The Royal Tenenbaums: Wes Anderson's Perfect Midpoint

[@GregorBarclay]

I’ve been waiting 22 years for Wes to give us another moment as affecting as “I’ve had a tough year, dad.” He’s an amazing filmmaker but I wish he went to those more vulnerable places more often.

[@lakimball]

Fantastic Mr Fox's tender moment between father and soon scratched that same itch for me

[@papichefitup]

Everytime I watch that movie and hear that line I cry so much it's an masterpiece

[@attilabertoldbozo4248]

Asteroid City's scene with Margot Robbie was really good too

[@raddud6748]

In an interview, Wes Anderson said that Owen Wilson would write giant Xs over anything Wes wrote that didn’t work, and I think Wes needs someone like that. I love Wes but sometimes he needs someone to tell him that something needs to be cut.

[@codyclarke]

I was always curious what their writing relationship was like, thank you for sharing! This makes total sense

[@jimmythethird5514]

In my opinion, A Life Aquatic is the perfect combination of Wes Anderson’s signature style and grounded writing. Even though the world and atmosphere is so absurd and fantastical, the characters are what really make it amazing. The production design and camera techniques serve to immerse the audience into this sad man’s crazy life, and I think that’s where Wes really shines: deeply flawed people in a larger than life world. Love Royal Tenenbaums too tho, Joel 😊

[@sushi_donut]

I literally just edited my comment to include this movie. I totally agree and will defend this one from the haters haha.

[@KnuckleHunkybuck]

A Life Aquatic is one of the best movies ever made. Change my mind. It's nearly perfect. Hilarious, heartbreaking, and hopeful. The last line always gets me: "It's been an adventure."

[@heressomestuffifound]

And that soundtrack is legendary.

[@colincrawford4921]

Wes Anderson's films since Fantastic Mr. Fox have been a valuable opportunity to accept that I don't have to love everything an artist I love makes.

[@jojokaleido]

You didn't mention the darjeeling limited. That was the first of his I saw and fell in love with

[@ianwatches]

"So now, less than twenty five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark-that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”

[@JuliaGarbe1]

Another thing I love about his movies is the soundtrack

[@jenniferbauman]

My husband and I watch Fantastic Mr. Fox often, I do love the making of it and stop motion animation is something we bond over. It was one of my favorites on Letterboxd for a long time. But as life changes so do my tastes. I'd hate to see my love for KZbin creator films to go away, but I can't imagine it would with an ever expanding world of cinema being created every day. I am a little out of love with Wes Anderson though, who knows when that happened. Thanks for loving movies, Joel! ❤

[@RetroReef]

Tenenbaums was such an important movie for me 20 years ago.

[@afonsoferreira7756]

For me Life Aquatic is the great mid point, just fantastical enough.

[@latifoljic]

Royal Tenenbaums is definitely one of my favorite movies. Not many movies are both as visual stunning and emotionally powerful as that movie. It really is beautiful in every way.

[@bannanaboy8]

I love Wes. His movies are so good, they have such a unique and specific mood.

[@heressomestuffifound]

First Wes Anderson film I saw, and still one of my favorites.

[@michiganjack1337]

I had the pleasure of being to see Bottle Rocket in late ‘97 at a small independent theater with a group of friends, so that will always have a special connection with me but I have to say Tenenbaums is definitely my favorites of Wes’ work, I just always found it so easy to watch.

[@bearsuitattack]

"I like your nurses uniform, guy"

[@ianwatches]

"Uhm, these are O.R. scrubs..."

[@bearsuitattack]

@@ianwatches "Oh, ARE they?"

[@Tresnut]

My mom introduced me to Wes Anderson's movies starting with The Royal Tenenbaums earlier last year. I’ve seen his stop motion movies before, but I had never heard of him. I went on to watch A Life Aquatic, The French Dispatch, and Grand Budapest Hotel. The art direction in all his movies is so unique and fascinating, and I cant wait to watch the rest of them.

[@Waldoz53]

joel i watched it for the first time last night and i LOVED it. the story/characters have this great charm and emotion/heart, plus the very cool wes anderson style was all just so damn good. the one luke wilson scene in the bathroom (you know the one) was so shocking and dark, one of my fav individual scenes in a wes anderson movie.

[@lofiworkshop]

Glad Trent enjoyed it. That's one of my favourite movies.

[@sushi_donut]

My first time watching Rushmore & Tenenbaums are core memories of mine, so seeing Wes Anderson's later work feels so much more like parody of himself, or an exaggeration of how everyone today describes his work. But I have to remind myself that it was just one time and place, and not any more special than say if Asteroid City is an introduction/core memory for another young person who ends up falling in love with movies (like me). . . . EDIT (SPOILERS): I know everyone dunks on Life Aquatic, but when they find the jaguar shark & Sigur Ros swells in the background, and Steve says in front of the crew, "I wonder if he remembers me?" and begins to cry while everyone lays hands on him...C'MON MAN 😭 I'm tearing up just thinking about it #corecore

[@owendixon8650]

I've always said these are maybe the best group of characters in any movie. They are all just so unique and developed within themselves as well as their relationship dynamic with others. It's so impressive and infinitely entertaining to watch. So well written

[@Catsnnovels]

Immediately booting up my dvd player to rewatch this classic!

[@E-Brightvoid]

I love listening to you talk about movies!

[@lukeshoo]

Joel, I need you to post a three-hour examination of the use of hypnosis in Inland Empire

[@brocklewis7624]

My favorite non-Wes Anderson Wes Anderson movie is Submarine by Richard Ayoade. Richard has such a personal touch behind the camera but it manages to serve the characters and the grounded story that much more. Love it and would highly recommend people check it out if they are lookin go for something in this vein.

[@KanesTheName]

Very cathartic to hear you echo the same thoughts on Wes Anderson's more recent work, Joel. There is such a thing as 'too much quirk' and I too long for the more grounded character stuff. French Dispatch is fun, but man Royal Tenenbaums makes me cry every time, and I know the both of us tend to gravitate more towards the stories that make us cry, haha. Really great video, it's always a treat to hear you talk about stuff ya like!

[@dwezel]

Life aquatic and grand Budapest are my favorite Wes Anderson films followed by this one. Can’t wait for asteroid city!

[@holyflutterofgod]

Honestly, while I agree that Wes Anderson’s style can paper over meaningless writing sometimes, I’ll throw in a defense of The French Dispatch! I think the film was sort of a perfect way for Wes to explore the way that journalists are themselves characters in the stories they relay. The French characters get their moments of drama, and our American journalists connect to that drama for their own personal reasons. It’s almost a beautiful look at journalists not as they view themselves, but as someone with great respect for journalists views them. Moreover, dedicating the film to so many real journalists at the end really clarifies that it’s an ode to them! And I think that’s wonderful. Thanks for the video Joel, I’ll probably rewatch The Royal Tenenbaums thanks to it! Have a great day!!

[@bruhgator]

Watched this for the first time 2 days ago and loved it, (“I’ve had a tough year dad” destroyed me)

[@isitatiger]

This is my favorite film, I love that you've done a Talk on it! My love of Wes Anderson is part of why I love the content you produce today. Owen Wilson's co-writing helped humanize Anderson's artistic vision. While his more recent films are the works of a true auteur, I miss the charm and humaneness of his earlier work.

[@dropthatshi]

DUDE JOEL HAVER MAKES MOVIE REVIEWS???? LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@elainedeyoung7515]

to me I think his first six films are all pretty perfect in their own right. bottle rocket and and Rushmore are amazing stories and royal tennenbaums through Mr fox is kind of a perfect run in terms of compelling stories that also manage to be stylistically incredible. royal is the best one to me but life aquatic makes me weep everytime I watch it and Darjeeling is just such an amazing story about family that I resonate with so much and in a really round about way it almost feels like a spiritual successor to bottle rocket. none of the films after me fox have really left an impact on me tbh, they just feel like a collection of pretty shots more than anything else

[@lundylow]

I love Wes Anderson movies and their almost hypnotizing style, but something got in the way for me with French Dispatch. Reading about it, when I heard it was inspired by The New Yorker, I was like, "that is a type of humor and commentary I have tried and failed to understand many times over." So I never saw it. Every Wes Anderson trailer evokes the response "this is the most Wes Anderson Wes Anderson thing I've seen yet," like he's his own genre now, and he kind of is. But this was the first time I was like "that's too much Wes Anderson for me right now."

[@PTUsher]

This reminds me how good his earlier films are - I will have to revisit!

[@edamboyes7027]

I haven’t seen this one! But I can’t believe any of his films could beat Grand Budapest Hotel! Great video

[@blacklightgypsy]

The kids are inspired by a group in J.D Salinger's works called 'The Glass Family'. He completely made it his own though, a certain breath of life that Wes has in all his on-screen characters. His collection all exist in a very special world he's created- Tim Burton's another with the same. 'Royal Tenenbaum's' an absolute gem though, so heart-achingly beautiful. Everyone's got their own pain all the way through and everyone else is understanding of it.

[@nutherefurlong]

Tenenbaums was the first of his films I caught and I just loved it. Good emotional arc, flawed characters who have a lot but are still struggling. I haven't watched it in a long time but it left a strong impression on me. I haven't seen everything of his yet but so far the one I've rewatched the most is Zissou actually. I saw it in the theater and while I liked it I felt like there were some things missing, but the more I've rewatched the more I think it's the one that speaks to me most at this point in my life, apart from it being a sort of surreal adventure story. I probably have an essay or two about that movie rattling around in me, and I really should watch the rest of his movies before the new one comes out. Maybe my list of favorites will change :)

[@carlosfrostygreen6855]

Table dinner scene is funny and a good conversation. Reminds me of chevy chase styles.📽️🎬🎞️🎥🎥📼

[@davisgoodrich8183]

Owen Wilson: Lego Legend

[@SiameseFaithHealersNetwork]

I was raised by a quirky cartoon family of weirdo wolves, so I relate more to Wes' newer stuff.

[@sajounoir]

no love for Darjeeling ? feels very Tenenbaumsy thematically and the beauty of India sublimes it all to me.

[@ryanrockers]

Bottle Rocket's my favorite Wes film

[@boredjason8748]

Yeah I feel the exact same way about the substance to style scale and only the past couple going past where I can truly love them, still looking forward to asteroid city tho

[@ProbablyOkay]

His first two are my fave, which i think shows that I like his writing way more than his style. I think his writing actually works better in a more grounded visual space

[@zonesproductions]

I have the same sofa as you. That is one comfy as hell sofa.

[@imogenisonline]

My partner and I weirdly watched RT last night ! For the reason of being like ‘we’re 30 now, I wonder how it is’ (I personally hadn’t watched it since 2013) and it really put his newer films into perspective.. it was really emotional and good to watch despite feeling a little bit of that youthful cringe of my Wes themed 21st ha. I feel like there was weirdly an obvious turning point, but I was never sure if I was aging out of his work, or there was subtle changes in the way he made films. Great video as always :3

[@JudysProductionCompany1994]

The Royal Tenenbaums are on my list of movies, I have been trying to find bottle rocket on DVD as I really hope it has the directors commentary.

[@teej008]

It’s a great movie and the first of his that I saw, but the Grand Budapest Hotel has to be my top. It’s characters and styling work perfectly.

[@JoYiSgUiTaR]

I love this channel! Keep up the great work! 👍🏼

[@zep909]

I feel the same way, after Grand Budapest and Isle of Dogs I lost interest in his movies, yet I love Rushmore and Royal Tenenbaums and even Life Aquatic. After finally seeing Harold and Maud, it seemed to me that Anderson was probably influenced by it very much.

[@kahsteel]

The lack of life and character that is lost in Wes' films that aren't written with Owen and is replaced instead with a more exaggerated style, to me, mirrors the exact same loss of real character and heart that a lot of Edgar Wrights movies are missing when they weren't written with Simon Pegg. The best examples of this are with Shawn of The Dead and Hot Fuzz when compared to his more recent releases. Edgar Wrights career almost exactly mirrors Anderson's in this way and in the way their writing and humanity has taken a back seat to the style of their films over time just in general.. or maybe I'm wrong and stupid idk movies are good

[@hugonoldus]

I feel like another movie that is also in this perfect midpoint is the Darjeeling Limited

[@manofocean]

Stylistically later and earlier Wes Anderson movies don't bother me either way. I love the turn that came with Fantastic Mr Fox and that might be my favorite from him, but I love the naturalistic moments of Tenenbaums as well. Either way, all of his films have immense heart without ever being fully serious dramas that make you want to kill yourself, and the tones never conflict with each other from scene to scene. Incredibly earnest filmmaker.

[@jenniferbauman]

Fantastic Mr. Fox is my favorite as well 🦊

[@maxilemon2350]

I don't think there's less substance just because there's more style in his movies now, the Jeffrey Wright part in 'The French Dispatch' for example is some really affecting stuff.

[@genemw]

no mention of Fantastic Mr Fox or Darjeeling Unlimited!?!😭

[@qabandiman]

I saw it recently for the firs time in my adult life and it was way ahead of its time. It feels like it heavily influenced film but no data to back it just a feeling. P.S. watch the wailing

[@currykingwurst6393]

Have you seen Castello Cavalcanti (2013), one of Wes Anderson's short films? Wonder what you'd think about it.

[@pavidarkin9797]

I agree with your theory Joel but I would suggeet that the three wes anderson short films based on Roald Dahl short stories are worth a watch

[@uphillracer]

Yeah agreed. It’s perfect, it’s so special, so poetic, so beautiful. I love Rushmore almost as much. But TRT is one of my favourite films ever.

[@pdfbanana]

the pretentious stereotyping of anyone who likes any wes anderson movies is very unfortunate. definitely not my fav filmmaker, but he makes some darn good movies

[@shoocharu]

I'm really sad that "Royal Tenenbaums" is the only Wes Anderson film I actually dislike. I really want to like this film

[@dasaggropop1244]

its definitely the best anderson movie

[@thekevinfoster]

I think Moonrise is simpler and goofier, but still holds a lot of substance. That said, Tenenbaums is my favorite. I don’t think I should’ve rewatched Isle of Dogs. And French Dispatch kinda lost me, but there might’ve been some cool metaphors.

[@felipebartole6461]

I dont think wes became a style over substance case, not because of the fact im of the school of thought of "style IS substance",but because his stories stopped being about characters and became about meta narratives, which was always present but becane more apparent as movies went on. Is that thing of you start writing about your life, then writing become your life.

[@RJ_Ehlert]

Nice.

[@XantuxNepomuk]

Can we get your thoughts on asteroid city, and my fav wes anderson film: Darjeeling Limited?

[@fridaypietech]

hmm what about the other one tho

[@christopherrahman1358]

can we call the style a "wesern?"

[@charliemarcou]

Well everyone knows Anderson leaned too much into his own style. What this biopic presupposes is ... Maybe He didn't?

[@ianwatches]

"Why would a reviewer make the point of saying someone's not a genius?"

[@Chasing_Dogma]

Midpoint? Thats very early Anderson

[@codyclarke]

Wes Anderson gets dads better than damn near anyone

[@ashercomes342]

Honestly, it’s probably my least favorite of his. The Wes Anderson style and characterization just reaches a point where it’s becomes a bit annoying rather then endearing. Not a bad movie, just one I’d rather not watch again.