The French Dispatch (2021)

Okay, I like Wes Anderson slightly more than the casual filmgoer, but definitely not as much as the critics that will doubtlessly be gushing their undying love for him over the next week or so, upon release of this latest project, The French Dispatch. For every release of an admittedly unique and sometimes baffling Anderson project, I have to wonder if he's not actually just taking the piss now and is merely seeing just how much he can get away with. Either way, by now, he wins. Auteur or practical joker. Perhaps it doesn't really matter.

Although the two here (and always for Anderson) are mutually exclusive, he cannot deny that he is more artist than film-maker and always has been. You only have to look at this framing, how each scene is a collection of photographs that deserve to be well hung. You know, somewhere fancy.

Boasting as enviable a cast as always, it is easy to see the draw for an actor to be associated with arguably the most challenging and illuminating director working today. He makes anyone look good, seemingly effortlessly.