I’ve never considered myself to be a huge fan of Wes Anderson’s films, but I’ve seen several and always enjoy them to some extent. I’ve watched ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’, ‘Rushmore’, ‘The Darjeeling Limited’, and now ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ (in that order).

My favorite is definitely The Royal Tenenbaums. Angelica Houston and Gene Hackman are just terrific. Moonrise Kingdom is my second favorite.

Wes works his usual mannered style over every scene. His eye for detail and composition are flawless. Every frame is immaculate. What helps to keep his films from just looking pretty (or cool) is that their style is always in service of strong, well-written characters. He creates a world and everyone lives within it perfectly, so every decision makes perfect sense. It’s not arbitrary.

What I like most about this film is