Having not posted a thread in a little while, and having a short period of time on my hands, I thought I'd put up the following for discussion and/or debate!
Today's topic .... Wes Anderson movies. As a general rule, I have found that people either love, or hate, Wes Anderson ... with few people falling into the "meh" category. That said, I am one of those people that definitely fall into the "love" category. In my opinion, he is one of the few directors working that I make sure to see every single new release; simply knowing that he was the director of a film is enough to make me go and see it.
While I normally have "rules" for these types of things, this is very simple- it has to be a Wes Anderson movie. It cannot be a commercial. It cannot be a short. It cannot be a "short movie" (which includes the charming trilogy of Roald Dahl adaptations recently released on Netflix ... if you have seventeen minutes, watch The Ratcatcher). All movies are included, whether animated (stop motion) or not. This will include all eleven of his feature length films, from Bottle Rocket to Asteroid City, and will be listen in order of awesomeness, with #11 being the least awesome.
11. Bottle Rocket. His first film is good, but rough, and shows a director still trying to find his voice. You can see hints of his style that he would later employ, but it just isn't there yet.
10. Darjeeling Limited. While the film definitely has all of his usual trademarks, and is a riot of color with many memorable scenes, it just hasn't aged as well as his other films. The characters aren't great, and his twee style doesn't work as well for a story that occasionally veers into colonialist themes.
9. Isle of Dogs. Amazing animation, but (in much the same way as Darjeeling Limited) certain aspects of the film just feel ... off. At best, though, it's a fun if light entry in his works.
8. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zisou. This is where the rankings get difficult. This is a masterpiece, with a killer soundtrack. For any other director, this could be thier finest film. For Wes Anderson, though, it felt a little bit like he was hitting the "Why doesn't my Dad love me?" theme once too often.
7. Rushmore. A controversial ranking; many people find it one of his best films, but while it is quite good, I don't find that it ranks as highly as the more mature movies he did later. Still, Jason Schwartzman's performance is amazing.
6. Moonrise Kingdom. No notes. A perfect movie in many ways, just not as great as the next few movies.
5. Fantastic Mr. Fox. Pure unadultered fun.
4. Asteroid City. Perhaps the greatest existentialist movie I have seen in a while, and one that firmly places the issues of art and the questions of why we do anything (with a side-dose of COVID-19) squarely in its sights.
3. The Royal Tennenbaums. Arguably, the most "Wes" of all of his films.
2. The French Dispatch. An anthology movie that somehow makes all three parts great, and the whole even greater than the sum of the parts.
1. Grand Budapest Hotel. There are few movies that I return to again and again; this is on the short list. The themes of this movie are the perfect marriage of Wes's form to the theme's function. It's beautiful, thoughtful, funny, and deeply sad.
Today's topic .... Wes Anderson movies. As a general rule, I have found that people either love, or hate, Wes Anderson ... with few people falling into the "meh" category. That said, I am one of those people that definitely fall into the "love" category. In my opinion, he is one of the few directors working that I make sure to see every single new release; simply knowing that he was the director of a film is enough to make me go and see it.
While I normally have "rules" for these types of things, this is very simple- it has to be a Wes Anderson movie. It cannot be a commercial. It cannot be a short. It cannot be a "short movie" (which includes the charming trilogy of Roald Dahl adaptations recently released on Netflix ... if you have seventeen minutes, watch The Ratcatcher). All movies are included, whether animated (stop motion) or not. This will include all eleven of his feature length films, from Bottle Rocket to Asteroid City, and will be listen in order of awesomeness, with #11 being the least awesome.
11. Bottle Rocket. His first film is good, but rough, and shows a director still trying to find his voice. You can see hints of his style that he would later employ, but it just isn't there yet.
10. Darjeeling Limited. While the film definitely has all of his usual trademarks, and is a riot of color with many memorable scenes, it just hasn't aged as well as his other films. The characters aren't great, and his twee style doesn't work as well for a story that occasionally veers into colonialist themes.
9. Isle of Dogs. Amazing animation, but (in much the same way as Darjeeling Limited) certain aspects of the film just feel ... off. At best, though, it's a fun if light entry in his works.
8. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zisou. This is where the rankings get difficult. This is a masterpiece, with a killer soundtrack. For any other director, this could be thier finest film. For Wes Anderson, though, it felt a little bit like he was hitting the "Why doesn't my Dad love me?" theme once too often.
7. Rushmore. A controversial ranking; many people find it one of his best films, but while it is quite good, I don't find that it ranks as highly as the more mature movies he did later. Still, Jason Schwartzman's performance is amazing.
6. Moonrise Kingdom. No notes. A perfect movie in many ways, just not as great as the next few movies.
5. Fantastic Mr. Fox. Pure unadultered fun.
4. Asteroid City. Perhaps the greatest existentialist movie I have seen in a while, and one that firmly places the issues of art and the questions of why we do anything (with a side-dose of COVID-19) squarely in its sights.
3. The Royal Tennenbaums. Arguably, the most "Wes" of all of his films.
2. The French Dispatch. An anthology movie that somehow makes all three parts great, and the whole even greater than the sum of the parts.
1. Grand Budapest Hotel. There are few movies that I return to again and again; this is on the short list. The themes of this movie are the perfect marriage of Wes's form to the theme's function. It's beautiful, thoughtful, funny, and deeply sad.
