Wes Anderson & Friends

Wes Anderson (nerd, genius, my future husband, etc.) is phenomenal. We love him more than what could be considered healthy and normal. He is a nerd in every sense of the word (rhyming unintentional), and that is sexy (we really love nerds here). His personal style is completely his own, he is lanky and wears suits tailored to be half a size too small. Who else could pull that off?? Not to mention he is an incredibly talented director.

He is Owen Wilson’s best friend. Owen Wilson co-wrote Rushmore, Bottle Rocket and The Royal Tenenbaums, arguably the best Anderson films. He has a core group of actors (fondly referred to as ‘The Anderson Fam’ by us, sad, we know) that he frequently casts in his movies. These ‘family’ members include all three of the Wilson brothers (Owen, Luke, and the lesser know Andrew), Bill Murray, Anjelica Huston, Jason Schwartzman (another one of my future husbands), etc.

Next time you watch a Wes Anderson film, pay attention to his trademarks; wide angle shots, underwater shots, quick panning from character to character, characters smoking/drinking profusely, a middle aged male character who is essentially a fraud, and a slow motion ending. His movies have given us lines that have permeated into pop culture history. Including the line that is the reason for our blog name. As hard and painful as it is to compile a top 6 list of the best quotes, I will try to do so:

1) From Rushmore:
Max Fischer: I like your nurses uniform, guy.
Dr. Peter Flynn: These are O.R. scrubs
Max Fischer: O, R they?

2) Again from Rushmore:

Max Fischer: I saved Latin. What did you ever do?
(Note the connection to our blog name)

3) ......Rushmore
Max Fischer: What was your major?

Rosemary Cross: I didn’t have a major, but my thesis was on Latin American economic policy.
Max Fischer: Oh, that’s interesting. Did you hear they’re not going to teach Latin anymore?
Rosemary Cross: This was more like Central America.

4) Last one from Rushmore
Max Fischer: So tell me Curly, how do you know Miss Cross?
Dr. Peter Flynn: We went to Harvard together.
Max Fischer: Oh that’s great. I wrote a hit play and directed it, so I’m not sweating it either.

5) The Darjeeling Limited
Jack: What did he say?
Peter: He said the train is lost.
Jack: How can a train be lost? It’s on rails.

6) The Royal Tenenbaums
Uzi: Who’s your father?
Chas: His name is Royal Tenenbaum.
Ari: You told us he was already dead.
Chas: Yeah well now he’s really dying.

All this, along with his frequent allusions and references to Charlie Brown, J.D. Salinger, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Francois Truffaut, Louis Malle, The Graduate, etc., his love of the tragicomedy genre and his obsessive attention to the mise-en-scene in each of his movies makes him my favourite director. Wes Anderson is an auteur, and the world would be hard pressed to find another director so dedicated to his craft. Next he is working on The Fantastic Mr. Fox, a movie adaptation of a Roald Dahl novel. Lending their voices to this animated film are several members of the Anderson Fam, Bill Murray, Anjelica Huston, Jason Schwartzman, and newcomers to the fam George Clooney and Cate Blanchett. Coming out in 2009!

-emma