Yes, and now he’s a brand.
Sometimes I feel like the only person who doesn’t like Wes Anderson movies. I don’t understand it at all. Isle of Dogs was the only one I liked, but that one kind of goes against his typical style. I’ve otherwise watched Royal Tenenbaums, Darjeeling Limited, and Life Aquatic just to try and understand it and I didn’t like any of them (I don’t think I made it more than halfway through any of them). What am I missing and why does everyone love these movies? (This is a question in good faith, I genuinely want to know because I don’t get it)
You’re not alone. I loved Bottle Rocket, because it’s a silly comedy with good acting and a silly story line. As he has progressed as a director, I cannot actually sit through is movies. For me it’s like being in an art gallery, and having people tell me why the paintings are amazing and stylish, and me wishing I was in a different art gallery. I’m an absolute fan of movies, be they made in Hollywood, Asia, Europe or the Middle East, but Wes Anderson is a director I just can’t get through the movies of.
I’ll take a swing at answering.
Have you ever spent time at an art gallery or museum of art, just soaking in the beauty?
To me, Wes Anderson films are like a guided tour through an art gallery, nearly every shot is gorgeous and I just want to sit and take it all in.
The people in the films, however, serve as sort of a juxtaposition to the visual delight. They are often small-minded, petty and otherwise broken. Even there, however, there is beauty as they search for, and occasionally find, redemption.
The long shots, the unblinking examinations of scenery and actors, the abnormal pacing create an indulgent experience that invite you to revel in the experience and examine the beauty and brokenness in the world around you.
Imagine that having a plot and an emotionally relatable script are unimportant. And now imagine that costumes, quirky characters, and gorgeous set design are the most important part of a movie, at the expense of everything else. Some people don’t care about writing. There are several cottage industries in film and television that cater to them. Wes Anderson makes 90-120 minute visually stunning soap operas.
I tried but couldn’t get through it. It’s beautiful, but I just can’t shake the feeling that it’s quirky, just to be quirky and artsy, without it really serving a purpose for the story. This could probably sum up my review of most of his movies and I think I’m done with them, no matter how interesting the cast or story sounds.
Roger Ebert is dead.
Yes, and now he’s a brand.
I have yet to see this. I felt like French Dispatch suffered from being too self indulgent and uneven. Hopefully this script is a bit tighter.
It’s worse, imho. French dispatch was better. This one is just weird for the sake of being weird. Looks cool though.
Does anyone else double-take when you see a Roger Ebert review pop up?
Yes. I find it not only distasteful but also misleading to some degree.
Ebert had other reviewers on his website before he passed. The ones that are still running the site have high standards that, I think, carry on the legacy of Ebert’s thoughtful, approachable movie criticism. I’m glad the website is still going in the age of review aggregators and social media hot takes.
Didn’t enjoy this movie. Was quirky and had some interesting moments but the story overall wasn’t interesting, to me at least.
So it was a Wes Anderson film.
The movie was a hot pile dog diarrhea
