Saturday, July 1, 2023

Asteroid City (2023)

It's the mid 1950's and a recently widowed war photographer (Jason Schwartzman) and a Hollywood actress (Scarlett Johanson) share a moment, while chaperoning at a junior stargazer convention in the titular small desert town; also a lot of other stuff happens. This is a Wes Anderson film with all that implies, including a large star studded cast, an esoteric and drawl humored plot and a retro aesthetic, in this case mid century storybook and train set. 

Not on the level of say 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' I still found it a pleasant time. Anderson tends to throw so much at you and be so 'weird' that his films often require multiple viewings to really get a handle on. The writer/director is also obsessed with story framing and I'm not sure how well the wrap around device here works, though it does contain one of my favorite knowing jokes of the film. I also really liked the soundtrack. For now it's ***

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