Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson. You may have heard of him. You may have gone to a Wes Anderson-themed party. You might have dressed up as a Wes Anderson character on Halloween… or at least seen a few rogue Steve Zizous at your last spooky bash. You've probably listened to a few of the soundtracks to his totally beloved movies.

Our buddy Wes loves making movies, but, more than that, he loves making movies that look like Wes Anderson movies. You can spot them a mile away, and people like parodying this style because of how distinct and—more importantly—funny, it is.

What if Wes Anderson directed a horror movie? What if Wes Anderson directed a real commercial that's a parody of him directing a movie? What if Wes Anderson directed the opening credits of Forrest Gump?

Basically, you can add a) captioned freeze frames b) '60s pop music c) gorgeous color d) overhead shots and d) deadpan dialogue and you have—voila!—a parody of a Wes Anderson flick.

There are a whole ton of Wes Anderson spoofs, some better than others, but we can't blame them; Wes Anderson is just too much fun to imitate. What makes his style so distinct? You can check out our Mode of Production section for a more in-depth look at some of Anderson's signature cinematography, but here are just a few ideas: He often uses a very wide angle anamorphic lens with lens distortion, he loves the rostrum camera insert shots, he often uses shots of emotionless characters facing the camera, and his films often deal with middle/upper class issues, especially when it comes to families and family trouble.

Oh yeah: We forgot to mention his love of recasting actors and actresses— Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, and a bunch of other stars who illuminate The Grand Budapest.

When you watch any of the many films Wes Anderson has made over the last few decades—Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, or The Life Aquatic—you'll recognize his artistic signature immediately. There's no mistaking a Wes Anderson film for anything other than a Wes Anderson film.

That, in our book, is just awesome.