Wes Anderson Shills Magnificently for American Express
Filed under: Fandom
Though my knee-jerk reaction when I hear the words
"Wes Anderson" is still to get irritated (I'm sorry, I
hated Rushmore. Sue me.), I quickly
remember that I'm in the middle of crossing over from intense dislike into the dangerous world of possible fandom --
such, my friends, was the power of the lovely The Life Aquatic. Anyway, my point is that a few years ago, hearing that
Anderson had made and starred in an ad for American Express would have sent me off into a fit of judgmental grumbling,
about his ego and selling out and God only knows what else. Now, though, I actually managed to approach the thing with
an open mind and, not surprisingly, I loved it. As opposed to M. Night Shyamalan's egotistical, "Love me, love my movies!" Am Ex ad that aired during the Oscars, Anderson's offering is imbued with a wonderful, knowing sense of humor about both himself and movie-making. I don't want to spoil anything for you, so go check it out for yourselves (thank you, You Tube) -- everyone should shill with this much style.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-25-2006 @ 1:23PM
josh said...
Wait... you hated Rushmore, but loved The Life Aquatic? That is interesting, I would like to hear your comparison of the two films and why you like one over the other.
Rushmore, to me, is an extremely entertaining film that contains scenes that are suprising dramatic and effective, while still remaining humorous. TLA seems to over-reach itself, has some pretty tired humor (the Jeff Goldblum character gay jokes? please) and contains several scenes which to me just don't work (like the action sequence with the pirates). It also seems like it could have really handled some trimming, while Rushmore contains little fat.
I guess I also love Rushmore because it was Bill Murray's comeback movie, and he is great in it (he's great in Aquatic as well, don't get me wrong).
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4-25-2006 @ 1:57PM
Alex said...
Not to harp on the Rushmore playa-hating but I find it odd when people like one Wes Anderson film but hate others. I have one friend who loved Rushmore and another that liked Life Aquatic, but they both HATE Royal Tenenbaums. I'm confused. Wes Anderson, moreso than most filmmakers working today, has (to me, anyway) this love-him-or-hate-him thing with his films; I would imagine you'd either love everything he does or hate all of it, because the themes may vary but his aesthetic remains intact. But I don't know, that's just me.
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4-25-2006 @ 2:20PM
Brendon said...
Wow. This entry from Ms. Fischer is almost diammetrically opposed to my statements here:
http://filmick.blogspot.com/2006/04/wes-anderson-and-m-night-shyamalan.html
Does this mean war?
Reply
4-25-2006 @ 6:05PM
bgdc said...
Wow. love Bottle Rocket, find Rushmore amusing, love Tennenbaums and despise Life Aquatic. The writing on Life was hampered by the fact Wilson was not a collaborator on the screenplay. Missing his obvious naive-sweetness (a problem with the impossibly lame Wedding Crashers too) Life Aquatic lacked any soul, shame or humor. Bad movie. Beyond the one excellent line from Murray regarding the pirate's being amateurs because they left their dog.
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4-26-2006 @ 4:53AM
Scaramanga said...
All of his films are crafted, engaging and full of detail; I love them all. People need to get over waiting for ''Rushmore 2: Community College..." Ain't gonna happen, and it's not Wes Anderson's fault: you're just not going to be taken by surprise like you were when Bottle Rocket or Rushmore entered your world... You'll continue to hate until your subconcious can allow yourself to enjoy one of his films again, and he'll have his trumphant return in your jaded, overly-clever hearts - a victory like 'Inside Man' has given Spike Lee.
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