Bottle Rocket
Rushmore
The Royal Tennenbaums
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
The Darjeeling Limited
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Moonrise Kingdom
Grand Budapest Hotel
Isle of Dogs (in production)
I think his work is great. Rushmore is probably my favorite, followed by Fantastic Mr. Fox.
He is currently working on a new animated film about dogs. He seems to have a staple of actors that he loves working with.
Bill Murray
Jason Schwartzman
Luke Wilson
Owen Wilson
Adrien Brody
Edward Norton
Everything else, not a fan. It’s not that it’s all cutesy and precious, it’s that it’s deliberately cutesy and precious, to the point of being forced, and I cannot abide that.
I’m definitely impressed with him as a director. Yes, he’s stylized and uses the same shots over and over, but he’s a marvelous storyteller, and he just keeps getting better.
I’ve seen all but Bottle Rocket. Even the misses (The Life Aquatic and The Darjeeling Limited) have a lot going for them, and Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel are works of genius.
One point: great directors often have a “stock company” of actors they use over and over. Others in this category include John Ford, Preston Sturges, Woody Allen, and Orson Welles. I think it’s because a great director makes films that actors want to take part in.
I really want to like Wes Anderson, because I generally like very stylized movies, but I’ve never been able to. I’ve also never been able to put my finger on exactly what turns me off from his movies. They’re beautifully shot and very deliberately constructed, but I feel nothing and eventually get bored. I think his best movie is Bottle Rocket, because (due to the limitations based on a young director with no budget) it’s the least Wes Andersony of them all.
Agreed. He imposes emotional flatness on the characters and his plots have a lot of arbitrary devices, and the film-making elements that are left are beautiful but hard to sustain for the length of a feature film, in my view. It’s like looking at medieval art.
Darjeeling Limited seemed to have a bit more warmth to it, perhaps because of the exotic and expansive setting.
I’ve seen all except “Fantastic Mr. Fox”, but I’ve heard good things about that one.
I recall not being terribly “taken” by “Rushmore” and “Royal Tennenbaums”, but it could have been that I hadn’t gotten used to Anderson movies.
I love “Bottle Rocket” not only because it is the least “Anderson-ish”, but also it was before Owen Wilson became the Owen Wilson of all his films after “Bottle Rocket”.
I think “Life Aquatic” and “Moonrise Kingdom” are his best. I wanted to enjoy “Darjeeling” more, but kind of too much Owen Wilson in it.
“Grand Budapest” was a blast, but kind of like a rollercoaster ride.
As much as I enjoy his movies, you kind of have to prepare yourself when you sit down to watch one. It’s like you have to get ready for a different reality, or to not be surprized by the unexpected or completely nonsensical.
My ranking-
The Royal Tennenbaums
Rushmore
Bottle Rocket
Moonrise Kingdom
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Darjeeling Limited
-that Visa commercial he did-
Grand Budapest Hotel
This is true, his movies have an adult picture book quality about them both stylistically and in the tone they use to tell stories. I don’t mean this in a way that denigrates them, they are generally pretty complex stories that address difficult subjects. However, even when characters do things like attempt suicide, it addresses the gravity of the situation in a manner and a style that makes it something far different from say, a gritty documentary. Even though there is plenty of gore, it’s handled in a dream-like manner, down to Ritchie disappearing like a ghost onto a city bus.
Needless to say, if I’ve thought about it that much: yeah, I love his movies.
I’ve seen about half of his movies, and generally liked them, but not enough to make the effort to go back and watch the ones I’ve missed. In particular I enjoyed Bottle Rockets, Rushmore and Grand Budapest Hotel. Come to think of it I think those are the only ones I saw.
Bottle Rocket - OK but unremarkable
Rushmore - Very funny
The Royal Tennenbaums - Didn’t see it
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Had its moments, but ultimately disappointing
The Darjeeling Limited - Did nothing for me
Fantastic Mr. Fox - Quirky and funny
Moonrise Kingdom - Didn’t see it
Grand Budapest Hotel - Love, love, loved it!
I hated them until my husband clued me into the gimmicks that Anderson uses, showing me the deliberate choices that he was making in framing scenes and stuff and then I developed an appreciation. I loved Mr. Fox.
I want someone to develop a Wes Anderson movie drinking game.
This year, he made a commercial for H&M. And I thought the SNL parody of his work, The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders, was spot on. I don’t know how many directors have such a distinctive style that they could be parodied and have it be so recognizable.
I love Moonrise Kingdom. I got a huge kick out of the scene where Suzy pulled out the record player and put on the Françoise Hardy record for them to dance to…I had a crush on Ms. Hardy ever since seeing her in Grand Prix back in 1965.
Very hit or miss and pretty binary - I either like them a lot or I don’t have much interest at all. Rushmore, Moonrise Kingdom and Fantastic Mr. Fox I like a lot. Life Aquatic…, Royal Tennenbaums and Darjeeling Limited are big misses for me.
Grand Budapest Hotel is the only one that splits the difference - I like it okay, but am not enthused. Bottle Rocket I still haven’t seen, but I expect that one will fall into the like category just based on the opinions of others.
Heh. A scene where twelve-year-olds camping while out on the lam dance to Francoise Hardy on a portable record player is likely to be kind of a dividing line between Anderson fans and non-fans.
I will say, the scene at the campground where the boy, um, pitches his tent left me a little surprised that Anderson went there.
