I have now seen everyone of these films (except for Bottlerocket), and I really don't get it. Am I missing something? Why do people say this guy is a genius? I literally get bored during some of these movies and actually tune out, which never happens. I guess I am really unsophisticated.
mmm hmmmm
Totally agree. I think it has something to do with familiarity. Nothing that happens is consistent with my experiences, so maybe that's why I don't get it. But I also haven't seen any for many years so maybe it would be different now.
Rushmore was very good, and is one of my favorite movies sometimes.. The Life Aquatic has its moments, but Darjeeling was one of the most disappointing movies I have ever seen. Moonrise was a nice little film though.
The Royal Tenenbaums was excellent. His style is just a matter of taste.
Wes Anderson has a very original voice and an excellent sensitivity to coming of age stories. Rushmore and Moonrise Kingom are both excellent films. He isn't as good at dealing with adult character development, but is so good at creating interesting characters in a highly stylized background that it doesn't matter. Tannenbaums was a good example. It had a goofy story line, but the characters were so much fun and things like the paintings in Owen Wilson's apartment were so funny that it didn't matter whether the character development was believable or compelling. It was just fun to spend time with them.
Life Aquatic was a miss. Everyone has a bad day at the office now and then. Darjeeling Limited was watchable, but not up to the three mentioned above. Bottlerocket was just a silly little indie film. Lots of fun. Not much more.
Wes Anderson's main technique is creating a time and place that many people recall from their youth. If you were born after 1990 and lived in the burbs, you will probably miss the many layers of cultural references that make his films so much fun.
Precious Roy wrote:
Wes Anderson has a very original voice and an excellent sensitivity to coming of age stories. Rushmore and Moonrise Kingom are both excellent films. He isn't as good at dealing with adult character development, but is so good at creating interesting characters in a highly stylized background that it doesn't matter. Tannenbaums was a good example. It had a goofy story line, but the characters were so much fun and things like the paintings in Owen Wilson's apartment were so funny that it didn't matter whether the character development was believable or compelling. It was just fun to spend time with them.
Life Aquatic was a miss. Everyone has a bad day at the office now and then. Darjeeling Limited was watchable, but not up to the three mentioned above. Bottlerocket was just a silly little indie film. Lots of fun. Not much more.
Wes Anderson's main technique is creating a time and place that many people recall from their youth. If you were born after 1990 and lived in the burbs, you will probably miss the many layers of cultural references that make his films so much fun.
I consider The Life Aquatic to be his best. I have seen it 7 times all the way through, so to each his own.
Rushmore and Moonrise Kingdom are terrific. Didn't like Royal Tenenbaums, thought Darjeeling Limited was almost entirely lacking in merit, tried three times to watch Life Aquatic and gave up each time.
it takes a particular sensibility and sense of humor to love wes anderson movies - I have it and it is practically a holiday in casa agip when a new one comes out.
They are smart, dry, original, sincere and touching. I can't even pick a favorite one - maybe rushmore because it was the first - the play they put on is a complete coup de cinema.
At some point during all his movies my eyes go wide and I genuinely have no idea what is going to happen next. Which is so unlike hollywood movies where everything is so formulaic.
anyway - not for everyone, but I love them like I love few other works of art.
agip wrote:
it takes a particular sensibility and sense of humor to love wes anderson movies - I have it and it is practically a holiday in casa agip when a new one comes out.
They are smart, dry, original, sincere and touching. I can't even pick a favorite one - maybe rushmore because it was the first - the play they put on is a complete coup de cinema.
I agree with this. I know that they're not for everyone and don't really care if people don't like them. My favorite fluctuates a lot between Rushmore, Tennenbaums, and Life Aquatic. Darjeerling was good, but it never fully grabbed me. I have only seen Moonrise once, so while I liked it, it's not quite there for me yet. His movies tend to grow on me.
The character studies and cinematography are ridiculous. I won't say ridiculously good, because that is subjective, but ridiculous. You either love them or hate them. Personally, I love them. Life Aquatic is one of my favorite movies of all time due to the cinematography. It is so adolescently perfect, so it speaks to us all. The scenery has an innocence that is appealing; it is like a school play.
Think of the shots this guy sets up. One of the best shots of all time is one of the opening shots in Moonsrise Kingdom where we get to see numerous rooms in the house. I cannot find it on YouTube. He is fond of these shots, but this one is crazy in its complexity. Think about pulling off the shots when watching the films.
Some of my personal favorite Wes Anderson scenes:
Margo getting off the bus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl6FbeoXeHQ
The Richie suicide scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pyBB7y8fDU
Jaguar shark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ8U9t4MgN8
Heaven And Hell, a play by Max Fischer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxybRlfs3wg
So many other good ones, these are just the most obvious right now.
Hingle McCringleberry wrote:
I have now seen everyone of these films (except for Bottlerocket), and I really don't get it. Am I missing something? Why do people say this guy is a genius? I literally get bored during some of these movies and actually tune out, which never happens. I guess I am really unsophisticated.
Sounds like you'd be better served by a nice easy summer action flick. It's ok...most people fall into this category. The world needs ditch diggers too and there's no shame in that.
wes anderson movies are focused on purporting a more metamodern plot than your typical run of the mill movie is and anderson goes to extreme lengths in order to do this
because of this it is typically your people who are nerdy and into meta-narrative plot type stuff that are fans of his movies.
probably the most common meta-narrative anderson incorporates is: adults should be blamed more often than children.
i didn't really get the movies either until i took a postmodern literature class in college.
Wossamotta wrote:
thought Darjeeling Limited was almost entirely lacking in merit,
The only cool part of the movie was the fake-out at the beginning with Bill Murray riding in the taxi to catch the train, which ended up being completely unrelated to the plot of the movie. That was a well-shot scene.
john berryman wrote:
wes anderson movies are focused on purporting a more metamodern plot than your typical run of the mill movie is and anderson goes to extreme lengths in order to do this
because of this it is typically your people who are nerdy and into meta-narrative plot type stuff that are fans of his movies.
probably the most common meta-narrative anderson incorporates is: adults should be blamed more often than children.
i didn't really get the movies either until i took a postmodern literature class in college.
could you re-write this without the word "meta?" I don't know what you are saying.
If you don't like Wes Anderson films, why did you watch so many? Do you hate yourself?
My personal favorite to date is probably Bottle Rocket. Or Life Aquatic.
I love every Wes Anderson movie I have seen, and that includes:
Fantastic Mr. Fox!
So good! Maybe my favorite animated film ever.
There are always very intense and often uncomfortable father/son or mentor/protege relationships in his movies, which I have never really been able to get what he is trying to say.
[quote]Lenny Leonard wrote:
Fantastic Mr. Fox!
So good! Maybe my favorite animated film ever.
/quote]
I forgot about that! So good!
Some of you talk about getting or not getting Wes Anderson movies and suggest that you either like them all or you don't like them at all. That's just silly.
"Moonrise Kingdom" is brilliant and one of the freshest cinematic ideas I've seen in years. "The Life Aquatic" ...is not.
The first time I saw Rushmore (in high school) I thought it was boring and had only a couple jokes. Now I love it...probably more as a result of me being older, rather than because of multiple viewings.
The Life Aquatic I never really got into. Darjeeling I thought was okay the first time I saw it, great the second time, and not very good the third time. Moonrise Kingdom I loved the first time I saw it and still do after 2-3 more viewings. Fantastic Mr. Fox as well.
I can definitely see how they wouldn't appeal to everyone, after my experience with Rushmore the first time, and with Bottle Rocket (just plain isn't as good as the later ones).