Asteroid City
With The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar's Venice premiere, see how IMDb users rated Wes Anderson's feature films from Bottle Rocket to Asteroid City.,Bill Murray was originally cast in Steve Carell's role, but contracted COVID-19 shortly before filming. He had to withdraw from the production. This is actually the second time Carell has taken over a role from Murray, as Murray was the first choice for the role of Frank in Little Miss Sunshine (2006).,The peace symbol was not created until February 1958, so it could not have been depicted at the 1955 Junior Stargazer Convention.,Montana: I figure this here alien come from a tribe we don't know nothing 'bout, do we? Anything we say'd just be pure speculation. But I tell you what I reckon. I reckon that alien don't mean no harm at all. I reckon he just took hisself down here to have a look-see at the land and the peoples on it. In the spirit of exploration. See, I don't look on a feller alien all suspicious-like. No, he ain't American. No, he ain't a creature of God's green Earth, but he's a creature of somewheres, and so are we. Now, let's show the old feller some hospitality, and if he turns out to be a dirty dog, which I reckon he ain't, well, that'll be a job for the United States armed forces, and they ain't never lost a war yet. Thanky-do.,During the credits, as the song "Freight Train" plays, the roadrunner can be seen dancing on the road to the song.,Featured in Amanda the Jedi Show: Never Trust the Standing Ovations - CANNES 2023 Indiana Jones, Killers of the Flower Moon (2023),Last Train to San Fernando
Written by Sylvester DeVere, Randolph Padmore, Kenneth St. Bernard
Performed by Johnny Duncan and the Blue Grass Boys
Courtesy of Columbia Records Nashville
By arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment,Let me start off by saying: I have seen all of Wes Anderson's movies, some of them even multiple times.

I can therefore certainly appreciate his quirky and unique style that made him a favorite at various film schools and among art-house movie lovers.

Asteroid City feels like a very concentrated version of his latest movies in a bland pastel color desert setting:

The black-and-white scenes in old TV formatting as well as the theatre-like setting reminded me of the "The French Dispatch" (2021) in particular.

The newest movie doubles down on these "theatre/stage play" concepts, the sum of all parts unfortunately feels like a Wes Anderson overdose at times:

Too many actors (the usual staple of big-name actors is larger than ever in this one, only Bill Murray seems to be missing), yet with no real lead role present and very little character development.

The overall plot appears to be going nowhere until the credits roll - while the 1950's SF sub-"plot" also feels wasted when the Alien in his bright green UFO has a screen appearance about as short as the mythical 'Jaguar shark' in Wes' classic "The Life Aquatic" (2004).

Asteroid City looks like Wes jumped the shark on his own ideas and prior body of work.

Overall, the movie unfortunately feels too dry, stiff and boring to me (I would never write this about a prior Wes Anderson movie), even with its relatively short running time.

Summary: Asteroid City will most likely only please and appeal to his most hardcore fans. Another IMDB reviewer summed it up perfectly with this headline: "Nothing happens in the middle of nowhere".

4/10 , maybe rounded up to 5/10 for the (as always) beautiful decor and the immaculate attention to detail.

I hope Wes returns to "real" film-making one day. I wanted to see a "real" movie by Wes Anderson, not a "Wes Anderson doing Wes Anderson" stage play in the desert.,Explore the memorable career of Wes Anderson through 24 stills from his movies.,