The Royal Tenenbaums (dir. Wes Anderson, 2001)

"Don't be mad at me, that's just one man's opinion" -Royal Tenebaum

Good movie, I don't think I enjoyed this as much as some of his other films but there is still that undeniable charm Wes Anderson holds with all of his films. Royal's absence of care as a father led his children to try to win over his love by achieving great things. Margot with her plays, Richie with tennis, and Chaz with business. All of these crumble however when they realize just how conditional his love is for them. Each of them lose interest in what they have done through that realization, and as a result their relationship becomes distant. I think it relates to how a lot of times parents see their children achieving all of these amazing things but become severely burnt out, and they wonder why their child became a failure. In the same way Royal doesn't understand why his children have fallen from grace, but as the film continues he realizes that they didn't achieve those things for themselves but rather they did it for him to see them. Each child represents some aspect of this, and seeing each of their own arcs play out within the film as it intertwines with different friends and family members makes it both entertaining and insightful.

Bottle Rocket (dir. Wes Anderson, 1996)

I love this movie. I love how much of a loser the characters are, I love how you can see bits and pieces of Wes Anderson's style within the shots, I love how charming the love story is, I love how unafraid it is to be honest with it's portrayal of Anthony, Dignan, and Bob. Throughout the whole film they want to be something more than what they think they are now, and through Dignan's ignorance, Anthony's loyalty, and Bob's frank nature they come together to form a really entertaining trio that makes the film worth watching just from their dynamic alone.

The opening scene really pulled me into the film, the playful music really helps set the framework for what the movie is like. Nobody really takes Anthony and Dignan seriously, even Anthony to an extent doesn't take it as serious as Dignan as seen with him pretending to go along with Dignan's escape plan just to make him happy. It's very sweet and it really sold me on the dynamic between the two, you can tell that Anthony cares a lot about his friend even if he is a fool to his own delusions. It was also interesting seeing how Wes Anderson translated their relationship from the original short film to the feature film, I feel like the hospital escape scene pulled in more of the comedic sense that Wes Anderson was trying to achieve. The short film felt much more awkward and stilted, but with the feature it felt much more in tune both with the timing and acting. Dignan awkwardly peering through the bushes and signaling to Anthony with bird calls and a reflective glass really pushes his character and sells his earnest ignorance. That on top with Anthony saying goodbye to everyone and them responding back really made me feel seen, it feels like he's just trying to do right by the people that gave him a chance and that person happens to be Dignan.

Some of my favorite scenes are, of course, the opening hospital escape scene, the scene where they all shoot guns and prepare for the plan while Bob and Anthony keep on trying to touch the gun, Anthony talking to Inez and following her around the motel as she works, the translation scene (just pure genius, honestly. I might be hyping it up too much but watching it the first time I couldn't believe Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson managed to come up with something like that for being first time filmmakers, it makes me wish I could have done something like that), the scene with Henry threatening Bob's brother at the country club, Dignan's failed heist, and the final scene with all three catching up in the prison. Some of them are hilarious, some of them are really tender and sincere.

The low budget look of the film also really helps reflect the nature of the characters. The lack of lighting and handheld camera give it a somewhat amateurish vibe, similar to that of the trio trying to make their way into the world of crime. In a way it's like Wes and Owen are putting themselves into these characters, who at the time were trying to make their way into the world of film. However, that's not to say the film is poorly shot, there are so many smart camera choices that I really loved and it was so fascinating seeing Wes Anderson's filmmaking sensibilities before his other films. There's much more subjective shots with 3/4 medium and closeups as well as a more natural feel with the acting and tone, but there are still plenty of graphic and flat compositions Wes Anderson is known for that's peppered here and there. That along with the use of trucking or dolly-ing the camera multiple times back and forth as well as direct POV shots. It's really inspiring seeing how such a profound and well-known director got his start, especially with seeing how distinct his style is now compared to this film.

Lawrence of Arabia (dir. David Lean)

What a beautiful film, David Lean's use of extreme wide shots among a vast desert landscape really gives a sense of scale and depth. My favorite scene has to be when Lawrence comes back with a rebel presumed dead, the way the music swells with the main theme and the buildup with tracking the three characters as they all hang on Lawrence's retrieval makes it feel so satisfying when they all reunite with each other. That along with of course the aforementioned extreme wide shots makes that scene so memorable in my head, I remember seeing it too in the Visions of Light documentary and it really awed me to how cinema can achieve such strong compositions and images that can stick in your head for years. That's the kind of film I want to make someday, I think watching this on the big screen really made me realize just how much respect you need to have for films and the theater experience if you want to create something that can awe an audience.

"What do you love so much about the desert?"

"It's clean."

Lawrence as a character is so intriguing to follow. As we witness his downfall we start to realize more and more of his lack of respect for the Arab people despite loving them. Lawrence sees them more as a novelty for his own validation, especially when he starts to gain more and more respect from them for his courageous acts. However, this all backfires when he gets too in over his head and ends up risking more and more lives to keep up the messiah-like image he creates for himself. This is seen most evidently when he executes fellow Arabs in the vain of mercy and keeping the peace. He convinces himself that it needs to be done and while his guilt may be fully genuine, deep down he sees them as nothing more than objects to worship him and blindly follow him. This fully escalates during their takeover of Damascus when he leads his whole army into killing a group of traveling Turks, aimlessly killing and sacrificing his own men because he feels like that's what's expected of him. It's that scene which really tells the audience that he truly doesn't care about his Arab comrades and cares more about fulfilling the idea of him being this brave leader who takes big risks for high reward when in actuality there is no reward. All of these feelings about Lawrence the audience have are articulated through Sharif as he follows Lawrence through all of his adventures and becomes more disillusioned with Lawrence's actual capabilities. We feel his frustration too as he continues to try to guide Lawrence into being more sensible and accepting his mortality yet it fails in the end because Lawrence ultimately lacks respect for Arabia and victimizes himself to justify his recklessness.

"finding value in obscure art"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7FS_XWKvRI

I just watched this youtube video on why "bad art" is so important for other artists to consume and be inspired by. I loved the comparison Pato made to watching an olympian do their sport in the sense of being a spectator and appreciating it but not being able to fully engage with it because we know that we would never be able to achieve that kind of level or talent. However, if we look at something more approachable we can derive much more from it because the gap of skill isn't as prevalent. This isn't to say that there isn't any sort of skill needed to make that kind of art, but it relies much more on connecting with an audience rather than awe-ing them. It reminded me of why I got into animation in the first place because of stick figure animations. Even though I really loved animation and thought very highly of the films I watched and enjoyed as a kid, it felt very unapproachable to me because my drawing skills just weren't at that level and I couldn't see my potential ever being able to achieve that. However, when I found stick figure animations it seemed so much more approachable to me because it was so simple yet looked so incredible. It still didn't look like a human was able to make it because it moved so well and was animated so beautifully to me back then, but because they were just stick figures it made me want to try it myself because it seemed so accessible.

In that sense I think after watching this video it reminded me a lot of the importance in both consuming and creating art that's accessible. Pato describes it pretty well in comparing it to a "class solidarity" of sorts, seeing other people more within your bracket achieve things that inspire you to try it out as well. I think the most important thing to do as a beginner or even as you continue is to always keep that mantra of just making things that connect with you. If it's gonna connect with you, it's likely that it's gonna connect with at least SOME people. That's just how human connection works, and I think that's why I really loved this video so much. Thank you for reminding me why people create and connect with each other pato.