8 Unforgettable Musical Interludes In Wes Anderson Films

3. "Me And Julio Down By the Schoolyard" (Paul Simon) - The Royal Tenenbaums

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_fnn-6X3lw The musical moments are the most memorable thing about The Royal Tenenbaums, not Wes Anderson's finest film, but this sequence is downright jubilant. Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) an estranged, abusive father who wants to make amends with his three children, decides to take his grandkids out on the town for an afternoon of fun. "You can't raise boys to be scared of life... you've gotta brew some recklessness into them," he tells his wife, Angelica Huston, and Paul Simon's absurdly catchy guitar is already fading in. Royal promptly takes the boys on an outing which includes shoplifting, crossing into traffic against the light, raising the ire of a cab driver, and riding on a garbage truck. The play-like staged quality that runs through all of Anderson's films is always accentuated by the music, and this is an excellent example. Another director might have turned to hip-hop or hard rock for a scene like this, but Anderson's taste is far more apt. Simon's song - carefree, light, and perfectly suited to the sequence - stays in your head for a long time after the scene is done.