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Song of the Day #4,828: ‘Stephanie Says’ – The Velvet Underground

Three years after the triumph of Rushmore, Wes Anderson returned with another brilliant work.

The Royal Tenenbaums follows the rise and fall of a family of geniuses, and the attempts by the flawed patriarch to reinsert himself into their lives.

Given double the budget of Rushmore, Anderson broadened his palette, assembling a large ensemble cast and setting the film in a slightly skewed version of New York. The effort paid off to the tune of $71 million at the box office and a Golden Globe for star Gene Hackman.

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Song of the Day #4,827: ‘Concrete and Clay’ – Unit 4+2

Wes Anderson’s second film, Rushmore (1998), heralded his arrival as a major new voice in independent cinema. Bottle Rocket had made a small splash on the festival circuit, but this movie received widespread critical acclaim, decent box office, and awards season attention.

It also kicked off a renaissance for Bill Murray, who went from being known primarily for comic roles to a go-to choice for portrayals of wry sad sacks. Four years later, he would be nominated for Best Actor for his great work in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation.

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Song of the Day #4,826: ‘Alone Again Or’ – Love

In anticipation of Wes Anderson’s 10th film, The French Dispatch, due in theaters a month from now, I recently rewatched the writer-director’s entire filmography in chronological order. Over the next two weeks I’ll write a bit about each of those films and finish up with my ranked list.

Anderson’s debut, 1996’s Bottle Rocket, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. This low-budget crime comedy boasts few of the trademarks commonly associated with his films (symmetry; dollhouse art direction; liberal use of tilts, pans, and zooms) while introducing others (close-up insert shots, 60s pop music, Owen Wilson).

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Song of the Day #4,825: ‘Now’ – Catie Curtis

Today marks the first appearance of Catie Curtis on the blog, and probably the first time I’ve thought about the Boston-based folk rock artist since I bought this album sometime after its 2001 release.

My memory is fuzzy but I believe it was my wife who discovered Curtis through an NPR interview and suggested we give the full album a listen.

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Song of the Day #4,824: ‘Standing in the Doorway’ – Bob Dylan

Here’s a song from Bob Dylan’s great 1997 album Time Out of Mind, a “comeback” record that earned him the Album of the Year Grammy. Amazingly, this is the only Dylan release to ever win Grammy’s top honor.

‘Standing in the Doorway’ is a highlight of this elegiac album. It’s about the end of a relationship, but like most songs on Time Out of Mind, it feels like it’s just as much about the end of life.

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