Wes Anderson movies

[fredtoast]

I know most people here are big action-adventure movie fans, but I want to recommend everyone see a couple of Wes Anderson movies.

Most people have probably heard of The Royal Tenenbaums. Anderson wrote the screenplay and and received an Academy Award nomination for his work. However I personally like his first two movies better.

Bottle Rocket is a comedy about hapless criminals starring Luke and Owen Wilson (Owen Wilson also helped write the screenplay) plus James Caan. Martin Scorsese said Bottle Rocket was one of the best movies of the 90's.

His second movie was Rushmore. It featured a brilliant performance by Bill Murray (Golden Globe nomination for best actor), and Slant Magazine ranks it as the #22 movie of the 90's. It is about 15 year old genius (Jason Schartzman) and his friendship with a crusty millionaire (Murray) and how they both have a crush on the same high school teacher. Again Owen Wilson helped write the screenplay. Bill Murray has starred in every Anderson film since Rushmore.

The Lifa Aquatic with Steve Zissou and The Darjeeling Limited are also good movies but not as good as Anderson's other work.

This year he wrote and directed Moonrise Kingdom. I loved it and think it will probabaly get some more Academy Award consideration.

Anyone who has children will enjoy Fantastic Mr. Fox which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Film. It is based on the book by Roald Dahl who also wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, and James and the Giant Peach.

I realize that peoples opinions on films, books, and music are mostly a matter of taste. So some people will not enjoy Anderson's work as much as me. But you can never say that his films are poorly written, acted, or directed. And if The Royal Tenebaums is the only Anderson movie you are familiar with I strongly recommend you check out Bottle Rocket. It is very funny and much different.

[Toast Jones]

"These are OR scrubs."

"Oh, are they?"

[Donnyho]

Anderson is my favorite filmmaker working today and 'Rushmore' is my favorite movie of all time. I recommend his films to everyone and anyone, but like Fred said they're not for everybody. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground either: you either think his stuff is amazing, or you think it's awful. 'Pretentious' is a word that gets thrown around when criticising his movies, but I personally don't see it.

I encourage everyone to check out his stuff. And if it's possible get the Criterion Collection editions. 'Rushmore', 'Bottle Rocket', 'The Royal Tenenbaums', 'The Lifa Aquatic with Steve Zissou' and 'The Darjeeling Limited' have all been released by Criterion. The extras are great (especially the 'recreations' of blockbuster movies by Max Fischer Players that Anderson filmed as ads for the MTV Movie Awards on the 'Rushmore' release).