so commonly being
misconstrued. I once had someone tell me they liked RUSHMORE, and I started
excitedly talking about how funny it was...how subtle things like Blume
continuing to drive the car slowly as he talks to Max bust me up, and she
said "Well, um...I didn't really think it was funny. It was more of a drama,
wasn't it?" While the film can work on that level, and it's part of what
impresses me about it, I think it's really missing a big part of the spirit.
Anderson's films are like a lo-watt radio station that plays some of the
greatest music ever recorded. If you can tune in properly, you'll hear things
you never imagined were there. Once you get on the wavelength of their sense
of humor, every subtle nuance is amplified. This effect is increased with
each subsequent viewing. I watched RUSHMORE with my parents, once. Something
or other had me howling with laughter, and my mother just looked confused.
"You're easily amused, aren't you."
With the knowledge that the previous films are so subtle, and that so much is
added by the direction (one of my favorite moments in RUSHMORE is when Max
pretends to crash his bike, and it's placed directly under the streetlight. A
wonderful allusion to his theatrework, that was as funny because of how well
it fit the character as anything. I'm not sure if this was in the script as I
regrettably never read it, but there are other examples of direction that
give added depth to the humor...like the way Max is tackled when wrestling) I
approached the script by trying to get in tune with Anderson's vibe, so that
I could imagine how the events would play onscreen more effectively. The
script had me laughing out loud on the first page.
BUT...it appears to be by far the darkest of the three films. BOTTLE ROCKET
was the least cynical, the most happy-go-lucky. Dignan was a ray of fucking
sunshine, and one of the best characters in recent memory. RUSHMORE was
darker. It had this incredible ability to make the same scene bittersweet,
tragic and funny all at once. Images like the abject Blume jumping into the
filthy pool, and just floating there achieved that amazing balance. I'm glad
to say that this ability was carried over into TENENBAUMS. Harold Blume was a
miserable character, and Max wasn't very happy with himself either. It was
darker than BOTTLE ROCKET, but not as melancholy as TENENBAUMS appears to be.
TENENBAUMS doesn't have a Dignan. It doesn't have a Max. None of the
characters seem to posses the incredible optimism of those two characters.
That said, there are many, many funny moments. The writing style is just as
understated as the humor, so that even simple lines in the description had me
laughing. "Dudley takes a bite of a graham cracker."
There are a couple other details that make this feel like a departure for
them, albeit a fairly slight one. Both BOTTLE ROCKET and RUSHMORE had three
principal characters. TENENBAUMS has at least seven. In BOTTLE ROCKET and
RUSHMORE the women were really only objects of fixation and obsession. The
stories were about the guys. Cross is a wonderful female character, but she
took a back-seat, and she was the only girl (with the exception of Margaret,
who was a comparatively minor character). TENENBAUMS has two important female
characters, and while they do still function as objects of desire, they're
also fuller characters in their own right (which is not to say that Cross, in
RUSHMORE, wasn't...she was very fleshed o
ut).
Hm. I haven't really addressed the plot, have I. All right, the script is
held together by this odd sort of...book motif. The very first shot is of the
jacket of a book, called The Royal Tenenbaums. There is a narrator, who
speaks in the past tense just as a book would. He disappears throughout most
of the middle of the story, because he's mostly there to give the sort of
exposition that just can't be squeezed in without being heavy handed, unless
you've got a narrator. It's funny, and concise. Throughout the script there
are inserts of pages of this book. The beginnings of chapters. It's a little
strange...but it works. The script opens with Royal Tenenbaum, the
paterfamilias (sort of), being kicked out of the house. It's not really made
clear why. It then introduces the rest of the family: his wife Etheline, the
sons Chas and Richie, the adopted daughter Margot, and a childhood friend,
Eli. Each of the children (with the exception of Eli) is something of a young
genius. Margot an award winning young playwright, Chas a rather brilliant
businessman (particularly real estate), Richie a tennis prodigy. All these
among other talents. They were a rich family, as well.
Fast forward over 20 years. None of these people are happy anymore. To quote
the script, "...virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young
TENENBAUMS had been erased by two decades of betrayal, failure, and
disaster." Bit by bit it's revealed what happened to the family. On top of
this, Royal Tenenbaum, telling the family who he hasn't spoken to in years
that he has cancer and is going to die in six weeks, moves back into the old
house to try to reconcile with his estranged loved ones (who are also staying
in the house for various reasons). He tries to make friends again. He tries
to connect with his wife again (they were never divorced). He tries to
instill a love of life in his grandchildren that seems to be missing, due to
the overprotectiveness and paranoia of their father, Chas.
The theme of the love triangle from RUSHMORE is also revisited twofold in
TENENBAUMS, but I won't reveal much more about that. The love triangle seems
quite appropriate for the bittersweet, happy/sad nature of Anderson's films.
Even with a "happy ending," in a love triangle, one person always loses out.
TENENBAUMS has a happy resolution...a happy postscript...then a sad
note...and then it finishes off with a laugh and a sly, sad smile. Even if I
hadn't known, I think I'd have been able to point this out as an
Anderson/Wilson script.
I think that while I got a lot of the jokes, the script will be much funnier
filmed. The acting and direction will bring nuance to things, and I think the
visual absurdity will be there. Once again, as in RUSHMORE, a lot of the
comedy comes from cruelty, and I think that will come off even better on
celluloid. There is a scene in which a child starts crying, that is actually
funny to me, and at the same time it's heartbreaking. I have faith in the
filmmakers, though, and I have no problem with them branching off into more
dramatic material. It's a script darkened by unhappy marriages, estranged
fathers and suicide. I don't know if this film will eclipse RUSHMORE as my
favorite of Anderson's. I don't think it will, but that's not to say it will
be an inferior film. I like this script a lot, and absolutely cannot wait to
see the film. I'll be there opening day.
Honestly, I'd really love to hear Wes and/or Owen's thoughts on the
script...what they're going for, if they think it's as funny as the past
efforts, etc. No one can be more on their wavelength but them.
Well. Over 1600 words of rambling and I managed to avoid spoilers. Hopefully
from my sparse plot descriptions and long winded comparisons to TENENBAUMS'
two predecessors, you all have managed to extract a picture of what the
script is like.
As always, I can be reached at:
Disturbed's Looney Bin
Until next time,
-Disturbed
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Does this remind anyone of The Magnificent Ambersons? The title itself sounds like a play on that. If this is a humorous/black comedy take on that story, it should be quite interesting. If I'm not mistaken, "Ambersons" has a similar opening sequence, with the book & narrator (Orson Welles). There are few directors I would view as up to the task of sending up some classic material, and Wes Anderson is one of them. Let's hope it's as good as the Coen Bros. version of The Big Sleep...as for Rushmore, it way beyond a subtle comedy. It's a painfully beautiful coming of age (and midlife crisis) film, and one of the best of its kind ever made.
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I also laugh histerically while watching Rushmore...get the "are you on crack or are you stupid" looks from people who don't get the heartbreaking beauty and humor of this film. I snicker as I play back scenes over and over that kill me with their brilliance. I double over in pain as I watched Blume peek at Cross from behind a tree, approach her and then run away after they've finished the conversation...or when Cross offers Blume a carrot and he accepts. Absolute genius. So am I psyched for the next film...? HELL YES!! I have a warm spot in my heart for you Disturbed for that little peek. You have wetted my appetite and I am hungry for the real thing. Thanks.
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Oh, and I am looking forward to this movie like none other - yes, even Episode 2. RUSHMORE and BOTTLE ROCKET are two of my favorite movies from the 90s. Especially RUSHMORE. Disturbed knows this. That's why he's holding out on me.
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the great thing about anderson/wilson's humor is that to enjoy it you have to see that the joke has no punchline, its all setup...
sic transit gloria -
watching their films I get the same kind of sensation I would if could read my kid's diary - not that I have a kid - but any a true parent must be in love with their child's soul... and such love inspires envy... to read such a vulnerable document, to watch a film that is so suddenly open. To bask in this terrible familiarity... and yet enjoy a removed appreciation for all these little building blocks of consciousness that inhabit a human being.
Watching their films is an experience not unlike having been forced to wear 3D glasses for a week and then being airlifted to the middle of the Grand Canyon and taking them off. Whoa the sudden change in perspective, multitude of tone and shade, tangibilty of matter. One realises all other storytellers are merely editors... while wilson/anderson could sit down at the primal hearth and, having learned to speak caveman, have everyone choking with laughter... do I exaggerate? Oh sainted narrators, who loyally offer a world of paradox, both simple and complicated, hidden and exposed, anxious and liberating, while god hovers in the details like a cheeky gnome, hoping to be discovered...
and their bravery, their willingness to put all sorts of energy and madness into making a film, only to have the end product be so lifelike as to almost absent them from the viewer's experience... humility, my friends, how many directors have it? -
Hey, is that the rumoured "Magnificent Ambersons" reworking? It sure sounds like it is, but I haven't seen the original to be sure...
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i checked. fuck. but it does sound cool. And somewhere else i read that the family are all geniuses.
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I just saw Rushmore again recently, and had a thought as to why a lot of people don't get it. It's basically an American "British film". The humor is very subtle, as in a lot of British comedy, whereas American audiences these days need a phallus in the ear to know when to laugh. British elements in Rushmore - Miss Cross, the soundtrack, the academy style of school. When Max goes to the public high school it's a completely different world. I look forward to Tenenbaums, and anything Wes and Owen create together. I thought someone else is doing a remake or restoration (from Orson's notes) of Ambersons, maybe Alfonso Arau...
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I consider Rushmore to be the third in a trilogy that begins with The Graduate and Harold And Maude. Each subsequent film is highly influenced by it's predecessor and seem to be variations of the same lost boy protagonist (who are all infatuated with an older woman). The trilogy has it's own arc too as Benjamin ends up exactly where he started, Harold ends up one step beyond but with an uncertain future, and finally Max puts everything together.
I love Wes Anderson (and Owen Wilson). I loved Bottle Rocket but Rushmore is one of my top five films of the last decaade and I'm on the edge of my seat for their follow up which from the sound of it, actually reminds me of the family in J.D. Salinger's "non-Catcher" stories (Franny & Zooey, Seymour: An Introduction, Teddy, etc.). I wouldn't be surprised if Anderson's a big Salinger fan. -
I would like to take this oppurtunity to say the HELL with #aintitcool.com channels Asshole Patrol and make a motion for Di
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Good, I'll be out back, nude, getting hand jobs from the woman you love.
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I missed Scorsese's best of 90's list. What where his other choices?
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Definitely looking forward to this. Rushmore is one of my favorite movies. My wife and I also got the "are you on something?" looks as we were often the only people laughing during some of the more subtle comedic moments. One of my favorite moments from Rushmore was at the end where Max's dad says that he is a barber. Someone overhearing him says "I thought you were a brain surgeon" . Max's dad then says "no I'm a barber, but a lot of people make that mistake". Quotes are probably not exact but that's the jist of it. If you haven't seen the movie you won't understand this so do yourself a favor and SEE THE MOVIE! Sorry if I got a little longwinded. If RT is of the same quality as Rushmore or Bottle Rocket I will be a happy, happy man.
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Forn the dude who asked about this, here are Scrosese's picks, starting from the bottom: 10. Malcolm X, Heat (tie) -- 9. Fargo -- 8. Crash -- 7. Bottle Rocket -- 6. Breaking the Waves -- 5. Bad Lieutenant -- 4. Eyes Wide Shut -- 3. A Borrowed Life -- 2. The Thin Red Line -- 1. Horse Thief. *** #1 and #3 are foreign films that I'm not familiar with. All you EWS and Thin Red Line detractors who cried "boring" should check yo self and reevaluate. The master knows his stuff. For anyone who cares, here's Ebert's top ten also: 10. JFK -- 9. Malcolm X -- 8. Leaving Las Vegas -- 7. Breaking the Waves -- 6. Schindler's List -- 5. Red/White/Blue trilogy -- 4. Fargo -- 3. GoodFellas -- 2. Pulp Fiction -- 1. Hoop Dreams. *** See that they have some choices in common, but where they differ are also good choices. I think if you combined this list and selected from each, you'd probably have a pretty accurate list for the decade, though I would have liked to see Fight Club in there myself. For all you Ebert bashers, when it comes down to it the man does know good films when he sees them for the most part, and his list is just as legitimate (if not more) than Scorsese's.
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I just moved over from the "Quentin Tarantino Film Festival" chat room, to here. QTFF was overflowing with lame masterbatory bile, while this Anderson/Wilson chat is a real love fest. Interesting. There is a real reverence for these two guys (Wes and Owen). They are so fresh and original, that it's hard to criticize them without seeming like a lame masterbatory bile spewing jerk. Rushmore is one of my favorite films of all times. Minutes after seeing it in a theater, I rushed to my local DVD store, bought Bottle Rocket, rushed home and watched it. Wes and Owen's brilliance was there in great abundance. I can't wait for the new film.
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For the guy discussing the Wilson improv in this movie, you're right. I read that he made up almost all of his dialogue and his involvement in the film may have even been contingent upon this. Can't wait for this movie and for those who are unaware, the casting of this film is basically a combo of Anderson's first two films (on the male side, anyway). I believe the sons will be played by the Wilson brothers and Jason "Max Fischer" Schwartzman and the cancer stricken father will be played by Bill Murray. This may have changed, though. By the way, aren't those great character names? I was laughing just reading the characters' names and the way that they were spelled.
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When real film fans look back thirty yearsfrom now they will see these guys for the brilliant film makers they are. I hope that Wes Anderson never directs a film that he and Owen Wilson didn't write. Owen Wilson is really a great comedic actor too. Personally I thought that Shanghia Noon was pulled up from being another Jackie Chan kick 'em up (not that those aren't fun) to a genuinely smart funny film because of his involvement. The Haunting... Well that was just another splotch of pooh to be washed away by this new film (as was Armageddon). I don't hold anything against him for doing those films. At least he still does (and knows) what is important, and that is creating classics-to-be with Wes Anderson.
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I love, love, love Bottle Rocket. However, I think it is absurd to say it is one of the 10 best of the decade. Its not even the best Wes Anderson movie (in my opinion anyways)
My theory on why it made the list...Anderson and Wilson have both said they initially started out intending to write Bottle Rocket as a gritty, scorsese-like crime drama.
I think Scorsese must've really liked the movie, and the added bonus of having his ego-stroked at the same time, by a very talented up and coming director. -
The funniest damn moment in Shanghai Noon...and you know it was an improv line: "Augghh! Vultures are eating my head!" (or pretty close to that). It was all in the delivery. I mean, we saw the vultures...we knew they were gonna eat his head...but him yelling that out in the perfect way...I swear. I was dyin'. What a genius.
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Rushmore was an amazing film. It took me a few minutes to get into its vibe, but once i was there . . . what a film!! My favourite bit was the full-on pyrotechnics of the Vietnam stage play at the end, and the maniacal laughter while he cradled his m16. Still have to see bottle rocket, so I think that will be on my video list now.
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That Scorsese would pick Bottle Rocket as one of the Ten Best of the 90s makes perfect sense: both directors are cut from the same cloth, it seems to me. Look at their very similar use of slow motion - never in action scenes, but seemingly to accentuate the emotional reaction to quiet moments on the screen (De Niro drinking from a can while walking down the street in Taxi Driver - Wilson's walk back into the jail at the end of Bottle Rocket - the beautiful final shot of Rushmore with that great Rod Stewart song playing on the soundtrack). One question: is there an extremely subtle reference to Mann's Heat in a line of dialogue in Rushmore?
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to Ready Demolition, Tucson, Arizona. There's also a subtle Godfather reference.
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You know your weapons buddy. I'll watch Rushmore again tonight and try and spot The Godfather reference/allusion/salute.
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Well, I watched Rushmore again - what a film. Okay, it's been quite a few years since I saw The Godfather and I can only hazard a guess that the tip of the hat comes in the hospital scene where Blume sees a parked operating table outside of the elevator he is standing in with Max (no?). If I'm wrong please correct me and put me out of my misery. I found another Heat ref during the Serpico scene: the actor playing Serpico says something like "I'm at the end, which is where i gotta be" (remember Hanna saying something like "I live on the edge, which is where I gotta be"?). Also spotted what I think might be a REALLY obscure Deer Hunter reference - during the play at the end one of the actors discharges his flamethrower and what sounds like an exact replica of the pig squealing from the first few minutes of the Vietnam scenes in Deer Hunter can be heard (whaddaya think?).
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The Godfather reference is actually in the first scene between Max and the Dean in his office when he puts him on "sudden death academic probation". Max asks him if he can let it slide "for old time sake". The Dean says, "Can't do it Max." This brief exchange is lifted from Robert Duvall and Abe Vigoda's scene at the end of The Godfather when they're taking Vigoda off to get whacked. I'd like to say I was incredibly perceptive but the truth is Owen Wilson reveals it in the commentary on my Rushmore DVD.
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Although some may not have been meant to experience the joys of anderson/wilson films, I have to say I have had some success in spreading the word. Who can resist the rustic and real charms of Bottle Rocket? (the fact that anthony never once attempts spanish and also the fact that he asks to keep the tiny picture of inez'a sister are priceless--i could go on forever about my favorite scenes)
I am exited for Tennenbaums but wish I hadn't found out about the project so soon, making the wait longer. I don't know about Schwartzman being in the movie, I heard Rushmore was to have been his only role he wished to play and that he is in some horrible punk band. I guess we'll wait and see... -
Rushmore is Awesome. Bottle Rocket's better. Owen Wilson better be in this one. He is a great actor. Best line: While giving handjobs in the jacuzi...
I don't remember how it goes but it KICKS AISS!!! TENACIOUS D RULZ!! -
Zosohobo, what movie is that from? I thought i'd seen them all...
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Just wanted to add my praise
and admiration for the work
of Wes Anderson, and his partner, Owen Wilson. RUSHMORE is easily one of my favorite films of all time. And BOTTLE ROCKET is up there, too. No one covers character quite as well -- with humor, intelligence, and feeling. There are few true young American auteurs, but Wes Anderson is definitely amongst them (as is Paul Thomas Anderson, David O. Russell, and Neil Labute), and is perhaps the most innovative of the lot. Because unlike his peers, there's a genuine quality to his work -- a lack of post modern self-referentiality, and perhaps a touch of the classic comedies of Billy Wilder that were both funny and dramatic at once. RUSHMORE is at least as great as THE APARTMENT, which is a pretty incredible movie.
Hearing about the ROYAL TENENBAUMS makes me want
to crack out my BOTTLE ROCKET
and RUSHMORE DVDs and watch them again (and isn't it about time someone -- maybe Anchor Bay or Criterion -- did a decent BOTTLE ROCKET DVD with commentary and extras?). It's been nearly two years since RUSHMORE was released wide. I don't know if I can wait another year until the new one comes out.
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When I first heard Wes was doing a film about a dysfunctional family of geniuses, I automatically thought of the Glass's, J.D. Salinger's dysfunctional family of geniuses chronicled through Nine Stories etc...
Then I heard the title. The Royal Tannen/Tenen/whateverBaums. The eldest Glass daughter married. Her new name? Tannenbaum.
Hmm... -
I saw the film only in the German version and may have missed a few punches, but nevertheless saw the film six times yet. (The film has just started now in Germany after roughly two years delay.) Usually I do ignore contemporary cinema: I haven
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