I thoroughly enjoyed an early screening of ‘Asteroid City’ in NYC (hard release on June 23)!
In typical Anderson style, ‘Asteroid City’ is a star-studded ensemble cast including Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Margot Robbie, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody, Jeff Goldblum, Bryan Cranston and more — their multiple storylines are all wrapped up in Anderson’s immaculate bundling. The film is quirky and intelligent and its poetic manuscript is theatrical storytelling.
The visual aesthetic and cinematography of ‘Asteroid City’ are completely meticulous, detailed, and stunning. The beautiful pastel color palette contains rainbow hues and is whimsically placed in true Anderson-like fashion similar to his other films.
The brilliant craftsmanship with regard to production design, costume design, and editing is unmatched. The pacing contains introspective emotional scenes and humor in a way that keeps the viewer intrigued. Moreover, the way Anderson explores and expresses grief was so visceral and profound. Asteroid City feels like a culmination of the exploration of life and rumination over what it means to be human on earth populated with diverse personalities. It is truly inspiring to see the growth and expansion throughout Anderson’s career culminate into this beautifully executed motion picture focused on themes of love, curiosity, creativity, relationships, discovery, and humanity.
In summary, ‘Asteroid City’ is beautifully meta and eccentric. It is refreshing to see a film that does not follow the standard Hollywood blueprint. I highly recommend it!
