The Wes Anderson Collection Hardcover – October 8, 2013

"Because usually you can do whatever you want. Instead, you have to encourage those people to use all their powers, because they're the experts. They have so much to bring to you, once you get them to provide it. But that's all part of managing a group. Something it just backfires, but most of the time it's fun." - Wes Anderson on process

Above is basically the gist of this book. The other title really could've/should've been Anderson/Seitz ala Hitchcock/Truffaut. It's difficult actually for me to give this 4 out of 5 stars (sometimes in the book it's more like 3 and a half out of five) because I went into this so ready to think it would be like One Of The Best Books.

Perhaps I should manage my expectations better, but MZS is one of the finest critics writing today - the man is chief editor of Roger Ebert for a reason, but even if I just go by his TV review/recaps he's wonderful - and you can get a strong sense of his gift for analysis and depth and insight in the essays that precede the eight films discussed here (it was written and published just prior to Grand Budapest Hotel, which is just hinted at).

So, Seitz is a terrific writer. As an interviewer... he's ok. Actually, maybe more than okay in parts. His main aim here is to get Wes Anderson, one of the true independent mainstream American directors working today (that, you know, gets major stars for his movies, basically a younger Scorsese in that he gets to do it HIS way bankrolled by the big studios, usually anyway) to talk about what goes into the mix in his pudding. Sometimes he gets some good insight into just behind the scenes nuggets - casting, like Gene Hackman and some of the difficulty on Tenenbaums initially, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, George Clooney - and things like finding certain locations, finding music...

Where it gets tricky and slippery is when Seitz inserts himself into the interviews. Arguably, he does it a bit too much, sometimes bringing his own kids into what they thought of the movies or certain stories. Of course there are reasons for this, to try and bridge the personal into the theoretical, or thematic. Maybe this isn't all Seitz's fault that Anderson tends to get cagey at times with his answers (the aforementioned 'Hmms', of which there are at least, I didn't count 20 here throughout).

Anderson reminds me in a way like David Lynch: a true artist, he can talk about things that went into the making of his movies, things that sort of inspire him - other movies, music, art, striking locations - but when it comes to themes or deeper meanings in ideas, things that tie the films together (such as for Anderson's movies, "What is a family?" is a directly related question), he just can't go there. Or maybe the way MZS expresses it isn't quite clear enough for Anderson. Or the tension is just too palpable to really dig farther in. Or, frankly, the context isn't the greatest.

And I get that. But there are other times the questions just seem to be Seitz reaching a bit far into the hat to pull something out to try to get something else out of Anderson. And yet, this is a complaint that is... I'd say only about 15 to 20% of a book that is otherwise pretty darn awesome. It's LOADED with photographs, storyboard images, stills, behind the scenes stuff, film comparisons, even stamps from Citizen Kane (!) that make it into like a Big Movie Book, which also brings the comparison up to the Godfather of Movie Books, Hitchcock/Truffaut. Anderson is amiable and can express things well enough and it's a fun, quick read.

While I wish some of the things MZS reaches for and expresses weren't quite always AS about him, he mostly steers everything in the right direction which is about process, how a director who does have such control over his movies - I can't see how he could work any other way with the stories and characters he creates, along with his co-writers and collaborators - goes about creating what he does. But, ultimately, the book also illustrates that no matter how much you pick at something you can really only get out of a filmmaker: "I just like it" and that's it. At a certain point we can be critics all we want. It's ours now. And for his reasons... they're so many. And, naturally, it'll be essential reading for Anderson fans, and those just looking to get a sense of what filmmaking at a personal-cum-commercial level is all about in this day and age.

But on the other hand...

"I think, often, what ends up being important in a movie thematically, or what it ends up being really about, is usually not what you're focusing on. You're focusing on what a certain character is going to say, what this character wants from this other character, how they feel, and how she's going to express what she wants, and what's going to happen, you know? And as with everything else in life or writing or filmmaking, you don't really control what it means - my instinct is that I don't want to control it, because it's better if it just comes to life, in whatever way that can happen. And everything else, everything feels like it has to be created for one of these movies, so I'd rather have the meanings come out of the life of it, rather than wanting to demonstrate a certain theme, or communicate a certain theory." - Wes Anderson on themes

"Sammy, I don't talk about themes." - David Lynch.

I pre-ordered this book in April and today I finally got it in my hands. Being a filmmaker and die hard Wes Anderson fan buying it was a no brainer. However I didn't think I could be this impressed. It is absolutely beautiful filled with illustrations, production stills, story boards and much more. Not only all that but there are essays and interviews by Zoller, who has followed Anderson's career from the beginning, jam packed with details on his artistic process for the films, his thoughts on different circumstances surrounding his scripts and general Wes Anderson quotables.

If you are a fan do yourself a favor and get this book you will not regret it!

This really is a cool book. It is filled with pictures and interviews. Nice cover, so makes a great coffee table book- especially for a guy. My 30 year old brother was really interested and looked through it for a long time.

We're Wes Anderson fans around here- not at the level where we own every movie he's made in every format, etc. but we eagerly await every film he creates and we have our favorites (I've seen Rushmore more times than I care to admit). This book is like a beautiful, creative, inspiring story book for grown ups- it's full of images and interviews on every film that Wes Anderson has directed- storyboards, frames and screenshots from the films, screenshots from other films that inspired Anderson, plus tons of ephemera from all of the films. Every page is a wonderland- so much to look at and discover. I spent an hour just pouring over the Moonrise Kingdom section of the book when we first opened it- not reading a single word, just studying the images. And every time I open the book, I find myself getting happily lost inside of it, and learning all these new and amazing things about all of Anderson's work.

I can't recommend this enough. If you enjoy the whimsical worlds that Anderson creates, this book is more of the same. Wonderful.

I bought this for my boyfriend as we're both Wes Anderson fans and this book is lovely! It's full of lush illustrations, lengthy interviews, soundtrack notes, and bits of interesting trivia (often in the captions). I absolutely adore it and so does the boyfriend. We've decided to watch every Wes Anderson film and short in chronological order while we make our way through the book.

As far as looks, this book is large and heavy (which I like). I believe it's 1 square foot and maybe 1.5-2 inches thick. It would make a lovely coffee table book if your coffee table is tidier than mine. I ordered this book with Amazon Prime two-day shipping and on the second day, I woke up to find it at my door. Wonderful service, as usual.

Got this from the library a couple of times & finally bought my own copy when I was on a Wes Anderson film-watching spree. The first time I got it from the library, I was stunned by how large it is. It really is a great coffee table book, but not one that should just sit there looking pretty. It's a cool book to page through in moments of time or fully immerse yourself in if you're interesting in making films.

My Dad nearly pees his pants with laughter when he watches Wes Anderson films. Then he proceeds to quote them for the next month whenever I talk to him on the phone.

If you have anyone in your life like this, the book will make an excellent gift. While I like Wes Anderson, I can't claim that I would scream like a 12 year old at a Justin Bieber concert were I given this gift. I only have the memories of my 55 year-old father performing that same maneuver when presented with this masterpiece.