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Why do we let Wes Anderson get away with this crap?

posted a year ago by e3e34ifj (1912)
14 replies | jump to latest

The dude has made some excellent movies but ever since Grand Budapest Hotel, he has been so comfortable with sniffing his own farts and jerking off to his own hipster style. I don't think I've ever seen a mainstream studio film so self-indulgent in its own style...well, except for French Dispatch, which was also Wes Anderson! We are basically being trolled at this point. He just got all of his A-list celebrity friends, and even convinced ScarJo to get topless, for a movie about absolutely NOTHING. A movie with zero point, no purpose, all this buildup to a nonexistent climax. Yes, the movie technically looked great. But so what? His style is so one-note, so lifeless. Wow, the camera zoomed on someone with exact precision and then started moving on a dolly track! Wow, the actors are positioned perfectly in frame like we're looking at a photo! It grows so tedius so fast, especially considering that all the actors, including some living legends, give completely flat performances, and worst of all there is NO story for us to suck us in. Most of the characters are entirely pointless, like Steve Carrell. What good did his character add to the plot? I get that Andesron is probably inspired by French arthouse cinema, but something like Jacque Tati's Playtime is INFINITELY better than this shit because it has a POINT and so much deeper than just well-framed quirkiness. Freshman film students worship Wes Anderson because he knows how to frame shots but does he know how to write scripts? Not anymore, it seems.

[–] Ripkens25 (2016) a year ago

I’ll bet Wes at least knows how to break up one giant paragraph into 5 or 6 smaller ones, ha ha.

But otherwise…I completely agree. The man just gets off on his own self-indulgent quirkiness, making dull, pointless movies just to say: “Look how quirky this all is!” “Look, there’s Bill Murray in a small cameo!” “Look at my quirky color pallet!”

His movies just…..kinda bug me.

[–] 000 (471) a year ago

i concur
this didnt work for me
all about style
nothing engaging

[–] spurtle467 (1547) a year ago

I agree. I could tolerate, even like The Grand Budapest Hotel. It was charming enough with a nice story and characters to make me invested. All of his other films I've seen rub me the wrong way. Too artsy and gimmicky, without being very funny to me.

[–] roger1 (3626) a year ago

While this supposedly broke house records for Wes...in Los Angeles and NYC...I would agree that he rather hits an "older guy slump" here. The movie is pretty much all ideas and -- worst of all -- wastes almost each and every one of the "star" castings in roles that don't much matter or add up.

Tom Hanks landed in the "worst" Coen Brothers movie(The Ladykillers), which I actually liked a lot. Here he ends up in a not-that-great Wes Anderson movie. He must be wondering how he always draws the bad card with these genius auteurs.

Bill Murray's absence is noted(he was in for the Steve Carell role, but had to quit for some reason) and so is Owen Wilson's.

The movie looks great, the "meta" use of a play/a TV production and a Technicolor movie to tell the same story from different angles is brilliant. Also brilliant: the idea of all the main characters in separate "buildings" for their motel stay(they can all spy on each other Rear Window style or voluntarily talk across the windows.)

But...a dangerous point for Wes Anderson: the "Emperor's New Clothes" movie.

PS. ScarJo does a millisecond nude scene. It looks like a body double(no head and face visible) but ScarJo swears that's her. What's the point of doing a nude scene for real if it looks like a body double?

PPS. Think back to "The Royal Tennebaums." As arty as this movie, but with human characters whose characters came to moving final ends.

[–] LetoAtreides (559) a year ago

Scarjo did full frontal nudity in "Under the Skin" 10 years ago. So it's not like this was something everybody was waiting for.

[–] HarlemEagle42 (17745) a year ago

Hell, I'm pretty she sure did it 18 years ago in that Michael Bay movie THE ISLAND.

[–] LetoAtreides (559) a year ago

Before Under the Skin, all she did were some sexy scenes where her bits were covered.

[–] liscarkat (18410) a year ago

"The French Dispatch" was very entertaining. Thanks for the unfavorable-to-both comparison to "Asteroid City". Now I'm convinced I want to see it, too.

[–] moviechatterer (15643) a year ago

Putting aside the "artsy"
I think people like some of the movies plot/story and not others

.. and in the the movies where you arnt digging the actual events occurring you're just left watching the Artsy , and finding it annoying.

[–] RoloTony (1286) a year ago

Same thing happened to the Coen Brothers. They forgot how to conjure original art so they just became parodies of their former selves.

[–] Taeivon (197) a year ago

"Yes, the movie technically looked great."

Did it? I thought the colors were annoying. Way too saturated. It's basically screaming "look how artsy I am".

[–] ChipDouglas (1607) a year ago

Agreed

[–] Xcalat3 (3748) a year ago

"look how artsy I am".

That's Wes Anderson's entire career.

[–] Creamofdacrop884 (1733) a year ago

Agree. Used to enjoy his films, but at this point it's all the same shtick and being quirky just for the sake of it hidden behind well framed shots and huge ensemble casts. He's a critic darling and all the hipster film bros love him as well.