I've recently delved into his films a great deal and own all of them, besides life aquatic (I make it sound like it's an entire library.... 3 movies) but yeah his three are golden in my book and after seeing life aquatic last night I would have to say that was his masterpeice. His use of the claymation and strong clashing colors while underwater was very visually interesting and the random gun fights were so unexpected it was great. There was maybe one moment that I felt didn't belong and that was when he was dancing to the helmet music. But other then that I just don't see what OT doesn't like. I was drawn in and had a great time. I need everybody right now to go see all the Wes Anderson flicks so they can put them in order of goodocity and give reasons why. Also I need recomendations for directors with a similar style as him..... pretty please.....

Went to see this tonight with my wife. She didn't connect with any of the characters and therefore didn't like it. I, having loved his previous three flicks, think this one is pretty damn good as well, though I'm not sure if I'm ready to rank - may need multiple viewings.

I didn't get why she didn't connect, since I told her that I thought Anderson's characters are all pretty much the same throughout his films; that is, they kind of give off the same melancholic, wistful emotion. Huston's role in Aquatic is maybe just a chromosome or two away (or a bizarro world away) from her character in Tenenbaums. In other words, the characters, quirky as they may be, aren't what necessarily do it for me in regards to his films.

I'm drawn in by his attention to detail, in the script, the music, the set, etc. - and I think in those terms, he has gotten more focused from film to film. Bottle Rocket may have had more drawn-out characters, but the story and peripherals weren't nearly as impressive as Rushmore, ditto from Rushmore to Tenenbaums to Aquatic.

He may indeed just be quirky for quirky's sake, but I admire how much he sticks to his guns, and for how distinctive his films are becoming. Despite the greatness of certain directors (take your pick - Tarantino, Scorcese, Fincher, whoever floats your boat), if you were to see one minute of their next film without knowing it was theirs or anything about it, you probably couldn't guess who directed it. With Anderson, I think you could spot it in an instant. I may be exaggerating, but hopefully, you get my point. As his career progresses, I don't doubt that his fan base will become more narrowed, but those who stick around will appreciate him more and more.

For the record, I think Rushmore is still tops in my book, but that may just be because I fell in love with it first. Tenenbaums would presently come in 2nd, followed by Aquatic and Rocket.

Rod (er, Turk) and Fyi make a pretty good argument. Wes Anderson films are assuredly not made for the masses (the only reason he's not making art house films now is because a couple of erudite execs from MTV named him 'breakout' film maker a fews years ago at the movie awards). And it may take 2 or 3 viewings to really appreciate his films (I doubt Michael Bay or McG understand the concept of subtext).

I've found that 'Bottle Rocket' and 'Rushmore' are similar based on their rather stark motifs. Whereas 'Tenenbaums' and 'Life Aquatic' have characters that are almost caricatures of themselves because of their overstated eccentricities (and because the latter have the 'big name' stars in an ensemble piece).

That being said, Wes is kinda left alone out there in comparison to other directors. My only thought of another film maker that even remotely resembles his work is the co-writer of 'Life Aquatic', Noah Baumbach.

His two films, 'Kicking and Screaming' and 'Mr. Jealously' evoke the same dry wit, yet decidedly maudlin tone as Wes Anderson films, but Baumbach gives his dialogue far more acerbity. But both are tough to find, so I have been told.


Wow - I never thought I would use so many Verbal GRE words in a post. Maybe I am in fact as pretentious as my girlfriend claims.

I think the reason I don't like Rushmore as much is because I see it as a transition movie for him, kinda like he was stuck between the low budget, narrow story artsy feel of bottle rocket to the large cast, several stories, bigger budget feel of Tenembaums. Plus I think my favorite part of Rushmore is Bill Murray (when he hands the teacher (forgot her name) the letter talks for a little then runs away in a suit it cracked me up) and in life aquatic you get much, much more of him.