In this week’s newsletter: The director has returned in trademark style with Asteroid City, to the chagrin of some – but he should be celebrated as a true original
You can set your (vintage 50s) timepiece to it: one of the unbreakable laws of 21st-century cinema is that a new Wes Anderson film must always be greeted with a chorus of moans about how Wes Anderson-y it looks. That was proven by the reaction to the the trailer for Anderson’s next film, Asteroid City, as a host of Twitter users furiously raced to be the first person to post “Wes Anderson has made his film again”.
Admittedly, there was plenty for the haters to go at. Symmetrically perfect imagery. Intense attention to period detail. An almost comically overstuffed cast of A-listers. (Good to see that Wes has chucked in a budding unknown by the name of Tom Hanks this time around, just to even things up.) Dialogue so arch McDonald’s could sue it for copyright infringement. Great needle drops. A bearded Jason Schwartzman – that one’s an absolute deal-breaker for Anderson. And, above all, a vibe of fussy tweeness that seems to perfectly bifurcate audiences into “love” and “loathe”.
