• Upon reflection, nearly a decade after, it’s such a natural fit for Anderson, the diorama and doll-house master (and I say that with the utmost admiration for his auteur status and craft)
  • Almost all of the critics admire the wit- and rightly so
  • It’s part Road Dahl but entirely of Anderson’s unique cinematic world both in content and that trademark abundance of visual style—so meticulous
  • I think it’s one of the handful of the absolute best scores by Alexandre Desplat– that tune will be playing in your head for days after seeing the film
  • Deadpan delivery, father issues, mentor/mentee (nephew Kristofferson here and son in competition), written letters, symmetrical framing, even the dress and costume design is so Wes-specific and trademark
  • One thing that is new is the color pattern—this entire film has a gorgeous yellow/orange/brown autumn glow. It’s absolutely breathtaking to see in bluray—yellow chapter titles bounce off it but we have great miniature work and establishing shots. The lighting is transcendent work truly
  • We have the Rolling Stones “Street Fighting Man” and then the “I get around” by the beach boys with the listing of the latin names of the wild animals. Great stuff.
  • It’s solid work but is it just me or does Streep here sound just like Anjelica Huston
  • One of the best sequences is the simulated waterfall with Mr. and Mrs. Fox
  • I think this film is going to be ageless
  • It’s certainly unique in that it’s animation by an auteur. I have Wes ahead of Hayao Miyazaki on my all-time auteur ranking so the only auteur above Wes on my list to attempt animation is Spielberg and certainly the artistry on display here decapitates anything from The Adventures of Tintin
  • Like all his films it’s about family, community and solidarity
  • Must-See top 5 of the year level film