The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Wes Anderson, 2023)

[therewillbeblus]

How alarmed should we be that Criterion is now four Wes Anderson features behind?

Both Criterion and Anderson have other priorities, and if Anderson is going to be cranking out more art instead of taking a break to visit Criterion’s offices, I’m cool with that. Given the company’s recent change of ethos, I also wouldn’t be surprised if UHD upgrades of already-released WA titles come before any new ones

[knives]

Saw the titles project just now and was suitably wowed. Has Anderson spoken of Sporn as an influence on these adaptations? I thought there was a tremendous amount in common especially the use of tear away background and plane based movement. That one shot through the hospital made me jump.

[captveg]

The final short Poison was actually my favorite. It's a sharp little story with a clever title and message, and the staging and performances are really at a high point for the series, IMO. In all, I greatly enjoyed all of them. These types of short film productions are perfect for streaming as a distribution model.

[hearthesilence]

I didn't realize this was nominated for the "Best Live-Action Short" Oscar. I know MoMI and MoMA were both interested in screening all six Roald Dahl shorts as part of their year's best program but were told that only Henry Sugar was being made available by Netflix - wondering if this is due to their awards seasons strategy (raising the odds of a nomination and win by not splitting the vote) or perhaps to ensure eligibility just in case releasing all six in a program raised any red flags? Regardless, once the Oscars are over, it would be great to be able to see all six theatrically, though it would probably have to happen in a repertory program.

[Matt]

Six?

[Never Cursed]

Yeah, I thought I read somewhere that there were more than the four already-released shorts made, and that at least one would feature location shooting in a jungle somewhere. I can't find where I read that, though

[hearthesilence]

Ah, I meant four - I think I mixed the number up with the book title, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More (though granted that's really seven).

[Ribs]

In unbelievably hysterical news considering how they took no time at all to stop pretending it's a short film until it won an Oscar, the anthology film version of the feature will be released on Netflix Friday. I'm sure it will be shown in this format in the major city Netflix venues in due course when there's a gap. And, as expected, the title is officially The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More.

[hearthesilence]

In the immortal words of Best Live Action Short winner Steven Wright, "since this is the short film category, we're really glad that we cut out the other 60 minutes."

[swo17]

the title is officially The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More.

Is that just what Netflix is calling it, or has Anderson said anything about this being the intended title before? I was under the impression that just "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" was the intended title for the entire anthology film

[therewillbeblus]

I'm wondering if he didn't show up last night because he felt awkward about competing in that category. He clearly intended it to be like The French Dispatch, and likely wouldn't have wanted to edge out other filmmakers in a category he wasn't categorizing his film as being a part of.

[hearthesilence]

All this reminds me of that bit they filmed for a previous Oscar nomination...would be an applicable joke to this case.

[swo17]

I'm wondering if he didn't show up last night because he felt awkward about competing in that category. He clearly intended it to be like The French Dispatch, and likely wouldn't have wanted to edge out other filmmakers in a category he wasn't categorizing his film as being a part of.

He wasn't there because he's out of the country to start shooting his next film. Here's a sort of acceptance speech