film roundup
The French Dispatch (Dir. Wes Anderson). Starring: Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Jeffrey Wright. The latest Wes Anderson diorama is overstuffed even by his standards. A massive cast of regulars (Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman) and newcomers (Timothée Chalamet, Benicio Del Toro, Adrien Brody) fill every fussed-over frame of this period dramedy set in a fictional French city at a vaguely New Yorker-ish publication. The film is conceived as a magazine issue in motion, with three primary stories penned/enacted by Tilda Swinton, Frances 12
ICON | NOVEMBER 2021 | ICONDV.COM
McDormand and Jeffrey Wright, the latter of whom—playing a character loosely based on James Baldwin—hits the most resonant emotional notes. The movie begs to be seen as a love letter to print journalism, though its worldview is, unsurprisingly for Anderson, much more voguishly myopic, though not unentertainingly so. Better than Isle of Dogs, at least. [R] HHH1/2 Memoria (Dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul). Starring: Tilda Swinton, Elkin Díaz, Jeanne Balibar. You’ll have to keep your eyes open
KEITH UHLICH
for the newest film from Thai master Apichatpong Weerasethakul, given its unconventional release strategy—playing for one week at a time, one theater at a time as it makes its way across the U.S., and never to be officially released on home video. You’ll also have to keep your ears open during the film itself, since sound is the most important facet of its story. This is a seemingly simple
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