While Wes Anderson certainly made waves in the 1990s with the heist comedy “Bottle Rocket” and the Bill Murray/Jason Schwartzman coming-of-age dramedy “Rushmore,” it wasn’t until 2001’s “The Royal Tenenbaums” that the director truly cemented his quirkiness/style with general audiences and critics alike. However, not everyone was convinced it was all great during the filming process, even from key cast members.

Continue reading Gwyneth Paltrow Talks ‘Royal Tenenbaums’ “Dissonance” With Co-Star Gene Hackman: “He Didn’t Understand The Tone” at The Playlist.

Wes Anderson isn’t merely a filmmaker in 2021. He’s a brand unto himself: a curator, a collector of objects and memories, a mascot for twee culture, and everything that’s either shallow or transcendent about contemporary auteur filmmaking, depending on whom you ask. 

Over the years, Anderson has proven himself to be a veritable renaissance man: he’s designed bars in Milan, helmed exhibits at museums in Vienna (“Spitzmaus Mummy In A Coffin And Other Treasures”), and somehow, he even found time to contribute to 2018’s “Beastie Boys Book.” His detractors have accused him of style over substance, cultural appropriation, and reducing his characters to live-action dolls moving around ornately constructed dioramic interiors.

Continue reading The Essentials: The Films Of Wes Anderson at The Playlist.

Alec Baldwin so enjoys the story of how he ended up narrating “The Royal Tenenbaums” that he told it twice at the virtual reunion that followed Monday’s Tribeca Festival anniversary screening. He used it to open the conversation, which he moderated, recalling that co-writer/director Wes Anderson “asked to do me a favor and do this narration for this film. He said, ‘I’m never going to use it, I don’t really want it, the producers are insisting that I have a voiceover track.’” It was only when Baldwin revisited the story nearly a half-hour later – “That’s what you said to me, ‘I’m never gonna use this, I’m never gonna use it’” – that Anderson felt compelled to pipe up: “I never said that!”

READ MORE: 2021 Tribeca Film Festival Preview: 15 Must-See Films To Watch & More

The story does fly in the face of what we know about Anderson and his meticulous process (and indeed, Matt Zoller Seitz, who literally wrote the book on the filmmaker, confirms that the narration was “always there in the screenplay”).

Continue reading Wes Anderson & The ‘Royal Tenenbaums’ Cast On Script Influences, Gene Hackman, & Voice-Overs [Tribeca Report] at The Playlist.

OK, last week on weekly The Playlist Podcast, Mike DeAngelo’s interviewed Luke Wilson about his new football drama, “12 Mighty Orphans,” which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last week. You can listen to the interview below, but we wanted to highlight a couple of interesting tidbits from it.

READ MORE: Luke Wilson Talks ‘12 Mighty Orphans,’ The 20th Anniversary Of ‘The Royal Tenenbaums,’ ‘Idiocracy’ & More [The Playlist Podcast]

We couldn’t help ask Wilson about his work with Wes Anderson and “The Royal Tenenbaums.” Wilson and his brother Owen were college friends with Anderson, and all of them launched their careers in 1997 with the hilariously deadpan “Bottle Rocket” (the third Wilson brother Andrew appeared in it too).

Continue reading Luke Wilson Talks The Possibility Of A Wes Anderson Western & The Resonance Of ‘Idiocracy’ at The Playlist.

If you’re a regular reader of The Playlist, then it’s likely you’re a fan of Luke Wilson. From his debut in the incredible film, “Bottle Rocket,” to his later collaborations with Wes Anderson, to his highly underrated and sadly prescient “Idiocracy,” Wilson is an actor that has been in a number of iconic films over the past three decades. And in honor of his new film, the feel-good drama, “12 Mighty Orphans,” Luke Wilson joined The Playlist Podcast for a discussion about the football feature and his previous filmography.

Continue reading Luke Wilson Talks ‘12 Mighty Orphans,’ The 20th Anniversary Of ‘The Royal Tenenbaums,’ ‘Idiocracy’ & More [The Playlist Podcast] at The Playlist.

After countless rumors of release dates, delays, and social media teases, this past weekend, Frank Ocean floored the music world by dropping two albums — Endless and Blonde — along with a massive magazine titled, “Boys Don’t Cry.” He ended the four year drought since 2012’s Channel Orange is a huge way, and in the process, gave his fans no shortage of material to wade through.

Continue reading Frank Ocean’s 100 Favorite Films Includes Movies By Stanley Kubrick, Werner Herzog, Paul Thomas Anderson, More at The Playlist.

Many moons ago, when The Playlist first began, we had a special interest in the place where movies and music met. We’ve long since expanded our interests to all manner of movies, and more recently TV, but it’s an area that we’ve always kept tabs on, from reporting the latest news as such to our annual Best Soundtracks Of The Year post.

The 50 Best Film Scores Of The 21st Century So Far

We’re no longer in the golden days of the soundtrack of the 1980s and 1990s.

Continue reading The 25 Best Movie Soundtracks Of The 21st Century So Far at The Playlist.

Video Essay Brings Together Wes Anderson's 'The Royal Tenenbaums' & Rian Johnson's 'The Brothers Bloom'

Continue reading Video Essay Brings Together Wes Anderson’s ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ & Rian Johnson’s ‘The Brothers Bloom’ at The Playlist.

Ranked: Wes Anderson's Most Memorable Characters

Continue reading Ranked: Wes Anderson’s Most Memorable Characters at The Playlist.

Watch: Fascinating 16-Minute Video Essay Explores The Power Of Color In Cinematic Storytelling

Continue reading Watch: Video Essay Examines The Power Of Color In Cinematic Storytelling at The Playlist.

Watch: Video Essay Pays Tribute To The Books In Wes Anderson's Films

Continue reading Watch: Video Essay Pays Tribute To The Books In Wes Anderson’s Films at The Playlist.

Check Out These Minimalist, Old School Paperback-Style Posters For The Films Of Wes Anderson

Continue reading Check Out These Minimalist, Old School Paperback-Style Posters For The Films Of Wes Anderson at The Playlist.

Watch: Break The Cinematic Fourth Wall With This 5-Minute Supercut

Continue reading Watch: Break The Cinematic Fourth Wall With This 5-Minute Supercut at The Playlist.

Watch: 30-Minute Making Of 'The Royal Tenenbaums' Plus New Clip From 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'

Continue reading Watch: 30-Minute Making Of ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ Plus New Clip From ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ at The Playlist.

From Dallas To Zubrowka: The Imagined Worlds of Wes Anderson

Continue reading From Dallas To Zubrowka: The Imagined Worlds of Wes Anderson at The Playlist.

Interview: Wes Anderson On 'The Grand Budapest Hotel,' Elliott Smith, The Beatles, Owen Wilson, Westerns & More

Continue reading Interview: Wes Anderson On ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel,’ Elliott Smith, The Beatles, Owen Wilson, Westerns & More at The Playlist.

Trailer Deconstruction: Wes Anderson’s ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’

Continue reading Trailer Deconstruction: Wes Anderson’s ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ at The Playlist.

Wes Anderson Says 'Moonrise Kingdom' Has A "Big Musical Element" To It, But It Won't Rely On "Songs"

Continue reading Wes Anderson Says ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ Has A “Big Musical Element” To It, But It Won’t Rely On “Songs” at The Playlist.

NYFF: Wes Anderson & Cast Of 'Royal Tenenbaums' Talk The Challenges Of Working With Gene Hackman

Continue reading NYFF: Wes Anderson & Cast Of ‘Royal Tenenbaums’ Talk The Challenges Of Working With Gene Hackman at The Playlist.

Continue reading New York Film Festival Presenting 10th Anniversary Screening Of ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ at The Playlist.

Continue reading SXSW: Music Supervisor Randall Poster Talks Losing The Beatles In Wes Anderson’s ‘Royal Tenenbaums’ at The Playlist.

As you can imagine, these lists could go on and on and on (and in a way they already do) and some of the rough lists we made are dizzying long.

Continue reading The Playlist: The Best Soundtracks Of The Decade at The Playlist.

According to the recent issue of Men’s Journal, you’re contemplating retirement. “I consider my entire movie career a complete failure,” you said. “The goal of movie-making is to star in a film where your performance drives the film, and the film is either a soaring critical or commercial success, and I never had that.” You then go on to say you’ll announce your retirement in 2012, at what you assume will be the wrap party for “30 Rock,” the show that earned you a well-deserved Emmy.

Continue reading An Open Letter To Alec Baldwin: Do Not Retire at The Playlist.

Continue reading 5 Best Music Scenes in Wes Anderson Movies at The Playlist.

So what’s next? Is Anderson to become one of those directors, ala Boyle, Tarantino or Soderbergh, that makes a to-d0 checklist of genres they’d like to explore than then slowly runs their way through them?

Continue reading Wes Anderson Wants To Shoot Sci-Fi Film One Day, Will Tackle Original, Non-Adaption Next at The Playlist.