Jason Schwartzman is a different kind of teenager caught up in an adult world in Wes Anderson’s RUSHMORE
RUSHMORE (Wes Anderson, 1998)
Museum of the Moving Image
35th Ave. at 36th St., Astoria
Friday, May 18, free with museum admission of $10, 7:00
718-777-6800
www.movingimage.us
rushmoreacademy.com
In conjunction with the opening of Wes Anderson’s latest, Moonrise Kingdom, which hits theaters May 25, the Museum of the Moving Image is hosting a retrospective of all six of the native Texan’s previous feature-length films, beginning May 18 with Rushmore, a dazzlingly dark, sublime masterpiece. Anderson created one of the all-time great quirky indie characters in Max Fischer, played with relish by Jason Schwartzman. Max is a troubled genius at the private Rushmore Academy, where his eccentricities make him somewhat of an outcast. His best friend is wealthy iconoclast Herman Blume (Bill Murray in a career-redefining role), but their relationship turns sour when it becomes apparent that they both have their hearts set on beautiful teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). A unique take on disaffected youth, Rushmore, which also features such Anderson regulars as Luke Wilson and Seymour Cassel and was cowritten by Owen Wilson, helped launch a new wave of American independent cinema with its offbeat narrative and eclectic soundtrack, which includes songs by Donovan, the Rolling Stones, Django Reinhardt, Cat Stevens, Yves Montand, and the Faces, along with original material by Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh. Rushmore is screening May 18 as part of the Museum of the Moving Image series “Wes Anderson’s Worlds,” which continues through May 27 with screenings of Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and The Darjeeling Limited, each of which will include a video introduction from Anderson. In addition, Anderson has chosen to show Orson Welles’s The Magnificent Ambersons as a film that inspired him.