The Anthology Film

So what to make of this? I think Tobias is basically right about omnibus films in general: they are almost always better on paper than in practice, and sometimes they’re pretty questionable on paper once you get past the director’s name. Have you seen Four Rooms or Aria? I sincerely hope not. Overall, I think Kar Wai/Soderbergh/Antonioni is better on paper than Tarantino/Anders/Rodriguez/Rockwell, but 1)being better than Four Rooms is a pretty modest standard, 2)Soderbergh isn’t a sure shot whether serious or commercial and 3)post-Blow Up Antonioni is (to be charitable to a genuinely great director) dubious. (I do sort of like The Passenger, but…)

Still an all, I think on balance it’s worth seeing. If Kar Wai is on–and apparently he is–I’d consider seeing it if the other two directors were John Pasquin and Arthur Hiller. Actually, based on the reviews the correct analogy seems to be New York Stories, with WKW playing Scorsese (brilliant), Soderbergh playing Woody (watchable), and Antonioni playing Coppola (sad.) And I’d certainly see New York Stories again, so it may be worth a flyer.