By Derrick Bang

Enterprise film critic

Calling filmmaker Wes Anderson “eccentric” is like saying the Pope is slightly Catholic. The word doesn’t begin to convey the vast scope of Anderson’s outré sensibilities.

As one would expect, the results have been mixed, ranging from dazzling hits (“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox”) to, shall we say, lesser efforts (“The Darjeeling Limited,” “The French Dispatch”).

But Anderson — a true artiste — remains undaunted, which is just fine; even his bizarre films are interesting … and everything he does is visually fascinating.

That’s certainly the case with “Asteroid City,” which is a dazzling display of architectural whimsy by Anderson, production designer Adam Stockhausen, and the art direction team headed by Stéphane Cressend. I mean, like wow; you’ve never seen so many pastels. They’ve gotta be Oscarnominated.

Whether this colorful setting is supported by an equally compelling story … is another matter. Anderson and co-writer Roman Coppola’s script is, ah, really Out There.

The film begins in standardratio black and white, as a host (Bryan Cranston) presents the back-story to the newest production by celebrated playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton). We subsequently become the “audience,” as a huge cast of actors perform the play in three acts (plus an epilogue). These dominant portions of the film are in stylized wide-screen pastels, sumptuously staged by cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman.

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The actors occasionally break character in between scenes, which adds yet another (often confusing) layer to the storywithin-a-story.

The year is 1955, the setting Asteroid City, a dot-on-themap desert community — population 87 — in the American Southwest. The enclave includes a luncheonette, a gas station, a phone booth, an unfinished highway ramp, and a motel comprising a dozen or so cute little bungalows.

The city is named for its regional monument: a massive crater created by the grapefruitsize Arid Plains Meteorite, also on display. Small radio telescopes and an observatory can be seen not far away.

The occasion is Asteroid Day, a celebration which has gathered five junior scientists and their families; master of ceremonies Gen. Grif Gibson (Jeffrey Wright) acknowledges each teen’s fabulous invention with an award, followed by the presentation of the annual Hickenlooper Scholarship to one of the quintet.

They are: n Woodrow (Jake Ryan), winner of the White Dwarf Medal of Achievement, his father Augie (Jason Schwartzman) and three younger sisters, Andromeda, Pandora and Cassiopeia; n Dinah (Grace Edwards), who earns the Red Giant Sash of Honor, and her mother, Midge (Scarlett Johansson), a film actress; n Clifford (Aristou Meehan), winner of the Black Hole Badge of Triumph, and his father, JJ (Liev Schreiber); n Shelly (Sophia Lillis), who earns the Distant Nebula Laurel Crown, and her mother, Sandy (Hope Davis), both wearing brown-and-white gingham Girl Scout-type uniforms; and n Ricky (Ethan Josh Lee), winner of the Collapsing Star Ribbon of Success, and his father, Roger (Stephen Park).

The motel manager (Steve Carell, left) is distracted by another atomic bomb test, when J.J. Kellogg (Liev Schreiber, right) and his son Clifford (Aristou Meehan) arrive in Asteroid City.

Additional key players include the motel manager (Steve Carell); the gas station mechanic (Matt Dillon); Montana (Rupert Friend) and his quintet of musician cowboys; Dr. Hickenlooper (Tilda Swinton), a celebrated astronomer; June (Maya Hawke), a schoolteacher accompanied by ten 8-year-old pupils; and Augie’s father-in-law, Stanley Zak (Tom Hanks).

A bit later, in between scenes, we meet the play’s director, Schubert Green (Adrien Brody), who has been living in the Tarkington Theatre scenic bay during all 785 performances.

Primary character themes focus on Augie, grieving over the loss of his wife, and who — three weeks later — has yet to tell his children; Augie and Midge, in adjacent bungalows, who exchange mildly flirty banter; spirited debates, all around, about the chances of extraterrestrial life; the growing bond between the five young scientists; and a possible mutual crush between Woodrow and Dinah.

As often is the case in Anderson films, all of these Asteroid City characters address each other in deadpan monotones. Frivolity occurs only when a song breaks out. After all, these are actors playing stage roles; they display actual emotion only in between scenes. If this sounds stilted and mannered, well, yes; it is. Some of the cast — notably Carell — excel at such straight-faced delivery; others, not so much. Whether it becomes tiresome and tedious, will be up to the individual viewer. Regardless, it’s impossible to praise or criticize anybody’s performance, because almost nobody establishes anything approaching a credible character.

Things take an unexpected turn during the final scene of Act I, when Dr. Hickenlooper’s midnight viewing of an “astronomical ellipses” is interrupted by … well, that would be telling.

Some of the incidental bits are amusing: a memory game played by the young scientists, all possessing astonishing memories; the visual gag of the motel vending machines, which offer everything, including real estate; and a

Courtesy photo

Catch Triism on Thursday at the Winters Gazebo.

Enterprise staff

Watermelon Music will host a pair of concerts this month at its Melon Ball venue, 1970 Lake Blvd., Suite 1, in West Davis. First up is Aaron Jonah Lewis at 8 p.m. Friday, July 14.

Lewis is a champion fiddler who has been elbowdeep in traditional American fiddle and banjo music since beginning lessons at the age of 5 with Kentucky native Robert Oppelt. Lewis has taken blue ribbons at the Appalachian String Band Festival in Clifftop, W.V., and at the Old Fiddlers Convention in Galax, Va., the oldest and largest fiddlers convention in the country. They are also noted for their mastery of multiple banjo styles. They spend most of their time teaching, touring as a solo performer, with the Corn Potato String Band, and other projects.

As a banjoist, Lewis explores some interesting veins in the roots of Old Time, Bluegrass, Ragtime and Jazz music through their newest recording, “Mozart of the Banjo: The

Joe Morley Project.” This project is devoted to the music of the great English prodigy and virtuoso composer Joe Morley (18671937), who wrote a significant body of great banjo pieces in a technique that people today call “classic fingerstyle.”

Greg Adams, Archivist at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, says, “Lewis is one of the few performing musicians with the facility to build compelling musical bridges between the printed banjo music and techniques of the 19th century and the instrument’s journey into recorded sound by the turn of the 20th century.”

Lewis is passionate about sharing early fingerstyle banjo music. They bring light to the fact that classic banjo was the most popular form of music a hundred years ago, though today it’s almost entirely forgotten. They are “trying to keep (classic banjo) alive and spread it around, as it’s a delightful style that brings joy and connects us to the depth of our shared American history.” Tickets are $20 at https://watermelonmusic. com/event_details. php?products_id=52542.

On July 28, Watermelon will host Davenach & The Usual Culprits at 8 p.m.

Dave Nachmanoff is a Davis-based singer/songwriter who was a touring musician for 25 years (17 of which were largely spent accompanying Al Stewart at venues all over the world).

The Usual Culprits are: n Martin Lewis (guitar), an old friend and bandmate of Dave's from bands in England and New York. n Nick Carvajal (drums and vocals) is a music librarian by day and musician by night. He has played in many groups in the Sacramento region and in San Diego. n Brenden Tull (bass) has played in a variety of eclectic bands (often with Carvajal) for the past 9 years, from doo-wop and R&B to Klezmer to Latin American churros.