The Substance of Style

My favorite movie is The Royal Tenenbaums. In fact I love director Wes Anderson in general; his overarching and meticulous vision and distinct sensibility makes for unique — and to me, near-perfect — films. I was delighted, therefore, to find a five-part, in-depth, thoughtful and well-researched video essay on his influences. I want more things like this in my life, please.

Part 1: Charles Schultz (Peanuts), Orson Welles (The Magnificent Ambersons), François Truffaut (The 400 Blows)

Part 2: Martin Scorsese (GoodFellas), Richard Lester (The Beatles’ Help!), and Mike Nichols (The Graduate)

Part 3: Hal Ashby (Harold and Maude)

Part 4: J.D. Salinger (The Catcher in the Rye)

Part 5: opening of The Royal Tenenbaums — my favorite sequence of my favorite movie — annotated Pop-Up Video style with influences and Anderson’s own innovations.

Both where this is housed, the Museum of the Moving Image, and the author’s (Matt Zoller Seitz) blog The House Next Door are intriguing too, especially for people like me who like thinking ad nauseum about films.

via metafilter