Episode 101 - Wes Anderson Movies (aka - Wes Anders-erverse?)

In this episode I talk about the movies of Wes Anderson. I cover all 9 that are currently out, alongside some personal stuff...etc... You know the format of the show by now! (Fair warning, spoilers abound for each movie.)

Here's the player:

Here's how the times break down.

• 0:00 - Intro
• 10:05 - Music Break - If I'd Known You
• 10:32 - General Comments on Wes Anderson and how I became a fan.
• 22:36 - Bottle Rocket
• 26:24 - Rushmore
• 32:17 - The Royal Tenenbaums
• 40:25 - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
• 48:47 - The Darjeeling Limited
• 53:44 - Fantastic Mr. Fox
• 57:47 - Moonrise Kingdom
• 1:02:26 - The Grand Budapest Hotel
• 1:10:00 - Isle of Dogs - And a side discussion of Asian representation.
• 1:29:53 - Final Thoughts on Wes Anderson
• 1:33:32 - Music Break - Heaven Knows
• 1:34:03 - Outro

And here's a metric shit-ton of photos! Most of these movies are Criterion Collection BluRays, so there's a ton of beautiful stuff to show off from cover photos to cool inserts and sometimes even posters. I've kept it as minimal as I can, but it's still a LOT!

Here's the cover photo, for your collection.

The movies in chronological order.

...but this is the order I watched them in, and I liked how it balanced out.

This is a screenshot of the BluRay covers with post-it notes on them. Each post-it contains a few subjects I wanted to talk about pertinent to each movie. I took photos so I'd have access to my notes when I wasn't in my house in case I had a random thought...and the photos in my gallery looked kinda Wes Anderson-ish in this layout. Thought it looked cool, so I'm sharing.

Anderson's first movie. Not my favorite...but it's in my collection!

This is the insert from Bottle Rocket. They matched it to the notebook Owen Wilson's character uses in the movie and it's laid out to mirror scenes and themes in the picture. Criterion BluRays are always top-notch for fan-service.

Rushmore is probably one of Anderson's better-known flicks. And for good reason!

This packaging is a little more involved with a booklet outlaying stuff on the DVD and giving cast lists and whatnot, but also a big poster that's kind of a map or guide to significant stuff in the film. Fun stuff!

The movie Gene Hackman hated doing that made everybody else hate Gene Hackman...depending on who you talk to about it, anyway!

This is similar to the above with a booklet that has an essay in it and a different booklet that's got fun references to the movie and stuff. Physical products are always better than digital, but even more so when the packaging is fun.

The Life Aquatic might be Anderson's best known movie and one of the more beloved ones. And I loved it too!

This booklet is a little more dimple, but what it lacks in depth, it makes up for in tone. It LOOKS really pretty and has little sketches that remind you of stuff from the movie. Even when they keep it simple, Criterion does it nice.

Another movie! I'd not heard of this one before I undertook watching everything. It wasn't my favorite of the bunch and reminded me a lot of Bottle Rocket. But it was better than Bottle Rocket.

This was also a simple booklet, but designed to match the movie's themes, with the cover matching the print of the luggage the characters carry throughout the movie. Cool stuff!

Anderson's first animated feature. It's stop-motion, so it looks a little different and other-worldly as compared to Pixar stuff or whatever, and that's part of the charm to me.

This looks like another simple booklet, and in many ways it is...but...

...look how THICK this booklet is! Crazy amount of info to paw through, and that's the kind of thing I love!

Moonrise Kingdom's cover might make anybody who doesn't know the movie overlook it...You might even miss the title completely--much like you could also miss it in the movie. But the movie itself is great.

...and there is a TON of stuff in this case! Including a staged "troop picture" of the kids/counselors in the cast, and a map, and cool cast watercolors, etc... Really next-level packaging on this on!

My gateway into Anderson's work. The cover does a good job of capturing the look of the picture--colorful but grimy. Big fan of the look of Anderson's flicks in particular.

And there's a ton of stuff in THIS package too! I haven't even gotten through 1/10th of it!

Anderson's most recent currently available movie. Only one that isn't in the Criterion Collection yet. Another stop-motion animated piece. A story of a boy and his dog. I also spend some time in the segment on this movie talking about race and Asian representation...so if you haven't heard enough pasty white guys talking about that lately, I've got you covered.

This not being a Criterion release, the extras are minimal, but given the themes in the movie, I thought it was nice that they included an ad for the Best Friends Animal Society in the case.

I also dug that if you take the cover out of the DVD case, you get a poster that's featured in the movie. It's cute and a good idea for at least a little something extra in a standard release.

Oh yeah! and here's the Life Aquatic Studio Sessions CD that I mentioned! The artist is Seu Jorge. Beautiful, Portuguese versions of several David Bowie songs. What's not to love?