The Royal Tenenbaums

This week, we're having a ball -- scrapping, yelling and mixing it up, loving every minute with this damn crew as we close out Gene HackMarch with a regal induction into the podcast canon. It's 2001's The Royal Tenenbaums, directed by Wes Anderson, co-written by Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson, and starring Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Danny Glover and the voice of Alec Baldwin. While Anderson launched himself to prominence with Rushmore, Tenenbaums marked the full-throated arrival of a confident new voice in American cinema, and arguably remains his best effort nearly two and a half decades later. Perfectly utilising Hackman's gruff hard-ass patriarcal screen presence, cut by the man's easily over-looked and ofter under-utilised comedic abilities, it's a redemption story for an almost historically bad dad -- a funny, feel-good movie that says it's never too late to make things right. Plus: Hayley's got another theatrical outing to report on as she headed to the cinema to catch Black Bag, while both hosts have food fixations on the brain this week. If you'd like to watch the movie before listening along to our discussion, The Royal Tenenbaums is currently available to stream on Disney+, as well as Crave and Starz north of the border. Other works discussed this week include Presence, Kimi, Ocean's Eleven, Enemy of the State, The Conversation, No Way Out, Dirty Dancing, Step Up, Center Stage, Stranger Than Fiction, Arrested Development, Hard Eight, Sliding Doors, The French Dispatch, The French Connection, Isle of Dogs, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Bottle Rocket, Asteroid City and Eastbound and Down, among many more. We don't know when we'll be back or what we'll be watching, as events in Hayley's life are making recording rather difficult over the next few months. But we will return, so don't fret! We just may be going down to a bi-weekly schedule for the next little while until things blow over. And don't worry, it's nothing bad. Updates coming on our social media feeds when we have them, but until then, we'll see you at the movies!!