The Bus

Kids.



Reminds me of a time I was in a bar here (Delaware) and I met a friend of mine that had gone off to school in Pittsburgh. Well, we're at the local college/townie bar and they're playing Jay-Z or what not and they have specials on Yuengling and Coors and this girl turns to me and says, "Man, this bar is lame." I ask her why and she says, "I don't know, it doesn't have anything to it." (This bar is actually quite nice and probably one of the most historic in the entire state, but I digress).

And then she gets this thing where she's saying that she has moved on and moved out of the state, and is asking me what I am doing, and why am I still here. And she complains that the bar doesn't have any good Whisky. I ask her what single-malts she drinks and she doesn't understand my question. She then says, "You know, in Pittsburgh we have a lot of really cool dive bars, you know."

"Well, about 5 minutes across the border into Maryland there's a bar that doesn't even have a paved lot. Let's go there."

"Oh, I didn't mean a real dive bar."

And then she uses the word "hipster" about once per sentence for the next half hour.

Childish. Trying to prove something. Oh well.

(Sorry, off-topic)

LiquidSky

We all have our guilty pleasures. Mine are cheesy direct-to-rental horror films.

BigDan

Someone mentioned Anderson's characters, despite having funny lines here and there, are often depressed (I'm paraphrasing, obviously). This is why I think I have tended to not enjoy Wes Anderson's work all that much.

But being depressed seems to be a staple of independent cinema. At least Anderson's movies have some amusing moments mixed in with the sadness.

I can see the appeal, but his movies just aren't my thing.

FinkPish

First off, I wouldn't want to have a movie even try to make me laugh at everything, it would get obnoxious after a while. I also have never laughed at every second of a Wes Anderson movie, and if someone told me they did, I would call them a liar. If you are personally going to see a movie with this literal expectation, then you are always going to be disappointed.

I find it hard to believe that not one person in your theater laughed at Sideways. I can believe that you didn't, but if your expectation was to laugh at every scene, then I could see how you would have gotten annoyed that you weren't laughing every second of the show.

Hokeyboy

"Anal Rape" and "Grandma" shouldn't even be in the same sentence together.

majorjoe23

You just broke your own rule.

Cygnet74

yeah, well, uh... that's by design. which i would think is plainly obvious to anyone who watches one of his films.

Tafellappen

Do you live in Newark?

Julie Walker

Todd Solondz is another director in the same league of Anderson that I don't get.

I heard Happiness was a disturbing and hilarious dark comedy. I view it...a couple times actually(trying to see if I missed the point the first time). I did not find it laugh out loud funny in the least,nor even minutely chuckle inducing. It was a boring & depressing.

Welcome To the Dollhouse was the exact same thing. Boring and depressing. Where was the so called 'dark humor'???

I just could'nt get the appeal of either of these films. Laughing at peoples misfortunes could be funny if done right. Yet by making a film dealing with serious subject matter,and filming it in a bland style creating a uber-serious drama instead of comedy. It just does'nt work for myself at all.

I love dark humor,and in terms of novels,American Psycho was one of the funniest and most disturbing things I have ever read(the film blows chunks though).

Three Kings I thought was a hilarious film,as it tackled serious subject matter with a wry sense of dark humor. I'm sure had Todd or Wes made the film,it would have been bland and boring.

Which gets me back to Wes & Todd. They may be trying to expose the 'humorous' side of dysfuctional people/family..but instead of finding the humor,they find depression and boredom instead. At least make the charecters slightly amusing despite their bleak lives!


They don't have to be 'outrageous' or anything,but definitely less serious than their films come out. If I could get one big laugh from their films,just one. I would not criticize them so much.

Yet so far,both filmmakers have failed to make me even chuckle!...and yet other people go on about how 'funny' and 'laugh out loud quirky' their films are. I just do not see the appeal at all..and believe me I tried!

Mr. Salty

Very well put. I couldn't agree more.

"Rushmore" is one of my favorite films, I liked "Bottle Rocket" and "Royal Tenenbaums"; haven't seen "Life Aquatic" yet. So, it's not like I'm a rabid Wes Anderson fan.

There are a lot of things I "don't get" in life, movies and otherwise, but I've never felt the need to challenge those who do as if they are lording some sort of intellectual superiority over me.

You like a movie or you don't. You like the style of a director or you don't. Move on. You can only make yourself look ignorant by saying those who disagree with you are snobs or liars who are trying to "sound sophisticated."

The Monkees

I'm not insecure with my opinions. I think that is clearly stated. I DON'T LIKE WES ANDERSON and I'm sick and tired of hearing everywhere that the man is brilliant. If you think that, good for you, I personally don't think that at all. It's my opinion and I stand by it 100%

Also I didn't really feel like going into extreme detail about why I think his movies are CRAPIFIED or CRAPTASTIC or CRAPTACULAR, I simply don't like his movies, they all suck a whole lot. They claim to be comedies but seem to leave out the main ingredient of comedy...humor. A joke every 45 minutes, isn't a comedy! His films seem to be very dramatized.

Now I've given my reasons.

How do I make myself look more ignorant if I ask the simple question of why everyone likes him? I could start up a huge fight as to why everyone likes Steven Spielberg or George Lucas. And what would the answer be? THEY MAKE BLOCKBUSTERS...well here comes the question again, Why Wes Anderson? His movies are far from "blockbusters" so why does everyone like him? It also raises the question as to why are the majority of people who like his films, film students? Do his movies only appeal to film students? I'm a film student and don't like his films, so I guess I could say that theory is wrong, but it seems like a majority of them are indeed film students. And I NEVER said that people were trying to "sound sophisticated" over me. Because they don't.

Thank You! GOODNIGHT!

Mr. Salty

"Blockbuster" is not the same as "good." Some blockbusters are very good, but others are awful. Do not confuse box office receipts as an indicator of quality.

Maybe your perception is falsely skewed because you are in film school and are therefore surrounded by film students. I am not in film school, do not live near a film school and know no film school students. Yet I know countless people who love Wes Anderson films. Such people do exist.

I didn't say you did. But another poster in this thread did use those words, and more than one used the word "snob." Please review your thread.

Look, I admit, the first time I watched "Rushmore" (the first Wes Anderson movie I watched), I kind of liked it, but didn't know quite what to make of it. I chuckled a few times (I mean, come on, a high school play based on "Serpico" is funny). But the second time I watched it, something just clicked into place for me and I laughed all the way through and fell in love with the movie.

Wes Anderson's movies are on a little bit different wavelength than most movies. The humor is way more subtle compared to mainstream comedies.

Anderson's movies click with some people. They don't click with others. I suspect he's OK with the idea his movies won't sell $300 million worth of tickets or appeal to the kind of crowd that wants to see its comedy performed by Will Ferrell or Jim Carrey.

Michael Corvin

This is about where I stand. His movies have great direction and style, sometimes interesting characters, and sometimes there is some great dialogue, but they are labeled as comedies and they don't bring the funny. Subtle or not, one joke every 10 minutes is not a comedy. It is a drama with comedic elements. I don't buy the "laughing their asses off the entire movie" bit either. That itself is laughable. It might be interesting to watch one of these films with someone who claims his movies are laugh out loud a minute funny.

He has potential, that is for sure, but from what he has done so far, I would say he is nothing special at this point in his career.

That was me. Is there another filmmaker out there that the majority of film students adore more than this guy? It is collective thinking. Probably being told in school that these are good movies and why you should like them. So maybe the "sounding sophisticated" comes from being in film school, more than it having anything to do with this guy. I was just validating the original posters point about film students. They put WA on some pedestal and if you don't like him you know nothing about film. That to me is "snob-ish." Yep, I said it again. Flame on.

maingon

agree with him, his movies are kind of boring

Timmio

For me it's been a downward slope for his movies. I loved "Bottle Rocket" for me it is a laugh out loud movie. It does have a somewhat depressing shell, but on the inside it's funny as hell. "Rushmore" was pretty good, not as funny....the rest just kinda shift from the funny to the depressed side. The Life Aquatic had only a few funny scenes, but for the most part I did not like it. I felt like all the actors just dialed in their performance as well.

*On a side note: Those that sort of like Wes Anderson's work, but are looking for a little more...check out Alexander Payne's work. They are similar in style, but I think Payne's work is growing and getting better with each film, which is the exact oppisite of how I see Anderson's work.

Timmio

Tafellappen

Maybe it's just me, but I find Anderson's movies to be almost non-stop funny.

FinkPish

I still don't understand why people seem to be getting so defensive about not liking Wes Anderson movies. If you don't like his movies, that is your opinion and you are entitled to it, just as those who do like his movies are entitled to theirs. No one in this thread has said those who don't like his movies are missing something or are intelletually inferior or anything like that.

If someone is being a snob outside of these threads, that is your problem to deal with. Many people have given their reasons why they like Wes Anderson movies in this thread, but there are still people coming in and verging on being offensive in their generalities about people who like these types of movies. What's the deal?

The Bus

Yeah. The bar I'm talking about is Deer Park. The "dive bar" is Joker's Pub on Elkton off of 40.

wendersfan

If anything, Payne's work has gone downhill as well. I like his work marginally better than WA's, but none of his films has struck me as anything particularly special.

Tracer Bullet

Wes Anderson has always struck me as a director that values artiface over realism- his characters are basically dolls (wearing the same clothes, for instance). I didn't like TLA precisely because I felt the artiface was extended too far, and he had created a live-action cartoon. Perhaps Owen Wilson had been a moderating influence... I don't know.

Of course, I'm usually not a fan of writer/directors in general, because I don't think they can distance themselves enough.

Giles

oh, like "Anchorman" - now that was shitty.

Giles

that could also apply to films like I (Heart) Huckabees and Napolean Dynamite - two films I found to WAY overrated and flawed.

LiquidSky

William Fuld

"Distance themselves enough" from what? Their art?

LiquidSky

I would like to know that myself. John Sayles has created some very fine films as writer/director.