Royal Tenenbaum bought the house on Archer Avenue in the Winter of His 35th Year
One of my weaknesses is that I don't do any research about a place until after I've already taken a trip there. I like the freedom that comes from not having any plans or expectations, but the downside is that I sometimes miss out on opportunities to see things I would have enjoyed if I'd known about them. Like, for instance, I could have taken a better picture of the house you don't see here up ahead on the left.
I didn't initially plan on posting this picture looking west along 144th Street where it intersects Hamilton Terrace, but one of the internet maps I looked at yesterday labeled that house hidden behind a tree at the corner of 144th and Convent "La Casa de los Tenenbaums." I looked it up, and sure enough, that house played the "house on Archer Avenue" Royal Tenenbaum, played by Gene Hackman, bought in the winter of his 35th year in director Wes Anderson's classic 2001 film, The Royal Tenenbaums. I always take pictures of every damned thing, but this is the only picture I took on this street that captured any bit of that house.
I'm not a huge fan of Wes Anderson films in general, as Anderson has a very distinct rhythm and quirky visual style that makes his films all come out the same. But The Royal Tanenbaums is the best version of that movie by far, and in fact ranks as one of my top five all-time favorite movies. There's a lot I love about that movie, but one of my favorite aspects is that it paints New York City with a kind of washed-out, stark 1970s winter decay aesthetic that captures the bulk of the place without any of the recognizable glitz. Anderson purposely chose pieces of the city that missed the gleaming bits everybody looks at. Like for instance, he filmed one scene down in Battery Park that involved a character standing at the edge of the sea, talking with the harbor behind him. But he purposely placed the character in a spot that obscured the Statue of Liberty, so that all you saw was the harbor and New Jersey. It's brilliant! I think of all the versions of New York that have existed in film, the Royal Tenenbaums version is the best.
So I would have liked to have known I was walking right past the Tanenbaum house, and maybe I could have taken a moment to pay my respects to the Tanenbaum family and at least gotten a good picture of the place. It's terribly beautiful. But I didn't. And now I sort of want to go back.
Royal Tenenbaum bought the house on Archer Avenue in the Winter of His 35th Year
One of my weaknesses is that I don't do any research about a place until after I've already taken a trip there. I like the freedom that comes from not having any plans or expectations, but the downside is that I sometimes miss out on opportunities to see things I would have enjoyed if I'd known about them. Like, for instance, I could have taken a better picture of the house you don't see here up ahead on the left.
I didn't initially plan on posting this picture looking west along 144th Street where it intersects Hamilton Terrace, but one of the internet maps I looked at yesterday labeled that house hidden behind a tree at the corner of 144th and Convent "La Casa de los Tenenbaums." I looked it up, and sure enough, that house played the "house on Archer Avenue" Royal Tenenbaum, played by Gene Hackman, bought in the winter of his 35th year in director Wes Anderson's classic 2001 film, The Royal Tenenbaums. I always take pictures of every damned thing, but this is the only picture I took on this street that captured any bit of that house.
I'm not a huge fan of Wes Anderson films in general, as Anderson has a very distinct rhythm and quirky visual style that makes his films all come out the same. But The Royal Tanenbaums is the best version of that movie by far, and in fact ranks as one of my top five all-time favorite movies. There's a lot I love about that movie, but one of my favorite aspects is that it paints New York City with a kind of washed-out, stark 1970s winter decay aesthetic that captures the bulk of the place without any of the recognizable glitz. Anderson purposely chose pieces of the city that missed the gleaming bits everybody looks at. Like for instance, he filmed one scene down in Battery Park that involved a character standing at the edge of the sea, talking with the harbor behind him. But he purposely placed the character in a spot that obscured the Statue of Liberty, so that all you saw was the harbor and New Jersey. It's brilliant! I think of all the versions of New York that have existed in film, the Royal Tenenbaums version is the best.
So I would have liked to have known I was walking right past the Tanenbaum house, and maybe I could have taken a moment to pay my respects to the Tanenbaum family and at least gotten a good picture of the place. It's terribly beautiful. But I didn't. And now I sort of want to go back.