THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU (2004) w/ Jacques Cousteau pre-show

“Still one of Wes Anderson’s funniest and most poignant movies, as well as a love letter to his favorite muse: Bill Murray… The Life Aquatic is Wes Anderson’s most underrated movie.” – Den of Geek
A wildly original adventure-comedy, The Life Aquatic was the film that definitively proved that Wes Anderson exclusively makes Wes Anderson movies, and if you don’t like it…that’s your problem. Bill Murray heads a typically eclectic ensemble cast as internationally famous oceanographer Steve Zissou, who sets sail aboard the R.V. Belafonte on an expedition to hunt down the mysterious, elusive, possibly nonexistent Jaguar Shark that killed Zissou’s partner. The motley crew includes Owen Wilson as a sweet-natured airline pilot, Cate Blanchett as a pregnant journalist, Anjelica Huston as Zissou’s estranged wife, Jeff Goldblum as her new lover, and (our favorite) Willem Dafoe as Zissou’s obsequious German first mate. Shot in eye-popping Cinemascope, The Life Aquatic is packed with stop-motion sea life, brilliant “dollhouse” cutaways of the Belafonte, hilarious gags, and interstitial samba covers of Bowie classics courtesy of Brazilian musician Seu Jorge, but underneath it all is a gorgeously poignant sense of yearning and loss. Hey, this is a Wes Anderson movie, after all.
Before the film, we’ll pay tribute to the core inspiration for The Life Aquatic, oceanographer-cum-filmmaker Jacques Cousteau with a pre-show beginning at 6:30 pm.