Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
Watched the first five minutes or so and found it so irritating I turned it off.
Yeah its full-on wes anderson from the offset, so if you don't like that style I'd imagine you wouldn't last long into the film. One of my favorite animated films though.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
Wes Anderson's one of my favorite directors, very singular in that quirky compositional style (which understandably is polarizing).

When I watched The Red Shoes the opening credits really reminded me of Anderson, made me think it was among his inspirations. Aside from that, not much I've seen really gets close to that extreme style.
 

version

Well-known member
I like that there's someone with that distinct a style operating with the kind of exposure he has, but I find the style itself grating.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
But I can see also how hollow a lot of the characters seem, when the priority really just seems like an orchestrated tapestry of quirk.

In a way similar to Tarantino in that, a lot of the time, the characters seem to function primarily to effectuate witty rapports, rather than to actually incarnate some meaningful development of personality. I think there are some great characters in Anderson's films and Tarantino films, but not really in the sense of being especially moving performances.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
IE there are some iconic characters, and I'd say great performances (EG Fiennes in The Grand Budapest Hotel), but the characters themselves don't seem crafted to really harness the empathy of the viewer.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
I like that there's someone with that distinct a style operating with the kind of exposure he has, but I find the style itself grating.
I felt this way with The French Dispatch. Almost like Anderson was overconfident in his own style and kinda overextended the film in that direction. Grand Budapest and Fantastic Mr Fox get close to that limit for me.
 

wild greens

Well-known member
I think Mark Kermode described French Dispatch as being like a huge wedding cake or doll's house.

A lot like this Brooklyn lot really. Huge amounts of cultural discourse but in terms of end-product there isnt a single piece of substantial work from any of the people within the "scene"

Self-mythology as ethos
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
I think Mark Kermode described French Dispatch as being like a huge wedding cake or doll's house.
I don't know Kermode but that seems pretty on point for me. Again, really a cool film in its own right, but I did feel it passed a certain threshold for me in terms of how much quirk a single film could contain. I'm largely in the school of thought where really novel handlings of form can be pulled off, if there is some justifying statement, even if that statement is about form itself. That said, I don't think French Dispatch succeeded there, but maybe I need to rewatch it.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
Another reason I admire Wes Anderson is that he (and the couple other writers he works with) tend to create really interesting characters for actors to show a new side of themselves, even if the characters themselves are pisstakes or super ironic or just frilly.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
Wilem Dafoe I think is hilarious in Life Aquatic and Grand Budapest. Tilda Swinton in French Dispatch I think is pretty good too (although she seems to find a lot of wacky and interesting roles even outside of the Anderson films shes in). Jeff Goldblum in Life Aquatic I think is really funny as well. F. Murray Abraham in Grand Budapest I think nails his few critical scenes. Even Harvey Keitel has a great couple scenes in Budapest.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
Michael Gambon's (voice) performance as the villain of Fantastic Mr Fox I think is excellent, Clooney took to it very naturally and charmingly as you'd expect, Streep and Schwartzman as well. I actually think Fantastic Mr Fox has more heart than most/all of the other Anderson films, but I'd also be inclined to attribute that to the source material.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I like that there's someone with that distinct a style operating with the kind of exposure he has, but I find the style itself grating.
Same. I'd say there are lots of film directors I don't like, but none who really wound me up like him... seemed to peel back my skin and scrape down my nerves... a sickening smugness, self-satisfied cleverness that just isn't that clever.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
Very different role for Gene Hackmen in Tenenbaums, at least for those of his I've seen. I don't think I've ever been impressed with Paltrow though, although her role here is probably my favorite of hers, which isn't saying much.
 
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