A popular choice amongst many ‘artists’, Wes Anderson has managed to carve himself into a perfect little sliver of Hollywood – one where you both know exactly what to expect from one of his movies as well as managing to be completely surprised by them.
The marathon takes place at The Stockport Plaza on Sunday 23rd September from 12pm and they’ll be showing the following films:
Rushmore
12.30pm start
To be fair it’s been so long since I watched Rushmore that I’ve pretty much forgotten most things that happen in it. I seem to always get this mixed up with that other film Election, with Reece Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick for some reason – the only thing they have in common is a high school setting and if that was a pre-requisite I’d be comparing it to Teen Wolf as well. In case you’re wondering, Rushmore is pretty much the beginning of all things Wes Anderson and you’re going to find themes that run through this film weaving throughout his whole CV.
The Royal Tenembaums
14.20 start
The movie which catapulted Anderson pretty much into the stratosphere – The Royal Tenembaums is a family epic featuring missing fingers, red Adidas trackies, failed tennis players, incest, cock fighting and a brilliant Gene Hackman playing the thoroughly despicable (but later much improved) patriarch Royal Tenembaum. The performances in this are stellar, with Angelica Houston being her usual amazing self, Ben Stiller at the top of his game and even Gwyneth Paltrow – usually a bit of a kale eating drip – really knocking it out of the park.
The Darjeeling Limited
16.35 start
I’ve not seen this one. It’s got Owen Wilson in it. And Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman. And a little bit of Bill Murray (of course). It’s seemingly about a train and India and that’s all I know. I’ll watch it tonight I promise.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
18.40 start
Probably my second favourite Wes Anderson film (after Fantastic Mr Fox of course), The Life Aquatic manages to straddle a line between weird and bat shit crazy as marine scientist Steve Zissou sets out to find the big fish that ate his best mate, with a whole host of zany characters in tow. It features Cate Blanchett so it’s already won some serious plus points from me, but star of the show is undoubtedly Bill Murray who plays a man who is a proper dick, but is hard to dislike – probably very much like the real-life Bill Murray to be fair. The soundtrack is excellent too, with a turn by Brazilian superstar Seu Jorge banging out an album of Bowie covers.
So there you have it – you can get your tickets below – it’s £20 for all 4 films or £7 each if you don’t feel like spending the whole day in Stockport.
A Wes Anderson Marathon @ Stockport Plaza
Sunday 23rd September, 12pm
Tickets: £20 (all day), £7 (per film)
