274: Asteroid City + The French Dispatch

[00:00:00] Hello everybody, welcome back to the Film Buds Podcast. This is episode number 274 and my name is Henry. Just me again this time around. Will be for next week and then El will be back for the Guardians of the Galaxy show. So we've been doing that for a couple

[00:00:32] weeks now. Hope that's okay. Hope you can bear me. But thanks so much again for joining us. Glad to have you here. Please make sure to hit that subscribe and rating button if

[00:00:42] you haven't already. And thank you to all of our new listeners. We've had a little bit of a surge recently, so we really do appreciate it. We hope you stick around. This time I'm

[00:00:50] going to be doing a Wes Anderson special. I'm going to be talking about his new film Asteroid City and then a retro review of his previous film, The French Dispatch. So we've

[00:01:02] talked a lot about Wes Anderson on the show over the years. We did Isle of Dogs, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and I think a few of his others. I do want to try and do a Wes Anderson show

[00:01:13] sometime for a bonus episode. So keep an eye out for that. Should be a great time. I think they are some pretty interesting movies to talk about for better and for worse. He's

[00:01:23] a... I love him as a filmmaker, as well as many do, obviously. So it should be a great time. As I've said the last few weeks, please make sure to go to our Bandcamp page and download our new

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[00:02:20] and we hope you're enjoying it. Not much else going on, on a little bit of a break from work as I've been the last couple of weeks. So that's been nice. Really not a whole lot of change.

[00:02:30] Been trying to get to the gym whenever I can. Been getting a little bit cooler finally. It's hot New Mexico. And so we're looking forward to the fall and the winter, even though the winters can be a

[00:02:39] little brutal here. Hanging out with my wife Elle, who has been co-hosting the show the last couple of months. Hanging out with the dogs. I feel like I've said that each time the last couple of

[00:02:49] weeks. But hey, not a bad life that trying to go see some movies when I can in theaters because I haven't been able to see many in theaters this last year or two. Not much else. I wish there

[00:02:59] was more exciting stuff, but it is pretty just been working and got a little burnt out, I think. So I'm glad that I finally got a vacation, even if it's a staycation. It's better than nothing.

[00:03:09] Catch up on sleep, all the good stuff. Just normal adult things for better or for worse. Well, without further ado, let's jump into Wes Anderson. Let's get to Asteroid City. And we do have a clip. Take a listen. You took a picture of me. Why? I'm a photographer.

[00:03:38] You didn't ask permission. I never ask permission. Why not? Because I work in trenches, battlefields and combat zones. Really? You mean you're a war photographer? Mostly. Sometimes I cover sporting events. My name is August Steenbeck.

[00:03:59] All right, so Asteroid City is now available for digital purchase, rent, all that good stuff. It's streaming on, I think, either Hulu or Peacock maybe, but it is available to watch now. It's not in theaters anymore. It's co-written and directed by Wes Anderson. Stars, of course,

[00:04:16] insanely huge cast as all Wes Anderson movies do. Jason Schwarzman, Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Wright, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Jake Ryan, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawk, Steve Carell, there's a lot of... Liev Schreiber, there's a lot of other people, but

[00:04:33] IMDb only goes so far. And the synopsis is following a writer on his world famous fictional play about a grieving father who travels with his tech obsessed family to small rural asteroid city to compete in a junior stargazing event only to have his worldview disrupted forever.

[00:04:51] So this one kind of reminded me a little bit of where we're located in New Mexico. It has that desert, pretty desolate kind of vibe to it, which I pretty quickly connected with as well as the UFO

[00:05:02] stuff. I think all that stuff is pretty fun. Wes Anderson, as I said, we've talked a lot about him over the show in a variety of ways over the years. I love Wes Anderson. I grew up with his movies.

[00:05:14] I think the first one I saw was Fantastic Mr. Fox, and that is still one of my all-time favorite movies to this day. Top 10 at least of my favorite movies ever, and by far my favorite Wes Anderson film. I love Bottle Rocket, Darjeeling Limited, Royal Tenenbaums. I mean,

[00:05:31] list goes on and on. I'm a huge fan of his. I loved Isle of Dogs. One thing I will say, I don't know if it's just the stories. I don't know if it's his writing. I don't know. But I

[00:05:42] think talking about these two movies, spoiler, I know some people really liked this one and they really liked French Dispatch. I think Isle of Dogs was his last great movie. I love Isle of Dogs,

[00:05:55] and going into these two movies, I was expecting that level of quality. And I think maybe I'm just missing something. But I like the movie to an extent, but I think it is probably my second

[00:06:07] to least favorite. And then spoiler, the French Dispatch would be my least favorite of all of his movies. I think for some reason he has lost... I think for one thing, this and the French Dispatch,

[00:06:18] the humor is just not nearly as sharp, as smart, or as just laugh out loud funny as most of his other movies have been. I think this one, the setting is awesome. I think it looks amazing

[00:06:30] as all Wes Anderson movies do. Jason Schwarzman, who is just a great actor all around. I love his relationship with Scarlett Johansson. I love their conversations from the two rooms, from the windows.

[00:06:43] I think that's my favorite part of the movie. Tom Hanks is fun. Steve Carell is great. I just feel like his movies have become kind of more, I don't know, textbook kind of directing. Like textbook

[00:06:55] Wes Anderson as opposed to fun Wes Anderson. I think it has all of the Wes Anderson-isms that he has, that symmetrical cinematography, ensemble cast, wacky stories, quirky characters, dry humor,

[00:07:10] but also a childlike nature to his movies as well. But for some reason, this one, I think this one is better than the French Dispatch, but it feels like there's just not as much heart in it. It feels like

[00:07:21] again, the humor is not nearly as upfront as even Isle of Dogs was, as Moonrise Kingdom, Grand Budapest. I think all those movies and really all those movies before these two are just infinitely funnier. I feel like there aren't nearly as many memorable characters in this,

[00:07:38] as many interesting visual moments. I still think the colors are awesome. I love like the diner and just the blue and gold kind of landscapes of the desert. I think that looks great. I just find

[00:07:49] myself when I was watching this, just kind of phasing out a little bit, not really caring as much about the story. I think especially emotionally, these movies don't hit as well as his

[00:07:58] last ones have. I don't know what's happened or maybe he's just a little bit of a dip. I think for the most part, these movies, Asteroid City still gained pretty strong reviews. I just don't

[00:08:08] think it's up to par with his previous works. Maybe I'm in the minority there. I've been a little disappointed with him recently. And I think this confirms that I'm hoping he bounces back after this with something a little different, a little fresher, a little funnier.

[00:08:24] But still, a charming movie, a fun movie, just very unique in its own way, even if it's not an amazing movie. Very Wes Anderson, very unique, very unexpected and just one of those random,

[00:08:36] weird, quirky stories that Wes Anderson tells so well. There's just not as much substance to it, I think. Margot Robbie also has a very small little role in this, didn't realize that. She's

[00:08:46] awesome in it. I love the little bit of black and white photography that's in it. I like the meta with mixing the play and reality. I think all that's cool. The stargazing element with the

[00:08:58] alien, I think that's really one of the only real memorable visuals from this and what feels very Wes Anderson, kind of in the vein of Isle of Dogs or Fantastic Mr. Fox. I think that's one of the

[00:09:09] ones that stands out. I love the look of the ship or the UFO. So, that's one of the standout moments. But other than that, there's really not a lot that I remember that I was like,

[00:09:19] oh, that was so funny, so emotional, so crazy. I feel like it's much more muted, much more textbook, if that makes sense. Not as creative or as fun Wes Anderson to me. I like Jason Schwartzman being in the lead. I really... Because I think he's just such an

[00:09:36] underrated actor and I'm glad he gets to be the lead in this for the most part. And Scarlett Johansson, who was a voice in Isle of Dogs, she's excellent. I think she's a perfect kind of Wes

[00:09:46] Anderson actor. And yeah, overall, fun, fun enough. Just by far one of my least favorite Wes Anderson films as I mentioned. And a little disappointing. I love him so much and I'll always love the movies

[00:09:59] that I love just because I don't... He has to have some duds there every so often. Most people seem to like it. Maybe I'm crazy, maybe I'm wrong here. But yeah, a little too dry, a little forgettable,

[00:10:12] a little stale to me, despite some of the stronger marks in the movie. There's just not as much keeping it afloat that I really finished the movie loving. That would be a three out of five.

[00:10:24] Three out of five. All right, well, let's get to his previous film, which is The French Dispatch. And we do have a clip as well. So take a listen. I want to say it as simple as I can. So try to shape it into words.

[00:10:40] The feelings in my heart. I don't love you. What? I don't love you. Already? Already what? Already, how do you know that? How can you be sure so quick? I'm sure. Ouch. That hurts me.

[00:10:59] The cruelty of it. The cold bloodedness. You said what you wanted to say. I tried to stop you. That's it. I said part of what I wanted to say. I was in the middle of it. There is more. No. No what? Will you? No. Will you marry me?

[00:11:20] All right, well, The French Dispatch came out in 2021, of course, directed by Wes Anderson, another huge cast, Benicio Del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Lea Seydoux, Francis McDormand, Timothy Chalamet, Lina Kudry, Jeffrey Wright, Bill Murray,

[00:11:37] Owen Wilson, Bob Balaban, Henry Winkler. It goes on and on and on. And the synopsis is a love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional 20th century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in, quote unquote,

[00:11:53] The French Dispatch magazine. So I only saw this one after I saw Asteroid City. I missed this in theaters and I never got around to seeing it until I saw Asteroid City. I was like, hey,

[00:12:03] missed that one. Gotta see it. I had heard similar to Asteroid City. I heard very good things about this one. I think visually it's, you know, people hate on Wes Anderson. I think that's just so considering the kind of influence he's had as a filmmaker. I think

[00:12:17] the criticisms are so lame of him typically. Like all of his movies are the same or they all look the same or this or that. It's like, hey, at least he has a unique style. He pretty

[00:12:27] consistently makes fantastic movies. Like there are much worse filmmakers out there that have no style that aren't as consistent as he is. And so when I hear, I don't like him because all of his

[00:12:36] movies are the same. It's like, well, that's not the worst thing. You know, most of his movies are hilarious. They have great emotion. They have an amazing cast with great performances. They have an awesome score. The cinematography and colors and lighting is amazing. Like that's not the worst

[00:12:51] thing. Now, if you just don't purely just don't enjoy his movies, hey, that's everybody has their opinion and everybody has their filmmakers who they don't like or they don't connect with. But I don't agree with those statements. I think he's a fantastic filmmaker, as I've said. And he's

[00:13:05] someone who clearly is very influential, has had a huge impact, very successful critically and financially. So however, bouncing off of Asteroid City, this is my least favorite Wes Anderson

[00:13:18] movie. I think it is, I just find it for the most part to be dull. This is probably one of the first Wes Anderson movie that I just cannot get into. And Asteroid City bordered on that,

[00:13:28] but it was a little bit more entertaining. I don't mind that this movie is mostly in black and white. I appreciate that. I don't mind black and white movies. That's not a real detractor for

[00:13:37] me. I still think it looks incredible. But I just find the, I found the vignette storylines to be pretty messy and dull, very dry, not very funny. I liked the characters. I love Benicio del Toro.

[00:13:50] I think Timothy Chalamet is a very good Wes Anderson kind of actor. His look is great in this. Really everybody, of course, is excellent as it always is in Wes Anderson films. He always gets

[00:14:00] great performances. But I just could not for the life of me get into these stories. I just found them very distant. I didn't care about anyone. I typically lost track of what was happening

[00:14:12] or just didn't care to follow it. And I just, I don't know what's happened with these last two films if he's just in this weird little meta zone that he's doing with this and Asteroid City where

[00:14:22] I'm just not feeling it. Maybe some people do. I know some people who really, really like these movies. This one especially, I'm not in that group. I wish I was. Maybe after repeat viewings,

[00:14:32] I will like it. But the main thing is it's almost similar to someone like Tim Burton. Just like the humor is just not there anymore. It's not, or I mean, there are still attempts at humor and there

[00:14:41] are still some funny moments, but I feel like the humor is just really lacking in this movie and in Asteroid City, but especially in this. I think the best one is, the best story of the movie is the

[00:14:52] Benicio del Toro one. That's the weirdest and feels the most Wes Anderson, but it's just too, it's too messy. I feel like there's, it's just too noisy, too much going on, too chaotic.

[00:15:03] And yeah, sure, there is some balance to it and maybe some people follow it completely. I just, main thing was I just didn't care enough to really follow it. And I found myself bored,

[00:15:13] phasing out, trying to find something to latch onto with each one. And I don't love vignette kind of movies where I feel like I have to start caring again and again and again after each one

[00:15:21] ends. I don't always love that. I'm not against the idea. I just, I don't think it was done very well here. I'm really hoping he kind of changes his pace and his style back to the more early

[00:15:33] days of Wes Anderson with his next movies, because I'm really not digging these new, new films. Not a horrible movie. And again, if I maybe on rewatches, I'll learn to really like it.

[00:15:44] If y'all have thoughts out there for someone who really enjoys it, please let me know. Maybe y'all will convince me. I don't know. But first time viewing, very underwhelming, just similar to Asteroid City feels very just textbook Wes Anderson, not fun, weird, entertaining Wes

[00:16:01] Anderson. It feels like this is the stuff they teach in a class. It's not Fantastic Mr. Fox or Grand Budapest. There's just, there's not that element of fun anymore. And the humor has gone mainly visually still really cool. Looks great. I love the period setting, the French setting,

[00:16:17] love Lea Seydoux, who has been in Jamie's Bond and a lot of other things. I think she's such an underrated actor. Always love his cast. He always gets like everyone in Hollywood for that. It's

[00:16:27] just, I feel like I cannot for the life of me think of many scenes from this movie at all. Whereas I feel like even after one time viewings of most of his movies, there's so much that I

[00:16:36] remember. The character, lines, visuals, scenes as a whole. But in this, I just really struggled to. Not a great movie to me. We'll see how it changes over time if it does. But yeah, pretty disappointed.

[00:16:51] And I'm hoping things are different with his next movies because I am not starting to get a little bored of Wes Anderson if he keeps on this, at this level and of this style of storytelling. I'm

[00:17:02] just, I'm not digging it really. I hope he goes back to Grand Budapest, Moonrise Kingdom days because I'm not a fan of these new newest films. Two and a half out of five. Two and a half.

[00:17:13] All right, well let's end off with picks of the week. Not a lot this week. I did get around to seeing the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, Mutant Mayhem, which is animated by Seth

[00:17:24] Rogen and Evan Goldberg. I love Ninja Turtles. I've seen all the movies so far and I'm hoping to do a bonus show in the next month or two, hopefully on Bandcamp. So keep an eye out for

[00:17:35] that. I enjoyed the movie a fair bit. I think it definitely takes some hints animation wise from the Spider-Verse films, but in a good way. Like it doesn't feel like a ripoff. It just feels like it's inspired by that. Very good voice performances. It looks incredible. Great soundtrack.

[00:17:49] I love the Ninja Turtles. I think, and this is a great format, the animation format, the style of animation, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg being back or being behind the camera, at least in some ways. So I really enjoyed it and it's definitely one of my,

[00:18:04] the better ones of the year for me. Also, I watched the first season of the DC show Harley Quinn, which is the animated series about Harley Quinn featuring Kaylee Cuoco from The Big Bang Theory as

[00:18:16] Harley Quinn. I love Harley Quinn. I love Joker. I'm more of a DC fan over Marvel, even though I love Marvel. If I had to choose, I'd choose DC and you can check out a lot of

[00:18:27] bonus shows on DC and Marvel on Bandcamp with many more to come. But I've been wanting to watch the show for a while. It just takes me a while to get through shows and it might be a while before

[00:18:35] I watch the other seasons. But the first season of the show, I watched it basically in one night. I thought it was awesome. I think Kaylee Cuoco is great as Harley Quinn. I would never have

[00:18:46] expected her to be Harley Quinn, but maybe that's the point. She's an unexpected casting choice and I think she's great as Harley Quinn. I love the look of Harley Quinn in this. I love the animation

[00:18:54] on her face. I think her facial expressions are great, are hilarious. Poison Ivy. I love how this show really puts Harley Quinn by herself and it's all about not needing the Joker. And

[00:19:06] she can be very fascinating by herself and she is. And really some of the best episodes are not with a Joker at all. I think she's just an awesome character. I've always loved Harley Quinn.

[00:19:15] I love Joker as well, but I'm glad that she has her own show where she's not just tied to the Joker. I like the Poison Ivy-Harley Quinn relationship. It's very funny. You never know what these

[00:19:25] animated superhero shows are. It can be kind of flat, tonally, humor wise, but it's very funny. I like the mature R rating to it. That's awesome. The members of the suicide squad,

[00:19:36] all that stuff is great. I really enjoyed it. I did not think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. I'm going to try and get through the next few seasons in the coming months. We'll see if

[00:19:44] that happens, but very solid show. Really enjoyed it. And yeah, I think that is about it for the show. Fortunately, as always, social media at FilmBuds, filmbuds.bandcamp.com. Get our bonus show, subscribe, donate all that good stuff. Subscribe and rate on a regular feed right now

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[00:20:20] out, hear about movies and all that good stuff. So yeah, really hope you enjoyed it. Even half as much as I did. And see you next time y'all.