# Of Wes Anderson's 10 feature films which do you believe is the best?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-wes-andersons-10-feature-films-which-do-you-believe-is-the-best/983144>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** movies\
**Created:** [April 25, 2023, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-wes-andersons-10-feature-films-which-do-you-believe-is-the-best/983144 "2023-04-25T01:30:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-wes-andersons-10-feature-films-which-do-you-believe-is-the-best/983144/21 "2023-04-26T17:34:04Z")

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I’m chuffed to see _Moonrise Kingdom_ doing so well in this poll. I was bowled over by how gloriously romantic and heartfelt it was, but I don’t hear it talked about as much as most of the others.

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**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-wes-andersons-10-feature-films-which-do-you-believe-is-the-best/983144/22 "2023-04-26T22:48:46Z")

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I’m legitimately shocked Grand Budapest is winning. It’s my least favorite live-action.  
Rushmore is still my favorite followed by Royal Tennenbaums and then Moonrise Kingdom.

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**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-wes-andersons-10-feature-films-which-do-you-believe-is-the-best/983144/23 "2023-04-26T23:00:58Z")

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> [@veryfrank](#):
>
> I’m chuffed to see _Moonrise Kingdom_ doing so well in this poll. I was bowled over by how gloriously romantic and heartfelt it was, but I don’t hear it talked about as much as most of the others.

Yeah, I’m happy to see that as well. The description that Wes Anderson had of it being the aging memory of a tween’s romantic fantasy/dream resonates strongly with my very occasionally romantic self. In that sense I think it has a bit more warmth than most of Anderson’s films.

Rushmore would likely be my #2.

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**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2023, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-wes-andersons-10-feature-films-which-do-you-believe-is-the-best/983144/24 "2023-04-27T00:42:14Z")

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I’m happy to see **Grand Budapest** leading. It might be ahead because the film is full of friendship, honor, and brave deeds — as well as being gorgeous to look at, and often funny.

I won’t actively defend my preferences, but I’ve tried watching **Royal Tenenbaums** three times, and am not sure I ever made it through. The miserable family dynamics of RT and Life Aquatic have no appeal.

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**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:** [April 27, 2023, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-wes-andersons-10-feature-films-which-do-you-believe-is-the-best/983144/25 "2023-04-27T02:48:15Z")

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I’ve seen four of his movies.

First, I saw _The Royal Tenanbaums_, and I was genuinely charmed. It’s not my sort of movie normally, but its quirky oddness was really appealing.

Then I saw _The Life Aquatic_, and I was like, huh. Not sure I get this. But whatever.

Some time later I saw _Darjeeling Limited_, and I goddamned _hated_ it. Wes Anderson, I realized, was fascinated by privileged middle-aged white dudes with their heads stuck up their asses, engaged in full-on self-pity mode. I hate that kind of motherfucker, and I was hoping for a _From Dusk Till Dawn_ scenario, where the man-eating tiger suddenly started eating those idiots one by one and it was a bloody satisfying horror movie. But there was no Owen Wilson consumption, and I was pissed. That’s when I decided I hated Wes Anderson.

But people insisted that I would love _Fantastic Mr. Fox_. And I do love the children’s book by Roald Dahl. So as much as I hated Wes Anderson, I gave it a chance.

Holy fucking shit was that a mistake.

The book is a charming trickster tale. Mr. Fox is a trickster, nothing more, nothing less. It’s mythopoetic loveliness, funny and subversive and meanspirited in the best possible way.

So what does Wes Anderson do? He somehow turns Mr. Fox into a privileged middle-aged white dude (I know he was orange, but c’mon, he was a White dude) with his head stuck up his ass, having a midlife crisis due to his shrew of a wife who’d crushed his dreams.

As angry as _Darjeeling Limited_ made me, it was _nothing_ compared to the furious contempt I feel for the travesty he made of Fantastic Mr. Fox.

He’s a colonizer of mythology, a destroyer of charm, an extruder of twee, a monstrosity of a filmmaker who devours all that’s good and shits out the same pabulum about privileged middle-aged White dudes with their heads stuck up their asses.

People have told me that I would love _Moonrise Kingdom_.

I have told them to fuck off.

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**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2023, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-wes-andersons-10-feature-films-which-do-you-believe-is-the-best/983144/26 "2023-05-04T12:44:36Z")

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[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/d-8DT5Q8kzI/maxresdefault.jpg "Star Wars by Wes Anderson Trailer | The Galactic Menagerie") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-8DT5Q8kzI)

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**Author:** ![Lavender\_Pebble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lavender_pebble/32/6290_2.png) [@Lavender\_Pebble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lavender_Pebble)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2023, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-wes-andersons-10-feature-films-which-do-you-believe-is-the-best/983144/27 "2023-05-04T12:57:20Z")

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I am a big Anderson fan, so I love almost all of them. The Royal Tenenbaums is still the best to me, but it hit me at a formative time. Rushmore is a close second followed by Darljeeling Limited. Almost all of his films I can watch over and over.

I completely agree with @What_Exit that the French Dispatch was a real stinker and honestly a little embarrassing. I also didn’t like Isle of Dogs (even though I love stop motion).

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**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2023, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-wes-andersons-10-feature-films-which-do-you-believe-is-the-best/983144/28 "2023-05-04T15:44:19Z")

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Very fitting video to post today.

I had not seen it, but when I saw Owen Wilson as DV, I knew what was coming. 🤣

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**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2023, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-wes-andersons-10-feature-films-which-do-you-believe-is-the-best/983144/29 "2023-05-04T16:36:48Z")

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> [@veryfrank](#):
>
> I’m chuffed to see _Moonrise Kingdom_ doing so well in this poll. I was bowled over by how gloriously romantic and heartfelt it was, but I don’t hear it talked about as much as most of the others.

Same, I love that movie, not least because a friend of mine has a small but memorable role in it.

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**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2023, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-wes-andersons-10-feature-films-which-do-you-believe-is-the-best/983144/30 "2023-05-04T16:37:46Z")

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> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> He’s a colonizer of mythology, a destroyer of charm, an extruder of twee, a monstrosity of a filmmaker who devours all that’s good and shits out the same pabulum about privileged middle-aged White dudes with their heads stuck up their asses.

More importantly, how did you vote in the poll?

😉

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**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2023, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-wes-andersons-10-feature-films-which-do-you-believe-is-the-best/983144/31 "2023-05-05T23:58:50Z")

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How appropriate that you posted this on Star Wars Day!

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