"Go, Mordechai!"

Something immediately struck me about this advertisement when it came on in the middle of my Hawaii Five-O. What may have resonated was that it features one of those fantasy Jetsons' domiciles that I love so much. The mid-century modern furniture wired with automation. In fact the title of this beer commercial is "Apartomatic". The clunky toggle-switched control box commanding the Rube Goldberg contraptions that finish off with the self-pouring beer tap are all exactly what I'd want in my place. As are the concealed fish tanks and cathode ray tube TV monitors. So retro cool. So neato.

But that wasn't really it. I couldn't yet put my finger on what it was that struck a chord with me about the commercial. I searched for it so I could post it here as some sort of Bachelor Pad Redux. Instead, I discovered that the commercial was directed by Wes Anderson, and it all made sense. You know Anderson, the auteur responsible for one of my favorite movies, Rushmore, as well as The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou and The Fantastic Mr. Fox.

What really charmed me about the Stella commercial then, was what charmed me about Anderson's best-conceived and best-received film, The Royal Tennenbaums. It is on display here in one of the Great Movie Opening Sequences, Anderson's ability to craft a complete and engrossing universe, top to bottom, soup to nuts, word and song.