In a new interview with The New York Times, film director Wes Anderson has shared his list of movies and TV shows to watch while in quarantine while reflecting on his experiences at Cannes Film Festival, due to be screened online because of Covid-19.
The auteur – widely known for his distinctive visual style of symmetrical cuts, meticulous costuming, and pastel color palettes – has postponed the release of his latest film The French Dispatch from July 24 to October 16, also due to Coronavirus. So, like the rest of us, Anderson is presumably stuck inside indulging in the opportunity to watch and re-watch his favorite movies.
As we all have plenty of time to give things a second watch, you can use quarantine as an excuse to awaken your dormant inner film buff by perusing the rest of Anderson's quarantine movie list below, including options from an earlier quarantine watching list, which Anderson shared with French publication CNC at the beginning of April.
George Stevens’ Alice Adams (1935)
Oscar-nominated Alice Adams is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Booth Tarkington. The movie stars Hollywood leading lady Katharine Hepburn which helped make her a public favorite again following her very successful 1930s era.
John Huston’s Beat the Devil (1954)
A loose parody of The Maltese Falcon, adventure comedy flick Beat The Devil is notable for its unusual script-writing process, which was done day-by-day as filming took place.
William A. Wellman’s Nothing Sacred (1937)
Nothing's Sacred was the first screwball comedy filmed in color and now exists in the public domain in the United States, due to the copyright owners failing to renew its copyright registration in the 28th year following its release (should be pretty easy to find a stream, then).
Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989)
Spike Lee's seminal comedy-drama Do The Right Thing details the simmering racial tension in Brooklyn on a summer afternoon. It is habitually classified as one of the greatest movies of all time and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
John Ford’s The Long Voyage Home (1940)
The Long Voyage Home is a landmark movie in which Ford's distinctive cinematography would serve as a precursor for the film noir aesthetic that would later dominate Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s.
Kenji Mizoguchi’s A Story From Chikamatsu (1954)
Also known as "The Crucified Lovers," A Story From Chikamatsu is a black-and-white Japanese movie from 1954, notable for its nomination for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1955, and for bringing Japanese cinema to Western audiences.
David Lean’s The Passionate Friends (1949)
David Lean's romantic-drama The Passionate Friend is based on a novel by H.G. Wells and is a classic tale of a troubling and toxic love triangle.
George Cukor’s What Price Hollywood (1932)
What Price Hollywood is a pre-code American drama from 1932 which explores the ugly side of Hollywood's perceived glamor.
William Richert’s Winter Kills (1979)
A fictionalized account of the assassination of JFK, black comedy Winter Kills was a box office bomb at the time of release but has since incubated as a bona fide cult classic.
The Big Feast (1973)
Le Grande Bouffe ("The Big Feast") is a French-Italian movie detailing a group of friends who intend to eat themselves to death. It was met with controversy for the way in which it satirized consumerism and the hedonism of the upper-middle classes. If you've ever tweeted "Eat the Rich" then you probably should watch this.
The Westerner (1940)
The 1940 western flick The Westerner comes from revered film director, producer, and screenwriter William Wyler. The plot follows a self-appointed hanging judge in Vinegaroon, Texas, and his unlikely friendship with a saddle tramp. The movie won Academy Awards for Walter Brennan's performance in a supporting role as well as nominations in the categories for best Best Art Direction, Black and White feature, and Best Story.
Station Six-Sahara(1962)
Seth Holt's Station-Six Sahara details the struggle of five dysfunctional men living in isolation while manning an oil pipeline in the Sahara (hello thematic relevance to 2020!). The plot thickens when a mysterious blonde vamp (portrayed in an Oscar-nominated performance by Carroll Baker) arrives without warning and elevates the sexual tension and frustration to critical levels.
