catapult magazine

I agree with you Grant that Anderson kind of rides that line between over and understatement pretty steadily, sometimes delving into cartoonishness and just plain absurdity, and then contrasting that with moments of clarity and truth, and the two can almost cancel one another out. However, you have to admit that at least his movies are fun. I think the strength of Anderson’s films comes from the characters. well, whatever.

Any fans of Wes Anderson’s latest work out there???

lx

wes rocks my world.

what has he done? i’m not very familiar with his work.

GASP***

Only three of the greatest films in film history!!!

BOTTLE ROCKET
RUSHMORE
THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS

In each film, Wes creates a near-perfect balance between fall-on-your-butt-funny humor and amazingly honest and imperfect characters. He also knows how to use music in a movie better than anyone I’ve heard. Even better than Scorsese and Cameron Crowe!

When the revolution comes, they’re going to ask if you liked Rushmore. What will your answer be?

my answer will be, uniquivocally, yes. i loved rushmore, but i haven’t had a chance to see the royal tenenbaums yet.

i guess i just didn’t put those films together with wes anderson’s name. well, now i know. and if there’s one thing g.i. joe taught me, it’s that knowing is half the battle.

I know this is a pro-Anderson zone, but I’m going to say it anyway. I’ve seen Royal Tennenbaums and Rushmore, and although I agree that Anderson’s technique is superb, I come away from his films thinking, “Is that it?” It’s not just that I’d like more gravity, that would be unfair to ask of him, but what’s it all about? Sometimes in Royal Tennenbaums, I’d think something was heading in a great direction, and then it would switch or back away from dealing with anything truly weighty. Or is it that he deals with the heavy stuff in such an easy manner (the scene with Bill Murray diving into the pool with the cigarette hanging off his lips is the best example, maybe)

That Wilson guy sure seems nice, though.

I just saw Wes Anderson’s best film, The Life Aquatic. Why is it better than Rushmore or Royal Tennenbaums? you ask. It doesn’t have the visual smorgasbord of Tennenbaums or the pace of Rushmore, but it has the most heart (that “weighty” thing I was talking about). With Life Aquatic, Anderson finally does what the Cohen brothers do so well: make you laugh AND feel the humanity underneath it all…oh the humanity! I can really feel the struggle of the adventure that Anderson and his crew have obviously experienced themselves as we follow the Cousteau-like Steve Zissou and his team all over the world.
Anderson really made me feel that real life is an adventure while presenting outlandish scenarios (Steve’s shoot-out with the pirates) and presenting the pain that comes across comically. I think the audience’s response at the beginning of the film to Zissou’s over-the-top announcement that Esteban had been eaten by the extinct Jaguar shark is the response I’ve had to Anderson’s films all along (that it was fake). And now that I’ve seen the giant Jaguar shark myself, in all its bad Pixar-animationish glory, I am a believer.