There has yet to be a Wes Anderson film I haven’t liked on some level, including this dusty desert tale-within-a-tale.
But ‘Asteroid City’ was the first time since ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ 16 years earlier that I left the theater less than satisfied with what I’d just seen. Partly, perhaps, out of overhyping my anticipations, for that’s something I do with the Andersons (Wes and Paul Thomas) more than any other active directors (Yorgos Lanthimos has joined their rarefied ranks in my pantheon). I recognize that I’m among the minority regarding ‘Asteroid City’ — most critics, Instacquaintances and my cinephile friends all loved it — and I’ve realized since the afternoon I watched it that I’d need to see it again before truly knowing how I feel about it. Not that it’s such a complex film; it’s just that it ultimately adds up to … not much? So why, you might ask, do I own the soundtrack as an RSD Black Friday limited 2LP gatefold set on orange vinyl? How many reasons would you like? How about five? 1) I’m a hopelessly addicted collector. 2) That goes double when Wes Anderson is involved. 3) It floods his parched landscape with splashy midcentury faves I love and wouldn’t have otherwise, like Tex Ritter’s ‘Jingle Jangle Jingle’ and Tennessee Ernie Ford’s ‘Sixteen Tons’ and Johnny Duncan’s ‘Last Train to San Fernando.’ 4) I can never have enough records with Les Paul & Mary Ford’s ‘How High the Moon’ on it. 5) Jarvis Cocker’s closing number ‘You Can’t Wake Up If You Don’t Fall Asleep’ is a must-own lullaby.
#SoundtrackSunday 029
‘Asteroid City’
ABKCO, 2023
d: Wes Anderson