The Daily Grind

Loving this vid from StanceWorks of a rat rodded E28.

Marvelous Moonrise

There's nothing worse than when a Wes Anderson movie comes out and I haven't made it to the theater just yet. I'm constantly dodging any mention or online review right up until the moment I see it, which is an art in and of itself. Luckily, I managed to catch Moonrise Kingdom last night in a zero-spoiler condition.

Wes has always had a knack for discovering young actors who can deliver his lines just the way he wants. But in Moonrise Kingdom, he manages to take this skill to new heights in the form of his superb leads: Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward. Gilman perfectly plays that doesn't-know-he's-hip geek named Sam capturing the heart of Hayward's character Suzy whose irresistible Margot-Tenenbaum-meets-Lana-del-Rey vibe nearly steals the show.

Everything you love about a Wes Anderson film is present—record players, hand-drawn book covers, long super-symmetrical camera angles, richly vintage sets and of course, Bill Murray—with three exceptions. Futura, his signature font is replaced with beautiful, scritpy, custom typeface by Jessica Hische. The token Wilson brother is more or less replaced by Ed Norton. And the score, typically penned by Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo fame, has also been reduced without a major misstep.

Moonrise's music is a fantastic combination of true-to-the-era orchestral arrangements by Benjamin Britten mixed with new Wes-Anderson-esque tracks composed by Alexandre Desplat and supplemented with a healthy dose of Hank Williams. I highly recommend staying through all of the end credits, not only are they wonderfully animated, the instrumental awesomeness narrated by Jared Gilman is a flawless final touch.

Bottom line, Moonrise Kingdom nails that very analog, very Norman Rockwell look and feel that's chockfull of #campvibes. It's the type of story that makes you wish you'd snuck away with the gal that ran the nature tent at your Boy Scout camp in upstate NY, rather than attempt yet another boondoggle keychain.

British Field Day

For Father's Day weekend, Mrs. Kyality and The Kyality Kids took to me to Liberty Park in SLC to the annual British Field Day and Car Show. Some beautiful autos were in attendance, including this amazing pair of Jags.

Mrs. Kyality takes a peek at the interior.

A loverly Series I.

This lil Coop's for sale!

Totally dug the fogs on this gran turismo.

They also set up a little obstacle course. Had to .gif it up!


WEEEEEEEEEEE!

Mobile MINI Stores Invade Paris

Check out this stellar little vid about MINI's new mobile salesrooms scooting around Paris. I want four rally lights on my MINI, sheesh!

My Saab Story

Growing up, I was exposed to a slew of cool European cars—German, British and Swedish. We owned a navy blue Saab pre-900 coupe when I was about 11 years old. It was this strange vehicle with bizarre seat belts and a this kinda-sorta-aerodynamic profile. But even at that young age, I dug it. Unfortunately, that particular car ended life with a Saab story of its own.

There was this kid in high school whose dad owned an amazing early nineties Saab 900 Turbo. It was all black with these amber-lensed fogs that hung below the front bumper and black louvers across the rear window. My junior year, his dad won the New York State Lotto, bought a Porsche or something and gave his son the Turbo. Yeah, it was not awesome standing at the bus stop while that dood cruised by me at warp speed every morning.

A group of Russian exchange students came to our school for about a month that year. And the Russian principal stayed at the Saab kid's house. He chauffeured the visitor to school, so of course he got a special pass to park right in front of the school next to our principal's spot. For some reason I saw that Saab parked there long after the Russians had gone home. Insult to injury.

In the pantheon of sweet, turboed cars—the early nineties Saab 900 version still holds a special place in my wounded heart. This spectacular photo shoot by bennorz prefectly captures the raw, unfiltered coolness of the 900 Turbo.

Enjoy.