Brian TruittUSA TODAY
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You know immediately when you're watching a Wes Anderson film.
The signature imagery, the eccentricity, the wide camera shots, the usual suspects (from Bill Murray to Owen Wilson)– all are hallmarks of Anderson's cinematic work. Andover the last 27 years, the Oscar-nominated auteur has made movies about dysfunctional families, thieving buddies, an island of stray dogs, young kids in love, an adventurous hotel lobby boy and many more colorful personalities.
In addition to his recent all-star effort "Asteroid City" (streaming now on Peaco*ck and available via on-demand platforms), Anderson unleashes four short films this week based on Roald Dahl's works, including "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" (now on Netflix).
In honor of these quirky new works, we're ranking all of the director's outings:
12. 'Bottle Rocket' (1996)
Luke and Owen Wilson star as friends who planto pull off a bunch of heists before joining the gang of a criminal landscaper (James Caan)until one of them falls in love with a hotel maid. Anderson's first film – and the debut for both Wilson brothers – is rough around the edges but the talent potential for all three is there from the beginning.
11. 'The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou' (2004)
Bill Murray plays the Jacques Cousteau-esque title character, a famed oceanographer and documentarian who seeks the jaguar shark that once killed his best friend. The very strange quest for his "white whale" even includes a love triangle between Zissou, a pregnant reporter(Cate Blanchett) and a man (Owen Wilson) claiming to be his son.
10. 'Asteroid City' (2023)
The sci-fi dramedy is pretty out there, even for an Anderson jam. Featuring kicky period tunes and fantastic production design, the film stars Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson and others as parents of talented kids who gather for a science convention and are quarantined by the government when a UFO shows up. But that's only half the story, as "City" has a tale-within-the-tale that distracts from the narrative more than it deepens.
9. 'Isle of Dogs' (2018)
Anderson pays tribute toJapanese cinema and the scrappy nature of underdogs in this whimsical stop-motion animated comedy.A dog flu leads a metropolis to banish pooches (voiced by Bill Murray, Edward Norton and more) to an island full of trash, and an orphanboy seeking his best friendbefriends a grumpy stray (voiced by Bryan Cranston).
8. 'The Darjeeling Limited' (2007)
A year after their father's death, a trio of estranged brothers (Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman) meet up for a spiritual journey/train ride through India. They bicker, fight, save some folks and seek out their mercurial mom (AnjelicaHuston) in the Himalayas on a humorous but thoughtful tripof sibling reconnection.
7. 'The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar'
There are worse things than a winsome Ralph Fiennes telling stories to introduce Roald Dahl's beloved prose to a younger generation. Playing Dahl himself, he and other players share the story of Henry Sugar (Benedict Cumberbatch), a wealthy British man who finds out about a way to see without using your eyes, schemes to learn in order to win millions at the blackjack table, but instead makes a life-changing discovery.
6. 'Moonrise Kingdom' (2012)
Young talent shines inAnderson's splendid 1965-set love story. The coming-of-age romancecenters on two 12-year-olds – a lonely boy scout(Jared Gilman) and a troublemaking girl (Kara Hayward) – who run away and meet up on a New England island, with the scout's troop leader (Edward Norton) and girl's parents (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand) in hot pursuit.
5. 'The Royal Tenenbaums' (2001)
Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller and Luke Wilson star as genius siblings who garner fame and renown as kids yet face lackluster adulthoods. Gene Hackman hijacks the movie as their estranged father, who shows up claiming to have terminal cancer in the bittersweet and drolly hilarious dramedy – which is, for many, Anderson's signature work.
'Tenenbaums' at 20: Gwyneth Paltrow reveals the one movie she'll watch herself in
4. 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' (2009)
Anderson's first foray into stop-motion is his animated masterpiece, a brilliantly charming effort with George Clooney voicing the title character. Mr. Fox steals local food and produce to feed his family (including Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox), but running afoul of three very dangerous farmers endangers his friends and his marriage.
3. 'The French Dispatch' (2021)
An excellent ode to New Wave cinema and oddball reporters, the film follows three feature storiesin the final issue of the titular journal, including tales of an incarcerated painter (Benicio del Toro) and a student revolutionary (Timothée Chalamet). And while he's barely in the film, Bill Murray is the beating heart playing the beloved French Dispatch editor.
Review: Wes Anderson's 'The French Dispatch' honors oddball journalism
2. 'Rushmore' (1998)
Anderson's Hollywood breakthrough was this stellarcoming-of-age comedy with Jason Schwartzman, in his film debut,as an idiosyncratic teenager who befriends a wealthy businessman (Bill Murray). Yet the pair becomerivals for the affections of a widowed first-grade teacher (Olivia Williams) and engage in some great one-upmanship shenanigans.
1. 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' (2014)
Anderson's most multifaceted film is this wonderful and wild gem with comedy, adventure, mystery, action, high drama and themes of war and friendship. In the 1930s, Zero (Tony Revolori) is a newly hired bellhop at a famous European hotel who goes on the lam with his concierge boss (Ralph Fiennes) and falls in love with a kind baker (Saoirse Ronan) in a madcap story that also involves a rare Renaissance painting and the imminent rise of a fascist empire.
