9 TV commercials from the famed director

Curated by Jason Forrest

Total Runtime: 0:06:11

In September 2007, Wes Anderson oversaw a series of six commercials for AT&T: "College Kid", "Reporter", "Mom", "Architect", "Actor" and "Businessman." The campaign also includes online, print and outdoor advertising. These TV spots are part of AT&T's "Your Seamless World" national campaign from BBDO/New York. Each ad embodies Anderson's distinct style by focusing on a subject and having the environment around them change.

Anderson starred in and directed an American Express "My Life, My Card" commercial, which chronicled the "filming" of an action movie starring Jason Schwartzman. Anderson acts as if he is being interviewed by someone from American Express for the ad, while walking around completing tasks on set, a scene paying homage to the movie Day for Night by François Truffaut. It was aired on television and in movie theaters in both a short and extended version, during and shortly after the theatrical release of The Life Aquatic.

In 2008, Wes Anderson teamed up with Brad Pitt for a commercial for Japanese cell phone company SoftBank, filmed in one continuous shot in a French seaside town. The commercial takes inspiration from Jacques Tati's Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot.

Movie - A Matter Of Life And Death (Powell & Pressburger, 1947)

A jaw-dropping fantasy of a downed pilot who must justify his existence to a heavenly panel because he fell in love with an American girl when he really should have been dead.

Curated by Jason Forrest

Total Runtime: 1:39:59

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Matter_of_Life_and_Death_%28film%29

Also known as Stairway to Heaven, A Matter of Life and Death is the remarkable British fantasy film that became the surprise hit of 1946. David Niven stars as Peter Carter, a World War II RAF pilot who is forced to bail out of his crippled plane without a parachute. He wakes up to find he has landed on Earth utterly unharmed...which wasn't supposed to happen according to the rules of Heaven. A celestial court argues over whether or not to claim Carter's life or to let him survive to wed his American sweetheart (Kim Hunter). During an operation, in which Carter hovers between life and death, he dreams that his spirit is on trial, with God (Abraham Sofaer) as judge and Carter's recently deceased best friend (Roger Livesey) as defense counsel. The film tries to have it both ways by suggesting that the heavenly scenes are all a product of Carter's imagination, but the audience knows better. Among the curious but effective artistic choices in A Matter of Life and Death was the decision to film the earthbound scenes in Technicolor and the Heaven sequences in black-and-white. The film was a product of the adventuresome team known as "The Archers": Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

Briefed by the Ministry of Information to make a film that would foster Anglo-American relations in the post-war period, innovative filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger came up with A Matter of Life and Death, an extravagant and extraordinary fantasy in which David Niven stars as a downed pilot who must justify his continuing existence to a heavenly panel because he has made the mistake of falling in love with an American girl (Kim Hunter) when he really should have been dead. National stereotypes are lampooned as the angelic judges squabble over his fate. In a neat reversal of expectations, the Heaven sequences are black and white, while Earth is seen in Technicolor. Daring cinematography mixes monochrome and color, incorporates time-lapse images, and even toys with background "time freezes" 50 years before The Matrix. Roger Livesey and Raymond Massey lead the fine supporting cast. This is one of the undoubted jewels of British cinema. --Mark Walker

Movie - Slacker (Richard Linklater, 1991)

The movie that made it fun to watch art film! Completely watchable and weird, fun, beautiful, fascinating! (Good god, I love this film)

Curated by Christopher Belz

Total Runtime: 1:40:07

Sun, Jul 1

Slacker is a 1991 American independent film written and directed by Richard Linklater, who also appears in the film. Slacker was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic at the Sundance Film Festival in 1991.

Slacker
Slacker film poster
Directed by	Richard Linklater
Produced by	Richard Linklater
Written by	Richard Linklater
Starring	Richard Linklater Kim Krizan Marc James Stella Weir John Slate Louis Mackey Teresa Taylor
Cinematography	Lee Daniel
Editing by	Scott Rhodes
Distributed by	Orion Classics
Release date(s)	July 1990 (Austin premiere) July 5, 1991 (U.S.A. distrib.)
Running time	105 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$23,000

Slacker is a uniquely structured and seemingly plotless film, following a single day in the life of an ensemble of mostly twenty-something bohemians and misfits in Austin, Texas. The film follows various characters and scenes, never staying with one character or conversation for more than a few minutes before picking up someone else in the scene and following them. The characters include Linklater as a talkative taxi passenger, a UFO buff who insists the U.S. has been on the moon since the 1950s, a JFK conspiracy theorist, an elderlyanarchist who befriends a man trying to rob his house, a serial television set collector and a woman trying to sell a Madonna pap smear. The woman selling the pap smear appears on the movie poster, and was played by Butthole Surfers drummer Teresa Taylor.^[1] Most of the characters grapple with feelings of social exclusion or political marginalization, which are recurring themes in their conversations. They discuss social class, terrorism, joblessness, and government control of the media.

Network Awesome - Sun, Feb 2 A day of sophisticated, emotional slackness. Put on some pants you bum!

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February

What's On Today?

A day of sophisticated, emotional slackness. Put on some pants you bum!

Today curated by:
Jason Forrest

Collection: Wes Anderson Commercials

0:06:11

Movie - A Matter Of Life And Death (Powell & Pressburger, 1947)

1:39:59

Movie - Slacker (Richard Linklater, 1991)

1:40:07

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