# Help Me Understand Wes Anderson Films (Moonrise Kingdom) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2012, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-wes-anderson-films-moonrise-kingdom/645641 "2012-12-31T06:29:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-wes-anderson-films-moonrise-kingdom/645641/41 "2013-01-02T21:53:17Z")
> [@tomcar](#): > > And don’t forget Uniforms! Also don’t forget spoiled rich self-absorbed white people whose problems mainly stem from how loathsome they are! That’s the only trope of his I have a problem with. The whimsy and artificiality are wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-wes-anderson-films-moonrise-kingdom/645641/42 "2013-01-02T21:54:00Z")
I didn’t see the Life Aquatic in the theaters because the previews focused on the claymation fish and I thought it was going to be like a Tim Burton movie. When I did finally see it on disc, I really liked it. I also really like the Darjeeling Limited. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-wes-anderson-films-moonrise-kingdom/645641/43 "2013-01-16T19:22:28Z")
Finally got around to watching _Moonrise Kingdom_. I wanted to like, it— honestly I did— but from the opening scene I felt an irritation that lasted throughout the film. I think I may actually be done with Wes Anderson movies. I enjoyed _Bottle Rocket_ and _Rushmore_. _Tenenbaums_ and \*Life Aquatic \*left me fairly cold. I did like _Fantastic Mr. Fox_, and I seem to be in the minority of viewers who actually liked _Darjeeling Limited_ (although it’s so roundly criticized as his worst effort that I wonder if I should watch it again to make sure it doesn’t actually suck). I was really looking forward to _Moonrise Kingdom_, but almost everything about it annoyed me. The precious cursive font in the opening titles. The deliberate portrait-framing-with-fixed-camera shot used for pretty much every goddamned scene. The Instagrammian retro-yellow camera filter. The actors delivering quip after twee quip in a saturnine monotone. The presence of _Bruce fucking Willis_. (Why, Wes, _why_???!) More than anything, I realized that I really don’t like scenes where child actors are made to behave and talk like adults, and that was a huge part of this movie. I thought their acting was generally poor and they often mumbled through their dialogue - no small wonder, as it was largely composed of lines no 12-year-old has ever said. _Fantastic Mr. Fox_ was probably the most honest film Anderson has made so far, because he’s reached a point where he may as well make all his movies using action figures in dollhouses and adding CGI faces in post. I do appreciate the technical achievement in creating the “look” of his films, including this one, but I’d honestly rather watch slideshows of my grandparents’ vacation to North Dakota accompanied by an off-key ukelele than sit through something as affected as _Moonrise Kingdom_ again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-wes-anderson-films-moonrise-kingdom/645641.md?page=2)