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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Saturday, November 16, 2024

Top Ten | Things found in every Wes Anderson movie

Wes Anderson’s most recent release, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” has been lauded as his masterpiece, so, naturally, he is more topical and hip than ever. But what makes a Wes Anderson movie so great? With this question in mind, the Daily Arts Department proudly presents: “One Gazette’s Quintessential Bulletin of Wesley Wales Anderson,” narrated by Alec Baldwin.


10) A vaguely ethnic unknown: Preferably under 17, with interesting teeth and a bizarre and compelling backstory. Oh, and they should probably be able to act, too.


9) Meticulous fonts: You’ll never be able to look at Futura without seeing it plastered on the side of a rose colored two-story school bus or projected, perfectly centered, on a grimy but charming apartment building.


8) Jokes that aren’t jokes: It’s okay if you don’t get them. No one does, really. Just look over at the kid with the handlebar mustache or the girl rocking serious bangs in the theater and laugh when they do.


7) A precocious adolescent with an unrequited love: They say heady things that adults don’t understand, make tiny lists, have bizarre after-school business ventures, make unlikely friendships with crotchety and wounded adults and, ultimately, lust after somebody they will never get.


6) Timeless fashion: We don’t mean figuratively. Like, literally, it’s impossible to tell whether that coat is from 1920 or if it was featured in Prada’s 2014 spring collection.


5) Book within a book within a movie within a song within a cross-stitch embroidery: Christopher Nolan totally stole the idea for “Inception” (2010) from “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” (2004).

4) Corduroy record player: You know, so you can play your Rolling Stones records on it to impress your immortal beloved: your boyfriend’s boyfriend’s dad’s biographer.


3) Thinly veiled real-world settings: Listen, Wes, we all know that “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001) is set in Manhattan! You can’t just change all the names of the buildings and streets and expect us to be impressed.


2) Apathetic toddler: This little tike will secretly smoke off-brand cigarettes and contemplate oblivion all while being changed by Angelica Houston.


1) Bill Murray: In Pabst Blue Ribbon shorts. Playing golf. Humming a French pop song. Drinking whiskey. Smoking a hand-rolled cigarette.