Image credit: Twentieth Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, American Empirical Pictures, Searchlight Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Destination Films, Studio Babelsberg
Wes Anderson is the filmmaker who's turned quirky into an art form. His films are like those indie record stores that you stumble upon and can't help but explore.
1. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (2009) – 93% Man, do we love talking animals or what? In this stop-motion animated treat, Mr. Fox can't resist going back to his chicken-stealing ways, endangering not only his family but the whole animal community. It's a cat-and-mouse game — well, more like fox-and-farmer — as Mr. Fox, Mrs. Fox, and their pals tunnel and dig their way through obstacles to survive.
With cider floods and human-made traps, it's a wild journey that you can't help but root for.
2. "Moonrise Kingdom" (2012) – 93% Ah, young love. Twelve-year-olds Sam and Suzy meet during a church performance and decide to run away together, triggering a small-town search party that includes the local scout troop, police, and their parents. Set in 1965 on an island in New England, they set off across the wilderness while the whole town searches for them.
From dancing in their underwear to a makeshift marriage ceremony, these kids have the adventure of a lifetime, all while a storm is brewing both literally and metaphorically.
3. "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014) – 92% Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the most whimsical and dangerous hotel in Europe. In a fictional country somewhere between the two World Wars, concierge Gustave H. and his lobby boy Zero get embroiled in murder, theft, and a quest for a priceless painting.
Throw in an all-out war between different factions in the hotel, an elaborate prison break, and a high-speed ski chase, and you've got yourself one of Anderson's most visually and plot-wise rich films.
4. "The Squid and the Whale" (2005) – 92% Divorce sucks. And no one knows it better than the Berkman family in 1980s Brooklyn. The parents, both writers, split, and so do the two sons — Walt stays with his dad and Frank with his mom.
While dad dates his student and mom dates her tennis coach, the kids navigate their own complicated lives. Walt plagiarizes songs and Frank, well, discovers the complexities of his own sexuality.
5. "Isle of Dogs" (2018) – 90% Another stop-motion marvel, but this time we're in a dystopian Japan where all dogs have been exiled to Trash Island due to "canine flu."
A young boy, Atari, ventures to the island to find his dog Spots. He's aided by a scrappy pack of dogs, including one played by Bryan Cranston, who doesn't fetch but is loyal as heck. They navigate an odyssey of gigantic robot dogs, heaps of garbage, and finally a lab where the cure to the dog flu is found.
6. "Rushmore" (1998) – 90% If you ever needed a movie to make you feel unproductive, it's this one. Enter Max Fischer, a 15-year-old student at Rushmore Academy who's involved in pretty much every extracurricular activity under the sun but is failing all his classes. Max befriends a disillusioned rich industrialist, Herman Blume, and both end up falling for the same elementary school teacher.
Cue the awkward love triangle! Max tries to win her heart through elaborate stage plays, while Herman is more straightforward but equally awkward. It's a coming-of-age tale with a love triangle and Bill Murray — need I say more?
7. "Bottle Rocket" (1996) – 86% Ever had a harebrained idea that you and your buddies just couldn't resist acting on? Well, so did Dignan, who convinces his friends Anthony and Bob to embark on a life of crime. Their "heists" are comically amateurish, and they even check into a motel to lay low — where Anthony falls for a maid named Inez. They attempt one final job that, predictably, goes completely sideways.
By the end, friendships are tested, and it's clear that crime doesn't pay, but hey, at least you've got some memories, right?
8. "The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001) – 81% Meet the Tenenbaums, the family that puts the "dys" in "dysfunctional." Royal Tenenbaum fakes a terminal illness to move back in with his estranged family, including his wife Etheline and their three prodigious but deeply flawed children. One's a financial wiz with love problems, another is a playwright whose life is more dramatic off-stage, and the third is a tennis star on the brink of a breakdown.
There are betrayals, reconciliations, and plenty of awkward family dinners. All under one roof! What could possibly go wrong?
9. "The French Dispatch" (2021) – 75% The French Dispatch is a love letter to journalists, set in the fictional French city of Ennui-sur-Blasé. It focuses on the final issue of an American magazine and weaves together a collection of stories published in "The French Dispatch."
From a painter sentenced to life in prison, a student revolution, to a chef who gets involved in a kidnapping, the tales are as diverse as they are eccentric.
10. "The Darjeeling Limited" (2007) – 69% Three brothers, Francis, Peter, and Jack, embark on a train journey across India, aiming to find themselves and bond after their father's death. Along the way, they deal with snakes, prescription drugs, and an unexpected detour to their mother's convent. They end up carrying their father's bulky luggage, both literally and metaphorically, as they travel on the titular train.
