Interesting connections...

[tinalouise]

I have read that Wes is a fan of the photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue. He sometimes incorporates the same type of visual style in his movies.

Example, Max in Rushmore as shown in the Yankee Racers


Lartigue photo


Anyway, I was just looking at some more of his photos and came across this one


What is interesting about it is the title of the photograph "Zissou in His Tire Boat, Chateau de Rouzat"

Wes seems to add so many bits and pieces of things he likes into his work. Interested to see if anyone else can find some. I know he copies Truffaut a whole lot.

[tinalouise]

Actually, there is a pretty cool article on the subject here:
http://www.movingimagesource.us./articles/the-substance-of-style-pt-1-20090330

[cookie]

I love Wes to pieces and in keeping with the topic of this thread here is an interesting connection! Wes and Noah are apparently producing a Peter Bogdanovitch movie called Squirrel to the Nuts.

www.filmjunk.com/2010/11/02/wes-anderson-and-noah-baumbach-to-produce-new-peter-bogdanovich-film/

Great pic of Wes and Noah Baumbach. Isn't Wes adorable? I find him so endearing and I love his films.

I have still not forgiven Mr. Baumbach for the Squid and the Whale, but the Fantastic Mr. Fox helped to heal some of those scars. LOL!

(I would start a new thread but I do not know how and I am scared. *looks around nervously*)

[iluvtexas]

24 ‘Grand’ things you don’t know about Wes Anderson’s films
New York Post March 11, 2014

Wes Anderson’s eighth feature “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is getting
strong reviews 89 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes and doing
well in limited release. As his latest cabinet of wonders expands into more
cities, here’s a look back at some of the behind-the-scenes details of his
intricately crafted films that make them so rich.

Owen Wilson was meh on starring in ‘Bottle Rocket.’ (1996)

Anderson’s University of Texas friend and co-writer said the pair tried to
get a real star hoping for someone like Keanu Reeves to play the
irrepressible scamp who plots a daffy heist in the low-budget film, their
first feature. When that didn’t pan out, Wilson (along with his brother
Luke) starred in the film that would launch both of their careers.

There’s a shot of Jacques Cousteau in ‘Bottle Rocket.’ A portrait is seen on
the wall in a party scene.

Cousteau’s ocean documentaries would later inspire a film seen in
“Rushmore,” and, of course, “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” in
which Bill Murray played a Cousteau-like explorer.

‘Rushmore’ (1998) was shot at Anderson’s prep school, St. John’s, in
Houston.

Anderson explained on the DVD that he also used to write plays like the
film’s hero Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman). Owen Wilson, who co-wrote
the film with Anderson, said that the scene in which Max gets expelled
was modeled after the moment he, Wilson, was expelled from St. Mark’s
School in Dallas.

Owen Wilson does appear in ‘Rushmore.’ He’s the dead husband of Miss
Cross (Olivia Williams), the object of Max’s affection. But Wilson is seen
only in photos on the wall in his bedroom, which Miss Cross has
preserved as a shrine to his memory. Anderson is in it, too. The first voice
you hear at the beginningin the classroom talking to the math teacher is
Anderson’s, and he is also in the audience for Max’s big Vietnam play at
the end.

Max was supposed to compete to be the headmaster of Rushmore
Academy. In an early draft of the script, Anderson said in the DVD
commentary, Max and Dr. Guggenheim (Brian Cox) had a war for control
of the school. The idea was discarded though: It’s much more far-fetched
than anything in the final version of the film.

Jason Schwartzman‘s casting was a coincidence. Though “Rushmore”
contains references to “Apocalypse Now” and “The Godfather,” both of
which were directed by Schwartzman’s uncle, Francis Ford Coppola,
Schwartzman submitted an audition tape like hundreds of others. He
attracted attention with his deadpan readings, then impressed Anderson
further when he showed up for a live audition in costume, wearing a
blazer with a Rushmore patch he had made himself. “Rushmore” was
Schwartzman’s film debut.

Anderson tried to get The Beatles’ version of ‘Hey Jude’ for the opening of
‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ (2001). But he couldn’t afford the rights, so he
went with the cover version by the Mutato Muzika Orchestra.

Anderson is the voice of one of the tennis commentators during Luke
Wilson’s tennis match. The other voice is Luke and Owen’s brother,
Andrew.

Danny Glover is styled like Kofi Annan. Anderson once met the former UN
chief and liked his look, so he appropriated it for the Henry Sherman
character.

The Tenenbaums are named after a college friend of Anderson and Owen
Wilson. Their friend Brian Tenenbaum also had a sister named Margot,
whose name Anderson borrowed for the Gwyneth Paltrow character.

Cate Blanchett really was pregnant during the filming of ‘The Life Aquatic
with Steve Zissou’ (2004). Cate Blanchett with Bill Murray (right) in “The
Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.” Blanchett’s character, a journalist, is five
months pregnant, but Blanchett found out she was pregnant on the set.

The dad in ‘Rushmore’ is the crew member who gets eaten by a shark in
‘Life Aquatic.’ Seymour Cassel (Mr. Fischer in the earlier film, Esteban in
this one) had once told Roger Ebert he always wanted to be eaten by a
shark in a movie.

The ending of ‘Life Aquatic’ was inspired by ‘The Adventures of Buckaroo
Banzai Across the 8th Dimension’ (1984). When various characters gather
together for a jaunty walk behind the closing credits, Anderson was
thinking of the ending of “Buckaroo.” Jeff Goldblum co-starred in both
films.

We owe ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ (2007) to Anderson’s friendship with
Martin Scorsese. The two became pals in the late 1990s, when Scorsese
dubbed Anderson “the next Martin Scorsese” in Esquire. The older man
screened the India-set Jean Renoir film “The River” for Anderson, whose
imagination was sparked by it. Anderson also referred back to the films of
India’s Satyajit Ray when he made his Eastern opus.

Bill Murray went to India twice to film his tiny part in ‘Darjeeling.’
Murray has no dialogue in the film and is seen only briefly in it, as a
businessman failing to catch the train at the start and again at the
end, in a long shot that shows most of the major characters in different
compartments of the train. Murray has only a few seconds of screen time
in that second scene.

The brothers’ names in ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ are borrowed from
famous movie people Anderson admires. Francis, Jack and Peter are
named for Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Nicholson and Peter Bogdanovich.

‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ (2009) was the first book Anderson ever owned.

George Clooney voices the “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” Hence his interest in
making the film.

Mario Batali made his film debut in ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox.’ The chef is the
voice of Rabbit.

Mr. Fox dresses like Anderson. Director Wes Anderson (left) shows off his
signature style behind the scenes of ‘The Fantastic Mr. Fox.’ Both share a
love for natty brown corduroy suits.

The stolen books Suzy carries in ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ (2012) are all
fictitious. Anderson nonetheless hired individual designers for each of the six books
and wrote parts of each book.

The guidebook about troubled children was a detail from Anderson’s life.
Suzy finds a book called, “Coping with the Very Troubled Child.”
Anderson, as a boy, found a similar book and knew immediately that he
was the child in question.

Anderson got the look of The Grand Budapest Hotel from a Library of
Congress Web page. He looked up colorized photos of Austro-Hungarian
turn-of-the-century landmarks and the hotel’s motif was born.

‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ was born in a Paris bookstore.
Anderson spends a lot of time in Paris, where he once came across some
books by the 1920s Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, whose work inspired the
film’s feel. Zweig is prominently credited as an inspiration at the end of it.

[iluvtexas]

Still More Fun Facts about Wes Anderson's Movies ....

Wes Anderson: 12 Fun Facts About His Movies
Variety March 6, 2014

It’s no secret that Wes Anderson jam packs his films with Easter eggs that
make watching his pics akin to embarking on a scavenger hunt. Just like
you can discover something new with each viewing, there’s still much to
learn about the enigmatic director and his bountiful film universes. With
his eighth feature film, “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” opening nationwide
on Friday, here are 12 fun facts about Anderson and his movies.

1) Bill Murray earned about $9,000 for his role in “Rushmore”
Although he ultimately received a hefty chunk of the profits, Murray was
only paid his SAG day rate to star in the 1998 film. In fact, Murray
theoretically put up money for the gig. When Disney didn’t want to rent a
helicopter to shoot the scene in Jason Schwartzman’s character Max’s
Vietnam War-themed play, Murray offered to foot the $25,000-bill. The
chopper shot was cut, but Anderson kept Murray’s un-cashed check.

2) The “Royal Tenenbaums” hawk was kidnapped and held for ransom
During the filming of “The Royal Tenenbaums” in 2001, Mordecai the hawk
was kidnapped and held for ransom, causing Anderson and his team to
use a second hawk. The original Mordecai and his captors’ whereabouts
are unknown.

3) Cate Blanchett was originally supposed to play Ms. Fox
The Oscar-winning actress was originally the voice of Ms. Fox in Wes
Anderson’s 2009 smash “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” but was replaced by
another Oscar winner: Meryl Streep.

4) Wes Anderson used a “psychological game” to convince Ralph Fiennes
to star in “The Grand Budapest Hotel” Fiennes received an email from
Anderson asking him to red the script and tell him which part he wanted.
“That was a psychological game,” Anderson told NPR. “I’ve always had
this thought that the best way to get an actor to not want to be in your film
is to offer them a part. The number of times I’ve had someone say, ‘Well, I
like everybody else’s parts — I’m not so sure about my guy.’”

5) “Bottle Rocket” is one of Martin Scorsese’s favorite movies of the ’90s
“(Anderson) knows how to convey the simple joys and interactions
between people so well and with such richness,” Scorsese, one of
Anderson’s “heroes,” wrote in Esquire in 2000. “This kind of sensibility is
rare in movies.” Producer James L. Brooks helped get funding from
Columbia Pictures for the 1996 film, which was Anderson’s first feature.

6) Several of his movie sets exist in real life. Anderson’s films may seem
fanciful, but many of the locations can be visited, at least from the outside.
The family home in “The Royal Tenenbaums” exists in Harlem (on W. 144th
St. and Covent Ave). Meanwhile, Suzy’s house in “Moonrise Kingdom” is
an old lighthouse in Jamestown, Rhode Island.

7) The song remains (slightly) the same. When Steve Zissou gives a tour of
his boat in “The Life Aquatic,” you’re hearing the theme of “The Royal
Tenenbaums” played backwards.

8) Members of the hotel staff in “Grand Budapest Hotel” were real-life
hospitality workers, not actors . All of the workers behind the front desk of
the 1930-set hotel in the fictional European nation of Zubrowska were
actual employees of hotels the crew patronized while scouting locations
and shooting the movie. Two of the extras were from hotels in Gorlitz,
Germany and another was the concierge of the historic Atlantic Hotel in
Hamburg, Jeremy Dawson, one of the film’s producers, told Variety.

9) Owen Wilson steps into the limelight. Actor Owen Wilson placed a
small lime in his shoe for his constant limping in Anderson’s 2007 drama
“The Darjeeling Limited.”

10) “The Life Aquatic” was first teased in “Rushmore”
“Rushmore” hinted at “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou” during a scene
in which Max reads Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s book “Diving For Sunken
Treasure.” Cousteau was Anderson’s main inspiration for “Life Aquatic.”

11) “Grand Budapest Hotel” was conceived thanks to the Library of
Congress. The idea for “Grand Budapest Hotel” germinated from a
character sketch about a longtime mutual friend of Anderson and
long-time collaborator Hugo Guinness (who shares a story credit).
Anderson began scouting locations in Austria, Hungary, Poland, Germany
and the Czech Republic after being inspired by postcard-like photographs
he stumbled upon in the Library of Congress.

12) “Grand Budapest Hotel” was shot in three different aspect ratios
The Fox Searchlight movie was shot at 1.37, 1.85 and 2.35:1 to inform the
viewer where he or she is in the timeline, which alternates between three
time periods: 1985, 1968 and the 1930s.