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A Wes Anderson Appreciation Thread

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mattx5

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Some people dig his stuff; others are put off by his work. This thread caters to the former group, promoting discussion on WHY you enjoy his work and WHAT it does for you. Of course, just as important as Wes would be Owen Wilson, so consider them as one entity :p

I’ve been looking over the scripts to his movies over the past few days, watching interviews with his ‘usual suspects’, listening to music featured in his films, and I realize now that his little worlds comprise everything I’ve ever wanted, everything I’ve ever enjoyed and all that I cherish in life.

His films are so gentle, warm, compassionate and humorous. I think what draws me to his films is the fact that they celebrate life. Themes of friendship against all odds, bashful innocence, true love, growing up, reconciling fragile family relationships, etc. all things that I hold up high.

What is it that turned you onto Wes and his world?


"They'll never catch me... because I'm fucking innocent. "

"You're like one of those clippership captains; you're married to the sea."
"Yes, but I've been at sea for a long time."

"The past six days have been the best six days of probably my whole life. "
"Immediately after making this statement, Royal realized that it was true. "

"Do you think it remembers me? "


owenwes6ku.gif
 
the royal tenebaums was an awesome movie. i can't really put it into tangible feelings, but the movie just hit the right spot with me i feel. really quirky/dark humor and an all-star cast. infact, i liked all of his movies that i've seen (RT, rushmore and LA)
 
Still haven't seen Bottle Rocket but I have loved every single movie that he has made otherwise. The fact that he uses Bill Murray regularly in his movies is only more reason to believe he is the man.
 
Just watched Life Aquatic yesterday

Jane Winslett-Richardson: "I need a baby for this father."
Steve Zissou: "I think I know what you mean."

Considering how serious her character was, it slipped by me completely :lol


Steve Zissou: "Remind me to send him a red cap and a Speedo."

Steve Zissou: "Oh, shit! Swamp leeches. Everybody, check for swamp leeches, and pull them off... Nobody else got hit? I'm the only one? What's the deal?" (classic Bill Murray line)

Steve Zissou: "I hope you're not going to bust our chops, Bill."
Bill Ubell: "Why would I do that?"
Steve Zissou: "Because you're a bond company stooge."
Bill Ubell: [scoffs] "I'm also a human being."
Steve Zissou: "All right. I take that back."
 
The Royal Tennenbaums will go down in history as the largest margin of going from hating a movie to loving it within 2 watches ever for me. I detested it, didn't think it was funny at all when I rented it with a friend (we were in the mood for a straight forward comedy).

Then I watched it on TV 2 years later and became enamoured with Wes' work.
 
I was the same way with the Life Aquatic, Mike. Although the first time I watched it was at work and I had to pause it every 10 minutes or so to help some halfwit.

But yes, Wes is probably my favorite director working in Hollywood these days.
 
Hennessey is playing poker with Filipinos who have kidnapped him and Zissou bursts into the room accidentally]
Alistair Hennessey: Steven, are you rescuing me?
[pause]
Alistair Hennessey: Fold.
[a pirate quickly shoots Hennessey in the chest, knocking him backwards in his chair and down to the floor - large gunfight begins]

That scene had me in laughter for minutes.
 
Rabid Wolverine said:
Hennessey is playing poker with Filipinos who have kidnapped him and Zissou bursts into the room accidentally]
Alistair Hennessey: Steven, are you rescuing me?
[pause]
Alistair Hennessey: Fold.
[a pirate quickly shoots Hennessey in the chest, knocking him backwards in his chair and down to the floor - large gunfight begins]

That scene had me in laughter for minutes.

Haha yeah, that was so random, kind of like Pagoda knifing Royal in TRT :lol
 
I loved The Royal Tenenbaums, it's definitely one of my favorite DVDs ever. That it cost a mere $15 Canadian new despite being a Criterion Edition just makes it all the more awesome. There's not a minute of that movie I didn't enjoy. I've wanted to watch Rushmore for the longest time, but I never rent movies. I couldn't justify dropping cash on the vanilla edition DVD either, not unless it cost like $10.

I'd entirely forgotten about The Life Aquatic. There's another one I'll have to catch...
 
I love Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. The Life Aquatic didn't do much for me, but I definitely want to give it a second chance, especially since the first experience was jilted by some muffled sound at my theater.

Has anyone listened to the commentary tracks Wes has done? I don't think I have yet... but I'm curious if they're any good. I've been catching up on all the old The Treatment shows that Elvis Mitchell does, and he did one on Life Aquatic but Anderson wasn't a very good interview and he provided very little insight.
 
i totally love royal tenenbaums and life aquatic.

my favourite parts in tenenbaums are: when margot tenenbaum is leaving bill murray, loading her stuff into the cab, and bill murray half-assedly stands in front of the cab, and the cab honks, and bill gets out of the way, with no expression on his face whatsoever.

also, when royal is smoking at the window and he throws his butt out the window, and sees elie crawl out the window below him, and steps out the cigarette. royal is all "i know you asshole!" and elie looks up, and puts his hand up in the air. haha, wtf does that mean? i love it.
 
I love The Royal Tenenbaums, enjoy Life Aquatic, don't really care for Rushmore (only seen it once though) and have never seen Bottle Rocket.


talking head said:
royal is all "i know you asshole!" and elie looks up, and puts his hand up in the air. haha, wtf does that mean? i love it.

Haha! I love that scene too, love the spontaneity. However, I always seem to be the only one cracking up when I'm watching it with someone else.
 
I couldn't find the Rushmore Dvd Region 2 with french subtitle (at least) so i made my own subtitle with the help of the "FrenchTeam" (a team of french subber)

you have to be logged to see and download them http://www.frigorifix.com/viewtopic.php?t=14584 (for all the french people who want to discover a very good movie)

I find incredible that Rushmore has never been released in France,Belgium and even Quebec with french sub.
 
I can't believe nobody mentioned his TLC when it comes to choosing his soundtracks. IMO, Wes Anderson's films have the best soundtracks of any movie, ever... imagine better mischievous grandfather-and-grandkids music than Me and Julio or better fight music than Search and Destroy, set apart by complete silence otherwise. That's awesome direction.
 
Cant we get some love for the other Anderson, P.T.? Magnolia outstrips anything Wes has done. And no, I am not trolling, I like Wes too, hes more consistent than PTA. But Paul's very best is better, so far.
 
My favorite by far is Rushmore, and it ranks among my favorite movies of all time it had a heart and warmth all it's own. Followed by Bottle Rocket, and Royal tenenbaums. Life Aquatic finishes distant fourth, as it was clearly a step below his other films. It may be attributed to the fact that OwenWilson co-wrote (it was mostly anderson though) Rushmore, Bottle Rocket, and Royal T, where as Life aquatic was co-written by Noah Baumbach.
 
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