MUSIC « In Which Wes Anderson Breaks Down His Perfect Mixtape For You Guys »
Wednesday, July 15, 2009 at 5:35PM 
the iTunes playlist: Wes Anderson
It is verifiably true that white people love Wes Anderson movies, they also love Wes Anderson. This midgety little auteur has come a long way since his magnificent debut feature, Bottle Rocket. Here is a brief guide to the cinema of Wes Anderson before we hand it over to him to discuss his musical taste.
Bottle Rocket, 1996: genius-level debut, cinematography and plot aren't all there, Luke Wilson's Orientalism plot a little racist, but Owen makes himself a supastar and that's all you can really ask for, B+
Rushmore, 1999: critics initially balked at its overlong third act, no movie has ever been more in love with itself, Schwartzman deserved best actor, like most Anderson movies it grows on you like a fungus, there will never be another, A+
The Royal Tenenbaums, 2001: so bizarre and sprawling it's hard to digest, has the spirit of six different movies, another botched third act, and yet there's so much to love, from buckley to danny glover's performance, to owen wilson's arc, to luke wilson's suicide attempt, a classic, A
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, 2004: love letter to Jacques Cousteau, Murray is again terrific, long-lost son plot is a half-baked, pregnant Cate turns us on, total male perspective a la Darjeeling, best plot consistency, best set design, there's too much to savor here, watch it again and see what I mean, A-
The Darjeeling Limited, 2007: Smaller canvas, Adrien Brody is terrible, Schwartzman adds nothing, you can't even watch Owen, setting and Orientalism are off-putting, great Angelica performance in cameo, meandering at times, worst script so far, an entertaining enough misstep, don't watch Hotel Chevalier if you value your life, C+
from here:
O: Do you ever hear a song and think, “I have to have that in a movie?”
WA: Yeah, I do all the time.
O: What’s an example of that, a case where a song actually made it in?
WA: Every single song that’s in Rushmore.
"The Longest Time" - Billy Joel (mp3)
My brothers and I would perform this song in the family living room to great effect. Thankfully, there were no cameras running.
"When I Live My Dream" - David Bowie (mp3)
In its original version.
life aquatic script
What finally sparked the making of this movie after 14 years of it staying in your head?
I wrote a little short story when I was in college. It wasn't even a short story, it was like one paragraph that was just a description of this one character and Anjelica's character and the ship, The Belafonte, and just the setting. So, I had that but I didn't mean for it to be a movie. I was just trying to write a story and it never really got any further. It was actually Owen Wilson who kept bringing it up from time-to-time over the years and kept reminding me about it and got me into thinking about it some more. I remember one day on The Royal Tenenbaums seeing Anjelica and Bill Murray on the set together. All they had together was about 30 seconds but I felt there was a great rapport between the two of them that would be worth exploring.
"Summer Day" - Coconut Records ft. Zooey Deschanel (mp3)
Classic Coconut Records. A beautiful duet.
"The First Cut Is The Deepest" - Buva (mp3)
We were very lucky to be able to use two great Cat Stevens songs in Rushmore. Here is a particular favorite of Randy Poster's (music supervisor on The Darjeeling Limited) from early in Stevens' career.
"Dishes" - Pulp (mp3)
Jarvis Cocker is in my mind one of the most original voices and creative thinkers in these parts. He is not Jesus, but he has the same initials.
"Tive Razao" - Seu Jorge
Until Seu Jorge releases his next record, we have to be happy with what we can find on iTunes. This is one of his best.
"Gates of Steel (live Devo cover)" - Yo La Tengo (mp3)
Mark Mothersbaugh has created all the original music for my movies. This is one of my favorite Devo songs.
"Alec Eiffel" - The Pixies (mp3)
I believe this song is about an architect.
"The Well and the Lighthouse" - Arcade Fire (mp3)
I have jumped on the bandwagon.
"Rally" - Phoenix
While I have a known affinity for the music of the British Invasion, Phoenix makes a very strong argument for the oncoming French one.
"Yeah!" - Horace Silver
There is a cue in Bottle Rocket that Mark Mothersbaugh wrote called 'No Jazz' (this was an edict from the studio). Horace Silver argues for the other side.
"Sweet Thing" - Van Morrison
From one of the most enduring albums of recorded music, this song always overwhelms me. How many times I played it when I should have been doing my homework...
"Ceremony" - New Order (mp3)
We almost used this in The Life Aquatic, and sometimes when the wind is full I wish we did.
Anderson's next film is The Fantastic Mr. Fox.
You can find Ellen Page's iTunes playlist here.
Reader Comments (35)
i can't wait for the wes anderson sex tape!!!
also wes is such a ditz!
wes anderson is so annoying.
Is Buva some sort of code for "Leona Lewis...live!" that I wasn't aware of?
Orientalism? You're a tool. Shut up.
What about that song from that Faux Anderson trailer? Isn't that a Devo one?
http://www.vimeo.com/4526218
I'm referring to the book Orientalism by Edward Said. PERHAPS YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH IT
i cant hate...he loves van the man morrison! good shit
Thanks, that was actually a really nice round up (although, on a side note, maybe a little less random capitalisation would be nice?). I have been waiting for The Fantastic Mr Fox for what seems like ages. I have high hopes for Anderson's take on Roald Dahl.
Yes I am. Stop trying to sound smart though by sprinkling it into a blogpost twice. It makes you sound like a college sophomore who just finished his literary criticism class...and got a C.
perfect -- "Jarvis Cocker is in my mind one of the most original voices and creative thinkers in these parts. He is not Jesus, but he has the same initials."
so, you just copied and pasted content that's been available on iTunes for more than a year, only adding your own brief (and questionable) reviews of his filmography. awesome post!
Nice review, but for *chrissake* take it easy on the comma splices. Journalists are wordsmiths, so have some self-respect and use some conjunctions or semicolons now and again. Some of us are grammar freaks, and when we read articles like these, the "this is a neat article" thought can get quickly replaced by the "this writer should go back to middle school."
Also, Wes Anderson is the bee's knees. No getting around that.
Jesus? You seriously graded his movies on the same page you interviewed him? Did you show him that list?
there's a lot of fail going on in these comments
No Dis intended, just genuinely curious: Did Wes get his facial features realigned (plastically)? Not that it matters. I like his movies whether whatever he looks like or not.
And what exactly was the point of starting the article with "white people love Wes Anderson"? Not relevant.
Leona Lewis ≠ BUVA
"Orientalism"??? what does this mean in relation to these films?
and Darjeeling was far better than Life Aquatic.
yeah but there's also a lot of fail in your blog post
wes anderson and jarvis cocker. . . .there's happiness
Im not white and i freaking love Wes Anderson films.
I'm pretty sure Kirsten Dunst is the guest vocalist on "Summer Day" by Coconut Records. Zooey does some work on a few other tracks on that album though.
Speaking of Wes Anderson, whatever happened to Whit Stillman?
Whit Stillman is a known pederast; He has been blackballed repeatedly since dropping his tiny biscuit into several of my "so-called friends". Let him rot in his savilles. Forgive and forget everything Whit?
Missing the point - -it's reverent or irreverent on a whim - any angle or assemblage is fair game. Grades are good, but about +1.0 generous on Tennenbaums and Life aquatic, imhobitches
Pop style, Pop eyed, POP CORN! ...From Darjeeling..."Sounds like bullshit to me..."[or] .."I guess we came here on a spiritual journey, but that didn't really pan out". This is the Beatles go Bollywood via Boulevard St. Michel and Hermann Hesse. A cure for insomnia! Bonne chance et bonne nuit.
Great article! Mr. Anderson has inspired me to create a short film that I'm very excited about!
i agree, orientalism?
What are you talking about.
He's a master at using colors, his characters are oddly shaped little wes andersons but nevertheless cool, captivating intriguing.
We can start badmouthing this guy when there are hundreds of Indie kids making their own style that heavily involves who they are like he does. I think he's a shiner but I know the deadpan humor and scripts that are all characters saying what they are feeling back and forth to each other creating comedy-might turn somebody who doesn't appreciate overall filmakers concepts. Don't belive his genuine? find somebody who is.
and orientalism doesn't play a role in any of this.
Buildings are quite expensive and not everyone can buy it. Nevertheless, loan are invented to support people in such kind of situations.
this kind of assholism is out of style. its like he is just reading a list of words off peoples 2001 myspace profiles.
i love wes, i love darjeeling i love how critics hate him and i love all the "bad third acts" and the music is always so good. i think all the hate makes me love it more! needle in the hay to the suicide scene in royal is classic son and no i am not white i am a mexican and i love bottle rocket! you racist f***!
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I heard Wes did read this article and he said that he was a little upset at first thinking people would think he's a "showboat" and "a bit of a prick". But then he thought "That's me...I did those things...I said those things. I can live with that."
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